It hasn't upset me as much as I thought I would

[The perfect fumble]

I am arsed and I am not, I am bothered and I am not. I went into the game not expecting to win, I do believe Chelsea are a fantastic side and defensively as good as it gets. So i was not surprised we lost, that does not make it any easier but it makes it bearable. Being a blue is about a life of disappointments and we have had many, so i am not going to get over bothered about losing a CL final, a CL final i never once in my life expected us to be in. I was more bothered about losing the FA Cup semi final, because that is the trophy I want us to win every year more than any other.

I also believe we have been systematically set up to fail, the media wanted us to fail, because out media loving bigging things up and there is copy in failure. They over hyped us all season when any one with a sense of realism knew winning 4 trophies was virtually impossible, trebles are very rare, doubles are not common.

We have had a great season, yes we could maybe have won more, but I am happy with two trophies and the experience of losing a CL final will make us stronger and next year hopefully we will be in St Petersburg lifting the trophy.

At the moment we are best team in England, the second best in Europe, if you had told me that 20 years ago I would have thought your bats had flown your belfry.

This takes me back to my student days.

Since the final whistle blew we've seen hundreds of pages of cognitive dissonance. Anxiety caused by the gulf between what we want and what we have.

What you've outlined is the perfect coping mechanism, you've created a bridging cognition between what you wanted and what you got, and in so doing you've reconciled your longing that we won with the reality that we lost.

 

[argyle]

Still pissed off.

Pep fucked it up again when it mattered most. Completely unnecessary too.

The feeling will subside when the league starts again.

 

[inbetween]

Don't forget Chelsea lost a final to United and then they eventually won it against Bayern a few years later. Liverpool did the same, they lost to Madrid and then beat Spurs the year after.

As much as we want to win, at this level we need to get used to losing sometimes too. I'm not disappointed because we've had a great season and 20+ years on from the play off final I never thought we'd goto places like Madrid, Dortmund and PSG and win but we have done the last couple of years.

Pep has already said he's going to go home, rest and come back to make city the best team ever (as if we aren't already) so that'll do for me.

 

[coolcity]

No it’s not, the team selection was everything last night. Gundo has been one of our main goal threats this season yet he was asked to play in a position that hasn’t played in for two years. It left our back four terribly exposed to the counter, Fern playing there like he did against PSG would have provided better protection. Phil Foden has been brilliant on the left all season and would in a lot of City fans and pundits opinion gave James a lot more to think about the Raz did who I think we all agree has been below par this season. So the one change affected the whole balance of the side. Why change what had been working just fine in the other rounds. I’m not a Pep out City fan but I think that he needs calling out on that team selection last night just like he was questioned after Lyon last season and Spurs the season before that.

In my opinion he changed it because Chelsea knew how we play. He knows that Tuchel is an excellent technician. The disappointing thing here is everyone's talking as though it's an exact science. Never has been and never will be, if it were that simple we'd all be rich from betting on certain results. It doesn't work that way.

 

[coolcity]

Just very disappointed we didn’t show up and do our thing , control of the midfield is Pep’s usual mantra. Why he didn’t is genius if we win and idiotic if we lose. Not even a ridiculous Red card or bizzare VAR call to blame this time. Just lost to a very well coached 800 million pound team.

Exactly this. I'm stunned at how naive so many people are to think that if we'd played the DM we'd have won, as if it were that simple. There's a reason why he's a world class football coach and we're not.

 

[coolcity]

Chelsea are an average side with a good manager.
Whoever we come up against in future finals will almost certainly be stronger.
So very much an opportunity missed.

An average side doesn't make the top 4, FAC final and CL final. Not even close.

 

[Mattyc55]

Still feel like shit.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

I’m fortunate enough that defeats have never got to me as much as most other supporters, especially cup finals which don’t have as profound effect on the following season as relegations.

We had a great run to the final, with some incredible nights along the way. Much like I view our journey to Wembley in 1981 with great fondness, I guess.

We’ve had a brilliant season, won the league, had an incredible run of victories (which became increasingly intoxicating the longer it went on) and have lost a CL final to a team that was discernibly better on the night. I can definitely live with that.

This period in our history won’t last forever; nothing does and I’ve been determined since 2008 to make the most of this gift we’ve been given as City fans and accept that we can’t win everything.

Losing a CL final, against the backdrop of where we find ourselves, for me, is pretty easy to take. Shit happens, but it happens to us less than for pretty much any group of supporters in the land, and that’s good enough for me.

 

[The perfect fumble]

Well said lads. What it is to be a blue....

 

[argyle]

Exactly this. I'm stunned at how naive so many people are to think that if we'd played the DM we'd have won, as if it were that simple. There's a reason why he's a world class football coach and we're not.

Its true there's no guarantee we would have won. We'll never know.

However he sent the team out completely hollow with no defensive midfield against a team with Kante in it and with players completely baffled of what to do.

Not just that, it's that he left it and didnt change it when it was clear to everyone that it wasn't working.