What's the problem(s)?

[vasan]

I have a few ideas.

1. A lack of preseason/fitness
2. A inadequate replacement for Arteta
3. A lack of a striker,a hard man type.
4. A lack of leadership/characters/Fight
5. Squad disharmony

Am I wrong or being unfair? Is there another reason?

Whatever....something isn't clicking,and we need to find the answer otherwise top 4 will be a struggle.

1.Yes, this especially with respect to our pressing game.

2.Yes, need someone who knows the premier league( ex.xabi alonso or kompany).Arteta was effective more so because he knew the premier league.

3.Not actually necessary for a hardman hold up player like costa, but a striker who has pace and is a allround natural goalscorer

4.kompany more than silva will be missed for his role outside the pitch,KDB has taken silva's role.
But a leader who can be the voice of the manager in the dressing room and on the pitch, helping organise things, someone other player respect and respond to in crucial moments.

5.squad harmony is fine, if anything too many nice characters, need a few to bring tension and agitate when levels in terms effort or quality is not up to mark and keep things on edge.

6.What's missing - more quality in the quality,for a team that professes to play stylish football we do need that extra cutting edge, that extra quality.We need a couple of star signings to freshen things up and reinvigorate the squad.

 

[TheThirdDeano]

I’m starting to think the issue is the squad rather than the tactics.

Way too many passengers and softies for my liking. That in itself makes the tactics fucked and look worse than they are.
The players need a rocket up their arses

 

[Keeper!]

Poor planning in terms of replacing the spine of the team which allowed this team to win so many titles over the last 10 years.

Our recruitment is and has been poor for some time.

The club seems reluctant or unwilling to sign the very best players it once did.

The attitude of the club has changed from proactive to reactive.

Allowing one and and all to belittle us in the media is having a serious detriment to us, it has to stop, but that has to start from the people at the very top of this club.

We have a magnificent manager, the best in our history, but personally I think his cycle is coming to its natural end. A very intense man, a very demanding one, but now a man the players are now seeming to question.

 

[Keeper!]

Need a defensive trainer so we can get the best out of the defence.

We have the world's greatest football coach and he needs help on his defence? you must be joking.

Our defensive issues are down to the said manager, you set up your side to get the best out of the players available, our manager sets up his side for total football regardless, unless we play in the latter stages of the Champions league and then he sh1ts himeslf.

 

[Keeper!]

Supporters expectations

What about our owner and his expectations, it will be clearly far greater than yours!

 

[Keeper!]

Too many times we have conceded goals out of nothing ruined the confidence. One decent counter attack & our football standard drops.

Not enough pace & athleticism in centre mid.

Not fit enough in general.

Back 4 not good enough (may be soon).

Same players have been doing the same attacking moves for years. Not enough new ideas from players or manager

We used to created chances at will, incredible pace on the flanks, Sane and Sterling devastating, amazing creativity in the CM, silva, Bernardo and KDB.

We look devoid of ideas at times and the sparkle has long left this side.

 

[Keeper!]

Lack of pre season is also obviously a big factor the rags and Wolves are also struggling.

Lack of pre-season was a major issue, but so is so is planning , our manager swanning around Barcelona trying to get his mate to sign for us , when there were issues to sort out on the training pitch.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

What's worrying now is that we're not just losing games, we're actually getting outplayed on occasion. In our two great seasons we lost some games, but it was usually due to an opponent scoring with their only shots on target while we miss a boat load and otherwise dominate the game. But Leeds outplayed us for most of the game yesterday and they're not the first to do so this season and last. They had more possession, which suggests that we're unable to control the midfield. De Bruyne and Foden are both great players, but neither retain the ball like David Silva could. They try stuff but lose the ball more often. It might be the reason why we looked so much more in control when Bernardo came on, and why he brought Fernandinho on when we were chasing the game. And perhaps we're finally seeing why Pep uses Gundogan so much too.

We increasingly seem like the sort of team that relies on a bit of magic from our superior players to win games, rather than the intricate patterns of play that made us unstoppable for two seasons. Yesterday, I didn't see the sort of movement around the box that we used to see, and maybe that's because we didn't have a proper striker, but that didn't use to matter. Our best chances all came from closing down the opposition and forcing mistakes, rather than anything we built ourselves.

 

[blueju]

The golden years when we struggled to get out of CL group stages and when we did, it was only to bomb out of the Ro16 stage in spectacular fashion. Good ol' days.

The good old years we didn’t look all at sea in the bread and butter games

 

[alexmcity]

The problem is how people frame the situation.

They completely ignore the circumstances related to injuries, covid, aging and new players, etc., and moan, moan, moan as if we failed with our best team available, as if we didn't have record-breaking seasons, as if this club, this manager, and these players don't deserve to be trusted and to be forgiven when making mistakes.

It's only natural to go through difficult periods. We are lucky to have a manager like Pep overseeing the transition to a team that competes at the highest level after Kompany, after Silva, after Fernandinho and after Aguero. Their legs are gone/going and we have to build a team that can win without them. Can't and won't happen immediately. But it is likely to happen because Pep is among the best ever and because we have a lot of talent in the squad.

Relax, trust the manager and the players, watch the young talents develop into top players, be happy to watch this team. It's neither necessary nor possible to win the league and break records every (other) season.