Forgot to mention earlier, I thought Joe Allen played well last night. His forward passes were quite crisp and played into dangerous areas between midfield and defence, we just didn't seem to play the next pass very well.
I like Allen, but he worries me defensively in games like this where we're facing a big, strong team. There were a few occasions where the likes of Jovetic, Nasri and Yaya just brushed him off as they dribbled by him, showing his distinct lack of physical presence.
I hope we get to see Henderson and Can starting as our central midfielders in front of Stevie soon. We need as much pace, power and energy around him as possible to compensate.
Can't agree with this bit I'm afraid. Well the first goal was mainly down to him although Stevie could have followed his man too but I didn't think he was excellent at all. You say he picked up the pace after that yet he was AWOL for City's 2nd & 3rd goals, both coming from down our left where Moreno was not in position, again yes others, Lovren could and should have covered better but I'd say Moreno's bad positioning and decision making was evident in all 3 goals we conceeded.
The 2nd goal was mainly down to a new defence playing together, I think. Here's a screencap I took just before the goal, when Jovetic plays it through the gap:
See how our two new defenders (Lovren & Moreno) are 3-4 yards higher than two of our long-term defenders (Skrtel & Johnson). If they're all in line, the linesman probably calls Zabaleta offside.
Difficult to blame Moreno for the 3rd goal. It doesn't look like there's any danger when Navas has it on the halfway line. Lovren gets completely done for pace and then Mignolet leaves his near post open for a ridiculously easy finish.
I like Allen, but he worries me defensively in games like this where we're facing a big, strong team. There were a few occasions where the likes of Jovetic, Nasri and Yaya just brushed him off as they dribbled by him, showing his distinct lack of physical presence.
I hope we get to see Henderson and Can starting as our central midfielders in front of Stevie soon. We need as much pace, power and energy around him as possible to compensate.
Fair point.
I don't think Henderson was at his best yesterday. Can looked decent when he came on.
In order to get the best out of Stevie and Sturridge we have to go with the 4-4-2 diamond formation. It leaves us open but we look more dangerous going forward when Sturridge has a partner up front and Gerrard has two runners on either side of him. It will probably mean we have to drop/rotate certain players though.
The 2nd goal was mainly down to a new defence playing together, I think. Here's a screencap I took just before the goal, when Jovetic plays it through the gap:
See how our two new defenders (Lovren & Moreno) are 3-4 yards higher than two of our long-term defenders (Skrtel & Johnson). If they're all in line, the linesman probably calls Zabaleta offside.
I'd agree with that. I personally think Lovren and Moreno are in a good position (although maybe Moreno is the wrong side of Nasri there). If they're any deeper then Jovetic has way too much space to turn and run at the defence. In my opinion, Johnson and Skrtel should be the ones further forward and playing the offside trap.
And yeah, I don't know how Moreno could possibly be blamed for the 3rd goal. It was a pass from the halfway line played in behind Lovren, nothing Moreno could do about that unless he was ridiculously deep.
I'm actually taking a positive spin on this. Pre match we were the underdogs, expected to lose by 2-1 according to most of the betting/pundits etc I saw anyway.
So we actually lost a goal more than was expected, but, the errors that were made from the defense were there to be seen, and can be sorted for the next (possibly closer) match with Spurs.
Point being, we have really lost nothing, we could have been beaten by a lesser team than City - one we should have beaten and be unexpected points down. As it stands, we have probably had the best lesson in the league on where our defence is poor, and apart from our faces matching our shirt colour - lost little else really.
Before the season started (actually for most of this year) my wish was for us to defend better at concede a lot less goals. Early days this season, but I'm still concerned we're not dealing with an obvious problem.
It was interesting to see Carra & Nev analyse and pinpoint our mistakes ( quite basic, simplistic stuff really) and compare that with how City's better drilled unit worked together to cover each other and frustrate our attackers by denying them the spaces. Neville excused our defence because they had two new (one very new) players in there and that the right drilling on the training ground and familiarisation with each other would solve the issues. I hope he's right!
Difficult to get familiarisation when your losing players right and left though. I'd think both Johnson and Moreno will miss the weekend. The more I see the replay of poor Moreno the more convinced I am that he must have done some ligament damage; good on the kid for playing on though. I'm guessing Flanno isn't ready for PL football yet, so that could be Manquillo and Enrique for Spurs? Our third different FB pairing in three games; as I said difficult to get familiarisation when that's what we've got to deal with.
Incidently, it's funny how people see a game differently from me. I thought apart from his mistake Moreno had a decent enough game, but Martin Keown's ratings in the Mail have him on 5.5 and Johnson got 6.5. Keown also thought Lambert had a far bigger impact on the game than Markovic.
Incidently, it's funny how people see a game differently from me. I thought apart from his mistake Moreno had a decent enough game, but Martin Keown's ratings in the Mail have him on 5.5 and Johnson got 6.5. Keown also thought Lambert had a far bigger impact on the game than Markovic.
Sky too, only gave both Moreno and Johnson 5 apiece, I thought that was very harsh! Up until the first goal I was very impressed with the way he played. Gerrard, Sterling and Sturridge were the highest on 7, the rest were 6. I think I must have been watching something else last night!
Sky too, only gave both Moreno and Johnson 5 apiece, I thought that was very harsh! Up until the first goal I was very impressed with the way he played. Gerrard, Sterling and Sturridge were the highest on 7, the rest were 6. I think I must have been watching something else last night!
When I read Keown's ratings I thought the same. Either that or he had just looked at a match summary and saw Moreno=mistake, Lambert=goal and made up his numbers around the stats.
I don't think Henderson was at his best yesterday. Can looked decent when he came on.
In order to get the best out of Stevie and Sturridge we have to go with the 4-4-2 diamond formation. It leaves us open but we look more dangerous going forward when Sturridge has a partner up front and Gerrard has two runners on either side of him. It will probably mean we have to drop/rotate certain players though.
I'm starting to think this as well. Coutinho or Sterling at the tip of a diamond. Coutinho is far better when he can press centrally rather than tracking back to support a fullback. That's not for him.
The Diamond will mean we are more exposed and it leaves a lot of work for Henderson and Allen to do but going forward we are deadly with the diamond.
Sky too, only gave both Moreno and Johnson 5 apiece, I thought that was very harsh! Up until the first goal I was very impressed with the way he played. Gerrard, Sterling and Sturridge were the highest on 7, the rest were 6. I think I must have been watching something else last night!
Sometimes the bias towards certain players is astounding, Gerrard, who was brilliant in the defensive mid position last year, was responsible for a team that conceded 3 goals, part of his job in that position is to snuff out danger, which he didn't do last night.
Sterling started off brightly but faded pretty quickly and Sturridge looked better once we went 2 up front just as he did against Southampton.
It's a good job they're not playing the real Wimbledon... Darren Potter's having a good game - didn't quite make it at Anfield but he'll enjoy this memory if it turns into a victory.
Van Gaal needs time but also questions need to be answered. Playing Young at left back, not playing a full strength team tonight. Any other manager would be crucified.
I'd lump money on Burnley for the weekend. Really can see them getting a result.
Man utd should have bought MK Dons instead of Di Maria
Apparently, they've run out of M's in their club shop. Seriously. Quite handy, as Di aria just about sums up their performance tonight so far. After one of their fans was loving "seeing Scousers cry" last night, I'm quietly enjoying their plight tonight - some supporters don't help themselves.
Comments
I like Allen, but he worries me defensively in games like this where we're facing a big, strong team. There were a few occasions where the likes of Jovetic, Nasri and Yaya just brushed him off as they dribbled by him, showing his distinct lack of physical presence.
I hope we get to see Henderson and Can starting as our central midfielders in front of Stevie soon. We need as much pace, power and energy around him as possible to compensate.
The 2nd goal was mainly down to a new defence playing together, I think. Here's a screencap I took just before the goal, when Jovetic plays it through the gap:
http://i.imgur.com/BBEUBuL.png
See how our two new defenders (Lovren & Moreno) are 3-4 yards higher than two of our long-term defenders (Skrtel & Johnson). If they're all in line, the linesman probably calls Zabaleta offside.
Difficult to blame Moreno for the 3rd goal. It doesn't look like there's any danger when Navas has it on the halfway line. Lovren gets completely done for pace and then Mignolet leaves his near post open for a ridiculously easy finish.
Fair point.
I don't think Henderson was at his best yesterday. Can looked decent when he came on.
In order to get the best out of Stevie and Sturridge we have to go with the 4-4-2 diamond formation. It leaves us open but we look more dangerous going forward when Sturridge has a partner up front and Gerrard has two runners on either side of him. It will probably mean we have to drop/rotate certain players though.
I'd agree with that. I personally think Lovren and Moreno are in a good position (although maybe Moreno is the wrong side of Nasri there). If they're any deeper then Jovetic has way too much space to turn and run at the defence. In my opinion, Johnson and Skrtel should be the ones further forward and playing the offside trap.
And yeah, I don't know how Moreno could possibly be blamed for the 3rd goal. It was a pass from the halfway line played in behind Lovren, nothing Moreno could do about that unless he was ridiculously deep.
So we actually lost a goal more than was expected, but, the errors that were made from the defense were there to be seen, and can be sorted for the next (possibly closer) match with Spurs.
Point being, we have really lost nothing, we could have been beaten by a lesser team than City - one we should have beaten and be unexpected points down. As it stands, we have probably had the best lesson in the league on where our defence is poor, and apart from our faces matching our shirt colour - lost little else really.
It was interesting to see Carra & Nev analyse and pinpoint our mistakes ( quite basic, simplistic stuff really) and compare that with how City's better drilled unit worked together to cover each other and frustrate our attackers by denying them the spaces. Neville excused our defence because they had two new (one very new) players in there and that the right drilling on the training ground and familiarisation with each other would solve the issues. I hope he's right!
Difficult to get familiarisation when your losing players right and left though. I'd think both Johnson and Moreno will miss the weekend. The more I see the replay of poor Moreno the more convinced I am that he must have done some ligament damage; good on the kid for playing on though. I'm guessing Flanno isn't ready for PL football yet, so that could be Manquillo and Enrique for Spurs? Our third different FB pairing in three games; as I said difficult to get familiarisation when that's what we've got to deal with.
Incidently, it's funny how people see a game differently from me. I thought apart from his mistake Moreno had a decent enough game, but Martin Keown's ratings in the Mail have him on 5.5 and Johnson got 6.5. Keown also thought Lambert had a far bigger impact on the game than Markovic.
Sky too, only gave both Moreno and Johnson 5 apiece, I thought that was very harsh! Up until the first goal I was very impressed with the way he played. Gerrard, Sterling and Sturridge were the highest on 7, the rest were 6. I think I must have been watching something else last night!
When I read Keown's ratings I thought the same. Either that or he had just looked at a match summary and saw Moreno=mistake, Lambert=goal and made up his numbers around the stats.
I'm starting to think this as well. Coutinho or Sterling at the tip of a diamond. Coutinho is far better when he can press centrally rather than tracking back to support a fullback. That's not for him.
The Diamond will mean we are more exposed and it leaves a lot of work for Henderson and Allen to do but going forward we are deadly with the diamond.
Sometimes the bias towards certain players is astounding, Gerrard, who was brilliant in the defensive mid position last year, was responsible for a team that conceded 3 goals, part of his job in that position is to snuff out danger, which he didn't do last night.
Sterling started off brightly but faded pretty quickly and Sturridge looked better once we went 2 up front just as he did against Southampton.
Man utd should have bought MK Dons instead of Di Maria
It's a good job they're not playing the real Wimbledon... Darren Potter's having a good game - didn't quite make it at Anfield but he'll enjoy this memory if it turns into a victory.
3-0 now.
I'd lump money on Burnley for the weekend. Really can see them getting a result.
Apparently, they've run out of M's in their club shop. Seriously. Quite handy, as Di aria just about sums up their performance tonight so far. After one of their fans was loving "seeing Scousers cry" last night, I'm quietly enjoying their plight tonight - some supporters don't help themselves.
Hopefully Burnley will continue the trend. Obviously it'd be more enjoyable with a win at White Hart Lane, but I'm confident that we'll do that.
That's funny. You should post that in the Man United thread..........oh.