Napoli post-match thread

@bluetonium Stones & Ederson were immense, I agree. Remarkable how little I had read about Ederson before this summer but there's so much to like about his game - fantastic with the ball at his feet

The Walker penalty, I honestly wish we'd see this called more consistently as it's chaos on every cross into the box all over Europe but it seems to be random when it's called - Kyle should have no complaints, it was a dreadful foul. Something didn't look right about him to me on the night, looked exhausted - ill perhaps?
 
Do other City fans think City played extra-odinarily well?

Perhaps a game you need to see back on TV to find our why we gave away possession. It was my impression that we did not keep the ball, or pass it as well as usual. was that down to the pressure on the ball from napoli, or was it down to poor play from City. I am not sure at the moment. I don't have time to watch it again so I'll never know
 
Tough game, I'd say I was disappointed with how we faded in the second half , but this isn't fair n the effort the players put in. To put it in to perspective, Napoli are top of Serie A and beat Juventus recently, they were never going to cave in and almost created a scenario where scoring two goals at home would not have been enough for us. They didn't sit back and if we hadn't have made that lightening start we could have found it a very difficult game to get something from. At least that is what I am hoping, rather than fatigue is setting in.

A third for us would have made it much more comfortable, but maybe it isn't a bad thing for the team to be reminded that they have to fight for everything. But i still feel that the guys would have found another gear if needed, my concern is more that we could be exposed by an opponents game management at some point, especially in Europe. But not every game can be shooting practice.

Stones and Ederson were immense, which probably says a lot about what we had to do to win this one, but Jesus showed great strength and control to give us an outlet repeatedly.

Second one definitely a pen, first i thought at the time their player leaned back in to Walker and not seen it again since, but either way when you look at the overall key moments we created our own problems to a large extent, but have to accept that Napoli got into those position more frequently than many league teams ever will against us, so had more opportunity to make the ref make these decisions, and make us make decisions defensively. Maybe a Danilo type to freshen up the midfield would have worked, but trust Pep knows best and bringing on two midfielders who can keep the ball was his preferred option. It worked ultimately.

The return will be interesting.
I thought it was significant that when they scored, we took over. It was as if we were playing under par and stepped up when needed to. It was not a game we dominated although it looked like we would destroy them early on. I was looking at the Napoli team in the first 30 mins, and thinking Serie A must be truly terrible, but they did get better. perhaps they were over-awed
 
We did, but that is not the point I am making. We lost possession because we gave the ball away too frequently. Pep has to find an answer to this against the very top sides. The answer is sacrificing an attacker for a DM. He did it in the end but he needed to do it 20 mins earlier.

Swapping a forward for a DM invites the opposition on to you, when it it the last thing you want, especially for 30 minutes.

If we had scored a 3rd in the second half, the game would have been over. But for about a combined 3inches, it would have been 4-0at half time, so there was no reason to believe that we wouldn’t continue in the 2nd half.

For me, key players simply ran out of gas...and who can blame them given the past few weeks. Burnley game should see Gundogan,Toure and Bernardo start for KDB, Ferna & Silva, respectively. Upfront, bring back Sergio and give Jesus a rest. Having all four in the bench, if needed, would be just fine. It is a long season and those players are burning the candle at both ends already. Try to give them as much rest as possible before Napoli (A), giving them the odd 15-20mins just to keep their eye in.

Thought Silva was bang average today. Wasted numerous opportunities to play a killer ball. He’s knackered...or does he just look it with the shaved head and scraggly beard?! FFS, David, have a shave and grow some hair back!

All in all, job very well done...and anyone who doesn’t think we are a scary team to play against is fooling themselves. A fully fit and rested City team might have had another 5 goal game, and probably should! KDB’s left footed first timer onto the underside of the bar was sublime, and it is a crime that it was not rewarded!

Job well done!
 
Excellent result against a good Napoli side. We attacked with our usual flair, particularly early on, and when required held it together very competently defensively. I thought we were a bit careless with our passing at times which gave Napoli opportunities but, other than the penalties, the only real moment of concern was when Stones produced that fantastic block (what an improvement we've seen in him). Can't argue with 9 points from 3 games in what is a very underrated (by the media) group, at the time we've played them, every team has been top of their respective leagues. I'd take a draw now in Naples and hope to beat Feyenoord at home.
 

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