Leverkusen (H) | CL | Post Match Thread

No denying it, terrible selection. Quick scan on here this morning and everyones fucking shit! and Pep needs to go
I did say in a post on here that for the first time tonight I feel like Pep and City should part ways.

Nothing wrong with having that opinion with how we have been playing for the last 18 months and no signs of improvement.

If people think that this group of players are playing for their manager then I must be watching something completely different to everyone else.

The recruitment has been absolutely abysmal for a couple of years now, also players maybe need new ideas from another manager to freshen things up and give everyone a lift.
 
Its all been said, wont repeat, also hammers home how shite recruitment has been for a few years now.

Pretty much every player that has come in isnt as good as the one they replaced and weve ended up with a very average squad.
The fact that its an average league means we will probably scrape top 4 again.

The Jan 25 window was one of utter panic, only one in Nico looks like he might be ok , but the juries out with him.
But i understand that panic at that time.

Was so hopeful for the summer window but we have ended up with a LB who cant get a game over a 19 year old, a midfielder in rjeinders who looks mentally weak and soft and chirki who shows very rare glimpses of talent.

We now have a situation that despite a rebuild having taken place, we still need a rebuild!!

It was awesome whilst it lasted, but we are some years away from challenging again and if arsenal dont win it this year then they never will!!!
My concern now is that we will go into a perpetual rebuild like United. As others have said we are a million miles from where we want to be and the fall off has been dramatic. The only saving grace is I don’t think there is anyone like us from 10
Years ago to fill the void left by us now who will outright dominate and stop us returning to the top in time.
 
couldn’t make game because wasn’t well thank fuck
Talk about putting pressure on ourselves there was absolutely no need for that I wouldn’t be comfortable with that amount of changes versus Lincoln let alone a top side in Europe so got to blame Pep for that
 
I think anyone who is willing to see anything beyond blind faith knew what was likely to happen last night, after all it's not the first time. I think I get what Pep was trying to do, ie rest players for "harder" matches coming up, but his faith in a number of players is sadly misplaced. Add in that the ones he has been able to trust in the past (Ake, Stones and even Marmoush and Lewis to some degree) are for one reason or another not the players they were (or in Lewis case promised they might become).

I've argued before that we're not a great team anymore and last night summed up why. A great team would have overcome the difficulties caused by the changes, or at least had a bloody good go. Our "B" team couldn't do that.

Many have commented on how poor our recruitment has been over the last 2 or 3 years and it's hard to disagree, however when you look at the calibre of those we've had to replace, Kev, Silva, Aguero, Mahrez and going a bit further back Sane, Sterling, Fern, then its easy to see why. Replacing that level of player is almost impossible. Rodri for Fern, Haaland for Aguero and thats about all we've come close to.

Not sure what the answer is, because finding that calibre of player is not easy, but I'm pretty sure replacing the best manager in the world isn't the answer
 
Seems a concern the confidence level and/or attitude of the squad is in a bad place. So many players 'need time' and look bereft of confidence on the ball.

Leverkusen bullied us in the first half. We certainly upped the tempo in the 2nd half and had plenty of attacking intent, but it was scattergun, and we still lost the half 0-1.

All in all a horrible flashback to pretty much 1 year ago.
 
Our midfield appears very weak at the moment with no Rodders or Kova to assist.

No one good enough to help out Nico G, it’s a big problem.
 
I did say in a post on here that for the first time tonight I feel like Pep and City should part ways.

Nothing wrong with having that opinion with how we have been playing for the last 18 months and no signs of improvement.

If people think that this group of players are playing for their manager then I must be watching something completely different to everyone else.

The recruitment has been absolutely abysmal for a couple of years now, also players maybe need new ideas from another manager to freshen things up and give everyone a lift.
Make your mind up, is pep not up to it or is the recruitment no good.

How morons like you can claim that pep has “lost it” whilst acknowledging the level of player available isn’t good enough makes no sense.

Team selection last night is a separate issue and a strange one as you would have thought go for the win last night and perhaps rest when can further on and potentially avoid another round.
 
My concern now is that we will go into a perpetual rebuild like United. As others have said we are a million miles from where we want to be and the fall off has been dramatic. The only saving grace is I don’t think there is anyone like us from 10
Years ago to fill the void left by us now who will outright dominate and stop us returning to the top in time.

I think we are in that rebuild perma cycle already.
Name one player that we have bought that is better than the one he replaced in the last few years
 
I think anyone who is willing to see anything beyond blind faith knew what was likely to happen last night, after all it's not the first time. I think I get what Pep was trying to do, ie rest players for "harder" matches coming up, but his faith in a number of players is sadly misplaced. Add in that the ones he has been able to trust in the past (Ake, Stones and even Marmoush and Lewis to some degree) are for one reason or another not the players they were (or in Lewis case promised they might become).

I've argued before that we're not a great team anymore and last night summed up why. A great team would have overcome the difficulties caused by the changes, or at least had a bloody good go. Our "B" team couldn't do that.

Many have commented on how poor our recruitment has been over the last 2 or 3 years and it's hard to disagree, however when you look at the calibre of those we've had to replace, Kev, Silva, Aguero, Mahrez and going a bit further back Sane, Sterling, Fern, then its easy to see why. Replacing that level of player is almost impossible. Rodri for Fern, Haaland for Aguero and thats about all we've come close to.

Not sure what the answer is, because finding that calibre of player is not easy, but I'm pretty sure replacing the best manager in the world isn't the answer

You make a very good point, which I’ve thought often. The players we have brought in aren’t necessarily bad, they just aren’t as good as those they are replacing… but then who is? Who in the world is as good as KDB, Gundo, Dave or Yaya in their prime?

We went for Wirtz, not really done anything.

Rice? Didn’t want to come.
 
Amazing that fans are so blue blinkered they cant see that last night was a disaster

A lot on here seem to fall into two categories according to some posters, the happy clappers or the miserable pessimists. The truth is probably somewhere in-between for the majority. For a lot though it's black and white. Any criticism of Pep or the players, apprehension about an upcoming fixture and you're not a true fan, need to man up, stop being a bed wetter, or any other perceived insult they can throw out there that makes them feel a bigger fan in their own heads.
We're all just fans who follow our team in different ways, some with unrelenting optimism and others with a lot more caution fearing disaster is around the corner waiting to strike. Lets be honest if you've followed this football club for forty years or more you must be suffering from some form of ptsd at some level lol.
 
I think we are in that rebuild perma cycle already.
Name one player that we have bought that is better than the one he replaced in the last few years

Not sure who the players are that are out there that we could have signed though? The quality of some players like KDB and Dave was at a level that just can’t be replaced
 
My reason before the game when that team dropped was pretty much right, after what pep said about players playing a hard game Saturday evening, then players asking for game time plus pep being a bit to nice to the players who have not been getting game time! This for pep is a big plus and a big minus his feelings towards the players, he gets really close to players so close he feels sorry for them when he hasn’t picked them for ages! The other extreme was Mancini who didn’t give a toss if he upset players!

This has worked from pep with a small squad in the past because we had a lot of top quality players, now we have a lot of young project players plus some of the buys haven’t stepped up yet! Riejenders been very poor Marmoush mustn’t be showing anything in training to hardly been picked and looks like he gone backwards last night!

Saying all that just think Leverkuson are a very very good said there possession there pressing there passing out of the back through our press was outstanding… our first team would of struggled as well for me…
 
A lot on here seem to fall into two categories according to some posters, the happy clappers or the miserable pessimists. The truth is probably somewhere in-between for the majority. For a lot though it's black and white. Any criticism of Pep or the players, apprehension about an upcoming fixture and you're not a true fan, need to man up, stop being a bed wetter, or any other perceived insult they can throw out there that makes them feel a bigger fan in their own heads.
We're all just fans who follow our team in different ways, some with unrelenting optimism and others with a lot more caution fearing disaster is around the corner waiting to strike. Lets be honest if you've followed this football club for forty years or more you must be suffering from some form of ptsd at some level lol.
Health warning: supporting manchester city can seriously damage your health
 
Not sure who the players are that are out there that we could have signed though? The quality of some players like KDB and Dave was at a level that just can’t be replaced

Maybe the players just arent out there i agree , but other teams seam to still find a little gem.

Also, other teams spunk huge amounts on shite, a la liverpool
 
You make a very good point, which I’ve thought often. The players we have brought in aren’t necessarily bad, they just aren’t as good as those they are replacing… but then who is? Who in the world is as good as KDB, Gundo, Dave or Yaya in their prime?

We went for Wirtz, not really done anything.

Rice? Didn’t want to come.
Christ I'd forgotten Yaya and Gundog.

We've been truly blessed these last few years, but now we're back in the pack. There are few if any currently playing who can claim to be at the level of those we've lost, and we had 4 or 5of them in the team at the same time
 

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