Overall somewhat of a disappointment. I can't help but feel a major opportunity was missed on all four counts. Mourinho wanted Matić and in particular Cavani in the summer window and the board didn't deliver. Since then he's (rightly) played down our chances all year. The one area where we have progressed is against the big teams, that's where Mourinho and the team really came into their own. To have beaten the top two teams home and away whilst only conceding two goals (when they have scored over 180 between them against everyone else) shows we could have done better. Despite the lack of a top class striker it's the midfield that has been a bigger issue. I feel we are still work in progress as a result of chopping and changing managers with different ideas/philosophies hence an assemblage of random but talented players. Even with the problems we've had, I still feel we and Mourinho have underachieved given the talent at our disposal but feel optimistic for next season regardless. We've progressed against the sides around us but regressed against the bottom feeders. Hopefully work can be done on and off the training ground to put that right and once Mourinho is able to dip into the market we can have a tactical reshape. Overall 6/10. Some memorable performances and results but also some real dross football. Can only get better.
Agree with everything. I feel almost as if this season has been billed as an extended preseason for the 2015 premier league, which is where my main disappointment lies. It is almost as if the constant denial of a title challenge rationalised the prospect of no trophies for the club, and instead of installing a winning mentality, it allowed the team to adopt a somewhat carefree "if we win that's great - no biggie if we lose though" attitude. However, that said, I have some cherished memories from this season, and I am content with the way things are developing for the club. Some very big players have emerged this season as well, with particular mention going to Azpillicueta and Cahill, both who were magnificent throughout. Matic will only get better, and the younger attackers such as Schurrle, Salah and Oscar (who's commitment to the World Cup, while understandable, took some of the gloss off this season) offer much to look forward to next season. We also have loanees and Courtois to look forward to. Hazard has still yet to fully live up to his promise for me, but I am sure he will be here next season, as I am sure he will improve under Jose. Obviously there are big question marks over certain players such as Lukaku, but we shall have to wait for summer to see how everything resolves itself. I for one am firmly in the pro David Luiz camp as well. If we are to sell, surely players such as Ramires must go first? That is only my opinion. However, I digress. This season has been lukewarm. Individual successes for me haven't fully justified the fact the season will most likely end empty handed. Liverpool, despite my dislike for them, have done incredibly well this season, and deserve to finish ahead of us just about in my opinion (though to be fair I don't think a team as good as them has ever not had to deal with Europe while pursuing a title challenge), but ultimately, City are the strongest squad in the league, and while I feel we have proved in the big games that we truly are the champions, it is the small games that count just as much, and we failed to deliver. However, while focussing on the negatives I have missed the positives that the season excited me more than any since the first Ancelotti season. We have done very well, and better than I expected at the start of the season. It has been a great 37 games and I hope the 38th signs our league off with a bang. Congratulations to whoever wins the league as well. 7/10 - building to a better future next season, a season in which we must win the league in my opinion.
Well it's one of the craziest seasons ever and we had our fair share of dramas. Joses "new"style took players and fans some getting used to and I'm still not sure what it is to be honest. There were some casualties and Mata was a tough loss, for me De Bruyn also looked capable. The drama continues with reports of Luiz, Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, JT, Cole, Lampard, Ramires, Mikel, Torres, Ba, Eto'o, Lukaku, Bertrand ,( any others Ive missed? ) all definitely off, maybe off, could be off, better improve or they will be off. We played some pretty ordinary football too often, some great football a few times, and Jose won some big matches with excellent tactics. 3rd or an unlikely 2nd place and CL semi appearance means a season remarkable for even that success, considering we have no strikers and a spluttering midfield. Still managed to hugely enjoy quite a few moments and give the Team 7/10. Better things to come .
As others have stated, a little disappointed - just goes to show how our expectations have changed over the year (and rightly so with the owner, quality of players & manager). A lot depends on how we are propelled (or otherwise) through the Summer / next season. We have a significant number of young players in the squad and out on loan. Also, the amazing result on the u18's last night......how many of those promising kids will we ever see? Would loved to have won "something", but it is how we step up next year. Great results against the top teams, but against anyone bottom-mid table, we should be going out to destroy. That's the time for the open & expansive football, defending tight only toward the end of gaes (unlike Liverpool last night). Bring it on
I just hope the disappointment of narrowly missing out on a C.L final and the league gives us a bit more grit next year to push on. Some of the performances against the 'lesser' sides have been very poor this year and I suspect will be addressed by Jose in the summer. He'll only want players prepared to go to war. The league was there for the taking but hopefully we'll be better equipped next year. The failure to land Rooney was probably our undoing as there may have been a more gettable option our there who could have made the difference. Clearly Cavani and Falcao were too expensive and Lewandowski already had his heart on Bayern so I guess options were limited though. Hard not to feel disappointed given the highs of the last 2 seasons (trophies wise) but we've made top 3 (should be minimum for us really) and have a young promising squad I feel is very close to being very good. Bookies have us as second favourites for the league next year which sounds about right. Will be disappointed if we don't win it though.
Fairly average season for me. Maybe being spoilt for silverware i was expecting them. Obviously elated at beating both City and Liverpool but at times disappointed with some very negative tactics against Man U away and Arsenal away as well as against the smaller teams. Never understand why we play 2 defensive midfielders against the smaller clubs when we need to score and feel like Demba Ba needed more chances (over torres and Etoo!). The most disappointing thing was the way we attack. On the counter attack we aren't too bad but when a team parks the bus we have no way through. The way we attack with Willian, Oscar and Hazard when a team has the defence back was at times pedestrian. There's generally very little intricate passing, instead the typical, walk/stand up the defender then try go one way and get it in. Too much ballhogging and not enough team work in my eyes. Hopefully Jose will sort all this out next year.
