I can't help but feel our struggles now are linked to the exertions from earlier in the season. Wilson, who was sensational a few games ago, looks exhausted, Iwobi and Berge are the only two CMs we're playing and are similarly knackered, we've had defensive injuries all season and that's contributed to the loss of form back there...
But it's been an up-and-down campaign from the start, much like a few of the teams around the division this year. Some questions in the summer for the club probably aren't helping - will Silva and Wilson still be there next season being chief among them. Let's hope the squad can use the FA Cup to stay sharp and prevent the season complete dying off.
Is it me or is the squad looking unbalanced. Fortunes(for us) spent on wingers while our defence is creaking. Is it harsh to say Palace went on to win 2 trophies after improving their defence and moving Anderson on? He looks bang average to poor these days. I'm beginning to wonder if Silva is defensively astute enough to ever actually win a trophy we all crave. Obviously didn't expect anything tonight but the problems are there to see in a lot of games. Another season destined to drift away to nothing.
Andersen's played every minute of every league game since Newcastle away (in October!), so I think fatigue is almost certainly taking its toll - tired bodies make tired minds, and tired minds make the errors he's been committing for weeks now.
I still think he's a good player, but given the increased pace and physicality of the league Andersen is being exposed more at this moment in time, especially given the other defensive weaknesses the team has that you mention. Silva has been under a cloud for a while, and unhappy with the way Fulham have been operated beyond the football pitch in terms of transfers, which has probably contributed somewhat to the all-too-familiar feeling of being on the cusp of a really good season and then the campaign stalling entirely.
That said, we're still in the Cup, and of our recent defeats it's not as though we usually come away from Old Trafford or the Etihad with anything but a defeat. Let's hope the Stoke game is the launchpad for a return to form, a chance for some of the squad to play themselves back into contention, and the team kickstart the back end of the league season.
Reads as painful as I knew it would be to watch, which I did not. Something's going on with the team and it's not all on the players. I return to the coaching staff, particularly those serving under Silva. Players appear to be afraid to make mistakes leading, of course, to loads of mistakes - Leno, Andersen and Berge in particular. There's a sense of a lack of direction behind the team. And, yes, exhaustion is playing a major role but teams, like City, have to endure many more games.
Reading the names of so many international stars on the books of City is quite admirable, and I can't fault City and their Emirati masters if they can get away with it, but why is it the likes of Forest, Everton and now Leicester have all fallen under the PSR axe, while City goes on their merry way. Oh, the FA is investigating, yeah right.
You’re turning into a young Paddy Barclay
That's a very kind thing to say!
I shiver to think how this season would look without our strong run of form during the African Cup of Nations
I can't help but feel our struggles now are linked to the exertions from earlier in the season. Wilson, who was sensational a few games ago, looks exhausted, Iwobi and Berge are the only two CMs we're playing and are similarly knackered, we've had defensive injuries all season and that's contributed to the loss of form back there...
But it's been an up-and-down campaign from the start, much like a few of the teams around the division this year. Some questions in the summer for the club probably aren't helping - will Silva and Wilson still be there next season being chief among them. Let's hope the squad can use the FA Cup to stay sharp and prevent the season complete dying off.
Is it me or is the squad looking unbalanced. Fortunes(for us) spent on wingers while our defence is creaking. Is it harsh to say Palace went on to win 2 trophies after improving their defence and moving Anderson on? He looks bang average to poor these days. I'm beginning to wonder if Silva is defensively astute enough to ever actually win a trophy we all crave. Obviously didn't expect anything tonight but the problems are there to see in a lot of games. Another season destined to drift away to nothing.
Andersen's played every minute of every league game since Newcastle away (in October!), so I think fatigue is almost certainly taking its toll - tired bodies make tired minds, and tired minds make the errors he's been committing for weeks now.
I still think he's a good player, but given the increased pace and physicality of the league Andersen is being exposed more at this moment in time, especially given the other defensive weaknesses the team has that you mention. Silva has been under a cloud for a while, and unhappy with the way Fulham have been operated beyond the football pitch in terms of transfers, which has probably contributed somewhat to the all-too-familiar feeling of being on the cusp of a really good season and then the campaign stalling entirely.
That said, we're still in the Cup, and of our recent defeats it's not as though we usually come away from Old Trafford or the Etihad with anything but a defeat. Let's hope the Stoke game is the launchpad for a return to form, a chance for some of the squad to play themselves back into contention, and the team kickstart the back end of the league season.
Reads as painful as I knew it would be to watch, which I did not. Something's going on with the team and it's not all on the players. I return to the coaching staff, particularly those serving under Silva. Players appear to be afraid to make mistakes leading, of course, to loads of mistakes - Leno, Andersen and Berge in particular. There's a sense of a lack of direction behind the team. And, yes, exhaustion is playing a major role but teams, like City, have to endure many more games.
Reading the names of so many international stars on the books of City is quite admirable, and I can't fault City and their Emirati masters if they can get away with it, but why is it the likes of Forest, Everton and now Leicester have all fallen under the PSR axe, while City goes on their merry way. Oh, the FA is investigating, yeah right.
Leno has had his redemption
Just realised it’s Paddy’s Anniversary today