El Clásico

[sam-caddick]

We are quite away from these two teams though, some serious coaching by by Manuel and some top notch scouting by Txiki has got to be done in the Summer.

If we can get our defence sorted out, hold the ball better against the top teams and offer immense pace in attack we can go places.

I thought 11 vs 11 you were pretty close to Barcelona in quality. It was perhaps inexperience at the top level more than lack of quality that cost you imo.

I kind of wish City had played a more open game like Madrid did, because their defense can definitely be exposed but if you commit more numbers forward then Barcelona will almost definitely exploit the space and score. Still it would have been more entertaining.

What areas do you think City need to improve on mate?

 

[supercrystal7]

We are quite away from these two teams though, some serious coaching by by Manuel and some top notch scouting by Txiki has got to be done in the Summer.

If we can get our defence sorted out, hold the ball better against the top teams and offer immense pace in attack we can go places.

I thought 11 vs 11 you were pretty close to Barcelona in quality. It was perhaps inexperience at the top level more than lack of quality that cost you imo.

I kind of wish City had played a more open game like Madrid did, because their defense can definitely be exposed but if you commit more numbers forward then Barcelona will almost definitely exploit the space and score. Still it would have been more entertaining.

I agree with you about the first leg. In the second maybe, because Barca had such a huge lead there was a clearer gap. Anyway once more agree that the biggest difference was experience. People too often go on about how many CL games City have played. Apart from Yaya and Demichelis most of the team have no experience in the business end of the CL. Kompany is such a great leader and Silva has won the world cup, but compared to the likes of Barca, Bayern, Madrid, Chelsea and even the current United team they need to gain more experience.

Winning the CL is the kind of thing you earn over time, by continuously putting yourself in the mix. In the last 10 years this has certainly been the case. Barca's very quick rise under Rjikaard is probably the earliest a new team has won the CL.

 

[GHoddle]

We are quite away from these two teams though, some serious coaching by by Manuel and some top notch scouting by Txiki has got to be done in the Summer.

If we can get our defence sorted out, hold the ball better against the top teams and offer immense pace in attack we can go places.

I thought 11 vs 11 you were pretty close to Barcelona in quality. It was perhaps inexperience at the top level more than lack of quality that cost you imo.

I kind of wish City had played a more open game like Madrid did, because their defense can definitely be exposed but if you commit more numbers forward then Barcelona will almost definitely exploit the space and score. Still it would have been more entertaining.

What areas do you think City need to improve on mate?

Imo another quality central midfielder because after Toure and Fernandinho the quality in that area drops off pretty dramatically, plus against some teams you would want to be able to play with 3 central midfielders. Also I think Fernandinho could have more influence with another midfielder sitting behind him.

Probably an upgrade at CB and LB as well I'd say.

 

[super_city_si]

We are quite away from these two teams though, some serious coaching by by Manuel and some top notch scouting by Txiki has got to be done in the Summer.

If we can get our defence sorted out, hold the ball better against the top teams and offer immense pace in attack we can go places.

I thought 11 vs 11 you were pretty close to Barcelona in quality. It was perhaps inexperience at the top level more than lack of quality that cost you imo.

I kind of wish City had played a more open game like Madrid did, because their defense can definitely be exposed but if you commit more numbers forward then Barcelona will almost definitely exploit the space and score. Still it would have been more entertaining.

What areas do you think City need to improve on mate?

Cheating

 

[GHoddle]

I agree with you about the first leg. In the second maybe, because Barca had such a huge lead there was a clearer gap. Anyway once more agree that the biggest difference was experience. People too often go on about how many CL games City have played. Apart from Yaya and Demichelis most of the team have no experience in the business end of the CL. Kompany is such a great leader and Silva has won the world cup, but compared to the likes of Barca, Bayern, Madrid, Chelsea and even the current United team they need to gain more experience.

Winning the CL is the kind of thing you earn over time, by continuously putting yourself in the mix. In the last 10 years this has certainly been the case. Barca's very quick rise under Rjikaard is probably the earliest a new team has won the CL.

True, and tbh they've had pretty bad luck with the draws for the last few seasons. If you're not in pot 1 in the group stage draw then you'll have trouble winning the group, which means you'll probably face another pot 1 team in the first knockout round. Liverpool might have the same problem next season now.

 

[willipp]

We are quite away from these two teams though, some serious coaching by by Manuel and some top notch scouting by Txiki has got to be done in the Summer.

If we can get our defence sorted out, hold the ball better against the top teams and offer immense pace in attack we can go places.

I think if you take ronaldo out of real and Messi out of Barca then there isnt much difference. Problem is Messi is probably the best player we will ever see and ronaldo is also one of the best of his era. Kun could be that for us, but unfortunately he has missed big chunks of our season esecially when it really matters. If Kun stays fit and we actually had a season where we kept our key players fit, add to that a class CB and i think we are very close.

 

[lafitz2008]

I thought 11 vs 11 you were pretty close to Barcelona in quality. It was perhaps inexperience at the top level more than lack of quality that cost you imo.

I kind of wish City had played a more open game like Madrid did, because their defense can definitely be exposed but if you commit more numbers forward then Barcelona will almost definitely exploit the space and score. Still it would have been more entertaining.

What areas do you think City need to improve on mate?

Cheating

An element of truth to that.Was it the Barc vs Inter final a couple of years ago that was just constant cheating and gamesmanship from start to finish.
All the top teams in Europe have some world class divers and players that can get fouls out of nothing.

One of the reasons I've never been particularly arsed about champions league.

When we get beat in that I'm over it within an hour whereas in the league if we get beat I have to go out Dexter style in the middle of the night looking for a cat to kick up the arse to make me feel better.

 

[Bazzmand Show]

Bale is all speed and little else. He will turn out to be a very expensive flop.

He's scored 14 goals for them, in 31 appearances. So has not been that bad this year...

 

[kenzie115]

Bale is all speed and little else. He will turn out to be a very expensive flop.

He's scored 14 goals for them, in 31 appearances. So has not been that bad this year...

All well and good, but the person playing in the same team, in the same position on the other side of the pitch has scored about 40 goals in 31 games.

 

[aguero93:20]

Bale is all speed and little else. He will turn out to be a very expensive flop.

He's scored 14 goals for them, in 31 appearances. So has not been that bad this year...

Assists are much higher I think.