Players' reputations if they continue to be out fought

[cibaman]

I think its more about finding the right balance away from home rather than simplistic notions of out fighting the opposition.

The last thing we want to do is to get into a purely physical battle against teams like Sunderland. If the game degenerates into a stop start free kick-athon with lots of set pieces that suits the opposition. They'll get home advantage on refereeing decisions for free kicks and bookings. They're more likely to score from set pieces.

We need to win our share of 50:50's but we should still concentrate on out passing the opposition, make the ball do the work and make use of our greater skill.

For me the problem in our away games is usually a lack of tempo rather than fight. I thought we played well at Chelsea, despite the result, because we played at a greater tempo. Its when we stroll around playing multiple short passes, fancy tricks, shooting from long range, that we make it easy for teams like Sunderland.

 

[Platini Pollock]

It still rankles with me the way this group sacrificed the FA Cup final to make their point. Something that should be unthinkable, imo.


Rankles is putting it mildly......


It was an absolute disgrace to the badge. Kompany went down in my estimations as a captain that day. whatever your issues are at work. When you get to a 'cup final' you do not under any circumstances put that above the chance to win a winners medal.


Not sure I will ever fully forgive them ( Nasti aside as I thought he really wanted it ) for that performance.


This bunch have a lot of 'bridge building' to do before any reputations are re-gained

 

[BlueRockape]

What happens to the esteem that this group are held in if they continue the trend (which began early/mid last season) whereby they are out fought by inferior players on a regular basis?

I have reservations about the tactics that are currently being employed and the way they are affecting the form and confidence of some players.

However, this group of players got their own way by forcing out the nasty man who was shouting at them. For me, that means that they have to, have to show that they were right and that without the nasty man whose nasty words held them back we are going to see ten or twenty percent more effort, team spirit and desire.

So far, it still looks very much like last season in terms of effort, team spirit and desire, with inferior teams taking City for a soft touch who you can rely on not to match your bottle when you play them at your ground.

It still rankles with me the way this group sacrificed the FA Cup final to make their point. Something that should be unthinkable, imo. Personally, my view of the group will be severely tarnished if they do not do something significant by the end of this season.

And it won't be long before they turn on MP (if they haven't already? )

 

[blue b4 the moon]

It still rankles with me the way this group sacrificed the FA Cup final to make their point. Something that should be unthinkable, imo.


Rankles is putting it mildly......


It was an absolute disgrace to the badge. Kompany went down in my estimations as a captain that day. whatever your issues are at work. When you get to a 'cup final' you do not under any circumstances put that above the chance to win a winners medal.


Not sure I will ever fully forgive them ( Nasti aside as I thought he really wanted it ) for that performance.


This bunch have a lot of 'bridge building' to do before any reputations are re-gained

I watched the game live and recorded it to watch later when sober/back from the game etc.

Ended up deleting it a month or so ago without ever watching it as its still too painful.

I'd guess that my and the thousands of other fans pain was only shared for a very short period by the best players.

If only tevez would have missed the keepers foot early doors it would have been so different.

 

[moomba]

Players need to be accountable for underperformances.

I dont think ours are at the moment, and if it carries on this way I think the club needs to make some tough decisions on the playing squad.

You cant continually blame other people for your own performances.

 

[jma]

I think its more about finding the right balance away from home rather than simplistic notions of out fighting the opposition.

The last thing we want to do is to get into a purely physical battle against teams like Sunderland. If the game degenerates into a stop start free kick-athon with lots of set pieces that suits the opposition. They'll get home advantage on refereeing decisions for free kicks and bookings. They're more likely to score from set pieces.

We need to win our share of 50:50's but we should still concentrate on out passing the opposition, make the ball do the work and make use of our greater skill.

For me the problem in our away games is usually a lack of tempo rather than fight. I thought we played well at Chelsea, despite the result, because we played at a greater tempo. Its when we stroll around playing multiple short passes, fancy tricks, shooting from long range, that we make it easy for teams like Sunderland.

Tempo, fight, bottle, attitude, turning up with a sense of entitlement, lack of urgency, thinking that your better footballing ability alone will be enough and then constantly being surprised when it isn't. Call it what you want but it is a trend dating back at least 12 months.

This group turn up and do not show the effort and commitment throughout the ninety minutes. Compare the way that the group approached the semi final against Chelsea or the 4-1 derby with most of these recent away defeats, where it drifts along, hoping for a goal and then seemingly being amazed in the second half when, all of a sudden it looks like they might lose.

The contrast between the aggression and attitude is startling. Other teams constantly win games against better teams. Teams who are either better footballers or just play better on the day than them. This team doesn't as they do not want to do the hard yards. It looks like they don't want it enough. Or at least constantly fail to want it enough until they find themselves amazed that they are losing with 20 minutes to go.

Now, that is a shocking thing to say. But it isn't based on one or two results. It is based on 12 months of away results.

And then you consider that you are talking about a team that threw the FA Cup under a bus in order to show everyone that it was the nasty manager that was holding them back. Yet their body language, approach and mental fortitude in away games has changed not a jot. In fact, it has got worse.

After the FA Cup final disgrace, this lot owed the fans the season of their lives. Busting a gut for every minute on the pitch. Making sure that their undoubted footballing and technical superiority was always allied to a mental and physical approach that matched everyone they came up against. Meaning it would be very hard to get the better of them (in the way that it was always difficult to get the better of some much poorer rag teams under Ferguson - with a joke team like theirs last year getting such a high points total) because they would match everyone in attitude and approach and be far better than most.

Proving that they had a point when they downed tools at the end of last season and refused to work for someone they labelled as holding them back.

They have failed to show any improvement in attitude. I am almost losing faith with them. Not their ability but their professionalism, their desire and their will to match the will to win of others (not withstanding the shocking defensive tactics this season - which is a bit of a mitigating factor).

 

[lancs blue]

It still rankles with me the way this group sacrificed the FA Cup final to make their point. Something that should be unthinkable, imo.


Rankles is putting it mildly......


It was an absolute disgrace to the badge. Kompany went down in my estimations as a captain that day. whatever your issues are at work. When you get to a 'cup final' you do not under any circumstances put that above the chance to win a winners medal.


Not sure I will ever fully forgive them ( Nasti aside as I thought he really wanted it ) for that performance.


This bunch have a lot of 'bridge building' to do before any reputations are re-gained

Personally I thought the shenanigans behind the scenes affected a lot of the players performance, not just those who were annoyed with Mancini. I think it's unfair to blame them collectively. I agree about Kompany though, he should shown more maturity and professionalism on the day.

 

[BlueTG]

It still rankles with me the way this group sacrificed the FA Cup final to make their point. Something that should be unthinkable, imo.


Rankles is putting it mildly......


It was an absolute disgrace to the badge. Kompany went down in my estimations as a captain that day. whatever your issues are at work. When you get to a 'cup final' you do not under any circumstances put that above the chance to win a winners medal.


Not sure I will ever fully forgive them ( Nasti aside as I thought he really wanted it ) for that performance.


This bunch have a lot of 'bridge building' to do before any reputations are re-gained

I watched the game live and recorded it to watch later when sober/back from the game etc.

Ended up deleting it a month or so ago without ever watching it as its still too painful.

I'd guess that my and the thousands of other fans pain was only shared for a very short period by the best players.

If only tevez would have missed the keepers foot early doors it would have been so different.

Tevez and Nastasic were the only two on the pitch that day that want to lift that trophy. They made a mockery of our support and those who invested so much time and money with high hopes that day. If we lost with a bit of pride, so be it, but it was shite.

This away business has been built up by our own players, firstly they acknowledge our away form lost season stopped us reclaiming the title, so obviously they need to improve it. Then comes Cardiff, we go a goal up but were playing pretty shite, we just expect that we can see it out, lose the points. Same thing again, oh no we've lost away from home. And the cycle continues to the point now where it looks like it could be our choker again. We are in danger of creating our own psychological problem, and that will inhibit our performances and expectations away, especially as aren't playing particularly well in some of these matches away. That's partly my view on it anyway.

Obviously our away form is the issue, but how many of these matches we are losing points in can we credit to 'individual' mistakes, and for how much longer. If I read "once we iron out the individual errors out then we will run away with it" once more I will tear my hair out. Its mid November and we're still stuck on 'errors' from players that have years experience with us, and other teams players aren't making these errors as often as we are when we play them.

If we're going to sort this shit out, it has to be now, buckle down, toughen up and fight for every single point we can achieves, nothing less. Otherwise it could be a long season where we are left looking at what could have been again.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

What happens to the esteem that this group are held in if they continue the trend (which began early/mid last season) whereby they are out fought by inferior players on a regular basis?

I have reservations about the tactics that are currently being employed and the way they are affecting the form and confidence of some players.

However, this group of players got their own way by forcing out the nasty man who was shouting at them. For me, that means that they have to, have to show that they were right and that without the nasty man whose nasty words held them back we are going to see ten or twenty percent more effort, team spirit and desire.

So far, it still looks very much like last season in terms of effort, team spirit and desire, with inferior teams taking City for a soft touch who you can rely on not to match your bottle when you play them at your ground.

It still rankles with me the way this group sacrificed the FA Cup final to make their point. Something that should be unthinkable, imo. Personally, my view of the group will be severely tarnished if they do not do something significant by the end of this season.

Simplistic fan talk to go down the 'they have no bottle' route, I'm afraid. They didn't lose that game because they had no fight. They lost it because they regressed to last season 's square passing along the line, in the absence of silva. This allowed the opposition to keep getting organised and we couldn't break them down.

When a match is fiercely physical, like Chelsea was in the latter stages, these lads give as good as they get. There are certainly problems at the moment, including over reliance on our tight passers, and a big gulf between our first 11 and our reserves.

You get 'outfought' as you call it when you get frustrated, I suppose. That happens with this lot and it happened on Sunday. The belief that a few away wins bring will go a long way to restoring belief.

 

[eddiemarin09]

Noticed a lot of Mancini type occurrences..a lot of the match we would be on the break and when we got to around our opponents 18 yard line we slowed down almost as if we purposely let them run back to set up the bus..almost like we helped them do it