This Stoke defeat?

[BillyShears]

He's no further down on form at the moment than Silva and he has made more key passes than Silva this season.

Seriously, what exactly did Silva do that was better than Nasri against Stoke? Give the ball away 40 times? I love them both, but it's outrageous to see people just blame Nasri, who was actually involved in 3 of our best chances to score! And of course you're not bothered by stats Dave.. why let little things like facts get in the way of a perfectly good slagging off. And besides the stats showing his worth, Nasri runs more than any other player on the pitch on a consistent basis, and Jovetic wouldn't have scored either of his goals against Liverpool if it wasn't for Samir's excellent build-up play.

I'm not here to have a big argument, but just wanna say if you can't understand what Nasri does for the team, then you really just don't understand how our team functions in the first place. That doesn't mean he's automatically in the team and always plays fantastic.. no one does! But for f*cks sake don't even try to tell me he wasn't excellent last season. He was a huge part of our title win and is always desperate to get more silverware. He's right up there with my most appreciated players!

I never mentioned the Stoke game once. I talked about Nasri's form over the last seven months. It's a perfectly reasonable point to make and a perfectly reasonable discussion is taking place, without you banging your tub and shouting melodramatic nonsense about 'slagging off'.

Maybe he should've just said you're wrong and left it at that. :)

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Except, from the point of his return from injury to the end of season game against West Ham last season, he scored 7 goals and made 5 assists with multiple games of 7 key passes or more in the last few weeks. That would suggest to me that he was okay and was quite influential in some of his games.

Unless i'm misunderstanding you, and your point is that he hasn't been playing well since his return from his recent injury in pre-season. If that is your point, then i can kind of understand. However, we are only three games in. And Nasri has played okay in the first, performed well in the second and looked just as bad as our other creative players in the third, so even then, its a stretch for me to come out and say i fully understand your point, because to me, you're being unreasonable, and a bit of a dick.

I'm not bothered about the stats, mate. I'm giving an opinion from watching him. He came back last Februaryish from an injury, after having the first run of proper form since he arrived in the first third of last season. He actually came back quite well and scored a couple of times in the first couple of games but then for the rest of the year his form was inconsistant at best, poor at worst. He's started this season the same.

There have only been three months in his entire City career when he's played at the top of his form, so he can do it, and does it in little fits and starts. But not often enough again, just like his first two years. If he doesn't get back to consstency again soon he may have to be dropped. In my opinion of course.

I agree completely. He's got some great attributes, particularly ball retention in tight areas under pressure, and in terms of yards covered per game, he's surprisingly and consistently, one of the best at the club.
The most glaring issue for me though (and I can sense OB1 stretching and yawning as I climb aboard my pet hobby horse) is not just his actual lack of pace, but also the pace with which he moves the ball. He holds on to it too long, and on the counter he's as much use as a chocolate teapot. Yes, David Silva stank against Stoke as well, but there's always a sharpness in his movement and changes of direction, plus he plays with his head up, whilst Nasri frequently plays the game at walking speed. Don't get me wrong, he's a very good player, and one who has conjured up some magical moments for us, but I don't think he has imposed himself anywhere near as much as someone with his talent (and price tag) should have done. If we had quicker options, he'd have been subbed a fair few times if I was City manager.......

Yep, it's a hobby horse of mind too, and a drum I've banged for a long time.

You know the last player we had who had exactly the same attributes and problems? Slowing the game down and losing momentum, whilst showing enough flashes to appeal to the cheap seats?

Robinho. He was terrible for it.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

I'm not bothered about the stats, mate. I'm giving an opinion from watching him. He came back last Februaryish from an injury, after having the first run of proper form since he arrived in the first third of last season. He actually came back quite well and scored a couple of times in the first couple of games but then for the rest of the year his form was inconsistant at best, poor at worst. He's started this season the same.

There have only been three months in his entire City career when he's played at the top of his form, so he can do it, and does it in little fits and starts. But not often enough again, just like his first two years. If he doesn't get back to consstency again soon he may have to be dropped. In my opinion of course.

I agree completely. He's got some great attributes, particularly ball retention in tight areas under pressure, and in terms of yards covered per game, he's surprisingly and consistently, one of the best at the club.
The most glaring issue for me though (and I can sense OB1 stretching and yawning as I climb aboard my pet hobby horse) is not just his actual lack of pace, but also the pace with which he moves the ball. He holds on to it too long, and on the counter he's as much use as a chocolate teapot. Yes, David Silva stank against Stoke as well, but there's always a sharpness in his movement and changes of direction, plus he plays with his head up, whilst Nasri frequently plays the game at walking speed. Don't get me wrong, he's a very good player, and one who has conjured up some magical moments for us, but I don't think he has imposed himself anywhere near as much as someone with his talent (and price tag) should have done. If we had quicker options, he'd have been subbed a fair few times if I was City manager.......

Yep, it's a hobby horse of mind too, and a drum I've banged for a long time.

You know the last player we had who had exactly the same attributes and problems? Slowing the game down and losing momentum, whilst showing enough flashes to appeal to the cheap seats?

Robinho. He was terrible for it.

Yup, good shout

 

[Gray]

Still rankles with me that we came out for the second half and continued in exactly the same vein as the first half. Just what did they discuss at half time?

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

There appears to be a lot of angst over the stoke defeat , but give them credit , clueless worked us out , rode their luck , and his team parked the bus , played on the break and we gave an uncharactertically shite goal away , Kolarov, Dinho and Hart all contributed mistakes to their goal . If any team in the premier league wants to come to the etihad and take us on , we will beat them , i can think of only 3 teams who will do this dippers, arse and spuds , and they will all get stuffed .
But when the managerial gods of mourinho and van gaal visit , they will not attack us , they will set up tactically to minimise our threat ,( a posh version of parking the bus) , and if either get any kind of result , they will be the saviours of modern football .Whilst the other 14 premier teams will try and do a stoke , and history says we fail to beat these lesser teams once a season , stoke have won the "beat city at the etihad trophy" for this season.

 

[davymcfc]

I think the OP is right. It looks bad coupled with a fairly poor transfer deadline day for us. One thing is for sure, we cannot afford to drop any points at arsenal which is a tough ask.

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

Well, I for one, think it was the calm before the storm. Watch out Arsenal,Bayern and Chelsea.
Oh ye of little faith.

 

[BillyShears]

Yep, it's a hobby horse of mind too, and a drum I've banged for a long time.

You know the last player we had who had exactly the same attributes and problems? Slowing the game down and losing momentum, whilst showing enough flashes to appeal to the cheap seats?

Robinho. He was terrible for it.

Nasri (and Robinho for that matter) don't appeal to the cheap seats at all. They don't bust a gut, don't throw themselves into challenges etc.

Other than that though it's a very harsh comparison for the simple fact that Nasri is tactically very very intelligent. In fact his game intelligence keeps him in the side when his general form like you say would have him out.

You know I've always had a soft spot for him as a player. I know he can frustrate, but I also know how important he is to the way we play. He's one of those players you don't miss until he doesn't play for a few games, then you're desperate for him back, as we were when he was out injured last season.

 

[somethingelse]

oi oi could nasri run a bit more ! don't like sweaty footballers no
no he cant, hes basically not a natural athlete so he struggles, saw him after the pool game he looked totally drained

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Yep, it's a hobby horse of mind too, and a drum I've banged for a long time.

You know the last player we had who had exactly the same attributes and problems? Slowing the game down and losing momentum, whilst showing enough flashes to appeal to the cheap seats?

Robinho. He was terrible for it.

Nasri (and Robinho for that matter) don't appeal to the cheap seats at all. They don't bust a gut, don't throw themselves into challenges etc.

Other than that though it's a very harsh comparison for the simple fact that Nasri is tactically very very intelligent. In fact his game intelligence keeps him in the side when his general form like you say would have him out.

You know I've always had a soft spot for him as a player. I know he can frustrate, but I also know how important he is to the way we play. He's one of those players you don't miss until he doesn't play for a few games, then you're desperate for him back, as we were when he was out injured last season.

I do agree in lots of ways. On the occasions when we've got the short passing going this season he has been involved in the main. And we did miss him when he was out. I just know that he can do so much more when his head is up and his confidence surging, like it was last autumn. He's a frustrating player, not a shit one, maybe because he loses the positivity that creates things when he's not playing well. I know I'm maybe consistently harsh on him for that reason.