Mind numbing midfield

[The Man In Blue]

He assisted both goals at wigan.

This was my first thought upon reading this thread.

Break it down. We've had injuries to key players - Barry, Silva - that has both disrupted their season and put more onus and work on to their colleagues. We sold a player who was used to how we play, spoke the language etc and replaced him with a promising but PL untried Garcia. No idea what is up with Yaya but he is reminding me very much of his first few months with us (WHAT DOES YAYA TOURE ACTUALLY DO, ETC).

Nasri has been inconsistent throughout his entire career afaik, I doubt we will eve be able to depend upon him. Milner has been in and out of the side, and Scott Sinclair appears to have been a tax loophole or money laundering exercise or something, fuck knows.

Taking all this into account, is it any surprise our midfield looks dysfunctional?

[Ted Hughes]

Yaya isn't playing badly imo, he's just not playing brilliantly either. He does a few good & a few bad things, same as Silva, Nasri.

We have 4 strikers, non of whom are on top form or even close to it. What's worse to me is that only Tevez & Aguero have even the slightest idea how to play together. Why ? Why isn't this being addressed ? Why was Dzeko nodding back headers into a part of the box with no City player in it ? This is not rocket science. Keegan or Royle or even steve Coppell would sort this kind of thing in a few weeks.

Why after the time Mancini has had, can our strikers rarely string a simple one two or a chest off/shot or a flick on without getting it wrong ? I was watching it all unfold yesterday & everton's vastly inferior front men are playing a much more focused game. Give Moyes our strike force & he would either have them playing together like demons or sell them & buy players who will.

It's time Bob started getting the best out of these people rather than shuffling them about as if they are just bricks in a lego set.

[phips]

well, one of our biggest midfield issues in my opinion is with Yaya and Barry.
why Yaya is the deeper of the two i will never understand. Barry's passing is debatable, his goal scoring record
is absurd, he's not quick enough to go forward and then get back, and he is not at all creative. the fact that
for the last couple of games he's been the more forward of the barry-yaya pairing is ridiculous. putting
all barry's deficiencies aside, yaya is clearly the better player and excels when he is forward..and barry
is better at sitting right in front of the central defense. i just don't get why Barry is the more advanced one
and for fuck's sake, he's even taken some corners.

he needs to be told not to go into the opponent's 18-yard box unless it's a set piece

He assisted both goals at wigan.

i guess if you count a spilled shot that then had its first rebound shot saved and eventually made it into
goal on the 3rd try an assist then you're right. still though, 2 assists in 1 game is about all he's done going forward
in many many many many games. that is nothing compared to what Yaya typically is capable of going forward.
Barry should be sitting the furthest back. fact.

[Rag_hater]

Don't think it is playing that bad.We have a few of the best passers,our tackling is about were it should be and we keep good posession in the majority of games.
For me I don't think we need to change anything.
If we don't take the lead until deep into the 2nd half for the rest of the season that's ok by me.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

i guess if you count a spilled shot that then had its first rebound shot saved and eventually made it into
goal on the 3rd try an assist then you're right. still though, 2 assists in 1 game is about all he's done going forward
in many many many many games. that is nothing compared to what Yaya typically is capable of going forward.
Barry should be sitting the furthest back. fact.

His shot caused a goal mouth scramble we scored from, he then set up the next.

I'm not saying he's some maestro up front, but he's also not useless. Yaya hasn't been himself lately and Barry helped pick up the slack.

Football isn't 1 dimensional, yaya over the season will be more affective going forward, but Im just pointing out that should we completely bar Barry from attacking we'd already be two points worse off.

[Tokyo Blue]

even steve Coppell would sort this kind of thing in a few weeks.

steve coppell would be gone before the few weeks had passed.

I think the players are being told to do the bare minimum so as not to tire themselves out too much. If this is the case, Yaya Toure is certainly taking it very much to heart.