Team work.

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C_T_I_D

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Joined
13 May 2007
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For so long we've been labelled as bringing in talented induviduals (or mercenaries), but against Bolton & Tottenham in particular I witnessed team performances in terms of some exceptional build up play and passing / movement etc. It feels like it is all coming together despite Agúero & Nasri being new but ultimately world class talent has shone through albeit early in the season.

My major concern is this is exactly how Chelsea started last season, battering teams by loads of goals game after game and then they seemed to hit a brick wall as teams learned how to play against them. I'm concerned that if that happens to us we won't have a plan B as Mancini has a playing style that is to his liking and I've not really seen any alternative at the moment. Whether that is merely because we haven't needed one I'm unsure, but it will be interesting to witness as the season progresses.

Thoughts?
 
C_T_I_D said:
For so long we've been labelled as bringing in talented induviduals (or mercenaries), but against Bolton & Tottenham in particular I witnessed team performances in terms of some exceptional build up play and passing / movement etc. It feels like it is all coming together despite Agúero & Nasri being new but ultimately world class talent has shone through albeit early in the season.

My major concern is this is exactly how Chelsea started last season, battering teams by loads of goals game after game and then they seemed to hit a brick wall as teams learned how to play against them. I'm concerned that if that happens to us we won't have a plan B as Mancini has a playing style that is to his liking and I've not really seen any alternative at the moment. Whether that is merely because we haven't needed one I'm unsure, but it will be interesting to witness as the season progresses.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Teams did not learn how to play Chelsea. They simply got injured and didn't have the subs to make up for the injury, Andd by the time they got back to health, they had lost confidence and form.

We are not playing much differently from how we played last season (especially the second half when Yaya joined the 3 behind the striker), we just have better players doing it.
 
As someone else posted Chelski had an easy run of early fixtures and didn't play a big team until they played us at COMS whilst we have already had Spuds and an difficult away game against Bolton so I don't see what happened to Chelski happening to us
 
Certainly does look like it's coming together - the result both of a full pre-season for those who signed last summer, possibly, and the introduction of two new genuinely world-class players in Nasri and Aguero. What's struck me most has been how we've pressed high up the pitch as a team - something which Barca do so brilliantly and which we barely did at all last season, apart from a few short spells in certain matches. With the defence pressing higher, the whole team is more compact, and the attacking players are able to link and work together much more closely - resulting in the, at times, breathtaking one-touch passing we saw on Sunday. Compare that to times last season, when our strikers were far too isolated, and even Silva had to drop too deep to pick up the ball. Winning the ball back early, high up the pitch, and getting it to Silva, Nasri, Aguero etc. quickly makes us so dangerous.

With regards the observation about Chelsea last season - no doubt it's a valid point, and while having every reason to be extremely optimistic about a genuine title challenge, we would perhaps do well not to get too carried away just yet. That said, there is a difference, in my opinion, in that we have so many players who are adept at finding that crucial space in between the opposition defence and midfield (esp. Silva, Nasri, Aguero, plus Johnson, Tevez, Balotelli) that is so difficult to counter, and that makes us doubly hard to play against - compared to Chelsea, for instance, who last season played a far less fluid system and in fact lacked a single player capable of performing that kind of role (hence why they signed Mata). No doubt teams will make a better fist of things that Spurs did, but I think we should have enough variety in our play this season to ensure we don't hit the same kind of wall as Chelsea did last year.
 
Maybe its just me but I can see a lot of room for improvement. I honestly cant see the game a lot of people on here are talking about. Fawning over the Spurs match like it was the greatest performance in our history is not realistic imo. As I've said before it was a great performance and dont get me wrong, the result and the manner in which it was achieved against a decent Spurs side sends out a statement of intent to the rest of the league.

However, for me I can see this particular team only getting better. Imo we saw flashes of it on Sunday and with Dzeko's Stephen Ireland like application and subsequent improvement whereby he made the most of the service on offer and put in the performance that he did, we have a world beater on our hands. Nasri and Silva can offer more. I have seen both of them contribute more than they did on Sunday. And before anyone starts to throw stats around, stats dont allow for potential. And thats what I'm talking about, the potential of this team.

Brilliant start to the season, some fantastic performances, can and will do better.
 
bluetoo said:
Maybe its just me but I can see a lot of room for improvement. I honestly cant see the game a lot of people on here are talking about. Fawning over the Spurs match like it was the greatest performance in our history is not realistic imo. As I've said before it was a great performance and dont get me wrong, the result and the manner in which it was achieved against a decent Spurs side sends out a statement of intent to the rest of the league.

However, for me I can see this particular team only getting better. Imo we saw flashes of it on Sunday and with Dzeko's Stephen Ireland like application and subsequent improvement whereby he made the most of the service on offer and put in the performance that he did, we have a world beater on our hands. Nasri and Silva can offer more. I have seen both of them contribute more than they did on Sunday. And before anyone starts to throw stats around, stats dont allow for potential. And thats what I'm talking about, the potential of this team.

Brilliant start to the season, some fantastic performances, can and will do better.
Click to expand...
I am hoping the fawning was over the quality of the opposition (Spurs) and the performance on the road. But performance wise, I have watched the game 3 times, and we were often the more disjointed of the 2 teams. We diced thenm badly in spots, but didn't dominate like a 5-2 winner until late in the game when it was all set and Spurs were ready for the whistle.

But this is to be expected, we have a front four playing together for the first time. So no complaints. We will get better (albeit might score less, or if you can imagine it, MORE!)
 
Dax777 said:
bluetoo said:
Maybe its just me but I can see a lot of room for improvement. I honestly cant see the game a lot of people on here are talking about. Fawning over the Spurs match like it was the greatest performance in our history is not realistic imo. As I've said before it was a great performance and dont get me wrong, the result and the manner in which it was achieved against a decent Spurs side sends out a statement of intent to the rest of the league.

However, for me I can see this particular team only getting better. Imo we saw flashes of it on Sunday and with Dzeko's Stephen Ireland like application and subsequent improvement whereby he made the most of the service on offer and put in the performance that he did, we have a world beater on our hands. Nasri and Silva can offer more. I have seen both of them contribute more than they did on Sunday. And before anyone starts to throw stats around, stats dont allow for potential. And thats what I'm talking about, the potential of this team.

Brilliant start to the season, some fantastic performances, can and will do better.
Click to expand...
I am hoping the fawning was over the quality of the opposition (Spurs) and the performance on the road. But performance wise, I have watched the game 3 times, and we were often the more disjointed of the 2 teams. We diced thenm badly in spots, but didn't dominate like a 5-2 winner until late in the game when it was all set and Spurs were ready for the whistle.

But this is to be expected, we have a front four playing together for the first time. So no complaints. We will get better (albeit might score less, or if you can imagine it, MORE!)
Click to expand...

Im pretty sure it was and god knows we deserve to indulge ourselves a little. I was glad to see Mancinis reaction after the game though. We can get as carried away as we like as fans but it was reassuring to see him keeping the teams feet on the ground.
 
C_T_I_D said:
For so long we've been labelled as bringing in talented induviduals (or mercenaries), but against Bolton & Tottenham in particular I witnessed team performances in terms of some exceptional build up play and passing / movement etc. It feels like it is all coming together despite Agúero & Nasri being new but ultimately world class talent has shone through albeit early in the season.

My major concern is this is exactly how Chelsea started last season, battering teams by loads of goals game after game and then they seemed to hit a brick wall as teams learned how to play against them. I'm concerned that if that happens to us we won't have a plan B as Mancini has a playing style that is to his liking and I've not really seen any alternative at the moment. Whether that is merely because we haven't needed one I'm unsure, but it will be interesting to witness as the season progresses.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
city are far younger and deeper than Chelsea were last year.
 
Chealsea was a mess off the pitch last winter. Ancelotti lost control of his team and Wilkins was fired without a proper reason. Ab just didn't trust him any more and interfered too muchwith players and tactics. 50m pounds for an unnecessary torres. Hope we won't meet the same shit otherwise we will be screwed.
 
The one thing I hate the most about opposition fans criticising us is when they say "you're not a team", "you'll never gel" etc. Well, we came joint second last year and won the FA Cup. If we'd just won the latter, then perhaps the criticism would've been justified, but come on, third in the league "without gelling". My arse.

What has been astonishing this year is how quickly the new players have settled. Nasri looked as though he'd been playing for us for years, and Aguero?? I know Kun has been overshadowed by Edin's extraordinary start, but for me he's been just as sensational and as he himself has said, he hasn't adapted to the pace of the Prem game yet!!

Regarding the Spurs game, I actually felt we played "better" against Bolton and deserved a similar scoreline, if not more. On the other hand, despite 'Arry's shocking tactics and a deeply unsettled Modric, Spurs are a better team. Great performance in both.
 
C_T_I_D said:
For so long we've been labelled as bringing in talented induviduals (or mercenaries), but against Bolton & Tottenham in particular I witnessed team performances in terms of some exceptional build up play and passing / movement etc. It feels like it is all coming together despite Agúero & Nasri being new but ultimately world class talent has shone through albeit early in the season.

My major concern is this is exactly how Chelsea started last season, battering teams by loads of goals game after game and then they seemed to hit a brick wall as teams learned how to play against them. I'm concerned that if that happens to us we won't have a plan B as Mancini has a playing style that is to his liking and I've not really seen any alternative at the moment. Whether that is merely because we haven't needed one I'm unsure, but it will be interesting to witness as the season progresses.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


Not worth worrying or being concerned about something what may never happen.
3 games in and its looking fcukin awesome, let's take one game at a time and enjoy.
 
bluetoo said:
Dax777 said:
bluetoo said:
Maybe its just me but I can see a lot of room for improvement. I honestly cant see the game a lot of people on here are talking about. Fawning over the Spurs match like it was the greatest performance in our history is not realistic imo. As I've said before it was a great performance and dont get me wrong, the result and the manner in which it was achieved against a decent Spurs side sends out a statement of intent to the rest of the league.

However, for me I can see this particular team only getting better. Imo we saw flashes of it on Sunday and with Dzeko's Stephen Ireland like application and subsequent improvement whereby he made the most of the service on offer and put in the performance that he did, we have a world beater on our hands. Nasri and Silva can offer more. I have seen both of them contribute more than they did on Sunday. And before anyone starts to throw stats around, stats dont allow for potential. And thats what I'm talking about, the potential of this team.

Brilliant start to the season, some fantastic performances, can and will do better.
Click to expand...
I am hoping the fawning was over the quality of the opposition (Spurs) and the performance on the road. But performance wise, I have watched the game 3 times, and we were often the more disjointed of the 2 teams. We diced thenm badly in spots, but didn't dominate like a 5-2 winner until late in the game when it was all set and Spurs were ready for the whistle.

But this is to be expected, we have a front four playing together for the first time. So no complaints. We will get better (albeit might score less, or if you can imagine it, MORE!)
Click to expand...

Im pretty sure it was and god knows we deserve to indulge ourselves a little. I was glad to see Mancinis reaction after the game though. We can get as carried away as we like as fans but it was reassuring to see him keeping the teams feet on the ground.
Click to expand...
This made me giddy :) Knowing how grounded Mancini was. His eyes are set farther than an away win at Spurs 3 weeks into the season. Love it :)
 
Remember the team that wasnt a team , won the fa cup, finished joint second and were only 9 points behind the shite. !

I really believe we will do the business this year ,
 
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