supercrystal7 said:
The 3-5-2 is due to the lack of quality you have through out the squad. It has not worked and Mancini is probably raging. Yesterday was an audition for the big matches coming up soon.
Can't agree with that on any level. 3/5/2 is something Mancini has tried at various times since he came to City. I know that it worked on a couple of occasions when we were trying to see games out last season. There is no lack of quality throughout the squad, that's just a surreal observation in my opinion. The team we put out last night should've slaughtered Villa.
Regarding yesterday being an audition for the big matches coming up, again, completely disagree. Yesterday was about giving game time to players who need matches, and keeping key players fresh for the Fulham/Dortmund games.
The larger issue is one of motivation. Were we motivated enough to want to beat Villa last night. By the sounds of things we really weren't. Now, some would say that this is a blessing in disguise and the free time will help us in the league/CL. I believe that winning breeds confidence which helps you keep winning, and losing/drawing saps confidence in a very corrosive way when you're a top team.
Fulham/Dortmund/Sunderland is a triumvirate of games which will define whether the last month has been a blip or whether there's a bigger problem.
To answer the OP's question about what I'd do from a technical/tactical stand point. First and foremost I'd show the players videos of last season's games to point out the ferocity with which we closed people down and the amount of pressure we that put the opposition under.
Next I'd make them spend a week re-learning how to pass the able accurately over 5/10 yards under pressure.
Finally I'd set them up with the same formation as last season with identical personnel with the exception of Garcia in for NDJ. That is to say something like this:
PZ.....VK......JL.....GC
........YT....JG..........
JM..................DS....
......ED...SA..........
My personal opinion on where the problems stem from are the chopping and changing of the back 4 and the system that the team employs in the defensive phase or when they lose possession. We've reverted to something which we didn't do very much last season, but did a whole lot the season before under Mancini, which is that when we lose possession rather than concerning ourselves with winning the ball back, we concern ourselves with immediately getting back into a defensive block. Playing that way needlessly surrenders too much possession to the opposition.
