by Citeh&Crew » Sat Apr 17, 2010 3:09 pm
Wow, some insane posts in this thread, and some points from me:
1) SWP was not "crap".. exactly what did he do wrong? Someone, please tell me with some objective facts, because I don't "get it". SWP challenged their midfield and backline over and over, and he actually WON more of those battles than lost. He did a good job of tracking back, as well. For me, it appears that the negative criticisms of him are from those with a selective memory (of the one v one chances he lost); EVERYONE loses those battles during a game. Messi, Ronaldo, you name it. Everyone.
2) I'm not a big fan of the Vieira signing, but he did nothing awful today. In fact, I think he just came on and did his job. He controlled the ball in midfield when required, and even created a shot for De Jong with a clever heel-flick.
3) From the replays we saw, the evidence seems damning for Steven Ireland not covering Scholes on the goal. I don't want to blame him definitively, because as you all know, we didn't see the whole field, and it may have been that Stevie was caught between trying to defend two men.
But either way, this is the one sub of the game that I will question Mancini for making.. exactly what is the point of bringing in a fragile (mentally) Steven Ireland, who is not up to fitness, in possibly the biggest game of the season? Or at least, if it were up to me and I wanted to see Steven in the game, I would have started him so that he could have a chance to get into a groove, and so I could assess given a proper amount of time.
4) Other than the Steven Ireland sub, I don't see any other aspect of Mancini's tactics that deserve questioning. Yes yes, he subbed on Vieira for Johnson, but at that point, I think he sensed that the game was becoming one of attrition, and that a draw was in hand. If I were him, Vieira would have been my sub as well, in absence of Zaba.
Further, we had chance upon chance upon CHANCE. How many times did one of our players screw-up a shot, or at least an opportunity to shoot? (E.g. Barry not putting a one-touch on the ball when he had the chance IN THE BOX!) Bellamy into the side-netting.. speaking of which, one that play, Tevez should have passed to Ade, who was running down the other side of the box, and the list goes on.
So how exactly is Mancini to blame for that kind of ineptitude, from players who should be better, and have been almost all season long? The only think Roberto could have done is suited up himself so that he could tap the balls into goal!