samcarroll95
Player Valuation: Free Transfer
In Rocky III, Sylvester Stallone rides his motorbike up to the statue of himself in Philly and, with a classic Rocky grunt, launches his helmet at his likeness. He knows he’s lost the Eye of the Tiger. How many of our players have too?
We are, as Jose Mourinho might say, specialists in failure.
Okay, an unlucky deflection or a linesman who must have been desperate for City to score didn’t help us, but everything except Barkley’s goal reeked of negativity, fear and half-heartedness.
The midfield combination of Barry and Cleverley was so insipid and weak all night that it would have been better starting two kids who would have given everything. Barry has been exceptional this season, but his lack of awareness for the De Bruyne goal was, as Roberto would say, ‘sensational’- for all the wrong reasons.
John Stones continues to believe his own hype as the world’s greatest defender while simultaneously forgetting how to defend. Watching the replays of Aguero’s header this morning made for embarrassing viewing. He must have been thinking about how good he’ll look next to Gary Cahill or Gerard Pique because he certainly wasn’t thinking about defending the ball into the box. Martinez has created his own Frankenstein: a beautiful player, but a weak defender.
But it wasn’t just the men on the pitch displaying weakness. The substitutions made by the manager bordered on insane. We’d gone one down in a cup-tie with not long left on the clock and he put on a right back. Maybe several seasons ago Coleman would have been the right option, but a half-fit, rusty player who isn’t as offensive as he used to be made no sense. If I were Aaron Lennon I would have had strong words with Martinez after the game.
And Deulofeu should also be aggrieved. Not one player on the pitch looked like they were going to create anything substantial apart from Gerry. Barkley had faded and he was our one chance at carving something out, and I don’t think I can forgive Roberto for substituting him. This was an ‘incredible’- to quote the manager again- chance for silverware this season, and once again we’ve bottled it.
One journalist claims Martinez was ‘powerless’ to stop the defeat and maybe we were. As soon as De Bruyne scored everybody inside the stadium knew we were heading out. Others want to see the manager sacked. For me, the manager’s fate is no longer a concern of mine. This season turned into a relegation battle on Sunday and bar a miraculous run in the FA Cup there’s no excitement left. The spectre that looms largest over Goodison is that of the big clubs who will undoubtedly break this talented squad apart.
Back to Rocky III, and Mickey says to Sly: ‘The worst thing that could happen to a fighter happened to you: you got civilized’. It’s happened to us too. We’ve gotten too civilized. And all the Clubber Lang’s of the league have got hungrier and hungrier while we sat here and believed our own hype. To paraphrase Apollo Creed, we need to get mad again.
We are, as Jose Mourinho might say, specialists in failure.
Okay, an unlucky deflection or a linesman who must have been desperate for City to score didn’t help us, but everything except Barkley’s goal reeked of negativity, fear and half-heartedness.
The midfield combination of Barry and Cleverley was so insipid and weak all night that it would have been better starting two kids who would have given everything. Barry has been exceptional this season, but his lack of awareness for the De Bruyne goal was, as Roberto would say, ‘sensational’- for all the wrong reasons.
John Stones continues to believe his own hype as the world’s greatest defender while simultaneously forgetting how to defend. Watching the replays of Aguero’s header this morning made for embarrassing viewing. He must have been thinking about how good he’ll look next to Gary Cahill or Gerard Pique because he certainly wasn’t thinking about defending the ball into the box. Martinez has created his own Frankenstein: a beautiful player, but a weak defender.
But it wasn’t just the men on the pitch displaying weakness. The substitutions made by the manager bordered on insane. We’d gone one down in a cup-tie with not long left on the clock and he put on a right back. Maybe several seasons ago Coleman would have been the right option, but a half-fit, rusty player who isn’t as offensive as he used to be made no sense. If I were Aaron Lennon I would have had strong words with Martinez after the game.
And Deulofeu should also be aggrieved. Not one player on the pitch looked like they were going to create anything substantial apart from Gerry. Barkley had faded and he was our one chance at carving something out, and I don’t think I can forgive Roberto for substituting him. This was an ‘incredible’- to quote the manager again- chance for silverware this season, and once again we’ve bottled it.
One journalist claims Martinez was ‘powerless’ to stop the defeat and maybe we were. As soon as De Bruyne scored everybody inside the stadium knew we were heading out. Others want to see the manager sacked. For me, the manager’s fate is no longer a concern of mine. This season turned into a relegation battle on Sunday and bar a miraculous run in the FA Cup there’s no excitement left. The spectre that looms largest over Goodison is that of the big clubs who will undoubtedly break this talented squad apart.
Back to Rocky III, and Mickey says to Sly: ‘The worst thing that could happen to a fighter happened to you: you got civilized’. It’s happened to us too. We’ve gotten too civilized. And all the Clubber Lang’s of the league have got hungrier and hungrier while we sat here and believed our own hype. To paraphrase Apollo Creed, we need to get mad again.
