something is wrong

[bannblue]

I'm convinced it's the midfield pairing of Barry and Yaya.Neither have the personality or character to impose influence on a game.
Both have little spark and appear soulless to me.

Last night we were badly missing a leader and inspiration(see Komps and DJ).
Tevez as captain is a joke,as talented as he is,he can't speak English and when he is having an 'off' day,as his last two games have been(understandably btw),he offers very little in terms of motivation.

^^^^^^
This

 

[Zmajuga]

We've been a bit off since the inclusion of Dzeko. We just haven't looked the same since his arrival. Our attacking play hasn't looked that disjointed this season when we have a front three of Silva - Balotelli - Tevez. We know how to pick a defence apart, but since Dzeko's arrival, we just seem too top heavy. Tevez, Silva, Dzeko and Balotelli were all on the pitch at the same time yesterday, and we just looked so cramped. There was no space for anyone to move in there. And Tevez only came into the game when Dzeko left the field. Dzeko forces Tevez to drop away from the attacking play instead of him playing as the striker and the playmaker.

But Barry desperately needs to either get fast, or get out of the team. When Michael Johnson eventually comes back, Barry will not be around for much longer. Barry is old and slow. He can't pass, and the only time he makes a notable appearance is when he gives away a free-kick on the edge of City's area. He just seems to bundle around, and he slows down the attack so much when the ball comes to his feet. And apart from his lung busting runs that he takes ages to recover from, I'm slowly beginning to lose sight of what Yaya Touré adds to our play.

However, if we get rid of Barry and replace him with say, Sneijder in the summer, I think we'll be lethal. The new players like Kolarov, Boateng, Silva, Yaya Touré, Balotelli and Dzeko will have either 6 months or a year of Premier League experience behind them, and most importantly: a year together. We will be able to fight for the title. Luckily, for the first time in City's history, we only need a few tweaks to challenge for the heights of football's greatest prizes. The squad we have now is good enough to get us into the Champions League when everyone is fully fit, so a few more inclusions won't be bad things.

I posted many posts on here saying Dzeko would take us backwards for a few months and upset Tevez's rhythm. This exact thing has happened!

Yup, it's Dzeko's fault. In fact I think that we need to blame him, pitch and reffs every time we lose. Maybe we should loan him to Spurs. That way he could mess up their game and leave us in 4. place.

 

[tonea2003]

there were no positives in what you wrote
yet we are third with a mathmatical chance of winning the damm thing
still in two cup competitions with no reason to expect that we won't progess
we are even favourites in one, how strange for a team with no pace and style.
we have the pleasure of watching some fantastic footballers grace our team.
yes you didn't say shit but you might as well have
now that is unbelieveable.

the OP suggested at shortcomings and something being wrong... i gave my opinion on those...

if you would like to start a thread discussing our positivies, i will happily contribute on that subject too.

Can you honestly tell me that you are content with the way we play?

i am more content than discontent for sure.
areas of improvement always, we have played some scintillating football at times this season, we have consistantly dominated teams, not always getting the results we desereved ala everton and these are areas of improvement that need to be made.
when we have been backs to the wall, spurs/arsenal we have stood up to those tests with our goal intact, something i don't we have been given enough credit for.
yes there have been off days wolves away is one,(probably the poorest)
but overall we are going in the right direction.
that's why the negativity is a bit bemusing.

 

[FantasyIreland]

I'm convinced it's the midfield pairing of Barry and Yaya.Neither have the personality or character to impose influence on a game.
Both have little spark and appear soulless to me.

Last night we were badly missing a leader and inspiration(see Komps and DJ).
Tevez as captain is a joke,as talented as he is,he can't speak English and when he is having an 'off' day,as his last two games have been(understandably btw),he offers very little in terms of motivation.

Thanks for that comment mate, I got pelters on the MuEN for saying exactly that. Those two are cumbersome, awkward, slow, clumsy and uninspiring. Why didn't Mancio take one of them off and put VK in there? We will not reach the heights of expectancy with an half arsed M/F, David Silva can only do so much, he needs a bit of guile to go with his flair. To make matters worse is that we only have Milner or Viera as cover - not quite the Nasri player we need. However, Ballo's back lets hope he can get a decent run of games coz we needed him for the past 6 games!!

Milner,of the three,would be my choice to play alongside Silva and DJ.

To be honest,when we bought him,i thought he was the answer to our missing all action midfield man,however,due to various factors(predominantly,for reasons only known to the boss,not playing...)he hasn't lived up to that expectation.
Of the trio though,i'm still of the belief,he is the best current option we have in that role as he has the best engine,the most desire and a variety to his game including the better mobility and change of direction/pace,he also takes a decent set piece and crosses well.

As regards Balo,he will make a huge difference to our attack definitely,as will the option of AJ,hopefully,in a couple of weeks time.

So for me.
Richards Boateng Komps Kolarov
..Balo....DJ....Milner.....Johnson..
...............Silva..............
...........Tevez/Dzeko..........

 

[samharris]

We cant use pace against teams that park up and close the barrier down but we need to up the passing tempo and of course improve passing accuracy.

 

[FantasyIreland]

We cant use pace against teams that park up and close the barrier down but we need to up the passing tempo

I think,partly,that is what a lot of contributors mean when they categorize it under the 'pace' banner.

 

[samharris]

We cant use pace against teams that park up and close the barrier down but we need to up the passing tempo

I think,partly,that is what a lot of contributors mean when they categorize it under the 'pace' banner.

Im a tad slow today ;)

 

[FantasyIreland]

I think,partly,that is what a lot of contributors mean when they categorize it under the 'pace' banner.

Im a tad slow today ;)

Yep,speed of thought also under that banner.

 

[blutone3]

compared to the yids,we are shite!. theres no getting away from it,its poor ,watched us vs aris an then watched spurs???.....what a difference,dunno where we are going but it aint the top 4,an it aint the europa either.
somethings not right,and if it goes on,then its goodbye mancini,tevez,ballotelli,silva,et al,....then we are back where we started,top ten ,no more!!!!

 

[samharris]

compared to the yids,we are shite!. theres no getting away from it,its poor ,watched us vs aris an then watched spurs???.....what a difference,dunno where we are going but it aint the top 4,an it aint the europa either.
somethings not right,and if it goes on,then its goodbye mancini,tevez,ballotelli,silva,et al,....then we are back where we started,top ten ,no more!!!!

colonel mustard library rope.