Where do you even start to criticise the team at the moment?

[NipHolmes]

Dare I say we didn't play that great on too many occasions from Xmas onwards last season either.

Oh and by the way I'm not trying to be negative either because we still have a good chance in the cup and I can handle being the 2nd best team in England.

With the 1st best squad.

 

[cheddar404]

Dare I say we didn't play that great on too many occasions from Xmas onwards last season either.

Oh and by the way I'm not trying to be negative either because we still have a good chance in the cup and I can handle being the 2nd best team in England.

With the 1st best squad.

Just because we have the best squad on paper doesn't mean we have a god given right to win it. We're new to fighting to win the league every year and retaining it was always going to be harder. It takes time to aqcuire the tools to be serial winners. Look at United; they looked poor for much of last season and lost it on goal difference and have looked pretty average this year according to the rags I work with. Yet, they still churn out wins and are looking likely to win the the title this year.

We had an off day yesterday and Liverpool came with nothing to lose and had a go at us. Sometimes the team with better players doesn't play better than the team with inferior ones; that's what makes football so great and yesterday was a great game of football with 4 top class goals. I'm gutted we didn't win like everyone else but still enjoyed the match.

 

[robbieh]

Totally agree. One bad game against an improving Liverpool side and its the end of the world.

We are not playing as well as last year but that would be difficult as at times we were beyond belief. But Yaya, Kun and DS have not been at the races this year. It is too easy to blame the less stella members of the side.

ps Sturridge put in a performance today that I never saw from Balotelli in 2 and a half years. Makes you think.

But for so many players to be off-form for what is nearly a whole season beggars belief and that is the problem.

Zaba Nastasić Lescott(when he's played) Clichy Barry and Milner have all had fantastic seasons and barely put a foot wrong. Agüero has been superb in most games and a bit off the pace in just a few others due to coming back from injury or knocks. Silva, I rate, has been more consistent overall this season than last (was poor - for him - from December to April last season). Džeko is responding well to having a good run in the team and is scoring and working hard. García is improving every week. Hart, where has made odd mistakes, has made more blinding saves this season than he ever has in his career (and it's a goalkeeping coach that tells a keeper whether to punch or catch). Nasri keeps the ball and that is too underrated by too many. Tévez Kompany and Yaya have been the most inconsistent but have not been half as bad as what is being made out.

As a team we've only played poorly in a handful of games and most of the season we've been very good. We're doing well. We're not doing as well as last year but neither did Blackburn in 1996, Arsenal in 1999, Arsenal in 2003, Arsenal in 2005, Chelsea in 2011 or United in 1994 1998 2002 2004 2005 2006 2010 or 2012 as they did in the previous seasons to those.

Sometimes you just don't win the league (and I've not even given up on this season yet - it's not over 'too it's over!).

Great point and one our management team will be well aware of.

 

[bluedreaming]

I think upto the Liverpool game yesterday we have been improving.but yesterday was just a question of effort. They closed us down all game but we just gave them too much room.
Apart from Milner no city player can be happy with their effort yesterday.
I just hope we respond in the right way, the problem is not Mancini's it was the players yesterday,
those same players have been great for us over the last few seasons and I will not be getting on their backs but they must know they need to react positively now.

 

[cheddar404]

I think upto the Liverpool game yesterday we have been improving.but yesterday was just a question of effort. They closed us down all game but we just gave them too much room.
Apart from Milner no city player can be happy with their effort yesterday.
I just hope we respond in the right way, the problem is not Mancini's it was the players yesterday,
those same players have been great for us over the last few seasons and I will not be getting on their backs but they must know they need to react positively now.

Ah, the one size fits all answer to an under par performance: We were lazy. We were lacking our usual composure and didn't dominate possession but for me, the effort wasn't in question. What about Aguero that ran his bollocks off all afternoon for example?

 

[omcfc]

Think we might look back on this as the season that never really got out of 2nd gear. We are high in the league table, but that's only because the sheer quality of the players (individual brilliance) is usually enough. We are not playing as a team. Not clicking. We don't have the verve. It's what makes the difference in the CL where just quality alone isn't enough.

Unfortunately we are becoming the blue spec in the rear view rag mirror. And the current form does not suggest to me that we will progress beyond the semis in the FA Cup either.

the summer transfers were a mixed bag. Nasty was a good buy. Maicon too for 3m provided he stays fit for the rest of the season. Rodwell? Garcia? Sinclair? no.

 

[Oystercatcher28]

is constructive critisism allowed?

 

[cheddar404]

is constructive critisism allowed?

No. We're either shit or amazing. You have to choose which one. That's how it works.

 

[jackrussel]

It's just too easy. We are getting worse by the week either because the players have given up on the title or because they just dont care. We don't have any fire or determination in the team apart from Zabba and Milner. Our whole midfield seems woefully slow, watching Barry and Garcia together arriving a second after the ball has been played is just cringeworthy...

Where has all the fast, crisp passing and movement gone that used to set us apart? Now players pass the ball and just stand still, there is no movement at all, Aguero has absolutely no service and only managed to score today because of his own great skill.

When you make the likes of Henderson and Downing look good you know you're in trouble!

you dont criticise,you support the team and the manager of a team that had not conceded a goal since dec.and is missing some very influential players,the only team above us are having a record breaking season,so give the lads a break you,ve never had it so good.matey

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

It's just too easy. We are getting worse by the week either because the players have given up on the title or because they just dont care. We don't have any fire or determination in the team apart from Zabba and Milner. Our whole midfield seems woefully slow, watching Barry and Garcia together arriving a second after the ball has been played is just cringeworthy...

Where has all the fast, crisp passing and movement gone that used to set us apart? Now players pass the ball and just stand still, there is no movement at all, Aguero has absolutely no service and only managed to score today because of his own great skill.

When you make the likes of Henderson and Downing look good you know you're in trouble!

I commented on this during the game - the player making the pass thought his day's work was over. It is only Milner who seems prepared to run into open space on the chance that he'll get a pass.

It's easy to criticise, and the crisp passing and movement did make an appearance in the second half, and it was quite clear that the Dippers were severely discomforted. But, heigho, on to Soton.