If this one gives as much as the first one and starts like the second one has, he'll do ok. It says he plays anywhere across the front line so not an out and out 9. Just hope he has a few goals in him.
As the clock ticks down Whyte & Sang remains in the fold. Still time for some lower league team to take Ralls & Nelson
With no one apparently going out, that's one hell of a big squad Morison has got to pick from. With Adams coming back shortly, that midfield is going to be competitive. Apart from keeper and at the back which looks pretty nailed on to me, Morison has got some serious decisions to make for the other 6 positions.
He has indeed and his biggest challenge will be to get the right balance in midfield between ball retention and creativity, with an end product. He has to hope his marquee end of the window season signing brings the much needed quality in the final third so patently missing so far this campaign.
In a 4231, I still feel the middle of the 3 is the problem spot, the same with the creative player in a 433. Plenty options across the piece as Sparkey said. SM's challenge is to get the right blend.
Midfield 2 from 3 of Wintle , Ralls , Rino. (hopefully Adams will prove good enough to come into it). Ive no issue with the 3 being on together at some point but lets start on the front foot. AM Colwill / Sawyers / Ojo.
Indeed remote as I stated above - SM needs to step up and get the selection right in the engine room area. A balance of ball winning, ball retention, ball carrying and creativity has been witnessed in too few games this season. I suggest though that gone are the days when you played the same eleven every game, as the game is so different these days given the opposition will have different formations and personnel to last weeks opponents. He has the numbers and thereby the associated options for each game. Plus dare I suggest he be a tad more adventurous and brave in selection? Give eg Sang a start in midfield to see if he’s a better option than Sawyers or Ralls. But overall City won’t win games unless they score goals and to do that they need start to convert the limited but sufficient chances we’ve seen in each game (bar WBA) presenter to them. However if the number of chances increase with a better performing midfield then by the law of averages we’ll score more. In theory anyway!
Just watched the luton highlights. Started picking on individuals and watching their contributions. The disappointing thing about the luton game was the quality of the attempts on goal. Quite a few scuffed or skied shots with few clean attempts. Sawyers goal was cleanly struck as was a Watters attempt that was well saved. Ralls had a cleam strike just off target as did Ojo. The atempts of others, including Romeo, Nkounkou, Philogene and others looked suspect. It undermines my earlier posts suggesting goals would be distributed amongst the squad. The build up and interlinking play is good. Crisp, quick and accurate with forward intent. The creation of clear opportunities could be improved but its the finishing that really needs attention. I still feel we're in a better position than last year and play is easier on the eye but the quality of attempts needs to be improved. From his interview it sounds as if Robinson will fit in to the style (3 year deal is a big commitment from the club) though exactly where he plays to maximise his impact is still a question. He may be the answer to the centre of the AM three, a genuine 10. Suppose he could play as a 9. He also plays wide. We seem well stocked in the wide channels so maybe a more central role?
Excellent summary Remote.... I think it captures what most of us have been thinking... that we are "nearly" there and just need that final piece to click into gear for us... hopefully, be it via Robinson or the others, we settle down a bit now and can start to finish some of these chances, thus creating confidence throughout the team...
Im hoping the " final piece" is enough to see us comfortable around mid table which I think with a overhaul of the squad and playing style will be a huge achievement. Theres immediate work to get there though which is on Morison and his staff. The set pieces attacking and defending are shocking. Hopefully they are working on it in training.
We quickly forget how good we were at scoring from set pieces but whilst I’m happy not to have to suffer those boring long throws, it’s a surprise how poor we are at winning any headers from set pieces. And yes the 2 goals for Bristol and the pair by Luton were so poorly defended. Hudson’s coaching prowess is an issue perhaps?
Well, judging by our stats, the bullets are semi-regularly being loaded... Some of them have been blanks/defective unfortunately. Need to step up the final pass accuracy AND shooting..
Personally I think most of it is just lack of height and strength now... We are visible a much much smaller team nowadays.
