Hart
Sagna Kompany Mangala Kolarov
Played: 5
Goals conceded: 0
Caballero
Sagna Otamendi Demichelis Kolarov
Played: 2
Goals conceded : 5
Spot the difference?
Combine that with a totally out-of-sorts Sergio — he hasn't played this cluelessly for us since he arrived, kept running into blind alleys today, never seen him do that before — and seek no further. Yes, when you lose 4-1, it means the whole team has played poorly, more or less. But some are more culpable than others.
Here's the thing. As far as I could see, nobody particularly noticed this the other night, because we ran out 4-1 winners against the poorest side we or anybody else will meet this year. Sunderland's goal. Ok, the team had gone, collectively, on holiday, in the second half. I know that. It was visible. But what leaves a bad taste in my mouth was the way Demichelis completely lets his man go, and furthermore, doesn't seem particularly bothered about it when he scores. If you're a defender, you should be bothered about it. You should always be angry about losing a clean sheet.
Forget about the goals today. OK, we can talk about that outrageous first goal of Spurs, but a sharper eyed linesman could have flagged ours offside as well. Let's assume, then, the linesman was blind, for the sake of argument. Cancel out their other offside goal, from the free kick. That still leaves Spurs as 2-0 winners.
Time and again, today, even apart from the goals — two unnecessary free kicks conceded — both Otamendi and Demichelis looked completely panicked. They weren't just beaten, they were skinned, over and over. If that's the top defender in La Liga, I'd be curious to see what the second top defender's like. As for DeMichelis. He looks cool and ok when he's got time. But he truly hates it when he's got nippy young players rushing at him. But let's have it right: he wasn't playing Messi out there today. Yet time and again, he looked flustered.
Caballero. Well, about all you can say is that he's our second keeper. Very clearly. He looked ok, until he was tested. Brilliant block on Spurs' first goal, nothing he can do about the second strike. Fair do's. But then he goes and completely ruins it on that free kick.
The truth is that even in our best period — the first half hour — the defence dlooked suspect. I'll admit it, I kept thinking that to myself.
The anti-Navas brigade will be out again, but I really think there's not much to say there. He does what he does, he is what he is. He works hard. He takes one extra touch, sometimes two, on every single cross in he has to make, which means that his full back has time to set himself up for the block, more often than not. He is not a game changer, and we know it. I don't blame him at all for what happened today. He wasn't going to turn the game around.
Finally, I'm well aware that four out of the five defenders (counting Joe) that conceded none for the first five matches played in the West Ham game. Sorry, but as I saw the two, that game bore no relation to this. West Ham took two chances very sharply; granted, they should have been closed down. They then shut up shop for the rest of the game, defended like lions, and did it effectively.
The defence was all over the place today. That dispiritedness filtered up right through the team, and nobody looked much good by the end of the match. We started losing fifty-fifty balls in midfield that we'd been winning in the first thirty minutes. We started losing everything in the air. Although I still think that De Bruyne — who by the high standards he's already set, was relatively ordinary — did the classiest things on the pitch.
By God but what wouldn't I give for — not an injury-free season, I'm not asking for miracles. Just what seems to be a normal injury roster for most other teams. Seven matches in and we are absolutely littered with injuries.
Give me this team, if only for seven to ten matches in a row. Pleeeeeaaase, someone up there!
Hart
Sagna (or Zab) Kompany Mangala Kolarov (or Clichy)
Yaya Fernandinho
De Bruyne Silva Sterling
Aguero