Disappointed with not scoring and no points but this is one of the 3 or 4 hardest games of the season so we had to expect it. I think there will be 2 more coming in (at least 1 up front?) and just could really do with that first proper breakthrough against Swansea in a couple of weeks.
Jeez we are so boring and defensive ,and unsuccessful at it. I am embaressed and we will become a laughingstock ......being shown up by Norwich and B'muth
........the point is also to do with the performances and positive attitude( and how the critics view us)
But realistically we were never going to do anything today so we shouldn't be anymore down on ourselves than we were after last week's game. Let's see how we feel after Swansea...
I think the point is that: no we didn't expect to get anything out of today....so why not have a real go for it? I take OFH's point about GD, but just can't get it out of my head at how spectacularly Flores has blunted out prolific attack. Last season 23 (ish) other mangers tried to stop us scoring and couldn't, Flores has done it 4 games on the spin!!
Is it the class of defenders we are against or is it our set-up and are we really not threatening, or attacking enough ?
Possibly, but I don't think West Brom or Soton were all that, yet we still did not have any shots on target and looked pretty toothless in atack. Just to be clear, I am not having a go at the players, it is the tactics FULL Stop - last manager that came in and made wholesale changes to personnel and playing style was Dave 'call me Harry' Bassett.
A bit of both methinks. My beef is that the midfield haven't really created anything for Deeny or Ighalo. Too many overhit crosses, too many short passes. Form is temporary. Let's hope it doesn't last the season.
It's only been four games - we have to give it time or we will make it worse. Some boos when Watson came on - bad decision yes but too early to start booing especially away at City.
I thought Watford did ok yesterday,biggest criticism is they tended to give the ball away cheaply at times and they didn't hold the ball up to give the defence much of a respite. Your season isn't defined by a loss at the Etihad so I'm surprised they weren't a little more adventurous given how last seasons dropped points at the etihad were not from teams parking the bus and picking us off on the break but from teams that came to have a go
For me this is about the bigger picture. To say 'well, we were never going to get anything from this game' is missing the point. It is about how how we played on the day and how our tactics and our approach to life in the Prem are shaping up. And it don't look good to me. There were moments when we got the opportunity to attack and there were absolutely zero options. We were most effecting down the flanks, yet hardly any balls into the box, and when there were, no one there. At 2-0 down logic tells you we need goals. Anya made a difference, and if that change was made at half time we might not have conceded down that side, at least so early. The introduction of Anya injected some pace. MV could have done the same. I just want to see some evidence that the manger knows how to change things. For me, two out of the three substitutions made no real difference to the outcome. The Watson substitution wasn't a bad one or me. Capoue had gone, so it was like for like and you could argue necessary. But it could be viewed as an opportunity to change things. It was the one before. Layun for Iggy changed nothing when we really needed something to be changed. That was when he should tried something different and brought on MV. People saying 'it was City. It'll be different against Swansea and Newcastle'. Why will it? We couldn't score against a poor WBA and S'ton. Why will it it be different against other so called 'lesser' teams. Yes I'm pleased that we see to have a reasonable solid defensive base. But I want to see that we know how to attack as well. Deeney was clearly not happy when he came over to the fans and I for one don't blame him. Sad to see some very aggressive arguing going on close to me at the game yesterday and frustration is already building.
Good to see some well reasoned points being made on here as usual and we all see the same game, yet draw different conclusions from it. I hardly ever watched PL football last season, there was far too much going on in the Championship, but now of course I do watch and can see a gulf in the technical ability of teams and players. It is a step up from the we will out score the opposition. Most of the teams in the PL are playing a similar 4-2-3-1 system now with some variations and it seems that we are trying still to make it work for us with the players we have brought in. Are they all good enough to make it work is the question for me. I see no problem with our back four, but when we try to get forward with the ball there is a breakdown far too often, with pressure coming back again almost immediately. Transition seems to be the in word for this now, and whatever you call it we have not yet managed to get it right. Fast breaking attacks can be seen in many PL games, but not quite the same as the ones we first watched when Vydra and Deeney were scoring for fun. So many of those were the ball over or through the other teams mid-field that we could run onto without much cover from central defenders. Watching yesterday, Man City never left any space for us to use that tactic. We do have to use our wide men better than we have done so far, but how many times have we complained, last season included, that having got into a good position by the goal line, the crossed ball has been terrible. The commentator on MOTD was very impressed with our first half display, and I could see brief periods when we moved the ball around well. Those moments became less as we were put put under increasing pressure. The big difference for me was that City did the same things but at far greater speed and with far less misplaced passes. Which I suppose brings me back to, are some of our players good enough to compete against teams that can spend £50m on individuals. Early days yet for me to be too critical, but if the system is to work our mid-field has to find ways of getting the ball up to the penalty area.
