Out of the race. Bakayoko has a ways to go before he's even half the player Matic or even Mikel was. Everyone was off.
Performance was more disheartening than Crystal Palace tbh - at least we were without Kante then. Not sure what the solution is or if we even possess it, but the league is officially lost (wasn't really expecting to defend the title anywho). Hoping we can make a deep run in the CL more than anything - this team certainly seems to be able to rise to more demanding occasions than dominate those matches that should be easy wins. Anyone else thinking we don't really need this 3 at the back every single game? I understand concerns with playing a consistent system, but there's absolutely no need for 3 centre backs on the pitch when facing a team like West Ham that'll sit the entire 11 back for 90 minutes. Really hope we strengthen the attack in January, even if it's one-in-one-out for Willian
It's on Conte for (1) not developing Baka into what we need (2) not putting him in a position where he can help the team. We're not going to strengthen there in January, that's for sure. And with the title lost, I doubt Roman will put too much back into the team this winter.
Missed this and looks like that was a good thing... Baka starting every game in a new league clearly hasn’t panned out well. If we could keep Cech and Courtois in the same team then we could have forced Matic to stick around for at least half a season. That sale might have cost us our shot at the titlebut I’m saving the title lost talk til after the new year.
The title is lost. City are not going to lose the games we need to make up. United are getting better. Not when we lose to Ham and Palace. Ham. Palace. Ham Palace.
I am fully aware of the stinginess in our transfer dealings as of late, but if Willian were to leave in January as some rumors have suggested, I would be shocked if there wasn’t any replacement coming in the same window with the squad looking like it does now
Not sure I buy the rumor at all but word is we're still in for Sandro and Aubameyang wants to join us. Whatever happens, somethings gotta get done in January.
Probably the top player under the age of 21 in Germany. Leverkusen are a side loaded with young players, Havertz, Brandt, Tah, Bailey, Henrichs, and Jedvaj are all really talented.
It's on Conte for not developing a 21 y/o CM in 3 months? Baka has had some decent performances, vs spurs and united, but apart from that he has been poor imo. Let's not forget his age, returning from an injury, and a new league that is 3 months in. Personally, I think we have to start 1 of Pedro / Willian instead of Baka. Our offense is too reliant on Hazard when we play with Hazard / Morata up top. I love the link up play between the two of them but against West Ham Hazard seemed to only slow play down and was not sharp enough to make the difference. Squad looked tired and it showed. We really needed to sign another LWB in the summer, also I really wish we can get another CB to replace Cahill or let Rudi play more. Cahill is such a liability with the ball and does not help with any build up play what so ever. I wish instead of mastering his little back heel tricks and ball control he would have learned how to properly pass a football at the top level.
Stop with the "new league" garbage. It's a round ball, rectangular pitch, 11 v 11. There are attackers and defenders. For the price he cost, I don't care what the age, you come in and play. If you're tentative about it as if it might cost you a chance at the title, buy someone else. Morata is in a new league, too, and he's scoring goals. For all intents and purposes, it's a new league for Christensen, too. He's fine. The whole team was awful. Baka and Zap were glaring. Fabregas and Azpi had off games, too.
Love how easily we sink into meltdown mode after what was a good run of form. Same opinions from people who claimed we'd be lucky to get top 4 last season. Running Baka into the ground because of a lack of squad options is no bueno. The DD injury has hurt us badly and not being able to rotate Alonso and others is taking its toll right now. We're the farthest thing from complete shit or a club in crisis.. the sudden dropoffs in form are odd but I put it down to tiredness.
Conte looked livid in his press conference today. Loved it. I bet the players are scared. Hopefully they step up tomorrow.
The biggest issue for me is our lack of goals. That's part of the problem with playing a 352 as it only allows for 2 goal threats on the pitch. That's also on our midfielders who just don't score that much. Having a b2b would help us so much. Last season with the 343 both Hazard and Pedro along with Costa would score. Now we have Fabergas, Bakayoko, and Kante as the other options. Willan blows luke warm or cold. Pedro has had very little influence this season. Our goals have come from Morata or Hazard.
I mean yeah, but we haven't had a threat from midfield for sometime. My point is rather, because we've added another man to our midfield we dropped an attacking goal threat and IMO it's costing us. I understand why we did it mind you. Tolisso would have been perfect for us as he is a legitimate b2b who can score. Instead we got Bakayoko who just isn't the same quality today. Granted, getting a legit b2b goal threat is damn near impossible. MVG has a knack for goal, perhaps RLC could but the quality comes into question with those two. I genuinely believe in RLC, I know most here don't. I also believe Baka can come good. Not saying he will, because right now we're asking him to do a job that he isn't all that good at. Fabergas is often our deepest midfielder because he wants and needs space and he's able to direct traffic from further back. That's awesome, however, it's pushing Bakayoko forward to play a possession game that he isn't all that good at. Matic wouldn't have made a ********ing difference this year either as he doesn't score goals. The overarching issue today is our reliance on Hazard to tick and Morata to be "up for it" and not be wasteful which is generally one in the same.
on that point, let's talk about the 3-5-2 which CAN be good for us to use. however, the option to play 3-4-3 needs to be there and it's just not as much as it was last year. Matic WOULD have helped, just not in the 3-5-2. what he does is allow us to drop fabregas for pedro and play two in the middle. we might be able to do that with with Kante and Drinkwater in the middle mind you, just DD isn't really up to full fitness and speed in Conte's system. combine that with really the 3-4-3 would have been able to gloss over a bit with a better third attacker. right now conte has to decide if he wants fabregas on the pitch or pedro. because if it's fabregas then it's 3-5-2. and if it's pedro then its 3-4-3 with a possible issue in midfield. right now that choice errors on the side of caution as the 3-5-2 will be more solid. i wonder if having moses back will help, because with the 3-5-2, the wingbacks can afford to bomb forward more and moses does provide a decent attacking threat at times. but really, how many chances has bakayoko squandered too. he's doing great at being the late runner in to the box, he's just not composed as a finisher either. the 3-5-2 wouldn't struggle nearly as much if bakayoko could step up the plate consistently. hes basically confirmed all of my fears when we signed him. again, not to say he couldn't become MUCH better. but all the things i was worried about have come out to be noticed after breaking all those worries with his monster performance against tottenham.
In Europe and tough away fixtures, I personally like the 3-5-2. Lack of depth is our biggest issue IMO. Morata has been forced to play too often. Same with Alonso. Both are key, and have been forced to play nearly every match which has caused a decline in their performances. Against weaker teams, we really need to have Willian or Pedro also playing to be another goal scoring threat. I wanted Tolisso a lot, but more then likely he would have wanted to go to Bayern over us. We really need to sign a LWB, quality striker, and a B2B mid who can score goals.
Getting Pedro and Willian matches is huge, but we have to have Drinkwater healthy because our midfield would be ********ed with Bakayoko or Fabergas paired with Kante.
We've seen Fab and Kante play together more than a few times... That being said, with the amount of matches being played, that is less than ideal right now. Not having any real attacking force in midfield outside of Fab is really shitty. It almost makes me miss having Oscar around.
Baka isn’t useful enough going forward, nor is DD. In away fixtures against the weaker sides where we have over 60% possession, we do not need to play 3 CMs. Play Kante and Cesc and then start either William or Pedro.