Celtic v City post match

[YaYa's Left Peg]

Gosh we can be negative. Don't post until you've had a sleep.

In short we allowed Celtic to drag us into a tear up rather than a tactical game. In short, we came through it and learnt more, at very little expense, than we ever would have by winning a dull game 1-0.

I view it as nothing but a long term positive and a damn entertaining watch to boot.

Agreed mate.

What a great game and advert for attacking, intensive football. Both sides deserve great credit for it. UEFA should be thanking us rather than punishing us if we are going to showcase their competition so brilliantly.

Like you, I saw it as a great positive because as Pep says we learn the most when we lose (I know we drew but you get my point). This is the first time this season that a team has pressed us hard, and to be fair, without being at our best we coped with it, and had it not been for some uncharacteristily poor passing, comical defending, and some players off the boil slightly, I'm convinced we would have won that game.

That takes no credit away from Celtic - they were manic and deserved something just for the sheer amount of effort they put in - they looked shattered at the end.

Obviously there is no excuse for the poor defending, but I was actually quite proud of the resilience we showed to come back after going behind three times. I doubt if many teams could have done that. And despite us being slightly off, at times our passing and movement was mesmeric.

And reasons for optimism:

- Fernandinho surely can't have a poor a first half as he did last night;
- Gundogan's fitness and contribution can only get better over time;
- we surely won't defend as bad as that many times this season;
- Sterling is a superstar in the making;
- Sergio won't be as quiet as he was last night;
- KDB will be back soon; and
- we have Pep.

And by the way.....unlike some on here, I doubt if Barca will be thinking the two games against City will be gimmes.

 

[Brendan110_0]

Great match, can't win them all. Thought Celtic played well in their cup final (they won't expect to get through this group).

 

[chaddblue]

1.offside
2.deflection
3.poor defending

3. + a mis-kick that deceived Bravo

 

[Sunny Coast Blue]

So Spurs will throw their tactics out of the window and try a style of football they rarely use? Good, it'll leave them exposed, can't see Kun having another stinker!

Big games are when he becomes quieter.

 

[Sunny Coast Blue]

1.offside
2.deflection
3.poor defending

4. Lack of composure
5. Character to come back but not fall behind

I am not amused haha

 

[AlRambomcfc]

They will finish bottom of the group. Oh, and I called them a Championship side, not a pub side, so if you're going to come on and have a go, at least get your facts right, idiot.

Lol, predicted an easy win, ended up with egg on your face. Was always going to be tough game for us. Bigger clubs than ours have been turned over up there. Are you pro Rangers by any chance?

 

[andyhinch]

Was a bit like watching a 1960's cup game, sort of enjoyed it

 

[BillyShears]

Was a bit like watching a 1960's cup game, sort of enjoyed it

I don't remember the 60's primarily because I was yet to be conceived, but it was certainly a game I enjoyed watching! Thought Celtic were excellent in comparison to their technical level as a group. We really couldn't live with them in the first half. Our midfield three were bullied by theirs. Their pressing was unbelievable both in terms of it's energy and it's intelligence. They were prepared for us and it showed in the inability of our players to get their normal passing/moving game going in the first 45.

Having said that there was a touch of fortune to their first two goals, and we created some great opportunities over the 90 minutes (particularly in the second half). Was a good lesson for Pep and for the players. Particularly on the back of the way that Swansea also managed to stop us playing for parts of the match last weekend.

 

[quiet_riot]

An off-day for us, it's gonna happen every so often.

Celtic played out of their skins and shipped 3 goals, we played badly and scored 3 away from home.

 

[CTID1988]

When everyones fit we look unbeatable, but make one change to that squad and the difference is huge.

 

[andyhinch]

I don't remember the 60's primarily because I was yet to be conceived, but it was certainly a game I enjoyed watching! Thought Celtic were excellent in comparison to their technical level as a group. We really couldn't live with them in the first half. Our midfield three were bullied by theirs. Their pressing was unbelievable both in terms of it's energy and it's intelligence. They were prepared for us and it showed in the inability of our players to get their normal passing/moving game going in the first 45.

Having said that there was a touch of fortune to their first two goals, and we created some great opportunities over the 90 minutes (particularly in the second half). Was a good lesson for Pep and for the players. Particularly on the back of the way that Swansea also managed to stop us playing for parts of the match last weekend.

Well summarised

 

[Marvin]

Well summarised

Yep. We aren't giving credit to Celtic for disrupting our game. We were forced into errors.

 

[Marvin]

An off-day for us, it's gonna happen every so often.

Celtic played out of their skins and shipped 3 goals, we played badly and scored 3 away from home.

And could have scored more. Their goals had a very large element of luck about them. The og was ridiculous bad luck. Conceded goals at psychologically key moments but still had bottle to come back

 

[YaYa's Left Peg]

Does anyone not actually think that other manager's haven't tried this closing down thing before against Guardiola? It's not rocket science. Celtic couldn't keep it up last night, and the only problem was that we were quite awful in the final third.

I know mate. Most German teams play a high pressing, high intensity game, and Pep didn't do too bad there. I don't know the exact stats, but I'm sure Pep won a fair share of his games against Klopp's Dortmund who were the ultimate high intensity team.

To some, drawing a game against a CL team who were well up for it and who played to their max signals the end of the world, forecasting doom and disaster against Spurs. Well we got dicked 4-1 last season there, so can't really get any worse can it!

We will lose games this season, but I can confidently say, whoever beats us will have to work damned hard to do so.

 

[shemnel]

decent point. the hysteria on here is laughable.

 

[CITD1987]

Gutted we didn't get the win last night, kind of think if we did it wouldn't have been a true reflection of the game, their crowd was outstanding.
One thing i think the defense needs to learn from last night was their first goal. the dummy free kick put their players off side and we was to busy getting ready to scream offside to notice the winger still onside making the run to play everyone on side.
One of the more tetchy games i have watched in a while.

 

[Vic]

Big games are when he becomes quieter.

when we play teams with better defenders? Or one in this case who played with him or against him most days.

 

[lostgalaxy]

I made a 'bold' prediction of a draw in the team selection contest lol.

 

[Rammy Blue]

I said it last night but it's well worth reiterating that the weather had a huge hand in helping Celtic. The high winds and rain made it much more difficult for us to play out from the back and consequently it was easier for them to press us into making mistakes.

I think the selection was wrong, Stones and Fernando should have been in from the start.

I certainly though don't get all the hysteria on here, anyone who thought playing in front of 60k mad jocks was going to be easy needed their heads testing.

 

[lostgalaxy]

It looks like Pep don't think we stand a chance in Europe yet.