Bournemouth (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

[mancityscot]

Hmmm, anybody else a little worried about our immediate future?

Ever so slightly. This has been coming for a while let’s be honest.

 

[Joe Corrigan's legs]

Surprised at some of the pessimism on here after losing our first premiership game in 2024 .. we were outfought and outrun on the day and it happens ... poor defensively with Walker & Ake just back from injury and Akanji doesn't start if Stones & Dias are fit so there are mitigating factors ... their energy & intensity suffocated us today and we had no answers... defeats like these don't happen too often and we good at 'learning our lessons' ... confident we will bounce back especially after that final 15mins ... roll on Lisbon, a good win and this will be all forgotten going into a badly needed International break .....

 

[bondsman]

If senior members of the squad were not fully fit today, but still started, why did Pep not use a couple of the kids to provide more energy? Just seems very odd to me.

Rico and Foden have been the only regular starters from the academy over the last 8 years that have established themselves.

Pep's been brilliant in many ways, but not enough academy players have broken through to establish themselves as regular first teams.

With the current fitness, injury and burn out issues facing key players it is the perfect opportunity to use fresh legs from the EDS.

In fairness the only two who seem to have the ability to have done that are Latvia and palmer and both wanted to go. Bobb pre-injury looked good enough. O’Reilly doesn’t look top class to me and despite all the praise Pep doesn’t want give McAtee a real chance. Shame but maybe they aren’t good enough to make the step most of the academy talents.

 

[M Gaudino]

Surprised at some of the pessimism on here after losing our first premiership game in 2024 .. we were outfought and outrun on the day and it happens ... poor defensively with Walker & Ake just back from injury and Akanji doesn't start if Stones & Dias are fit so there are mitigating factors ... their energy & intensity suffocated us today and we had no answers... defeats like these don't happen too often and we good at 'learning our lessons' ... confident we will bounce back especially after that final 15mins ... roll on Lisbon, a good win and this will be all forgotten going into a badly needed International break .....

pedant point but it hasnt been called the premiership for 23 years

 

[Bez]

In fairness the only two who seem to have the ability to have done that are Latvia and palmer and both wanted to go. Bobb pre-injury looked good enough. O’Reilly doesn’t look top class to me and despite all the praise Pep doesn’t want give McAtee a real chance. Shame but maybe they aren’t good enough to make the step most of the academy talents.

Perhaps they are not good enough, but unless they are given a proper chance we'll never know. Right now, with all the injury issues, it is crying out for more energy, which the kids will have plenty of. The senior players that are potentially burned out or close to it need a break.

Pep said we were in trouble a few days ago, so why risk unfit players today.

 

[Johntaxi65]

First 80mins was the worst we've played since Pep's 1st season, outclassed and outfought.

Doku nearly salvaged us something. Lewis helped as well.

I love Pep but that game needed subs.

Is it not obvious that Gundo is missing something. He is nowhere near the player he was before his move....Pep may need to say enough is enough !

 

[ScottSinclair]

A lot of people have compared this season to 19/20 - losing such a key player early in the season and being vulnerable thereafter - but I am hopeful it is more like 20/21. If I remember rightly, we were actually indifferent that season and way off the pace until the turn of the year. We then clicked into gear at Stamford Bridge and never looked back.

We do have to remember that the lads are coming off the greatest feat in English football history - winning the biggest prize four times consecutively. We have had lots of players on international duty playing very late into the Copa America and Euros. It all seems to have just caught up with us at the moment. I don't think we can underestimate the loss of Rodri AND De Bruyne at the same time. I do feel we need a midfielder in January and to embrace the arrival of Echeverri.

We need bodies back and players to find form. But you'd be a fool to write off this team. The last ten minutes could have seen us go on to win the game in spite of all of the above and an inspired performance by Bournemouth. We were banging on the door. Lewis and Doku changed the game.

Hang in there, blues. Win the 115, watch Pep extend, watch us buy a cog in the midfield, and watch us motor on in 2025. You wouldn't be surprised, would you?

Yeah the start of 20/21 was actually the worst we have seen under Pep, and he looked totally done and mentally checked out on the sideline. Those first few months are the biggest reason why allthough Pep is not beyond criticism it is always silly to assume that he won't figure everything out. But man can his style be depressing in those months it's not flowing.

The start of 19/20 were actually pretty good despite how that season turned out. I remember us completely battering Tottenham in a way top teams rarely do to other top teams but only getting a draw out of it. We were playing fantastic football. Problem was that Liverpool kept getting jammy results while our defenders kept getting injured and the air just went totally out of the ballon in the league. But generally though, we were mint. I still think if it wasn't for covid we would have at least been the second best team in europe that year. We had just gone to Madrid and beat them at the Bernabeu, and all though Bayern were fantastic that year you never know how we would have fared against their suicidal high-line.

I'm rambling a bit but the point is that we at least looked good on the pitch that year. First few months of the 20/21 season was so awful to watch that people wanted Mancini back as interim. Despite us being fortunate with our points this season this is even worse on the pitch. But in may we might consider this the best side we have ever had, because Pep has done it before and he is a genius. But you do have to wonder how many more cycles with the same manager and same group of players are sustainable

 

[makinghistory]

Shocking that Bournemouth never scored 5. We were abysmal. Bernie/Gundo/Walker have now passed their sell by dates. Look back and they were different players. Foden is brilliant on his day but inconsistent. Grealish and Stones have glass legs. We currently are missing 2 world class players in KDB and Rodri. No real surprise how we are performing. The question is whether Pep continues to have the answers. Id like to think this result was one of those days but I fear it wasn't and we will have more.

 

[Mad_fer_it]

Surprised at some of the pessimism on here after losing our first premiership game in 2024 .. we were outfought and outrun on the day and it happens ... poor defensively with Walker & Ake just back from injury and Akanji doesn't start if Stones & Dias are fit so there are mitigating factors ... their energy & intensity suffocated us today and we had no answers... defeats like these don't happen too often and we good at 'learning our lessons' ... confident we will bounce back especially after that final 15mins ... roll on Lisbon, a good win and this will be all forgotten going into a badly needed International break .....

Gotta get past Brighton first as well, which has now become a must win.

 

[makinghistory]

First 80mins was the worst we've played since Pep's 1st season, outclassed and outfought.

Doku nearly salvaged us something. Lewis helped as well.

I love Pep but that game needed subs.

Why did he wait so late to bring on Doku when we needed 3 goals to win ?????

 

[Alexia_Ko]

I'm not being a "happy camper" I'm being a realist...

We've had it good for the last 13 years or so, Especially the last 4 years have been beyond what we ever imagined. The last four years of fighting until the very last day of the league along with numerous cup finals and champions league finals look to have taken it's toll on us this season.

That result today has been coming since the start of the season, We've always dug in and got the wins or draws out of games and it could have been the case today even though we wouldn't have deserved it but we could and should have got a point.

We all know the Matchday Thread (Well most of us do) is like, Embarrassing...Along with numerous posts on this thread. I've absolutely hated the Rags since day one because of what they stand for "Entitled Cunts". Unfortunately we've numerous Blues going the same way, Abusing players along with "we shouldn't be getting beaten by Bournemouth" bullshit.

We lost a game of football, Get it over and catch a fucking grip. Part of me wishes we were down in Division Two again just to avoid listening to this bollocks.

I don't think fans are that upset about the result. It's about the performances and they haven't been great for a while. We can blame injuries but there was a period of time only KDB, Ake and Rodri were injured but the performances weren't great. The results were so it was all forgotten about. It's fine to not get the result but I think the fans deserve a bit more effort.

 

[HelloCity]

I don't think fans are that upset about the result. It's about the performances and they haven't been great for a while. We can blame injuries but there was a period of time only KDB, Ake and Rodri were injured but the performances weren't great. The results were so it was all forgotten about. It's fine to not get the result but I think the fans deserve a bit more effort.

Isn’t it a better start to the season than the last 4 title winning sides?

Also, there were some really bad performances in all 4 of those 4 in a row seasons. People on here wanted Pep out the season we won the treble before it all came together.

Talking about more effort after what these players have delivered is fucking disgraceful to be honest. They’re burnt out and we’ve barely been able to play close to our strongest side all season.

Seriously, some of you have no idea how good we’ve got it. Here’s a clue - better than every single team in the world. We’ve just lost our first league game in 11 fucking months and haven’t lost in the CL for an all time record amount of games.

 

[youngbob]

Yeah the start of 20/21 was actually the worst we have seen under Pep, and he looked totally done and mentally checked out on the sideline. Those first few months are the biggest reason why allthough Pep is not beyond criticism it is always silly to assume that he won't figure everything out. But man can his style be depressing in those months it's not flowing.

The start of 19/20 were actually pretty good despite how that season turned out. I remember us completely battering Tottenham in a way top teams rarely do to other top teams but only getting a draw out of it. We were playing fantastic football. Problem was that Liverpool kept getting jammy results while our defenders kept getting injured and the air just went totally out of the ballon in the league. But generally though, we were mint. I still think if it wasn't for covid we would have at least been the second best team in europe that year. We had just gone to Madrid and beat them at the Bernabeu, and all though Bayern were fantastic that year you never know how we would have fared against their suicidal high-line.

I'm rambling a bit but the point is that we at least looked good on the pitch that year. First few months of the 20/21 season was so awful to watch that people wanted Mancini back as interim. Despite us being fortunate with our points this season this is even worse on the pitch. But in may we might consider this the best side we have ever had, because Pep has done it before and he is a genius. But you do have to wonder how many more cycles with the same manager and same group of players are sustainable

Completely disagree here. We looked good on the pitch going forward - smashing Watford 8-0 was a big highlight - and were happy to bang in goals against shit teams, but we were a complete shambles at the back. We were leaking goals all over the place and to date it's our second-worst defensive season under Pep in the Premier League. Lost at Norwich after they'd just been promoted, got done twice by Wolves in the exact same way, got battered at Anfield, lost both derbies pretty pathetically. Don't even mention that Lyon game or that pathetic Arsenal semi-final. If we hadn't scored by half-time in most games, we weren't winning. The absolute nadir was that 1-0 defeat at Southampton in lockdown where it was obvious after an hour that we were never getting through. That lockdown summer is the absolute worst it's ever felt under Pep, second only to the period just after Christmas during the treble-winning season.

The dominant complaint of the 19/20 season was that we were stupid not to get a ready-made replacement for Kompany. And that complaint only got louder when Laporte got crocked. Dias coming at the start of 20/21 in solved a ridiculous number of issues that people forget about all too easily. Added to that - nobody really remembers because of how great he's been since then, but - Rodri was awful that 19/20 season. Looked classy on the ball but didn't have a scooby when it came to positioning himself to stop counter attacks. Teams were cutting us apart with two passes at an alarming frequency that season. Otamendi went from being one of the strongest CBs in the league in 17/18 and 18/19 to being back to his old chaotic self because he had absolutely zero cover while Fernandinho was moved around the team.

Were it not for a dodgy decision for our 2nd goal (the corner that never was), and the width of Claudio Bravio's right-hand post, we'd have lost that League Cup final to a dogshit Villa side who only escaped relegation because of a VAR fuck-up. The happiest moment of that entire 19/20 season was when Liverpool lost 2-1 at Arsenal because it meant they couldn't catch our 100 points record. Otherwise, it was like a glorified Keegan season where we were free-scoring but conceding so much space and giving up numerous soft goals. We lost three of four derbies that season - in fact, I remember it being so bad that I went to the pictures instead of putting myself through the one we lost 2-0 at Old Trafford, when Ederson threw it straight at McTominay for the one that sealed it. When we were 13th after that 2-0 defeat Spurs in November 2020, I genuinely thought I'd wake up the next day to find out Pep had left.

 

[fitzy blue]

Not long home from the match after some mither with our lump of metal on wheels.
Not at our best today but we've had a great run. To reach November and not to be beat all year in the Premier league takes some doing.
Reading some comments on here you'd think we're now in a relegation battle.
We're 2nd with an injury hit team.
Confident we'll still be in the mix for the title for our 5th in a row.
Heading over to Lisbon via Faro tomorrow. gonna leave any pessimistic thoughts behind.
Onwards and upwards!

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Why did he wait so late to bring on Doku when we needed 3 goals to win ?????

He was blatantly not fit, just like everyone else. Notice he never got up to full speed, as good as he was.

 

[Eoiyflem]

That's on Pep today, absolutely on Pep, it's all on Pep!!! Is it, yeah???

6 leagues in 8, fa cups, league cups, super cups, world cups, champions leagues, trebles, fourmidables, centurions .....

THAT IS WHATS FUCKING "ON PEP"!!!!!!

 

[JewelZee]

Is it not obvious that Gundo is missing something. He is nowhere near the player he was before his move....Pep may need to say enough is enough !

Pep is the one insisting on playing Gundo. Barca decided to let him go for a reason. Everyone thought it was too good to be true, Gundo coming back on a free. It's not like us to yield to sentiment, for good reason...

 

[Adblue]

So why play him? We saw what Lewis can do in a few minutes.

 

[halfcenturyup]

Hmmm, anybody else a little worried about our immediate future?

Immediate futures aren't important. We will be fine over the season as a whole.

We just have to get through this injury "crisis". I got the impression Guardiola was fielding half-fit players and told them to take it easy. I wouldn't be surprised if we struggled in the next two games as well. Rather that than exacerbating injuries by trying too hard too soon. He didn't seem particularly bothered, either.

We will be back firing after the international break.

 

[Adblue]

A bad day for a team that looked ponderous compared to a foe etched with vitality. Right across the pitch, we were slower than the opposition, slow to react, slow to get back, and slow with the ball. Ake looked poor for such a top player, and Akanji has (for several weeks) avoided anything other than absolute conservatism with his passing, which means that attacks begin when the opposition is already set (because the ball is passed across the back line before slowly making its way to the deep midfielders). I can only put it down to a lack of fitness, and therefore find it harder to grasp Pep's lack of proactivity. We can only hope that players return soon because there will be more days like this if they do not. Well done to Gvardiol, Rico, Nunes, and Doku.

I agree with the point about absolute conservatism and it applies to the whole midfield as well as the whole defence. It’s nothing to do with fitness. It’s either Pep’s tactics or the players confidence. It’s so frustrating, which was amplified when we started playing in the 15 minutes and moving the ball forward quickly at speed. It rattled Bournemouth as it would any team. Why don’t we start like that rather than waiting until it’s too late? We sleepwalk through the first hour playing pedestrian football as the clock ticks down and we create nothing. We’ve clearly got the talent to blow most sides away if we start like we can.