Al Hilal (N) | CWC | Post Match Thread

noseve said:
Playing Devil's Advocate:

Ok, let's pretend that we tucked away a few more and won 7-4 last night. How confident would you be about next season?
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Not all that much, frankly. I'll be in a minority here, but I'd much rather win a solid 2-0, in which our defence and defensive midfield is the Great Wall that it was for so long, than win pinball games in which both teams score pretty much every time they attack, and it just so happens that we attack more.
I suspect that Pep wasn't too thrilled with us shipping those two goals against Juve, either. Clean sheets are a vital component of winning titles (among other things).
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
Not all that much, frankly. I'll be in a minority here, but I'd much rather win a solid 2-0, in which our defence and defensive midfield is the Great Wall that it was for so long, than win pinball games in which both teams score pretty much every time they attack, and it just so happens that we attack more.
I suspect that Pep wasn't too thrilled with us shipping those two goals against Juve, either. Clean sheets are a vital component of winning titles (among other things).
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1-0 to the arsenal…
 
Lavinda Past said:
We weren't going to go under. There was too much potential for the future in terms of development of the area etc. Exactly what Mansour and Co were looking for, and have since done.

If you honestly think recruitment and squad development under Bergiristain has been better than under Gary Cook, then we're never going to see eye to eye!
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If the Sheikh had not been around to take over, City were going bust, no ifs, no buts, no maybes, it was a certainty. But for John Wardle it would have happened weeks or even months before the takeover. Shinawatra and City were very very lucky.
If recruitment and development were so good where are the trophies.
You are right we will not see eye to eye whilst you are unaware or ignoring the facts of either point.;-)
 
manimanc said:
(Just making a note to oneself for next season.)

Avoid the post match thread always.
The fannies in this thread cryarsing and pulling the team to bits over glorified friendlies and not realising the team has a hangover from last season will be absolutely unbearable.

What am I actually reading?

What.
The.
Actual.
Fuck.
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They aren't glorified friendlies, it's a new tournament that could replace some of the existing ones that have lost a bit.

Excusing our ko because of a hangover from last season is bizarre. To most of us there is a concern we may not improve next season either.

We have lost the last 2 Cup Finals we have played in, against inferior opposition I might add, that is not good.

Last season was hugely dissapointing domestically and in Europe, we were well beaten many times.

A good run in the CWC, maybe even winning it would have been a huge boost, financially rewarding and allowed extra competitive games to get new players integrated and others like Rodri Foden back in the groove.
Maybe a couple in the shop window too to fetch a decent price.

There was a clear path to the Final, then who knows?

Fans who were enjoying the tournament and the prestige of being in it have every right to be annoyed with that pathetic surrender.

What a wasted opportunity, about 30 40m lost and the chance to be inaugural Club World Cup Winners.
 
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It was a terrible result and one the club would not have even expected. We'd got the far easier side of the draw and looking at the performances in the group stages, they'd be expecting to get to the finals I imagine. We went into this tournament as a way to kick-start the new season and we wanted to win it. The group games tell you that, but I feel we thought we'd win this and tried to save ourselves for the next game. We didn't expect them to beat us full stop.

I didn't watch the full game but I've seen the extended highlights and to be honest, I've seen that game before. Nothing spectacular when playing against us, sit back, pack the box and just go long for someone to run on to, but like Palace it's a real problem for us - the goal from our corner was absolutely dire, not even Sunday league stuff.

Pep will go down as a complete genius of a manager, maybe the greatest of them all. But his City team have a habit of bottling it in games - when we concede goals we let in a load like last night. This game will go down as yet another one where we just collapsed like the ones we've seen loads of games in Europe (Liverpool, Monaco, Real, Sporting etc) where we collapse and this was another example. He's had years to figure it out and we're nowhere near to figuring it out.

I really hope he can get his mojo back and sort this team out. My gut feeling is that unless we get Rodri back we have similar problems to last year - a poor defence, problems in midfield and a general lack of quality compared to players we've had in the past. If I'm honest, I'm not feeling that we've improved much for what we've spent. Don't get me wrong I think Cherki and Reijnders look very good mind.

It's got to be said, if FIFA want this to take off then they have to play these games where humidity and storms aren't going to cause problems.
 
Disappointing end to the CWC. I went to the Al Ain and Juve games, it was great to see so many blue shirts in the US stadiums. And was getting my hopes up after the Juve performance. It felt like we’d turned the corner. This feels like we’ve slumped back to last season’s frailties. Concede one and expect to concede again and again. Let’s hope a few weeks rest works wonders and that’s it a timely reminder to Pep we’re a long way from being back to our best.
 
ysmsa said:
They aren't glorified friendlies, it's a new tournament that could replace some of the existing ones that have lost a bit.

Excusing our ko because of a hangover from last season is bizarre. To most of us there is a concern we may not improve next season either.

We have lost the last 2 Cup Finals we have played in, against inferior opposition I might add, that is not good.

Last season was hugely dissapointing domestically and in Europe, we were well beaten many times.

A good run in the CWC, maybe even winning it would have been a huge boost, financially rewarding and allowed extra competitive games to get new players integrated and others like Rodri Foden back in the groove.
Maybe a couple in the shoo window too to fetch a decent price.

There was a clear path to the Final then, who knows?

Fans who were enjoying the tournament and the prestige of being in it have every right to be annoyed with that pathetic surrender.

What a wasted opportunity, about 30 40m lost and the chance to be inaugural Club World Cup Winners.
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We won the club world cup in 2023.
 
The Black Shed said:
So long as we score more than the others, it's that simple
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Even if we had won last night - with an identical defensive performance (even if we had scored a bucketload) - who on earth could fancy our chances next season? If we haven't addressed the issues in the past 7/8 months, what can we do between now and the start of the season?
I hope your optimism is justified, in that if we just score more we'll be ok, but I can't see it, at the moment.
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
Not all that much, frankly. I'll be in a minority here, but I'd much rather win a solid 2-0, in which our defence and defensive midfield is the Great Wall that it was for so long, than win pinball games in which both teams score pretty much every time they attack, and it just so happens that we attack more.
Click to expand...
I don't think that you'd be in the minority - that's what's won so many trophies.
 
Still trying wrap my head around this result i didn't watch it but saw us 1 up at 2:10am when I googled us thought we should piss it now went sleep woke up 9am 4-3 my head went and its been gone alday.
 
This unexpected defeat really has caused a meltdown and a shit storm on Blue Moon.

Me included when I found out about the result this morning, and then watched the highlights.

It seems to be the manner of the defeat that has annoyed the fans. The same mistakes from last season, happening again during the match.

Even though it was only the last 16, it feels like a missed opportunity to defend our trophy, even though it's a new trophy design, and a new competition format.
 
in clear light of day, not a bad thing to be coming home - players can have a rest and be fresh for the start of the season. if we had progressed to final the players would likely be hitting burn out stage by xmas. be interesting to see how those teams perform as their season goes on. we've banked a good bit of money so no excuses now to hit the season running.
 
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