Leverkusen (H) | CL | Post Match Thread

jamesha said:
They would have had a better chance if just two had started rather than all four. Bobb started really well but then became invisible. I really want him to succeed but think he is struggling with senior football. In his case maybe a loan is exactly what is needed.
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I don't think Bobb started well at all 4 of his 1st 5 passes went to Leverkusen players.
 
Marvin. said:
Have we in any era been able to field a 2nd XI and get away with it at this level?

I maintain that if you add Rodri to the current first XI, City have a side that is good enough to challenge for the title.

The comments that we are not as good as we were are stupid. There is no like for like comparison. We did not play our first XI vs Leverkusen and lose. What's annoying is that Pep thought he could do this and get a result
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Is this team as good as previous ones , simple yes or no.
 
chaddblue said:
I agree. Still can't get it out of my head

First time I've ever had my faith in Pep knocked

Just baffling what must have gone through his head to think that was the right thing to do
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I just don't get why we didn't do three or four changes last night, three or four against Leeds. Unless he was furious about the Newcastle performance, but I can't see why that would be the case. We need to manage the squad but ten changes is insane.
 
A number of posters in this thread feeling sorry for themselves because they travelled or paid money for hotels and trains. The simple solution is to not support a team who play in a different city or if you're from Manchester, don't move away. They deserve no more credit for attending last night than the lad who can see Mary D's from his kitchen window.
 
The game and the result were extremely unlucky; how many chances did Leverkusen have apart from the goals, maybe one or two?

Absolutely everything fell their way plus a huge amount of luck, while we had a huge amount of bad luck. It’s not just about XG, it’s about the countless exchanges we had in the box, the loose balls that, sometimes purely out of bad luck, didn’t turn into a goal or a direct threat. That escapes XG, but it’s still part of reality and of the probability of a given result in a match. It was practically the same with Newcastle, where in my opinion there was no real symmetry – away at a really tough ground we were, overall, the better team, we had much better chances; at the very least Foden (from Cherki’s pass) and Haaland twice (from Doku’s pass when Pope came out, and from O’Reilly’s pass when he hit Pope) had to score, plus there were no cards for obvious fouls and no penalties given, including the obvious one on Foden.

The rebuild is ongoing and on the right track. Structurally we look decent, we’re able to attack quicker. Pep and the staff aren’t going to put the ball in the net themselves. We’re playing in a way that creates chances. The players just need to be more efficient, period.

We need Rodri, we need a few players in much better form. But they won’t get into better form without playing. That’s why Pep decided that at home against Leverkusen, with our overall situation in the UCL being pretty good, we’d cope and that it was necessary to let the reserves play. It’s about their form, but also their morale. And their morale, as part of the team, affects the whole team. A football team is an organism – complex, because it’s made up of many people. On top of that, a special kind of people: top-class specialists in their profession with big egos. You have to manage that constantly, day in, day out, to keep them stimulated. City are fighting and will keep fighting on all fronts, the whole squad has to be ready for battle, even at the cost of slip-up defeats like yesterday’s.

The reward will be that over time Omar Marmoush or Khusanov or others will look better, and that could be crucial. Yesterday Bobb already played pretty well; examples like that will keep multiplying, we have a high-quality squad. The sadness is understandable, it’s a second defeat in a row, but the reasons for the loss are clear to me – it will get better.
 
normskih said:
Ancoats, I’ve spoken to many City fans, some my family, over the past season or so and they’re most certainly aren’t so called Glory Hunters, they too have questioned whether Guardiola has run his course at City. Not because of one or two defeats, but several matches of no plan b, wrong team selection, not owning up to being in the wrong, like last night. I wouldn’t say I’m in agreement with them but I don’t think he’s barred from criticism.
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He is not barred from criticism, rightly so, after last night
But calling for the manager to leave or getting the sack is a joke really and embarrassing

We have to learn to be just another football club that wins and loses, that golden period may never happen again and winning silverware again will be hard, What we need is to be patient and not throw the toys out of the pram after losing a Champions League or a Premier League game in November

Yes, it hurts like hell losing as we did with a changed starting 11, but I think Pep had a plan and idea and it backfired on him, The Bread and Butter of the Premier League has to come first with this rebuild, then both domestic cups and then Champions League 4th

We have to learn about how to win domestic silverware again first before Europe. The truth is there are 8 teams who are in a better shape to win the Champions League than Manchester City at the moment
 
Cellarite said:
A number of posters in this thread feeling sorry for themselves because they travelled or paid money for hotels and trains. The simple solution is to not support a team who play in a different city or if you're from Manchester, don't move away. They deserve no more credit for attending last night than the lad who can see Mary D's from his kitchen window.
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Rubbish. People travelling from far and wide, spending a bundle deserve plenty of credit. However, they know the deal and that is nothing's guaranteed.
 
Roachy said:
Rubbish. People travelling from far and wide, spending a bundle deserve plenty of credit. However, they know the deal and that is nothing's guaranteed.
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Your first line rubbishes my post and your second is kind of what I was saying.

Why do you think someone who travels from Birmingham deserves more credit than a Manchester lad for example?
 
Marvin. said:
It was a 2nd XI. The first XI beat Liverpool and Man Utd comprehensively.

Why are so many fans focusing on Savinho? He was no better or worse than anyone else. Ait Nouri has barely played due to injury. Rodri, Fernandinho and Barry are 3 of the best midfielders who have ever played in the Premier League and you are using them as a benchmark for Gonzalez who was not intended to replace Rodri but to act as cover.

Dross really isn't fair is it? You don't get away with playing a 2nd XI in the Champions League especially when that XI goes out and plays tippy tappy nervous football for 45 minutes.

I agreed with your point about it being on Pep. I got that team selection and I was gutted when I read it. I knew what would happen and I think what is making so many City fans mad is that it was senseless. We've needlessly put ourselves under pressure now.

If there was another top manager available at this moment, I would want Pep out but there isn't and the fact is that he's like Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde. Most times we get wonderful Pep but every now and then we get some stupid unfathomable decisions
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I think Savinho has been underperforming for a while now - and missing some easy opportunities this season when it would have made a difference for the result.

Rejnders has played one excellent game (Wolves) and then has been quite mediocre.

What caught my attention yesterday was John Stones gesticulating (especially after Khusanov was subbed) asking Pep what to do. Evidence of a totally disjointed squad, with very little training (if any) to play together. Then again, if you only retain one player from the regular squad, hard to imagine a different outcome. The 3 + 2 changes just came too late (and I am not sure Haaland was at 100% of his condition either).

Time to regroup and focus on Leeds.
 
dave_blue12 said:
He didn’t.

He beat his man/men consistently but to no end. Currently there is little point in his ability to beat a man because it always leads to nothing.

Improve this aspect of his game and we may have a player but currently there is no point to him.
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Couldnt beat an egg
 
Eccles Blue said:
It was and I am still disappointed and angry, very angry. I usually get over a defeat within a few hours at most but this has hit me hard. (And everyone else I am sure, sorry to be a bit me, me here) I am trying so hard to keep my faith in Pep but it has been dented.

I have to keep telling myself my overriding mantra... MANCHESTER CITY THE BEST TEAM IN THE LAND AND ALL THE WORLD.








I haven't lost faith in John Boy though. ;-) ;-)
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Meh. I’m already over it. It’s champions league so not a vital match. Pep admitted he made too many changes and I understand why he did it. Late game Saturday, Tuesday game. Trying to keep players happy who haven’t played. It was a meh game and a terrible performance but I’m not thinking the sky is falling.
 
Cellarite said:
A number of posters in this thread feeling sorry for themselves because they travelled or paid money for hotels and trains. The simple solution is to not support a team who play in a different city or if you're from Manchester, don't move away. They deserve no more credit for attending last night than the lad who can see Mary D's from his kitchen window.
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If this is a Clarkie, well done.

If not, go and do one.
 
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