- 6 of our players booked, and I can't recall one bad tackle. It wasn't even close to being a dirty game either. Really poor refereeing, and the complete inconsistencies re the 'blocking' rule left me baffled.
- Babel starts; has no space to work into, has a defensive responsibility, and isn't playing against tired defenders. Thus his impact is low. Who predicted that might happen?
- Agger's distribution. Fuck me.
- Skrtel and Zabaleta can fight it out for MOTM, would be a tasty fight. A few months back, Skrtel was being labelled "shite" by several members of this forum. Quelle surprise.
- Zero lack of cutting edge about us. I've said it countless times, but Kuyt can't do the one-man-up-front role. He drops far too deep, and we end up bunched and congested. We had fucking loads of the ball, and to borrow a rugby adage - had plenty of territory - but created nothing. Why? Because everything was played in front of City's back four, and usually in tight, narrow spaces. We couldn't play through that lot on Thursday night, so we were going to be even less likely to do so against a decent team. Loathe as I am to say it, but Spidey's "attacking fullbacks" kept ringing through my head during the 90. The difference a Johnson would have made against Wayne Bridge could have been massive. Similarly though, he wouldn't have offered the same defensive assurances as Carra did. What you lose on the swings I suppose.
- Torres isn't match fit, which meant he blended in well with the rest of the side in the last 20 minutes, cos we looked fucked. Gerrard gave the ball away an inordinate amount of times, Lucas and Kuyt tired, and we became seriously sloppy. Maschrano's energy levels are something to behold.
- Bring a fit Johnson, Benayoun and Torres back into that side and we'll imporve. No question. In saying that, you bring a fit Tevez and Bellamy back into that City side and they'll improve too. It's gonna be tight.
- Babel starts; has no space to work into, has a defensive responsibility, and isn't playing against tired defenders. Thus his impact is low. Who predicted that might happen?
- Agger's distribution. Fuck me.
- Skrtel and Zabaleta can fight it out for MOTM, would be a tasty fight. A few months back, Skrtel was being labelled "shite" by several members of this forum. Quelle surprise.
- Zero lack of cutting edge about us. I've said it countless times, but Kuyt can't do the one-man-up-front role. He drops far too deep, and we end up bunched and congested. We had fucking loads of the ball, and to borrow a rugby adage - had plenty of territory - but created nothing. Why? Because everything was played in front of City's back four, and usually in tight, narrow spaces. We couldn't play through that lot on Thursday night, so we were going to be even less likely to do so against a decent team. Loathe as I am to say it, but Spidey's "attacking fullbacks" kept ringing through my head during the 90. The difference a Johnson would have made against Wayne Bridge could have been massive. Similarly though, he wouldn't have offered the same defensive assurances as Carra did. What you lose on the swings I suppose.
- Torres isn't match fit, which meant he blended in well with the rest of the side in the last 20 minutes, cos we looked fucked. Gerrard gave the ball away an inordinate amount of times, Lucas and Kuyt tired, and we became seriously sloppy. Maschrano's energy levels are something to behold.
- Bring a fit Johnson, Benayoun and Torres back into that side and we'll imporve. No question. In saying that, you bring a fit Tevez and Bellamy back into that City side and they'll improve too. It's gonna be tight.
