Stoke post match thread

[City_Sean]

yup agree on that one...waste of a team space every time he plays.....not his fault tonight as he wasn't on his own but its a regular occurrence for him

He shouldn't be starting important games. Tonight would have cemented top four. Its as important if not more so than the FA Cup and Monaco game. Get the fucking game won.

 

[colorado blue]

Can only blame Pep today. Obviously he's prioritizing cups ahead of league now but would rather he played Silva from start with Sterling on bench than save them both for Saturday. Also this was a perfect game for Zab.

First half was bad but second was worse...we kept trying to go through middle instead of using the wings like we usually do. Problem is we really needed to win to cement room 4 with a run of really tough games coming.

 

[Beyond Belief]

He didn't do much wrong. Beat his man and put in a couple of decent crosses but as usual nobody much in the box.

He crosses when nobody is available and cuts inside when he should be crossing only to give it to the full back for the umpteenth time.

When was his last goal in the premier league?

4 goals in 113 appearances for Man City is shite.

 

[Beanhead]

We needed to rotate at some point in the next few weeks and I can't really see when was a better opportunity. On paper it was the least important and probably easiest game we have for a while + it was sprung on us. Regardless of selection it was just a very flat performance from the team sent out to do the job... no nervy moments no mostakes, just lacklustre... nothing more, nothing less... certainly not Peps fault, disappointing but we move on.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

No.

No credit to Stoke. There race is ran. They could have come for a game of football, instead Leslie decides to stick one on his former employers.

That's what that was all about. They've been to the big teams this season and they haven't played that way before.

Make no mistake. That was Leslie vs mcfc

really ? what did you actually expect. they weren't going to go all out attack against us. they got a well earned point. with all the talent we have we should be beating them anyway. mark hughes was a decent manager for us, i dont think he hates us at all really.

Leslie decides to stick one on his former employers.- getting a point for his team is sticking one up ? should they just let us win

 

[Bluep*ss]

Hughes must have had a chuckle when he saw City's team. Stoke played the same 2 years ago here and they won 1-0.
Frustrate the hell out of everybody. Stoke in their minds played it to their strengths. Buy seconds , slow game down, at a throw in , player strolls over , bends down
adjusts his socks - 30 seconds to take a throw in.
First half - thought someone had called a 'Time Out' - Diouff gets a knock, 3 mins to get him back on his feet , meanwhile every other Stoke player getting a drink on the touchline. Hughes knew what he was doing. Someone mentioned Stoke at Spurs - 4-0 half time.
Difference was Spurs came out of the blocks and ripped into Stoke - Spurs had first teamers playing not second hand squad players.

 

[Cityfan]

Silva didn't look tired after Sunderland or when he came on.
Why can't we manage "tiredness" between games? Give the ones you're concerned about time off.

I didn't say Silva did look tired I said Sterling did but Silva did run further than anyone else on Sunday, if we keep playing him in back to back high intensity matches he will become jaded.

 

[1894southstander]

Too slow build up. Not a great team selection but got to give stoke some credit but we played into their hands. They defended very well.

 

[lunebleu]

If we had started with Silva we would have won... But it was right to rest him. What worries me is that without him we look a bit ordinary and he's gonna take some replacing!... Start looking now cos he is a really special player .. World class. Credit to Stoke as they were, supremely' Stokeish'... Organised,hard working,boring as fuck.

 

[west didsblue]

Thought Silva looked good when he came on. Sane, Aguero and especially KDB weren't at their best. Defence were ok. I think we missed Sterling as well. Any faint hopes of the league are pretty much gone now. Absolutely no chance Chelsea will drop 10 more points than us over a couple of months. 2nd is what we're fighting for and hopefully some trips to Wembley and Cardiff.

 

[Patientman63]

Two things.

Starting lineup had no creativity. KDB is mining a rich vein of shite at the moment. Whatever it is, he's not right.

We also missed Raheem badly. I didn't think Navas played that badly, but he's too one dimensional. Raheem will burst into the box, pulling defenders with him, and making room and chances for Serge. Navas doesn't do that.

Stoke came to spoil, were very good at it, and for 70 minutes we weren't at the races.

 

[Proy]

really ? what did you actually expect. they weren't going to go all out attack against us. they got a well earned point. with all the talent we have we should be beating them anyway. mark hughes was a decent manager for us, i dont think he hates us at all really.

Leslie decides to stick one on his former employers.- getting a point for his team is sticking one up ? should they just let us win

Hughes was a terrible manager for us.

And your misunderstanding me. Last week they went to Spurs and played football. It's not the first time this season that they've done it.

Hughes was moved out for the right reasons but it was done in totally the wrong way. He has a grudge, don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise.

 

[Tricky_Trev]

He crosses when nobody is available and cuts inside when he should be crossing only to give it to the full back for the umpteenth time.

When was his last goal in the premier league?

4 goals in 113 appearances for Man City is shite.

In the last 3 seasons, even Zab has scored more goals than him!

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

We knew what Stoke would do and we needed our most creative and dangerous players on the pitch , by resting Sterling & Merlin and not starting with the more attacking Zabaleta we played into Stoke's hands , job done for Hughes & Co.
If it was the Rags or the Dippers with a ten point lead i would still be hopeful , but the Chavs know how to grind out wins and have recent experience of winning a title , don't agree with some on here regarding our chumps league chances , on our day we can beat the likes of Bayern and Barca so if we beat Monaco the quarter final draw is going to be interesting , the season is over for a lot of clubs , ours is still alive and kicking.

 

[chaddblue]

There were 4 mins added on time. During that 4 mins that rag **** Bardsley blatantly wasted at least 30 secs and the ref pointed at his watch to say he'd stopped the clock... then blew for time before 4 mins was up

 

[Marvin]

Thought Silva looked good when he came on. Sane, Aguero and especially KDB weren't at their best. Defence were ok. I think we missed Sterling as well. Any faint hopes of the league are pretty much gone now. Absolutely no chance Chelsea will drop 10 more points than us over a couple of months. 2nd is what we're fighting for and hopefully some trips to Wembley and Cardiff.

league is definitely gone. Judging by the 1st half, I don't think City players even believed the league was there to be fought for. Pathetic 1st half performance. Looked well off the pace. I don't think we were physically tired, I just think we weren't focused on winning it. We stepped up in 2nd half, and played well when Silva came on. But you can't play for 1/2 an hour and expect to win.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

Hughes was a terrible manager for us.

And your misunderstanding me. Last week they went to Spurs and played football. It's not the first time this season that they've done it.

Hughes was moved out for the right reasons but it was done in totally the wrong way. He has a grudge, don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise.

he did alright when he was with us, a top ten finish and good european run. he bought players like kompany and zaba to us swell. last week the attacked at spurs this week they didn't, its just their game plan and it worked tonight. last week they got battered so they changed it up. even if he does have a grudge so what ?

 

[Proy]

Navas is just shite.

When Pep looks back on his managerial career he's going to be scratching his head wondering how Navas ever got a start in one of his teams

 

[colorado blue]

There were 4 mins added on time. During that 4 mins that rag **** Bardsley blatantly wasted at least 30 secs and the ref pointed at his watch to say he'd stopped the clock... then blew for time before 4 mins was up

Think that last throw in took 40 seconds.

 

[Lenblue]

I am driving to Scotland tomorrow, I've got a Porsche and a bugatti in the garage, but I think I'll go up in the insignia, save the others for a less important trip at the weekend