I think it's clear to everyone that Monk has had a significant effect upon the team and our style of play since taking over. It's amazing to think that we were watching the same players tear Napoli apart that we've seen struggle to show any energy or spirit all season. What was significant about last night's performance was that I think it made some in the media sit up and realise that we may have been right to sack Laudrup. I was saying to my dad before the game that our form has been criticised all season, and yet the media have shown complete shock that we would dare get rid of Laudrup. It's clear though that we would never have beated Cardiff with ML still in charge, we would never have come back from 1-down away at Stoke and we would not have dominated a game against a side like Napoli.
The difference in the players is astonishing, and it's interesting that the two players who have upped their game the most are two of Laudrup's men. Pablo looks like a Spanish international on current form, he looks like a player worth the money we paid for him and if we can make sure he stays fit he is going to destroy some of the teams we've got to play between now and the end of the season. But not only has his creativity shone through, he's no longer shirking challenges, he's chasing balls and his overall effort has increased hugely. He looks a lot more interested and he looks like he wants to be part of the team.
The other one is Chico. A guy that a month ago was apparently ready to cave our new manager's head in with a brick is showing the sort of form that I believe makes him a very, very underrated defender. I know he's said that Guardiola wanted to take him from Barca B to Barca and that it fell through, but on his form over the last three games (especially last night), you can quite believe it. Monk has obviously identified that he is stronger in the air than Ash, and has been tasked with dealing with any such passes - I think Ash only had to make two headers last night. He's also showing a lot more concentration, and his reading of the game (which was pretty good to start with), seems to have stepped up to another level. Twice last night he stopped through balls to Higauin that if Vidic or Terry (or whoever) had done the same the commentators would be raving about their 'quality'. In the same way that Hernandez is showing more commitment, Chico has quite clearly cut out the play-acting and his overall game is improving so much for doing so. Personally I reckon Monk's first action as manager was to call Chico into his office and offer him a brick. There certainly doesn't appear to be any issue between them.
There are certainly other players who have upped their game and seem to be enjoying playing a lot more than they were a month ago, but Pablo and Chico, for me, are like two new players since Monk took over. [Post edited 21 Feb 2014 9:38]
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