Al Hilal (N) | CWC | Post Match Thread

300 mil spent on 8 players in 6 months, and still got major issues to resolve,

GK (Ederson doesnt save enough and even when he does he pushes it out to an attacker, we need a new keeper)
RB (Nunes done ok but we are suppose to be a professional football club with no bonafide Right Back)
CB (Issues with Dias (form), Ake/Akanji (form & fitness), Stones (Finished). Plus looks like Pep doesn't fancy Khusanov
DM (with Rodri potentially injured again and Nico G hardly getting minutes)
CM/AM (Bernardo/Gundogan started there last night WTF)
LW (Doku not consistent enough to start, impact sub at best)
RW (Savinho nowhere near ready to be starting games for us)

Same old, started ok last night, missed multiple chances (Mostly because the players who started are just not a goal threat (Bernardo/Gundogan/Doku/Savinho). Get caught by a ball over the top (Ati Nouri poor, should have sensed danger much earlier), and as soon as we concede (from the first shot on target again), you could see what was coming a mile off.

Then we get to Pep, who seems to love the old guard and cant see that playing them and a high line is killing us.... Lets hope last night is the straw that breaks the camels back. But I'm far from convinced. This tournament should have been used to integrate the likes of Ati Nouri, Khusanov, Gonzales, Rudolf, Cherki, Marmoush to be important players and phase the old guard out. Instead we look to be making the same mistakes all over again. Worried...
 
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JOGAMIGMOG said:
If that’s your coping mechanism then so be it. It’s certainly not mine nor the 1000 or so Blues who have spent fortunes to get out here to support the team.
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Never take anything for granted, I'd not spend "fortunes" expecting to get further, I'd plan around a holiday and take the group games in. We've not become that entitled have we?

As Mainmac said the break will now be very welcome for the players an extra couple of week off will do them a big favour. Al Hilal exploited the situation (in a good way), they played on our defensive frailties and they would have been well suited to the conditions, we should have still won but that's knockout football, onwards and upwards.
 
city5189 said:
What started out as a decent first half despite missing several good chances turned in to a disaster second half and extra time...Dias for me is a major worry,gone from being a world class defender his form in the last 10 months has been shockingly bad
Savinho I know he's young and can improve but he really needs to toughen up,shits out of challenges constantly, gives up running for the ball whenever in a foot race, should be third choice at best behind foden,cherki,Bobb.
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Maya Jama has drained Reuben of everything
 
Kinkys Left Foot said:
They are a decent enough side but yet another low block striking at our cryptonite filled transitional weaknesses.

One thing that has not changed is our ability to miss too many clear chances and concede to every shot on target. If that continues we might as well play with a fly goalkeeper and we certainly won't win anything as we will be punished over and over by any decent side. That Malcolm goal, makes me shudder each time ive seen it, fucking horrendous defending, inept defensive positioning on transition a schoolboy centre half would be ashamed to have conceded.

Time to rest up a while and gather our strength. Viana will dispense with those the club want out as far as is possible and the squad will come back trimmed, leaner and raring to go hopefully.

I'm still filled with the optimism the start of a new season always brings and the Etihad will be 14% larger and look the business.
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Time after time last night, I was screaming at the TV ? It's clear as day, the amount of space behind our defence
It's not rocket science ? just hit the ball over our defenders heads and we are fucked

Also, how many times do we get the ball wide and nothing ? Teams are happy to sit in defend and double up against our wide players,
 
manimanc said:
I respect anybody who pays a wedge to go and follow city over there but please me tell you didn’t go there expecting us to walk it after the shite season we've had?
The Premier League and the fa cup the only competitions that get me revved up, maybe the champions league slightly but I couldn't care less about the club world cup, means absolutely nothing to me but like I said I take my hat to anyone who has gone and watched us over there, fair play to them.
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I don’t expect us to walk anything. I do expect that we beat a team who isn’t even top of the Saudi Arabian league however. It’s an embarrassing result coming on the back of the Juve game when we showed what we’re capable of. I hope the players are hurting after that I really do. I can’t articulate how gutted I am waking up in Florida feeling this low. It’s not just the fact we’re out, it’s the fact we’ve gone out in embarrassing fashion that pains me.
 
Brightwell Bros. said:
No idea what to make of that.

First half was great but should have scored more, but if you concede four goals against any opposition then you're not going to win football games at any level. There's a long list of teams over the last twelve months who have done that to us.

We need another wingback. We looked flat when Nunes went off.

Not sure after that. Deflating after the Juventus game. There's a decent team in that mix of players somewhere but we can't be that easy to counterattack, we just can't be.
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Counter is killing us and leading to mistakes when in possession for fear of losing the ball and conceding a goal which happens every game now.

Really not happy with the current level of defending. Pep said we would be better this season and so far we are just as bad if not worse. You can’t allow any player to run 1 v 1 into our pen area and not expect to concede. We make it so easy for teams who can low block and counter which any team can do if they can string 2/3 passes.

For all the new signings and for all the nice build up the defending is just as bad. The system is not working for us. More tweaks needed not soundbites. Really can’t see us coming out of this problem, conceding on nearly every counter is a huge issue.
 
the majority of goals we conceed are long ball over top 2 if lucky 3 defenders running back towards our own goal this occurs more often than not when camped on edge of their box how can that be slow midfielders fault
we have Akanji being playmaker or everything going through him well out of position no wonder theres no room to run into
 
The more I look at it, that January transfer splurge is looking like a real waste of serious cash. We'll never see Reis, Khusanov and Gonzalez totally out of the picture and only Marmoush looking a positive addition. I think and hope the summer additions will be a lot better
 
Micky Blue said:
I think Khusanov is faster than then stats suggest. When I’ve seen him he looks rapid.
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Yep

Pep is too respectful to the senior players and plays them. Khusanov has to be a starter from now on because he's got the pace and hunger to win, Ake Akanji Stones are done and should be out the door
 
dadnlad said:
the majority of goals we conceed are long ball over top 2 if lucky 3 defenders running back towards our own goal this occurs more often than not when camped on edge of their box how can that be slow midfielders fault
we have Akanji being playmaker or everything going through him well out of position no wonder theres no room to run into
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It's so easy to see, you wonder what the fuck is going on
 
Although it isn't the be-all and end-all, i cant help but feel that its been a massive missed opportunity. We had Al-Ahli and Fluminense in our way to reach the Semi's. A team with the quality we have just shouldn't be struggling with that. Conceding 4 goals in a match like that is inexcusable. Same problems that blighted us all last season.
 
Didn't watch the game but watched the highlights. To be honest it is bit of a reality check, and although there is more work to be done there have been plenty of positives in our games in the CWC. Despite the prize money on offer it is is a gloryfied pre-season tournament; and there were no guarantees we would have won the tournament even if we had progressed. Save the frustration and anger if we are getting the same performances in the season.
 
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paulsimpson said:
According to EA Sports FC 2024 Player Ratings:
Dias Pace is 67, Acceleration 65, Sprint Speed 68
Vitor Reiss stats unknown- perhaps Not many games to go on .
Khusanov Pace is 71, Acceleration 62, Sprint Speed 79 . Stats are based on his time in Lens 23/24 . I'd say Sprint Speed higher now.
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Thankfully the team isn't picked on a PlayStation.
 
Speed watched the game and Haaland missed a few good chances and a sitter there goalie though wow motm but difference he had that Ederson never gave or rarely have was 6/8 players in front of him blocking closing down us!
 
invisibleandalone said:
New rules are needed to combat these fake injuries. Maybe if the game is "stopped" for an injury and whether the medics come on or not, that player must leave the field for at least one minute. I'm sure you'll see some miraculous recoveries. It's one part of football that really needs a shake up. If the game isn't stopped then there's no problem. Head injuries maybe treat a bit different, but even then you see players rolling round holding their head when nothing has gone anywhere near their head.
The time attending to these fakers is never added on and maybe if the use of a stop start clock instead of letting the clock run and adding time at the end could change the fakers attitude.
Glad to see the new rule preventing keepers holding on to the ball too long. At last !
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They tried making the players go off after injury treatment. The refs got slaughtered for it. Same as they do for nearly every new directive. Only solution is to stop the clock. It won't stop the fake injuries but we won't lose game time.
They should be stopping clock for - injuries, VAR checks, goal celebrations and cooling breaks.
 
wolviedinho said:
Counter is killing us and leading to mistakes when in possession for fear of losing the ball and conceding a goal which happens every game now.

Really not happy with the current level of defending. Pep said we would be better this season and so far we are just as bad if not worse. You can’t allow any player to run 1 v 1 into our pen area and not expect to concede. We make it so easy for teams who can low block and counter which any team can do if they can string 2/3 passes.

For all the new signings and for all the nice build up the defending is just as bad. The system is not working for us. More tweaks needed not soundbites. Really can’t see us coming out of this problem, conceding on nearly every counter is a huge issue.
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The question should be, why is Pep letting it happen all the time. We have seen it over the last couple of seasons and teams have worked out a system to beat us, Pep should fixing the problem and drop 10 yards deeper and get some pace at the back, Walkers recovery pace is missing and should be the first thing to fix
 
I'm not going to have a gripe about last night, but we had 30 shots and got beat by a team that had 4 shots on target and they all went in.
I am however going to have a gripe at why we haven't brought in a new right back. Playing Nunes and Lewis there isn't going to work. They are midfield players and don't have the right attributes for that position. Why this position is being neglected I don't know. The left back position has been sorted now, But the right back position seemed more urgent as Josko was already playing the left back position well.
 
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