Good op Mick. My two cents...
Defense - think we have a really good selection of CBs/FBs now, good ability, better than last season. Yes they need more time to gel, but imo they still look a bit loose. Migs is not helping, he's deffo looks out of sorts, and selling Reina now looks a bad decision without getting in solid backup.
I'm not sure how the defensive coaching is going but:
a) think the back 5 needs work, on defending as unit
b) but almost as importantly, the team as whole needs to be more solid at set pieces, were we have looked really poor. Was really pissed at Hendo yest
Midfield - the age old question of SG. I deffo get defensive here cause am 100% behind behind him - and find it ridiculous that on a day like yest, when we were sh*te almost everywhere, that he gets single out for a clatter in his detractor thread yet again. He hasn't been great so far, no doubt. But Lucas's legs went almost a year ago, we know they don't work together. Needs Hendo doing lots of legwork around him. I actually would like to see SG rested for some games, but if the backup options are injured/off form, we're short on choice.
So why we played Lucas yest? The answer is what is bugging me the most. Cause Lallana and Markovic have been so poor. The problems at the moment are not so much the players on the pitch, but the ones that aren't. Know some think Markovic has shown something, but I've not seen it so far. Lallana looks a shadow of the guy who wriggled through challenges last year. BR has invested a lot of money, and trust in them lads - we need them to grown a pair of f**king balls, stop passing the ball to the sides and back, and make sh*t f**king happen. We're still depending on Coutinho and Sterling - after all the cash spent - so I'm not going to be hard on Coutinho when he has a dip, he has some credit in the bank. Can too, haven't seen enough of him yet, and not sure how anyone can say he is up to stepping into SGs shoes without seeing a lot more of him. Allen is missed too.
Attack - we didn't sign a really top drawer striker. Aquero/RVP/Studge level. For whatever reason, they wouldn't come, not available, too expensive. We left it late and given our options, I thought BR signing Mario was a good option. Looking at him now, and still early days, would agree it's been hit and miss. He can do great individual things, but sometimes his movement/team work could be better. Lambert's form has not been good, he's had some dodgy cameos. And it's a combination of both of the above, Rickie's form, and the need for movement up beside Mario, that Borini has had a chance. I still don't rate him, don't think he's a goalscorer, but he does run about and we need that beside Mario. Studge being out has really shone a light on the other 3 lads, and so far, only Mario has made any real impact - we need him back, loosing him has completely unbalanced us up front.
Still early days. But so far, 'main reason' for slump for me is combination of new guys settling in (defense), and under-performing (midfield/attack). Some of the existing guys are also not playing well (Coutinho), but we had a summer and a LOT of cash to buy guys to come in and do a job, so am not going to come down on the boys who got us to 2nd last season, and performed so brilliantly. There was a lot of talk about 'marque signings' in the summer. and why we should not make any with our windfall - BR did his business early and seemed to get his men - so he and all of us will be hoping they eventually come good.
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