Fatigue - Is This The Reason For Our Current Form?

[john68]

On Sunday that performance was simply down to fielding a side with no creativity in the middle of the park.
Even if Shaun isn't the long term answer, he certainly could have made a difference in that game.

I have just been told that although Shaun was on the bench, he wasn't fully fit.

Well it did cross my mind there must be a good reason for not using him.
However if he was on the bench surely he was ok for ten minutes at the end. Otherwise we might as well have given him the night off.

Not sure Roger. Maybe Mancini has worries about him being risked for 10 mins and possibly breaking down and adding to our injury woes. Maybe he was included on the bench in case of emergency and by nort playing him, Mancini feels he will reciover and offer us more options in the run in.
Who knows?

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

That game was crying out for him from early on.
in the end we got Milner, who was never going to do anything from that position...And indeed didn't.

[Ted Hughes]

I think we are starting to look a bit weary and it doesn't matter if they are paid £10 a week or £100k a week, they still get tired. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that that who would be the more fresher team on Sunday. City who have played every 3 days for the last 3 weeks and have played 43 games this season or Fulham who haven't played a midweek game in a month and have played 33 games this season.

Also de Jong, Johnson, Richards, Silva, Kompany were all out on Sunday, that is half of our team!

We had Bob's signings & his stated 1st choice fullbacks, his 1st choice strike force & most of his 1st choice midfield, which he signed, available. Apart from Silva, the players missing are ones who MAY have played, not ones who definitely WOULD have played. We were playing Fulham ffs. What side would Sir Bacon have to put out to effortlessly beat them at home few days after a Champion's Lg game? His strongest?

If we went back a few months, you would be saying we were shit because Bob's plan won't work until Kolarov, Boateng & Balotelli are fit & then all will be well. Now you're saying these players wouldn't get in the team?

There's no excuse for this kind of showing; we are underperforming, end of story. We haven't beaten a really decent side home or away since we beat Chelsea. Lets hope we raise our game & do it again.

[john68]

That game was crying out for him from early on.
in the end we got Milner, who was never going to do anything from that position...And indeed didn't.

Which brings us back full circle to a point made after the Aris away leg...We play one paced and have nobody at present who has the ability to explode and attack defences. Whether successfully or not, SWP does have that ability and even the threat of it means it has to be covered.

There seem to be so many weaknesses in our game at this time and particularly v Fulham.
1...Being one paced.
2...Missing the spine of our team..Kompany, De Jong, Silva.
3...Having no real creative midfielder.
4...Assimilating too many new players.
5...Too many injuries and not enough quality back up.
6...Too many games causing fatigue.
7...A manager who is in his 1st Prem season and is inexperienced regarding the Prem and its pressures.
8...We are still in a state of flux without the time to stabilise.
9...The need to meet the financial fair play requirements.
10..The fact that Tevez is inhibited when Dzeko plays and occupies his space.

This stuff is quite normal and when sorted will see us evolve and progress (hopefully) rapidly. Under normal circumstances, teams would drop back a bit and then move forward. We can't afford to do the dropping back bit at all. We must qualify for the CL...or bust.

[Ted Hughes]

That game was crying out for him from early on.
in the end we got Milner, who was never going to do anything from that position...And indeed didn't.

Which brings us back full circle to a point made after the Aris away leg...We play one paced and have nobody at present who has the ability to explode and attack defences. Whether successfully or not, SWP does have that ability and even the threat of it means it has to be covered.

There seem to be so many weaknesses in our game at this time and particularly v Fulham.
1...Being one paced.
2...Missing the spine of our team..Kompany, De Jong, Silva.
3...Having no real creative midfielder.
4...Assimilating too many new players.
5...Too many injuries and not enough quality back up.
6...Too many games causing fatigue.
7...A manager who is in his 1st Prem season and is inexperienced regarding the Prem and its pressures.
8...We are still in a state of flux without the time to stabilise.
9...The need to meet the financial fair play requirements.
10..The fact that Tevez is inhibited when Dzeko plays and occupies his space.

This stuff is quite normal and when sorted will see us evolve and progress (hopefully) rapidly. Under normal circumstances, teams would drop back a bit and then move forward. We can't afford to do the dropping back bit at all. We must qualify for the CL...or bust.

Many of those problems were predictable & solveable though. We've organised things badly imo.

[john68]

I agree ted but it seems they still have to be solved and some of them need addressing urgently. We also need the tome to get them sorted, which because every game is important now...we don't seem to have.
It increasingly looks like this season is going to be a scramble to get through it with the success that is demanded.

[Beefymcfc]

if you have a game every 3 days, you dont need to train as the games will keep you fit. and why didnt we start with swp and milner at the start of the game because 1) give these two players game time and 2) rest a couple of players untill the secound half.

And, on that note, why didn't we give someone a rest earlier when we were devoid of pace and creativity, allowing someone like Shaun to actually run at players, and also cover at the back?

He wasnt and will never again be the answer to city breaking down a team.

Maybe we should of played MJ too and won four thousand - nil

Now let me see, what was the answer then? As you will notice Ashton, my comments mentioned 'someone' like Shaun as we were clearly devoid of any pace. Unless of course, you actually thought we could win 4000 - nil with the team that was on the field?

[Beefymcfc]

Possibly a good part of the problem but why have we got rid of players we could have used to alleviate the problem & why didn't we rest players when 2-0 up v Aris?

Adebayor et al are a good call but on the Aris front, don't we get automatic inclusion into the Europa if we win it; we may be showing intent?

I recon, if you watch the selections of most top 5 teams from now til the end of the season, they'll play strong teams in almost every game apart from when they play v really poor teams, then they'll rest as many players as they can. I agree with us starting with a strong team v Aris but we could have taken 3 off at half time & replaced them with kids & they wouldn't have scored.

That's a good point as well mate, where are all these kids that we are supposed to be blooding? Mancini stated that we cannot fill the bench for our last 2 games yet we have players in the EDS who could give a significant contribution from the bench. Why will he not play them when needs must?

[Beefymcfc]

Lack of squad rotation ( partly because of lack of squad),lack of understanding of how to play now that we have thrown in 1 or 2 new players up front to confuse the way of playing,a belief that playing a passing slow tempo game is the way forward,loss of form of key players (Tevez for sure),injuries to key players, and maybe just maybe a sign that the players are not fully on board( Tevez again),a belief that all is actually ok because we won 6 or 7 in a row at home( against rubbish mainly),starting to look fatigued because they are being told they are .

It's a combination of all sorts of things for me.

Good points Doug but in the main you seem to be pointing the finger at Mancini; is that correct?

I think that's where it has to go.I do feel he has created the situation we are now in and it could go either way from here. It's a real test of his managerial skills now.

Cheers for the honesty Doug and in the main, I agree. The biggest part for me is the squad rotation element where he could have quite easily kept everyone fresh (and happy) by introducing 1 or 2 different players for each game. A few mentioned this as early as last season and it looks like it may come back to bite us on the arse.

[Dubaimancityfan]

Possibly a good part of the problem but why have we got rid of players we could have used to alleviate the problem & why didn't we rest players when 2-0 up v Aris?

Adebayor et al are a good call but on the Aris front, don't we get automatic inclusion into the Europa if we win it; we may be showing intent?

I recon, if you watch the selections of most top 5 teams from now til the end of the season, they'll play strong teams in almost every game apart from when they play v really poor teams, then they'll rest as many players as they can. I agree with us starting with a strong team v Aris but we could have taken 3 off at half time & replaced them with kids & they wouldn't have scored.

That's a good point as well mate, where are all these kids that we are supposed to be blooding? Mancini stated that we cannot fill the bench for our last 2 games yet

we have players in the EDS

who could give a significant contribution from the bench. Why will he not play them when needs must?

Well we all saw "one of our many" Razaks cmne on a few weeks ago and impress in the 5 or 6 minutes he was on. What happened to him, why wasn't he on the bench or is Mancini also confused which Razak is which ?
What was the point of Yaya playing the whole match when he had virtually disappeared half way through the 2nd half. Wouldn't have Razak done, if not better, then just a good a job if he had been given the chance with the added advantage of youth and freshness.
Mancini made 2 subs only against Fulham. Would it really had effected the result much if Guidetti or Jo were given a run for 10 minutes and if SWP was not fully fit, why was he on the bench ?"
And who is this Wabara ? Which position does he play .

On topic, I think fatigue is clearly a factor in our performances lately and its just simple logic, a team that played on Thursday will be more tired than a team that played the previous Sat/Sunday.

[Ted Hughes]

What worries me more than anything, is that some of the players will see an excuse in Mancini's mantra about being tired. It worries me that he is starting to think we're about to struggle & is getting his excuses in because his job is on the line & some of the players may be ready to do the same. In contrast, if I think that, then some of the players who do have balls will be thinking the same as I am & talking about him behind his back. We need a leader not a loser.

If he persists with this loser type attitude, he's not the bloke to be managing City; you're unlikely to win the league in the future with that attitude when up against people like Ferguson.

Man up Bob, before it's too late.

[guv111]

All the time we're hearing how much faster modern football is compared to 20-30 years ago, but also how much fitter players are. Well, if players are so fit they shouldn't be labouring by January and February. It's not like we even play this superfast, high octane style, anyway. The most successful teams play the most games.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I think Razak was serving the last of a 3 match supsension for a straight red in an ES game.
If a gamble is to be taken from the EDS players it's Assulin. He runs with the ball and quickly. Raw he may be but he is different.

[Ted Hughes]

I think Razak was serving the last of a 3 match supsension for a straight red in an ES game.
If a gamble is to be taken from the EDS players it's Assulin. He runs with the ball and quickly. Raw he may be but he is different.

Anyone who can go past one or two players has an impact value. We are desperately short of such players without AJ & with SWP seemingly having lost it. The other factor is that such players raise the atmosphere in the crowd.

[Duckman]

a bit on injuries and other stuff
[youtube]SqYigAktAGI&feature=feedu[/youtube]

[ono]

I think there are a few problems which are contributing to our current poor form.

Tevez, Dzeko and Balotelli aren't really a cohesive attacking unit yet. They haven't played much together. Dzeko and Balotelli are still adjusting and probably not 100% fit. Tevez is quite a selfish player. Sometimes when you have 3 strikers who are all goalscorers, it can be difficult as they all probably trust themselves more than they trust a team-mate. There isn't much interplay to create openings, but maybe that will come.


We need another player like Silva. Without Silva we are quite easy to defend against. Teams can line up two lines of four, or even a four and a five, and we have no player who can move into the gaps left by the opposition. Silva does this brilliantly and he commits players. Once a player is committed, he leaves a gap, which somebody else will try to fill. It will always leave one player out of position. That's usually how chances are created, if you move the ball quick enough (which is something our forwards don't do so often). No other player does what Silva can do, and as a result, we look flat when he doesn't play. There will be some games where we need another player like him in the side. We missed out in January i think.

We still don't have any top class full backs. Zabaleta and Micah are much better options than Kolarov and Boateng, but even those two aren't top class. Both have improved a lot, and Micah could become a very good player for us, but we're still short i think. Kolarov is poor at defending and his decision making is terrible at times. Boateng looks better at centre back. Zabaleta is steady, committed and he works very hard, but lacks some ability. Micah switches off every know and then which is bad for a defender, but he is the best full back at the club imo.

So yeah, there are few little problems imo.

[Ted Hughes]

We missed out in January & in summer imo.

[john68]

We missed out in January & in summer imo.

But with those figures published today, is there any money left in the Fair Play purse?
Those figures didn't look great for us and unless we can up the income dramatically, we may have to curtail our spending somewhat.