Manchester United 4 – 2 MAN CITY – MY THOUGHTS
12 Apr
Losing a derby is always painful. Losing a derby when your players are outfought is downright unforgivable.
City’s recent record and performances in these matches have been thrilling. Glorious football and pulsating victories have created remarkable memories, and that has meant derby day suffering has been absent for a couple of seasons. We have been able to bask in repeated successes and rivalry domination, whilst pushing away those stinging recollections of last minute defeats and humiliations.
It might be thought, therefore, that losing at Old Trafford and deservedly so against a superior and sharper United side would be cause for deflation. And yet it is not the loss that hurts. No, we can cope with falling to the better team. We can understand being outplayed. What so stings is the manner of our collapse and the absence of a fighting spirit.
Superbia in Proelio reads City’s motto. Pride in Battle. There was none of that on Sunday.
Crushingly, so many of the failures of this season were on show again yesterday. Manuel Pellegrini may have finally seen the light and reverted to just one striker, but that formation shift changed little after a bright opening few minutes. Apart from a brief spell at the start of the game, City didn’t press high nor play with any tempo, they were open in midfield and thus vulnerable in defence, unable to summon the character or spirit required to turn around a deficit.
All the same reasons for the slump this season can again be cited. The lack of motivation, the complacency that has crept in, the substandard recruitment that meant seven of Sunday’s starting XI were also selected for the 6-1 thumping at Old Trafford four seasons ago. The squad has stagnated, the players brought in have been squad-clutterers that have added numbers but not quality.
The players guaranteed a starting berth in 2012 are still guaranteed one now. For any club that would be poor and signal a lack of ambition. For a club like City, aiming to grow globally and make an impression on various competitions, that staleness is criminal. Financial Fair Play has certainly played its part, although when you spend £42 million on Eliaquim Mangala, I’m not sure how much of an excuse it can be.
Yet rather than concentrating on transfer strategy or the manager’s limitations for the umpteenth time this season, what struck me on Sunday was how quickly City folded. It is not something new, but it was startling to see. At 2-1 down in the second half with all still to play for, City effectively surrendered.
It boils down to a lack of control. For so many games in the Premier League, City dictate possession. We orchestrate the game, move the ball around and with the opposition sat back, the onus is on us to make the breakthrough. That’s fine. We’re generally quite good at that. The issue is when things are not going City’s way.
It has often happened in the Champions League and has become more of a feature over the past couple of months domestically, but when we are not in control, when we do not boss the midfield and play the game as we want, we struggle to find a way to deal with it. Simply and damningly put, nobody wants to chase the ball, nobody wants to scrap and put in the hard yards, nobody is prepared to do the ugly work to enable us to carry out the prettier stuff. We have a team of pampered footballers who are happy on the ball, but are a liability without it.
Others teams defend as a unit. They are compact, tough to break down and work for one another. It is quite scary to watch City out of possession. There is no shape, no-one organising the team and not enough leaders to stamp their authority. That leads to a lack of discipline that results in silly free-kicks conceded in dangerous positions, petty yellow cards that leave players scared to tackle and, as best shown against CSKA Moscow, cheap sendings off that are borne out of pure frustration. If you can move City around, rather than the other way, it won’t take long before we fold.
That was the story on Sunday. As we buzzed around dangerously early on, you could see the eagerness from City’s whole team. The strikers and midfield pressed relentlessly, the defenders pushed up and stifled the home side, and everything was going to plan. And then United scored. It was a fortuitous goal, but it happens. The challenge was there for City to respond. The response, all too predictably, was pitiful.
Heads dropped and spaces that had previously not existed were now apparent and gaping. Yaya Touré wanted none of it, Jesus Navas wanted none of it, even Sergio Aguero stopped darting around to create angles for passes. The workrate that should be a given at this level, let alone in a derby, let alone in a derby when you’re battling for Champions League qualification, was just not there. The players gave up and that’s the most devastating thing to see for fans.
The time has come, as we now all realise, for this squad to split. They have given us some incredible highs with the breathtaking quality of football and the titles, cups and trophies, and we will be forever grateful, but it is time for a reshuffle. This summer promises to be one of great change. It can’t come soon enough.
I went today and sat with the Scum, said I would never do that and now I know why.
What has gone so badly wrong? When a team has no desire,no passion, no leaders,no grit, no plan B,no hope you really have question the goings on behind the scene, something has upset the whole chemistry of the club. Can anyone shed any light on the situation?
It was painful today and those idiots rubbed our nose in it today and we got everything we deserved. Keep the hope I suppose, but it hurt…….
modern football has changed, unless you have the skill of Valderama you can’t amble through the pitch – i suggest you all watch the Barca vs Sevilla match yesterday and you will understand what we are doing wrong and what we need to do!!i only hope it doesn’t take 2/3 seasons for the turnaround
Manuel Pelligrini is a good man, but we need a new direction. Yes the players deserve to lambasted, but either way there not playing for the manager. Thought the performance today was so aimless as we have been for a while now, this season has been costly. The teams around us have gotten stronger, and they don’t have the restrictions we have being placed upon us. There must be change, in the dugout, in the squad and in te boardroom. Not everything is doom and gloom nut i honestly can’t understand those that are saying that we should stick with the manager, all the evidence points to the team being in disarray .
What scares me now is i cannot see where the next win is coming from and to be perfectly honest i dont think they (the players) really care. They remind me of spoilt kids sulking when things are not going the way they want.
…”Simply and damningly put, nobody wants to chase the ball, nobody wants to scrap and put in the hard yards, nobody is prepared to do the ugly work to enable us to carry out the prettier stuff. We have a team of pampered footballers who are happy on the ball, but are a liability without it”…
Yaya Toure the once majestic creator is now a disgrace. His lack of effort and responsibility is like a virus affecting those around him.
Where has it all gone wrong..???
Time to rebuild and refresh.
I agree with you Jon Reilly especially about the 42. That chap pisses me off big time. You are right about a malaise spreading throughout the team, they are showing absolutely zero pride in playing for the club & nobody seems to be too bothered. Did someone say recently that the team has “downed tools” it certainly looks like that & has done for a while now. To say I’m fed up & disappointed would be a big understatement. The season can’t end soon enough – its just like watching a car crash in slow motion. Please please v.k & co….. Stop talking…… You look & sound pathetic.
This is a good summary of what I saw yesterday.
What has gone wrong? :
Poor recruitment over recent seasons. Don’t give me FFP ….. Something is really peeing me off at the moment. Mangala cost 30M when someone like Ashley Williams could have been had at a snip of that price. Nastasic was the best young CB in Europe nad had a good partnership with Kompany, and is not doing too bad now is he (aged 22)? Navas – no better than Adam Johnson. Fernando no better than Rodwell. In fact Yaya is now no better than Rodwell. Nasri..really? Clichy and Sagna – not been missed by Arsenal at all….We have just p’d the money away… Pellegrini – I am not sure how he is with the players but Jenckes, Guardiola, Mourinho would not let Silva, Toure, Nasri get away with that lack of effort – too much pampering of overpaid players. The team comes first. if your not prepared to put it on the line then off you go – look at Mourinho with Mata and then Hazard. We are not focused enough and, dare I say it, not professional enough. I think that Mancini saw this coming. He went about things the wrong way, but he was right, and was pushed aside.
The contrast was huge yesterday. to be sure, Utd have spent 2 fortunes this year but there is no sense that LVG will allow anyone to put their interests first.
A major rethink is required or this is going to end badly, as it normally does for City.
Fellaini, Ashley Young,Mata, Rooney . . . how many Utd fans wanted rid of these players at the end of last season?
This City squad needs very careful re-assessment. We must not throw the baby out with the bath water. We must also make an equally careful assessment of own own home-grown resources before dashing off and throwing money at players such as Wilshere or Henderson. Future signings must be of the very highest quality. In football, as in life, an additional 2% of quality invariably costs twice the price of the mundane average. But it is the 2% that is needed.
We won two league titles playing 4-4-2. It doesn’t matter how many you play in midfield, if you’re carring players.
The more the Manchini’s team is diluted, the worse we look. We’re not disciplined (fitness and tactics) enough, and we havn’t a clue what to do when we haven’t got the ball.
We should have been beaten yesterday, but two of their goals could have been counted out: both, to the letter of the law, were off-side. Their first goal was a total fluke and Mangala’s lack of game time and situational awareness gave them a gift.
Two home games for us, next and two hard away games for them.
I’m still confident we will finish above United
I was feeling despondent before I read this, and more so afterwards. So thank you Blue – your comment cheered me up no end!
It was a lucky goal that caused the problem. The reaction should have been better though.
We need wingers!! We’ve needed good pacey wingers for years. Aguero has to cover too much ground and do too much himself. We need to stop signing strikers, surround Aguero with some genuine pace and watch what happens.
IMO sell dzeko, nasri, Yaya (time to cash in), possibly a couple more. Move Milner to CM or sign another hard working CM. Then go get 2 solid wingers to play up top with aguero. Navas is not the guy I thought he would be.
This is the reason we struggle against the top european clubs also. We can have all the creative geniuses in the world but if you don’t have genuine pace to open things up id doesnt matter.
Watching Yaya on defence is quite incredible. He actively seeks to put himself in the least likely position the ball might go, so as to do as little as possible. He has it down to an art, it’s quite impressive.
Rarely have I seen a such a talented bunch of players get away with such a lack of professionalism (or been allowed to get with) than our squad this season. Change is needed and it’s hard to know where to start such is the mess we’re in.