Watford (a) post-match

[Rolee]

Tight calls or not, the first and third goals were offside. The Aguero one was an incredibly close and difficult call, given all the players in close proximity to each other. But the Jesus one wasn't that difficult a call; only one defender near him and it was on the same side of the box as the linesman. We've been pissed off at poor decisions going against us this season, so we can't just ignore the ones that go our way.

The Jesus call is as tight as a nun's knickers. With the benefit of replay you can see he was just off but it most certainly was a difficult call.

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

The Jesus call is as tight as a nun's knickers. With the benefit of replay you can see he was just off but it most certainly was a difficult call.

Both calls were very close - but I think that both Aguero and Jesus were offside.

Nonetheless - we battered Watford. The only difference these goals make is towards goal difference - we'd have won the match against Watford comfortably even if offsides were given for both these goals.

And how sweet it is that we're joint top at the expense of the Scum due to these goals (a momentary source of enjoyment as over the course of the season, it's pretty unlikely that goal difference will ultimately decide the title).

 

[ZanteWeatherman]

It's only offside if the officials give it.......................................... as the records will show.

 

[Dribble]

I thought we took our foot off the gas for 15-20 mins after the 3rd goal. It was quite a slow start to the 2nd half. I think that if either or both goals had been disallowed we would just have sustained the pressure for longer until they broke.

We might have, who knows, but Watford coming out with a renewed purpose in the 2nd half also contributed to our quieter 10-15 minutes imo. The fact is, we took our chances and the good fortune we generated through our excellent play, and won the match handsomely. I find it amusing that some in the press have sought to start introducing the hypotheticals into our deserved victory as a way to mitigate our solid start.

I've read this morning that our start is the worst after 5 games in 3 years! Lol :-) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4898372/Man-City-look-real-deal-s-worst-start-2014.html

Then I read that Gary 'Ratboy' Neville had said that our good start was only down to us not really playing anyone yet (Liverpool)? I found it hard to believe he actually said that in isolation, until I read the full article on Sky Sports where he said essentially the same about ManUre too which I wholly agree with. The chances are that our squads' shortcomings will hamper us at some point, & it's how we cope that will determine how this season pans out.

If we're to play with 2 strikers, it means an injury to one will mean we have to revert to plan b. BUT, this means we cannot to continue to rinse the one remaining striker on his own in every match. Pep has already said that Sterling can be a striker in reserve & I thought Sane was excellent as a second striker against Liverpool & his 2 goal salvo proved this. In this respect, we have strength in depth because of our players' ability to play in multiple positions.

I honestly think that Mangala, Delph, Danilo & Yaya will become crucial to us when the season starts to bite, but plugging these gaps in our squad must be a priority in January and next summer, so we have proper cover and don't have to start trying to squeeze square pegs into round holes.

 

[Dribble]

I thought Danilo could play both left and right back

He's a right back. I thought he could do both too, but against Brighton he kept having to check his run to cut back in onto his right foot which slowed our attacks. Mendy starting the next few games showed exactly what we were missing and the limitations Danilo had playing left back.

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

We might have, who knows, but Watford coming out with a renewed purpose in the 2nd half also contributed to our quieter 10-15 minutes imo. The fact is, we took our chances and the good fortune we generated through our excellent play, and won the match handsomely. I find it amusing that some in the press have sought to start introducing the hypotheticals into our deserved victory as a way to mitigate our solid start.

I've read this morning that our start is the worst after 5 games in 3 years! Lol :-) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4898372/Man-City-look-real-deal-s-worst-start-2014.html

Then I read that Gary 'Ratboy' Neville had said that our good start was only down to us not really playing anyone yet (Liverpool)? I found it hard to believe he actually said that in isolation, until I read the full article on Sky Sports where he said essentially the same about ManUre too which I wholly agree with. The chances are that our squads' shortcomings will hamper us at some point, & it's how we cope that will determine how this season pans out.

If we're to play with 2 strikers, it means an injury to one will mean we have to revert to plan b. BUT, this means we cannot to continue to rinse the one remaining striker on his own in every match. Pep has already said that Sterling can be a striker in reserve & I thought Sane was excellent as a second striker against Liverpool & his 2 goal salvo proved this. In this respect, we have strength in depth because of our players' ability to play in multiple positions.

I honestly think that Mangala, Delph, Danilo & Yaya will become crucial to us when the season starts to bite, but plugging these gaps in our squad must be a priority in January and next summer, so we have proper cover and don't have to start trying to squeeze square pegs into round holes.

Our quiet start to the 2nd half I put down to the natural ebb-and-flow of games.

Neville is bound to see everything with red-tinted glasses - yes, we haven't played anyone in the putative top 6 other than Pool (who had a man sent off) so our final winning percentage at the end of the season likely won't be as high as it is now... but... our squad is clearly the best in the league... and as of late, we've been playing to potential. Keep this up and we'll win the league comfortably.

With respect to 2 strikers - Pep has a huge amount of talent at his disposal, especially going forward. An injury to one or both of our strikers is not nearly as concerning to me as the present injury to Kompany and/or an injury or two to our fullbacks.

WRT Mangala/Delph/Danilo/Yaya - I think that Yaya and Danilo have the talent to benefit our side - not Mangala or Delph. And Yaya is in exile for whatever reason. So among the four, only Danilo will likely contribute meaningfully to our side's success this season.

 

[Dribble]

Our quiet start to the 2nd half I put down to the natural ebb-and-flow of games.

Neville is bound to see everything with red-tinted glasses - yes, we haven't played anyone in the putative top 6 other than Pool (who had a man sent off) so our final winning percentage at the end of the season likely won't be as high as it is now... but... our squad is clearly the best in the league... and as of late, we've been playing to potential. Keep this up and we'll win the league comfortably.

With respect to 2 strikers - Pep has a huge amount of talent at his disposal, especially going forward. An injury to one or both of our strikers is not nearly as concerning to me as the present injury to Kompany and/or an injury or two to our fullbacks.

WRT Mangala/Delph/Danilo/Yaya - I think that Yaya and Danilo have the talent to benefit our side - not Mangala or Delph. And Yaya is in exile for whatever reason. So among the four, only Danilo will likely contribute meaningfully to our side's success this season.

Games like tomorrow at WBA will tell us a lot. Pep has experienced a season of the PL, so he now has a fair idea of what this league now entails. I think both Mangala & Delph (in particular) are underrated. I'd prefer to see Mangala as the left sided defender in a 3 than Otamendi.

As we've seen this season already, Ota's lack of pace has been targeted by all & sundry and even though Mangala's footballing skills may not be as polished as Otamendi's, it's not as far off as some would have us believe. However, in a defensive 3, Mangala's better physicality & speed make up for the skill advantage Otamendi has over him.

As for Kompany, if there is a player who should be listening to his body, it's him. In a perfect world, he'd retire from international football, the EFL Cup & the early rounds of the FA Cup if we're playing lower league opposition. Because of this, I believe we now need to look beyond Kompany as a priority, so we don't keep leaving ourselves exposed when he inevitably gets injured.

Kompany needs to be concentrating on the PL, CL & later rounds of the FA CUP. Even if we reached both finals and won the league, that would still mean 60 games, so I don't see the point in risking him in any others.

 

[aka blue jambo]

first half at times was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters of fitba

 

[Sir peace frog]

Yep:

1-6 v Burnley 2010
1-6 v United 2011
1-6 v Norwich 2012
0-6 v Watford 2017

that burnley match,i didn't enjoy at all kept on thinking it was going to get called off,it was absolutely pissing down hahahahaha

 

[Chris in London]

The Jesus call is as tight as a nun's knickers. With the benefit of replay you can see he was just off but it most certainly was a difficult call.

Im always skeptical about tight offside calls that are 'proved' by TV replays. This is why.

I once attended a football workshop. There was a guy there with a speed gun who told you how fast the ball was travelling after it left your foot. I got chatting to him and he said the hardest he had ever seen a ball being hit was clocked at 67mph. He also said that if you roll the ball with the studs at walking pace, that is 3mph. From those metrics, you can deduce that a fairly well hit pass will probably start out travelling at, say, 30mph. Simple arithmetic tells you that 30miles per hour is the equivalent of 14.6 yards a second, or 21 inches every 25th of a second.

I use 25ths of a second, because when slow motion TV rolls on 'frame by frame' it is usually travelling at a speed of 25 frames a second. Which means that between one frame and the next, a ball travelling at 30mph will have travelled the best part of two feet. But in the same time, a player running at 15mph will have travelled the best part of a foot. So in one frame a player will be level, but three frames - three 25ths of a second - later he will be a yard offside, or even two yards offside if the defender has stepped up as the pass was played.

This is important, because many TV replays seeking to 'prove' a player is offside will freeze the footage a frame after the ball has left the attacking player's foot - they did this for instance on MOTD when showing Jesus' goal on Saturday; the 'freeze' moment came not when Aguero played the through ball but a frame or two after it had left his boot. Had the freeze come at the point at which Aguero was actually playing the ball - i.e. his foot was in contact with the ball in the act of playing the pass through to Jesus - I very much doubt TV would have 'proved' that jesus was offside. The wording of the law is that you have to be offside when the ball is played - not immediately afterwards.

Of course in real time, it is virtually impossible to be completely accurate about what are literally split second calls seen once, in real time, with the naked eye. We couldn't have complained if Jesus' goal had been ruled out on Saturday, just as the two offside goals against Liverpool were 'proved' to have been correct calls.

But when we are told that TV replays 'proved' a goal was offside, it always crosses my mind that the proof is actually no better than the technician who is deciding when exactly to freeze the frame.