ross.mcfc wrote:It is a rare on any football message board for a post which bags the fans and the team to get a mostly measured and thought out response.
I could not agree with the OP more. We really do not deserve to win the title and even if we go on by some sort of miracle to win the title it will be one that we won by default.
The tempo of our game and the atmosphere in the ground last night was one which suited an end of season game that meant fuck all. I wonder if those two things are linked.
Our home crowd’s attitude towards games these days is getting embarrassing. We used to slag of Arsenal and Man United but I reckon we are worse than that these days. I have a few theories on why that is.
a) Fans are too spoilt
b) We won the league once and that is one more time than any of us thought we would win it. It almost doesnt matter anymore.
c) We are only really interested in creating an atmosphere when United come to town. Barca, Real, Bayern have all been to our ground in the past two years and you would have thought we were playing West Ham by the reaction of the crowd. Would we have created the cauldron of noise on Sunday that Liverpool fans did if we had been at home on Sunday. I doubt it.
Both B&C are symptoms of small club thinking. Our owners want to reach for the sky and dominate Europe. We want to beat United.
As for the team, there are far too many passengers. For the money that was been spent on transfers and wages we are far too reliant on certain players. If Kompany, Zabaleta or Toure are missing we look useless. Those responsible for the buying of players at the club have failed to address our major weakness for the past two seasons. I like Navas and Jovetic but have they really added anything to our season? Those were not areas of the pitch that we needed extra depth. A decent center half and a guy to give Toure something to worry about / give him a rest from time to time has been missing for two seasons now.
We now need a right back that can cover for Zabba and a keeper who does not just hoof the ball back into the area where we are getting bossed about.
I've enjoyed this season as a whole, finishing a tight 3rd is a better showing than second last season without even looking like winning the title. A cup was nice but it won't look so great if Liverpool win the league and Chelsea win the CL. Infact even if they finish 3rd and make the final and lose I would still say that is a better effort than our 2nd and league cup.
This is a very accurate and precise post indeed.
Last seasons excuse was that all the players hated the manager - whats this years excuse? Too holistic?
Im reliably told by way too many that Pellegrini is a managerial genius and tactically brilliant. What the hell is a 4-4-2 then - Mike fookin Bassett can come up with that?
Not only a 4-4-2, but a flat 4-4-2 with no wingers; a flat 4-4-2 with two central midfielders, neither of whom advance beyond the front pair; a flat 4-4-2 with the central strikers woefully inadequate to do the job required Im afraid.
You cant play 4-4-2 when of the two up top, one is rustier than Terry Waite's bicycle - indeed Sergio played like he was dragging Terry's famed radiator around with him as well - and the other striker who is so woefully out of touch/form/ability that its fookin painful to watch him. That game cried out for Jovetic and even Dzeko up top last night to create some sort of threat up top. Sadly, and very stupidly, this came too late.