The mancityfans.net football forum

This season we have ALL seen some of our players turn to dog shite, I think the only players to consistently play well are;

Joe Hart
James Milner
Sergio Aguero

Zabs, has been poor, remembering back to last season, he started poor and improved to his very high standard

Yaya, a shadow of the man, there are signs of improvement, but his defensive side of the game, poor, he was at fault for the first goal last night
Jojo, tries hard, but how many times did he give the ball away
Clichy, my MOM against the scum, awful last night

Even Merlin's passing has been poor by his own high standards

It goes on and you get my point

So what's happening with this squad???

World Cup hangover, year after title hangover, broken pre season, manager who trusts the players to find spaces, work hard & deliver attacking football, rather than regimenting them into a stiff system.

He looks for them to provide inspiration & intelligence, they are providing neither.

Ted Hughes wrote:World Cup hangover, year after title hangover, broken pre season, manager who trusts the players to find spaces, work hard & deliver attacking football, rather than regimenting them into a stiff system.

He looks for them to provide inspiration & intelligence, they are providing neither.

I think you got it correct with last sentence. I doubt Pellegrini is hair dryer kind of manager. He picks players he believes will provide spark and inspiration on the pitch. Unfortunately none of them really do that. Kompany is fantastic skipper but can't do it all by himself. Dave Silver is doing his thing as good as ever but isn't really leader type. Ditto Aguero. Yaya is the one who used to often take the ball when chips were down and led by an example. He isn't doing that this year. I think lot of that has to do with his brother. I honestly think he needs help and counseling with the personal life.

Nasri has reverted to his former self and I really hope we could find attacking midfielder who could ease the creative burden and lead the attack mentally.

I had Garry Cook along to the last disabled supporters meeting and he expressed the opinion that Mancini was a win at all costs type of man who did not fit the city model. I understand why Mancini was got rid of but Pellegrini for me is not an upgrade, I just hope the Lamborgini has a reverse gear....

sweenyuk wrote:I had Garry Cook along to the last disabled supporters meeting and he expressed the opinion that Mancini was a win at all costs type of man who did not fit the city model. I understand why Mancini was got rid of but Pellegrini for me is not an upgrade, I just hope the Lamborgini has a reverse gear....

I'm all for sticking by a manager, but Pellers genuinely has no plan b and looks like he's not arsed at all. He doesn't learn from the mistakes in the previous match and keeps on relying on players that clearly don't give a shit.

Is this what happens when players get their new long term contracts and just stop applying themselves in the correct way?? Or are players not trying as hard as there is no world cup at the end of the season to aim for, Fern springs to mind in this category. Is there a lack of hunger after wining the league? I am baffled as to how far back ward this team has gone in such a short space of time. We are struggling to get the very basics right, what was Clichy doing for the goal, all he had to do was lay it off. Our passing game has gone to pot. Time for people to start earning their huge wages and pull us out of the mire.

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:World Cup hangover, year after title hangover, broken pre season, manager who trusts the players to find spaces, work hard & deliver attacking football, rather than regimenting them into a stiff system.

He looks for them to provide inspiration & intelligence, they are providing neither.

I think you got it correct with last sentence. I doubt Pellegrini is hair dryer kind of manager. He picks players he believes will provide spark and inspiration on the pitch. Unfortunately none of them really do that. Kompany is fantastic skipper but can't do it all by himself. Dave Silver is doing his thing as good as ever but isn't really leader type. Ditto Aguero. Yaya is the one who used to often take the ball when chips were down and led by an example. He isn't doing that this year. I think lot of that has to do with his brother. I honestly think he needs help and counseling with the personal life.

Nasri has reverted to his former self and I really hope we could find attacking midfielder who could ease the creative burden and lead the attack mentally.

I think you are right about Yaya, but I don't see him as the problem anyhow personally; just don't ask him to do set defensive jobs. He won't do it. He may not be at his best in other areas, but he's still better than most players & better than most of our players.

Tbf to Nasri though, although he looks a bit crappy, it appears he wasn't fit earlier & now he's just coming back from injury, so it's not impossible he may find his best form. Still though, everyone has seen our act now & it's time to learn some new tricks, maybe swap one or two players for new ones.

If this group largely stays together, I think we need to look at Europe as a different problem to the Premier League. This group of players have proven, beyond a shaodow of doubt, that they can compete in the Premier League, in different systems, & have proven beyond doubt that they are completely shit in Europe, both at Champions Lg & Europa League level. It's not just down to ability, they have just shit it & pretending otherwise is affecting our league form.

No point in managers saying 'we can win the Champions League'. No we can't. Not with these players. Let's not pretend otherwise, let's just go for the Prem each year, & experiment in Europe til we find a team/system/manager that works.

One of the CSKA defenders said we were easy to beat. We threw 8 players way up the pitch and when it broke down we were extremely vulnerable to the counter attack because their centre forward was far too quick for MDM and Vinny. Very fair analysis and that's the manager's fault. There were other things wrong; the slow tempo and lack of creativity in the absence of Silva; but our tactics were naive against a team we had already played several times. The centre forward's pace was hardly unknown to us. I'm afraid Pellegrini has to take his share of blame for last night. He seems rigid and lacking in flexibility which is plain silly. There's no shame in adjusting tactics to the Opposition from time to time.

blues2win wrote:One of the CSKA defenders said we were easy to beat. We threw 8 players way up the pitch and when it broke down we were extremely vulnerable to the counter attack because their centre forward was far too quick for MDM and Vinny. Very fair analysis and that's the manager's fault. There were other things wrong; the slow tempo and lack of creativity in the absence of Silva; but our tactics were naive against a team we had already played several times. The centre forward's pace was hardly unknown to us. I'm afraid Pellegrini has to take his share of blame for last night. He seems rigid and lacking in flexibility which is plain silly. There's no shame in adjusting tactics to the Opposition from time to time.

The first goal was a set piece.

The 2nd goal, Clichy passed to their player but there were three of our defenders in a line exactly as they are supposed to be, yet one pass took them to the cleaners.

We scored one goal, from a set piece.

How would Pellegrini changing tactics to protect the defence, have improved our chances of getting 3 points when the ball was passed to them by one of our own players ?

Even if we had 5 defenive mids, once Clichy got the ball, they would all be moving into space for a pass, not standing next to Kompany or Zabaleta.

Time and again they broke fast and exposed us. These counter attacks may not have resulted in goals but we looked incredibly vulnerable at the back precisely because our centre backs were exposed by their centre forward. This vulnerability contributed to the general air of panic at the back. Clichy's dreadful mistake was no accident. We didn't look comfortable in defence all night long. Pellegrini can't escape his share of responsibility for this state of affairs.

[quote="Bluedj"]This season we have ALL seen some of our players turn to dog shite, I think the only players to consistently play well are;

Joe Hart
James Milner
Sergio Aguero

Aguero has been working hard and scoring well but, in all fairness, he's only performing at 80% of the level he's capable of. Jimmy Milner is a veritable trooper and I've appreciated his work but we all know that he's at the upper limit of his skill set so won't get better. Joe Hart is a guy I love for his time with us, I feel that he's a member of the 'family' but even I can see that he only has 1 good game in 4, 1 average one and 2 where he's not worthy of the shirt - even last night we had twice the shots on target but their keeper kept us to 1 goal whereas Hart let in nearly every one as he often does (if we'd swapped keepers before kick off we'd have won that one 4-1).

blues2win wrote:Time and again they broke fast and exposed us. These counter attacks may not have resulted in goals but we looked incredibly vulnerable at the back precisely because our centre backs were exposed by their centre forward. This vulnerability contributed to the general air of panic at the back. Clichy's dreadful mistake was no accident. We didn't look comfortable in defence all night long. Pellegrini can't escape his share of responsibility for this state of affairs.

Real Madrid's cbs have to deal with the opposing cf all the time.

The defence was shite. That's why we had a problem. Even when Clichy gave that ball away. Zabaleta was pathetic. No anticipation, no peripheral vision, just staring at the ball.

Garbage.

Sister of fu wrote:Is this what happens when players get their new long term contracts and just stop applying themselves in the correct way?? Or are players not trying as hard as there is no world cup at the end of the season to aim for, Fern springs to mind in this category. Is there a lack of hunger after wining the league? I am baffled as to how far back ward this team has gone in such a short space of time. We are struggling to get the very basics right, what was Clichy doing for the goal, all he had to do was lay it off. Our passing game has gone to pot. Time for people to start earning their huge wages and pull us out of the mire.

Spot on sis.

Nasri is a bag of shit right now and wasn't all that prior to him signing his contract. I think the players are all too wrapped up in cotton wool in our club, we have the best facilities in world football and I think the players egos go up 10 notches thinking that they have made it to the promised land (which they have!!) but instead of going back to their roots on mindset and hard work they prefer to ponce around and be more petulant than normal.

Mancini was not the answer and neither is Pellegrini , we need someone that's a mix of both......otherwise these cunts will continue to be cunts.

carl_feedthegoat wrote:

Sister of fu wrote:Is this what happens when players get their new long term contracts and just stop applying themselves in the correct way?? Or are players not trying as hard as there is no world cup at the end of the season to aim for, Fern springs to mind in this category. Is there a lack of hunger after wining the league? I am baffled as to how far back ward this team has gone in such a short space of time. We are struggling to get the very basics right, what was Clichy doing for the goal, all he had to do was lay it off. Our passing game has gone to pot. Time for people to start earning their huge wages and pull us out of the mire.

Spot on sis.

Nasri is a bag of shit right now and wasn't all that prior to him signing his contract. I think the players are all too wrapped up in cotton wool in our club, we have the best facilities in world football and I think the players egos go up 10 notches thinking that they have made it to the promised land (which they have!!) but instead of going back to their roots on mindset and hard work they prefer to ponce around and be more petulant than normal.

Mancini was not the answer and neither is Pellegrini , we need someone that's a mix of both......otherwise these cunts will continue to be cunts.

The problem is that such a person doesn't seem to exist.

Ted Hughes wrote:

carl_feedthegoat wrote:

Sister of fu wrote:Is this what happens when players get their new long term contracts and just stop applying themselves in the correct way?? Or are players not trying as hard as there is no world cup at the end of the season to aim for, Fern springs to mind in this category. Is there a lack of hunger after wining the league? I am baffled as to how far back ward this team has gone in such a short space of time. We are struggling to get the very basics right, what was Clichy doing for the goal, all he had to do was lay it off. Our passing game has gone to pot. Time for people to start earning their huge wages and pull us out of the mire.

Spot on sis.

Nasri is a bag of shit right now and wasn't all that prior to him signing his contract. I think the players are all too wrapped up in cotton wool in our club, we have the best facilities in world football and I think the players egos go up 10 notches thinking that they have made it to the promised land (which they have!!) but instead of going back to their roots on mindset and hard work they prefer to ponce around and be more petulant than normal.

Mancini was not the answer and neither is Pellegrini , we need someone that's a mix of both......otherwise these cunts will continue to be cunts.

The problem is that such a person doesn't seem to exist.

Take away the haircuts Pogba would be a midfielder any team would want. Arrogant, pacey and loves it anyway you want it leaves a foot in can do any trick you want and gets up nd down the pitch all day long. Whoever gets him out of Juve will have the best centre mid for a long time to come. I have watched him for 2 years or more and my brother still to this day said Red nose wanted shooting for allowing that mess to result in him walking .

Sister of fu wrote:Is this what happens when players get their new long term contracts and just stop applying themselves in the correct way?? Or are players not trying as hard as there is no world cup at the end of the season to aim for, Fern springs to mind in this category. Is there a lack of hunger after wining the league? I am baffled as to how far back ward this team has gone in such a short space of time. We are struggling to get the very basics right, what was Clichy doing for the goal, all he had to do was lay it off. Our passing game has gone to pot. Time for people to start earning their huge wages and pull us out of the mire.

Cant disagree with any of that.

I put it to one of my city mates last night that the lengthy contract extensions for certain senior players in the summer may have led to complacency. He said he'd read somewhere that these contract extensions were largely to do with minimising the impact of FFP where salaries were adjusted down and bonuses according to success were adjusted up - though I'm not sure about that.

Either way the players do need to shoulder most of the responsibility/blame and buck their ideas up, you are correct that we are not getting the basics right and that is the responsibility of the players alone. I do think the count needs to be more flexible in his formation - 451 worked well against spurs in terms of goals scored and chances created so it doesn't stifle us as an attacking force.

Second season syndrome is repeating itself, we need to be more dynamic tactically in order to remain one step ahead and not be sussed out.

not sure how milner or hart can escape criticism for this mess??? hart has only recently begun stopping shots. his shit kicking constantly puts on the back foot when a simple throw out would have sufficed. milner tracks back but is never going to be (and never was) good enough to play MF for a top 4 side, let alone one with ambitions in Europe. how many of our attacks died on the vine last night when the ball went to milner??

this season is nearly a write off. we need to completely freshen the squad next summer. I believe pogba, shaquiri and/or isco would make us competitive again...it's shocking that we should need to spend so much but we need to do it fast or we will fall further behind the elite and with FFP may never catch up.

As a lad said last night, Bayern want Pogba and Reus, not sure that is true, but say they do is that the end for Lahm, Ribbery, the point is they will buy if better is for sale free or not, no sentment, no standing still.

Spurge wrote:

Sister of fu wrote:Is this what happens when players get their new long term contracts and just stop applying themselves in the correct way?? Or are players not trying as hard as there is no world cup at the end of the season to aim for, Fern springs to mind in this category. Is there a lack of hunger after wining the league? I am baffled as to how far back ward this team has gone in such a short space of time. We are struggling to get the very basics right, what was Clichy doing for the goal, all he had to do was lay it off. Our passing game has gone to pot. Time for people to start earning their huge wages and pull us out of the mire.

Cant disagree with any of that.

I put it to one of my city mates last night that the lengthy contract extensions for certain senior players in the summer may have led to complacency. He said he'd read somewhere that these contract extensions were largely to do with minimising the impact of FFP where salaries were adjusted down and bonuses according to success were adjusted up- though I'm not sure about that.

Either way the players do need to shoulder most of the responsibility/blame and buck their ideas up, you are correct that we are not getting the basics right and that is the responsibility of the players alone. I do think the count needs to be more flexible in his formation - 451 worked well against spurs in terms of goals scored and chances created so it doesn't stifle us as an attacking force.

Second season syndrome is repeating itself, we need to be more dynamic tactically in order to remain one step ahead and not be sussed out.

Well they are fucking shooting themselves in the foot there aren't they!!!!

Sideshow Bob wrote:not sure how milner or hart can escape criticism for this mess??? hart has only recently begun stopping shots. his shit kicking constantly puts on the back foot when a simple throw out would have sufficed. milner tracks back but is never going to be (and never was) good enough to play MF for a top 4 side, let alone one with ambitions in Europe. how many of our attacks died on the vine last night when the ball went to milner??

this season is nearly a write off. we need to completely freshen the squad next summer. I believe pogba, shaquiri and/or isco would make us competitive again...it's shocking that we should need to spend so much but we need to do it fast or we will fall further behind the elite and with FFP may never catch up.

I really disagree with that. Milner has been one of our shining lights this season. And to say he couldn't play in Europe, you did watch the game at the Allianz last season didn't you?

Pogba is one every team wants as is Vidal. Isco is a luxury player and Shaquiri is so inconsistent I cannot believe you are even mentioning him.