A work in progress

There was a lot to like about yesterdays performance… Until there wasn’t…

We started well, we were aggressive and on the front foot, our pressing game was as good as it’s been in god knows how long. City very much weathered the storm for the first 20 minutes but for long periods prior to the sending off we were the better team, as we harassed and harangued City into making mistakes and nullified their natural game.

Munoz continues to impress, as he gave O’Reilly absolute nightmares all game, to the point the City fullback was screaming at Semenya to come back and help him. Gravenberch was on fire, back to his majestic best and putting in the kind of display we were seeing regularly in our title winning season under Slot but has been missing for some time now. Amazing what not being a guaranteed starter can do for a player’s form and he was nailed on for McMOTM prior to the red card.

Young Koumas led the line and in some ways, he actually encapsulated the entire team performance – His industry, attitude and work rate is infectious and like our performance in general, there’s a lot to like about him… but… For all our effective pressing, hard work and effort, we had zero cutting edge. We were forcing City into mistakes but unable to capitalise on them and not really creating any chances of note and I feel Koumas is a bit like that. Outwith his hard work and pressing, there’s not much else. Now he’s young and it may come in time but it’s not there at the moment.

Barcola again failed to impress and was mostly anonymous. I think he’s the third most expensive PL player of all time? He certainly hasn’t looked like that up to now, or like a player who’s just secured a huge move and is determined to prove a point and make his mark. Now it’s very early days yet but I watch him and think – show us SOMETHING at least. He has pace to burn and was up against a makeshift fullback in Nunes yesterday, he should have been licking his lips at the prospect of that 1 v 1 battle but he doesn’t run at the fullback, try and take him on and cause problems. He doesn’t do very much of anything to be honest. Again, it’s very early days but it’s been a very underwhelming start to say the least.

Someone who no longer has that excuse is Wirtz. Now I’m a fan of the player but he’s badly struggling and looks like a player totally devoid of confidence and belief at the moment and nothing seems to be coming off for him. He’s a silky footballer who’s full of technique but to succeed in the PL, you need at least a bit of aggression about your game and that’s severely lacking. He plays like a ‘nice boy’ and is being bullied. That’s also affecting our midfield balance as our two vs City’s three in midfield, we’re struggling more and more as the game went on, to the point Van Dijk pushed into midfield to help out. I’ve felt for a while now that his best position for us at the moment would be the false 9 and especially with our lack of options up front with Ekitike out. Playing the Bobby role, he’d still be dropping into his favoured number 10 positions but it would allow us to play Szoboszlai, Macca and Gravenberch behind him, who are a more balanced midfield and SHOULD stop us being overrun in midfield. It also gets him closer to goal and closer to our other forwards, where his cute touches, turns and intricate passes would be more effective in my opinion. He’s starting to become a problem though.

Then came the sending off… To say the game changed at that point would be a massive understatement, as we basically immediately capitulated. Two goals conceded in the 5 minutes that followed the sending off and it was game over. Now we can bemoan the ref all we want and with some merit, as the first booking was extremely harsh and while the second yellow was naive on Ryan’s part, was it REALLY a second yellow in a game of that magnitude? Not great refereeing and we’re justified in our displeasure at the decisions, however that doesn’t excuse what happened next. Our collective arse collapsed and we completely capitulated. If Alan’s daughter’s team had immediately collapsed like that after a red card he’d have been disappointed, never mind a team with some of the best players in the world in their positions.

The amount of times they got in through a runner between big Ronald and Jezza Jacket was unbelievable. Ron didn’t have his best game and that can happen against an elite team like City but it’s the lack of reaction and in-game management from both players and coach, to make the necessary adjustments to counter it that I found concerning. This was not an inexperienced team, they should be able to make simple adjustments in game and they certainly shouldn’t completely collapse within 5 minutes of getting a player sent off.

Our fullback situation is a bit of a mess. Frimpong is a man without a position for us. He’s a better attacker than he is defender but not good enough to be starting on the RW for us, while he’s never a RB in a million years, at least not in the PL as he’s simply too small. Kerkez is better on the other flank but I’m still far from convinced he’s the answer long term and he actually fits in with the theme of the game and this article – There’s a lot to like about him… but…
His defending has improved since last season but you couldn’t say you’re confident in it, as he has a rash moment in him that can come at any time and his game IQ is pretty low. It’s his lack of attacking input that concerns me most though. If you’re going to persist with inverted wingers, you need your fullback to overlap and provide the width, which he does to be fair, there’s nothing at all wrong with his fitness or work rate but he has absolutely no cutting edge when he gets into good positions. Playing with an out and out CF like Isak, we need to consistently put decent crosses into the box, or for it to be an option at least but where are they coming from? Neither Frimpong or Kerkez have shown they can put consistently good delivery into the box, Big Ronald is a CB so that’s not this game and Barcola’s assist numbers are terrible. With a misfiring Wirtz struggling to provide the ammo through the middle, is it any wonder we’re not creating chances and lack a cutting edge in the final third?

Anyway I’ll wrap it up there. With Gravenberch getting sent off, I’m going for Munoz as my McMOTM, he was a terrier yesterday and for me he should our first choice RW for the foreseeable.

I don’t mean to be overcritical, we were missing our two in form forwards in Gakpo and Isak, not to mention Szoboszlai who for me is our best player, so we were up against it yesterday and did well for a lot of the game. We’re a million miles from the finished article though, we still lack balance and have very little strength in depth, so Iraola always had a job on his hands this season. There’s a lot of work to do with the players he does have though. Walk on!