Spurs (A) | PL | Post-Match Thread

[citytill1die84]

Woke up and yep still pissed off :(

 

[Bigga]

He stands up for himself when he's getting fouled and receiving little or no protection from referees.

His disciplinary record is good.

How many times have you seen our midfielders get caught up rows with players on a regular basis?

Here's my thing; I'm not against Grealish being a central midfielder, I want better discipline from him in the middle to lead the mid and taking responsibility to make progressive passes.

When have you seen him do that on a regular basis? He carries and safely goes to a close team mate. I cannot recall him making a slide rule or clever blind pass that was memorable!

I'm sure you'll remind me from the midfield position?

 

[balotellishaircut]

Very little end product for so much possession....no left foot and sooooooo predictable.

No change from day one but he was no better or worse than anyone else yesterday.

One unforced mistake and the width of the cross bar separated the teams.

57 points to play for including the arse who we’ve already beaten

Bring it on till it’s mathematically impossible !!

51 points to play for mate, Pep looks lost so don’t see anything changing anytime soon.

 

[Blue Theatre]

Who is the guy who's been wearing number 17 for us in recent weeks ? I don't recognise him, but his passing is terrible & he keeps getting caught in possession.

 

[halfcenturyup]

he only referred to Belgium team overall and slightly about himself not City

Well yes I know. Still found it a bit of a strange attitude before a WC. May be nothing, of course.

 

[citytill1die84]

Doesn't make sense that, you are trying to push a positive situation and end with players dont want to be here, why not?

Well it shows despite this team coming to its end we can still compete.

Bernardo, Laporte & Gundogan (50/50) like Cancelo all want to leave. We should have cut our losses with Bernardo in the summer as hes been wank.

We've lost a lot of our leaders in the last couple of years and we need new 1s.

Pep knows what's need and no doubt the club will see to this in the summer.

Our squad is also massively thin.

 

[give it to gordon]

Does Pep not like naturally left sided players lol. No natural left back no natural left winger !.

Lewis didnt look comfy there and I actually felt sorry for him. He seems to be getting very little support from our senior pros

 

[The perfect fumble]

Can't argue with much of this.....

 

[shevtheblue]

But why is it OK to assume players who have come good for us too many times to count have all either gone to shit ability wise or become problematic personalities all at the same time? I'm not saying it's all on Pep, but how exactly is he blameless? Does anyone really believe that throwing so many champion players under the bus is going to make other top players come here?

Agree, he's definitely to blame for this. It's new territory for him as well, I think he's tried to force something and it just wasn't needed. Gently making adjustments was all that was required as we had a way of playing already, he's tried to change the way of playing (which he's admitted himself) which has taken years to perfect. At the end of the day he's the boss and its his job to make changes where he thinks they're needed, but i think he's gotten this one wrong and is just digging now. He made a point in that Chelsea game where we were shit to say he was playing the team/structure that everyone wanted him to play, and it didn't work. Taking off Walker and Cancelo at half time IIRC, to prove his new way was the best way. But it's just not the case, there has been a conscious movement away from our principles and even when Walker and Cancelo have played, the team haven't been told to play how they would have previously.
The point i was trying to make is that is not because of Haaland, there has been talk in the media of Haaland forcing Pep to change the way we play. When we have used Alvarez we have played the same way, and we 100% would be in a much better position if we had just kept the system the same and made slower adjustments to it as time went.

 

[Tb1981]

Which suggests it might be a tactic?

Opponents aren't letting him turn, asking the striker to drop in and man mark him.

In doing so, Rodri is forcing it, trying to get us out with risky passes closer to our own goal.

Teams in Europe used to do the same with Yaya, stop him turning and getting his head up.

Rodri's mistakes are in the spotlight because the team is lacking enough creativity to take the onus off him and the back four.

Another reason why Stones is so vital in the build up.

To a lesser extent, Laporte's ability to switch the play long out to the Mahrez flank.

Bernie used to be that recycler but his race seems run. Kev can come and collect but his high risk passing gives us the same headache as Rodri's.

The signing of Phillips has been a disaster. He can pass from deep but Pep clearly doesn't trust him.

Now that the league has gone (for me we are nowhere near good enough to catch arsenal at present) it’s worth giving Phillips a run and actually see if he is any good

 

[Bluemoonadam]

hate to say this but we are not better than the RAGS this year, lets be honest

Tbh I wouldn't fancy our chances if we drew them either.

 

[Lavinda Past]

It's not crazy surprising that a team has an off season after year after year of gruelling intensity both mentally and physically...

Enough about Liverpool, let's concentrate on the shambles of a team and tactics Pep put out yesterday.

 

[Roachy]

I don't believe that. I saw no lack of effort or hunger yesterday.

What I saw was a team lacking in direction and a lack of belief in the system they were being asked to play by Pep.

Same lack of belief I had we would win the Champions League final when I saw Pep's team selection.

Pep is second guessing himself, far too preoccupied with what the opposition can do, rather than what we are capable of as a team.

It translates to the lack of risk in our general play, one of absolute control until the final 18 yards, if we can even get there.

We really only have to look at the lack of saves we ask of opposition goalkeepers these days?

It's written all over Pep's face each time the camera loves to cut to him, he's getting no help from his bench.

We have lost at Spurs, Liverpool and United.

It's a mentality problem starting with Pep.

We don't need to hear that Kane is one of the best strikers he has seen in his life, or Liverpool are the most dangerous team he has seen in his life, or United are back to where they belong.

And we certainly don't need to hear him publicly complaining about our fans, Kalvin being overweight, wrong body language in training, Chelsea spending too much money or the four hour journey down to London being exhaustive.

C'mon Pep, you're better than this. Let us die on our feet than live on our knees.

Don't cut your nose to spite your face. This team is at the end of its cycle but we can still have a dream season if you trust the players who have taken us on this wonderful ride of success.

Release the handbrake.

The handbrake analogy is spot on. Pep is playing it safe, using the "possession will yield goals" mantra. We are playing it far too safe though. Throw in the silly mistakes for goals against and games like yesterday become all too predictable.

 

[bluesince76]

I don't believe that. I saw no lack of effort or hunger yesterday.

What I saw was a team lacking in direction and a lack of belief in the system they were being asked to play by Pep.

Same lack of belief I had we would win the Champions League final when I saw Pep's team selection.

Pep is second guessing himself, far too preoccupied with what the opposition can do, rather than what we are capable of as a team.

It translates to the lack of risk in our general play, one of absolute control until the final 18 yards, if we can even get there.

We really only have to look at the lack of saves we ask of opposition goalkeepers these days?

It's written all over Pep's face each time the camera loves to cut to him, he's getting no help from his bench.

We have lost at Spurs, Liverpool and United.

It's a mentality problem starting with Pep.

We don't need to hear that Kane is one of the best strikers he has seen in his life, or Liverpool are the most dangerous team he has seen in his life, or United are back to where they belong.

And we certainly don't need to hear him publicly complaining about our fans, Kalvin being overweight, wrong body language in training, Chelsea spending too much money or the four hour journey down to London being exhaustive.

C'mon Pep, you're better than this. Let us die on our feet than live on our knees.

Don't cut your nose to spite your face. This team is at the end of its cycle but we can still have a dream season if you trust the players who have taken us on this wonderful ride of success.

Release the handbrake.

I fear we're watching the beginning of the end of a manager. And I should know, I've followed enough.

Unless he finds a new assistant, one who'll actually challenge him on things and bring in their own ideas, we'll continue to deteriorate until either the manager, the board or the fans have had enough.

I was wondering if Klopp might go in summer and take a break, but I'm starting to feel like Pep might be joining him. I don't see the fire in him anymore, he just looks frustrated yet none of us have a clue what he's actually trying to achieve with the tactics.

The signings are equally baffling, not that they're bad players, they just don't fit. Haaland is one of the best strikers in the world, at the start of the season it looked like we were forgetting he was there after playing without a striker, now it looks like we're actively ignoring him. Grealish is a good player when running at defenders, making them commit so we make him stand still and run into congestion, same with Mahrez.
Bellingham can be world class, could be an incredible midfielder, but I just don't see how he fits in our system, especially this current system, so I don't see why we'd pursue him. And, if I was him, I'm not sure why I'd come.

 

[ysmsa]

Well it shows despite this team coming to its end we can still compete.

Bernardo, Laporte & Gundogan (50/50) like Cancelo all want to leave. We should have cut our losses with Bernardo in the summer as hes been wank.

We've lost a lot of our leaders in the last couple of years and we need new 1s.

Pep knows what's need and no doubt the club will see to this in the summer.

Our squad is also massively thin.

Laporte will want to leave because he isn't first choice.
It's amazing how he doesn't play every week considering Dias and Stones have missed so many games.

Gundogan could be a makewight for Bellingham but if not is still worth an extension.

Bernardo sadly should have been moved on!

 

[Lauz9888]

How many times have you seen our midfielders get caught up rows with players on a regular basis?

Here's my thing; I'm not against Grealish being a central midfielder, I want better discipline from him in the middle to lead the mid and taking responsibility to make progressive passes.

When have you seen him do that on a regular basis? He carries and safely goes to a close team mate. I cannot recall him making a slide rule or clever blind pass that was memorable!

I'm sure you'll remind me from the midfield position?

I'm not saying it's necessarily a good thing that he gets into rows (although on your question about our other midfielders, have you seen Rodri since the world cup? Loves a barney) but I'm assuming that if he didn't respond to players kicking him with impunity with a bit of fire then they'd probably kick him more.

His yellow/red card record is absolutely fine so he clearly knows where the line is. And actually I think he's a much better player when he's a bit pissed off.

Some nice passes from a range of positions here:

 

[Bald fraud]

Can't argue with much of this.....

If ours is crumbling what’s happening to Liverpools?!

 

[give it to gordon]

We look burnt out.

We need Diaz and Foden back asap but in good form.

Diaz is a leader and Foden sets the tempo. Always on the half turn when receiving the ball to run at players. But Pep seems to be stopping that from Foden now !

 

[ysmsa]

Grealish isn't quick enough for the centre of midfield. His first touch is exactly why he gets fouled so often. He's need to play as a ten.

Would love to see Grealish play elsewhere. Middle or as a 10 behind Haaland.
Too predictable now, win a free kick out wide or 50 yards from goal which we do nothing with.

 

[citytill1die84]

Laporte will want to leave because he isn't first choice.
It's amazing how he doesn't play every week considering Dias and Stones have missed so many games.

Gundogan could be a makewight for Bellingham but if not is still worth an extension.

Bernardo sadly should have been moved on!

Laporte for me was our best all round defender unfortunately he must not be putting the effort in.