Our biggest weakness....

[Anonymous]

My opinion, our biggest weakness is a distinct lack of pace in our 'attacking' players. To play Mancini's way effectively at the Emirates, OT, etc. you need to pose some sort of a threat on the break, but without pace, it's difficult to do, and you end up defending for large parts of the match. Of course that in itself, with our squad's ability to defend, isn't that big a deal, however when I look through the top squads in Europe it's something they all have, possibly with the exception of Chelsea...

With the transfer window open, it's worth pondering and possibly addressing...

 

[citymad]

I agree. id like to see our midfield more mobile. If you watch Arsenal they're midfield are always available for a quick pass. Its going to be hard for mancini to give up the DJ and barry pair infront of the back four.

 

[gio's side step]

My opinion, our biggest weakness is a distinct lack of pace in our 'attacking' players. To play Mancini's way effectively at the Emirates, OT, etc. you need to pose some sort of a threat on the break, but without pace, it's difficult to do, and you end up defending for large parts of the match. Of course that in itself, with our squad's ability to defend, isn't that big a deal, however when I look through the top squads in Europe it's something they all have, possibly with the exception of Chelsea...

With the transfer window open, it's worth pondering and possibly addressing...

I think Mancini is going for the James 'I've got the VO2max of a marathon runner' Milner approach

 

[Bill]

My opinion, our biggest weakness is a distinct lack of pace in our 'attacking' players. To play Mancini's way effectively at the Emirates, OT, etc. you need to pose some sort of a threat on the break, but without pace, it's difficult to do, and you end up defending for large parts of the match. Of course that in itself, with our squad's ability to defend, isn't that big a deal, however when I look through the top squads in Europe it's something they all have, possibly with the exception of Chelsea...

With the transfer window open, it's worth pondering and possibly addressing...

i agree, adam is no slouch though yet bob picks jo, weird!

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

My opinion, our biggest weakness is a distinct lack of pace in our 'attacking' players. To play Mancini's way effectively at the Emirates, OT, etc. you need to pose some sort of a threat on the break, but without pace, it's difficult to do, and you end up defending for large parts of the match. Of course that in itself, with our squad's ability to defend, isn't that big a deal, however when I look through the top squads in Europe it's something they all have, possibly with the exception of Chelsea...

With the transfer window open, it's worth pondering and possibly addressing...

maybe, but I think if we'd had Silva and Balotelli then we'd have had more craft and pace anyway, and Arsenal wouldn't have pressed forwards as much as they did knowing that they only had Jo(waste of space) and Tevez(great player but 4 on 1 is too much even for him) to keep an eye on.

The problem with pacy lads is they generally don't have good delivery, I don't think Shauny could have kept the ball well enough to make him any better, and AJ isn't exactly quick.

I think we're missing a ball retaining midfielder, a world class passer and creater in the heart of midfield. I think somebody like a Sneijder instead of Barry(I know he's been playing well, but he's very slow and his passing can get wonky especially when he's tired), I think having De Jong-Toure-Sneijder(or somebody similar, because Wesley would be hard to get, maybe a Schweinsteiger)-with Balotelli, Silva, Tevez and Dzeko rotating to make a front 3 with 1 on the bench, would be a big step up to becoming a Champions League team.

I do think we need an improvement in the heart of the midfield to what we've already got to really unlock teams and keep the ball.

It may sound harsh on Barry etc. who's done a good job, but I think we're at the point now where we should be offloading the guys on the bench and turning the decent first teamers into squad players, and upgrading with a couple of truly top class players to make us an even bigger force, I think a strong 2nd half of the season and a good Premier League finish can achieve that.

We won't get anybody worth keeping beyond 6 months who's of that quality in this window because of the Champions League imo.

 

[blue dallas]

Jo.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree. id like to see our midfield more mobile. If you watch Arsenal they're midfield are always available for a quick pass. Its going to be hard for mancini to give up the DJ and barry pair infront of the back four.

I can live with their lack of mobility to be honest. It just struck me last night when a couple of times Yaya or Carlos tried to break from midfield, and there was just nothing in the wide areas. I love AJ, and I love Balo, don't get me wrong - but we need an out and out pacey winger for exactly like nights like last night.

For example, the rags demolished Arsenal at the Emirates and we demolished Chelsea at SB last season by having blistering pace in the wide areas, and playing a counter attacking game...

 

[Anonymous]

maybe, but I think if we'd had Silva and Balotelli then we'd have had more craft and pace anyway, and Arsenal wouldn't have pressed forwards as much as they did knowing that they only had Jo(waste of space) and Tevez(great player but 4 on 1 is too much even for him) to keep an eye on.

The problem with pacy lads is they generally don't have good delivery, I don't think Shauny could have kept the ball well enough to make him any better, and AJ isn't exactly quick.

I think we're missing a ball retaining midfielder, a world class passer and creater in the heart of midfield. I think somebody like a Sneijder instead of Barry(I know he's been playing well, but he's very slow and his passing can get wonky especially when he's tired), I think having De Jong-Toure-Sneijder(or somebody similar, because Wesley would be hard to get, maybe a Schweinsteiger)-with Balotelli, Silva, Tevez and Dzeko rotating to make a front 3 with 1 on the bench, would be a big step up to becoming a Champions League team.

I do think we need an improvement in the heart of the midfield to what we've already got to really unlock teams and keep the ball.

It may sound harsh on Barry etc. who's done a good job, but I think we're at the point now where we should be offloading the guys on the bench and turning the decent first teamers into squad players, and upgrading with a couple of truly top class players to make us an even bigger force, I think a strong 2nd half of the season and a good Premier League finish can achieve that.

We won't get anybody worth keeping beyond 6 months who's of that quality in this window because of the Champions League imo.

It's funny a few people I know have said similar things to what you've posted. My opinion on that is that Silva should by rights be playing in the position Yaya plays in, in the centre of midfield. Something akin to this would be what I'm talking about:

..............Back Four...............
..............DeJong Yaya..........
Aj................Silva.........Balo...
..................Tevez

That team has everything IMO. However it requires Mancini to pick 4 out and out attacking players....

 

[gooney]

Biggest weakness is Barry

 

[Kippax.]

Biggest weakness is Barry

Have you seen what pic is at the top of this page being the player of the month?