Post Match Thread: City vs Spurs

[Rolee]

He plays in the centre, that's the problem. His wasn't shit yesterday, he had a couple of good moments & some bad ones. But he's playing in the absolute key position in the team & he moves from being the main centre mid, to the 'star' No 10 position. We brought on Kelechi to play in Yaya's position & what happens ? He scores.

What happens in the area where Fernando has been removed from ? They score.

Yaya is only an option, if we have two centre mids. But he isn't a top class no 10.


Same as Silva, playing football. Why do I need to answer that question when my whole point is that the team doesn't work with Yaya & Fernandinho & no other centre mid ?

Because if he'd been where he should've been instead of out of position and ball watching then Lamela doesn't have a free run through the centre of the park.

 

[Marvin]

The problem is a poor toure is still better than Fernando and any of our youth players it seems. If we had an alternative I think even Audrey Roberts would try it. Delph always injured and neither he or Fernando offers enough offensively. Yaya wasn't our worse player yesterday. Didn't do any more or less that silva.

Fernando is very good at what he does and would have stopped that 2nd goal. Having put on Kelechi and gone two up top, we needed to protect the back 4 and stop their counterattacks. That left us wide open to any counter-attack because Toure is a dead weight at defending, and Fernandinho can't be everywhere.

As for Silva he was continually probing. I think he'd have found it easier if he had a Navas sprinting beyond the full back or another forward to find. Aguero was marked very well. Silva was much better than he has been. Still messed up at the death but he was there which is the main thing.

I have got better things to do with my time than waste it on this football club who are being incredibly badly managed.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Because if he'd been where he should've been instead of out of position and ball watching then Lamela doesn't have a free run through the centre of the park.

No, if Pellegrini had told him to be there, then that's where he would have been. He was most likely told to watch out for people attacking Zabba's area, where there were three Spurs players when Yaya gave the ball away & none in the centre.

 

[mad zab]

even for him that was a spectacular one. He looked at Erikson, saw he was goalside of Kolorov, stopped tracking, made it half way to the man running in, stopped again and then didn't commit fully.
We can't keep making excuses for these guys, he had plenty of protection and Vinny next to him. Whoever is responsible for signing defenders should be sacked

Otamendi shouldn't have rushed out, but Kolarov should have picked up Eriksen before the pass was made.

 

[Deleted member 58678]

Ridiculously scandalous decision aside, I still only thought we played okay.

We defended much better and did some good things but Spurs controlled the game for me. They had 65% possession until they scored, then they sat back and allowed us to have possession, then when we scored they stepped up their possession again and then when they scored again they sat back. Everything was to their tune even if we had more chances.

We really don't look like a champion side this season.

But that decision by Twattenburg! I think it's the worst I've seen since Southampton got a penalty at our place when Crouch hit the ball against Dunne back in about 2004. It didn't look in the box and didn't look like handball from my seat and the ref was much closer. Terrible decision!

 

[cleavers]

I see its the usual players fault again, Yaya, Fernando, Fernandhino, Otamendi, etc, but where is the blame game team discussing the THREE missed sitters, one that would have had us in the lead even before Clattenburgs cheating intervened.

The ONLY thing I'd change about how we played and set up yesterday, would be the first sub. Why Fernando was taken off I've no idea, he had blocked their way forward until that moment, and we were in control. We also controlled the first half, in a different way, allowing them possession in none dangerous areas, and they created nothing of note, whilst we broke, and looked dangerous doing so. Sterling was the player who should have come off, as he was doing nothing from an attacking point of view, though he had stopped Rose getting forward, but if Sterling's the answer to stopping Rose, then the question was already wrong.

Should have won the game, deserved to win the game, but the lack of cover once Fernando had gone off cost us defensively, and those missed sitters cost us dearly, again, its become a recurring theme missing easy chances.

 

[Rolee]

No, if Pellegrini had told him to be there, then that's where he would have been. He was most likely told to watch out for people attacking Zabba's area, where there were three Spurs players when Yaya gave the ball away & none in the centre.

Ok, so when we're in possession our central midfielder should be more concerned about our right hand side being exposed than the central midfield position being exposed. Makes lots of sense that.

 

[west didsblue]

Apart from the obvious reasons for our defeat, what seemed to be lacking was a decent final ball into the box. There seemed to be some good build up play particularly from Silva but he didn't seem to be able to find a decent final ball in. Thought Yaya had a better game than usual although I'd rather have started with Kelechi and would have brought Yaya on in the second half.

Defensively we looked ok, although the Kolarov for Clichy substitution seemed bizarre as Clichy seemed to be having a good game and had just provided the assist.

 

[cleavers]

For once the goals we conceded were not down to comedy defending.

It was predictable, comedy or not, and its the same goal we concede every week, lose possession whilst attacking, players out of position, opposition run straight through our non existent midfield, and score an easy goal, week in, week out.

We'd stopped it yesterday, until we took Fernando off.

 

[Bayblue]

I take the point re empty midfield but why did Kola stop running ???

 

[Neville Kneville]

Ok, so when we're in possession our central midfielder should be more concerned about our right hand side being exposed than the central midfield position being exposed. Makes lots of sense that.

The centre mid position wasn't exposed, there was nobody there apart from their cf & our centre backs. The Spurs players were where Fernandinho was & would have been two v 1 on Zabaleta if Fernandinho wasn't there. When Yaya lost the ball a new danger appeared in the centre because of someone running away from Yaya. Thus, Fernandinho moved away from the Spurs players out wide to try & cover, (whilst Silva watched them all run past him) but when he got there, Otamendi & Kolarov, left a fucking big hole for a pass.

That's why we usually find we need two centre mids v anyone half decent & not Yaya.

The other alternative would be a manager.

 

[kevodevo]

Amidst all this world of negativity it was brilliant to see VK back.
I thought he had a very good game all considered.
For once the goals we conceded were not down to comedy defending.
A step in the right direction there so much hope for the future....

This all day long - Nasri, Navas, Bony can all put in a shift and hopefully KDB gets back a little quicker - Keep Serge in shape and VK back to his best and we can still surprise a few for sure.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I take the point re empty midfield but why did Kola stop running ???

Because it's what he does.

 

[Goater=Legend]

I take the point re empty midfield but why did Kola stop running ???

Because he's shite. He never tracks the runners.

 

[Manc Born & Bred]

Because it's what he does.

I think he was trying to play offside although VK was half a yard behind him. NO rushes out of the line to block off a possible shot and /or make the tackle. The ball came through his legs to Eriksen so there was an element of luck to it. That said if VK had come out then between NO and AK the ball woudn't have been able to be slipped through. For all their possession Spurs had three shots all game, they hadn't really troubled us at all. If we continue to play like that in the league and players start coming back from injury then we can just about still take the title

 

[Burtonblue]

Because it's what he does.

All the more mistifying why on earth he was on the pitch anyway. Clichy had been one of our best players....
Pellegrini tinkering with the back 4 has cost us the league this year even if you take injuries into account.

 

[Bayblue]

I think he was trying to play offside although VK was half a yard behind him. NO rushes out of the line to block off a possible shot and /or make the tackle. The ball came through his legs to Eriksen so there was an element of luck to it. That said if VK had come out then between NO and AK the ball woudn't have been able to be slipped through. For all their possession Spurs had three shots all game, they hadn't really troubled us at all. If we continue to play like that in the league and players start coming back from injury then we can just about still take the title

Get the point he might have been trying to play offside but he seemed to totally switch off. Hope you're right in your last sentence !!

 

[Neville Kneville]

I think he was trying to play offside although VK was half a yard behind him. NO rushes out of the line to block off a possible shot and /or make the tackle. The ball came through his legs to Eriksen so there was an element of luck to it. That said if VK had come out then between NO and AK the ball woudn't have been able to be slipped through. For all their possession Spurs had three shots all game, they hadn't really troubled us at all. If we continue to play like that in the league and players start coming back from injury then we can just about still take the title

It's partly down to typical Kolarov & partly down to the ridiculous overeliance on offsides to negate the need for the manager to organise a proper defence imo.

I think we played well 2nd half, not first half, but we defended ok first half, just couldn't pass for shit & terrible final ball.

Imo when we started playing, we were on another planet to Spurs, but we have seen that same weakness in centre defence exposed time & again. Imo it is the absolute priority to protect it & stop it, but Pellegrini persists in seeing it as the area we can gamble with first when any changes are made.

 

[Neville Kneville]

All the more mistifying why on earth he was on the pitch anyway. Clichy had been one of our best players....
Pellegrini tinkering with the back 4 has cost us the league this year even if you take injuries into account.

Somebody said Clichy was perhaps signalling he needed to go off ?

Please tell me Pellegrini didn't randomly take off our best player in that period for Kolarov ?

Clichy was absolutely fantastic at that time. He was like two players.

 

[Father Paul]

Ridiculously scandalous decision aside, I still only thought we played okay.

We defended much better and did some good things but Spurs controlled the game for me. They had 65% possession until they scored, then they sat back and allowed us to have possession, then when we scored they stepped up their possession again and then when they scored again they sat back. Everything was to their tune even if we had more chances.

We really don't look like a champion side this season.

But that decision by Twattenburg! I think it's the worst I've seen since Southampton got a penalty at our place when Crouch hit the ball against Dunne back in about 2004. It didn't look in the box and didn't look like handball from my seat and the ref was much closer. Terrible decision!

Spurs played reasonably well and had a lot of possession but I don't think they controlled the game. I thought the first half was fifty fifty but I felt we were starting to get on top until The Fools intervention. After the peno I felt we were well on top and indeed looked like we might go on to win it. Joe had little to do all game and Spurs can consider themselves very luck to claim the win imo.