Look what Mancini did in his first year at City, they didn't play exciting football, they built a defensive system. Once that was sorted they could develop a more fluid attack. A team has to be disciplined in defence 25 Hart (D) 02 Richards (D) 05 Zabaleta (D) 22 Clichy (D) 28 K Toure (D) 19 Nasri Booked (A) 21 Silva (A) 34 De Jong (D) 42 Y Toure (D) 16 Aguero (A) 45 Balotelli (A) Seven rigid defenders - four fluid attackers. The individual brilliance generally comes from the 4 A's. Just because players don't hold position doesn't mean it is fluid. Fluid suggests coherence, as opposed to indisciplined.
And we had, until last night, one of the best defensive units in the PL. Just like City. The only thing we lack is the quality of that front 4, which is what I said in my earlier post. Fluid, and I use that word because they do work well together at times and they do rotate between the lines to cause problems, but nowhere near the same quality as the other top PL sides.
Yeah, that'd be right. Not. Because the last time I came on here, Lucarse, you accused me of being plastic, and I thought I'll post something and on he'll come. And here you are.
Couldn't be arsed writing it all myself again so this is it written more eloquently than I could anyway: http://www.empireofthekop.com/anfield/2012/03/22/blame-kenny-all-you-want-but-please-tell-me-why/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
This is what I think will happen. Kenny will be given another season - quite rightly, as he won us the Carling cup, got us into the Europa League and may win us the FA Cup. But if things don't go down too well next season in the league he won't be sacked, he'll resign. Last night his post-match interview comments were practically Hogson-esque. It seems to me right now the team aren't the only ones beaten. If he does have a cunning plan in place I hope he uses it sooner rather than later 'cos this is ****in' killing me!
I look at threads because I'm interested to see what people's opinions of the games are? I posted because there was a reference to me there. There really is not much point posting on a website when you debate something with someone they start threads abusing you. Might stick to other forums from now on, where people don't dedicate threads to me just because I don't agree with them.
The last time we exchanged words, you abused me first. You had the bare-faced affrontery to call me plastic just because I expressed annoyance in our current league form. You, in short, started it. I don't mind if your opinion is different to mine, that's what debate is all about, but you started it with an insult, so you got it back. If you can't take it don't dish it out in the first place. And don't give me none of your flannel about being 'interested'. You came on here because I was having a moan. Which is my right in a democracy.
well this trhea is a load of whinging is'nt it. first 2 goal lead.. those are bloody rare for us lol... come on guys haven't you guys EVER seen a side thinnk they've won adn take the foot off... 2-3 utd blackburn. whing all you like we are ok, had the worst team in 50 years under roy, sold a heap and got whom we could. now we have that we've a pot, a semi and where theres that there's europe next year and hope to buy bette rplayers and improve again. AS PER.... you lot... honestly... city take 4 years and you want it in one... don't be spoiled kids.
Decent post. Also it's no fun when your all mad at your own team it's our job to point out your flaws!
Spoiled? Moreinjured, this isn't about one season, this isn't about Kenny, this is about the last time we had a sniff of the title! 2nd a few seasons back with Rafa. In 20 years, that's been it. A lot of younger fans won't get it but some of us are still waiting... So in that context you can't call it one season!
I agree to some extent that maybe this isn't a blip in form considering we've underperformed for the last 3 years. However, it's not as if we've underperformed with the same manager, players and board. There have been a lot of changes within the 3 years - now is the time we need stability.
and... if we take this attitude we'll never get a bloody sniff. we were destroyed utterly under hogdson and rafa last two years... 3 years to destroy a team and only one to rebuild? come on guys... league cup on the side baord and an fa cup semi to come... WE ARE LUCKY... other can only dream of that. finally... all the whining people, be prepared NEXT SEASON not to be anywhere near a title, we may just get to 4th, maybe if we really build but the season after that is the test. At least kenny has ambition and wants to win things not like the likes of hodgson who would be happy just to make 6th in the table.
THIS!!!!! ^^^^^^^ OH **** YEAH, THIS!!!!!!!! Thanks for DirtyFrank posting this, even though the soft tart can't post a link correctly
Great blog, thanks for that mate. For anyone who didn't read it: Blame Kenny all you want, but please tell me why? "Col. Jessup said: “I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide…”. While the context may be different, the character’s shade might be different, I hope this is what Kenny tells the doubters. The twitter brigade that goes crazy after every disappointing game or result. What makes Kenny the King is that he would never say that. Less than 15 months ago we were redefining abjectness. Less than 18 months ago we were dreading the Championship fonts on our replica shirts. Today, we are one trophy up. We are 180 minutes from another. We’ve a much stronger squad than the Koncheskeys and Poulsens. And we’re still moaning. What’s changed? Expectations have changed, or rather, have been restored. And since you and me didn’t play a part in that, credit should go to Kenny for affording you the platform from where you can dream and when they are not entirely fulfilled, you go slagging the one person who let you dream in the first place. Kenny has been a victim of his own reputation and the stature we’ve given him. It’s to Kenny’s credit that we wanted more than we would finally get. Go ahead, blame Kenny for making us dream. But while you’re crying for them not being fulfilled, remember one thing: the dream is not over. It might take a little longer than we would have liked, but realize the dream we will. Actually, we would still be sitting on the same couch or at the same pub. It would be Kenny who would realize them for us. To be a critic is a fan’s right. To be a knee-jerk is his vice." "No right-minded person will tell you that Kenny has been error-free. Nor would anyone tell you that everything has panned out according to the script. But sometimes LFC does manage to break you heart in different ways. If finishing was a problem earlier, the Suarez, Downing and Seb goals would tell you finishing is anything but a problem right now. We had the most compact defense for most the season and suddenly we leak 3 in 15 minutes? Not a lot of us are qualified to know what really went wrong in the pursuit for the ‘main target’, although the fat lady is yet to sing. Here’s what I make of it and it is not an excuse. I have always thought that a little too much of the team is new. Bellamy, Jose, Downing, Henderson, Suarez, Carroll, Adam are all less than 15 months into the system. Gerrard hasn’t played with most of them for most of the time. Spearing hasn’t played for too long with most. As a team you can adapt a couple of new players into the team at a time but you really can’t expect for everyone to know everyone else’s game when they’ve not played together long enough. One can only hope that one season is long enough for these folks. On that note, we should also be cautious against demanding wholesale changes. May be some members of the squad that we added may not have been up to the quality desired or the quality that we thought they would add. However, some of them are young and will improve. The others, who are more experienced, would also help the young ones blend better and adapt to LFC’s style. For some others, it might be the right time to cut our losses. Nobody gets everything right, and what makes you better is when you learn where you might have erred." "If anyone from the club tells you that top-4 would not have been the target, you’d most probably be right to assume that he/she is lying. But then that’s the nature of sport. Things go right and wrong. Sometimes they do that in spectacular manner. What is the point of watching sport if you cannot take the negative results and move on to the next game? If everything has to go according to the script, I would suggest movies would make an ideal entertainment choice for you instead of sports. What’s pertinent is that while top-4 would have been the target, of course people who would have set it wouldn’t have thought that failure in that particular goal can be an outcome too. I’m not going to kid myself by terming Carling Cup as a monumental success but it does take the sting out of the last couple of years, doesn’t it? It is a reminder to the fans, the rivals and more importantly, to the players themselves that the club is competitive again. It is a building block. And when it comes to a building, believe you me, every block is important. Carling Cup can be a balm for past heartbreaks, the FA Cup can really shift us into next gear." "Deep down, one still hopes that we win the rest of the games and those above us screw up in a manner that makes us get the coveted Champions League place but pragmatically that might not be possible. We’ve got two important games in the semi-final for the FA Cup and possibly, and hopefully, the final as well. We might also like to beat Chelsea in the league. But apart from the three games, I hope we give some promising youngsters like Shelvey, Sterling, Morgan and Coady a look into the first team. If we are to play Europa next season, having a deeper squad and an inexpensive one would make sense. That is, we should be promoting academy players to Europa. Having won the Carling Cup this year, and may win the FA Cup as well and who knows, we’ll start the next year with a Community Shield, what Kenny would do well is to realize that Europa, FA Cup and League Cup will be side-shows for 2012-13. The only thing that would matter would be to finish in top-4 and without too much of a tussle. Please." YNWA, @kaushal__
The only thing I disagree with in that is the assertion that finishing is no longer a problem. Dirk's goal should have made it about 4, not 2- and then the comeback wouldn't have been on. I do agree with the general points in there though. I also agree with mito's point that Kenny has the ambition Woy lacked. Hodgson told us we should lower our expectations and (to all of those outsiders who say he never had enough time) in that one statement alienated himself from everybody at, and associated with, the club.
Talk about rose tinted spectacles !!! Yes Hodgson did not progress us. But to say that Rafa was worse than Kenny is just plain bias. LUCKY to be 7th? OMG are you Kenny's nephew or something? The owners had already declared that they would deem the season a failure if we do not get 4th place. Have we lowered our expectation so much that we have to deem ourselves lucky to be 7th, with a Carling Cup?
