Crystal Palace (A) | Post Match Thread

[mancityscot]

A draw away to Palace under normal circumstances isnt really a terrible result, they usually raise their game against us and its a tough place to go on a shit shit pitch. Not scoring against them in a whole season is pretty incredible though.

The worry for me is the drop off in our consistency, and the amount of chances that we squander time and time again. The impetus we've given Liverpool in recent weeks is massive.

 

[wolfie1988]

Dropped points. Not the end of the world. Kept it in our own hands. Missed a few sitters. Very dodgy pitch that stopped our passing game and a few players not quite at the races.

Still think we need to shove Jesus up top. I'm all for the false 9 system in the Champions League and against Liverpool where the best option is control but some games dictate the need for a centre forward who understands how to occupy centre halves with his back to goal. Foden needs the game in front of him.

 

[lionheart]

One for Madchester here. At least we won't have the distraction of an FA Cup semi-final to worry about this season, unlike Liverpool & Chelski. Likewise we are not sharp enough to get past any of the remaining Euro contenders, unless United miraculously scramble through. For those reasons and the strength of our squad, we should hold off Liverpool for the league title.

 

[yerwot?]

Hard to pick fault with a majority of the performance last night. Reduced Palace to one shot on target and minimised the counter threat well. Certainly avoided the mistakes of the game from October by constantly working them and not playing into the traps they leave. They want you to play into those central areas and try risky passes early etc so they can nick the ball and run off up the other end.

Pitch was a dried out & scruffy mess with the ball bouncing around. Usual ridiculous 30-40 seconds stoppage each time the ball went out and any concerted pressure ended up with one of their players 'injured' for 2-3 minutes. We did well to stay focussed and create the chances we did.

However, the finishing was a big disappointment. We've created 3-4 absolute golden chances which have to be scored - this will be the difference between 1st/2nd & any other trophies we remain in.

Compared to Southampton, Spurs & Everton maybe, I felt the performance was there.


I'd suggest reviewing the PL fixtures played by City & Liverpool since the start of January. Hard to imagine a team playing a softer run of games given opponent's placing & form.

There's a long way to go and the margins are fine.

good stuff. Teams now abandon the touch-line when we attack, the ball has to come into/in front of the box and is met with a mass of bodies. Unsophisticated but effective. For every tactic a counter-measure evolves, up to Pep to find one. The alternative is a squad full of the best players in the world, playing their best, and we carry on as we are.

 

[blusull]

perhaps its because we havent got a genuine striker or a target man up front and the rest under 5ft4

 

[Cobwebcat]

Agree with this. xG is a stat with many flaws and uncertainties that can/should be used as an indication, not an absolute fact.

It used to in the early days though it was still the best indication of future performance. Things have moved on quite a bit since then though. It still doesn’t tell the whole story…no stat ever will, but it can pretty easily answer the question of if a team is clinical or not.

 

[shevtheblue]

Bring on who?

Sterling, Jesus, Gundogan? All 3 have different attributes to what was on the pitch. Foden was getting battered by their defenders most of the game, he wasn't getting much of a tune out of either CB. I'd have put Jesus on and put Foden out left, at least to see if it made a difference.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

perhaps its because we havent got a genuine striker or a target man up front and the rest under 5ft4

But long term we will. That's how we roll.

 

[BuzLightyear]

I've never seen Foden so anonymous in a game

Agreed but he was out of position there. He should have been switched or subbed. Raheem, Gundogan or Jesus taking over this cursed false 9 position.

 

[Cobwebcat]

Expected by who? I don't really get that stat.

Yesterday I could have expected 3 from the chances created, we scored 0.

There have been games I could have expected 6, we scored 2, and I expected 0, we scored 1.

Not sure it can be argued we are clinical. Don't watch Liverpool enough to compare.

Too big a topic to get into on BM, though if you are interested its all out there particularly how Brighton and Brentford owners made their billions Using xG and similar stats.

Plus BM has decided it’s bollocks ;-)