Al Hilal (N) | CWC | Post Match Thread

[jamesha]

imo, the 99 team was a bit lucky

Indeed. "You Carsten Jancker!" is still an insult reserved for the worst of people in my house.

 

[Gordyola]

If it’s a head injury and replays clearly show there would be no head injury a player should be punished in some show or form.

Every head injury should require a 5 minute mandatory check I suspect we will see a lot less if that was the case

 

[super_city_si]

I thought Al Hilal were class in victory, good luck to them!

They were a lot better than I thought they would be. Played some great football

 

[Gordyola]

Thanks mate. All of that may as well be double Dutch for me such is my lack of knowledge of planes ( more knowledgeable about trains because of my once little folk), but am I to assume Manchester can take big planes.

Genuine question, when folk go to Mexico and some parts of the US, why do they have to schlepp to Heathrow? Is it lack of routes/ providers from Manc?

Manchester can accomodate any of the largest airlines, like I said 3 Emirates A380 a day

US airlines have abandoned Manchester and BA arent interested so the choice is limited however there are still plenty of flights to US with other carriers Aer Lingus and Virgin being the most common

 

[Cumbie Blue]

It's a a knockout competition. Anything can happen and it did. See Preston v's the Dippers. With any cup I want us to win it but it is what it is.

3 games in the conditions a factor at the end of a long season? Maybe but I won't take nothing away from Al Hilal. Second goal is ball watching, complete lack of awareness of where the opposition is and that's a concern for sure.

It's school person level really, stick your fastest player up front tell them to wait 10m behind the halfway line and sprint as soon as the ball is cleared. Accept its not as simple as that at this level but its a concern for me how often we are opened up this way as we commit players forward to beat the bus that's been parked.

Potentially Khusanov provides the pace and defensive attributes to combat this next season but time will tell. Onwards and upwards, in Pep I trust.

 

[Mcfc1.9.8.0]

Every head injury should require a 5 minute mandatory check I suspect we will see a lot less if that was the case

Great idea

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Still furious about this. Not because of dropping out of the competition, but because we could have been giving new signings game time and valuable lessons could have been learned by young players if we did crash out. We have learned...Gundo and Bernie can't play together in midfield anymore and Rodri is important to how we play. We fucking knew that.

 

[Ken92]

Still furious about this. Not because of dropping out of the competition, but because we could have been giving new signings game time and valuable lessons could have been learned by young players if we did crash out. We have learned...Gundo and Bernie can't play together in midfield anymore and Rodri is important to how we play. We fucking knew that.

we also knew that there are huge problems with the way team defends and nothing really has changed. So easy to create chances and score against us.

 

[exiled-blue]

I have to agree with this, It's clear as day that there's a lack of leadership at the back.

The centre backs we currently have are the type of players that would be played alongside a leader, It sort of reminds me of the days when we would have Vinny Kompany missing from the line up and you'd automatically think "ah bollocks"...Again we had good centre backs then with the likes of Lescott or Nastasic but both were poor without leadership.

It's a very brittle backline, Not much backbone to it truth being told.

I suppose we also have to ask ourselves the question as to why it's so easy to get at them too, One pass through the middle or down the sides and all of a sudden the opposition are at out back four.

Agree with the lack of leadership. When Dias came in he was immense and looked to be the leader to replace Vinny, but he appears to have regressed, both as a leader and defender in last couple of seasons.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Exactly and he seems to be beyond critism, for me since he got fit and Pep has played him the defence has got weaker was culpable for the goal in FAC final He offers nothing going forward Was fantastic for us in his first two seasons and a bargin buy and I gave him a pass as he was playing with an injury for first half of last season

He should be moved on now. We’ve had our moneys worth. It’s time to clear out players that are declining.

 

[YaYa's Left Peg]

Pep doesn't trust any of the new players or the youngsters. Bernardo, Gundo, and Akanji will be in the starting lineup for Wolves, and as long as they are fit, they will play the majority of games, as will Dias and Ederson.

I love those players but IMHO it is obvious that their gargantuan efforts in winning the four-peat, the treble, domestic treble, 100 points and multiple other trophies have taken a huge toll on their physical and mental well-being. As the saying goes, they have done it all. So I haven't got it in my heart to criticise them as they have given me some of the happiest moments in football.

And there's the rub - these legends of our club are being thrown to the lions by Pep, facilitating the tarnishing of their reputations in a manner that I can only describe as negligent and wilfully stubborn.

Viana has a bloody hard job ahead of him. Pep has too much power at the club, and I very much doubt Viana is strong enough to take him on. Pep in one moment is saying, I don't mind who I have in my squad, I just want good players, and in the next breath, I'm going to quit if the club gives me too many players. What the fuck does that mean? He refused signings in the summer of 2024, and the club bent to his will. They are going to do it again I fear this season, as Pep will continue to play his favorites and ignore the huge amount of talent we have brought in. IMO we should be clearing out the uncs and the guys who are shot from their magnificent efforts of the last five or so years. It's no slight against them - we can't realistically ask any more of them.

Don't get me wrong - I couldn't love Pep any more and I would hate him to leave, but he needs to recognise that change is inevitable in life. I'm getting more and more concerned about his choices and actions - eg. those substitutions bringing Ake and Akanji on against Al Hilal were bizarre. But I truly believe Pep is a genius and I refuse to believe that he can't change and adapt (in fact that was his greatest attribute). For all our sakes, I hope he does.

 

[TinFoilHat]

I thought Al Hilal were class in victory, good luck to them!

They were fantastic and literally gave everything to beat us.

I fear they might be too knackered to progress.

 

[Corky]

The right back for Al Hilal looked decent, great pass for their second. Maybe worth a look.

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

I've calmed down a bit now it's just I know we are better than these daft performances we come up with on a more common basis recently.

 

[BolinCell]

The right back for Al Hilal looked decent, great pass for their second. Maybe worth a look.

he cost more than our whole squad and is on 2 million a week.

 

[noseve]

he cost more than our whole squad and is on 2 million a week.

Hehe - I think the little tinker was being ironic about a City old boy, perhaps?

 

[big gaz]

The right back for Al Hilal looked decent, great pass for their second. Maybe worth a look.

He also looked good at defending when they doubled up on Doku ;-)

 

[B\connellblue]

Al Hilal are shite , We need to stop making excuses for another shit show.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Al Hilal are shite , We need to stop making excuses for another shit show.

Is the correct answer.

 

[Mad 4 It]

Pep doesn't trust any of the new players or the youngsters. Bernardo, Gundo, and Akanji will be in the starting lineup for Wolves, and as long as they are fit, they will play the majority of games, as will Dias and Ederson.

I love those players but IMHO it is obvious that their gargantuan efforts in winning the four-peat, the treble, domestic treble, 100 points and multiple other trophies have taken a huge toll on their physical and mental well-being. As the saying goes, they have done it all. So I haven't got it in my heart to criticise them as they have given me some of the happiest moments in football.

And there's the rub - these legends of our club are being thrown to the lions by Pep, facilitating the tarnishing of their reputations in a manner that I can only describe as negligent and wilfully stubborn.

Viana has a bloody hard job ahead of him. Pep has too much power at the club, and I very much doubt Viana is strong enough to take him on. Pep in one moment is saying, I don't mind who I have in my squad, I just want good players, and in the next breath, I'm going to quit if the club gives me too many players. What the fuck does that mean? He refused signings in the summer of 2024, and the club bent to his will. They are going to do it again I fear this season, as Pep will continue to play his favorites and ignore the huge amount of talent we have brought in. IMO we should be clearing out the uncs and the guys who are shot from their magnificent efforts of the last five or so years. It's no slight against them - we can't realistically ask any more of them.

Don't get me wrong - I couldn't love Pep any more and I would hate him to leave, but he needs to recognise that change is inevitable in life. I'm getting more and more concerned about his choices and actions - eg. those substitutions bringing Ake and Akanji on against Al Hilal were bizarre. But I truly believe Pep is a genius and I refuse to believe that he can't change and adapt (in fact that was his greatest attribute). For all our sakes, I hope he does.

Those players should be sold that’s the only solution. Next season will be worse than the last if it’s allowed to continue.