Improving in the CL

Bluekiwi said:
Why buy a player who is going to get us further in the competition (supposedly) and put him on the bench for most of the game?
So he hasn't trained with us long enough but that unpredictability may have been the spark that ignited some of the others.
And why put a defender on who hasn't played with the team before when an experienced team player is on the bench?
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Contradiction?
 
1. The players are shit scared of getting done on the counter so we play safe simple slow passing which won't open up an organised defence. We then panic and try to force it when the goals don't come.

2. Our best chances from open play came from counter attacks, learn from this. We are not the best footballing side in Europe so we can't take teams on this way and beat them . We should swallow our pride and play the way the last three English teams have won the CL, keep possession, soak up pressure and don't go chasing the game.

3. Pick the best team , not the best players. Solid three man midfield and sacrifice one of our playmakers. I think De Bruyne looks more suited to the playmaker role in this system than Silva. He tracked back and put himself about. Navas should also play as he offers width and defensive solidity.
 
How can we expected a different outcome when we are still using the same set of midfielders who failed to deliver in CL games every year?
 
MC ID said:
Same problem we've had year on year, the only consistent is the outfield of Yaya, Kompany, Silva and Nasri.

The problem lies there. Silva and Nasri where fucking terrible, surprised no one is mentioning Silva had his worst performance in years.
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Because as you put it "Silva had his worst performance in YEARS" so deserved to have some slack as in Nasri and Yaya for me have had quite a few poor games in Europe.
 
Agree.. We lack speed in our midfield. Playing Nasri, Silva and Yaya at the same time in Europe isn't the way to go. Should have started Navas or KDB instead of Nasri.

Hope Sergio is fit for the reminder of the group games. He was missed yesterday.
 
Just fucking play better.

It's not rocket science. We dominate teams in the Premier League, then simply don't turn up in Europe. We took Chelsea apart, did they really come with a game plan that was too much different to Juventus' one last night? Plus Chelsea on the whole have a superior group of players.

Juventus are an ok side, but they're no Real, Barca or Bayern. They won't win the Champion's League this season.
 
With hindsight it might have been more prudent to have introduced Fernando after we scored and invited Juventus on to us. We need to be able to switch from attack mentality to defence mentality in games and excel at both.
 
baildon blue said:
Still got our L plates on in Europe .
Again we were done by the dark arts again .
When are we going to learn .
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How long do the l plates stay on for though?. No more excuses now, it really is time to start performing. Rabbits in the headlights still in this competition.
 
imo the problem i think goes far deeper than a change of players are concerned methinks. it seems the players whoever it is has got no clue about tactical play. it certinly was not down to form. think about it our team that was having one of the best start to a PL season got schooled by a Juve having one of their worst start to a season. we also have superior players to theirs so the only reason can be tactical.
 
The bottom line is, if we're going to play the same way in the CL as we do in the Premiership, then we have to play at our absolute best to beat the standard of teams that are in our group. We weren't anywhere near our best last night, we were slow in our build up, we missed a couple of really good chances and we gifted Juve an equalising goal. So we either accept that and carry on as we are or the manager needs to introduce a different style of play in Europe that makes us tighter in midfield and more dynamic on the break. For me the first priority is, and always will be, the Premiership but for top players they want to be challenging in the Champions League. If they're not, the chances are they won't be happy at our club and that's why (regardless of the fans opinion) our CL form will have to be addressed.
 
MC ID said:
Same problem we've had year on year, the only consistent is the outfield of Yaya, Kompany, Silva and Nasri.

The problem lies there. Silva and Nasri where fucking terrible, surprised no one is mentioning Silva had his worst performance in years.
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I think you're absolutely right, and it's no coincidence that probably our best two performances in Europe (Munich away 2013 and Roma away 2014) occurred when the majority of our key attacking players (Toure, Silva, Nasri and Aguero) were missing, and we were forced to opt for functionality over creativity.

The majority of teams in Europe are extremely athletic, technically accomplished and defensively organised. They park the bus and they counterattack, and with our possession based, and often pedestrian paced, game, we are inherently vulnerable to that MO. And there is no question that it is extremely difficult to overcome teams who play that way, to the point that a team as limited as Celtic has twice thwarted Barcelona in such a fashion in this competition. The trouble is, Barca have a virtual get out of jail free card in Lionel Messi, so you can count their failures against this suffocating tactic on the fingers of one hand, whereas we don't and we succumb time after time after time after time. Napoli, Roma, Ajax, Dortmund, Madrid, Barca, CSKA, Munich, Juve, have all either beaten us at the Etihad or drawn, and often deservedly. Even Villareal frustrated the life out of us for 89 minutes. In the Premier League, results like the 0-1 reversal at home to Stoke last season are rare, because the opposition doesn't usually have the quality, discipline or luck to sustain it for the whole game, but in the Chimps League they do.

There's no question that we need to move the ball quicker, but that isn't how Silva, Nasri and Ya Ya operate unfortunately, and if you replace them with inferior players from the bench (Navas, Fernando etc), you then have a team that lacks the technical ability to overcome sides as good as Juventus. Having said that, once we'd gotten our noses in front last night, that's exactly what we should have done. The only change I would have made to the starting line up though was De Bruyne over Nasri, but as it turned out I thought our weakest two players were Silva and Sterling. They looked like boys against men. Whilst I think we may fare better away from home then, sadly I don't think things will turn out any differently at the Etihad when Munchengladbach and Seville visit. An atmosphere flatter than a witch's tit doesn't help either. Depressing stuff. Let's hope we take it out on West Ham
 
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Bozzie said:
The bottom line is, if we're going to play the same way in the CL as we do in the Premiership, then we have to play at our absolute best to beat the standard of teams that are in our group. We weren't anywhere near our best last night, we were slow in our build up, we missed a couple of really good chances and we gifted Juve an equalising goal. So we either accept that and carry on as we are or the manager needs to introduce a different style of play in Europe that makes us tighter in midfield and more dynamic on the break. For me the first priority is, and always will be, the Premiership but for top players they want to be challenging in the Champions League. If they're not, the chances are they won't be happy at our club and that's why (regardless of the fans opinion) our CL form will have to be addressed.
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i agree with all you say except that we can win if we play at our absolute best even then it is a doubt because the european teams have not only us but the entire PL figured out tactically.
 
Looks like Monchengladbach could be the whipping boys in this league after their hammering last night too.

Next game is a must win for us over there.
 
We had that game by the throat after 60 mins! I don't know whether the plan was to 'waste' the next thirty, hang on to the ball and deny Juve scoring opportunities, or go for a second. We were a shade unlucky, and had we been two up at half time on the premise of 'Juve striking' - two out of three - we would have been far more comfortable going into the last third of the game. I don't know how much previous seasons in the CL weigh on the minds of those who were played in those games but it seems to be a side that is stifled in its approach. We know we have the squad, and it's obvious that those who laugh and denigrate the amount of money spent considering the return, also know we have the squad. I think Buffon's comments about City being well-placed to be considered one of the favourites was a genuine comment. But football is a game full of ten thousand variables. The manager knows about half a dozen of them, can influence one or two of those, the players similarly, the whistling Slovenian wankers, a shedload more! That leaves about 9950 that are in the lap of the gods.
 
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