Greenlizard0 Weekend Football Thread ** spoilers ** [17th - 21st March 2017]

Caporegime
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4 Jan 2011
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25,987
Absolutely no talent in that game, some good blocks from Stones and some hilarious misses from both forwards.

And absolutely garbage defending in general.

Poor result considering the Yaya incident but relying on a red to grab a win isn't a great tactic, but need that proper officiating in these games to win usually.
 
Don
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9 Jun 2004
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46,307
Mental game of football which could have finshed anything. The first 20 minutes of the 2nd half was our opportunity to win the game. After our goal we kept opening City up in midfield but our decision making was shocking. We're also the most naive side in the league - Toure was almost asking for a 2nd booking and twice our players have stayed on their feet when he was tugging them back.

edit: suprised to see criticism of Can - thought he was excellent today. Origi on the other hand really ****ed me off. A really lazy performance from him.
 
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Caporegime
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edit: suprised to see criticism of Can - thought he was excellent today. Origi on the other hand really ****ed me off. A really lazy performance from him.
He was excellent on the whole but not when he was playing his role in the team. When he was bombing forward and playing box to box he was outstanding but that's not his job, or at least it doesn't appear to be, and he completely switched off late in the second half and allowed Sterling to jog past him and in to the box. Might be good enough for one of the two attacking midfield spots but he's a massive liability in the DM role.

Worrying how Origi went from being a donkey to a world beater and back to a donkey again. We've got too many players in the team that don't have a middle ground and are either awesome or shocking. Not sure I'd want to keep him in the summer.
 
Soldato
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20 Apr 2004
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Chepstow
Losing three players turn us into relegation quality. That's far from fine.
Bit late to this but you have to take fatigue into account.

Flew out to Russia Thursday, tough game, long flight back.
Monday night flight to London, v. tough defensive game vs the best in the league with 10 men. Flight back cancelled so they got a coach which got back 2am, back in training Tuesday afternoon after little sleep.
Russians in a tough game at Old Trafford on Thursday. Players out / suspended.
12 on Sunday, away at Middlesbrough for 4th game in 11 days, depleted squad to say the least. I really can't imagine how tough that was for all involved. I'd have struggled with all the travelling and watching the games never mind playing / training.

I personally think Mourinho did an amazing job getting the guys through it all with the results we achieved. Yesterday's performance wasn't great but it was brave, determined and stoical.
 
Don
Joined
9 Jun 2004
Posts
46,307
He was excellent on the whole but not when he was playing his role in the team. When he was bombing forward and playing box to box he was outstanding but that's not his job, or at least it doesn't appear to be, and he completely switched off late in the second half and allowed Sterling to jog past him and in to the box. Might be good enough for one of the two attacking midfield spots but he's a massive liability in the DM role.

Worrying how Origi went from being a donkey to a world beater and back to a donkey again. We've got too many players in the team that don't have a middle ground and are either awesome or shocking. Not sure I'd want to keep him in the summer.
I really don't know what the future holds for Can. He's not got the technique to play in the Lallana/Wijnaldum roles permanently - in the big games it's useful to have him there to help Henderson but against the smaller sides you need a bit more craft. I think he could become a very good holding midfielder - he's got all the tools but it's his brain that lets him down. His decision making is atrocious and it's whether he can improve on that which will determine whether he's got a future with us.

As for Origi, everything he was doing in the 2nd half of last season, he's stopped doing. When he came back from his first injury last season he was a tank - he was a mobile Benteke, he was bullying CB's physically and a constant threat running the channels. Bournemouth's 3rd(?) goal earlier in the season sums up Origi this season - he got beat in the air by Wilshere! I'm not sure if it's down to confidence or not but he's not using his size and strength anymore and it's almost as if he's trying to prove he's technically good enough not to need to use his physical attributes. There were times yesterday when he got City's defenders 1v1 and rather than just knocking the ball past them and blowing them away, he would slow it down and try to play a pass.
 
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