Mancini

[Bluez]

.

All we need to do it beat them at our place and the league is still on

assuming we at least match their results between now and then, including in our trips to Norwich, Arsenal and Newcastle

If we can't match their results then we don't really deserve the title do we?

[Blue Since 76]

If we can't match their results then we don't really deserve the title do we?

I think we will beat them at home. But I don't think we'll match their results week in and week out. Hence the point about just beating them not being enough

[Grob]

7 changes and a formation change on Thursday (1 forced)

Another 6 changes today (2 forced)

Has Benitez taken over?

I dont like that much rotation, and could that be the reason the lads haven't found the right rhythm over the past 2 games?

That and Savic is rubbish of course

[Beefymcfc]

7 changes and a formation change on Thursday (1 forced)

Another 6 changes today (2 forced)

Has Benitez taken over?

I dont like that much rotation, and could that be the reason the lads haven't found the right rhythm over the past 2 games?

That and Savic is rubbish of course

Changes are my biggest problem with Mancini's tactics, he doesn't rotate properly all season then throws a load in at once.

As for Savic, he is a young man trying to play alongside some of the best players in the world so I can understand his tension. Mancini knows this but didn't have a choice today; he's one for the future.

[Grob]

The problem with the rotation is that we are not only rotating the players but the roles the players are playing. Nasri and Milner especilly are plugged into the team in all sorts of positions. So its not just the 13 personel changes in 2 games that constitutes the rotation.

Savic doesnt have the ability mate IMO.

[Beefymcfc]

The problem with the rotation is that we are not only rotating the players but the roles the players are playing. Nasri and Milner especilly are plugged into the team in all sorts of positions. So its not just the 13 personel changes in 2 games that constitutes the rotation.

Savic doesnt have the ability mate IMO.

You're probably right about Savic but it can't help being dropped in at the deep end. And you're right again, we don't seem to do a one for one swap to try and mix it up, we just seem to throw players on who will fit a hole. These players need a set position that they can concentrate on rather than being forced to play as the game suits. It's benefitial to no-one.

[PeterParker]

"Swansea played very well for the first 30 minutes," said Mancini, "they were aggressive and had a lot of possession. Later on in the first half, and then the second, we controlled the game and had some chances, and we should have scored. Then we have made a mistake at the end and conceded their goal.

"We had plenty of chances in the second half, but if we create chances we need to score from them! If you don't and you also make mistakes, like against Sporting you can pay by conceding a goal. I don't think we deserved another result like this, but now we can do nothing." - Bob, after the game.

What chances?

[dazby]

This is the real test for him, if he can motivate the team and comeback from the dead to win the league, he is top, if not, he may go.
Simple as that.

The problem is this, i am convinced after this display, he will sacrifice the Europa league.

You could be right. He may well put it down to tiredness.

I'm totally convinced he will sacrifice the game.

[Blue Since 76]

I'm totally convinced he will sacrifice the game.

What, you mean he'll rotate the team, play players who aren't good enough, have some bizarre formation where you can't really work out what they're supposed to be doing, leave the best players on the bench etc? Or were you talking about the Europa game?

[Hazy2]

Home form into away games job done.

[lets all have a disco]

Home form into away games job done.

Its that easy weve been doing it all year.

[Beefymcfc]

"Swansea played very well for the first 30 minutes," said Mancini, "they were aggressive and had a lot of possession. Later on in the first half, and then the second, we controlled the game and had some chances, and we should have scored. Then we have made a mistake at the end and conceded their goal.

"We had plenty of chances in the second half, but if we create chances we need to score from them! If you don't and you also make mistakes, like against Sporting you can pay by conceding a goal. I don't think we deserved another result like this, but now we can do nothing." - Bob, after the game.

What chances?

I thought that, until I seen this:


[center]Swansea City - Team Statistics - Manchester City

1 Goals 0

0 1st Half Goals 0

5 Shots on Target 6

5 Shots off Target 7

2 Blocked Shots 9

7 Corners 10

9 Fouls 15

2 Offsides 1

0 Yellow Cards 2

0 Red Cards 0

85.1 Passing Success 83.3

14 Tackles 19

78.6 Tackles Success 78.9

55.4 Possession 44.6

40 Territorial Advantage 60

537 Total Passes 431

24 Total Crosses 23

147 Lost Balls 136

52 Recoveries 49

64.6 1st Half Poss. 35.4

46.3 2nd Half Poss. 53.7[/center]

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

I have never been entirely happy with Bob. Thought he was way too negative for a long time. We came out of our shell for some while in the first three months of the season but he has reverted to type.
Very uninspiring team at Porto with little creation from the middle of the park. Similarly frustrating at Swansea. One look at the team sheet and I knew what sort of performance to expect.
we have the finest squad of players in the country and bob holds us back.
If he went tomorrow I seriously would not be bothered.

[Hazy2]

Home form into away games job done.

Its that easy weve been doing it all year.

tinkering cut to min and home form has to be replicated or we will come 2nd simple.

[PeterParker]

"Swansea played very well for the first 30 minutes," said Mancini, "they were aggressive and had a lot of possession. Later on in the first half, and then the second, we controlled the game and had some chances, and we should have scored. Then we have made a mistake at the end and conceded their goal.

"We had plenty of chances in the second half, but if we create chances we need to score from them! If you don't and you also make mistakes, like against Sporting you can pay by conceding a goal. I don't think we deserved another result like this, but now we can do nothing." - Bob, after the game.

What chances?

I thought that, until I seen this:


[center]Swansea City - Team Statistics - Manchester City

1 Goals 0

0 1st Half Goals 0

5 Shots on Target 6

5 Shots off Target 7

2 Blocked Shots 9

7 Corners 10

9 Fouls 15

2 Offsides 1

0 Yellow Cards 2

0 Red Cards 0

85.1 Passing Success 83.3

14 Tackles 19

78.6 Tackles Success 78.9

55.4 Possession 44.6

40 Territorial Advantage 60

537 Total Passes 431

24 Total Crosses 23

147 Lost Balls 136

52 Recoveries 49

64.6 1st Half Poss. 35.4

46.3 2nd Half Poss. 53.7[/center]

I've seen the statistic too and the only thing that come in mind, are those consecutive corners at the end of the first half, when we really put presure on them . Beside that, nothing. I think they counted some poor shots on the direction of their keeper.
I would rather have an angry reaction, instead of thinking we were unlucky, when is clear as day we need wake up.

[Grob]

I have never been entirely happy with Bob. Thought he was way too negative for a long time. We came out of our shell for some while in the first three months of the season but he has reverted to type.
Very uninspiring team at Porto with little creation from the middle of the park. Similarly frustrating at Swansea. One look at the team sheet and I knew what sort of performance to expect.
we have the finest squad of players in the country and bob holds us back.
If he went tomorrow I seriously would not be bothered.

I agree

[DoomMerchant]

I have never been entirely happy with Bob. Thought he was way too negative for a long time. We came out of our shell for some while in the first three months of the season but he has reverted to type.
Very uninspiring team at Porto with little creation from the middle of the park. Similarly frustrating at Swansea. One look at the team sheet and I knew what sort of performance to expect.
we have the finest squad of players in the country and bob holds us back.
If he went tomorrow I seriously would not be bothered.

I agree

this is his shot to show that he's big enough for this 'project.' If he wins the league surely no one can have a gripe, tho all the criticism leveled is accurate imho. However, if we come 2nd and he wins the Europa League i will be unimpressed honestly.

Based on our early season form nothing but the league will quench my thirst. And honestly to all the people saying that we've played the best football all season, on the whole it's been pretty fucking uninspiring since the new year. I'm not sure which team many of you are watching, but i've been as aggravated by this team as much as i was under Hughes at his worst during the run of draws, maybe even moreso because our talent level and capability is so much higher.

We've squeaked some wins and played some nice stuff here and there in nearly every match, but we haven't had those dominating, beautiful matches in a while, have we?

i'm struggling to recall one that just made me jism in my pants in this calendar year. Am i crazy? Perhaps i'm just too dour. ;)

cheers

[Grob]

I have never been entirely happy with Bob. Thought he was way too negative for a long time. We came out of our shell for some while in the first three months of the season but he has reverted to type.
Very uninspiring team at Porto with little creation from the middle of the park. Similarly frustrating at Swansea. One look at the team sheet and I knew what sort of performance to expect.
we have the finest squad of players in the country and bob holds us back.
If he went tomorrow I seriously would not be bothered.

I agree

this is his shot to show that he's big enough for this 'project.' If he wins the league surely no one can have a gripe, tho all the criticism leveled is accurate imho. However, if we come 2nd and he wins the Europa League i will be unimpressed honestly.

Based on our early season form nothing but the league will quench my thirst. And honestly to all the people saying that we've played the best football all season, on the whole it's been pretty fucking uninspiring since the new year. I'm not sure which team many of you are watching, but i've been as aggravated by this team as much as i was under Hughes at his worst during the run of draws, maybe even moreso because our talent level and capability is so much higher.

We've squeaked some wins and played some nice stuff here and there in nearly every match, but we haven't had those dominating, beautiful matches in a while, have we?

i'm struggling to recall one that just made me jism in my pants in this calendar year. Am i crazy? Perhaps i'm just too dour. ;)

cheers

Agree with that too.

I think Bobby will struggle to get a second bite at the cherry if we fail to win the league this season. And rightly so, this is the worst Premier League in terms of quality since the mid 90's. Mancini has the best resources by far to call upon. We should be 5 or 6 points clear by now IMO.

[trout man]

We all know opinions are like assholes..everyone has one, but I for one am appalled by some of the assholes..sorry, opinions...posted on this board at the minute, its getting more and more like bluemoan all the time.

Yes we are all rightly pissed off and the young lad crying at the match is the epitome of the pressure we are feeling as fans, but to seriously say that you couldn't care less if Mancini was gone in the morning or not good enough or tactically inept is just plain wrong. Its not that he doesnt have moments of tactical ineptitude but show me a manager that doesnt...baconface has made some howlers this year in both the league and in Europe and has got away with most of them in the league...Guardiola is far from perfect...so I am wondering just what kind of paragon of footballing virtue the dissenters feel is 'good enough' to manage the greatest football club in the world (cue sarcasm)...now cue the Mourinho debate as he is the only one, the special one, the one and only that will propel 'the worlds greatest football team' into a sphere of triumph unmatched by any that have gone before...because as you know, we 'deserve' it, honestly we do....we really do...don't we?

The arrogance being expressed by a component of our fans is nothing short of shocking...we should be supporting Mancini, acknowledging his mistakes and by our very reasoning by being fans of City, consolidating and backing our manager to the hilt not undermining him and ultimately the moral of our team. Could you imagine if Mancini, the backroom staff or the players were reading some of the vitriol on the pages of this forum in the last 24 hours..we are, by proxy, undermining confidence through our arrogant expectations and playing into the hands of all those naysayers that intimate we should win everything because of all the money we have spent....strangely some of our 'fans' feel the same way...obnoxious to say the least.

It is natural when a player/s has a bad game there are going to be negative comments about the player...sure that is all part of the game and if one bad performance leads on to another and yet another then by definition that player will become the subject of our ire, but lets not assassinate them either (they are still our brothers in blue). Our current 'hurt' emanates from what is tantalisingly within our grasp and some just cant wait nor have the patience to get through this stressful time without hurling abuse. There is a phrase that says 'we always hurt the ones we love' and I feel that abusing Mancini is abusing City and ultimately the one thing we want the most and that is the Premiership title. I would gladly sacrifice this years premiership title if I knew that the stability that Mancini has obviously brought to our club in the last two years would be maintained and that it meant us winning the next three in a row...that I feel is our destiny if we can stick to the programme.

As hard as this may be we need unconditional support for our manager right now, and as any of us who have children know, our love is unconditional even though at times we could box the ears of them...but we still love them and I dont doubt that most, if not all on here, love their club...just don't let the pressure get in the way of the love.

CTID

[DoomMerchant]

We all know opinions are like assholes..everyone has one, but I for one am appalled by some of the assholes..sorry, opinions...posted on this board at the minute, its getting more and more like bluemoan all the time.

Yes we are all rightly pissed off and the young lad crying at the match is the epitome of the pressure we are feeling as fans, but to seriously say that you couldn't care less if Mancini was gone in the morning or not good enough or tactically inept is just plain wrong. Its not that he doesnt have moments of tactical ineptitude but show me a manager that doesnt...baconface has made some howlers this year in both the league and in Europe and has got away with most of them in the league...Guardiola is far from perfect...so I am wondering just what kind of paragon of footballing virtue the dissenters feel is 'good enough' to manage the greatest football club in the world (cue sarcasm)...now cue the Mourinho debate as he is the only one, the special one, the one and only that will propel 'the worlds greatest football team' into a sphere of triumph unmatched by any that have gone before...because as you know, we 'deserve' it, honestly we do....we really do...don't we?

The arrogance being expressed by a component of our fans is nothing short of shocking...we should be supporting Mancini, acknowledging his mistakes and by our very reasoning by being fans of City, consolidating and backing our manager to the hilt not undermining him and ultimately the moral of our team. Could you imagine if Mancini, the backroom staff or the players were reading some of the vitriol on the pages of this forum in the last 24 hours..we are, by proxy, undermining confidence through our arrogant expectations and playing into the hands of all those naysayers that intimate we should win everything because of all the money we have spent....strangely some of our 'fans' feel the same way...obnoxious to say the least.

It is natural when a player/s has a bad game there are going to be negative comments about the player...sure that is all part of the game and if one bad performance leads on to another and yet another then by definition that player will become the subject of our ire, but lets not assassinate them either (they are still our brothers in blue). Our current 'hurt' emanates from what is tantalisingly within our grasp and some just cant wait nor have the patience to get through this stressful time without hurling abuse, there is a phrase that says 'we always hurt the ones we love' and I feel that abusing Mancini is abusing City and ultimately the one thing we want the most and that is the Premiership title, but I would gladly sacrifice this years premiership title if I knew that the stability that Mancini has obviously brought to our club in the last two years would be maintained and that it meant us winning the next three in a row...that I feel is our destiny if we can stick to the programme.

As hard as this may be we need unconditional support for our manager right now, and as any of us who have children know, our love is unconditional even though at times we could box the ears of them...but we still love them and I dont doubt that most, if not all on here, love their club...just don't let the pressure get in the way of the love.

CTID

i support City
i support the players
i support Mancini

i am not an asshole, usually, and definitely not in this case
i will criticize Mancini all i want and not feel like i'm undermining the team
i will also criticize specific players efforts or skills as i wish based upon what i see

i will also cling to the notion that there is a lot of football to be played
i will also hope that Mancini and the players are preparing mentally to go for the throat and play to win

i think unconditional support of the manager is a ridiculous comment. He's not infallible. He's not a City legend who can do no wrong. He's a man we put a lot of faith in, and i hope upon hope that he wins us the league.

there are a lot of "very good to almost-great" managers in world football, and i think Mancini is in danger of ensuring that he's enshrined at that level forever unless he pulls his finger out, and works to join the ranks of the small and elite crew of truly world-class managers who are currently operating in world football. Clearly, we need that manager and i'd rather him build his reputation here with us and for us than "buying" that manager a la Jose, but...we need that manager. That manager doesn't lose the league this season.

There is still time.

cheers