…a few months make.
Last season was WOW indeed! So much terrific football and 3, that’s
THREE,
domestic trophies; 5 if you include the Community Shields either side of the 2018/19 season!
Now…forward-wind just 6 months and we look so
disjointed and ‘off pace’, we’re almost unrecognisable as the same side!
3 league defeats and 2 draws
in 14 games that leaves us 11-points off the top already tells its own story.
Saving myself some time…
…this is what I posted on-line the following morning after the 2-2 draw
at Newcastle.
Initially, commenting on what a City fan said
when interviewed after the game…
Gotta
agree with the fella who said that he can't understand why Pep [sometimes? often?] takes so long
to change things - so many Blues I was watchin' the game with yesterday were
screaming for changes on 55 / 60 minutes; with most saying Mahrez & Gundogan should have been swapped for Bernardo & Foden. I know David isn't firing either in recent
weeks but we needed to open Newcastle's tight defence yesterday and, this is
not in hindsight, Pep should have ditched the defensive midfielder for a
more-attacking one to add to what we had on the pitch, which, I believe, would
have put us in control and possibly a couple of goals ahead.
It's so
frustrating at the moment trying to work out why so many of our creative /
attacking players look so 'off' at the moment...and have been for so long. Only
Pep and his staff will know the true reason why and I hope they sort it out
soon. The pace / intensity
has gone too! Burnley is never an easy place to go and although they lost at home at the
weekend; unless we have a complete personality change, we are really going to
struggle on Tuesday night.
It is a
'collective thing', of course; most of 'em aren't playing well at all. However,
I honestly hope that Mendy never pulls on a City shirt again
- he...is...USELESS!
He can't
defend (I've never seen him tackle / defend well), has no positional awareness,
no footballing brain at ALL and his passes are both predictable and very poor
too. Has pace but doesn't even use that well and to aid the team! It's got
nothing whatsoever with his comebacks from injuries, in my opinion; he's just a
very, very poor player.
Once
again, we have a left-back / left-wing back situation that is STILL not
resolved; with Mendy, an-often unconvincing Angelino and a makeshift, converted
left-wing back in Zinchenko. What an appalling situation for a
side that's trying to compete at the very top! All this talk of "...should
have got a central defender in the summer" is true but, my word; the same
applies on the left of our defence.
I genuinely hope, at
some stage, that I will be eating humble pie with regards to Mendy but, for
now, I'll leave that particular, specially-reserve plate, knife & fork in
the cupboard for now...
As for
the centre of defence, I'd go looking for, at least, an experienced 32/33-year
old on loan who, perhaps, can't get into a good side somewhere. He improved
with time and helped us with a situation a few seasons ago - I'm talking about
a similar scenario to-when we got Martin Demichelis in. Should we make that sensible
move, at least it gives us the OPTION of putting Fernandinho back where he belongs / rotate him
with Rodders. Either that, or go out and buy Nathan Ake, a player I believe has ability
now and is someone Pep can improve even further.
One
final thing / moan - I know his supply was cut off by Newcastle's defence
yesterday but, once again, Jesus did absolutely nothing to convince anyone that
he's up to the job whenever he steps in for Sergio. Although Aguero has looked a
little off-pace at times too this season, at least he looks to creative his own
room & chances whenever defenses close up like Newcastle did yesterday;
Gabriel did nothing on that front.
Switching
the phrase round, at least we can concentrate on the [three] cups now...
Well,
there you have it. As you probably sense, I was on a downer to say the least.
What, or more accurately, who I failed to mention in that post was Eric Garcia – we might not NEED to go searching
for a central defender if Guardiola decides to give the young Spaniard a go.
The very
reason I didn’t mention him, however, is because our boss just doesn’t seem to
want to trust most of the youth in the Premier League. I’ve always look upon him as calm, assured and accomplished
for his young age…
And to
think, Kevin De Bruyne scored an absolute SCREAMER in that game, which is quite
likely to be forgotten about by many Blues over time, until it comes up as a
contender for ‘goal the season’ (surely)…
v
Burnley
 |
| Turf Moor |
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct
from starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).
Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
____________________Jesus____________________
Sterling________________________________B. Silva
__________D. Silva___________De Bruyne________
____________________Rodri_____________________
Angelino_______________________________Cancelo
_________Fernandinho_______Stones_____________
____________________Ederson___________________
Ederson keeps the gloves.
Assuming that there might be some rotation on the flanks of the defence,
I gonna go with the same, predicted (but incorrect) back-4 that I suggested
before the Newcastle game, which is Angelino (please God), Fernandinho, John
& Joao.
Rodders surely to start this one in front of those.
An attacking wing / midfield quartet of Raheem, David, Kevin (thank God
for him) and Bernardo.
No option – Gabriel ‘up top’.
Claudio as back-up to Ederson and then a large defensive contingent on
the side, with Benjamin, Kyle, Nicolas & Eric, I would say. Phil likely to
start on the side and joined by Riyad as the only creative / attacking
change-options form ‘the 7’.
Notable
absences:
- Oleksandr Zinchenko – It would appear that his recovery is taking longer that
initially suggested. No return date given...
- Aymeric Laporte – Following an update from the French
Defender, the return date has apparently moved from March 2020 to 6 to 8 weeks.
If true – and providing he’s not attempting to rush back ahead of time and
against specialist advice – that’s great news!
- Ilkay Gundogan – Suspended for this game.
-
Sergio Aguero – Injured for around-another 10-days
to 2 weeks.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Yep.
Result?
What a tough one to call now. Genuinely, and not just a still-stinging reaction
to last Saturday’s disappointment? I think this’ll be a draw.
Last season’s,
corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Win
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