FA Cup Final - Post Game thread

Bill the Blue said:
Can't win them all but what a missed opportunity..

Team selection was a bit iffy..

If everyone was fit, except Eddy, I've have played Dias and Akanji at the back along with either Doku or Jack
on the wing..

Hindsight is great but our team selection today was bizarre to say the least..
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To be honest Grealish has done absolutely nothing this season to warrant a start over Doku. Doku should have started and we should have had them on the back foot from kick off. Instead we played like a bunch of drunk tortoise. It was too slow and too predictable. 3 shots in the first half was dire. Much better second half when Doku was on.
 
M Gaudino said:
have to agree. the first goal can be accepted albeit we havent fucked up like that at the back in ages. but the second goal watvhing back now…..jeez it goes out to garnacho and its clearly about to become 4 v 3 at the back and no one is busting to get back. way too easy
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Yep. Walker, Foden and Kovacic i think sauntering back. Not sure where rodri was.
 
Both Pep and the players had an off day, didn’t look at the races at all until Doku came on. That starting lineup looked like Pep giving into sentiment a bit and starting a couple purely because they didn’t start against West Ham. Was the wrong game plan too though and the damage was done before we changed it.

Both Pep and the players having an off day is rarer than pretty much every team that has ever played football though and I don’t feel particular down given what this group has achieved over the last couple of seasons. I doubt we lose that game if we didn’t win the title last week, but it shows just how hard winning multiple trophies, particularly on the bounce, is.

Just a shame it had to happen against them!
 
I don't think we played that bad today. It was just a couple of defensive lapses that caught us out. We can't always win all the time ,but our achievement this season, winning the league, which I admit, with about 10 games or so to play, I didn't think we would do it, but we showed magnificent character, under pressure and managed to get 4 in a row, which upset the gutter press ,haha.
Roll on next season.
 
I half expected this today. I've been telling rags I know and over confident City fans that sometimes a teams name is on the cup and this season, given all their luck, it was the rags. Obviously I was desperately hoping I was wrong but sometimes you just get a gut feeling.

Big mistake from Pep to change the defence. At times we were all over the place whenever they attacked and the two goals we conceded were abysmal. That Gvardiol header was the worst I've seen since bloody Jamie Pollock's against Q.P.R. Also MIA for the second, as was the rest of the defence. Halland a passenger again and Alvarez with a terrible miss.

For me the rags wanted it more. It hurts to say that but you could see it. They were like we were when we were inferior to them. Dogged, horrible, bodies on the line. An insane desire and determination to do us over and they did. I won't say we were complacent but we were dominating possession so much I think we thought it was going to be easy. Before we knew it we were 2-0 down. It was a very long way back after that.

On the slow charter train back. Thankfully a few beers first in JJ Moons and the family adjacent to me sneaked some beers on and have given me a can. Great defiant singing in Moons. It is what it is we can't win them all and the title is always the pinnacle. Stay loud and proud Blues.
 
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What an entitled bunch of fannie’s we’ve got on here.
Criticise how we played by all means but don’t ever criticise the desire of this team.
They’ve been to the well far more often than we can appreciate and yet people accuse them of ‘not trying’, ffs.
We’ve had a bad day at the office but won the ONE trophy we’d have all picked when the season started.
As for all the ‘Pep fucked up brigade’ just wait until he’s gone, then you might appreciate what we have/had. Then again, maybe not….
 
If this was the champions league final today it would have been taken a lot more seriously by Pep and the players. Certainly nobody on the piss for 48 hours only 5 days ago, if rumours are true. The FA cup final, even a derby, is not a big deal to the professionals anymore, especially in the wake of the treble and a record breaking 4th consecutive Premier league title.
 
Dobsy said:
Something I'm taking from today is that Pep will be pissed off and eager to go again.
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I hope you re right but i think he is not anymore.... Tried to erase the mistakes of the first half,in second half, but we all see the whole team was shit today...as for the players, except only Doku , arrogant and tired with no consideration bastards...i feel depressed like one of these days in middle 80's.... :(
 
Tommy_Catons_Perm said:
If this was the champions league final today it would have been taken a lot more seriously by Pep and the players. Certainly nobody on the piss for 48 hours only 5 days ago, if rumours are true. The FA cup final, even a derby, is not a big deal to the professionals anymore, especially in the wake of the treble and a record breaking 4th consecutive Premier league title.
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We should not be out on the piss with any season still live. Hopefully lessons will be learned for the future!!
 
ancoats said:
Spot on

if you think about it, The main backbone of this squad has gone 4 seasons hard in everything we played in.
For me, it's done and dusted as a main squad that will challenge for the title next season, Far too many of the great players are on empty and can offer no more than just being a squad player and that will be hard to watch

Start the Cull and be ruthless and build something for the future and for a new manager after Pep.
Pe'ps not going to stay for 5 more years and this new build has to be right going forward for Pep to leave us.

City are in safe hands with the owners and I don't think they will let it go to grow the grass after Pep, But Pep will need to build for somebody else in mind.
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I don’t see major changes happening in this window but some clever changes are needed; and then again next summer…

I’m convinced that Pep has to be convinced to have a bigger squad so that players like Rodri and KDB can be rested more often.
 
paulchapo said:
I half expected this today. I've been telling rags I know and over confident City fans that sometimes a teams name is on the cup and this season, given all their luck, it was the rags. Obviously I was desperately hoping I was wrong but sometimes you just get a gut feeling.

Big mistake from Pep to change the defence. At times we were all over the place whenever they attacked and the two goals we conceded were abysmal. That Gvardiol header was the worst I've seen since bloody Jamie Pollock's against Q.P.R. Also MIA for the second, as was the rest of the defence. Halland a passenger again and Alvarez with a terrible miss.

For me the rags wanted it more. It hurts to say that but you could see it. They were like we were when we were inferior to them. Dogged, horrible, bodies on the line. An insane desire and determination to do us over and they did. I won't say we were complacent but we were dominating possession so much I think we thought it was going to be easy. Before we knew it we were 2-0 down. It was a very long way back after that.

On the slow charter train back. Thankfully a few beers first in JJ Moons and the family adjacent to me sneaked some beers on and have given me a can. Great defiant singing in Moons. It is what it is we can't win them all and the title is always the pinnacle. Stay loud and proud Blues.
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Your assessment of the game today is spot on. I felt the same this morning, thought we'd lose unfortunately.
Gutted I couldn't be there today but smiling that we've won 4 in a row
 
It’s a rarity these days for so many of the best players in the world have an off day. It’s also a rarity that the greatest manager in the world also has a day off.
it’s a very disappointing result but we can’t win everything. Let’s hope we make some first rate buys this summer and win 5 on the trot. Come on City.
 
Cup finals are at best unpredictable - so often the better team does. Not win and once ref decisions are added and some bad luck even teams like the rags get a chance - today chances were created by city but not taken and at this level you get punished - we had enough chances to win today that’s it ! Roll on - still the BEST team in the land for sure !
 
Pep: "The game plan wasn't good."

Translation: Doku should have started the game. Akanji too.

Indeed, it is obvious that Doku has been one of our most in form players in the last 4-5 weeks. Only Foden was doing better. And even that wasn't certain in the W Ham game where Doku was unplayable.

We all thought that we could get away with starting players who are not in their best form. Unfortunately, that was a mistake and we wasted the entire1st half.

Let's hope the loss will help us to deal better with complacency and sign the right players. We need energy and hunger.



.
 
Pep and the boys have overachieved this season, in my opinion. I don't think we ever fully got going and we somehow finished with 90+ points and another league, but I can't tell you what our best first eleven is or even what system won us the league.

Still should have had enough, but I also think it's been overstated how shite United have been. Still, if we'd sneaked the first goal earlier I think we'd have done it.

Everyone needs a rest and something of a reset.
 
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