Post Match Thread: City v Juventus

[Mike D]

From the start I wasn't happy with the formation. Starting Nasri was a mistake and one which we paid with the slow adject performance.

We needed pace personally I would have had Jesus instead of Nasri given us width down both flanks.

We need to do as we've done in the premiership attack something apart from Sterling didn't do last night.

 

[blue wang]

i agree, i just think the only isssue was injuries to key personal, which caused us to drop the tempo by that crucial 10 percent.

a fully fit Silva,sterling, aguero.

with the style and tactics we played yesterday. An easy 2 -0 would have been the result.

 

[Leech]

I would go the other way.

I think they came not to lose and would have taken a draw all day, every day, until that unfortunate break of the ball for their second.

They continually tried to break-up our tempo by going to ground and such.

Would agree with that, was more just referring to their seemingly innate confidence in their ability to get what they wanted out of the game no matter what situation presented itself, compared to our mere hoping that we could.

 

[Dax777]

Well, I guess this is going to be a theme for the next few days. I feel like I watched a different match to the one being talked about in this thread. I thought For the majority of the match we were much the better side. We played with a decent tempo, we moved the ball crisply, and were overall excellent right up until the final shot/pass. Our attacking players all four of them were very poor, but behind them everyone was excellent to my mind. Toure, Dinho, Sagna, Kompany, Manga, really showed that they are top CL players. Kolarov struggled but that probably had a lot to do with Sterling really struggling in front of him.

Nothing lost though and not a disaster by any stretch of the imagination. I still expect us to win the group. Juve won't get six points off Sevilla and we won't lose in Turin.

Unless I've underrated Sevilla, I truly believe we walk this group.

 

[Utter bobbins]

Enjoyed the game last night, thought we played quite well. Juve were excellent stopped us playing at our usual tempo no gaps to play into, typical top Italian performance. Not worried about the rest of competition we will win this group

 

[Dribble]

They had least two players glued with Silva, Nasri and Sterling. That isolated Bony with two tall center backs .
At times it was two double decker parked in front of Buffon.
Yup the Italian way.

Well spotted. It wasn't pretty, but it was very effective.

In the first half I thought Kolarov was poor and kept giving possession away and this seemed to effect Sterling who was ineffective. As you say I noticed that every time Sterling, Bony or Silva had possession they seemed to be surrounded by 3 players which effectively stifled our attacking threat.

Bony was also ineffective, his control was surprisingly poor and his finishing was woeful. I have faith that it will all come good for him as I rate him as a player, but he needs to start putting his injury woes behind him and start burying the chances he's currently spurning because although his touch and hold-up play are generally exemplary, his main job is to score which he doesn't look anywhere near doing at the moment. I just hope last night didn't damage his confidence and that the game was a wake up call for him to realise what's needed at the highest level.

Also look at the difference between Nasri on Saturday playing behind the main striker and last night being marooned on the right. It's the same square pegs in round holes issue again; when will we ever learn to deploy players in their strongest position? Last night I would have started KDB on the right and brought Nasri on to replace Silva or to change the dynamic of the formation if needed. Nasri is a brilliant player, but we're wasting his talent by constantly playing him out of position.

Considering the way we play in the supposed 'strongest league in the world', it amazes me how we always manage to look so wet behind the ears when playing in the CL against the strongest sides and some of the weaker ones too? Finally in terms of substitutions, I would have taken Bony off for Kun and gone with Sterling - Aguero - KDB with Silva or Nasri behind Kun which I think would have given Juve something different to think about during the latter stages of the match. Its now essential that we reverse the result in the away match, but judging on last nights showing, it gonna be a tough ask.

After the match I was fuckin gutted!!

 

[Marvin]

I wouldnt be quite as relaxed about the performance. Yes it is not the end of the world and yes, we were going to lose sometime, and yes it was a well drilled Juventus team. But I was concerned that our playing style departed significantly from what we have seen in the league. We were unquestionably lower tempo throughout the first half and especially at the start of the second, where we barely touched the ball for about 5 minutes. I dont know if Nasri in for Navas and general anxiety playing in CL was the reason, or MP instructed us to be cautious so as not to give away cheap, early goals as we have at times in Europe. Whichever it was, it had the effect of neutralizing the momentum distinction between a team with a 100% domestic record outscoring opponents 11-0 and another who has yet to win. Compare this to the way we started the West Brom and Chelsea games where they didnt know what had hit them. Juventus are solid, but they are no Barcelona and not even as strong as they were last season.

If we are to succeed as we should this year, we need to play the free flowing, up-tempo, wide reaching game that stretches our opponents and opens up all manner of opportunities. It is a high energy style and we are competing on 4 fronts, but that's why we have a large squad with strong backups for almost every position. Reverting to a low tempo passing-in-midfield approach risks a repeat of Jan-Apr earlier this year.

Sideways passing follows from intense pressure on our midfielders the moment they got the ball. the game was far more intense than premiership games, but that does not mean more exciting it means Juventus shut us down, and it takes more to create some space and opportunity.

 

[Stoned Rose]

A very disturbing thread imo.

I was there last night and have just watched the game back in full and my opinion is we were the better side. At no time was I sat there thinking 'fuck me, these are fucking brilliant' and at no time did I feel we weren't in control or solid defensively. Contrast that to how I've felt in previous CL games (Bayern, Barca, Madrid, Dortmund spring to mind) where it was clear to me we were being taken to the cleaners by much better teams.

We were composed, solid and never looked in danger. Other than their goals Juve had 1 clear cut chance (saved by Hart). Their first goal was just sheer class from Pogba (following a very rare misplaced pass from Silva) to set up their striker and the 2nd was a massively unlucky bounce off Kolarov's arm which was buried unbelievably well by Morrata. Other than that they didn't rattle us in the slightest.

We had several great chances to score. Sterling missed 2 that he definitely should have scored. Bony missed a great opening by trying to 'leather' rather than place the ball.

It's essential to consider the context to. Juventus are 4 times on the bounce Serie A winners and were the 2nd best team in Europe last year. They aren't Crystal Palace or Watford. We aren't going to play in the same way against a team of their calibre.

In my opinon that's the best we've ever played in the CL and the most 'at home' we've ever looked in the competition.

On another night we'd have come away 1-0 and Bluemoon would be declaring us winners-in-waiting.

It didn't go our way. There'll be nights when it does.

If we continue to play to that standard we'll have no problems doing well in the CL this season.

 

[ZZmaestro]

They had least two players glued with Silva, Nasri and Sterling. That insolated Bony with two tall center backs .
At times it was two double decker parked in front of Buffon.
Yup the Italian way.

Absolutely, most of the game Juve were organised in a 4-1-4-1 system.
Breaking a team so committed into defending - and very effective at it - is extremely difficult ( ask Real last semi final ).
They are not your regular parking-bus-Premier-league team.

 

[Utter bobbins]

Absolutely, most of the game Juve were organised in a 4-1-4-1 system.
Breaking a team so committed into defending - and very effective at it - is extremely difficult ( ask Real last semi final ).
They are not your regular parking-bus-Premier-league team.

I thought it's was more a luxury coach than a bus

 

[kevodevo]

He is so much better without a shit World Cup weighing him down.

I thought it's was more a luxury coach than a bus

With a goalie like Buffon playing out of his skin it certainly was a luxury bus- but truly they will not manage that again at their place - if Serge is fit we'll have them and Id love to see their faces after .

 

[kevodevo]

Maybe I'm looking through my blue tinted spectiacles but I didn't think we were anywhere near as bad as the media seem to have been making out. Most years after the first match I have felt totally deflated by our performance as we tend to have been outplayed, this time I am pissed of about the result and still wondering how the fuck we managed to lose but a lot less concerned by the performance. They were ruthless with the few chances they had and we were wasteful but I thought generally we controlled large parts of the game and made more and better chances than them. Juventus did the same all the way through last year's CL and look set to do the same again. Very frustrating and already looks like we might be playing for second place.

This is true - we opened them up enough times to win the game last night and we did not take the chances . This is what we need to focus on and Ill bet they wont miss those chances in the next champs league games- come on city!!

 

[yeah whatever !!]

Its hard enough when average teams park the bus against us, but almost impossible when the team parking the bus is a very good team.

 

[Utter bobbins]

A very disturbing thread imo.

I was there last night and have just watched the game back in full and my opinion is we were the better side. At no time was I sat there thinking 'fuck me, these are fucking brilliant' and at no time did I feel we weren't in control or solid defensively. Contrast that to how I've felt in previous CL games (Bayern, Barca, Madrid, Dortmund spring to mind) where it was clear to me we were being taken to the cleaners by much better teams.

We were composed, solid and never looked in danger. Other than their goals Juve had 1 clear cut chance (saved by Hart). Their first goal was just sheer class from Pogba (following a very rare misplaced pass from Silva) to set up their striker and the 2nd was a massively unlucky bounce off Kolarov's arm which was buried unbelievably well by Morrata. Other than that they didn't rattle us in the slightest.

We had several great chances to score. Sterling missed 2 that he definitely should have scored. Bony missed a great opening by trying to 'leather' rather than place the ball.

It's essential to consider the context to. Juventus are 4 times on the bounce Serie A winners and were the 2nd best team in Europe last year. They aren't Crystal Palace or Watford. We aren't going to play in the same way against a team of their calibre.

In my opinon that's the best we've ever played in the CL and the most 'at home' we've ever looked in the competition.

On another night we'd have come away 1-0 and Bluemoon would be declaring us winners-in-waiting.

It didn't go our way. There'll be nights when it does.

If we continue to play to that standard we'll have no problems doing well in the CL this season.

Good post

 

[Ducado]

No one likes loosing, (apart from loosing weight) but in hindsight we did not play that bad sure we could have done with a bit more pace at times and scoring from a couple of chances but move on all is not lost and to coin a phrase from some other club (I can't remember which one) "We go again"

 

[Neville Kneville]

Its hard enough when average teams park the bus against us, but almost impossible when the team parking the bus is a very good team.

We were 1-0 up.

We didn't need to.

 

[PistonBlue]

A very disturbing thread imo.

I was there last night and have just watched the game back in full and my opinion is we were the better side. At no time was I sat there thinking 'fuck me, these are fucking brilliant' and at no time did I feel we weren't in control or solid defensively. Contrast that to how I've felt in previous CL games (Bayern, Barca, Madrid, Dortmund spring to mind) where it was clear to me we were being taken to the cleaners by much better teams.

We were composed, solid and never looked in danger. Other than their goals Juve had 1 clear cut chance (saved by Hart). Their first goal was just sheer class from Pogba (following a very rare misplaced pass from Silva) to set up their striker and the 2nd was a massively unlucky bounce off Kolarov's arm which was buried unbelievably well by Morrata. Other than that they didn't rattle us in the slightest.

We had several great chances to score. Sterling missed 2 that he definitely should have scored. Bony missed a great opening by trying to 'leather' rather than place the ball.

It's essential to consider the context to. Juventus are 4 times on the bounce Serie A winners and were the 2nd best team in Europe last year. They aren't Crystal Palace or Watford. We aren't going to play in the same way against a team of their calibre.

In my opinon that's the best we've ever played in the CL and the most 'at home' we've ever looked in the competition.

On another night we'd have come away 1-0 and Bluemoon would be declaring us winners-in-waiting.

It didn't go our way. There'll be nights when it does.

If we continue to play to that standard we'll have no problems doing well in the CL this season.

Great post. We should have won but didn't take our chances, they did. No great panic as were the better team. I don't know if anyone else has mentioned the referee but I thought it was refreshing to have a ref in this competition that didn't fall for 90% of the bullshit from our opponents.

 

[br88]

I have just seen this on the BBC Sport website;

Chelsea haven't been vintage, but they've done enough and deserve their two-goal lead. They are producing the sort of clinical Champions League performance which Manchester City must wish would come their way. They are streetwise in this competition.

You have gotta laugh......they are playing Maccabi Tel Aviv.

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

I haven't read a single paper today because the reports will have been written in outline long before the game. Instead I've tried to make sense of what I saw. Firstly, I underestimated Juventus massively because of the players they'd sold: I hadn't looked at the players they brought in to supplement the quality still in their team. They were good, even excellent and would certainly be challenging us for the title in the PL. They were well organised and their priority was to avoid defeat. Against this I thought City did well enough and for the first 70 odd minutes they created nothing, in contrast to City. To those bemoaning the "tempo" at which City played I would point out that the tempo was high enough in the first minute when Sterling and Silva had good chances and again after our goa when the same duo could have (should have?) put us two up, but we have seen what happens to English teams who rush at high tempo into well organised foreign defences. I'm not sure they had the pace to take us on the counter but you still get nowhere running at pace into two banks of four! Where I was annoyed was with their goals; Mandzukic found too big a gap between Mangala and Lolorov for the first and Otamendi had got too close to Kolorov and so couldn't cover the rebound. Two good finishes but bad chances to concede.

In conclusion, I reject the idea that this was yet another case of City letting themselves and the PL down. If there is an English problem it is a Pl problem - when did an English team last beat, let alone eliminate, a top foreign team of genuine European pedigree? Chelsea in 2012? United in 2008? Juventus drew 2-2 and beat Chelsea 3-0 in 2013! Take out City's wins against Munich....

 

[chesterbells]

I have just seen this on the BBC Sport website;

Chelsea haven't been vintage, but they've done enough and deserve their two-goal lead. They are producing the sort of clinical Champions League performance which Manchester City must wish would come their way. They are streetwise in this competition.

You have gotta laugh......they are playing Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Absolutely pal - seeding rules changed after we won the Premier League. And if you look at the groups chelsea and united have drawn, at is an unfair comparison.

Like many on here, I didnt come away last night as negative as I've felt in previous years when I did feel - on occasions - we were embarrassed at home by superior opposition. This time I felt we were more than a match for Juve, and I can see us getting a point out there, if not winning; they are certainly not to be feared in any way.

We need to get Sterling doing some extra finishing practice in training, that's the key outcome from last night. He seems to struggle to be able to lift the ball over the keeper.