Paris Saint-Germain (A) - CL | Post-Match Thread

[Chippy_boy]

Nonsense mate. We have 18 shots to their 7. We dominated the game. They barely threatened and scored both times they did.

You say that last sentence like it's a criticism. Thank fuck we didn't give them as many chances as we had, or we might have lost 10-0.

 

[JCB001]

Football can be a bugger sometimes and last night was a classic case. As on Saturday City smothered the opposition and just as Lukaku and Werner had been played out of the game so the PSG front three were hardly seen. Hardly but not completely. And City lost 2-0. The first goal was the a sign of just how perverse the football gods can be. On just about their only expedition into our area PSG got the series of deflections and ricochets which presented them with the clearest of chances and Gueye's brilliant finish amounted to thumping the ball into a clearly open part of the goal. City never got the ball running anything like as kindly as that. We created the best chance of the night when Raheem's excellent header thumped against the bar and Bernardo must still be wondering how his follow up found the bar again instead of the net. Apart from that PSG packed their area and blocked everything that came at them with a mixture of good play and great luck - until Messi got his first goal for them. It was a great goal but it also highlighted how little that front three actually achieved. It's fair to say Messi's goal was decisive but it was the only thing of note he did all night, Mbappe looked classy but did little and Neymar was the annoying cheat we've come to expect. Last night was PSG's night as far as the result went but they rode their luck and I don't think fortune will favour them to that extent again.

Otherwise somethings never change. Grealish got the UEFA induction course for gifted City CL debutants delivered personally by the referee designed to illustrate that tackling Neymar is not allowed while rugby tackling, body checking and obstructing City lads who might be dangerous is actively encouraged. It all adds to the magic of the CL.

Even the commentator was at times perplexed as to why we were not getting any 50/50 decisions and Martin Keown could understand why Grealish was not getting ANYTHING.Simple answer the ref is Spanish and Pep aint

 

[Phil1]

There are an awful lot of people confident predicting winning both games against Brugge. I am sure all of their fans will have watch last night's game and be sat there thinking 'sit back, crowd the box and break, we could do these at home and draw away'. I think we actually needed to draw last night to reduce any pressure on ourselves. We just didn't create enough and were far too ponderous going forward.

Why wouldn't we be confident? Sure, we might slip up, it's possible but our confidence comes from seeing our squad and manager performing to the very highest levels nearly every single week throughout a season.
I think we will beat them home and away because we are very very good not because I'm taking them for granted.
Fuck me, if you can't have a bit of belief in this teams capabilities to win games then you might as well call it a day.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Yep, he needs a new start somewhere, preferably abroad

That's an issue, as nobody abroad can even afford/justify a knockdown fee of £50m because of his £300k a week wages.

He's coasting and I think that's because he is more than happy to run his contract down if he doesn't get the terms he's wanting.

We won't sell to a direct domestic rival, he won't join a lesser team.

We need to get creative next summer and my first stop would be Madrid and Barca. They still love to make a statement even with little money.

Worse case scenario, someone pays us a decent loan fee for the next two years and also agrees to pay his wages.

It might require that level of pragmatism.

We are paying Raheem £14.5m a year, so we are committed to £30m wages over the remaining term of his deal.

Add that to perhaps a £20m loan fee over two seasons and we would at least recoup our £50m back.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Can’t see him being happy spending best part of 2 seasons running his contract down when he’s got fuck all chance of becoming a regular starter at City again, so hopefully we can realise some money out of a sale in Jan.

He needs a fresh start, that's the long and short of it. He's been with us six years, which is a long time anywhere.

I don't want us doing a United and giving peripheral players new deals nearing the end of their terms, simply to protect that original outlay.

Sterling has a real dilemma because he's already one of the highest paid players in England and will need to compromise if he wants to be starting games somewhere else every week.

 

[David Silva]

It's not the Lyon game, he had a run in with the manager after the home derby loss last season and Sterling saw his arse.

Sterling has been mediocre, however, for more than a year. He's mentally checked out and even Southgate has hinted at issues with City.

Keeps harping on how England somehow get him more and he feels more relaxed because he trusts him.

It smacks of Sane again, on and off the field.

Nice one Tolm, wasn’t aware of that fall out after the derby. Agree he’s been off form for a long time now, I’d say as far back as his purple patch at the beginning of 19/20.

Sterling made some weird comments in a post-match interview during the euros too suggesting there were “various reasons” we wasn’t performing/playing at city.

 

[kunaguero10]

I think it will at the highest level, I think against bread and butter teams in the Premier League we will create so many chances that by the law of averages we will score a bucketful. I really hope I'm wrong.

Yes - but it’s already cost us in a bread and butter game too (Southampton, possibly Tottenham too)

 

[Didsbury Dave]

You say that last sentence like it's a criticism. Thank fuck we didn't give them as many chances as we had, or we might have lost 10-0.

It happens in football. It doesn't mean there is anything wrong with us or that we weren't the better team on the day. Football is not an exact science and sometimes you don't get what you deserve..

The first goal had a large element of luck when their attacker missed it, it put Kyle Walker off and it fell bang perfect to the feet of the attacker who hit it perfectly. We had none of those lucky breaks in similar situations.

Their second was a piece of brilliance my Messi and it missed Ruben's block by a centimeter.

We missed 5 or 6 great chances which on another day we'd have scored. Ruben won't fluff many headers like that. KDB usually hits the bottom corners when he's fit. Every cross caught one of their ankles or wouldn't drop for the shot.

Over the course of a season these things even out. You watch what happens this season. I have nothing whatseover to criticise about last night's performance and feel confident we will win the league and that we are up there with the best in the Champions League. There is nothing to worry about here.

 

[SWP's back]

It's not the Lyon game, he had a run in with the manager after the home derby loss last season and Sterling saw his arse.

Sterling has been mediocre, however, for more than a year. He's mentally checked out and even Southgate has hinted at issues with City.

Keeps harping on how England somehow get him more and he feels more relaxed because he trusts him.

It smacks of Sane again, on and off the field.

If the above is true (which I have no reason to believe it isn’t) then the sooner we let company the better as he’s currently 3rd choice in his position anyway and certainly not worth the £350k per week he wants.

 

[Phil1]

He needs a fresh start, that's the long and short of it. He's been with us six years, which is a long time anywhere.

I don't want us doing a United and giving peripheral players new deals nearing the end of their terms, simply to protect that original outlay.

Sterling has a real dilemma because he's already one of the highest paid players in England and will need to compromise if he wants to be starting games somewhere else every week.

Yep, his race here has been run and it's time for a fresh challenge.
Hopefully we can manage his exit without causing too much unrest between now and that point.
Really hoped he could turn it around but he sticks out like a sore thumb these days due to his weaknesses. When he was still producing week in week out it was easy to forgive his faults, sadly that's not the case anymore.