My considered reflection, the morning after, is that when asked by friends before hand, i told them i was confident, but neither over confident nor arrogant, and that i thought we would win. If we played anything like our best, it would be too good for whatever Chelsea turned up, however, if we were off our game, it was a cup tie, anything could happen, and we could lose.
Like many on here, our line up when it was announced worried me, for all the reasons others have posted, primarily making changes to include Sterling, and the lack of a defensive midfielder to protect the space in front of the back 4. The old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind, and the team and tactics that had served us so well against Dortmund and PSG , should have been our goto yesterday.
Painfully remembering the Liverpool and Spurs defeats, terrible refereeing / Var decisions / red card / penalty, would have hurt a lot more, and would take a lot more accepting. The referee was poor, but he is not the reason we lost.
Strangely, i actually think losing on penalties would have been worse, as i would have been unable to stop myself from looking back at individual moments over the 120 minutes, and thinking what if?
Equally being absolutely battered, (we weren't) would have also been worse.
So sadly, i can accept, that Chelsea played better than us, and deserved to win, however the team selection, and by definition tactics, left me with a distinct impression that our defeat was largely self inflicted. I don't think its arrogant, to believe, (and the league table backs me up) ,that we are the better side, we just weren't yesterday.
THAT HURTS !!
Don't know if this is slightly controversial, but of our 5 Premier League wins in the last 9 years, (AS A CITY FAN, I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD BE ABLE TO WRITE THAT), ultimately this season now ranks personally last, so near yet so far.
1) 93.20 Aguerooooooo , the most iconic premier league moment EVER!
2) Stevie G and Demba Ba, coming up from behind and snatching the title
3) Centurions .......say no more
4) Fourmidables ......... ditto
5) this season, title sewn up by March /April, almost seemed to discard FA Cup, and gifted wins at the Etihad, to the rags, Leeds, and psychologically boosting Chelsea, all in pursuit of the Champions League. It was clearly our
priority, and a price i suspect we were all prepared to pay, had yesterday gone differently. but............
I'VE ALWAYS SAID, AND ALWAYS WILL, THE LEAGUE IS / SHOULD BE OUR PRIORITY.
So i do care, (i am gutted, but surprisingly not as much as previous times), i don't agree with Pep's selection and tactics, but he is the manager, and i always accept his decisions, just think where we would have been without him.
Again, as others have posted, felt so sorry for Sergio, he deserved better, an absolute legend, never to be forgotten, and unlikely to ever be equalled!
So, plenty of time to put it right, roll on next season, and to quote League winning Stevie G (lol) "We go again"
Like many on here, our line up when it was announced worried me, for all the reasons others have posted, primarily making changes to include Sterling, and the lack of a defensive midfielder to protect the space in front of the back 4. The old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind, and the team and tactics that had served us so well against Dortmund and PSG , should have been our goto yesterday.
Painfully remembering the Liverpool and Spurs defeats, terrible refereeing / Var decisions / red card / penalty, would have hurt a lot more, and would take a lot more accepting. The referee was poor, but he is not the reason we lost.
Strangely, i actually think losing on penalties would have been worse, as i would have been unable to stop myself from looking back at individual moments over the 120 minutes, and thinking what if?
Equally being absolutely battered, (we weren't) would have also been worse.
So sadly, i can accept, that Chelsea played better than us, and deserved to win, however the team selection, and by definition tactics, left me with a distinct impression that our defeat was largely self inflicted. I don't think its arrogant, to believe, (and the league table backs me up) ,that we are the better side, we just weren't yesterday.
THAT HURTS !!
Don't know if this is slightly controversial, but of our 5 Premier League wins in the last 9 years, (AS A CITY FAN, I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD BE ABLE TO WRITE THAT), ultimately this season now ranks personally last, so near yet so far.
1) 93.20 Aguerooooooo , the most iconic premier league moment EVER!
2) Stevie G and Demba Ba, coming up from behind and snatching the title
3) Centurions .......say no more
4) Fourmidables ......... ditto
5) this season, title sewn up by March /April, almost seemed to discard FA Cup, and gifted wins at the Etihad, to the rags, Leeds, and psychologically boosting Chelsea, all in pursuit of the Champions League. It was clearly our
priority, and a price i suspect we were all prepared to pay, had yesterday gone differently. but............
I'VE ALWAYS SAID, AND ALWAYS WILL, THE LEAGUE IS / SHOULD BE OUR PRIORITY.
So i do care, (i am gutted, but surprisingly not as much as previous times), i don't agree with Pep's selection and tactics, but he is the manager, and i always accept his decisions, just think where we would have been without him.
Again, as others have posted, felt so sorry for Sergio, he deserved better, an absolute legend, never to be forgotten, and unlikely to ever be equalled!
So, plenty of time to put it right, roll on next season, and to quote League winning Stevie G (lol) "We go again"
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