Lyon CL QF Post-Match Thread

[northstandgiveusasong]

The Dunney Monster said after the game that he could see why Pep had gone for 3/5 at the back, to counteract their forwards, because as soon as we went to 442, we couldn’t handle their forwards.
Is that what everyone saw?

I didn’t think it mattered how many we had in defence, if we play a high line at all times we are likely to be killed by the goals that Vardy, Aubameyang, Mané, Traore, United keep scoring against us.

Playing any formation where we are not used to it and unfamiliar with who's tracking who or who's marking who for example and it's asking for trouble. Walker on the first goal and the high line as you say too.

 

[swinton blue]

When that team dropped I sat there for an hour and still couldn't work out the formation
3 at the back ? 2 holding?
And still when it kicked off couldn't work it out
Pep fucked up royally there
Completely over thought something that didn't need
I get needing to change formations depending on who we play but they were going to play how every team has this year sit back and counter. So why play a team and formation that we haven't done this season
He comes out and still says we are not up there with the elite. Well pep that is on you
Pep has been our best manager ever but he has to take 100 % blame on that performance players didnt know whether to stick or twist
Pep might sign an extension to his contract and we quite possibly win the league but we will not win the champions league with him in charge

 

[CC1]

Sick of reading how this was our best chance to win the “coveted” CL. In fact it is the hardest attempt ever. We would have had to have beaten the winners of the 3 main European leagues (Spanish - which we did; followed by German & probably French - assuming PSG get through to final) in almost consecutive one-off matches. No second chances in the home leg etc. The draw was not kind - not to mention VAR in the Laporte incident.

Strange set of circumstances after winning the CAS case. Not saying it’s a conspiracy but I’d like to have examined the draw when it was made & ask VAR why foul in build up to goal was ignored.
However, my point is, despite the media bullshit - we’ve had easier routes in the past. This year was definitely not our best chance.

 

[B\connellblue]

Recruitment of defensive players hasn't been great. But I wouldn't blame Pep for Laporte's horrific injury, for Stones' personal issues and injuries, for the decline of Otamendi and Dinho, for Mendy's injuries and behaviour, etc. We had an excellent defence in 2018 and conceded just 4 goals in the final 14 league games in 2019. It's not like we never had a good defence under Pep. We won all domestic trophies in England over 24 months.

Pep is partly responsible for the recruitment but I doubt we could blame him for the injuries, aging and personal issues of our defenders.

That's fair enough but you definitely could blame him for getting beaten by the same tactics so often. All it takes is a ball in behind , a pacy attacker and boom we're done. Over and over again we see it. And the cowardice of Rhodri and Gundogan. Sideways and backwards and ripe for the ambush. You need pace and power and a bit of forward thinking. Italy is where those two should be playing.

 

[northstandgiveusasong]

Not just defence, buying Rodri, keeping hold of ageing players.

Squad needs a serious overhaul and it won't take one summer window to fix.

I'm not quite sure you'd still be saying that this morning had Sterling equalised and we'd gone on to win the game. I'm as peed off as you with last night as are plenty of others but come on....we ain't THAT bad.

 

[eastmanc]

agree i dont understand not using them to, Foden, Bernado, Sterling, Jesus all closing down their defenders quickly leave KDB to pull the strings not trying to help out that slow, boring midfield from last night. When those 3 or 4 play with KDB pulling the strings even Gundogan plays ok !

I believe City have a really good young team in the making but for some reason Pep doesnt trust them in some games and goes for the old slow boring players

I don’t understand what more Foden has to do, he should have at least come on, we missed his drive badly. Gundogan is a far better option at number 6 than at 8, better option for me than Rodri.

 

[alexmcity]

But he kept plaing Fern and Ota. Some problems are external. We had bad luck with injuries. It's also impossible to get everything right in the transfer market and that's not all down to Pep. However, he failed in the most basic duty of selecting the best side for a huge fixture.

This is arrogance. I would forgive him if after 30 mins he made changes, or even came out afterwards and said he got it completely wrong but he wont do that.

Yes, Pep's best move now would be to take responsibility for the tactics. This would help him also with the players and the fans. Tactics was bad enough but the changes weren't fast and radical enough. Why keep both Foden and Bernardo on the bench when we don't look particularly energetic on the pitch? Why wait 80 minutes to sub one from Rodri and Gundy? Not only tactics was bad, but subs were bad too. We used too little Foden and Bernardo this season and relied too much on Gundy and Dave. Pep seems to value experience a bit too much, at the expense of energy and pace. A recurrent problem throughout the season.

 

[Rammy Blue]

A tactical disasterclass.

 

[clarion]

A tactical disasterclass.

And his ego won’t say it or at least accept it.

 

[give it to gordon]

I don’t understand what more Foden has to do, he should have at least come on, we missed his drive badly. Gundogan is a far better option at number 6 than at 8, better option for me than Rodri.

first thing Foden does when receiving the ball is to go forward with speed as does Bernie (mostly). Yesterday mostly our players went sideways . Jesus was having to come deep to get the ball than try to get forward !. Our front 3 of Foden, Sterling and Jesus having the freedom to play along the line popping up on the left or right or central causes defences all sorts of problems and gives KDB plenty of choice. We had nothing going forward last night only Jesus and Sterling against a back 5 .....why Pep ?

 

[SidJames]

How to make sense of the formation last night?

My best shot at explaining it is as follows. Pep watched Bayern destroying Barca the previous night and was convinced that we have to use a much more defensive formation should we play Bayern to stand a chance or avoid a humiliation. But we haven't played such a formation for ages. So, let's practice it a bit against Lyon.

Pep knew that a combo of a 35 y.o. midfielder at CB and a CB who is just back from a very bad injury is not likely to fare well against Bayern or Mbappe and Neymar. So, he thought we could win the CL if we played defensively and relied on our forwards to bail us out. Thus, the implicit message to the team was: we are not good enough to compete right now and have to be clever. The players' confidence took a big hit already before the start of the game and they looked hesitant and confused.

Pep was realistic about our defensive weaknesses but instead of inspiring the team to give 120% he made them fearful. He was thinking more about our weaknesses and not about our strengths. He is failing in the CL not because his philosophy doesn't suit it but because he betrays his philosophy. Go for it, we have a brilliant attack and can beat any team on our day.

Not like he has not done this sort of thing before.Spurs away in the Champions League springs to mind,KDB on the Bench.

We all know what happened next.

He is a hard man to understand.

That Liverpool away game in the Champions League he went there all Guns blazing playing to those scouse fuckers strength.We were all like wtf ?,we never recovered from it.

Then you see that ultra cautious Pep set up last night playing against a mid table french side.It makes no sense.The only chance they really had last night was capitalizing from the now usual 2,3 mistakes per game ,because we can not defend.

This was the game to go all Gun blazing and blow them away..We can not defend so go out and play to our own strengths, score more than them.

Instead of spending 1 hour being scared of making any mistakes,then making the fucking mistakes you knew you were always going to make.

 

[ShaunMCFC]

Still feel as deflated as I did last night. Still think 100% of the blame lies at Peps door, he needs to have a word with himself

 

[Alan Oakes Shinpads]

Yes we were our own worst enemies with the selection/formation,but once again 2 teams refereed differently. A referee who allowed/turned a UEFA blind eye to the Lyon defence persistently foul,the Brazilian centre back committed several more fouls after been booked with no sanction and the diving of Cornet in particular(why no yellow card for the dive in the box?) along with others who appeared to have been shot by the sniper in the crowd whenever we went near them

Just to finish VAR for their second goal was the cherry on the UEFA celebration cake

 

[Great Kompany]

A lot of people often take this match as a singular event and talk about missed chances and VAR and such. But this has happened 4 times in a row. This can't be just down to bad luck. And believe it or not. The money and the time was given to rectify it.

I would also like to give a wobble to your incompetent recruitment department. I don't know who suggested Rodri when Partey was right there next to him. We keep on saying we need to bring someone to complement Rodri. Why did we buy him in the first place. Same with the defenders.Another full back to strength the defence then one more fullback. It has become a typical rag situation where they buy a new midfielder every year to free pogba.

 

[hateutd]

I had some great expectations for this game... I spend more than 40 years following City, depends my happiness or sorrow from a final score.... last night a well known feeling of shit came back from early 80's.... Pep fucked everything, players also... I can't say anything to my son today, I couldn't say anything last night.... Just, blue moon you saw me standing alone..... :(

 

[lonestay]

How on earth have you come to this conclusion?

by the way he was here one moment our inspirational leader and although his contract was ending gone in an instant to Anderlecht, Now i dont know if there were any plans to bring Vinny onboard at the end of last season and start him in the process of possibly at some point becoming manager, but after 10 years i thought Vinny could have
handled it better, he knew what he was to City and the fans and i just think that it all seemed a bit rushed .

 

[City_Sean]

That setup was so badly wrong last night that it's hard to even know where to begin.

I dont actually mind the back three and I had a feeling Pep would utilise it to match up with Lyon. The problem is his XI was so badly wrong that it afforded us no pace or legs.

If you're worried about the pace of Lyon, then you play Walker as the RCB, Cancelo RWB and Mendy on the left. You don't play Garcia and Ferna, both of whom are slow. You don't play Garcia full stop with the news that he wants out.

Rodri and Gundo were both passengers in the midfield. No legs to get up and down and support both ends.

We lacked any width too as Cancelo can't use his left, so it enabled Lyon to defend more on the inside which blocked off the space for KDB.

All in all, that from Pep was utter garbage. Serious questions need to be asked. The whole season since the restart has been geared towards the cups. In both cups we've gone out with insipid performances.

 

[Mon Autre]

by the way he was here one moment our inspirational leader and although his contract was ending gone in an instant to Anderlecht, Now i dont know if there were any plans to bring Vinny onboard at the end of last season and start him in the process of possibly at some point becoming manager, but after 10 years i thought Vinny could have
handled it better, he knew what he was to City and the fans and i just think that it all seemed a bit rushed .

Might have seemed rushed to you perhaps but it was pretty obvious to everyone else he was going. The club had plenty of time to prepare and they chose not replace him.

 

[eastmanc]

first thing Foden does when receiving the ball is to go forward with speed as does Bernie (mostly). Yesterday mostly our players went sideways . Jesus was having to come deep to get the ball than try to get forward !. Our front 3 of Foden, Sterling and Jesus having the freedom to play along the line popping up on the left or right or central causes defences all sorts of problems and gives KDB plenty of choice. We had nothing going forward last night only Jesus and Sterling against a back 5 .....why Pep ?

KDB in last nights system looked very isolated and short of options.

 

[bluemoon32]

KDB in last nights system looked very isolated and short of options.

He looks increasingly pissed off at times lately, we seem to have turned into a side where everyone gives the ball to KDB and expects him to do something magical, almost like Barcelona and Messi