Monaco - Post Match thread.

[Lancet Fluke]

We had no hub. We were there for the taking. We had the 2 goal lead and there was simply no need to be that wide open.

And if you say this player or that player was out of sorts why the fuck not take them off.

Pep got this badly wrong.

For me it was absolutely bizarre how passive Pep was last night. The players didn't help matters at times but he's the only one who could change things and to me it looked like he just sat/stood and watched it unfold when we desperately needed him to manage the team through a tough night.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

. . . . . . . but we fucked up at home to concede 3 goals at home is a joke. The same yesterday some of the mistakes are getting to be a joke. .

Had we won that tie on away goals I suppose Monaco fans could point to defensive frailties in their team, and it's a case of which foot has the boot on as to whether we point to the defence as poor or we highlight the attacking skill involved. The commentator in the first game must have wanted himself blind at the Flatcow chip, but only Stones on this entire planet, or perhaps Otters as well(!) would have gone to ground on the edge of our pen. Every goal they scored at the Etihad was clinically taken but it was preceded by some of the shittiest defending you will probably see in the PL, let alone the CL! And the goals last night - the third was just the sucker goal from a team that can concede from nothing. One minute yer've got the tie and the next the ball is in yer net!

Very disappointing. But it does show that we need reinforcements. Our full backs just allow the wingers to put in crosses with ne'er the slightest trouble. Our forwards need ten chances to score one.

 

[toffee balls]

A very bad day at the office.
The point I am trying to make is that you cannot win at this level when several players are below par.

If I had to criticise , what the fuck was Sagna trying to do positionally first half.
He had no idea of where he was supposed to be.

 

[City_Sean]

Silva? Aguero? De Bruyne fernadinho are definitely good enough. The other 3 I agree with you but to be fair clichy and sagna are well past their best

Where were these players last night? Aguero and Silva have been part of 5 pitiful CL runs. De Bruyne doesnt have the stomach for a fight and Fernandinho has fifteen good games at the start of the season before dropping off a cliff.

 

[Akiva]

We had no hub. We were there for the taking. We had the 2 goal lead and there was simply no need to be that wide open.

If we were that wide open they'd have scored more. Your argument is that Yaya should have played, fair enough, but Dinho is quite capable of doing the job just as well but was completely off kilter. Ditto KDB, ditto Silva, ditto Sterling and our defence are shocking regardless.

And if you say this player or that player was out of sorts why the fuck not take them off.

Four or five players underperformed, who the fuck do you take them off for? Delph?

Pep got this badly wrong.

Yeah, you're right, after all the shit you gave him about not playing Silva and Sterling, but playing Yaya instead, against Stoke, that he'd come out and do the same thing again the next week is shocking. The arrogance of the man.

 

[blueraid]

There is no doubt that Pep will be successful- who wouldn't after throwing £200 million at a team (before the start of next season)? But he has definitely shown his arse this season to be a manager who still has a lot to learn... Yes the full backs needed shoring up- so why not buy one? Why not buy 2? Had we paid 50 million for 2 quality full backs rather than Sterling would we have done better last night with Yaya on the field? It's a waste of time saying the team wasn't good enough... He's the guy who brings in the players, and no doubt was in MP's last season... And talking of transfers, he brought in Bravo, leaving us with Willi at this stage of th CL! Now Willi is a legend but he isn't really PL level. He's also purchased an old Spanish international to sit on the bench and an injury prone German who was even injured when we bought him! No doubting Sane was a great signing but other than that his signing have left a lot to be desired... It's his fault we are in this mess regarding poor players.. He carted Hart off easily enough and brought in a replacement, so why not a full back?

I won't even go into the niaive tactics but.... Finally anyone who thinks Kolarov is a CL centre back needs to give their head a wobble!
We will get there.... Eventually but he is making many more mistakes than I expected him to.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Nah , not having that at all.

You can throw tactics out of the window when Key players have a day off.
Fernandinho was dreadful as was De Bruyne and Silva went AWOL.

But Fernandinho was dreadful because of tactics. In the first half it was Fernandinho versus all of their midfield and full backs on his own when Silva and de Bruyne joined any attacks. Those tactics were dreadful and left Fernandinho isolated with up to five or six players to deal with on his own.

 

[pb1951]

i didnt think we'd win the game in Monaco, but i did think a 2 goal lead was enough insurance to see us through on aggregate. Shame that we surrended that with only half the team that bothered to defend it.

I had £50 on Monaco to qualify at 4/1 (thought it would offset my disappointment but it hasn't)

 

[Gabriel]

A very bad day at the office.
The point I am trying to make is that you cannot win at this level when several players are below par.

If I had to criticise , what the fuck was Sagna trying to do positionally first half.
He had no idea of where he was supposed to be.

Sagna in central midfield and de Bruyne at left back. It was a night of interesting permutations to say the least. :-)

 

[flb]

At least Txiki can now throw another £200m at the problem , after all hes not spent much on defenders has he?

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Where was the organisation for their winner n'all? No fucker was marking Bakayoko for that header, not a single player

 

[Deleted member 77198]

At least Txiki can now throw another £200m at the problem defence, after all hes not spent much on that department has he?

Can't wait! We only need six new defenders and a 'keeper! Surely that'll be about £450m?

I'd keep Kolarov as a back up centre half as I think he looks really good there but I don't think any of the others are good enough.

 

[Drewmanc]

Last night our club,players and management let us down. Clichy hasn't been good enough for 2 years. Sagna can't attack to save his life. Fernandinho had fernando's boots on. KDB was a disgrace and has been 90% of this season (does he even have a defined role and has he ever made a challenge?), Sane and Sterling are young and their decision making is woeful and Aguero, he was shite last night, no first touch, the ball didn't stick - we badly need an alternative to him when he's in shit mode. Overall this season is a huge let down for us as fans and city as a club. Pep has been found out that if he hasn't got a ready made world class team with 11 internationals in he hasn't a clue. All the above problems were present from last season and he addressed exactly fuck all. A GK we didn't want to lose and replaced him with a clown. We used to dread it if Willy played as we all know he's shite. He only gets a reprieve for his penalty saves. Pep the saviour? Don't make me laugh - we played better football under Mancini and Pellegrini and neither had the sway or the funds in the boardroom that Pep somehow has. This season has gone to shit and Peps not the messiah he's a very naughty boy.

 

[HelloCity]

At the end of the day there are several players in that team last night who would struggle to get games for West Ham.

You don't win games like that in the Champions League when that happens.

 

[Kenny - 111 Seatkicker!!!]

Having had chance to think about last night - we can't defend and don't have the personnel to try and defend. Monaco remind of that Liverpool side with Sterling, Suarez etc start like a house on fire then fizzle out! Pep made a slight tweak at half time and we had 5 gilt edge chances to put the tie to bed second half, we took one! Our finishing 2nd half put us out that tie. You can not miss that number of good chances and hope to go through!

 

[flb]

Where was the organisation for their winner n'all? No fucker was marking Bakayoko for that header, not a single player

When Kolorov is first pick at CB then is it any wonder? A specialist LB all his career now at CB because hes better than the shit like Mangala and Otimendi who are either on loan or simply not fucking good enough-Kolo is doing a good job as it happens.

Weve all said it on here for three seasons about the fullbacks and CB-we have either bought shit or just simply not fucking bothered sorting out the problem that's been staring the club in the face for far too long.

Txiki ironically seems to be the man making Peps job harder, can we trust this guy to buy adequate defenders moving forward?

 

[Rammy Blue]

At the end of the day there are several players in that team last night who would struggle to get games for West Ham.

You don't win games like that in the Champions League when that happens.

Exactly.

Nothing wrong with the selection, as such, however I said to my lad when the team sheet was out, "sad state of affairs when that back 4 are our best options."

The shit fullbacks have killed us and as much as Kolarov has done well at CB he is still garbage.

 

[Rammy Blue]

When Kolorov is first pick at CB then is it any wonder? A specialist LB all his career now at CB because hes better than the shit like Mangala and Otimendi who are either on loan or simply not fucking good enough-Kolo is doing a good job as it happens.

Weve all said it on here for three seasons about the fullbacks and CB-we have either bought shit or just simply not fucking bothered sorting out the problem that's been staring the club in the face for far too long.

Txiki ironically seems to be the man making Peps job harder, can we trust this guy to buy adequate defenders moving forward?

Spot on.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Spot on Bill.

Lets not sugar coat last night. Pep got it spectacularly wrong with that selection.

That first 45 mins was one of the worst ive watched as we might as well have stayed in the changing rooms and whilst we did much better 2nd half, yet again key players cant hit a barn door and the one time we need to defend we go missing in action yet again.

Congrats to Monaco as they has some great players and frankly, they wanted it far more than we did last night which is damning on everyone connected with the club last night im afraid.

Pep is not blameless. Yaya and Fern should have been in the side yesterday. However he can't be held accountable for Serge missing sitters or Kev putting in the single worst display I have seen from a City player this season. The second half showed that the team on the pitch should have been more than capable of going through. The first half demonstrated that we still have a very big mentality issue - reminded me of the semi final last season. Some of these players freeze and that has to be addressed if we are to progress. Pep made it clear before the game, to win we would have to show intensity, spirit and fight. Everything that we didn't see in the first half. Thats down to the players, not Pep.

 

[JMason1996]

One loss after 11 games unbeaten and some start to turn on Pep, strange world

 

[Burtonblue]

Yet again defensive frailty cost us dear.
I don't think tactics were the problem as underlined by the sevondy 45 when we had them on the rack.
Sagna Kolarov and Clichy are not anywhere near good enough.
Our inability to stop crosses coming in has been all to evident for a long while. These players defend on the back foot all the time. They are just past it.
I don't think you can blame Pep for the level of performance in the first half. Monaco were excellent and we just didn't come out of the blocks. The players need to be accountable for that. The second half is far more reflective of our potential.