A few things really.
First thing, our squad isn't strong enough in the sense that the so-called back up players, and by this i mean the players who wouldn't make the starting 11 if everyone was available, don't possess the attributes that allow us to play the same way when we have a couple of injuries. We try, but the pace of play is noticeably slower and this allows the opposition to regroup. So when Fernandinho drops out, Garcia comes in, but Garcia isn't as mobile or as quick on the ball as Fernandinho. Milner isn't as intricate as Silva, so as a result, we create a few less chances per game. If we are going to adopt a specific footballing philosophy, which is what i believe we are trying to do, our rotation players need to have the same attributes as the first 11. Or if not, there needs to be an alternative philosophy, which there clearly isn't at the minute. In fact, it's very difficult to have an alternative strategy when the opposition play with 11 men behind the ball.
What's noticeable is that when Silva doesn't play, we opt to play around the sides of the oppositions defence, rather than through the middle. It's not really to our advantage against the backs to the wall type of teams, like the ones we've lost to, because they tend to have the sort of defenders who can deal with balls being played into a packed area, especially when the pattern of our play is so obvious. So overall, we create less clear cut chances.
Nine times out of ten this wouldn't matter so much if we had a defence who were able to concentrate for 90-95 minutes per game. But without Kompany, we don't. Aston Villa had probably 3 chances and scored 3 goals, Cardiff had a couple from open play which our own calamitous defending contributed to, and then they scored a couple from set pieces which we should have dealt with. And again today. They had one chance and that fell to a defender. We seem to be getting punished for every mistake we make at the back, and when we're making 2 or 3 per game, it's always going to end badly.
The forwards also have to take responsibility. Aguero, as amazing as i think he is (and i mean that - i love him) seems to go through spells where he misses fairly straight forward chances. He missed a couple today that he should have done more with, especially the first one. As a team we do miss a ridiculous amount of chances, and this is probably what cost us the title last season. We dominate nearly every match we play in, yet bad decision making or lack of concentration at either end of the pitch is costing us. We should improve defensively when Kompany is back, and i think Pellegrini needs to decide on who his partner will be long term.
Other than that, Navas on the right hand side isn't working. Teams sit too deep for him to actually be able to use his pace to go on the outside, and his tendency to always go on the outside also negates the attacking use of our right back, especially Richards, who's game is based around pace and power on the overlap. It would be much smarter to play Navas on the left, with Kolarov over-lapping, and play Nasri on the right, with Richards over-lapping.
Overall, we're playing well enough to be winning matches, but much like last season, individual mistakes, both in front of goal and defensively, are costing us points. And my guess is, they will continue to do so because the same thing has been happening for 18 months, with pretty much the same group of players. I hope our luck turns and we start to pick up the results we deserve away from home, but i don't think there's a quick fix to our problem. It's partially luck, but that bad luck is brought on, week in week out, by poor decision making, concentration and composure by players who are supposedly top drawer.