These are tight defeats...there's room for improvement and Jose saying he would have changed everything at HT suggests he knows it. Jose makes drastic subs so that’s an admission that he has made an error but he at least shows some intelligence in rectifying it Antwerp looked like a team who were unbeaten at home and that was very much their first team...we lost to a pathetic individual error...I would have taken the draw. im sure Jose could make better choices but first that means he has to stop trusting the whole squad...it’s a tough call for him especially when everyone has their eyes peeled and claws out waiting for him to trip up when it comes to player management because the world still can’t get over how right he was about Pogba.
Take the 2 best, most affective attackers out of any team and they are bang average take Salah/Mane out of Pool team and they look a whole different team take De Bruyne/Sterling out of City team and they feel it take Messi/Suarez out of prime Barca and they will feel it take Lewandowski out of the Bayern team and they will feel it Juve struggling without Ronaldo of course we are going to always miss the impact of our best players.
Criticism isn’t a meltdown though, it’s just pointing out where he’s going/ gone wrong. There aren’t many on here who are anti-Jose, a couple that were don’t seem to post much any more too. Today I felt he messed up, especially with the Lo Celso and Vinicius subs. We took off a striker for a winger and a creative CM for a DM when 1-0 down. To me, there’s no logic in that. It actually felt like he’d rushed or panicked with those decisions.
Having had some time to reflect, I think Jose misjudged the mood of a couple of the players he bought into the starting XI today, and the fitness of one or two others (namely Gio and Bale). This clearly affected us in the first half, we were lethargic and unable or just not playing at the intensity the game demanded. He then compounded this with the half time subs, I don’t understand the Vicinius sub as he was actually playing well, for example. Bergwijn was at least making runs and Jose should have been more ruthless taking Winks and Bale and Alli off for example - Højbjerg, Son and Lamela for those three and it’s a different ball game with a striker still on the pitch. Easy to say in hindsight of course when I’m not in the dressing room but it seems glaring to me. I’m concerned at how reliant we’ve so quickly become on Højbjerg to knit the midfield together as well. I think per Jose’s comments there will be a few who will suffer from tonight. I’d be very surprised if we saw Alli again any time soon. I’m expecting a big reaction from this, not just when the first XI are on the pitch again at the weekend, but more importantly when the next EL game comes around and it’s a different group picked.
Most of what he does I generally agree with, overall since he’s come in I’ve been more than happy with him but I just think some of his decisions in recent matches have been well off. Burnley he got saved by Kane, today no one was able to “bail” him out so to speak. The silver lining though is that hopefully we won’t be seeing some of the regulars who let him and us down in the team too much now. His post match comments to the press were pretty brutal, I just hope he sticks to his guns.
who do u think? I think Bergwijn isn’t firing much...I know you think Moura isn't either but you're getting a shift non stop from him and I don't think Bergwijn is even doing that...I thought this guy had some menace...he doesn’t show it I think Davies is a bit meh tbh..he has to be surrounded with quality to see him through but he will play plenty. I’d sell Sanchez...might get a decent fee Dele strolling as per usual...he’s done....if he’s got it in him he should be fired up for these games...eye of the tiger has gone in him
Although I’ll hold my hands up by saying Hojbjerg himself wouldn’t have been my preference I’m not actually surprised how dependent we now are on him. We’ve been crying out, not even crying actually, ****ing screaming out for a proper DM for about two or even three years so now we’ve finally got one we’re seeing just how huge they are to have. I don’t know if there’s a clause or not but if there’s any possibility of bringing Skipp back in January I think the club should do it, if that means we even have to pay Norwich money, do it. I was initially against cutting his loan short but we need proper cover for Hojbjerg and he’s the only one with the skill set to do so and I can’t see us buying someone in January unless there’s a Davids type lingering about somewhere.
If Dele weren’t already finished he is now. I’d imagine he gets sold or loaned in January. I think Bergwijn is a lack of confidence. Think he’s had a bit of a rough deal as he harshly lost his place last season and hasn’t been able to get it back, despite Lucas being just as ****. Lucas does graft but there’s rarely any quality. Both he and Lamela should be on borrowed time, I’d love to see Clarke given the chance to usurp them both in the pecking order but can’t see it happening any time soon. Davies ain’t amazing but is usually dependable and then tonight he goes and does that . Yeah I’d sell Sanchez too, don’t like any of our main CBs but he fetches the most dough. I’m hoping Winks don’t make the league squad again. Honestly, I’m having jelly and ice cream the day that useless **** gets binned from the club. Bale’s obviously been turd too but he’s probably the only player with a legitimate excuse as he’s barely played any football for ages.
There is good players other than Kane or Son but those good players don’t seem to perform when Kane and/or Son aren’t there
If you compare our form at the end of last season when Winks and Sissoko played nearly every match we are really not much better now. But we are just about getting top 4 results over that total run which is close to half a season worth of matches. So no need for anyone to panic. For me it demonstrates how important Dembele was. Basically a combination of the good features of Ndombele and Sissoko.
This probably doesn't count for much, as four of the players here didn't last past 45 minutes, but bloody hell our midfield is a mess here please log in to view this image
I can see the point in those sort of subs if they sort the balance of a side out, but that didn't happen. He ended up using our fifth sub early too to restore a striker to the side, who then played really deep and nullified the whole point of the move. Mourinho should've just put Hojbjerg on at the break for one of Winks, Alli or Lo Celso and given the team a chance to rectify things. Give it ten minutes to see if that settles things down, at least, then make more changes as necessary. He overdid it, it didn't work and then he claimed to accept blame for the result, while clearly throwing mud at the starters. A really poor night for him overall, in my opinion. A lot of mistakes and bad handling of the loss to go with it.
I think that’s quite natural though really. City have struggled when Aguero and de Bruyne have been out despite the fact they’ve still had the likes of Sterling, Silva, Mahrez and co in the side. Your top players generally influence top performances from your whole team. Playmakers will work better with better players whilst defenders in theory would have less to do when the better attacking players are on the pitch as the opposition’s game plan will be more tethered to counter our best players. I think we’ve got some really good players here outside of the two superstars, the problem though is that we’ve also got a lot of dross and it’s the dross that need removing from the team and then eventually sold and replaced. Like I said in the other post I think we could really do with a couple James Milner’s or Gareth Barry’s, or go a few years back and guys like Park Ji Sung or Darren Fletcher, those types of players rarely grabbed headlines but were/ are so reliable to have around the team. We’ve got the flair and superstar factor but a bit of reliability wouldn’t go amiss.
he accepted his responsibility...what more does anyone want? He’s right...he will respond to his own mistakes so no one needs question his team selections from now on, they need to understand why even if it doesn’t quite sit right with people. I.e why isn’t so n so getting a game we didn’t lose because of his subs...we didn’t lose because of the formation...we lost due to a lack of application. He threw a bunch of first teamers on to send that message that he won’t pissaround...this is not Poch...too afraid to upset individuals...suffering the long slog because so n so needs game time. It didn’t turn the game but this early on in the season, it’s a good thing that the players know what is expected of them...they good enough or they not. I don’t see the point in micro disecting the subs etc...there’s enough talent and there’s enough in this squad who talk a good one but can’t turn it on when they are given that chance...I’m glad they are getting sieved out. They can leave and pursue their careers at mid table fodder...we are aiming somewhere else. It’s obvious that every time we don’t win...attention turns to Jose...so why should he risk that negativity to give some half arse the opportunity to put him under more pressure? im glad he’s not like Poch...full of lame excuses to make the path easier for these individuals to slip back into contention without much criticism
He didn't accept responsibility though, did he? He said that he did and then immediately made it clear that it was some of the players at fault. He picked a bunch of players who were out of position and/or struggling with fitness in a system that didn't make any sense. He then messed up the half-time subs, realised that and made another, which left him with no remaining options. You can have the best team in the world, but it doesn't matter if the system and tactics don't work. Burnley showed this the other night by being the opposite. They're well drilled, worked hard and everyone knew their job. Sticking broken round pegs in square holes and then blaming the pegs won't get us anywhere.
Also one of the jobs of the manager is to get the best out of the players in the squad. He selected the team that started yesterday and it would have motivated them better to leave them on the pitch and challenge them to improve their performance. Changing half the team and still losing is the worst outcome possible.
Who was out of position? Bergwijn and Bale switched wings but that doesn’t mean, especially Bergwijn, that he can’t show some fire in his game. He’s playing low on confidence and to do for him is give him the game time when possible but then he has to do something for himself...it’s not as though he was stuck in defence. the midfield trio is a problem every game unless we win but that was 3 midfielders in there who could have applied themselves more...how does Jose solve the fact that they couldn’t string 3 passes together? We were already a goal down before the subs and the subs didn’t add anything better or worse however before the subs we looked clueless and weren’t going to score even if we played till midnight. For me, it was a disjointed performance because it was a team of players who aren’t playing much, rusty physically and it seems mentally too. Apart from training it can only be improved under match scenarios...Jose put them in one...can’t do much more...it’s up to the players
I couldn't really see the point to be honest. I agreed changes needed making but two of them especially just didn't make sense to me. Removing a striker for a winger and a creative mid for a DM probably made us more imbalanced and at 1-0 down it left me confused as to what he was expecting to happen. Agree on over doing it though, four subs at once and a fifth just ten minutes later felt really rash/ rushed and not well thought out. I'd have happily had two or three, with the idea of another two coming at say 70+ if required but five in the space of ten second half minutes is extreme and I'd say makes it harder to get a rhythm going so with so many new additions all at once. I'm quite happy though so to speak of him throwing mud, for a while we've had too many players just ghosting here and collecting their cheques and it's about time the bubble wrap was removed from around them, that said, over the last couple of games, he should probably be throwing a bit more mud at himself too because it's been two really poor performances and questionable line up/ sub decisions.
