City v United pre-match thread (team news pg 66)

[mat]

Sergio.......

 

[55yr old teenager]

Maureen will go with two banks of four at the back. Play the long ball over midfield to beat the press then rashford or lingard can run in behind whats left of our defense and score justlike leicester who put 4 past us at the king power and will probably do the same when we play them at ours. I do wish pep would learn from his mistakes!!

 

[Sky blue blood]

Will ultra-naive pep play the utterly pathetic Bravo? It's a wonder of the modern sporting world watching him shuffle timidly along the goal line with handbag in hand. How can such a weedy specimen of a man actually be keeping goal in the premiership? He looks genuinely scared of any physical contact of man or ball.

 

[Sky blue blood]

Guardiola is either stupid or grossly negligent in allowing Bravo anywhere near any manchester City team except maybe the under 14s

 

[Sky blue blood]

Wha

If Silva out I would give Diaz a game, we have to blood him sometime, and yes a risk but a risk worth taking maybe. Only player in same mound as Silva.

about Garcia

+1

repeat and rinse(d)(by the ref)

 

[Sky blue blood]

The players that are struggling have injected up to play through pain barrier and rest them at boro weekend if possible I'd like to see this team.

Willy

Navas
Stones
Otamendi
Clichy

Diniho
Delph
Silva

Kdb
Aguero
Jesus

Bench

Bravo
Zabba
Kolarov
Vinny
Yaya
Sterling
Sane

Bravo on the bench? Why? I think my nan is fit for Thurs....

 

[cadds92]

Will ultra-naive pep play the utterly pathetic Bravo? It's a wonder of the modern sporting world watching him shuffle timidly along the goal line with handbag in hand. How can such a weedy specimen of a man actually be keeping goal in the premiership? He looks genuinely scared of any physical contact of man or ball.

Willy has played his last game for a City in my opinion.

 

[Sky blue blood]

-------------------- Bravo ---------------------
Navas -- Kompany -- Otamendi -- Clichy
---------Fernandinho -- Toure -------------
---------------- De Bruyne -------------------
Sterling --------- Jesus ---------------Sane

Obviously much depends on the fitness and recovery ahead of the game. While i'd feel more secure with Willy in goal, it's looking very much like we're planning to retain Bravo for next season. On that basis we might as well keep playing him in the hope that he can do something towards recovering his damaged reputation and start to earn a bit more trust from the fans and his team-mates.

United seem likely to have the pace of Rashford/Martial on their left, so i think we've got to persist with Navas at right-back. I remain keen to explore the possibility of trying Delph at left-back but this isn't the game to take that risk. Delph can come in for Fernandinho if he's not fully fit by Thursday. I'm assuming Silva won't make it.

I can't work out if Sterling's confidence has taken a hit since he lost his place to having De Bruyne play on the right, or whether he's getting forced inside and crowded out more by having Navas overlapping him so much. I suspect the latter isn't helping. If Silva is out, we've just got to hope Sterling can get back to the level he was at in March. Maybe tell Navas to hang back and let Sterling isolate his full-back more.

I think Aguero will probably be fit for Thursday, but even so, he's played virtually every minute since mid-February and while he took his goal well at Wembley, in a more general sense, it's been starting to show. If Guardiola feels we can get 60 minutes out of Jesus, i'd be inclined to throw him straight back in. The pace of that front three should give the likes of Blind a lot of problems. It would go a long way to lifting the mood before kick-off too if Jesus can start. A fresh Aguero could still be a real asset from the bench against tiring legs.

Still pretty confident we can win this game and go on to secure 3rd place pretty comfortably. A draw would definitely be a better result for us than Utd though so if Mourinho sets his team up defensively to frustrate us, we need to be smart and avoid getting sucked into taking unnecessary risks. They'll need to attack us at some point and it's more important that we pick them off at the right moment than leave ourselves exposed at the back trying to force the issue.

Tippy happy bollocks for most of the match running down blind alleys with the odd cross into the box with no city player anywhere near it. Rags break up the other end and score with their only shot on goal. No faith in our tactics. The same shite every game. Just copy and paste.

haha! V funny opening few words, but peps playing football the right way, it's the taking part that's important....

 

[Sky blue blood]

I'm on one about Bravo!
Discussing him at the hull match (he'd made it 7/7 shots= goals), a shot Keown brilliantly summed up on MOTD saying you could've drop you're cap on it.
This conversation summed up the feelings of most fans at the time;
Me- "His confidence looks completely shot" My dad replied -"his confidence is shot because he's effing useless!"

 

[Sky blue blood]

its sky hoping to beam live right around the whole the fight for 4th place but its a joke liverpool and arsenal are in a mess in the league and city run is far better than united so if we take the points in the derby 3rd place is ours and liverpool will lose 4th spot

Shame if Utd get fourth, Was beginning to enjoy the annual squashing of Utd down to fifth and into the European wilderness, our scant consolation for this season.