So what's to be done?

[robbieh]

We've seen with Chelsea how just 2 or 3 astute signings that adress the weaknesses in a team can make all the difference. Matic, Fabregas & Costa have been great buys. Much more effective than if they'd splashed the cash on a Bale.

We need clever signings, not a clear out or an £80m buy.

With that in mind. Which positions are we weak in. Centre Midfield X2 . And a winger.

We might have to sacrifice someone like they did with Luiz. For me that's Yaya.

Veratti and Pogba and Depay.

 

[Sergi0 Na5r1]

We've seen with Chelsea how just 2 or 3 astute signings that adress the weaknesses in a team can make all the difference. Matic, Fabregas & Costa have been great buys. Much more effective than if they'd splashed the cash on a Bale.

We need clever signings, not a clear out or an £80m buy.

With that in mind. Which positions are we weak in. Centre Midfield X2 . And a winger.

We might have to sacrifice someone like they did with Luiz. For me that's Yaya.

Veratti and Pogba and Depay.

We have plenty to sacrifice.. why Yaya exactly. He can be moved up with a strong CDM replacing him at the back, and alongside a good winger and Silva. Then we need new younger defenders to keep for the RB position and CB.


--------------------------JH
New RB/Zaba--VK/New CB--Mang--Clichy
------Strong CDM -- Dinho/Backup CDM
--------------------Yaya/Silva-----------------
Winger/Nasri---------------------Silva/Nasri
-----------------Aguero/Bony---------------

 

[aguero93:20]

Shoot the manager and all the players and get new ones.

 

[Atypical]

Hart
Zaba Demi Mangala clichy
Fernandinho Kompany
Milner Yaya silva
Aguero


For the rest of the season.

 

[Yaya_Tony]

(A) Nothing? All is well and every teams have these blips. Keep the faith and we'll win the season again?

(B) New manager? Pellegrini has shown his limitations and inability to learn from mistakes and the time has come to replace him? But who with?

(C) New players? Window after window of disappointing transfers, and now somehow - with FFP spending restrictions still in place for the next 2 windows, we are to miraculously sign star players?

(D) New management team? The team that oversaw us fail FFP in the first place and has presided over poor transfer after poor transfer?

Honestly, I don't know what to make of it, nor what we should do. But I don't think its (A), do you?

When you put it like that it seems obvious.

E; kick everyone up the arse and make them do what they are (highly) paid for

 

[TrueBlue1705]

We've seen with Chelsea how just 2 or 3 astute signings that adress the weaknesses in a team can make all the difference. Matic, Fabregas & Costa have been great buys. Much more effective than if they'd splashed the cash on a Bale.

We need clever signings, not a clear out or an £80m buy.

With that in mind. Which positions are we weak in. Centre Midfield X2 . And a winger.

We might have to sacrifice someone like they did with Luiz. For me that's Yaya.

Veratti and Pogba and Depay.

Its not just the signings, man for man where are Chelsea stronger than us? I'd say we don't really have a Hazard but in every other position there's little to choose, I hate Mourinho but he is meticulous and gets the best out of his teams for the most part .... Pellegrini is still relying on this footballing eutopia he believes in where we turn up play our 4-4-2 way and reap the rewards ... at least thats the plan!!

 

[TFC]

We are so close to being everything the owners want us to be (holistic?) in some aspects (CFA, CFG) and so far away in others (consistency in performances, tactics, development of youth) that its hard to know where to point fingers.

The manager has to take the lions share of the blame for some of the insipid shite we have seen on the park at times this season (and ultimately I think he will pay for that with his job at the end of this campaign), but the players, the upper management, us fans have all had our parts to play in what has been a largely uninspiring season.

If MP goes, problem then comes with who do we bring in to manage the team? With a squad that has a high average age and a number of players you could argue 'just arent good enough', major surgery is going to be needed to get the squad to where the new fella wants/needs it to be. Is a 3 year 'managerial cycle' going to be enough time to be able do that? Does the manager even get a say in who we bring to the club these days? Or do we continue to put transfers (and the continued building of the squad) in the hands of a man that has a pretty poor record with us so far?

I hope the whole holistic package comes together sooner rather than later, and I honestly think in 10 years time when it has clicked and the CFA starts to bear fruit, we will dominate the domestic game and challenge year after year in Europe. I love the idea of our next manager(s) all coming from within the organization but right now it feels like things are a bit of a shambles as we try to get to where we aspire to be.

 

[LoveCity]

What annoys me most is how much we've spent on strikers. We all love a striker but the excessive amounts we've spent on them has cost us strengthening other positions. This obsession with "four top strikers" has baffled me for a long time. Now that we've had a rare, once-in-an-era crisis with all of them injured at once, it seems to have made the club feel they are justified and they went and spent £26m on Bony. Who could and probably will be a good signing, but it continues year after year and next it'll be Jovetic and even maybe Dzeko going and being replaced. The papers link us with Danny Ings for the HG quota and it has been confirmed we're scouting Icardi. At least Ings would be free if we signed him but we just never seem to stop with the strikers!

Meanwhile our central midfield has been a disaster area with the over reliance on Yaya continuing yet again and we've had periods where we've been creatively stagnant because we lack variety and extra quality among our attacking midfielders. These are the areas we should have been working hard on after, even in our successful seasons, it was clear we struggled against energetic opposition midfields (especially in Europe). Fernandinho was a good addition but not enough - if we have 4 top strikers, why do we not have 4 top central midfielders? Especially as you're more likely to play 3 central midfielders than 3 strikers. It's a disgrace that a club with our resources relies so much on a near 32 year old Yaya Toure (and Silva in the more advanced midfield positions) after all the money we've allocated to buying strikers.

Players like Koke, Gundogan, Verratti - tenacious players who are very good with the ball - would do wonders for our side and help us compete better in Europe. So what do we do, try for a bargain in Fernando, a purely defensive midfield with limited technique, and it appears to have backfired. We should remake our midfield whether Yaya stays or goes. Even if we miss our main targets, players like Khedira (free but big wages) and Song (1 year left on his contract and homegrown so ideal for Lampard's spot at least) would add a bit of energy and depth we're missing there. But ideally we can land a couple of big ones like Koke or Pogba.

And the pace/winger argument has been done to death... another area neglected. Signing Navas was a good step but he is a squad player type while our rivals boast the likes of Robben, Bale, Sanchez and Hazard. Meanwhile, we buy yet another number 9!

 

[jollylescott]

What annoys me most is how much we've spent on strikers. We all love a striker but the excessive amounts we've spent on them has cost us strengthening other positions. This obsession with "four top strikers" has baffled me for a long time. Now that we've had a rare, once-in-an-era crisis with all of them injured at once, it seems to have made the club feel they are justified and they went and spent £26m on Bony. Who could and probably will be a good signing, but it continues year after year and next it'll be Jovetic and even maybe Dzeko going and being replaced. The papers link us with Danny Ings for the HG quota and it has been confirmed we're scouting Icardi. At least Ings would be free if we signed him but we just never seem to stop with the strikers!

Meanwhile our central midfield has been a disaster area with the over reliance on Yaya continuing yet again and we've had periods where we've been creatively stagnant because we lack variety and extra quality among our attacking midfielders. These are the areas we should have been working hard on after, even in our successful seasons, it was clear we struggled against energetic opposition midfields (especially in Europe). Fernandinho was a good addition but not enough - if we have 4 top strikers, why do we not have 4 top central midfielders? Especially as you're more likely to play 3 central midfielders than 3 strikers. It's a disgrace that a club with our resources relies so much on a near 32 year old Yaya Toure (and Silva in the more advanced midfield positions) after all the money we've allocated to buying strikers.

Players like Koke, Gundogan, Verratti - tenacious players who are very good with the ball - would do wonders for our side and help us compete better in Europe. So what do we do, try for a bargain in Fernando, a purely defensive midfield with limited technique, and it appears to have backfired. We should remake our midfield whether Yaya stays or goes. Even if we miss our main targets, players like Khedira (free but big wages) and Song (1 year left on his contract and homegrown so ideal for Lampard's spot at least) would add a bit of energy and depth we're missing there. But ideally we can land a couple of big ones like Koke or Pogba.

And the pace/winger argument has been done to death... another area neglected. Signing Navas was a good step but he is a squad player type while our rivals boast the likes of Robben, Bale, Sanchez and Hazard. Meanwhile, we buy yet another number 9!

Spot on LC.

You would love to be a fly on the wall in the boardroom discussions. We 'can't win without Yaya', yet there has not been a serious attempt to replace him (or again least according to the various rumour mills). Now as he reaches the end of his career we are trying to prop him up with offers of a coaching role or the like in the future.

Blind Freddie could tell us that we need a quality winger and have done so for years. I like Navas but he is not a top shelf player.

But the real issue for me is the buying of Fernando. He is miles off what we need, and as you have pointed out we have no depth whatsoever in that pivotal position and we were forced to keep a veteran campaigner like Lampard because we had no depth. It beggared belief that our lack of quality in that critical area has not been properly addressed.

The other issue for me is an injection of youth. We need young, energetic, hungry players to take us forward. Speaking of which (as an example) we farmed out George Evans on loan after he played a great game for us. I am happy to debate his merits against Fernando any day of the week. I would also definitely bring back Denayer next season, and consider promoting a player like Ambrose. At some stage we have to bite the bullet on youth and give them a go. I know that Pellegrini clearly doesn't seem to want to risk a young player, but can anyone honestly say that an Ambrose or a Barker playing out wide would do any worse than our current options?

 

[Blue Haze]

What annoys me most is how much we've spent on strikers. We all love a striker but the excessive amounts we've spent on them has cost us strengthening other positions. This obsession with "four top strikers" has baffled me for a long time. Now that we've had a rare, once-in-an-era crisis with all of them injured at once, it seems to have made the club feel they are justified and they went and spent £26m on Bony. Who could and probably will be a good signing, but it continues year after year and next it'll be Jovetic and even maybe Dzeko going and being replaced. The papers link us with Danny Ings for the HG quota and it has been confirmed we're scouting Icardi. At least Ings would be free if we signed him but we just never seem to stop with the strikers!

Meanwhile our central midfield has been a disaster area with the over reliance on Yaya continuing yet again and we've had periods where we've been creatively stagnant because we lack variety and extra quality among our attacking midfielders. These are the areas we should have been working hard on after, even in our successful seasons, it was clear we struggled against energetic opposition midfields (especially in Europe). Fernandinho was a good addition but not enough - if we have 4 top strikers, why do we not have 4 top central midfielders? Especially as you're more likely to play 3 central midfielders than 3 strikers. It's a disgrace that a club with our resources relies so much on a near 32 year old Yaya Toure (and Silva in the more advanced midfield positions) after all the money we've allocated to buying strikers.

Players like Koke, Gundogan, Verratti - tenacious players who are very good with the ball - would do wonders for our side and help us compete better in Europe. So what do we do, try for a bargain in Fernando, a purely defensive midfield with limited technique, and it appears to have backfired. We should remake our midfield whether Yaya stays or goes. Even if we miss our main targets, players like Khedira (free but big wages) and Song (1 year left on his contract and homegrown so ideal for Lampard's spot at least) would add a bit of energy and depth we're missing there. But ideally we can land a couple of big ones like Koke or Pogba.

And the pace/winger argument has been done to death... another area neglected. Signing Navas was a good step but he is a squad player type while our rivals boast the likes of Robben, Bale, Sanchez and Hazard. Meanwhile, we buy yet another number 9!

This. The way we've misallocated our spending is astonishing.

4 years since we got into the CL for the first time, and we still have no one to take corners and indirect set pieces. Watching Silva step up in a dangerous area and blast it out of play was so depressing. Not rectified with two completely different regimes. All of these issues are making me wonder about the level of professionalism of those running the club. This cannot continue another year.