Yesterday, like Sunday, was a must win game if we had any hope of fighting for the title and for those that had real believe that it was possible then it was a very important match. Looking downwards, it was also imperative to win to get some breathing space in the top 4 race with the fixtures coming up. So I cannot fathom how and why the players will not be inspired or motivated for this match if they understood our situation in the table and the schedule.
It was genuinely a poor performance: Not because Stoke played well (even though they were organized in terms of their spacing and pressing) but because the players simply did not show up. The first half in particular was certainly the worst this season and one of the worst I have seen in a while. Slow, lethargic, disjointed and ineffective. The midfield is obviously the most important position in football and our midfielders were poor. Yaya did OK as he was the one looking to drive the ball forward from deep with his runs but the other two, De Bruyne in particular, were dreadful and that was the core of the problem was in the game- the ineffectiveness of the midfield especially in the first half. Fernandinho and De Bruyne need to sort themselves out mentally because they have not been OK in that respect for a few games now. It got better in the second half when Silva came on and we created a few good chances (and should have taken at least one of them) but it was not as free flowing as we have seen in recent weeks.
I for one was very surprised by the level of performance.
The starting line up was OK,I had no problems with it, even in hindsight, it was still a solid and balanced team. The problem was not the system but the players that did not turn up. The only gripe was not putting Raheem Sterling on the bench just in case we have problems like we did yesterday. It is an unspoken reality but we all know that Sterling has been the best and most important player this season and has instigated the breakthrough first goals in the last few games. Hope the staff also accept this unspoken truth but perhaps they thought we had enough to win the game, which we did, but Sterling must be on the bench if he is being rested.The atmosphere in the stadium was also poor, and this is important as well in terms of driving the players.(e.g Monaco) So all in all a totally disappointing night that more or less kills any respectable hope of winning the title..but after what happened in Catalonia yesterday...you never know. Chelsea should win it though.
As I said, I did not expect and cannot explain it. Perhaps the energy, spirit, novelty and shine brought into the team by Gabriel and Sane has began to fade and we reverted back to the state before the start of the year. But that will be a gross overreaction. It is just one game. Still not as painful, in my opinion, as the totenham game though because if we won that then we would have been in a real good position. But the difference is that, it was a heroic, great performance against Totenham and this was the opposite.
Tough games ahead and whatever caused this display will have to be assessed and corrected. The players have to fight now in the upcoming games. the goals are clear: Champions league, FA cup and obviously finish in the top 4..Go out, play well and win..and as Guardiola says, take one game at a time.
