27 Feb 2017 14:24:54
It's great to get the first trophy under our belt under the Jose era (not including community shield) .
I will be totally honest yesterday was not a comfortable watch! We were dominated by a saints side who looked like they have almost perfected their game plan which they had been working on for 2 weeks. I thought Bertrand and Cedric were quality providing width and putting in good crosses into the box. We seemed to struggle with gabbiadini's movement in the box and it shows that we do need to invest in a central defender as smalling is just not up to it I'm afraid.
As soon as I saw rojo at left back I knew we would struggle down the left hand side. His positional play at left back is awful and he comes centrally too much, which allowed Cedric to roam almost freely into open space down the left flank.
But I suppose the sign of a top team is to not play well yet still win and score 3 goals. The difference between ourselves and saints is that world class player that can single handedly win you a game. And we had that in zlatan. The guy was born to win on the big stage and even though he doesn't seem to play well he scores. Something we have missed since the fergie era is those world class players to take the game by the scruff of its neck and single handedly lead us to victory. In pogba, zlatan and even miki we have that at long last.
Without miki we are a totally different side - lack the zip in the pockets behind zlatan and that was evident last night as mata really struggled without someone on his wavelength.
All in all, I am thrilled we have won and the momentum keeps on building. You can see from the players when celebrating at the end that they have bought into and believe in Jose and where he wants to take the club. There is this aura around zlatan that is infectious to the rest of the squad and you can see that they know there is potential for something special to happen this season.
We have a tough fa cup draw against Chelsea sandwiched between two Europa league games. This is where Jose earns his money and I am interested to see how he rotates the squad. Onwards and upwards lads.
27 Feb 2017 15:18:58
Great post park! ðŸ‘ðŸ».
27 Feb 2017 21:01:50
Good post park and agree with all. Re mhkitaryan, I have been saying that we needed to buy more quick, tricky and imaginative players like him. City have several Silva de Bruyne Sane as do all the top teams. I think we need to either buy or promote the kids in that position.
Our full back positions both need a re-haul. The left back area in particular. Valentin has done well but he's not a fullback and still doesn't attack down the flanks enough.
But a win and that's all that matters in cup finals.
27 Feb 2017 21:27:16
Bailly was very poor yesterday and has been 2 or 3 times since he got back. It's not just Smalling, but it's easier to bash the players who have been here longer.
27 Feb 2017 22:02:24
agree with everything you have said schmid. Wazza, Bailly is young and new to this league I am willing to give him leeway but Smalling is a seasoned internation who gets turned inside out everytime he faces a striker with good movement in the box.
27 Feb 2017 23:34:05
You just explained your own point wazza, bailly has not been here long. Smalling is bashed because he's been here much longer. He's used to this league but he still looks an average cb.
28 Feb 2017 04:10:08
Wazza, smalling was static on so many occasions. He always reacts too late. He doesn't anticipate at all. Rio was a perfect example of a player reacting before the danger.
Smalling didn't react for the disallowed goal and he didn't react for the two goals gabiaddini scored.
Bailly was running around trying to cover for him.