28 Dec 2017 12:48:07
Bailly, Zlatan, Mkhitaryan, Pogba, Lukaku, Lindelof, Matic;
These are Jose's signings since arriving, so are these poor buys, are they not performing or is José not getting the best out of them?
Bailly, even tho a tad rash at times I think most agree he, at £30m, is a good buy, especially now you look across at VvD £75m.
Zlatan - an expensive mistake? 28 goals last season, won us the EFL Cup, would have gone onto score more but for a serious injury, I think being an ally to Jose is another reason why he has re-signed, perhaps sentiment clouding views on him.
Mkhitaryan - started off slowly, looked out of sorts, started this season like a house on fire so where has that form gone? Is Jose right to drop him or has he been underperforming?
Pogba - paid top dollar and as so many last season was hit and miss but is he still too much hit and miss, no doubt he's a talent and does seem to influence us a lot which in itself is worrying to rely on just 1 players but there is a lot more to come.
Lukaku - struggle to gauge this one, when he has chances he invariably scores, he gets criticised for not influencing the game but is it Rom not contributing or the team not giving him service?
Lindelof - high reputation but has struggled to settle in, will he get that chance tho.
Matic - possibly Jose's most important buy, started off very well, yet our midfield seems to get bypassed in so many games, is this Matic, no I don't think so.
So in summary for me these players all have ability and have proven it in spurts, why do we seem unable to play at that level for longer than bursts? Is it the youthful nature of most of these players producing inconsistencies or the way they are being asked to play?
28 Dec 2017 13:23:14
Good post WRD, we know what they can do but we are not seeing them do it consistently, I’d also add Martial and Rashford into that category. Pogba was starting to dominate before his injury but is back to being a little careless, I think it I should up o the Manager to get the best of these players.
28 Dec 2017 13:51:23
Its not that Jose has made poor buys and/ or isn't getting the best out of them. Its that his predecessors made poor buys and they aren't good enough. Shaw, Darmian, Rojo, Smalling, etc etc. Are they good enough.
28 Dec 2017 14:07:35
Mort, probably not. But there is no clear starting 11. Lingard gets picked until he has an indifferent game, the same seems to be true for Martial and Rashford, it can’t be helping their confidence.
28 Dec 2017 14:44:12
Did people not say that stones delph sterling where poor buys?
Look good enough at the moment
Shaw looked a great player, darmian was playing very well for Italy when we bought him rojo had just played in a world cup final .
Have they progressed or regressed?
Lingard is doing what few of our players are imo and that's playing to his potential. But the moment that drops he is straight out the team .
Same with martial and rash . you know both are going to get subbed.
Sterling and sane where both very inconsistent last season pep stuck with them and backed them . Look at them now .
Maybe pep should of sold them last season bought some one else and started the process again?
28 Dec 2017 14:49:29
I don’t think any of those signings would make it into the top teams in the world though, and being Manchester United that’s where I’m assuming you’d like to group yourself? So yes it has been poor signings, bailey is good but not great, Pogba has been better than last season but still nothing special, Ibra was quality but ageing, Matic has gone off the boil, miki can’t get a game, Lindelof or however at written is Lovrens lost twin. Are they awful signings? No. Are they great? Definitely not. As mentioned before your best players were there before Mourinho. There really isn’t much value out there at the minute though and any signing will be expensive and so the risk increases. Strange times in the league but I think as fans we all have to wait and see how the season unfolds with regards to cups etc as city have clearly won the league.
28 Dec 2017 15:51:17
In fairness he did try to sell sterling as per 002.
28 Dec 2017 15:59:29
I think in answer to all and especially Tony. Why is mourinho not getting the best out of the players. I have a theory. sorry Ken please don't puke but we have to measure ourselves against the best, and City are the best by light years, they play to a certain system where players have a job to do creating space and high pressing in their respective areas which is around 30yards. So every player has a responsibility to protect the area and to create space within that area. The two exceptions are Silva and KDB who are allowed more freedom. So consequently the team always operates to a certain formula as their responsibilities are clear and confined to their areas.
On the other hand, our team is made up of a lot of very good individuals with no clear or defined system. When we have the ball, our full backs are quite often unsure what to do. When we lose the ball, there's no clear system of winning it back through areas of responsibility. So we start panicking and leaving gaps.
City and Spurs work extremely hard at winning the ball back, as do Barca, and this system seems to have been paying dividends for Barcelona over the years and will do with City.
Two stumbling blocks is mourinho does not play the system and the players are not interested in the hard work it takes to play it.
So for as long as mourinho is in charge, we will continue to look lethargic and chaotic when we lose the ball. We will also look like a selection of strangers.
28 Dec 2017 16:07:44
Our issue is that our best players are not playing consistently at their highest level. And unfortunately for whatever reason that is happening at the same time. I think Jose has bought well on the most part. Bailly, matic, pogba, Lukaku is a very strong spine. We are lacking a quality pair of full backs which is killing our game imo. Shaw has been very good imo in the games he has played but for whatever reason Jose doesn’t rate him and I don’t expect him to be here next season unfortunately. Football has evolved and the full backs are expected to like wingers and All the top teams have a threat from these positions. We are effectively playing with half an attack without quality full backs. I expect Jose to address both positions in the next two windows.
Mkhitaryan has been a disappointing signing which is a shame as he is very talented. I expect Lindelof to come good but the signings pre Jose have been atrocious and we have poured money down the drain. The proof is in the pudding that only blind, darmian and Rojo are left and all 3 I expect will be moved on come the summer. These next two transfer windows are integral for us. We must address the deficiencies in the squad and the owners must back Jose. I don’t want to get into whether Jose has spent enough or not because I feel it is irrelevant. But we must identify signings which are correct for our style of play and get them in as every single top 6 team will improve on next year. I personally think Van Dijk is a very good signing for the scousers and although overpriced, he is better than what they currently have (not hard) .
And answering johnbarnesleftpeg - I disagree that none of our signings wouldn’t get into the top teams. Pogba, Bailly, matic would walk into your team and would not look out of place in city’s team. I actually think that martial would be doing wonders if he was playing under pep right now. And perhaps even rashford although I’ve been extremely disappointed with him recently as he has looked very out of sorts. Perhaps we rated him better than he is because I actually think he is a headless chicken who lacks composure.
28 Dec 2017 16:19:32
If Sanchez came in Sterling wouldve been out or wouldn't have played as many games as he has this season.
28 Dec 2017 17:36:06
Stuck with sterling? I thought he wanted rid?
{Ed001's Note - he did try and sell him in the summer.}
28 Dec 2017 17:45:36
Sanchez will be the end of aguero.