Champions League Final | Post-Match Thread

The conclusion must be play any English team in chumps league and might as well stay at home, Liverpool, Spurs and now Chelsea…too much of a coincidence right?
We were the better team on every occasion and finished above them in the league.
 
DenisLawBackHeel74 said:
It sounds like a mad idea but does someone higher up in the club need to veto his team selections for the biggest games? I’m still scratching my head about the line up. it makes no sense ....
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No sir.
Pep is paid to make the decisions, and those above him trust him to get them right. It's his fellow coaching staff who should be having a word.
There's just something in his head with the CL currently where he's over thinking it. If he was a player the accusation would be "he's trying to hard"
 
Ajm1985 said:
No idea why there is a comparison between the line up last night & the FA Cup semi in terms of performance. For the FA Cup we had 1 DM and no other midfielders - last night we had a DM who has played nearly all season as an 8, where he has been exceptional. Having Gundo as 6 and Sterling wide, altered how all of the team played - including defensively - and we were massively exposed for every Chelsea counter. The press was inconsistent as a result as well. Both our FBs seemed outnumbered very quickly.

I'm not blaming Sterling, I just don't understand how his recent performances justified his starting spot, to the extent of altering the entire game plan. Regardless of the ball over the top idea.

Personally, I wanted Pep to play Ferna - Bernardo-Gundo, Foden-KDB-Mahrez and then just pass Chelsea into a dull stupor.
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Exactly this. Complete mess of an approach. Sterling wasn’t to blame the system was. I was surprised to see him start, although his starting birth wasn’t the problem, a surprise maybe but the problem was who it shunted from the field. Sterling replaces Mahrez and the extra spot goes to Fern or Rodri and it’s a different game. During the match thread Sterling as usual got a lot of flack but whilst he wasn’t brilliant he was by no means anywhere near the worst. Kevin & Mahrez were particularly bad, Gundog reminiscent of his old self when called up on to fill a void that’s he’s just not comfortable with and Bernie worked hard without displaying any real quality. At least Sterling was in a battle and showed glimpses where he broke the lines for cut backs. Foden was the only attacking player who really showed any substantial quality.

The sad thing about it all was that was the only way we were going to get anything out of that game.. a moment of individual brilliance. Pep totally lost focus on his ideals for this game. Completely and somewhat bizarrely decided to ignore what has worked so very well for him since January. He should be kicking himself this morning. That was all on him.
 
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The1nvisibleMan said:
We’ve strengthened worth a couple hundred million onto an already good core and we only just reached our first final in which we made the same mistakes as before. You can’t just keep lumping money at the problem
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Ok. What do you do then? Get a new manager in?
 
coolcity said:
I'll guarantee you if he'd done that and we'd lost, everyone would be saying "Why didn't we change it for a team that have already beaten us twice" - last time they beat us Rodri and Ferdo started.
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I'm honestly not sure it would be the same. I suspect some would have asked Aguero to come on earlier. Anyway, what's done is done.
 
The1nvisibleMan said:
Come on though surely there’s a point where it’s beyond transfers? We pay the highest fees and the highest wages, we’re not exactly an unlucky decent side
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Maybe misinterpreted my post, it does not matter now we won two trophies, the last memory of this season is an embarrassing, insipid showing in the biggest game in the club's history.

Players have already spoken of how they felt after the Lyon defeat last year and how much he mentally impacted their summer.

Especially so, when a lot of the players last time were pissed with Pep for his formation against Lyon.

We went on to that pitch last night already beaten, you could maybe even see it in Pep's pre-match interview in comparison to Tuchel's.

The respective players saw that team sheet and, in that moment, we had players who didn't quite believe we could now be favourites, just as fans, ourselves, felt the omission not just of any defensive midfielder, but a squad leader in Fernandinho, had fucked us over.

Nerves can be legislated for, but too many of our players looked petrified in that first half and, in the second, were guilty of trying to do things as individuals, rather than a team, merely out of desperation.

We had no period of domination, just areas Chelsea were happy to let us play in.

With regards new signings, they are coming regardless, it was more a nod to those comments who only think we need a big name striker like Kane or Haaland (who would certainly have given us a plan B last night)

There are three of four areas that need properly addressing and my biggest point being, it needs to be players who are hungry to win.

Chelsea had that last night, they paid £220m out last summer on young players with no real trophy background and it showed.

We have a few players now who I suspect are sated by what they have already won and that can make a huge difference.

Kompany, Yaya, Silva, Fern, Aguero - we have lost leaders.

What we need now are players such as Kane, Haaland and Grealish.

People who will push the team to greater heights.

I don't think last night was the end, but it was certainly the end of the beginning.

And that takes money and players with their own personal drive.
 
The average age of our squad was younger than Chelsea's even if you exclude Thiago Silva from theirs. That's how you know these players will have plenty opportunities to go to the final again
 
Keeper! said:
Exactly, make a statement of intent straight from the off, like when we signed Bernardo, Silva, Yaya.

Go and get the deals done and quickly, we need to be ready from day 1 in August, next season will be a war, Chelsea and Liverpool will be after us, we must not start the season like this last one.
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Do you think:

Laporte will want to leave (far too good to be back up and overlooked for the biggest club game in the world) ?

Cancelo will want to leave (had a mostly exceptional season in the inverted full back role - overlooked last night) ?

Rodri will want to leave (despite the non-stop grumbles from fans, has played well this season) ?
 
Robinho's Subbuteo said:
Of course I’m arsed!! I’ve been a City fan for 48 years so I guess I have seen much worse shit than this but haven’t seen better than the success our club is achieving right now. Okay, we lost. I get it … but we’ve won an awful lot too lately.
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45 yrs me, and yes I was on the terrace at York just as an example of where iv been with my club, so this would of been the euphoria moment of my City life.
Sorry I'm distraught
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
Maybe misinterpreted my post, it does not matter now we won two trophies, the last memory of this season is an embarrassing, insipid showing in the biggest game in the club's history.

Players have already spoken of how they felt after the Lyon defeat last year and how much he mentally impacted their summer.

Especially so, when a lot of the players last time were pissed with Pep for his formation against Lyon.

We went on to that pitch last night already beaten, you could maybe even see it in Pep's pre-match interview in comparison to Tuchel's.

The respective players saw that team sheet and, in that moment, we had players who didn't quite believe we could now be favourites, just as fans, ourselves, felt the omission not just of any defensive midfielder, but a squad leader in Fernandinho, had fucked us over.

Nerves can be legislated for, but too many of our players looked petrified in that first half and, in the second, were guilty of trying to do things as individuals, rather than a team, merely out of desperation.

We had no period of domination, just areas Chelsea were happy to let us play in.

With regards new signings, they are coming regardless, it was more a nod to those comments who only think we need a big name striker like Kane or Haaland (who would certainly have given us a plan B last night)

There are three of four areas that need properly addressing and my biggest point being, it needs to be players who are hungry to win.

Chelsea had that last night, they paid £220m out last summer on young players with no real trophy background and it showed.

We have a few players now who I suspect are sated by what they have already won and that can make a huge difference.

Kompany, Yaya, Silva, Fern, Aguero - we have lost leaders.

What we need now are players such as Kane, Haaland and Grealish.

People who will push the team to greater heights.

I don't think last night was the end, but it was certainly the end of the beginning.

And that takes money and players with their own personal drive.
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Hopefully, a mobile DM is added to that list of transfer targets.
 
wolviedinho said:
Kane would have made no difference last night. Midfield needs an overhaul. Peps Barcelona the core of the team picked itself in Xavi, insets, busquets, Messi. At city he is constantly changing a winning formula for no good reason.

The mind boggles.
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I think a focal point to build our attacks around would have been instrumental last night.
Maybe Grealish is the answer in midfield. He would get his foot on the ball and have the arrogance and ability to control a game like that.
 
madloaf said:
We should have fucking played a proper team in the previous two games and the fucking "pep knows" brigade can fuck off. Know your opponent!!
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99% of the time, Pep is sublime. But it's the 1% of crucial matches where he veers towards the ridiculous that I don't get!

We play ManUre, & they have a shit system to beat us. Instead of making a minor adjustment to deal with their pace on the break, we stick & get beat. Against other opposition who can't handle us on our 99% days, Pep then changes what works thinking it will throw the opposition, but he only ends up throwing his own team.

Time & time again, it's the same predictable bullshit. I'd rather a City with Pep than without, but I wish someone could give his head a wobble & talk sense into him at crucial times like last night! :-(
 
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