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Tropical Carrington today.Still no Ade and also today no Nigel.Good though to see Kolo in full training and the word on Nigel was that it was just precautionary as he had a sore ankle after yesterday.

Lower key day today as they set about the early exercises and running in 2 groups .Looked distinctly like the team for Saturday and the rest but not actually as Nigel was missing but should be fit.Then into a longish session just about pass and move still working in the same teams before they did some work on corners or crosses from near the corner flag.Both defensive and attacking. Boy can that Micah climb high!! Good news that Milner was beating the front defender.

Then into a game on half a pitch still keeping the teams the same.I think it ended 5 nil for City! As Rocky scored a hat trick you will gather that the team for Saturday didn't fair too well.The other 2 came from Carlos. To be fair though it was 11 against 10!Barry didn't take part being the reason they were a player short. All in all a quieter session which finished with some shooting practice whbere 5 stayed out to fire at Joe.The 5 were SWP,AJ,Milner,RSC and Kolarov and after a few minutes of this I called it a day.

I did ask if a date was imminent for MJ to get a reserve game and all I got was a smile and no commitment.Hopefully not far away but I would doubt he would be risked if the pitch was hard.

What's about El Loco Mario, Doug? Was he running his socks or ...

Cheers Douglas.

Have you noticed any major change of emphasis from Mancini's early days of focussing heavily on defence to a more positive attitude on the training pitch?
Do it look as though we are going to be set up in a more attacking frame of mind as the important 2nd half of the season begins?

What's going on with Ade Doug?

Is he carrying an injury or has he just been frozen out completely?!

Renato_CTID wrote:What's about El Loco Mario, Doug? Was he running his socks or ...

Let's just say I have seen better training sessions from an individual.

john68 wrote:Cheers Douglas.

Have you noticed any major change of emphasis from Mancini's early days of focussing heavily on defence to a more positive attitude on the training pitch?
Do it look as though we are going to be set up in a more attacking frame of mind as the important 2nd half of the season begins?

Can't say I have John. As I said yesterday there was quite a bit of work done with the defence about their positioning and working together as a unit.Less today but instead some time on defending corners which really is all about knowing where each stands in the zonal system and what is expected of them when the kick is taken.

Having said that there is always work done on pass and move mostly in confined areas,making sure that whoever passes the ball doesnt stand still and there are always options available for the guy on the ball.The desired end product when this practice is in a "game scenario" is to release a player either wide on straight through the middle.I wouldnt say it is worked on more now than earlier.I would say they seem much better at the basic part ( pass and move) but still searching for that final pass part which is a little hit and miss.

You use the phrase " attacking frame of mind " and I think that is the key. It isn't about formations or playing more so called strikers or whatever but more about what frame of mind Mancini sends them out with.We saw at Fulham how attacking we can be but that was all about fluent pass and move stuff with the full backs also given reasonable licence to get forward.That's certainly what I expect to see more of.

IanBishopsHaircut wrote:What's going on with Ade Doug?

Is he carrying an injury or has he just been frozen out completely?!

Injury I am sure but I have not had that confirmed.

Thanks Doug,
I was hoping to hear that Mancini, having sorted out the defence and created a stable base to move forward from was now looking at strategies to hurt opponents in their own defensive areas.

I think he has largely succeeded stabilising us at the back but I think that in itself is limiting. It maybe good enough to ensure 4th but if we wish to push on to the very top, we are going to have to win some of those hard away games coming up. Draws will not be enough.

john68 wrote:Thanks Doug,
I was hoping to hear that Mancini, having sorted out the defence and created a stable base to move forward from was now looking at strategies to hurt opponents in their own defensive areas.

I think he has largely succeeded stabilising us at the back but I think that in itself is limiting. It maybe good enough to ensure 4th but if we wish to push on to the very top, we are going to have to win some of those hard away games coming up. Draws will not be enough.

Funny, but I read that differently and was encouraged. I saw a consistency in the work and a clear progression in terms of the attacking exercises. The execution has improved and they're more natural with their passing game, but there's still a way to go.

Very concerned to hear your comments on less than super Mario. Without going into personalities do you sometimes observe players getting away with a poor attitude to training and nothing apparently said by the training staff? If players see other players getting away with a poor attitude then it's bound to be disruptive.

I should add that I have been impressed in the matches with Mario's potential so far although hopefully there's more to come.

Balo doesn't need to train...he's THAT good ;-)

Cheers Doug

blues2win wrote:Very concerned to hear your comments on less than super Mario. Without going into personalities do you sometimes observe players getting away with a poor attitude to training and nothing apparently said by the training staff? If players see other players getting away with a poor attitude then it's bound to be disruptive.

I should add that I have been impressed in the matches with Mario's potential so far although hopefully there's more to come.

No doubt at all that I have seen some less than committed training efforts. It does sometimes get a coach having a word at the time ( or Bellamy when he was there) but as all sessions are filmed I feel confident that the manager/coaching staff would have the right words with any slackers as necessary outside the actual training. Can't see it would be a good idea to rip into somebody during a session.

Cheers Doug - do they not go behind the 'fence' these days? Also do any of the players use 'the hill'?

I just thought I'd say a big thankyou Doug, before you get banned from attending training. It's been emotional

Thai wrote:Cheers Doug - do they not go behind the 'fence' these days? Also do any of the players use 'the hill'?

The hill is rarely in use. Probably more of a pre season thing or for players coming back from injury and needing that kind of hard work to build up.

They are behind fences all the time while the weather is bad.