PSG (A) | CL | Post Match Thread

[i8rags]

Can't remember one bad decision.

Try 3 minutes added on. 6 subs, 5 goals and numerous var

 

[PolarBearCub]

It is what it is we will be back. If not this season then next. Gladiator club since Khaldoon in charge. I trust him with all operations of the club. Success breads failure but he will bring it back. Leader.

 

[Beanhead]

Abuse of players is against the code of conduct.

Do better.

Like I say.. the code of conduct doesn’t seem to apply when used on Nunes, Doku, Gvardi, or more recently an aging Gundo or Kev. All of which are far, far more talented players. Some are/have been on a different planet to Rico.

It feels like you aren’t allowed to slate a player who stands out like a sore thumb just because he’s come through the system.

 

[East Level 2]

Peter Swales would be proud of the lads tonight - turned a potential dead rubber into a veritable cash bonanza next week …..

But next week was almost sold out anyway.

 

[TheBlueCat]

He played 3 positions in one half of football for a team that cannot cope in the formation they’re being asked to play in using tactics they’re not capable of using. Crazy to single him out. He didn’t have a great game but how could he settle in that.

He was head and shoulders above Bernardo and Nunes

 

[Dribble]

The true state of City...​

The conditions were atrocious, but both sides faced the same, so I've no complaints. The best team won by a country mile. PSG had zest, energy, determination & youth on their side.

There was a time when we'd have physically matched the opposition, & then raised our game to a level where they couldn't compete. Tonight we were on the receiving end of what we're used to doing to other teams, & it's a sobering feeling.



There was an excellent run by Akanji to cut the ball back, which ping ponged around the box & fell to substitute Grealish to slam home. For our second, it was a good cross-field run from Nunes, who found Jack, whose cross was deflected by a PSG player to an otherwise offside Haaland who stroked the ball home. The goal stood.



From there on there was a PSG onslaught, & four minutes later it was 2-2. At this point there was only one team in it, & PSG went on to record a well deserved win.

We were all over the place. The calm assurity we're known for was gone. We looked leggy & were physically unable to compete with a rampant home side.

My main wish is for CL qualification for next season via our league position. We don't have enough in the tank to fight on three fronts & even if by a miracle we qualified for the CL knockout stages, we don't have enough to win it.

Chelsea, PSG & Barça have all taken a step back recently & rebuilt with top quality youth. This is the path City will have to trod. This match has given me a feeling of resignation I've not felt for years. On the plus side, City evidently recognise our issues, which goes 50% of the way to resolving them.

Come the season's end, we have to be ruthless with our clear out & player acquisitions. This will be a big six months for Manchester City. The squad who've served us so well, for so long has run out of steam.

The positive is, the transition is already well underway.

 

[LangleyBlue1970]

Good night those who love the club.

Some of these comments make me wonder if there should be some kind of ability to prove you are a Blue to sign up to this forum.

I’d love to see those hating on the players say it to their face. I’d watch them buckle and say they didn’t say it in the forum.

Onwards us Blues go onto Saturday. Come on City!!

 

[peter.evans]

Wow! Fernandinho got nut megged by Vinicius too! Amazing isn’t it? That there‘s winger out there who are tricky. Nunes the CM who is supposed to be a world class RB now out of nowhere. Omg why didn’t he dominate that game. As a CM he should be perfect as a RB too. It’s on pep for refusing to buy actual fullbacks for 6 fucking years.

Agree, how many players is he gonna play out of fucking position. He's done it with loads over the years but never learns. Grealish, Gvardiol, Nunes this season alone.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

Hard to watch watch us capitulate like that, once again. The whole mood of the squad is crying out for leadership of which there doesn't seem to be any on or off the pitch.
It feels like Peps style needs to change but I'm not sure he has his heart in it anymore.
I'd like think we could write this season off and go again next season but I honestly think that upcoming club world cup could absolutely destroy whatever's left of the soul in the squad. We're victims of our own success, I guess.
Still on a more positive note it's better to have won and lost than never to have won before.
We'll be back, I'm sure but it's not going to be a quick fix.

 

[meeesh]

also european refs are very susceptible to corruption

Oh yea we know that, that was my first thought when I saw him with them the ****

 

[bluemoonste]

It’s Brugge my friend. We’re bad but we will beat them easily.

Do we really want the extra games with our current squad n injuries ?

 

[Ben123]

This kind of arrogance is what is wrong with our fan base at the moment. If we turn up against Brugge like we did tonight they will have no issues with us.

It’s club Brugge not prime Barca. This is arguably the worst city side in a decade but there’s levels to this

 

[Gabriel]

Correct, and they do nothing to help at the back really, contrast to how the PSG attackers helped out.

Given that they’re routinely culpable of giving the ball away, the least they could do would be to work harder to win it back.

 

[cookster]

Try 3 minutes added on. 6 subs, 5 goals and numerous var

Felt sorry for us. Probably would have conceded another.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Just wondering why people are talking about us playing 4-3-3. We don’t. We play 4-4-2 that using translates to a 4-2-4, which also morphs into 3-3-4/3-2-5 at times when we are comfortable on the ball and pressing the last 30.

KDB hasn’t played midfield since he returned. He’s been playing second striker, with Haaland. When he came off, Foden moved into that position and McAtee moved onto midfield.

The problems are glaringly obvious…

- We are too easy to run past in midfield
- We do not have a recognized full back on EITHER side of the field
- We have no legs from 60 mins onwards
- We are way too susceptible to the slotted ball between defenders, for either the attacking midfielder or a free attacker
- We don’t like to tackle, because we fear free kicks around the box
- Anyone can see when we are at our game because when we attack quickly, we attack, but when we are not at our game, we slow it down and struggle to break down any decent team
- Nobody fears us anymore, so we don’t have the luxury of time and respect anymore, unless we impose ourselves on a team for 15-20 mins, and even then they’re confident they can hit us on the break.

We need replacements for:

Lewis - not good enough
Nunes - not required standard at FB
Ake - age & injuries
Gundogan - age and speed
Bernardo age and speed
KDB - age, injuries, end of contract

…at a minimum.

In addition, we have players who appear to have plateaued or are stagnating while others run past…

Ederson
Ortega
Akanji
Stones
Gvardiol
McAtee
Grealish

Clearly, they’re not all getting moved on, but that’s still a massive amount of underperformance for the standards we have set.

 

[ancoats]

Exactly why we need to get through to the playoffs.

I don't think it helps us in the Premier League fight for a top 4 place, Even with the new players it would be a very hard task to win the Champions League,

4 new players are not enough and that is still not adding holding midfield players, Forget Rodri this season even if he comes back later on, he's not going to be anywhere near match fitness and up-and-running, Also we all know how long-term injuries can have on a player and having little football plays on other body parts and could blow up again.

We need 2 new holding midfield players right now and not cover players

 

[alexmcity]

Rodri carried the team last season, as we can't defend and control games without him. And contributed over 20 goals and assists while holding everything together. It's a bit embarrassing for Pep and the players that we are so dependent on one player but that's the truth. Our attacking players and midfielders are very talented but only in the attacking phase of the game. Defensively, all of them were carried by Rodri.

 

[argyle]

We’re so far off being good enough, we might as well just lose to Brugge and be fresher for the horrendous run of league games we have coming up. Could be the difference between 5th and 9th

I wouldnt be angry going out. Might be better in the long run.

 

[normskih]

That was a really grim watch, after our second goal. Really grim.

Credit to Paris for cutting through us again and again and again, but the lack of any sort of ball retention is alarming

Why can we not control a match when we are leading in a game? Match after match, a team has come from behind to beat us or draw and this has happened to us a few times this season. That should worry our management team. It messes with my head so it bloody well should with theirs.

 

[chesterbells]

He's finished, doesn't deserve a start but you can say that about several others as well

He’s been an absolute superstar for us in so many ways, but sadly I think this is one season too many with us.