Who and what’s to blame?

[nellyonthewing]

The players? If they're that weak mentally they shouldn't be at the club but I don't believe they are so I'll discount VAR as a major reason for losing the title. Regardless it didn't cost us anything like as many points as the howlers at the back and failure to finish off teams when on top, last night managed to combine both aspects.

Not buying a quality CB was a definite mistake and combined with the loss of Laporte for half the season left us short at the position. The way we use full backs as auxiliary attackers means their pace is more or less redundant when they're halfway in the opposition half and leaves us vulnerable to fast counter attacks.

VAR should of been a trigger to motivate our players to take the injustice out by playing even better.

 

[Mr Partridge]

Pep has got a blind spot with Fernandinho at Centre Back. When Delph at LB stopped working he stopped doing it. Fernandinho at CB has never worked and yet he's persisted with it week in week out. He lost us the game last night but he should never have even been back there.

It's clear he doesnt trust Stones and Otamendi, which makes the decision not to replace Vinnie all the more baffling. Look at the difference the Van Dijk signing alone made to Liverpool. Yes we lost Laporte but Liverpool's other defenders are better than our other defenders. We have actually scored more goals than Liverpool so it's pretty clear where the problem lies.

Another problem is Gundogan and Rodri. Both players seem to play better without the other, when they both play it doesnt work.

Last season we won 14 in a row, the season before 18 in a row. This season we haven't won more than 3 in a row. A big part of that is the constant changing of the team. I'm not sure any of us know what our best team is this season. There seems to be 4 or 5 changes every game, instead of one player rested one game, then another player rested the next.

In our title winning seasons our key players were Kompany, Laporte, Fernandinho, Sane, Sterling, Bernardo, Aguero, KDB and David Silva. Out of those players theres only Aguero and KDB who have shown any kind of form. The rest have either left, been injured or been out of form. The players signed since 2018 have just not been at the same level.

VAR has not helped, but in previous seasons we've had crap refereeing decisions but we made sure they didn't matter. I just hope we have another summer like 2017 where we identify the positions we need strengthening and bring in the right kind of players we need for the system we play. I couldn't stomach the scousers winning again.

I've got to say, as fed up as I am today, it feels bloody good to be moaning about football again...

 

[mccity]

I'd wager most of the issues this season are to do with mentality, which could stem from a number of things. Key injuries, lack of leadership, success fatigue, the Tottenham game (made worse by the CL game having VAR go the other way), Stones, Bernardo, Sterling after Gomez, UEFA malarkey, Liverpool always winning etc. It could have been any of them, all of them, or even something else.

One thing is I really do think is that the media have got to this bunch, there were noises at the end of last season from the players and even management being bothered by the lack of positive press so it's plausible if not expected that the negative press can affect them too.

But we know that when the players have their heads screwed on they're great. Even this season, when our players are switched on and at full pelt they've looked immense. When we're up for the fight, we're as good as anyone.

Most of the players have won the league with us AT LEAST once and so they know what it takes. It just needs a rocket up the arse. When United failed to win the league under Ferguson he made a couple of key signings, reignited the spark, sent the cheque to the referees, and got them back up to standard. Even at the end when they were relatively rubbish. At Chelsea, they historically have a bunch of winners, who always get back to winning ways once a new manager comes in and revitalises them. As a comparison, Tottenham having no history of success has always seen them fall short at the final hurdles.


Just like 16/17, it'll be small fixes that do the most. Get rid of the deadwood, plug the holes (a CB, a pacey left winger, and a 3rd forward), LEARN from the lessons of this season, a bit of tough love, and a reminder that now there's a PL crown to take back. Rodri will be better, our younger players will all be a year older, the past can be put behind us, and we'll have a point to prove. If Pep and the players really want it, and I mean really really want it, then there's no reason we can't bounce back. The only thing is though, they have to really want it. I for one am optimistic.

 

[Tevez City]

Ferran, Txiki & Pep.

If you consider the amount of money & the Net spent since their arrival it shows that their investments in the team wasn't great.

 

[Phil1]

Ferran, Txiki & Pep.

If you consider the amount of money & the Net spent since their arrival it shows that their investments in the team wasn't great.

Apart from all those trophies, record breaking seasons and football played on another planet, you might be right.
Stick to calling Sterling shite, that's about your limit where football is concerned.

 

[oakiecokie]

Ferran, Txiki & Pep.

If you consider the amount of money & the Net spent since their arrival it shows that their investments in the team wasn't great.

No shock with that comment from you.

 

[Tevez City]

Is there any team in the world that invested on their defence more than us in the past 7 years ?
Yet we are still complaining about the need to buy more defenders !

 

[Gingers Dad]

Now that it’s official, we’ve not lost our title, more failed to defend it. That’s the tragic part, we never turned up this season.

where did it go wrong?

1. Var. yes, it shafted is a lot in the early days...but...I think the club let it get to them a lot each and every time and would dwell on it and fail to pick themselves up quickly enough.

2. Defense. Fullbacks have been terrible all season IMO. Swapping Danilo was a terrible decision. Walker and Stones seem content to have won so much that they stepped backwards. Mendy just hasn’t worked out and the way Pep managed Angelino was disgraceful imo. Decent player left on the bench all season only to be given his debut at anfield vs salah. He set him up to fail imo and didn’t want him brought back from the start.

Laporte was a massive loss, unfortunate.

3. Fernandinho. This to me was Pep’s worst ever managerial move. He took a world class DM out of his position to play bang average at CB. So now we’re weak in two positions rather than CB. It was clear Rodri wasn’t ready for the amount of games he was given, Fernandinho could have taken so much pressure off the back line had he not been moved to CB and left there. I mean he wasn’t even rotated to DM when Stones and Otamendi were fit.

4. Bernardo. Failed to kick on this year for me, certainly not up to last years standards on a consistent basis. Hopefully that comes next season.


So...your thoughts? Where did it go wrong for us this year?

Fernandinhos legs won't allow him to play centre mid anymore. The centre back role gave him a bit longer in the team. I think he'll finish at the end of the season, especially if we end up doing back to back seasons. Hopefully he will have a Champions league medal to take home.

Dave is class and always will be but he should have been a bit part player this season.

Rodri is a class act and it was a no brainer to sign him. But he's really struggled to get to the pace. I noticed the other night against Burnley he picked up his eighth booking of the season.

Laporte getting a bad injury was the biggest blow to the season but hopefully he will play a major role in us winning the Champions league.

Bernardo and Sterling have both run out of gas and their form has dipped dramatically. Sane was a huge loss especially where Sterling was concerned.

Aguero is going through the motions. But what can the manager do when a club legend is passed his sell by date?

But basically we didn't have the desire to go again. The league form has been Arsenal of old. Bullied the weaker teams. Tried to walk the ball into the net while conceding sloppy goals on the break.

 

[Esteban de la Sexface]

Why is there always a need to blame?

The players have played at an unbelievable level for years under pep. 3 trophies last season. Records broken. To maintain that, year in, year out is impossible.

Youd think we were abject.

We've already won one trophy and are in the hunt for two more, leading real madrid in the champions league

 

[Craig]

I think everyone has covered off most of the obvious issues with no replacement for a Vinnie being the biggest one that is on the club

I think the make up of the midfield has been a problem all season though, back in 17/18 we had a peak Fernandinho who could do both the sweeping up role and the deep playmaker role, we had Dave in the form of his life and still had the legs to get up and down the pitch , and we had Kevin providing the moments of genius

this season , Fernandinho has been moved back to defence , Silva’s legs have gone 18 months ago and Kevin, who admittedly is still our genius.

if we are to play Rodri in that role , he needs legs ahead of him not Gundogan. I don’t think Foden is the answer to this next season either which is why Pep has been mentioning him playing wide

If we are to persevere with Rodri we need someone who can get from box to box , ideally someone who has a bit of physicality about them

we also need a centre back who takes no prisoners but is used to playing in a high line , Koulibaly would be ideal

a left back who can defend would also be nice

Alaba
Savic
Koulibaly

Good points but other than experience I’m baffled to see what Foden lacks to be perfect to playing the number 8 role and providing much needed energy to our midfield and pressing game which has at times fallen off a cliff this season compared to previous. Add to that he’ll out score any of our current midfield and be prepared to shoot from distance.