Basel (H) Post Match Thread

[mosssideblue]

There was hardly any booing in East Stand Upper. Everyone was just legging it for the train/tram etc. Let's not over egg it.

I was in CB Level 1 i did not hear any[/QUOTE]
I was in 2nd tier of fam stand and the booing was defo to my right and below.

 

[chaddblue]

There was hardly any booing in East Stand Upper. Everyone was just legging it for the train/tram etc. Let's not over egg it.

I heard booing with about 5 minutes to go when Zinchenko passed it backwards for about the zillionth time

 

[balotelli's back pocket]

I can forgive any defeat. What I cannot stand is sloppy indifference and a lack of basic quality on the ball.

Stones has somehow managed to morph back, looks totally gun shy about backing himself with a pass forward.

Thank goodness Mendy is closer to fitness and we can avoid Zinchenko and Danilo playing much longer.

Stones was better in 2nd half I thought. Needs a Pep Talk to remind him to take his man on more, like sane has started to recently Important to remember that him and Laporte are just 23.

 

[Rammy Blue]

Stones was better in 2nd half I thought. Needs a Pep Talk to remind him to take his man on more, like sane has started to recently Important to remember that him and Laporte are just 23.

I agree, Stones was abysmal in first 45 but much improved in the second half. Plus I’m sure either of Eric or Stones would look much better playing in our first choice defence with Eddie behind them.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I can forgive any defeat. What I cannot stand is sloppy indifference and a lack of basic quality on the ball.

Stones has somehow managed to morph back, looks totally gun shy about backing himself with a pass forward.

Thank goodness Mendy is closer to fitness and we can avoid Zinchenko and Danilo playing much longer.

Stones is clearly a confidence player when it comes to working it out from the back. Last night was "worst case scenario" for him. He needed to have a strong game and he had a poor one on the ball. the game set him back so he's fourth choice at the moment until his confidence comes back. But having said that, I think Laporte and him will be the strongest pairing in Europe when they settle together.

 

[Kippaxblue5]

Pics and comments on the Basel game are now online at
http://www.rtfract.com/citmar18a.htm

 

[IcriedwhenTueartleft]

The tie was clearly won in the first leg and to be frank, I'd have rather won twice v Arsenal and have beaten Chelsea like we did over swopping one of those meaningful wins for a win in last night's meaningless match.
What was slightly disappointing however was that it gave several fringe players the chance to stake a claim for starting and not many, if any, did that.
Zinchenko I thought was particularly poor when called upon to defend, clearly he is very capable going forward but when called upon to defend, things do not go as well.
Iffy first half for John Stones but I thought he did much better in the 2nd.
No idea what Jesus was doing last night, scored early doors then proceeded to be invisible for the rest of the match...can't be fit yet the way he was ambling around on the fringes of play...compare and contrast with Kun's recent performances where Kun has been all over there pitch, chasing down, passing, making himself available. Jesus's non show last night was quite alarming but we can surely put that down to not being match fit.
Ya Ya was tidy in possession but his rampaging forward days seem to be behind him unfortunately...we should just be glad we don't have to rely on him anymore.
Foden to me still looks less of a prospect than Diaz but both are still very young and there is much to develop in the years ahead.
Sane, Silva and Gundogan all did fine and tried to make things happen but our game management last night was not quite up to it.
Another disappointing thing though was to lose our long term unbeaten home record to a team who are only okay at best.

 

[Patientman63]

Yay! about half way down, there's a pic with me in it! It was taken in the 2nd half, I'm the one comatose in the corner, spit dribbling from the corner of my mouth.

 

[taconinja]

I feel there were some decent individual performances and even those that didn't shine very much had small stretches of quality. What lacked was cohesion, and poor Yaya's legs just don't have what it takes to play a high line any longer. He won't feature in meaningful moments, and I'm glad to see him in a City shirt these last few matches he'll appear before riding off into the sunset. As for cohesion, that's to be expected with that many changes. Give that squad a run of 10-20 games and it would be a different story. It would also be a different story if one or two or three of those squad players comes into the regular team, and we've seen that with Zinchenko for example.

I like to think of games like this as a teachable moment for the squad. If the manager handles it correctly (and I have little doubt he will) then it's for the best because it gives young players a chance to learn in a risk-free environment.

 

[IcriedwhenTueartleft]

I picked the right match to travel back
3,000 miles to watch on my birthday. ;-)

Disappointment with the result and the overall performance aside, we are through while managing to rest a few key players, give run outs to Foden and (to a lesser extent) Diaz, learn about some things we can work to improve, and (as far as I know) not pickup any injuries on the way so all-in-all I am content.

Really can’t believe the booing and jeering at the end. I understand the frustration with some of the play but the booing was well out of order.

Special mention to Foden, who, along with Sane, was the best player on the pitch. He is a real talent and I am very much looking forward to seeing him grow into a world class player with us.

ouch...now that is rotten luck....a couple of seasons back the two games that I came down for were the 0-1 loss v Stoke then a a 1-1 draw with Hull