Laser pens directed in the faces of players should not be laughed off or seen as an excuse but we are not making it easy for ourselves by playing slow ball walking technical football.
The fact that we will have to play on rubbish football pitches in Europe is something we will have to get used too, this is the norm in the Europa League until you progress far enough to meet the drop outs of the Uefa Champions League that is.
Against Aris I believe it was not such a bad result or performance but, I do believe one or two players are under-performing and I am not talking about Edin Dzeko.
I have always been a fan of Shaun Wright-Phillips but I think he has seen his best days off, on top of that I believe we have seen the best of Micah Richards and I really don't think we will see any better from him.
I don't want to lay blame on just one or two players as I believe we can improve a whole lot more than we have done, Kolarov was right when saying we need to keep spending even if it is only just one more player.
Our defense may be one of the best in the league this season but, that is also where our ultimate weakness still festers without a world class center back to form a partnership with Vincent Kompany.
When Richards defends he defends well but when he attacks his defending suffers, he relies on his pace to save his backside from a grilling and most of the time he saves himself from humiliation but when he fails our defence suffers and we concede sloppy goals.
I believe we are shooting ourselves in the foot by playing slow and technical at times, allowing opposing teams to get back in position while we play a stupid passing game.
Possession does not win you games and we lack moments of brilliance that are needed to win games and ultimately win titles and trophy's, a prime example would be the sucker punch very recently from England flop Wayne Rooney.
We do sometimes see a glimpse of hope in Dzeko, Silva and Kolarov with shots from range but not enough as far as I am concerned. There is no doubting Tevez's ability as he is one of the best strikers in the world but, that does not mean the rest of our team have to play the same way.
It is time to start balancing our technical ability with some moments of magic, it is time to start playing like we should play or we will struggle across the finish line.
Aris and Nott's County will now have to play on our turf and it is time to destroy them with ease, this is what we should be doing with a squad like ours despite losing our most exciting player in Adam Johnson.
It is time to wake up and play with no fear or hesitation, will our players and manager do so?
Final thought: At present to expect anything more than a Champions League place would be wishful thinking as we still cannot shake the same old same old typical City syndrome.
micah's playing his best football for a long long time and in the last few weeks has been our best player. so many fans just want to jump on his back and use him as a scapegoat all the time. defensively its the too casual jerome boateng who isn't doing it for me.
ReplyDeleteHampo CTID
Agree with your analysis there, Dzeko has come in for some stick and i don't know why but he just isn't getting the service.
ReplyDeleteAt 28 years of age i missed the glory days but my father told me we were a skilful side that used quality wingers. I love seeing wingers get passed their man and crossing from the line for the strikers. We just don't do this with Mancini's tactics but that is not to say i do not trust our manager. I cannot question him as this is the best season i have seen in my City lifetime.
However Shaun was very disappointing in managing a single cross against Aris, he doesn't have the turn of pace he possessed years back. Sad to see but i dont think he will make it back.
Dzeko needs the service and at present he is having to feed on scraps until the lads work it out how to use him properly. Despite this he still manages to show willing and works hard. He has an eye for a pass but his heading ability would be awesome to see in full effect.
We will get there people, stay loyal.
We missed the perfect pairing with Vincent Kompany and that was David Luiz who we had previously been linked with but for some very strange reason never challenged Chelski for him when he became available? Incidentally we were also linked with Rafael Van Der Vaart and that went the same way as we never put a bid against Spurs? Makes you wonder doesnt it?
ReplyDeleteHampo, in my opinion Richards was to blame for Wayne Rooney being unmarked in in the derby, Kompany kept Rooney quiet for most of the match until Fergy threw on Berbatov.
ReplyDeleteThen all of a sudden Richards has allowed Rooney to go unmarked down the right. I agree with you on Boateng as he is finding it hard to adapt and find his feet but, when he is on form Boateng is far better than Richards.
It's ridiculous to blame richards for the rooney goal. Kompany was makring him and moved to anticipate the cross, it deflected off Zabaleta and changed direction going behind Kompany and Rooney, we all know what happened after that.
ReplyDeleteRichards gets the blame for everything, but he has been one of our best players in some pretty flat performances. I can't believe a player who has come through the ranks gets treated like this it's a disgrace.
Dave, it is clear Richards has his fans, I was once a big fan of him until he opened up his own blog and started self serving his own ego.
ReplyDeleteI am not solely blaming Richards for the Rooney goal at all, Im saying Richards of old would have had Rooney well covered.
To say Richards is having a good run of form is just a complete and utter joke, there are only a few on form right now for us and they are Tevez, Silva and Kompany, the rest are in an inconsistant mess.
chelsea and Spur have caught up on us as a result, to deny this fact is to delude yourself.
We were doing ever so well until the Arsenal game, since then we have started to show cracks again.
Watched a different game from me!! We didnt concede a goal and you are moaning about the defence.
ReplyDeleteHow long is your memory, I agree that Lescott is the biggest waste on money since Steve Daley, Kolorov and Boatang have yet to prove themselves.
I am not a big fan of Richards but he is playing better than at any time in the last three years.
Although we can overdo it in the last third, what City fan can complain about our team playing 'a stupid passing game'
As for Adam Johnson being our most exciting player, he has got to start playing for 90 minutes rather than 15 minutes of every game, he plays better for England than he does for City.
More like watched the same game but youre used to accepting an average performance, no one is moaning here like you seem to think.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for Kolarov to prove himself? youre obviously not watching City play if you think Kolarov is having a bad time at City.
For that matter why is it only you who thinks Kolarov has yet to prove himself?, right now Kolarov is being praised by everyone else for the performances he has given.
Kolarov is by far our best wingback and thats a fact.
Johnson plays bette for England than for City?, again who are you watching for Adam Johnson has scored more goals for City than he has for England and that is also off the bench.
Youre comment makes no sense at all.