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?
1. I can’t believe you’re lumping Walker into the deficient column. Guy’s been excellent this season. Bailed us out with his pace and power on countless occasions. Angelino meanwhile had plenty of opportunities. Neat and tidy going forward, but hopeless defensively. Too slow, too small, ok in a 5, a disaster in a 4.
Mendy I would concur hasn’t worked out, but he was starting to look solid enough immediately prior to the lockdown and he clearly still needs time after his horrendous injury problems. Unfortunately, City operate these days in a world where there is almost no margin for error (the dippers could quite conceivably end this season on somewhere between 104 and 107 points), and having a left back - in addition to Stones and Otamendi - who will give away 3 or 4 goals a season with truly horrendous brain fart decision making is a non-starter, plus that dreadful “wrong foot” tackle last night did little to assuage fears that his technique (for want of a better word) won’t cause both City and the player himself issues in the future. Alas, Zinchenko is not the answer either. Had a great season in 2018/2019, with Laporte covering for him defensively, but with Big Eric missing most of this campaign, Zin’s glaring lack of pace has caused us problems against the better teams. Walker just turns on the afterburners and runs anyone who’s eluded him to ground. Zinchenko doesn’t have that in his armoury and whilst he’s comfortable in possession I don’t really think he offers us anything offensively.
2. I agree re Fernandinho, but once Laporte got injured we were up shit creek, and Fernandinho consistently produced better performances at centre half than either Stones or Otamendi. Rodri has become an “issue” meanwhile partly because Pep has insisted on coupling him Gundogan or Dave, who don’t have the athleticism to press efficiently anymore, which in turn leaves Rodri stranded high up the pitch and exposes his lack of pace and ability to recover.
3. Bernie hasn’t been anywhere near his best, but he’s not alone in having failed to recapture the heights of the previous campaign. Raheem Sterling has veered somewhere between average and poor back as far as the end of September last year, and last night represented a microcosm of his season. Never stopped running or trying, but shot (and missed) when he should have just rolled the ball sideways for a tap-in, carelessly allowed a great ball inside the Chelsea left back to run out over the dead ball line before putting his cross in, and twice over-ran the ball when cutting into the penalty area from the left. Part of this is unquestionably fatigue in my opinion (the guy hasn’t had a proper break in over 2 years, and the loss of Sane all season afforded him no relief), and I acknowledge there’s always an element of confirmation bias when assessing Sterling that perhaps doesn’t get applied to Bernardo, but if we’re going to challenge again next season then we need the 2018/2019 versions of both players.
3. Assuming we win at CAS, and that looks 50:50 tops to me, then we definitely need an overhaul if we’re going to catch Liverpool. We’ve lost a whopping 8 times in the league this season and at times we’ve looked toothless against a low block and horribly susceptible to counterattacks. Walker aside, there’s a complete dearth of pace, both at the back and in the DM positions. Otamendi, Zinchenko, Stones, Rodri, Gundogan, Mendy, Fernandinho. Liverpool can push TAA and Robertson forward safe in the knowledge that Van Dijk and Matip have the pace and power to cope one on one. When it happens to City you get panic and poor decision making (Stones vs Palace, Stones vs Villa, Otamendi vs Norwich, Mendy vs Wolves, Mendy vs Chelsea - and they’re just examples of where atrocious fuck ups and errors of judgment have led directly to goals, and don’t include the countless times Otamendi in particular has lunged in off his feet because he knows he doesn’t have the pace to jockey forwards away from goal).
New left back, new centre half, new left sided midfield player (all with pace) and extended game time for Foden, and we should have a good shot at reeling the Scousers back in, not least because we play better football than them. All hangs on CAS though
