Champions League Final | Post-Match Thread

[madloaf]

He didn’t look like doing anything other than what he always does i.e. fucking up one on ones, tripping over the ball and running down dead ends…

He got in behind him for a chance and his touch was very very slightly off and their defence was immense tonight to be fair. I get where you're coming from, I wouldn't have picked him but he was FAR from our worst player tonight.

 

[eastmanc]

He does over think things. I believe he honestly thought that Sterling would help to break them down. It nearly worked. If we had scored first then we would possibly be champions tonight. But we need to let these negative teams have the ball for periods . Pump it up into their corner and then let them build up the play. They'd not know what to do with it because a 10 man wall would face them but slowly ,gaps in their line system would appear be yes the onus would be on them .
Pep has to have his attack minded team . It's all of his philosophy. It does bring trophies but it has an Achilles heel - perfect retention / possession is a must . Dispossession can bring sudden vulnerability and that was all through the first half. We dont learn .

We didn’t look like scoring , how many shots did we have in the end. The whole team selection was weird.

 

[Metal Biker]

Difficult to know. They have a system that works well against us. I don’t know but I think it may have worked had Pep not introduced a different formation which I do feel may have backfired. We will never know.

True. But this "holier than thou" mindset that we, the peasantry, loyal City support, would dare to question the decision, lest we be labelled as "non-City supporters" by the Bluemoon masses, is becoming rather irksome.

Can we not just be disappointed by tonights result whilst being three sheets to the wind?

 

[hilts]

Did you mean if gundogun has. Not sure he'd be much better at that either. Too slow, too lazy and you can't pass sideways and backwards in tennis - unless the rules have changed recently?

He has been great great but pep threw him under a bus, he was on the pavement but sterling was driving.

 

[DMA's]

Spot on. I’d like to think Guardiola will hold his hands up and admit that he has let everyone at the club down tonight. It’s a shame because he has done so well with managing the team. Perhaps that was the problem, he doesn’t know what his best team is In the big games. Wish he’d consult with the fans because we certainly know what the best team is.

I know its just a game of football but still this will take a while to get over. I feel sick to my stomach. We may never get to a final again.

What fucking manager consults with the fans about what team to pick? Jesus fucking Christ this place at times. Chelsea where excellent if that foden shot isn’t blocked by rudiger we are 1 0 up and pep is a genius. It’s football against a top side. it happens

 

[BlueRockape]

He said in an interview with camel gob ....you have to keep changing the players and the staff to remain competitive that includes me....maybe it's time his ideas have become too weird for the players and staff.

But when I am sober and out of this anger I may change my mind

 

[come-on-barney]

Got to give a lot of credit to Tuchel. Chelsea have some excellent players and he has organised them well. I thought in the quarters that Chelsea were the last team we would want to play in the final and they proved that tonight. Disappointed but not even close the the worst that I have felt as a blue (losing 6-0 against Derby still the nadir for me).
Some of the matchday posters should be banned end of.

Lots about Chelsea and banning of posters. Can we have your take on the game, genuinely interested.

 

[Blue and still suffering]

If the decision was to play Sterling then he should have played him on the right, Foden on the left and Mahrez as the false nine.
Inverted wingers played into Chelsea's hands, going down the outside would pull the centre backs out of the middle leaving more space for Mahrez and DeBruyne.
Still we are where we are.

 

[the blue panther]

Can't disagree, but that one player choice shouldn't turn the rest of the team to mush on a night like this. Complete no show.

It changed everything. By putting Sterling in, it meant Fernandinho didn't play. Then, not only was Sterling ineffective, but, he took the place where Foden had been excelling, and therefore in the 1st half in particular, Foden was negated. He barely had a touch.
The fluency of the team had gone; we never put any real pressure on Chelsea - the opposite happened. They looked very comfortable when they got the ball. We had minimal shots on goal. And, there was no defensive shield in front of Stones and Diaz. A hole opened up where Havertz danced through for the goal.
That one player choice made ALL the difference, and I think that thousands of City fans across the globe will have feared exactly that when we saw the team selection.
Pep changed a winning formula - again - and came up short.
So bloody frustrating. But, a double - including the premier league - is a hell of consolation, thank goodness.

 

[manimanc]

With all respect, I disagree. That team selection was ALL about the referee.
Pep has made weird selections in the past but I've always been able to match that to negating the way the opposition play, even when it didn't work out.
Tonight was all about negating the way the ref likes to control the game.
Both were maybe the wrong approach but there's no way anyone can convince me tonight's selection and hesitancy to close down and put a tackle in were nothing to do with our experiences with Lahoz in the past.

Why are you so upset? We had a chance but didn't win. Let's look at it in the way that this is our first final in 10 years of being in the fuckin corrupt cunts competition, not bad going really.

 

[DAGW]

I'll explain it to you.
We have gone out of the Champions League three times due to the referee we had tonight making the wrong decisions against us.
This referee has a long history of being against Pep Guardiola and against Manchester City.
Pep looked at this and realised every tackle, every bit of pressure will result in a free kick against us (at best).
With this in mind Pep decided to pick a team that were better at keeping possession rather than winning it back as that was the least likely to result in freekicks, penaltys, red cards against us.
He decided that due to the above it was sensible to pick Sterling rather than Fernandinho as that minimises the risks of red cards but allows Sterling's pace to keep James pinned back, thus negating one of their biggest threats.
Foden and De Bruyne were then allowed to roam up front in the hopes that this would then pull their back 5 out of position a little allowing us to exploit the space somewhat.
Hope this helps.

Ah cheers Pep.

With that in mind, I’ll never understand why Pep chose the team he did there.

 

[madloaf]

Better????

Well, everything is relative.

 

[Vialli98]

@Vialli98 well done mate.

Thanks mate. Commiserations to you all.

 

[coolcity]

Sam was right: That was a horror show, from selection to performances. But put the players in situations they're not so comfortable in and what do you expect?

As I've said a few times tonight, both Fernadinho and Rodri started against Chelsea in the FAC - if he'd picked them and we'd lost everybody would be saying exactly the same thing as they are tonight.

Everyone is going completely over the top over a shit cup we all hated until recently. There was one goal, one shot in it and we came up against a very good defence. There's no guarantee we would have won, or not lost by a higher margin if he'd played a different team. Had Foden's chance not been blocked we might have been telling a very different story, it's just fine margins that all.

 

[ancoats]

Name 1 player tonight who created an
Opportunity and made the keeper make a save??

No point splitting feathers, pep and the players are equally to blame.

Bad night all around. Learn and come back stronger. I honestly did not expect us to win anything this season due to squad personal, Covid and the Scousers playing so well.

Credit to Pep and the players for winning another 2 trophies during a torrid year.The unbeaten run was amazing but tonight we finish the season as we started. Squad needs a refresh for us to push on again. We lost a lot of legends recently which cannot be ignored.

its a cruel world and the pain of losing somebody is far more important that a game of football
covid-19 is cruel and to many lives have been taken by this virus. but the truth is sport and football have been asked to give the people hope. but in sport there is winner and losers and its never nice losing

for me am grateful for manchester city giving me more ups than downs this season. but the truth is i never once though about the losers and how it feels to lose ? well tonight i know it hurts like hell and not nice

 

[hilts]

True. But this "holier than thou" mindset that we, the peasantry, loyal City support, would dare to question the decision, lest we be labelled as "non-City supporters" by the Bluemoon masses, is becoming rather irksome.

Can we not just be disappointed by tonights result whilst being three sheets to the wind?

We got beat by Chelsea in the full members cup you spoilt ****, this is progress

Actually we scored A few in that so who knows

In Pep we trust

 

[butlerkb]

Feel sorry fir pep. Wish he’d picked ferna not sterling. That way it would have been just a bad day for our best team. Now it’s on his pick and we are blaming him and forgetting the trophies and football we have played because we are all gutted about the champions league.
I think ferna brings confidence, both to attackers and defenders, so maybe it contributed to lack of confidence today. Sad end to magic season, look back on our trophies in last ten years, hope we get Kane or someone up front and go again next season..DEFINITELY With PEP

 

[ShedDweller]

Prick

You call me a prick and tell me to fuck off? You’re the prick, go to fucking bed

 

[come-on-barney]

What fucking manager consults with the fans about what team to pick? Jesus fucking Christ this place at times. Chelsea where excellent if that foden shiot isn’t blocked by rudiger we are 1 0 up and pep is a genius. It’s football against a top side. it happens

Not sure you watched all the game to make these comments.

 

[HelloCity]

Aguero deserved better.