City v Arsenal Post Match

[MihaiCity]

we we're shocking shit today i don't know wtf goes so wrong for us .....yaya and nasri as one of our important players and we miss them big time now we need to the bridge and WIN and tbh we need to play like arse today....they showed us EXACTLY how to play at the bridge in 2 weeks ...the title is far from over win at the bridge and the landscape could change quickly

 

[OB1]

A result that's been coming in all honesty. We've got one way of playing going forward, and there are aspects of our game that hinder us from adjusting effectively when the opposition parks the bus to thwart that preferred way of attacking. Add in the same old flaws defensively and a decent side was always gonna have us over on the counterattack eventually. Burnley, Chelsea and Sunderland nearly managed it, and Stoke and Arsenal have. Park the bus, crowd Silva out and take your chances on the break.

What frustrates is seeing the same flaws again and again. I've lost count of the number of times a whipped inswinging cross or free kick has caused mayhem in our box, our defenders standing still as forwards run in behind them unchallenged. Three Everton players could have scored their equaliser last week, three Arsenal players could have scored their second goal today. It happens again and again and again.
And going forward, if you can't get behind a team through the middle, cos they're packing numbers narrow and deep, then you have to try and go wide, but whereas Chelsea, United, Arsenal and virtually everyone else have got players who can whip dangerous crosses in, we've got Navas. Cross after cross after cross belted straight into the ankles of defenders standing barely more than 12 inches away.
As for corners, we might as well just say "no thanks, we don't want one". 144 since we last scored from one, and of that 144 we've probably got a head to no more than about 6. Another 18 today, and only on the 18th did we finally pick out a City player. One gormless outswinger after another, headed clear at the near post, and when we do try the odd inswinger we put no-one in front of the keeper to stop them coming out and claiming it.

I'm sure there will be plenty of people writing us off for the title, and whilst I think we will fare better on the counter at Chelsea, it's hard to see them fucking up. We now need them to lose twice in the last 16 games, whilst winning all of our own, and with away trips to Chavski, Spurs, the rags, Swansea and Liverpool still to come, that looks a tall order. Bony and Toure's return will help, but if we lose at Chelsea I think that return will be academic. It's not the losing that hurts, it's our predictability and lack of options as soon as a couple of our better players are out injured. We saw it in the cup games against Newcastle and Wednesday, we saw it when Toure was left out against Burnley, and we saw it in spades today

Can't argue with much of that but I wouldn't write us off yet. However, we do have to stop making the same mistakes. Another that fucks me off, and was very relevant today, is committing avoidable fouls. Arsenal did not create much but really exploited our mistakes today. Very frustrating.

 

[Hung]

The FA Cup is now crucial - I hope we take it seriously.

 

[christened at st marks]

When we play at our best we play a triangle passing game to expose space, the only players are Toure Merlin and Nasri who can do this all day long, any one of these are missing or off form,the triangle is gone, take away 2 were fucked, I've never seen anybody replace one of them successfully, add to that Kompany and Kun working their way back, not looking good for a few weeks at the most important period .

 

[tommybooth]

Just got back. A tad on the disappointed side too say the least. Should have stayed at home and saved a ton!

 

[waspish]

we we're shocking shit today i don't know wtf goes so wrong for us .....yaya and nasri as one of our important players and we miss them big time now we need to the bridge and WIN and tbh we need to play like arse today....they showed us EXACTLY how to play at the bridge in 2 weeks ...the title is far from over win at the bridge and the landscape could change quickly

Agree but we know we won't we will play like we do and chelsea will park the bus and punish us on the break and set pieces

 

[Kenny Clements Perm]

It was a wonderful performance.



Great stuff all around.

City are back

 

[East Level 2]

They played well, we were pretty poor and demonstrated that possession is worth fuck all without an end product, and we're still second even though we've had a bucketful of injuries.
I can't see the Chavs cracking as Liverpool did last season and the rags did in 2012 but we live in hope and a win at the Bridge will have Maureen foaming at the mouth. But more worryingly I can't see us picking up the required points to take advantage if Chelsea do drop points. We should be OK at home but we've got some tough away games, and the ones that shouldn't be tough we'll make tough as we did at QPR and Leicester.
Throwing away two-goal leads against Burnley and Sunderland (both in the bottom quarter of the table), struggling to beat Wednesday (mid-table Championship) and then only two shots on target against an Everton team that had lost their previous four league games were all signs that things weren't as they should be. And it all came to a head today when we didn't have a shot during the first half.
Vince and Kun looked rusty as you'd expect, Navas continued to frustrate and we gave the ball away all too often when under no pressure. And I'll not analyse our inability to threaten from corners as it's been done to death.
And just when you'd like MP to have a week to prepare for the Boro cup-tie they are pissing off abroad for a meaningless friendly.
A bad day in the office for sure, but MP needs to sort things out for Boro and Chelsea.
We're the champions of England and we have good players and a good manager, but we've hardly looked like champions other than in the odd game or four for the past few months.
Is the Mangler better than Jolo? Is Navas better than AJ? Is Fernado better than Garcia ffs? I'm yet to be convince (though I was about Navas last season possibly because Negredo was on form).
Lots of questions to be answered and now is the time for the players to answer them.

 

[FanchesterCity]

We are creating less and less. Everton lost five on the bounce and got a draw. We dicked arsenal last year and today create nothing. Don't want to say this squad is beginning to decline.

To be fair, today 2/3rds of our creative architects, in Nasri and Yaya were missing. Yaya, Nasri, Silva and even Fernandinho thrive on passing neat little triangles quickly when you take two of those out, there are no triangles to make. Against Everton we were missing half our spine, as well. I think we're playing fairly well considering the injuries, match fitness and AFCON-absences that have basically decimated our squad for the last 2 or 3 months. Just got to hope our best 11 can stay fit and, if we can get a result against Chelsea ( a tough ask, I know, but they did a number on us last year, remember?) then I think we're well in with a shout. Chelsea have some tough games coming up, too, starting with us in two weeks time.

Chins up, blues. Though it will be difficult, It's not over yet.

Just got to try and forget this annoying result today, get it out of out system and move on!

CTID.

I agree they thrive on neat little triangles at pace, but we're relying on that way too much of late. with 10 men behind the ball, it's proving to be problem.
We;ve got to have more variation in play.

Strangely, when we had no strikers, this virtually forced a change of style. Watching us, it sometimes seems as though every player has been given such clearly defined roles, nobody will improvise.
Silva, as fantastic a playmaker as he is, seems reluctant to shoot, as does Navas. Nasri will have a crack, but other than him, everything depends on Aguero. Losing Aguero forced them to have a go themselves (and they did a great job).

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting we drop Aguero, but I do feel we need to stop expect him to dig us out of trouble, and stop trying to pass the ball into the net ( a disease Arsenal once had ).

We've not sat back and invited teams onto us for ages. We are extremely predictable in our play. Fortunately our skill level is enough to still overcome most teams, but any team that puts 10 men behind the ball knows we will only offer one style of play to beat them... the little triangles. They only have to hold out against that. There;s no alternative threat from us to mix things up.

When's the last time we had a serious aerial threat? Negredo I'd say, and it worked until his shoulder injury. Dzeko should be an aerial threat, but it's not proving very effective.

 

[I Live In A Blue House]

I don t want titles, I don t want glory.. My team Rapid Bucharest were in the second league last year and this year they are the last ones, will relegate again.. I want respect for the fans and good games. I want to enjoy watching City as an alternative to our shit romanian football. I love the game, I love football, I love City for more than 10 years now... I miss players like Dunne, as weak as he was(is)...

What are titles if not glory!!!

For me, one title like the one in 2011-2012 season it s enough for my entire life. I can be proud of it for the rest of my life. Can you?
Rapid won their last title in 2003, I still travel 250 km every 2 weeks to watch them. I am not a glory fan, I just love football..

YES proud for the rest of my life having experienced CITY become THE CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND:) I wouldn't complain @ any more success though:) CTID