CITY v Arsenal - Official Match Thread

uwe282828 said:
chesterbells said:
What, learn to run faster?
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Maybe! i think if your on the left side going back to goal if your going to attempt a tackle use your left foot.an experienced player would have spotted the run and either stepped up , dropped back or blocked the run and just got a yellow.
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Fair point mate. I'm just disappointed he was put in in a central position in such a key game. I'd rather he gains his experience at centre back in lesser games really.

(Although, if i was being really picky I'd probably say that at his age he's probably still played hundreds of matches already, and probably had to make the right decision in similar situations on the pitch plenty of times).
 
Awesome effort today,very proud of them all,however,DJ was immense.

Silva is beginning to look very very comfortable.I am extremely optimistic about our future,today is not important because,these things happen,our 10 men battled to the end and played some terrific football in the process,ultimately,this team has showed the world that we are the real deal and what does not kill us will make us stronger!

And just a word about the referee - Cnut!
 
I like Mancini but some strange ones today, the average age of our starting back four was barely out of its teens, can't blame Boyata. Bridge was a tit as usual and why he brought Balo on instead of a fit and ready AJ is a mystery.
I think some might think on about weather lunging into unnecessary tackles is a good idea, I posted the common sense view that you should stay on your feet the other day. Cheering on slide tackles doesn't make sense to me, risky,
 
AlexOC said:
FFS? Will Andy gray stop creaming over Hernandez' lucky header.
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sF05f.png
 
I have to give it to you. Even when one man down you looked alive and caused as problems. But much as this is what makes most of you come out and commend the 'never say die' performance, I think it cost the team its legs at the end. I didn't think that you played very intelligently as ten men against arsenal. You should have just sat back, soaked in the pressure...which normally frustrates us, and then play on the counter. Chelsea and united know how to do this to us even when they are 11 men. Liverpool did it quite well in the first game of the season against us and got away with a point. But you guys played possession football. At one point btw possession was 57% to 43% in your favour! I'm not really sure that's the way to play against a possession team like arsenal. Towards the end, Richards (who was immense btw) started feeling it. Tevez couldn't handle it any more. Same as Toure. And I did see Boateng stretching a cramp as well. I think the gang ho attitude that your team continued with, pretending not to recognize that you have gone a man down, did cost you eventually. I believe that even if Richards had pulled one back for you when he made that good run, and your team had continued bombing forward, we would still have won it 3-1 or 4-1. I think in such games the attitude should be to soak in the pressure, frustrate the opposition, then hit on the counter. You could even nick a point at the end. I think Mancini got his tactics a bit wrong. I have no idea for example why johnson didn't start. He would have torn clichy to shreds for sure. He is the player we feared the most I think.
And for those talking up the red card, you have to realize that yellow cards, red cards, warnings, fouls etc are all part of the game. You really can't wish them away. And its not the red card that made richards shoot wide, or fabiansky make those saves against silva and kompany. I think it's overly simplistic to dismiss the game as boiling down to the red card. I know it makes people feel better when they lose to say that, but it doesn't make it true. And remember, the tackle by boyata and the subsequent red, are part of the game. You live to fight another day. Those are my sentiments.
 
Lescott's got away with three howlers in his last three games; each of them could easily have cost us the result. Boyata's mistake today was no worse, but he got caught. So no real complaints from me for that selection.

I thought we lacked a bit of discipline today. It was a stirring occasion and a stirring performance, but I thought we attacked too much from the first whistle, leaving the space in behind for Arsenal to attack. We were a little unlucky not to go in level at half time, but we'd run ourselves into the ground, there was nothing left for the last 25 minutes. This highly charged stuff might go down well with the fans, but it's the complete opposite of our gameplan as I understand it. I dunno.. maybe when you are down to ten against such a strong team there is no other option, but I felt it was the main reason we were down to ten in the first place.

I suppose the emotion just got to everyone today. It might be a blessing in disguise; a well timed reality check. The spirit grew today; it just needs to be focused correctly.
 
May sound daft, but I thought the first hour was the most entertaining football I've seen us play this season. I think if we'd kept it 0-0 longer we could have paced the game a bit better, hopefully a few lessons learnt all round. There was definitely a great spirit in the team today!
 
red sun said:
I have to give it to you. Even when one man down you looked alive and caused as problems. But much as this is what makes most of you come out and commend the 'never say die' performance, I think it cost the team its legs at the end. I didn't think that you played very intelligently as ten men against arsenal. You should have just sat back, soaked in the pressure...which normally frustrates us, and then play on the counter. Chelsea and united know how to do this to us even when they are 11 men. Liverpool did it quite well in the first game of the season against us and got away with a point. But you guys played possession football. At one point btw possession was 57% to 43% in your favour! I'm not really sure that's the way to play against a possession team like arsenal. Towards the end, Richards (who was immense btw) started feeling it. Tevez couldn't handle it any more. Same as Toure. And I did see Boateng stretching a cramp as well. I think the gang ho attitude that your team continued with, pretending not to recognize that you have gone a man down, did cost you eventually. I believe that even if Richards had pulled one back for you when he made that good run, and your team had continued bombing forward, we would still have won it 3-1 or 4-1. I think in such games the attitude should be to soak in the pressure, frustrate the opposition, then hit on the counter. You could even nick a point at the end. I think Mancini got his tactics a bit wrong. I have no idea for example why johnson didn't start. He would have torn clichy to shreds for sure. He is the player we feared the most I think.
And for those talking up the red card, you have to realize that yellow cards, red cards, warnings, fouls etc are all part of the game. You really can't wish them away. And its not the red card that made richards shoot wide, or fabiansky make those saves against silva and kompany. I think it's overly simplistic to dismiss the game as boiling down to the red card. I know it makes people feel better when they lose to say that, but it doesn't make it true. And remember, the tackle by boyata and the subsequent red, are part of the game. You live to fight another day. Those are my sentiments.
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An excellent post from the Gooner. I slightly disagree about the Tactics though; the plan today I am sure was to win and win well against a major rival.

The statement we actually made was that this is a team with Fight and Character and over a 38 Game Season that will be far more valuable than the three points.
 
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