It was and his body language wasn't very good either, but I'm not too bothered about this game tbh. You only have to look at some of the other results this weekend, ours wasn't the only bad one, and as people have said, it was a good game for people to get a run out.
Just back - live not far from Fulham. Of course the defeat doesn't matter much but the second half defending was very disappointing. A few observations and I am of course prepared to say its early days but... Elab at right back so far shows no signs of getting any closer to his winger than Elmo does and posed no threat going forward. Constantly seemed to get drawn in. Markovic in front of him flitted about - didn't offer the genuine width I hoped for Evandro - obviously very skilful but the issue as with Robert Koren will be where do you play him? Not convinced he is part of a central midfield 2, so will have to play as a sort of deep striker which leaves us with Hernandez isolated up front and we know how that turns out. Of course Marco doesn't have much choice but its a very big ask to replace seasoned committed Premier League players like Snodgrass and Livermore (and today Dawson and Davies) with a bunch of loanees who have never been in a relegation battle and can leave anyway at end of season if it all goes wrong. We must hope the likes of Markovic, Niasse etc really have something to prove and he can mould them into a new team very quickly. As I said, a big ask.
So play more games, more fatigue/injury worry and survive, drop out early, play less games and lessen the need for so much rotation? I'm not sure I follow your logic.
I actually thought omar was poor at chelsea, he was so out of position time after time and never took or attempted to beat a player And he played just as poor by all accounts today.. I think markovic will be a big flop
Said this all along. We'll end up with a mish mash of players on short term contracts that like players that have left recently won't be able to get away from the club quickly enough come the Summer.
I don't think Silva would admit it, but following Huddlestone's display against Man U putting him in defence against Fulham seemed to be a retrograde step. In reality being eliminated from the cup is an advantage to City and maybe that's what he wanted, although I doubt he wanted to lose 4-1.
More games being a negative is nonsense. Winning breeds confidence, game time breeds chemistry and understanding. More games can only be a positive. The facts are we have never stayed up without reaching the 6th round, and have been relegated every time we've dropped out before the 6th round. Those are facts.
Jeez we stank it up today in the second half. Evandro - decent in the attacking role but let Cairney drift past him time and again when Meyler went off. Meyler was really decent - mystery why he was subbed. Markovic was constantly just shy of the through ball and his passes were mostly under or over hit. He's clearly a confidence player with no confidence. Davies - when your captain walks off injured after eight minutes, 30 seconds after alerting the bench that he was struggling (HM hadn't even STARTED warming up), you can assume that's his last game for us for a while.
Well, that was a bit ****. I was expecting to see a few more of the youngsters start and, to be honest, I think we'd have got more out of them. I know Markovic and Omar need some minutes but they made the Elmo/Snodgrass combination look like world-beaters...both of them were supposed to be on the right, but neither looked like they wanted to be out there. I would have moved Diomande over to the right side for a bit of protection, pushed Markovic inside to play off Hernandez, and had Evandro next to Clucas and Meyler. I know it was only the cup, but that was, bar Dawson and maybe Niasse, just about our best side and to be frank it was pathetic. Can't be as bad as that again
One other observation from today. After Abel had missed the penalty for a second time, he stood at the edge of the penalty area waiting for the corner like a little boy who really didn't want to be there. I'm not saying this means he wants to leave, just that he is a confidence player and must have wanted the ground to swallow him up. And no City player went anywhere near him to give him a consolatory pat on the back. I know they were all past caring by then, but thought it was quite telling really.
Just got in from a day out, so didnt see or hear the game. I assume I nailed it? What? 4-1? Marshall have a normal game? Jak was in goal? At least Aluko didnt score...did he? He did? Hernandez didn't....frig me, missed penalty? **** me. Good old City. At least we can concentrate on the league now, and Silvas seem what he has at his disposal to play with now. You Ull.