Real Madrid post match thread

[TinFoilHat]

Our defense was abysmal and conceded 20 chances at home.

Dias and Stones looked good when boulders had to move back there.

Shame they were let down by others.

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

I'm trying to see it from Peps view. I struggle.
Rico change made zero sense. He can't impose himself in defense, he can't create in midfield, he can't shield the back line.
There is a team somewhere that is crying out for his attributes, but it is not our team.
Kev should only come on late in games to see it out. He can pick a pass still, he just hasn't got the engine the young uns have.

We all want rico to do well. But he ain’t going to do it under Pep here

 

[OntarioBlue]

We are still in it, I saw some improvement from us and enough to suggest we can get something at theirs.

Call me a dreamer if you will but we are Manchester City and we do what we want.

Keep the faith chaps.

Love your optimism. I must be a glass half empty kind of guy because the only result I can see next week is the Arsenal nightmare score.

 

[Kippax Kidd]

And you’ve concluded this after how many games?

Again I'll say it . We have been embarrassing all year . We drop 140 mil on them and Pep still prefers players who literally can't run or put one foot in front of the other .

 

[youngbob]

Not bothered really. Went as expected in the end. 2-1 flattered us immensely when Haaland put the penalty in. Madrid should have already been a couple of goals up by the time Foden got fouled. I put £50 on Madrid to win this afternoon and have pocketed a nice £170 (incl. returns). Might as well make as much cash as I can out of this season.

We know we're not up to winning the European Cup this year, so going any further than the play-offs would only knacker us out more when there are far more important things to fight for as it pertains to our immediate future (finishing top 4/5). This team could do very well only playing once a week - twice is clearly killing us. A bit annoyed we have to go to the Bernabeau in eight days.

As for the game - same old issues rearing their heads. Mainly that we have a lot of old and tired legs in the engine room, which means we don't have much of an engine at all. We've won everything under Pep by overwhelming the opposition and exploiting the gaps they leave when they get tired, but we can't get the intensity going anymore so the other team just bides their time and waits until we're done in.

This is just what happens when a team gives everything to win four Premier Leagues on the trot. We're experiencing massive burnout with a squad that needs regenerating - we know this. One high intensity game against the current European champions and three of our lads go off with injuries while Akanji, Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Gundogan, and Foden struggle to keep pace with the game.

Don't think it's a coincidence that Savinho has looked like our best player since November/December - he's a young lad who's got pace and skill to burn and wants to learn new things. The aforementioned players are just a bit worn out (all for different reasons). Time to let Khusanov, Reis, Gonzalez, and Marmoush step in for the rest of the season and start planning for the future. The target is 4th/5th and we'll go again next year.

Not gonna come for Ederson. He made a couple of mistakes at the end but he kept it from being 2-1 3-1 4-1 to Madrid on a few occasions. He also produced his best ever game in a City shirt to win us the bloody thing in Istanbul two years ago. He needs to do better, and I think we need to move him on personally, but I don't get the anger. Same goes for Lewis who's got limitations we're all aware of and needs to be played further forward.

Teams have burnout seasons. It happens. Ours is particularly severe but we're still doing alright - we're just not good enough to win the European Cup this year. Big whoop. We'll be back next season.

 

[Paulmcfc2703]

What a surprise. Players like Lewis, Gundogan and Kovacic who have been shite all season are all on the pitch when we fall apart.

De Bruyne looks finished. So sad to see but needs to leave in the summer

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

How Big is the damage in this squad, I don't get the big mistakes we keep making then we fold like a pack of cards

Mentally Players don't want the fight and are not hungry enough for the shirts, It doesn't hurt enough for me
the damage is right through the squad and players are happy to lose because people keep saying it's ok because we have won so much in the past.

It's not ok because of pasted glories, questions need to be asked right across the board, The Club, The Manager, The Players, You should never take your foot off the gas because you can bet your bottom dollar others punish you

Nothing lasts forever, hopefully this season will prove to be a blip. Failing that we can seek glory elsewhere....

 

[ancoats]

So that’s our fault for keeping him then. If that’s true….. which it probably isn’t. Why people believe the know nowts on Twatter/X I’ll never get my head around

He 100% wanted to leave and a deal was on the table and then fell through

 

[Goater101]

No I just want to see you in a room with those players saying what you said. Thats all. My prediction is you would fucking die.

Without doubt. But at least I’d get to tell them what they are before hand.

 

[super_city_si]

Well, partly very good and uplifting, partly very bad and depressing. We'll win next week.

Is it FA cup already?

 

[Damanino]

we couldnt even get one of their players suspended on a yellow away from missing 2nd leg, could we?

street smart and all that...

 

[dom]

They looked fragile too I thought, a good wind would have seen us through IMHO.

Only upticked that in a fit of drunken optimism

 

[willipp]

Go on I'll bite which worldie did he pull off? In fact which save did he make that any professional keeper wouldn't expect to?

He made a few decent saves, but ones you need and expect your keeper to make. All that means nothing though when you fucking just hand the opposition the game back like that. Fucking killed us.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Aside from form, our players can't seem to chase down the ball anymore.

We've fuck all pace in the team.

 

[paulchapo]

You having a brain and understanding that an awful team probably wont beat a good team does not make you negative. Not understanding that our team is awful is not being positive, thats just delusion.
One can hope for the miracle to happen but understand nothing suggests it will.

Hey even in my most deepest moment of despair I've not called us an awful team. We're miles off where we were but have our moments still. It's just our bad ones are bloody outweighing the good ones.

 

[GOULDYBOBS]

Cant say it doesn't keep you on your toes watching City.

Couple of moments of madness forced by injuries but other than that I thought we were mint tonight. I'm obviously gutted but theres no shame against one of the best teams in the world. They were mega to be fair.

Rico came on and i thought he did well gainst Vini jnr until the mistake. Give him a break blues he's only young.

Foden is doing my nut in at the minute. He seems like he expects the ball on his toes and not putting the work in off it. Couple of times tonight you could see Kev steam rolling players and winning it back only for Phil to be half way between minds and losing the ball. He needs to be getting stuck in.

Big night in Madrid next week

 

[Phoenix900000]

Sick of seeing this episode again and again and again

 

[OntarioBlue]

We all want rico to do well. But he ain’t going to do it under Pep here

Don’t think you needed the words “under Pep”

 

[burning blue soul]

He cant though. Thats gone too

He's probably worrying if the pass doesn't pay off the opponents are gonna break and trundle through our oap midfield like Usain Bolt racing slugs.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Kevin is a shadow of his former self, dont understand whats wrong.yeah ,you can loose some speed ,but his passis are off ,shots are off and most of his crosses aswell.

Yup.
It's been clear all season.