City Vs Seville Champions League Post Match Thread

[gregblag]

I don't think the winner was a fluke. From the 85th minute or so we started having a go, pressing, winning the ball and attacking like we meant it and I finally got interested in the game and had something to shout about.For the 85 minutes before that the intensity was just not there.

We had it for the first 5 games and lost it with Vinnie's injury. Even against Newcastle and Bournemouth we let them play and they looked dangerous until the goals we scored took them out of the equation.

At the start of this season I thought finally we have a defence (for the first time since Mancini left). I really hope that Kompany's return and leadership gets us back to that early season form. I think its down to intensity and battling for the ball. If we coast games sooner or later we are going to pay for it and I can see the wheels coming off. We paid for it at Spurs in fact even though they were gifted 2 of their goals by the linesman.

 

[thereWasATime]

Overall a very poor and nervous display from our lads, but a win is a win :)
Hopefully, we kick off from here and beat the bastards this weekend, did I mention convincingly ?

 

[bucks]

I have always supported Pellers but that's it. Starting 442 again in CL. Got overrun again in midfield in the first half. They could have had 3. WTF is wrong in Pellers head? Our best player stuck out on the left touchline? Rescued in the end by said best player having been moved inside. I despair. We will never win or get anywhere near winning the chumps league with this manager unless he uses the wealth of talent we have to the best advantage.If you don't think so just imagine what Barca or Real would have done to us tonight.

 

[kawkav]

a lot can be criticized and I am sure every body here has done a good job of it!

happy we won it :)

one of the things that caught my attention was: when Navas had the ball nobody expected his crosses to make it thru the box and they never run for it on the far post. and un-characteristically he made some good crosses in. but it was all waste due to lack of confidence in him, I guess.

again very happy with the points

 

[gregblag]

a lot can be criticized and I am sure every body here has done a good job of it!

happy we won it :)

one of the things that caught my attention was: when Navas had the ball nobody expected his crosses to make it thru the box and they never run for it on the far post. and un-characteristically he made some good crosses in. but it was all waste due to lack of confidence in him, I guess.

again very happy with the points

Same thing happened with a couple of De Bruyne crosses. I remember thinking I bet Aguero would have got onto the end of those.

 

[Paul_Powers_Tash]

The Happy Clappers won't like the negativity on here tonight but nobody can sit there and say they thought we were impressive tonight. We look every bit as bang average as we have done in Europe for the last six or seven years.

We haven't improved under Pellegrini (in Europe) despite the spending and regardless of the injuries, we are still lining up better man for man than our opponents, yet we are struggling big time. 4-4-2 isn't helping, but neither is the fact that we don't really know how to press as a team and win the ball back. We press as individuals and once the opposition get past the first phase of the press, we are left in dangerous situations. Defenders are expected to defend 1v1 and it is asking for trouble. The amount of games where we look defensively all over the place, yet our back four seem to have had decent enough games is astounding and highlights a major flaw in our system. Mangala and Otamendi were both good tonight yet somehow we had to rely on their forward missing a few sitters to win the game. There is just a sense of chaos whenever we are attacked. Teams play through us far too easily and if I'm honest, at the highest level, we are an accident waiting to happen.

That said, two late wins shows great character and in reality we probably deserved to beat Juventus. KDB is a big plus, Navas is in good form if a little frustrating, Yaya is playing ok and individually the back four seem ok. Dinho is excellent and we have probably our three most important players to return.

Overall I think we have reached our summit under Pellers. He's done well and we should have enough to win something domestically, but we are a million miles away from competing at the serious end of this competition, and if that hasn't changed over the last two years, it's unlikely to change in the next two. You can't keep playing the same way and wonder why you keep making the same mistakes and having the same level of performance. Delighted with the win, but I still think we are a walking accident while our three most important players are missing.

I think we can paper over the cracks domestically, hopefully emphatically so on Sunday and go on to win the league. But after that, if someone of Pep's calibre becomes available, we have to go for him.

Absolutely spot on.

We are less than the sum of our parts with Pellegrini. To play 4-4-2, which is really more 4-2-4 against strong opposition is baffling, especially when Yaya is one of that midfield two. Don't get me wrong I've been one of Yaya's biggest fans, but out of possession he is a liability that we can no longer afford if we have any ambitions to progress into the later stages of the CL.

How many here have said time and time again we cannot play 4-4-2 with the players at Pellegrini's disposal. It is no longer a point of conjecture because results have settled the argument beyond the slightest doubt. So why in one of our key games does the manager revert back to 4-4-2? To no one's surprise we were overrun in midfield and won the game through good fortune and not good planning.

If we play 4-4-2 on Sunday with Yaya ambling here and ambling there at jogging pace, we will get nothing from our trip to the Dark side. If Yaya plays he has to play at the point of a midfield three.

Now before people start calling me a Pellegrini hater stop and ask yourself what magic and organisation does he bring to one of the strongest squads in Europe?

 

[ultimateharold]

Absolutely spot on.

We are less than the sum of our parts with Pellegrini. To play 4-4-2, which is really more 4-2-4 against strong opposition is baffling, especially when Yaya is one of that midfield two. Don't get me wrong I've been one of Yaya's biggest fans, but out of possession he is a liability that we can no longer afford if we have any ambitions to progress into the later stages of the CL.

How many here have said time and time again we cannot play 4-4-2 with the players at Pellegrini's disposal. It is no longer a point of conjecture because results have settled the argument beyond the slightest doubt. So why in one of our key games does the manager revert back to 4-4-2? To no one's surprise we were overrun in midfield and won the game through good fortune and not good planning.

If we play 4-4-2 on Sunday with Yaya ambling here and ambling there at jogging pace, we will get nothing from our trip to the Dark side. If Yaya plays he has to play at the point of a midfield three.

Now before people start calling me a Pellegrini hater stop and ask yourself what magic and organisation does he bring to one of the strongest squads in Europe?

Can't argue. This 442 needs to be binned.

 

[citytilllidie]

Premier league? Smelly league! Its ok having big physical beasts to win prem games but CL has technically gifted whippets who we can't cope with. This is nothing new to me, every season we've been in it, we've been lucky to get out of the group. 1st knockout, ko!
Thinking, accept prem teams are not suited to CL and carry on and try to win prem. Arsenal are the nearest prem team to CL and they got away with more murder than we did tonight

 

[Metalartin]

Premier league? Smelly league! Its ok having big physical beasts to win prem games but CL has technically gifted whippets who we can't cope with. This is nothing new to me, every season we've been in it, we've been lucky to get out of the group. 1st knockout, ko!
Thinking, accept prem teams are not suited to CL and carry on and try to win prem. Arsenal are the nearest prem team to CL and they got away with more murder than we did tonight

The technically gifted skinny whippets(Sanchez being one of the very best) come to the PL now, the players aren't the problem half of it is fitness and attitude(no saving yourself for the weekend... clubs dont need CL money as much as elsewhere in Europe too)other half of it is tactics and systems. For whatever reason the style of end to end football we like in the PL is countered by teams elsewhere in Europe so you either find a way to nullify their game also(meaning you try and take them out of their game by forcing them to change things once they start struggling to mount attacks) or change your tactics from the outset for European nights.

I think if we were more solid in midfield and the back teams would then have to try other things(things they haven't worked on) and thats when they start leaving spaces at the back, as it stands City are the ones leaving spaces at the back trying to force a way through. I also think if we did what Barca and Bayern sometimes do and pass the ball about going backwards English fans boo this and get on their own players backs which then translates down onto the pitch with bad decision making because they feel under pressure with the ball to do something instantly rather than pick the right moment when the whole team is in sync.

 

[nikoman]

Being 1st in the PL and 2nd in the CL 1 point behind the last Runners up it's so lame, PELLE OUT !