Bodo/Glimt (A) | CL | Post Match Thread

[madloaf]

Having slept on it, I don't think last night was the total catastrophe it seemed to be while watching it live. Both teams were pretty even in terms of big chances created (1.6xG vs 1.2xG, 4 big chances each), Bodo just put theirs in and we didn't. I also saw people saying "City were saved by the offside flag" on a couple of occasions, but ultimately the flag went up on those occasions because the defence had done its job and held the line.

We lost the game in two periods of 90 seconds - the first one was defined by two big defensive mistakes from Alleyne and the second one was defined by two big defensive mistakes from Rodri. At 0-0 we were absolutely fine. Stroking it around, probing, playing well, finding little spaces to create chances. Ait-Nouri, Cherki, Foden, Reijnders, and O'Reilly all looked busy. Alleyne missed a free header from five yards but the goal was coming. Then boom, two mistakes in 90 seconds from a kid and we're 2-0 down. Alright, it happens, pick yourselves up, get to half-time.

At the end of the first half and start of the second half we were dominating the ball and looking okay, but a mistake from Rodri to give the ball away leads to a world class solo goal and suddenly it's 3-0, maybe game over. Cherki slams one in straight away and you think "Okay, maybe". Bodo were tiring a little and we were having more of the ball, so you start to think we could pin them back. But then Rodri gets sent off and any chance of a comeback is extinguished. And that's the game. We actually controlled it better and created more chances with 10 men than 11, suggesting Bodo would have folded if we'd had everyone on the pitch.

I think last night was just made up of several 50/50 moments just going against us. Alleyne's header going wide, Alleyne miscontrolling the ball on the halfway line, Haaland's shot going wide, the ref not giving the penalty for the foul on Cherki, Rodri giving it away cheaply, O'Reilly's header at the end falling softly into the keeper's hands. The high line didn't help and I'm frustrated that Pep persists with it even after showing against Liverpool, Bournemouth, and Newcastle recently that playing slightly deeper can be just as successful, but I don't think he coached a disasterclass. He coached a 2-1 win, or even a 2-2 draw, but the players let him down in those 50/50 moments.

There's no way last night happens if even two out of Nunes, Gonzalez, Dias, Gvardiol, and Bernardo are out there. Ait-Nouri looked alright early on but playing a left wing-back at right-back eventually revealed itself to be a bad decision. Alleyne looked okay against Exeter and great against Newcastle but based on a bigger sample size it's clear to see why he was at Watford a month ago - thank god for Guehi. Lewis and Rodri were both very weak and big questions need to be asked about them both. Haaland and Foden need time out of the side as well - it doesn't matter if it's part of a planned period of rest or just because they're both woefully out of form, get them out.

But the thing is, we literally had no alternatives last night. Gvardiol, Kovacic, Stones, Dias, Bobb, Gonzalez, Savinho, and Nunes are all out. Semenyo and Guehi were ineligible. Bernardo was suspended. Ake, Doku, and Rodri are still recovering from injuries. Haaland is clearly playing through an injury. Ait-Nouri and Marmoush are only just back from Afcon. The only players we had over the age of 21 last night who were fit and ready (and not carrying something) are Donnarumma, Foden, Cherki, and Reijnders. That's it. Four senior players without baggage.

We won't catch Arsenal, but we were never going to catch Arsenal. I've said since the summer, the title is theirs. They're a few years into their cycle and are hitting the crest of a wave at the right time. Liverpool are still in the post-Klopp hangover, Villa won't be up for the challenge, and City are rebuilding. Well done to Arteta for getting it right at last. For City, this year was just about improving on last year (which we already have), getting the good vibes back, and trying to put something in place that we can build from. Those building blocks are only just being put into place, so we're going to have to suck up the bad days until those blocks are set.

I said last season that 24-25 reminded me of 15-16 under Pellegrini. Old players, a soft centre, a fragile mentality, the old spine (Hart, Kompany injured, Yaya old, Silva injured, Aguero) struggling a bit with injuries and age. New ideas and new blood were needed. It took us three transfer windows (summer 2016, January 2017, summer 2017) to sort that out. This season was always going to resemble the 16-17 season, when all the new ideas and new blood needed time to bed in and become habitual for all the faces we had coming in through the door. I'm willing to give Pep another 12 months, just to see what the team looks like once it's steady and stable and isn't changing every few weeks.

This season will probably click in March, like 16-17 did. We'll be too far away from Arsenal to catch them in the league but we'll likely finish 2nd on about 78-79 points. That's fine by me. We'll probably have reached yet another cup final (providing we don't lose 2-0 or more to Newcastle) and we'll hopefully still be in the FA Cup by then. With that in mind, this season still has the potential to be a great one. I don't know if people got a bit giddy about us being in a title race (we weren't) and are now disappointed, but all I wanted out of this season was clear improvement on last season and we have that. For that reason, I'm not too sad about the current state of affairs.

It's worth remembering right now that we finished 2025 top of the PL annual table (based on points per game, 2.16). We don't get a trophy for that, of course, but we should take a lot of heart from it. Despite the difficulties of last season and the injuries of this season, we still managed to be the best team in the country over a 12 month period. For a club on the way back to the top, that's something to hold onto and build from. We'll have weeks like this one again soon, it's just about riding the wave until we're back at the top - whether that's under Pep or somebody else. I'm kinda thinking it'll be Pep until 2027 and then Enrique. But let's see.

And....i've stopped reading. xG. No one watching that game thinks it was even, apart from a metric that is completely useless in general but particularly over one game. Their marginal offsides where they scored twice won't be included in that useless stat. They hit the bar. Also, we watched the game and it was every bit the shit show it looked like live.

 

[youngbob]

And....i've stopped reading. xG. No one watching that game thinks it was even, apart from a metric that is completely useless in general but particularly over one game. Their marginal offsides where they scored twice won't be included in that useless stat. They hit the bar. Also, we watched the game and it was every bit the shit show it looked like live.

Teams have been using xG behind the scenes for 15 years. Either get on board with it or don't, that's your choice, but don't dismiss it out of hand. It's not a perfect stat but it gives a pretty good indication of the quality of chances teams are making during a game. In the same way that shots and possession don't give a complete picture but definitely help you form an idea in your mind of how the game has gone, xG is just another way to interpret things.

 

[citymad]

Rodri was beyond poor and a pale shadow of his former self.Whether it was lack of fitness or the ravages of his serious injury time will tell. He was a liability particularly after half time. Not sure he should start against Wolves.

We can’t be surprised really. He must be shattered and still recovering from a serious injury. Besides, I wouldn’t expect him to be himself on a plastic pitch. So many over the top comments about yesterday. We lost on a plastic pitch with a decimated squad against Norwegians top league side. It’s hardly surprising. Calm down everyone for fucks sake.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Having slept on it, I don't think last night was the total catastrophe it seemed to be while watching it live. Both teams were pretty even in terms of big chances created (1.6xG vs 1.2xG, 4 big chances each), Bodo just put theirs in and we didn't.

I admire the effort and thought you put into that post but I don't agree with your first couple of sentences. One of the top teams in the top league in the world were playing a team miles below us in terms of quality and spending, playing in a third tier league and that had never won a CL game.

It's completely delusional to claim them putting 3 goals past us, plus other chances they created with seeming ease, wasn't catastrophic.

 

[madloaf]

Teams have been using xG behind the scenes for 15 years. Either get on board with it or don't, that's your choice, but don't dismiss it out of hand. It's not a perfect stat but it gives a pretty good indication of the quality of chances teams are making during a game. In the same way that shots and possession don't give a complete picture but definitely help you form an idea in your mind of how the game has gone.

I am dismissing it. It's flawed beyond belief as a measure of a single game. Teams can use xG all they like. Eventually they'll stop using it and use something else. I'm not anti-analytics. I am anti-xG. There is no "average" player. There is no context. No goalkeeper quality. No randomness.

That xG you quoted is the very definition of the phrase lies, damn lies and statistics.

 

[fil w]

The biggest concern for me was the lack of reaction after the Derby and the fact that the performance was an exact carbon copy. No legs in the middle, defence all at sea, a distinct lack of creativity and the most worrying of all, the fact that marginal offside decisions prevented us from taking two real hammerings by average teams. I'm at a loss to explain why, but something clearly isn't right at the moment within the camp.

 

[youngbob]

I admire the effort and thought you put into that post but I don't agree with your first couple of sentences. One of the top teams in the top league in the world were playing a team miles below us in terms of quality and spending, and that had never won a CL game. It's completely delusional to claim them putting 3 goals past us, plus other chances created wasn't catastrophic.

It wasn't good last night, but I don't think we were outplayed for 90 minutes like we were at Old Trafford. No, Bodo Glimt aren't the greatest side in the world (or anywhere near good enough to challenge for the Champions League), but they're clearly no mugs either. They reached the Europa League semi-finals last season and pushed Spurs as far as they could over two legs there. They deserved to beat Juventus, Spurs, and Monaco in the Champions League this season but got very unlucky in the latter stages of those games (I imagine they would have been similarly unlucky vs City had Rodri not been sent off). I anticipated a tough evening and that's what we got. On balance I think a 2-2 draw would have been a fairer result but 3-1 didn't feel like daylight robbery either. They're a hard-working side who are on the up and occasionally, when you have the injuries and absences and players out of form that we've got, you can catch them on a particularly good day and get turned over. It's unexpectedly happened to us before in Europe (even under Pep) and it'll happen again.

 

[youngbob]

I am dismissing it. It's flawed beyond belief as a measure of a single game. Teams can use xG all they like. Eventually they'll stop using it and use something else. I'm not anti-analytics. I am anti-xG. There is no "average" player. There is no context. No goalkeeper quality. No randomness.

That xG you quoted is the very definition of the phrase lies, damn lies and statistics.

I feel like you're kinda skipping past what I've actually said. There are flaws in the xG methodology, I've said that. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth something and it doesn't mean that it can't give a decent indication of how games have gone. Shots and shots on target are pretty meaningless things to track - you could send a toepoke pea-roller towards the net from 50 yards, and if it trickles all the way into the keeper's hands then it counts as a shot on target. Possession stats are pretty meaningless because you can have 80% of possession but it could be entirely in your own penalty area. Yet we've accepted those as part and parcel of analysing football games? Why the hostility towards xG? Clubs like Brentford are where they are because of xG modelling and it's worth using it, along with all the other stats we collect, to analyse our performances.

 

[Norman kneejerk]

In simple terms do the tactics maximize our chances of winning or is it the football equivalent of Bazball making it too easy for the opposition.

 

[Betterdeedthan red]

I am dismissing it. It's flawed beyond belief as a measure of a single game. Teams can use xG all they like. Eventually they'll stop using it and use something else. I'm not anti-analytics. I am anti-xG. There is no "average" player. There is no context. No goalkeeper quality. No randomness.

That xG you quoted is the very definition of the phrase lies, damn lies and statistics.

Exactly we lost.
Fuck xg means absolutely fuck all

 

[hilts]

I think there is an over reaction to the two last results (even though the performances were in my opinion gutless) especially when put in the context of the season and the fact that we are still competing in all four competitions.

The worrying part for me is that it was obvious early on that the high back line was hurting us in both matches but Pep failed to change this and in both matches we got away with close offside goals plus the woodwork…..we were not unlucky !

We have been unfortunate with injuries but Pep chose to work with the smaller squads and continue with both Stones and Ake who have always been injury prone…….he might have a case when moaning publicly about the amount of games and tiredness however I feel this gives the players an excuse.

We have made two good signings in the last two weeks and Guehi will certainly help the defensive issues, however if we continue with the slow sideways passing, we will not get the best out of Semenyo.

We can only afford to pick one of Cherki, Foden, Lewis and Reeinders and for me that has to be Cherki because at least he is creative…..they all are physically weak and leave us exposed.

Rodri is only just into his comeback….he has been out for the best part of 18 months and it’s far too early to write him off but he needs help in the middle….if Gonzales isn’t available we have to get o’Reilly in there.
Pep has left him exposed with the set up in the last two matches.

I don't think thats fair we have lost and drawn 3 in the last four pl games and none werent to any decent opposition.There is also the general ups and downs of the whole season and the way we continually look open at the back due to our midfield easily being bypassed.

 

[Bill Walker]

I admire the effort and thought you put into that post but I don't agree with your first couple of sentences. One of the top teams in the top league in the world were playing a team miles below us in terms of quality and spending, playing in a third tier league and that had never won a CL game.

It's completely delusional to claim them putting 3 goals past us, plus other chances they created with seeming ease, wasn't catastrophic.

I wouldn't call it catastrophic due to injuries and just sheer tiredness.
Even Pep looks knackered!!
It is rather concerning though.

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

We will be in deep shit if these performances continue.

Thankfully we’re still in with a shout for a lot but that can change very quickly, especially if this keeps going.

The issue I have is I can’t really see where or how it’s going to get better

I feel exactly the opposite when we play really well. Weird init!

 

[madloaf]

Exactly we lost.
Fuck xg means absolutely fuck all

Not only did we lose we deserved to lose. I mean, god bless @youngbob but how anyone can suggest 2-2 would have been a fair result is beyond me. If it ended 5-1 to them i'd have thought - yeah...thats about right.

 

[Le Havre Oswald]

The piss take in work this morning has been never ending but it confuses them when i take the piss about us more than they do ha.
Fuck it, we've been in worse situations, chin up blues

 

[Fordyboy46]

I admire the effort and thought you put into that post but I don't agree with your first couple of sentences. One of the top teams in the top league in the world were playing a team miles below us in terms of quality and spending, playing in a third tier league and that had never won a CL game.

It's completely delusional to claim them putting 3 goals past us, plus other chances they created with seeming ease, wasn't catastrophic.

Exactly, some will try and dress up a performance no matter how lousy and pathetic it was

 

[hilts]

And....i've stopped reading. xG. No one watching that game thinks it was even, apart from a metric that is completely useless in general but particularly over one game. Their marginal offsides where they scored twice won't be included in that useless stat. They hit the bar. Also, we watched the game and it was every bit the shit show it looked like live.

You weren't convinced by the xg stat and the it was only bad attacking and defending that cost us?

I got a few lines further before I gave up :-)

 

[bluegaz13]

The character of the team has got to be questioned…..I’m pretty sure we have failed to win one match from a losing position this season.

Not helped at times by Pep not changing tactics.

 

[Father Paul]

And do what? Sack the manager? Tell the FA, PL and UEFA that we refuse to play a match every 3-4 days? Ban injuries?

This "rot" equates to defeats in the last 15 matches, which until this month included 8 straight wins and since then has seen us score 10 in the FAC and go 2-0 up in the semis if the League Cup with a home leg to play, and wee still 2nd in the league behind the "runaway leaders".

Get a grip man.

If a week is a long time in politics it is an eternity in football. The last two games have shocked people and left a lot of unanswered questions.

Who else do we have?

Last night nobody to play that role which means you have to change the system and improvise. Something which Pep is not good at it seems and this seems to be costing us.

 

[fathellensbellend]

It’s not in a lull at all ffs. Two signings of high PL quality the likes Every other club wanted. In on all 4 comps, 1 foot in Wembley for one. The team maybe on a bit of a downer at the minute but not the club, or its season for that matter.

do you actually go to games?