exiledinwatford Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 OK Jamie made a rickett - he feels as bad about that as we do. There were plenty of chances at the other end that we didn't take. What a great fightback though - it just shows what this group of players are capable of if they throw caution to the wind and just "ave a go"!!! Remember Wolves, Birmingham and Plymouth last year - particularly when we are at home with our backs against the wall it brings out the best in our team. I can't help thinking that if we played in more attacking style we would have finished off Scunny, Peterboro, Wednesday and a largely average Sheffield United today. I reckon we have have the most talented group of players since the early 70s - come on GJ let 'em loose!!!!! PS - be good to have a left sided attacking midfielder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chivs Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 When you say we have a great squad.... Shouldn't a squad include two left backs... or two right backs... or at least one left midfielder... or at least one right midfielder (who can cross a ball)... or more than two goal keepers.... Still mustn't grumble about the squad. At least we have five top class central midfielders and we got to play them all today (together). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exiledinwatford Posted November 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 When you say we have a great squad.... Shouldn't a squad include two left backs... or two right backs... or at least one left midfielder... or at least one right midfielder (who can cross a ball)... or more than two goal keepers.... Still mustn't grumble about the squad. At least we have five top class central midfielders and we got to play them all today (together). All good points Chivs - Probably OK on the right with Haynes and dear old Ivan (thought he did well in his little cameo) but the left side is hopelessly depleted. Basso is 35 and we should be getting another keeper anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red badger Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 I'd say we have the best players the club has ever had...not sure what's holding them back. The gaps in the squad are glaring but oh for a confident display of attacking football. Sheffield United were woeful yesterday...should have ripped them apart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbored Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 I'd say we have the best players the club has ever had...not sure what's holding them back. The gaps in the squad are glaring but oh for a confident display of attacking football. Sheffield United were woeful yesterday...should have ripped them apart Its a bit like preparing food - you have the best ingredients but you're not using them correctly. Thats how I see the situation with the City squad currently. I find it frustrating to see the best squad of players that have been at AG for decades and yet almost all season we've subjected to over cautious, afraid to lose football. Gary Johnson must have forgotton what 'attacking football' is. Its such a shame to see with all the good players that are available. Using the ingredients wrongly - Take Sno for example. He got rave reviews at Ajax when playing just in front of the back four and bringing the ball out of defence, moving forward and spraying passes from there but Johnson under usess him wide midfield. Sno's isn't going to be able to play to his strengths and 'effect the game' when he's out of position. Sno needs to be in the middle with options either side, either in front of the back or behind the front two. The problem is that playmaker Hartly also likes the deep midfield position which brings us onto the balance of the squad/team. Nibor and others have nicely highlighted this in other threads. We all know that the left side is bare and that Johnson is looking to strengthen that area.Fair enough. Its also obvious that there is no adequate cover at right back with Skuse filling in for Orr when Skuse is far more usefull in midfield. The loaning out of Ribiero is looks to be a dodgy decision. I'm sure we would all like to see some purposefull, attacking football especially at home, played at a high tempo with players running with the ball and creating opportunities but apart from about an hours play this season at AG we just haven't see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Mosquito Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 I can't help thinking that if we played in more attacking style we would have finished off Scunny, Peterboro, Wednesday and a largely average Sheffield United today. We did play in an open and attacking style yesterday. No manager can compensate for squandered chances and the 2-3 defeat against Sheffield United yesterday should and could have been a 5-3 victory for us had Haynes and Maynard taken a small proportion of their chances. I counted about 10 clear cut chances for Haynes and Maynard yesterday and they scored from none of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrizzleRed Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 Against West Brom and Sheffield United yesterday we created probably more chances than in any other games this season ........ or last come to that. The problem is I can't see where the next clean sheet will be coming from and the largely sound defence we've become used to seems to have evaporated. Hopefully when we get the preferred back line together again then we can move forward. I'd agree with others that loaning out Ribeiro seems a very questionable decision, as apart from Cole Skuse not being a natural right back, he's a very big loss from midfield as well. I'd be far happier with Ribs at right back and Skusey replacing the very disappointing Marve in midfield. As has been said, the ingredients are all there apart from wide left, but they just aren't being put together right and I'm afraid that's completely down to GJ. Injuries can't be helped, but loaning out our only other RB is a different matter. We were all enthusing about our strength in depth pre season, as we seemed to have options in all areas except on the wings, which time has proved we were right to be concerned about. Loaning out players to get experience is fine, but not when it means moving players out of position in your own side to accommodate injuries. Cole Skuse is a very versatile player and can fill the position of right back, but there is a big difference in filling the position and actually being comfortable and accomplished there. The same can be said about Sno out on the left, rather than his preferred position in the middle. Maybe it's just me, but I feel we we always look disjointed and are trying to get players to do something that doesn't come naturally. We did a lot of shopping in the summer and it would be logical to think GJ was getting square pegs for square holes etc. That makes it all the more strange that players like Sno have been played out of their natural position, which appears to have been the same reason he wanted to move from his previous club in the first place. Let's just hope when the injuries are sorted that we can get back to a settled side playing to their natural strengths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windmillhillred Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 Using the ingredients wrongly - Take Sno for example. He got rave reviews at Ajax when playing just in front of the back four and bringing the ball out of defence, moving forward and spraying passes from there but Johnson under usess him wide midfield. Sno's isn't going to be able to play to his strengths and 'effect the game' when he's out of position. Sno needs to be in the middle with options either side, either in front of the back or behind the front two. Sno fell out with Jol because he wanted him to play in the role you describe. And he didn't get rave reviews when he was at Ajax. If he did, he wouldn't be playing for City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.