Al Ain (N) | CWC | Post Match Thread

Anyone got any recommendations for how to find a version of the highlights which is longer than 6 minutes?
DAZN has a premium plan in addition to the free service. It offers extended highlights and full match replays. You can take out a monthly sub and then cancel it for £19.99.

Worth thinking about imo because the KOs will get later as the tournament progresses. I haven't done it yet but I might.
 
You know what was the mot exciting part of today’s match was - there was this one two play by Nouri Cherki and Foden in the second half which reminded me of PSG play last season.

Quick one two and then a fast dink inside the 30 yards for a shot. If this is the initial stage of Pep 3.0 , we are in for a lovely time as we get used to the system.
I think Oct Nov into the next season we will be so much fun to watch as every player know their role properly.
 
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I woke up and watched the 2nd half best as I could, but was it only me or were we passing with a fluidity and one touch and more emphasis on getting forward into dangerous areas fast. Mixing it up a bit.
I know the opposition won’t have been great but there was an excitement to our play and passing not really seen last season
100%. Sums up perfectly what I felt watching it too - agree with every word.

Passing was definitely more crisp.
 
Good game and goals, but some sloppy finishing from Haaland ?
Forget not scoring the goal to top the group, the Juventus game was always going to be the game that needed winning. City play to win, Pep never sets up to play for a draw

I wish we could keep this full squad for the new season, but some players are not going to be happy after they are
asked to leave, Pep will want about 20 players at the most for next season,
 
Just watched it (not hardcore enough to stay up!) and fuck me, what a player Ait-Nouri is.

Gutted we couldn't get to 7 but those last 10 minutes showed that we can attack with speed, precision and quality - we could've had 5 goals in the last 10 minutes alone.

Brilliant run out. Onto Thursday!
 
Good run out. Echeverri’s free kick sublime and Ait-Nouri looks solid.

Roll on Thursday!

I don't know if it was sublime. The wall was awful and the ball didn't even go that close to the corner. It was basically between the middle of the goal and the post. That shouldn't get past any decent keeper.

Hate to knock it because it was his first goal and he's a young lad but id be furious if our keeper and wall let a free kick like that in.
 
Just watched the game back, connor **** and "dross" Townsend, utter fuckwits not least their feathers spitting over the penalty!

Superb debut from Rayan Ait Nouri great pace and energy already whipping in excellent crosses. Gundo was excellent and I felt he meant his first goal, as an attacking midfielder he is elegant. Hated the idiots trying to diss Khusanov, not his best game but when did he last play? Was not happy with Akanji really gave some hospital passes.

Echeverri was lively and put away a great free kick, hope he doesn't get loaned out. Nunes had another solid game too. Big Erl contributed much more to build up, getting an assist but he really should have had a hat trick himself. Already very promising interpassing play between the two Rayans and Phil, hopefully we will bamboozle a few teams next season. Both Rodri and Bobb looked like players just returning from long term injuries.

Why was the kick off at 9.00 pm local time, what harm could an 8.00 pm kick off have done? Good turnout in the circumstances.
 
I don't know if it was sublime. The wall was awful and the ball didn't even go that close to the corner. It was basically between the middle of the goal and the post. That shouldn't get past any decent keeper.

Hate to knock it because it was his first goal and he's a young lad but id be furious if our keeper and wall let a free kick like that in.
He still has to execute it though.
 
Haaland’s finishing was a bit off but we’re basically 2 games into the preseason.
Did lots of good linkup play tonight, scored a pen and had an assist, should’ve been two if not for poor finishing.
He’s too good to worry about.
He’ll be banging them in again very soon.
I thought his all round game was impressive-his movement excellent.
 
When do we start worrying about Haaland missing these chances? Even his penalty - if the keeper had gone the correct way he'd have saved that with ease. Aït-Nouri put in a great cross and Haaland was stood on the edge of the area. It's worrying me a bit

Does he have that hunger after being given a contract for life basically?
Really??? Worried? You obviously weren’t around when we had Lee Bradbury (I’m being respectful here lol)
 
I don't know if it was sublime. The wall was awful and the ball didn't even go that close to the corner. It was basically between the middle of the goal and the post. That shouldn't get past any decent keeper.

Hate to knock it because it was his first goal and he's a young lad but id be furious if our keeper and wall let a free kick like that in.
It was a goal the moment it left his boot, wouldn't have mattered if the wall had been set up perfectly. The power and trajectory were spot on.
 
Just watched on record, Ait Nouri looks top quality, he even showed he can make a tackle towards the end too! Surprised we seemed to have a free run at signing him.
 
Really??? Worried? You obviously weren’t around when we had Lee Bradbury (I’m being respectful here lol)

I was. Why does me being worried about a world class player like Haaland missing chances Bradbury would miss mean that I wasn't around then? Bizarre whataboutism

Haaland isn't Lee Bradbury - he's a world class striker that's having a patch of poor finishing. Bradbury was a poor finisher full stop
 
Opposition were incredibly poor, training games all week will have been harder than that.

First concern is echeverri and gvardiol, hopefully it was purely precautionary and no injuries.

Nico Gonzalez has a long way to go, hopefully rodri's return sparks his improved learning, we need him to get it faster, we're currently still fucked in that holding role come the wolves game.

Ait nouri had a solid debut, haaland should benefit from him once he's on the same wavelength. lovely goal from echeverri, although, the wall was genuinely abysmal.

Nice cameo from Cherki, loved the goal, his link up and willingness to shoot off either foot is going to be a big, big asset in breaking through banked up sides. Bobb showed a return to last pre-seasons form.

rodri getting more minutes is always good. he's understandably caught the shithouse trait most players have after such an injury, going to take him a while to return to something resembling the Balon d'or winner, patience required there, he's still months away from starting a competitive game.

Gundo showing his permanent class.
Most Interesting was just how much we wanted that 7th to potentially avoid Madrid, dont think we'd have been remotely bothered by that prospect a couple of years ago. Might be good to play them, knock those twats out and make them fear us again. Saying that, Juve aren't amazing, we should be beating them anyway if we wish to go any further.
It seemed to me that the desire to score 7 only really emerged after we had scored 5. We had obviously decided to play normally rather than chase 7 goals but once it became a possibility it gave the players a mini target at the end of the match. I don’t think the players were thinking about RM just that it would be nice to overtake Juve. And we did have some excellent chances at the end which partly explained why they looked pissed off at the final whistle.

I think Pep would like to avoid RM simply because it would give him an extra match to rotate players and experiment with systems. If we end up playing RM he’ll have to field a strong line up in two successive matches
 

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