What is it that's missing

Pace\Dynamism going forward and 2 strong central midfield players.
The former a general point about our team as a whole. This is the one thing Navas can provide (but his all round game has not been quite good enough)
The latter due to the fact that Toure, Fernandinho and now Fernando are all in poor form. Probably Milner should play central midfield with the best of the 3 listed to minimise this.

In addition Clichy has become a liability and is thus leaving the left sided central defender more exposed i.e. Mangala or Demichelis.


Best team at present ?:

Hart
Zabaleta Kompany Mangala Kolarov
Milner Fernandinho
Lampard (if fit)
Jovetic Silva
Aguero
 
A quality left back. A problem area for 3 years and one we have failed to address.

Pissing about with the Mangala signing so he wasn't ready to hit the ground running at the start of the season.

Missing too many chances. Aguero scores on Saturday when he should have done and we win.
 
Took it from my earlier post --- Our passing accuracy/fluidity and setup has been seriously poor, but if there was one other thing we are atrocious at currently it is our defending and allowing our opposition space and time...

1. ENERGY - We don't press from the front much i.e. an athleticism/energy issue ... Only see Kompany being aggressive the rest ''chase" the ball.

2. CB PARTNERSHIP - Kompany & Demich were one of the best pairing last season and we need to know why. If we know why we need to get back into the groove of this asap. Or maybe Mangala needs this season to adjust and bed in? Demich did need time to bed in last season but after that he was top class in most games.

3. PASSING - Our passing is soooo shit these days... There are times where a player's touch has been a little heavy... we can't put through balls and our passing is just not accurate. We need to work very hard on our passing and accuracy of moving the ball and the shooting/scoring goals will fall into place with and we will score more... we have an average of 20% shots on target in a game! (i.e. 20 shots on goal 4 on target)

4. NASRI - believe it or not he's important because he is the one player who, even more than Silva, will retain the ball and that contributes to controlling the pace of the game. Nasri is an important component to our team and we do really need him back...

5. FORMATION - I can understand 4-4-2 at home in PL, but our Pellers MUST rethink the way he lines up in Europe and EVERY away game in PL (which we can fairly say, every game in the PL is tough, there are no easy ones)... we must adjust to 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 allowing one of our major strength's (midfield) to take full advantage because we don't rely on strikers to score alone, all our players from mid to strikers, can score...

6. TOO MUCH SPACE & LB? - We give LOTS of time and space to our opposition to build up and defend very cautiously... there have been times where an opposing left/right back is in our final third at a standstill vs Kola/Clichy and they will just stand there cautiously instead of being aggressive and dictating the defending to them... Zaba and Kompany close their spaces down aggressively and quickly, but our left side is a gaping hole!

Just my thoughts before any kicks the sh*t out of me!
 
I think it's just the typical early season settling in period where players are getting used to playing with each other and the system. We have a new centre back, new central midfielder and we have altered the team with Lampard and also Milner has played more regularly whilst Nasri is out. It takes time to get that understanding in midfield and I think that's the main issue. We've been prone to attacks right through the centre of the pitch - where the midfield hasn't been on the same page and the centre backs are left with too much to do.

It will click soon, like it did last season. I think we need some big games to get the team back on track. The derby is a good starter. The CL with 3 big games to come is also a test we need to step up to and I think that will put us in good stead moving forward. 6 points behind Chelsea isn't ideal, 3 points would have been excellent considering how well they have played compared to us. But we will get better and as long as we keep them within reach we can win the league.
 
NQCitizen said:
Continued runs in the team for Demichelis and Kolarov the two most unflappable leaders in the team.
Click to expand...

A steady back 4 would be a huge help.Wasn't yesterday the first time Chelsea had a different fullback on the pitch,an enforced change?

I don't get all this rotation,especially when it does fuck all to counter the opposition.
 
Well;

1 Mental and physical tiredness.

Most of the first teamers have been playing and training since August last year, apart from a couple or three weeks after the world cup, which was not enough to recharge the batteries and refresh them for the coming season. They are now playing basically twice a week, including internationals and will have no break for another seven months. This plus the flying around the world for internationals and Champions League football, it's no wonder they look jaded.

2 Winners withdrawal.

The same thing happened after we won the last EPL title. They came back to start playing after the big high of last year and realised they have to start from scratch and do it all over again after what was, for many, a disappointing World Cup.


Sure, they are professionals, but they are also human, not robots,
 
It's not been a problem with us alone.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton have also underperformed compared to last season. Let's not be harsh on our players too soon.
Remember last season 4 points from 6 away games. Our run will start soon.
 
As others have posted, energy, we seem to lack it for large parts of games whilst our opponents are out-working us - especially in midfield which has resulted in our defence (who I think have harshly been over-criticised) being swamped because our midfield is not doing its job. I'd really love to see some younger faces (or Milner permanently!) in the midfield. Is it a sign of our ageing squad?
 
bellsouth said:
As others have posted, energy, we seem to lack it for large parts of games whilst our opponents are out-working us - especially in midfield which has resulted in our defence (who I think have harshly been over-criticised) being swamped because our midfield is not doing its job. I'd really love to see some younger faces (or Milner permanently!) in the midfield. Is it a sign of our ageing squad?
Click to expand...
What? The squad is mostly reaching its peak, to me that means that they are supposed to be at their BEST now. Don't let media brainwash you.
 
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