Fulham (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

Not in my opinion mate. Litetally one of the worst I have seen.

Let's not forget Fulham had 2 really good chances at 4.5 and could have won the game

Shambles right across the board ? from the manager Pep to the players, we have 2 defenders on the pitch,
The rest are cover fullbacks and a cover for Rodri that is not a holding midfield player

Why at 5.1 up don't you make changes ? Haaland was done for the night after his goal so Marmoush should have had a good 30 mintues, then Ake and Khusanov come on and play fullbacks, leaving Stones and Lewis in the middle
 
If City offer Trafford as a straight swap you think Newcastle take it

I'd say both are worth about £30m but Newcastle probably want £70m.

Livramento isn't that great as a defender imo and we'd be signing him out of desperation. They don't need to replace Pope, so Trafford would be back at square one.

If ever a player should have stayed at Burnley, it was James Trafford.
 
Fair comment, but I'm not wrong about the referee's attitude to it though, which is the bigger point I was making. When did you last see a referee at Anfield making an absolute show out of penalising Liverpool for every single second of 'time-wasting', the way that Omega miming fascist did last night?
Omega miming fascist! Luv it!
 
It's so easy to read and see City's weakness is in both fullback roles.
What we saw against Leeds and Fulham is the opponent manager's gamble, Pep's City are sitting back thinking they are on easy street and good enough to defend a lead and they are far from good enough.

Last night's game was a shambles and 5.1 up Pep does nothing ? kill the game by using the bench bring on Ake Stones Khusanov Lewis, Play Khusanov rightback and Ake leftback Stone and Lewis in the middle Kill the game
For me, it was them moving Iwobi inside and him breaking the lines that we needed to stop.

Then the fullbacks wouldn’t have been as exposed.

Playing our wingers narrow means the full backs don’t get help quickly enough too at times.
 
51.
Again. I see it week in week out. He is one of the worst signings to ever pull on the blue shirt.
He even manages to tackle himself along the way. He offers nothing apart from making the team weaker whenever he comes on or starts. How long do you want to give him?
Abysmal footballer simply not cut out for the rigours of Premier league football and its physicality. The fact he flirted with Spurs sums him up.
I nearly launched myself through the living room window last night when towards the end he charged out of defence with the ball and immediately gave it away.
 
We have midfield players at full back and midfielders attacking and pressing from the front with just one DM who constantly gets overrun. When Pep played both Kova and Rodri we were more solid defensively so play the 2 Nicos as DMS, both sharing the load so both being able to play a full 90 mins ?
 
Watched it. Every one of their four goals had similar aspects. Cut-backs/corners with deep runners in literally acres of space without a City player within yards. We defended in a line quite deep and invited them on to the ball. Unfortunately for us each of their finishes were wonderful but that doesn’t change the fact that our midfield was either too deep or not engaged. We have to find a way to defend the space immediately in front of the penalty box.
You are correct.
We now have a big keeper who is happy to take responsibility on crosses and corners and punch the ball.
Unfortunately by virtue of the fact all our players defend corners so deep the ball ends up at an opponent’s feet with none of ours anywhere near him which means he has loads of time to line up his shot and hit it.
This could be solved by leave few of our more vertically challenged players on the edge of the box on corners somewhere in the vicinity of our opponents.
It’s not rocket science!
 
All the handwringing.
All the pundits slagging us off saying we cant possibly win the League.
Opposition fans constantly telling us were nowhere near as good as Arsenal
Arsenal fans being crowned champions in Sep, no Oct, no Nov, now Dec.
Arsenal being the best version of themselves for 22 years.
Us being the worst version of ourselves (last year apart) for years.

Yet here we are right up their arses, 2 points behind, right in their wing mirrors.

This City side will get better, there are signs there if you look. Foden being somewhere near back to his best is a huge plus. We are of course in transition with several players still bedding in. Therefore of course we can be a bit fragile occasionally. Frustrating? Yes! Thats twice in succession we have absolutely dominated a side in the first 45 minutes. Played some lovely stuff last night, as did Fulham later in the game. Annoyingly Haaland takes his two easiest chances last night and we would have been 7 - 1 up! A fitter more conditioned Rodri will come back in very soon I suspect. That will give us a quality option in the key position for us. Kova back in at the end of Feb to join the final hurrah, if were still in with a shout.

I suspect we will start purring in about Feb-March. How unusual for a Pep side! Not!

We just have to stick in there for now, thats the difficult bit and be within striking distance when it really matters towards the end. Then we'll see if this Arsenal side have big enough cojones for the job.
Good post.

For even the biggest clubs, transition is a 2-3 year process, encompassing a fall to mid-table year 1, maybe push for Europe year 2, then go again.

We are about 15 months into transition. Our "fall" has been to 3rd spot and CL qualification, plus robbed of an FA Cup win. We are now 2nd, just 2 points behind the leaders and out performing all but one of our rivals.

When you consider that we are also transitioning with our most indispensable player out for the duration, it's amazing the levels we are reaching this early into the process.

We should be applauding Pep and this squad of players, not lambasting them for having the temerity to take all three points in a 9 goal thriller at the Cottage.

Maybe, just enjoy the ride and see where it takes us eh?
 
You are correct.
We now have a big keeper who is happy to take responsibility on crosses and corners and punch the ball.
Unfortunately by virtue of the fact all our players defend corners so deep the ball ends up at an opponent’s feet with none of ours anywhere near him which means he has loads of time to line up his shot and hit it.
This could be solved by leave few of our more vertically challenged players on the edge of the box on corners somewhere in the vicinity of our opponents.
It’s not rocket science!
No its not. I don't see why Phil and Doku couldn't be occupying that space and at least put pressure on deep runners.
 

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