1. No Preseason - well in that case why not? Who made that decision? Didn’t they have enough of a break in the lockdown months?
2. Ederson has been nullified as one of our main set up players. His influence on games offensively has almost ground to a complete halt.
3. Poor recruitment - We have needed a left back for 4 seasons and still havesigned one.
4. No strikers - going into a season with two strikers each year has always been a risk, particularly when one of them always misses games through injury. As Jesus is capable of playing on the left, we should have signed another striker. We will need one next season anyway as Aguero is likely to be done by then so we should have signed one for this one. Aubamayang would have good as a short term option and would have been a perfect solution at very little initial outlay.
5. Lack of leadership. Why are the players allowed to choose the captain?? Surely the a manager sees leadership qualities and makes this decision himself. Choosing a captain who is likely to play less than half then games is madness to me.
6. The forward four players have become extremely lazy at getting back and helping out the overrun midfield when the opposition attack. This needs addressing. There were times yesterday when Leeds had 4 on four. Contract this with a break that Sterling had which looked promising. Leeds got 8 men behind the ball very quickly so the threat was extinguished. We need to do this too at times especially when not in good form.
7. Mahrez - A luxury we can’t afford.
8. Mendy - A complete liability who opposition coaches now Target.
The biggest positive for me yesterday was the instant understanding between Dias and Laporte. Hopefully that lays the foundation for better things to come. Aguero coming back will help as will Jesus.
However, this looks very much like a continuation of last season and if anything worse from what I have seen so far so to expect anything other than the same end result is very much wishful thinking currently.