Fluminense (N) - Fri 22nd Dec, 18:00 | CWC Final | Pre-Match Thread

[blueparrot]

I'd love to see a really good performance, given that we have been very poor all over the pitch recently.

We were the best team in the world a few months back. We are a shadow of that now. It'd be nice to see a glimmer of it Friday. I miss being awesome.

Think it's a bit unfair to say we've been poor all over the pitch, we've scored plenty, what's been poor is our control of counter attacks and game management.

 

[TonyM]

I'd only play Grealish if he has a free role like a week or so back. Out on the wing he is snore-inducing.
I'd play Foden and Nunez wide and tell them to make something happen (even if all it is is chaos).
I'd play Bernardo in a free midfield role - I always felt that was his best position.
I'd risk Stones and Ake in the defense because they are the only 2 CDs who can find a proper attacking pass.
I'd play Lewis at LB because I think he deserves it more than Gvardiol at the moment. In fact even Gomes is better at LB at the moment.

...........Ederson.........
Walker Stones Ake Lewis
.......Bernardo Rodri.....
Nunez ..Grealish ..Foden
...........Alvarez..........

Bah humbug.

 

[mexico1970]

South American sides can get a bit funky, let's just hope for no injuries.

 

[supercity88]

Finished 7th in the league. They will undoubtedly turn to the dark arts and play acting to try and win the game. It's a tournament that the South American teams take very seriously and they'll be more used to the warmth than us as well. Ultimately we should be thrashing them though. Hopefully we control the game and win comfortably and don't give them a chance to kick lumps or roll around trying to get our players sent off.

 

[TonyM]

Think it's a bit unfair to say we've been poor all over the pitch, we've scored plenty, what's been poor is our control of counter attacks and game management.

Every team has their pinnacle and we had a number of extremely talented teams that have purred perfectly. But then there's a trough. And we are in that now. IMO all over the pitch. Hopefully the next pinnacle isn't far off but it's hard to see it with the form of so many being only OKish.

• Dias, Rodri, Grealish, Foden, Walker and Alvarez are far from their best IMO.
• Gvardiol, Kovacic and Nunez are not up to speed yet.
• KDB, Haaland and Doku are the shining lights and out.

It's not by accident that we aren't getting results or barely scraping them. We are not clicking for an entire game. I don't know why exactly but I hope Pep is sorting it in time for us to grab this season by the scruff of the neck while we still can.

 

[reephil007]

Finished 7th in the league. They will undoubtedly turn to the dark arts and play acting to try and win the game. It's a tournament that the South American teams take very seriously and they'll be more used to the warmth than us as well. Ultimately we should be thrashing them though. Hopefully we control the game and win comfortably and don't give them a chance to kick lumps or roll around trying to get our players sent off.

Please tell Rodri

 

[shemnel]

this will be a tough game, I feel. South American teams can - despite the actual or reputational play acting - be very very tough tackling so they'll get stuck in.

Pep loves 'creating a feeling, a moment' by winning a trophy, typified by our League Cup successes, so i think he sees this as a good way to instill the winning feeling again.

Up the Blues, 2-1.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

Aren’t this lot the ones who play like a futsal team? Cramming all their players into one small area and showboating their way up the pitch?

Will be an interesting clash of styles for sure.

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

Hope it goes well mate, all the best.

Thanks mate. It went well. R&r till Friday then City all the way. Up the blues, keep the faith. Bought a support the junior doctors t-shirt outside the hospital which is in City blue & white wahay!!!

 

[Gremlin]

There'll be the usual 'no history' stuff said by some in the media and how little City has become a world club BUT as we all know there's always history and our club had a role to play in the very early history of Fluminense. So, get this in your back pockets for when they start banging on. Basically, Morten Olesen, a longstanding Danish Blue, wrote an article on our goalkeeper Charlie Williams who became regarded as Fluminense's first manager/coach. You can read the full article on Williams here:

Charlie Williams – Morten Olesen Guest Blog

Here’s a guest blog written by Morten Olesen , who is a Danish Manchester City supporter. Morten has written about a famous Manchester City goalkeeper who went on to become a major coach. This piec…

gjfootballarchive.com

The Fluminense stuff is a long way down and Olesen writes stuff like:

In 1911, almost 10 years after its founding, Fluminense was looking for their first coach. The choice had fallen on the now almost 40-year-old Charlie Williams, who was persuaded to take the job for a salary of £ 18 a month (well over £ 2000 in 2021 money) two return trips to England, as well as free board and lodging.

If you've got any contacts in the BBC it may be worth pointing them at that as you'd have thought that was the sort of angle (with a connection between the clubs) that they would like. There again, they may just choose the easy option of spouting bile rather than journalism.