Our Use of Substitutes

[Silva top]

People keep asking me why we don’t have a Plan B when our Plan A is not working (receive the ball and pass the ball, sideways if possible In two movements) and I say we do have a Plan B. It’s the same as Plan A.
We have all heard the definition of stupidity ... keep on doing the same thing but expect a different outcome.
Well, isn’t that what we keep doing?. Albeit sometimes faster and sometimes slower. I am not complaining, really, because the performances and results over the past few years have been amazing, but, other teams have found an answer to our way of playing football (9 defeats in the PL this season). IMO Pep needs to have a rethink and provide players and tactics that can provide a different Plan B when our Plan A is not working. We need to stay one step ahead of the opposition and to think otherwise will see us being overtaken by more teams in the near future. I have no idea how to do that but I hope that Pep has the humility to see the need for different thinking. CTID and in Pep I trust.

 

[abu13]

I think we need to identify a target man who will give us an aerial threat when we get ourselves into these situations.

 

[Ribchester]

Im beginning to think there is a certain group who had started at least to plan their exit strategy and CAS decision has scuppered a painless exit and a new start maybe at a home based club or at least a move with a good deal for them and now they are mentally exhausted confused and distracted and now compromised.
Silva form continues as his plan was open book and has been delivering 9 and 10s as he has a motivation and freedom which is conducive to free open expression of his skills and his unconditional commitment to the badge hence his “legend” status
The best case to test this for me is Sterling his cause has and will always be primarily his deal/contract set against promotion of his own value as an individual an attitude which a club will benefit from as long as all his personal objectives are aligned. I’m sure him and his agent would have started his careers plan B I.e. exit if CAS went tits up.

mentally it must be very hard to reactivate mentally and adjust realign thinking and commitments then throw in the pandemic and you end up with yesterday.

if we get more of the same on Friday 7th then I really worry for the next 12 months as there will be no close season a new season will simply evolve during the next months the restrictions on isolation will no doubt be in place in some restrictive form thereby the kick in the arse some need could have come from having support behind them last night 40k blues will also be missing may have been the difference which will also be the vital missing come Madrid.

Our whole club needs to regroup I’m sure Pep is fundamental to this and the first requirement would be for the board to secure a new contract. And for him to quickly assess which players are going to carry us into the the next 10 years. This will be the test of the man the first time he has had to do a clear out and rebuild a complete team

 

[Sir peace frog]

I don't think it was.

Pep's plan A blew Mancini and Pellegrini out of the water but I'm not sure his use of subs is that great by comparison although Mancini and Pellegrini had Dzeko to throw on too. Nevertheless, if we needed a goal, it was rare to see a defensive midfielder thrown on or one of our best players taken off.

What about Nigel de jong ,used to come on and free yaya to move forward

 

[tosh1]

I'm not sure pep hasn't realised it. I agree I don't think the poor use of subs was to blame, the writing was in the wall with the team that started but subs do give you the chance to change and in my humble opinion he missed that chance. However, hasn't lillo been brought in for exactly the reasons mentioned? A great philosopher of the game in pep's eyes and someone who may see something pep doesn't, someone who can come up with a plan b and someone who pep respects enough to listen too?

 

[Marvin]

When do we get to speak about Bernardo?

Massive miss as his work-rate is incredible but he's had a terrible season.

I don't like players who fold mentally and I think the Mendy incident knocked him. The incident coincides with a massive dip in form so it's hard not to make the link.

 

[Gabriel]

Massive miss as his work-rate is incredible but he's had a terrible season.

I don't like players who fold mentally and I think the Mendy incident knocked him. The incident coincides with a massive dip in form so it's hard not to make the link.

I think the incident exacerbated the situation, but his form was already below the level he had shown in the two seasons thitherto. That he remained on the bench last night, when so many were patently failing, is deeply concerning.

 

[Marvin]

I think the incident exacerbated the situation, but his form was already below the level he had shown in the two seasons thitherto. That he remained on the bench last night, when so many were patently failing, is deeply concerning.

I would not say it is deeply concerning because there is no fundamental reason I can see why he cannot recapture his game.

City have an embarrassment of riches in wide forwards but a complete poverty in other areas of the pitch. And that is after selling Sane. Rodri hasn't worked. He's had a season now, and when Fernandinho and Silva are almost finished he's still not in the side. That is deeply concerning.

 

[Gabriel]

I would not say it is deeply concerning because there is no fundamental reason I can see why he cannot recapture his game.

City have an embarrassment of riches in wide forwards but a complete poverty in other areas of the pitch. And that is after selling Sane. Rodri hasn't worked. He's had a season now, and when Fernandinho and Silva are almost finished he's still not in the side. That is deeply concerning.

I agree that he can recapture his form as his talent is supreme. My concern now is that he may want a move to recapture it. We cannot appreciate what it must be like to live in a foreign culture where you have been accused of and punished for being ‘racist’. Perhaps that episode has weighed more heavily on him than we realised.

Agree that we have many technically gifted players, but on occasions such as last night, they appear straitjacketed by the system, and when that system is failing, the supposedly ‘mercurial’ talents appear incapable of conjuring up a piece of individual brilliance. Perhaps it’s been coached out of them.

The Rodri point is painfully true, but it is arguably the hardest position to master, particularly when coming to a new league and country.

 

[Cobra]

I wonder if sticking Fernandinho up front was a thinly veiled message to Txiki and the board that we desperately need more attacking reinforcements in the transfer window