Are we too negative?

[MARKMAKAVELI]

Admittedly I've not read through all the previous posts coz I ain't got all night but...

For what it's worth I let out a big sigh when I saw the line up on Saturday. 3 dm's no matter how we set up is shit. It's not exciting, an I want to be entertained. Looks like we just set out to stifle Spurs an we couldn't even do that. Boring.

[King Kev]

You think if you swear at me I will answer your question? How strange.

As for inferring 'we played brilliant footy throughout the second half of the season by referring to games against such footballing powerhouses as burnley and wigan' - You seem to have ignored the bit about us outscoring all but 3 teams throughout the entire season.

If you want to be miserable and believe that we play boring negative football then fill yer boots. I prefer to be a bit more positive about my club.

whoa mate - i'm not trying to be aggressive - i don't think i swore at you and sorry if it came across like that.

still not answered it though have you?

look, when it mattered - and i mean really mattered - we froze. retreated into a safety first shell, and i don't just mean the players. it cost us the game spurs are playing tonight.

Well, seeing as you have calmed down a bit I will answer your question ;o)

No, in hindsight, in those two games we didn't play positively enough.

hurrah! my point in this whole thing is i hope to hell that mancio will have a real go at teams, and i'm not just talking about wigan et al. kind of like spurs tried to do to us the other day, but maybe actually score a few goals.

We had 13 shots against Spurs, so maybe we weren't playing negative after all.

I've changed my mind, I will concede that we weren't positive enough against Arsenal but not Spurs.

[Socrates]

I believe we have a real problem due to my favourite plater Carlos Tevez. If he plays (which I want) we have to play 4-4-2 for as we saw against Spurs he cannot effectively lead the line. But if we play 2 up front plus an out and out defensive holding midfielder such as De Jong we are horribly exposed in the middle of the park with say a creative midfielder like Silva or dare I say it Ireland, thus have to play a more defensive player there. This results in Tevez coming deeper and deeper and us looking to play negative. I believe this is why the Rags used Tevez as an impact sub with five in midfield and a striker for the first 70 minutes of most games.

My conclusion is we cannot effectively have a positive shape if we play Tevez and de Jong ( two excellent players in their own right) in the same team. Whether having say Yaya Toure and Silva in the middle of midfield, behind a front two would fare any better will be interesting to watch. The only other solution is to play with less width and use the full backs as the crossers and such as Barry and Milner as tucked in midfielders, who can cover the full backs. Come on Mancini you have to decide.

Agree, Tevez is a class act but it is difficult to build the team around him without playing too defensively in midfield. He naturally plays so deep that he is always in the area of the pitch where an attacking mid wants to be anyway.

Which is why he could never play with Ireland (both occupying the same space, resulting in Ireland drawing the short straw, looking lost and almost a bit disinterested). I'm a bit worried that we will end up in the same situation with regards to Silva, but at least he doesn't look totally at lost playing on a wing.

and which is why we will see a different Ireland at his new club, sadly he wouldn't have been able to produce his best for us and that's why I resigned myself to him going...

[DoomMerchant]

Admittedly I've not read through all the previous posts coz I ain't got all night but...

For what it's worth I let out a big sigh when I saw the line up on Saturday. 3 dm's no matter how we set up is shit. It's not exciting, an I want to be entertained. Looks like we just set out to stifle Spurs an we couldn't even do that. Boring.

who were the 3 DMs you saw? i didnt see the third.

TYY isn't a defensive mid brother. Open yr eyes son.

cheers

[Slim]

Admittedly I've not read through all the previous posts coz I ain't got all night but...

For what it's worth I let out a big sigh when I saw the line up on Saturday. 3 dm's no matter how we set up is shit. It's not exciting, an I want to be entertained. Looks like we just set out to stifle Spurs an we couldn't even do that. Boring.

who were the 3 DMs you saw? i didnt see the third.

TYY isn't a defensive mid brother. Open yr eyes son.

cheers

Hmmm.

[DoomMerchant]

Admittedly I've not read through all the previous posts coz I ain't got all night but...

For what it's worth I let out a big sigh when I saw the line up on Saturday. 3 dm's no matter how we set up is shit. It's not exciting, an I want to be entertained. Looks like we just set out to stifle Spurs an we couldn't even do that. Boring.

who were the 3 DMs you saw? i didnt see the third.

TYY isn't a defensive mid brother. Open yr eyes son.

cheers

Hmmm.

i thought about that after hitting submit. Yr crafty, you absentee fucler.

cheers