ono
Well-Known Member
After watching us struggle badly again today, what do you think the main problem(s) is/are? Does the problem simply lay with the manager, or certain players? Or does the problem go deeper than that for you?
For me, we are totally stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of what we are trying to achieve.
On the pitch, over the last 12-15 months, I've been struggling to understand what our philosophy is -In terms of style of play and in terms of team selection and player recruitment. Under Mancini we tended to play a slow possession based type of game for the majority, but we also had it in our locker to totally shut up shop, even if that meant playing for a draw.
We still play a fairly similar style of football now, except we play with two wide men who maintain their width. For me, this is a big problem because it increases the distance between the players so the ball takes longer to get to its target. Commentators always point out how slow we are in possession and this is the main reason. Because the ball takes so long to travel to its target, the opposition can easily get bodies around the receiver before he is able to make himself comfortable with the ball. We only have a handful of players who have enough ability and composure to deal with this kind of pressure. Against Liverpool it was evident that none of those players were defenders. Toure was the only one out of the back 7 and he was double teamed and shut down.
Under Mancini, Silva and Nasri were often our widest midfielders, and they obviously both had a tendancy to cut in with the ball to play centrally. Zabaleta and Clichy both provided width for us and because of the space vacated by both Silva and Nasri, both had space in the final third. Zabaleta and even Richards both had a lot of success on the overlap, and because of the shape of the midfield, were both able to create this overlap inside the opponents penalty area. Currently the majority of our overlaps occur outside the penalty area (Kolarov and Sterling occasionally link up inside but it nearly always leads to a shot from an impossible angle) and in much wider areas, and as such are much less dangerous. Furthermore, because we still try to overlap (especially so on the right) the winger and full back end up occupying exactly the same space. Not only do they often get in each others way (Navas and Sagna) but we also leave ourselves light centrally so when the ball finally makes its way into the box, there's not really anything to hit. Defensively, because of the width we try and maintain, we leave ourselves so vulnerable when we lose the ball. We cannot close the gaps and as a result look utterly chaotic at the back. It's testament to how good Kompany is that he can somehow hold it all together despite of the problems. Unfortunately for us, he is constantly injured. Injuries in general are a huge problem for us. We have had 37 different injuries so far this season and it is only December. For us, our injuries occur mainly down the spine of the team and whilst bad luck is a factor, it hardly shines a bright light on our fitness and conditioning team.
Recruitment has also been slightly baffling for some time. We have had an obvious weakness in both full back positions. Only Zabaleta has really proven himself to be top drawer for us and in his 30's he now looks fairly injury ridden. Regardless, for a possession based team, we surely require athletic, technically excellent full backs who can take the ball under pressure. The Liverpool game probably highlights just how far away from that we currently are right now.
Attacking wise, De Bruyne and Sterling are both good players, but I wouldn't necessarily say that both of them fit within our style of play. It's difficult to judge properly because we haven't had a fully fit team this season, but Sterling requires space to run into to be at his best, and De Bruyne is also more of a counter attacking threat. Neither have a reliable enough touch or first time pass to play how we are tying to play. Both of them look much better in the transition - especially De Bruyne with his early delivery and incisiveness. Sterling still has his qualities and is clearly a long term investment, but while I appreciate that we have paid excessively because of his potential, it does trouble me potential can be so expensive. Furthermore, when other top teams have a 20 year old potential world beater on their hands, they also don't have to rely on him every single game.
Part of me questions whether or not we would have been in for him had he not been English. The same is probably true of Delph, although it's clear to me that he is seen as a Fernandinho back up option. I still don't think we fully addressed the centre of the pitch over the summer. Our midfield was outdone by a totally make shift midfield 3 today. Neither Affelly (spelling) or Cameron are naturals yet we had no answer. I do think that we had a much more pressing issue with regards to needing a central midfielder, yet we spent £100m on wide men who are both probably more suited to teams who play a faster tempo, more direct style of football. We sometimes appear to sign players based on purely on their form for their recpective clubs without putting much thought into how they will fit in to our system.
Finally I think a big problem is the fact that Pellegrini clearly isn't our first choice for a manager. There's an inevitability about his reign coming to end in the next 6 months and it looks to be translating to the pitch. So do we wing our way through the season, or do we act now?
For me, we are totally stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of what we are trying to achieve.
On the pitch, over the last 12-15 months, I've been struggling to understand what our philosophy is -In terms of style of play and in terms of team selection and player recruitment. Under Mancini we tended to play a slow possession based type of game for the majority, but we also had it in our locker to totally shut up shop, even if that meant playing for a draw.
We still play a fairly similar style of football now, except we play with two wide men who maintain their width. For me, this is a big problem because it increases the distance between the players so the ball takes longer to get to its target. Commentators always point out how slow we are in possession and this is the main reason. Because the ball takes so long to travel to its target, the opposition can easily get bodies around the receiver before he is able to make himself comfortable with the ball. We only have a handful of players who have enough ability and composure to deal with this kind of pressure. Against Liverpool it was evident that none of those players were defenders. Toure was the only one out of the back 7 and he was double teamed and shut down.
Under Mancini, Silva and Nasri were often our widest midfielders, and they obviously both had a tendancy to cut in with the ball to play centrally. Zabaleta and Clichy both provided width for us and because of the space vacated by both Silva and Nasri, both had space in the final third. Zabaleta and even Richards both had a lot of success on the overlap, and because of the shape of the midfield, were both able to create this overlap inside the opponents penalty area. Currently the majority of our overlaps occur outside the penalty area (Kolarov and Sterling occasionally link up inside but it nearly always leads to a shot from an impossible angle) and in much wider areas, and as such are much less dangerous. Furthermore, because we still try to overlap (especially so on the right) the winger and full back end up occupying exactly the same space. Not only do they often get in each others way (Navas and Sagna) but we also leave ourselves light centrally so when the ball finally makes its way into the box, there's not really anything to hit. Defensively, because of the width we try and maintain, we leave ourselves so vulnerable when we lose the ball. We cannot close the gaps and as a result look utterly chaotic at the back. It's testament to how good Kompany is that he can somehow hold it all together despite of the problems. Unfortunately for us, he is constantly injured. Injuries in general are a huge problem for us. We have had 37 different injuries so far this season and it is only December. For us, our injuries occur mainly down the spine of the team and whilst bad luck is a factor, it hardly shines a bright light on our fitness and conditioning team.
Recruitment has also been slightly baffling for some time. We have had an obvious weakness in both full back positions. Only Zabaleta has really proven himself to be top drawer for us and in his 30's he now looks fairly injury ridden. Regardless, for a possession based team, we surely require athletic, technically excellent full backs who can take the ball under pressure. The Liverpool game probably highlights just how far away from that we currently are right now.
Attacking wise, De Bruyne and Sterling are both good players, but I wouldn't necessarily say that both of them fit within our style of play. It's difficult to judge properly because we haven't had a fully fit team this season, but Sterling requires space to run into to be at his best, and De Bruyne is also more of a counter attacking threat. Neither have a reliable enough touch or first time pass to play how we are tying to play. Both of them look much better in the transition - especially De Bruyne with his early delivery and incisiveness. Sterling still has his qualities and is clearly a long term investment, but while I appreciate that we have paid excessively because of his potential, it does trouble me potential can be so expensive. Furthermore, when other top teams have a 20 year old potential world beater on their hands, they also don't have to rely on him every single game.
Part of me questions whether or not we would have been in for him had he not been English. The same is probably true of Delph, although it's clear to me that he is seen as a Fernandinho back up option. I still don't think we fully addressed the centre of the pitch over the summer. Our midfield was outdone by a totally make shift midfield 3 today. Neither Affelly (spelling) or Cameron are naturals yet we had no answer. I do think that we had a much more pressing issue with regards to needing a central midfielder, yet we spent £100m on wide men who are both probably more suited to teams who play a faster tempo, more direct style of football. We sometimes appear to sign players based on purely on their form for their recpective clubs without putting much thought into how they will fit in to our system.
Finally I think a big problem is the fact that Pellegrini clearly isn't our first choice for a manager. There's an inevitability about his reign coming to end in the next 6 months and it looks to be translating to the pitch. So do we wing our way through the season, or do we act now?
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