FIVE defeats on the trot and little sign of that changing…
Firstly, this isn’t an, “I told you so…”, far from it; I wouldn’t do that. However, the exact same issues that I highlighted in a post on 3rd November are still very, very evident indeed.
Poor defending / defence in general, sometimes due to individual errors and WOW were there some beauties yesterday; we have a far-too-soft centre midfield now and, lastly, we are still choaking in front of goal / missing so many opportunities to hurt the opposition. Even our final build-up play is lacking an end product at lot of the time; with misplaced passes / poor crosses aplenty.
Sounds horrendous, doesn’t it?
The obvious…
Every team has ‘em and last season, for the most part, we got away with it (don’t tell Kevin this, of course). Injuries. “Blighted” would be a good word to use to describe the last few months and to so many key individuals too. I’m including Oscar Bobb in that last statement as I think very highly of him and was genuinely excited before the season to see him. Fingers crossed that when he comes back he returns as the player I have been so impressed with.
So, players out injured is an obvious one but I don’t know about you, the reader; I think even recovered players look way, way off pace / don’t look like they were fully ready to return. 🤷♂️
I think what backs that up is the “In-out-in-out” players we’ve had during this short season so far, which includes John Stones, Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden. I mean…flippin’ ‘eck, I’ve mentioned most of our defence there!
I keep a list of injured players and approximate lengths of time out and in a season that’s just over 3 months old, here it is:
Oscar Bobb – Fractured leg.
Date of injury / first announcement: 13.08.2024.
Length of time out: Ongoing – Expected return January / February 2025.
Savinho – Knee.
Date of injury / first announcement: 29.08.2024.
Length of time out: 2-½ weeks.
Savinho – Ankle knock.
Date of injury / first announcement: 30.10.2024.
Length of time out: 1 week.
Phil Foden – Illness.
Date of injury / first announcement: 22.08.2024.
Length of time out: 3-½ weeks.
Phil Foden – Fitness issues.
Date of injury / first announcement: 10.11.2024.
Length of time out: 2 weeks.
Rodri – Hamstring.
Date of injury / first announcement: Before the start of the season.
Length of time out: 1 month.
Rodri – ACL
Date of injury / first announcement: 22.09.2024.
Length of time out: Rest of the season.
Nathan Ake – Thigh / Muscular.
Date of injury / first announcement: 10.09.2024.
Length of time out: 6 weeks+
Kevin De Bruyne – Groin / Hip / Pelvic.
Date of injury / first announcement: 18.09.2024,
Length of time out: 6 weeks.
Kyle Walker – Knee.
Date of injury / first announcement: 16.10.2024.
Length of time out: 2-½ weeks.
Jeremy Doku – Undisclosed.
Date of injury / first announcement: 20.10.2024.
Length of time out: 2 weeks.
Jeremy Doku – Muscular.
Date of injury / first announcement: 09.11.2024.
Length of time out: 2 weeks up to now / ongoing…
Jack Grealish – Undisclosed.
Date of injury / first announcement: 20.10.2024.
Length of time out: 1 month.
Ruben Dias – Muscular.
Date of injury / first announcement: 02.11.2024.
Length of time out: 3 weeks up to now / ongoing…
John Stones – Foot.
Date of injury / first announcement: 02.11.2024.
Length of time out: 3 weeks (and also didn’t reappear after the break yesterday)
Matheus Nunes – Undisclosed.
Date of injury / first announcement: 10.11.2024.
Length of time out: 2 weeks.
Mateo Kovacic – Undisclosed.
Date of injury / first announcement: 22.11.2024.
Length of time out: Expected 3 to 4 weeks.
Imagine how busy the medical staff and physios have been!
This isn’t a City fan feeling sorry for himself nor his team, this is just fact - 13 international class players out for weeks / MONTHS! That’s gonna hurt any side in the world, badly.
Age…
I’m not the only Blue to have mentioned this in recent weeks and one press chappy even brought the subject up with Pep in his pre-match press conference last Friday – we need a refresh in some of our departments.
Ederson – 31. Carson – 116 39. Ortega – 32.
Average age of our goalkeeping department: 34
Stones – 30. Gvardiol – 22. Walker – 34. Akanji – 29. Ake - 29. Lewis – 20. Dias – 27.
Average age of our defence department: 27-¼
Silva – 30. Gundogan – 34. Grealish (winger) – 29. McAtee – 22. Doku (winger) – 22. De Bruyne – 33. Kovacic – 30. Nunes – 26. Bobb (winger) – 21. Foden – 24. Savinho (winger) – 20.
Average age of our midfield department: 28-½
Average age of our wing department: 23
Haaland – 24.
Average age of our striking department: I’ll let you work that one out…
Square pegs in round holes…
Let’s ‘ave it right, central defender, Josko Gvardiol, is no left-wing back. Yes, he seems to enjoy joining the attack and there’s no question that he’s got a good shot on him / eye for a goal.
However, he was bought as a defender. His manager is asking him to play at left-wing back. That’s…BACK!
I cannot comment on his defensive abilities as a centre-back because, putting it bluntly, I don’t watch his country’s performances and he hasn’t played in central defence for us, as far as I can recall. That being said, I have seen enough of him at left back to say that…I just don’t rate him highly as a defender at left-wing back. I’m seriously not having a go at him just because of yesterday’s AWFUL display but I think it highlighted pretty much his defence-minded frailties. His positional awareness / neglect of his defensive duties in that position in general is pretty poor, I have to say.
Rico Lewis is not a defensive midfielder. Useful in an attacking role but I’ve seen his best displays at right-wing back…and I think he can defend better [than Josko] on the flanks of the defence. I know he has expressed his desire to be used more in midfield during a club interview earlier this year, I think it was, but…sorry Rico, I don’t think so.
I’ve also seen quite a few City fans lament whenever Bernardo Silva is used on the right-wing instead of pulling the strings in the middle but I go easy on Pep for that because I think, especially this season, it’s been a case of “needs must” at times.
Lack of muscle…
One Blue pointed this out in an online posting following yesterday’s thumping by one of our least favourite sides and I have to agree. We are so lightweight in midfield.
Yes-yes-yes, we’ve lost the powerhouse that is Rodri – the best defensive midfielder in the world. Mateo Kovacic is a barrel-chested, solid unit but beyond that, it’s like watchin’ stick men when they’re up against certain players.
Think about ‘em – Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Matheus Nunes…and Rico Lewis. I bet Erling Haaland could easily pick each one up with one arm. 💪
I’ve mentioned more than once that we are now very soft in the middle, almost blancmange like, and this, as well as ability / age, could well be part of the problem in this area of our team.
Pointing the finger…
It’s all too easy for fans to start this game when the wheels start to wobble, as they very much are at the moment. I don’t want to do it - I even kept my disappointment of Josko’s howlers down to a couple of tuts, a slight shake of the head and a very quiet Muttley grumble.
But I am doing an analysis piece on what I think might be the problem(s) so yeah, I am going to quickly cast a magnifying glass over some of our players in terms of how they’ve performed this season.
John Stones – It could be injury related / lack of minutes or it could be something else more personal that we’re not privy to but he just doesn’t look as commanding as we know the England international can be. Pundits were GUSHING about John at one-point last season, I think it was.
Josko Gvardiol I’ve already mentioned and I don’t want to come across like I’m coming down on him too heavily and unfairly.
Kyle Walker – I have thought this on occasions in the last two season but he then went on to prove me wrong / shut me up, thankfully. I hope the same happens this season because…I think he’s losing his powers. He’s a good tackler and his main strength has always been his pace. He turns 35 in just 6 months’ time and I think it’s starting to show…again.
Ruben Dias – Does anyone else think that he has got it within him to be an even better defender than he is? I like him, I really do. But, sometimes, I just get the feeling that he’s playing in 3rd gear.
Regular readers may recall that I have occasionally mentioned a theory of mine about him possibly playing through painful niggles a lot of the time; ever since his double-hamstring season. It’s also been reported that he spends longer in the gym than any other City player (for that reason?). Guardiola, just last Friday, said that some players [he was referring to a question about Ruben] take longer than others to recover. I’m just throwing that one in there – he’s a decent defender most of the time…
Ilkay Gundogan – One game. I’ve seen him have one good game since his return which excited so many fans…but not as much as it excited Pep at the time. That game was away at Brighton the other week, where I rated him a 7/10. Other than that? Awful. They, whoever they are, say you should never go back. Mmmmmm… 🤔
Jack Grealish – One-half season. I’ve seen Jack have one EXCELLENT second half to his second season with us and that’s it. Then again, the player with muscles on TOP of his leg muscles isn’t seen very much on the pitch due to being in and out with either full-blown injures or niggles that appear to flare up so very often.
Phil Foden – WHAT?! Yep…where is the Premier League player of the season from our last campaign; the one who was tearing sides to pieces game after game with a big smile on his face? Illness, lack of fitness or a sometimes troubled-sounding personal life, which Pep often alludes to by using the words, “…when he is focused”. Pick one…or more. 🤷♂️
Please come back Phil…and soon.
I’m not going to dwell too much on the exciting pair that is fairly-recent-signing, Jeremy Doku, and even more recent purchase, Savinho, other than to say that for all their immense talent and trickery; I wish their end product / decision making was better.
Others would criticise Erling Haaland for not bring even MORE productive than he always is when you look at his end-of-season stats. I get the criticism from some City fans – he can be a little bit ‘boom and bust’; with barren spells and very frustrating games. It’s also been said by some Blues that he is the very cause whenever we don’t play well - because we’re adapting our game to suit him.
But I just can’t point the finger at someone who is such a powerful threat for us who DOES bang lots of goals in over a season. It’s just a player you should consider not having in your fantasy football team because, for a very expensive purchase in the online game, you just don’t know when he’s gonna go on a fantastic run or when he will hit a sandbank…
Another option up front…
It doesn’t solve the defensive issues; it doesn’t solve the soft underbelly that is our midfield and it certainly doesn’t fix the age or injury issues. However, I think it’s so obvious that, at times and in certain games, we need a different striking option to Erling.
We do miss wanted-away Julian Alvarez whose career, by the way, hasn’t exactly rocketed since his move to Atletico Madrid in the summer; we miss – and need – a more mobile, smaller, trickier finisher as an alternative. We need someone who can also compliment our big fella in an option of using two up front (or a 1 – 1).
Not just that but we’re going to get to a stage where Erling will need a rest or, dare I even suggest it, could get injured. Should that happen, the way a lot of the others are playing behind him, I wouldn’t expect someone to step up and bang the goals in for him; not at the moment at least.
Summary of our possible issues?
Too many injured players and too many injury PRONE players generally. Too many players out of form at the same time and an aging, often tired looking team that needs an injection of new, younger blood.
At least we have the best Manager in the world for another 2-½ seasons to oversee all of that before any potential handover to his successor. 👍☺
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| In Pep we trust... |
Oh yeah, there'll be no pre-match blog posting ahead of our game on Tuesday night...
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