Champions League Final | Post-Match Thread

[Ilovehappyendings]

I'm sure the players are just as gutted as we are.
Some mates met Bernardo Silva in a petrol station on the way to Lisbon. He's gutted. Kept apologising by all accounts. Said we were shit. Lol

 

[chedlee]

CL is a tactical and psychological test tho and we failing in both. Pep does not have trust in the team to do the job hence the tinkering, and surprise surprise players look scared, second best to lesser teams at the big stage.

This is so right and wrong. It is a psychological test of manager, player, team and club. Pep has been there and won it (and taken us to 3 of the last 4 league titles) and he constantly talks about how the club need to understand what they are going for and to have the belief they can do it. Last night was another lesson and we are not alone, there was some stat on first time finalist losing the last 7 times or something. Pep picked a team well capable of winning that game but the team failed him and us, if they can’t win because so and so isn’t playing then that isn’t a great look.

 

[East Level 2]

Agree. Sterling getting the blame has really pissed me off. Not saying he was great but like you say he was more of a threat than any of the other attacking players. I can’t understand why Zinchenko gets a man easy ride for his comical defending for the Chelsea goal and what does Bernardo Silva actually do exactly? 3 goals and a handful of assists. He has been average now for 2 years.

I think Sterling is getting the blame as some believe his inclusion was at the expense of a defensive mid.
He tried hard last night and never hid, but he's been out of form for ages so really shouldn't have been included unless Chelsea's full back is known to be a snail. Which he isn't.
Sterling could be fantastic in training thus giving Pep a reason to pick him. And we'll never know if that's the case so don't spend 20 pages speculating.

 

[Scooby]

Chelsea set up to nullify us and it worked a treat. They denied us space by squeezing the space between their back 4 and their midfield. At one point it showed all of their outfield players and about 7/8 of ours in a space 17 mtrs long. De Bruyne, Foden and Silva just had no space to do anything and invariably ended up passing the ball back to Gundogan. If it went wide Mahrez had Chilwell up his arse and sterling was getting no joy up against Reece James.
We kept doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
I think Pep thought we could just blitz them early doors, get a couple of goals and manage it from there, but it never panned out like that.
I dont think any of us quite understand why you would try an unfamiliar system out in a champions league final.
I thought he would change it at half time, put Foden on the left, fernandinho for gundogan who was on a yellow anyway and Jesus for sterling to play upfront. Thought Jesus was brilliant when he came on.
Maybe you start a game with your tried and trusted line up where everyone knows their role and change things if that doesn't work rather than the other way round.

 

[roy.or.r]

Still feel low today. Don’t feel like doing anything.

 

[Fiftyyearsandcounting]

Pep obviously picked the team he thought had the best chance to win, he also came up with a game plan to achieve that. It must have become evident fairly early on that Chelsea were having the best of it. With all of Pep's understanding of the game and his tactical nous, why did he not change things much earlier, say after 30 minutes?

 

[Dr Dweeb]

Chelsea edged it, not much in the game apart from our tactics and weak midfield. We move on.

 

[ancoats]

i don't believe all the hype and this is pep fault ? we lose games and cup finals or big games (not many) but always come back stronger and better. we win silverware and titles because of pep. some fans are fickle and seen nothing but glory. they don't understand football is not only about winners but its about your club win lose or draw

we have lost loads of fans along the way ? myself lost 2 match going blues from the 1980s 1990s 2000s
all before 2008 and they seen nothing but the dark days ? i wish i could got back and see them again and say to them we are all moaning like fuck in 2021 because we lost a champions league final hahaha

look everybody has a right to voice or write their views on here. but please can we respect manchester city players manager club and not jump all over them because of a game of football. we have won silverware and title this season and maybe it was a step to far this time

 

[OB1]

Really can't see anything drastic being done mate, but he's done himself absolutely no favours with that fuck up last night.One more shot at it next season, then if failure again that could be Pep gone.

You two have just proved there's no point in even looking further into this thread.

 

[Damanino]

We also had 2 corners and I think 1 or two freekicks which would have been great opportunities if we manage to properly cross them and ffs they did not even beat the first man. How highly technical players cannot cross it above the player closest to them.

And usually the first man has no City players close to him so even if he misses to clear still no danger from it.