Juventus (A) | CL | Post Match Thread

Apart from the injuries and lack of confidence the set up is all wrong.
One side we Kyle trying to overlap and on the other we have a winger isolated due to the fullback playing inside.
No service is being provided at all to Haaland and you can see his frustration.
No legs in midfield means we’re pressed and over run time and time again and this in turn leads to the defence being shaky as fuck.

I’d rather have seen Pussey in defence last night next to Dias with Gvardiol at left back. Bernardo next to Gundogan, Kev at 10 with Jack on the left and either of the other 2 on the right.

Dreading Sunday, could be 5-1 either way as both are shit at the back. Thing is they’ll only need 5 shots for their 5 we’d need 200.
 
eyalluvitt said:
The fact he keeps saying we played good and were unlucky is mental , we can see with our own eyes we are miles off it
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He doesn’t believe that at all.

Probably pissed and annoyed like the rest of us at the players and the board and himself.

He will need to start dropping them if he is keeping the same system. Which I don’t see why we won’t.

The club is stuck in the mud. Keep on going.
 
Gone for a Burton said:
The new recruits will have to have an immediate impact in a shot team.....thats not easy when many players have taken a season to bed into a great,winning team !!
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Nothing in elite sport is easy to stay at or near the top year in year out and we will only truly I think appreciate what we have done since RM took over the at the helm and the Pep era once we do remerge from the inevitable slide that was going to happen when you have such success over a sustained period of time and basically avoid a root and branch overhaul over a few windows.

Look at the NFL and how the great winning sides of the Steelers , the 49'ers , The Cowboys and the Patriots have fared once their dynasties ended.

But we are despite the criticisms and some justifiably so in our transfer activity are a well run club now and our owners want success as much as we do whether you have followed the club albeit it from afar as I have for over 50 years now staying up all hours of the night week in week out through good times and not so good times almost always not so good times for most of that time or just jumped on board.

If I have learnt one thing at all in the crazy world of being a sports fan over many sports and a crazy one at that is that patience is a virtue and that you must cherish every memory as all things pass but tomorrow is another day.

Liverpool had to wait 30 years between drinks , Arsenal are still waiting since the Wenger era and Manure might be a while yet before they collect number 21.

I never thought we would pass the likes of Everton , Chelsea and Aston Villa in my lifetime for titles but we have.

It is a decline of significant proportions this season to date , we haven't been anywhere near the level we have been overall in Europe and at home under Pep but we will get through it eventually and be stronger for it.

I think it has a way to go unfortunately but this side has proved me wrong before.
 
East Level 2 said:
The big problem for me is that the signs were showing last season, and four in a row papered over some obvious cracks.
We were ahead three times at Stamford Bridge but drew 4-4, we were twice ahead against Spurs but drew 3-3, and we were two up v Palace and only drew 2-2. Other examples of poor results are available.
Conceding the lead so often was unheard of for most of the previous 12 seasons, so what was going on and why wasn't it addressed? The only decent chance we created in the cup final was the cock-up that led to the rags first goal, but our players were pissed and it kept Ten Bob in place so ho, ho, ho. We aren't laughing now.
We're over-reliant on Haaland for goals as we Grealish, Savinho, Nunes and Doku generate few goals and assists. Sane and Sterling may have been frustrating at times but offered much more than their replacements.
This isn't entirely a 2024-25 problem, it's been brewing for a while, and a major component of the problem is that the academy is producing too many players Pep won't use.
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Yeah, I agree with most of this amidst the more bonkers stuff kicking around the forum. I still don't know how we won the league last season, I thought we were poor for long spells and never really obviously clicked into gear on the pitch, admittedly putting a run of games together the end being a testament to the manager and team's spirit and knowhow that only gets you so far. That Aston Villa game this time last year was a real warning, I felt. A fitter, hungrier, more aggressive team that knew had to deal with us.

Quite how the club thought the next rebuild needed to happen next summer rather than last summer is a question that will need answering at some point. Presumably a mix of Pep not knowing what he was up to, Txiki leaving, and 115 being up in the air, and a bit of complacently that you could go to the well one last time.

I trust Pep and the club to work it out. It's just going to be a long season to get there.
 
That video knocking around of Gundogan tracking back isn't good to look at.

Pep has a lot of work to do.
 
Brightwell Bros. said:
Yeah, I agree with most of this amidst the more bonkers stuff kicking around the forum. I still don't know how we won the league last season, I thought we were poor for long spells and never really obviously clicked into gear on the pitch, admittedly putting a run of games together the end being a testament to the manager and team's spirit and knowhow that only gets you so far. That Aston Villa game this time last year was a real warning, I felt. A fitter, hungrier, more aggressive team that knew had to deal with us.

Quite how the club thought the next rebuild needed to happen next summer rather than last summer is a question that will need answering at some point. Presumably a mix of Pep not knowing what he was up to, Txiki leaving, and 115 being up in the air, and a bit of complacently that you could go to the well one last time.

I trust Pep and the club to work it out. It's just going to be a long season to get there.
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All points to take into consideration , it might take a couple of seasons , it might take longer.

I am not so concerned about the impact of missing out on Chumps League as some are alluding to.

Sides like Chelsea and Liverpool and Arsenal have boomeranged in and out of the competition and it hasn't meant they are cactus for years to come both in the league and in Europe.
 
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Some of the team maybe getting old & past it plus the injuries we are getting are not helping.
But some of this is also on Pg & his coaching staff, what are they doing in training to sort things out ?
The constant interchanging all over of positions in midfield & defence is madness .
The high line defending is leaving us wide open to be ripped to pieces on the counter attack .
Keep the defence in their positions ,a solid foundation with Gundo ( if he has to play ) sat in front of them pulling the strings ,not running about all over the place chasing shadows in his lead boots .
 
argyle said:
Inevitable we'd get injuries, the club can't forsee a season ending injury to the world's best player and that player being the key to everything in the side.
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Very important player, but we're not a one man team. It's a serious flaw if any side is created in that manner.
 
inchy14 said:
Apart from the injuries and lack of confidence the set up is all wrong.
One side we Kyle trying to overlap and on the other we have a winger isolated due to the fullback playing inside.
No service is being provided at all to Haaland and you can see his frustration.
No legs in midfield means we’re pressed and over run time and time again and this in turn leads to the defence being shaky as fuck.

I’d rather have seen Pussey in defence last night next to Dias with Gvardiol at left back. Bernardo next to Gundogan, Kev at 10 with Jack on the left and either of the other 2 on the right.

Dreading Sunday, could be 5-1 either way as both are shit at the back. Thing is they’ll only need 5 shots for their 5 we’d need 200.
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Can see pep going back to basics Sunday total control

Jack and bernie wide
Gundo kovacic kdb in the middle. Might be a painful watch.
 
mcfcbill91 said:
Gundogan is right - we're doing 90% of what we need to do and getting caught out.

Haaland should score first half and the first goal contains another error.

There was no need to play quicker etc, we created sufficient openings to score. It's just a fraction or so off. Juventus played it tight and took their opening - Haaland and Doku need to get an understanding as it has cost us again.

But as ever, how we attack is how we defend. The second goal is a poor give away and then panicked running that leaves a gap for Danilo to pass into, from there we're in trouble.

The only difference I would make is calming the press down. I'm convinced the high press era of football is coming to an end, with teams & systems better suited against it. A majority of the PL teams are now more of a threat when they have less possession.
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1733998900974.png

This is a clear example of the issue in attack.

Doku plays this into the middle of the goal, if Haaland makes his usual back post run it's a tap in. 1-1.

Haaland makes a rare run at the near post and the ball runs across the face and away.


This is the defence for the second goal

1733999116197.png

The player closest to the referee receives the pass - if Rico and Gvardiol maintain their positions it's dealt with. Yet Rico runs toward Weah at the back and Gvardiol is left in no mans land. Gundogan could possibly deal with the central player too.

It's these small decisions that make the difference, especially in tight margin games that we're in.

A fundamental issue would be Juventus having this situation repeatedly - it was once, but once is enough if our decision making is off. We created the top situation 5 or 6 times last night but didn't benefit.
 
Ok, finally seen the goals back, and our chances.
Two things that are absolutely staring the team and manager in the face.

i. Rico puts a ball through to Erling. Ok, it's no David Silva ball, he puts it a bit too wide, and it's got too much weight on it, but the idea is basically good. I'm not asking Rico to be Merlin. Erling has to go very wide, and by the time he's on to it, he's too close to the byline. Very tight angle, he does what he can. But here was the glaring thing — at that point, we had three players actually beyond the box, Jack, Kev and Rico. Absolutely nobody had followed up. Erling was alone in the entire penalty area — well, accompanied by four or five Juventus players. If the keeper had made a hash of it, parried it, fumbled it, always possible, there was no danger whatsoever because nobody was on the follow-up.
What on earth is going on with this team? Sergio never had to work alone like that.

ii. The two goals. Sorry, but monumental cock-ups. They're not great goals, they are lousy defending. I know how to distinguish between the two, and I give the opposition generous credit when it's due. Ed parries away a shot that's straight at him. Already not very good. It goes out wide, Walker starts to make a run to block the cross, then checks. Halfway house. Second problem. Cross comes in and guess what? There are three City players in the six-yard area, plus the keeper. One Juve player — and he scores. One against four. Rico is a midget, he's never going to win a header in the area. Gvardiol absolutely should be getting that ball, or Ed should be shouting and coming for it. Run-of-the-mill clean-up normally. Second goal. Worse if that's possible. Rico is making a gesture to Gvardiol to go to cover the Juve player out wide, but hesitating, because he's not sure that Gvardiol has picked up his gesture, where he should be going over to deal with the midfielder, who is in interstellar amounts of space. The final result is that Rico and Josko end up within literally five yards of each other, both the Juve winger and the midfielder have acres in front of them. Neither's been covered, neither's been dealt with.
What on earth is going on? It's simply not a team at present. If a team is eleven players working for each other, it's not a team. It is as simple as that.
 
Last night’s performance fell short of our very high standards of recent years but was not humiliating (like Spurs at the Etihad). At times we played well and losing 2-0 at Juventus is not a disgrace. So our unbeaten three-match run came to an end, some of the comments posted in the emotion of last night were a disgrace. For me, when I see our lads labour and struggle then lose, I love them even more !
We have an opportunity on Sunday to ease our pain, I hope and expect that we take it.
 
argyle said:
The club couldn't foresee a season ending injury to Rodri nor a bad injury to Bobb.

Coupled with KDB being out of most of the season so far, plus the same for Foden.

We've also been missing most of our defenders.
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Yes, and this is not an excuse. Its a fact.
Having to play players when not fully fit also.
KDB would play once a week if Foden was fit, which he hasn't been for most of the season. With a defensive midfielder beside him, Gundo would be able to play his real game, which is arriving late into the box. It will help a little when Kova is back.
Bobb would have been Alvarez's replacement.
Pep has been given a real tough ask with all of the above problems.
 
mcfcbill91 said:
View attachment 140419

This is a clear example of the issue in attack.

Doku plays this into the middle of the goal, if Haaland makes his usual back post run it's a tap in. 1-1.

Haaland makes a rare run at the near post and the ball runs across the face and away.


This is the defence for the second goal

View attachment 140420

The player closest to the referee receives the pass - if Rico and Gvardiol maintain their positions it's dealt with. Yet Rico runs toward Weah at the back and Gvardiol is left in no mans land. Gundogan could possibly deal with the central player too.

It's these small decisions that make the difference, especially in tight margin games that we're in.

A fundamental issue would be Juventus having this situation repeatedly - it was once, but once is enough if our decision making is off. We created the top situation 5 or 6 times last night but didn't benefit.
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Just read your post, but after posting mine. (I was so incensed by what I saw, that I posted in the heat of the moment). A lot of the things we're saying are very similar.
 
mcfcbill91 said:
View attachment 140419

This is a clear example of the issue in attack.

Doku plays this into the middle of the goal, if Haaland makes his usual back post run it's a tap in. 1-1.

Haaland makes a rare run at the near post and the ball runs across the face and away.


This is the defence for the second goal

View attachment 140420

The player closest to the referee receives the pass - if Rico and Gvardiol maintain their positions it's dealt with. Yet Rico runs toward Weah at the back and Gvardiol is left in no mans land. Gundogan could possibly deal with the central player too.

It's these small decisions that make the difference, especially in tight margin games that we're in.

A fundamental issue would be Juventus having this situation repeatedly - it was once, but once is enough if our decision making is off. We created the top situation 5 or 6 times last night but didn't benefit.
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That remains a confidence thing. The players will be well aware of how easily we can be countered and they're panicking about the space and not doing the sensible thing and blocking potential passes. Rico is sprinting to get back into a defensive line, when he'd be better identifying where the ball was likely to go and looking to block that player. And the same goes for Gundogan. He's dropping off to mark space and he's often letting the man disappear past him or somewhere else. That's where we really miss Rodri. He trusts the defence to mark the runners and he makes sure to either block the pass or he goes and picks up someone who is in a position to receive the ball.
 
supercity88 said:
That remains a confidence thing. The players will be well aware of how easily we can be countered and they're panicking about the space and not doing the sensible thing and blocking potential passes. Rico is sprinting to get back into a defensive line, when he'd be better identifying where the ball was likely to go and looking to block that player. And the same goes for Gundogan. He's dropping off to mark space and he's often letting the man disappear past him or somewhere else. That's where we really miss Rodri. He trusts the defence to mark the runners and he makes sure to either block the pass or he goes and picks up someone who is in a position to receive the ball.
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Lewis/Gundog have no defensive awareness, full stop
 
Rory Bluelow said:
Last night’s performance fell short of our very high standards of recent years but was not humiliating (like Spurs at the Etihad). At times we played well and losing 2-0 at Juventus is not a disgrace. So our unbeaten three-match run came to an end, some of the comments posted in the emotion of last night were a disgrace. For me, when I see our lads labour and struggle then lose, I love them even more !
We have an opportunity on Sunday to ease our pain, I hope and expect that we take it.
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Funnily enough, the most humiliating result recently, for me, was not a defeat (and I was in my seat for the Spurs match). It was the draw with Feyenoord. That was absolutely abject. As far back as I can remember, and my memories go back to the sixties, I can't think of a City team that I've seen do that. There must be several, but I haven't seen them. It was nothing short of criminal. Two points utterly thrown into the bin. The defeat last night would hurt, but would look fairly different without that one.
 
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