Lyon (H) - Post Match Thread

[noblelord]

Just watched the game. Really disappointing we were slow ponderous and sloppy. We need to get back to basics against Cardiff

 

[Craig]

Dreadful first half last night collectively. Not even the simple things were being done right. And Delph at LB ? Let's just put it down to a bad day at the office for him but clearly we need proper cover there. He is not the answer. The stadium was like a morgue from the get go and that doesn't help. We didn't gee the lads up and they provided sod all spark for us. But onwards and upwards. We get back on track against Cardiff and Hoffenheim will take care of itself......

Delph was absolutely brilliant in a team that broke all the records last year but after one bad game he's not the answer? Nice one

 

[supercity88]

It showed again why we have reason to be concerned with this City squad. The lack of mobility in midfield means far less talented sides can simply run through us. Liverpool will tear us to pieces with the way we play at the moment. We are making mistakes as we did in our first season under Pep and Fernandinho cannot control an entire midfield on his own. With De Bruyne in there we have another energetic player who will close down and track back. With Gundogan I am not sure what we have at the moment. He has been beyond woeful. No desire to press and no influence on the game. You expect both from him but we need at least one.

Bernardo was much better when in the middle and Sane pegged their full back. But we still didn't pick the right option or show enough patience to score the equaliser. Delph shooting numerous times without success. We shouldn't be resorting to long range shots.

We created enough to win the game but cannot expect to win things if we are making mistakes in the defensive half. We will end up being punished.

Foden should be getting game time. He has the pace and energy to ease the burden on Fernandinho. He can control the game and keep the ball moving like De Bruyne. Now is the time we should test him and get him involved. Particularly when Gundogan is in shite form.

Or use Delph or Danilo in the holding role as cover for Ferny. We need to buy in Jan to help ease that burden. Gabby is also in a bad spell. He needs a goal big time. He is not linking up anywhere near as well as he did last season. He is miles behind Aguero right now.

 

[yerwot?]

That looked suspiciously like the Wigan fiasco, with a touch of 8-1 thrown in. Players have a dip in form for reasons such as "trying too hard or confidence crisis" . Not contagious surely. To go from one of the best ( fkit, the best) exponent of teamwork into a bunch of individuals .............

 

[hammocity]

Let's get Bernardo in the middle.

Let's get Leroy and Sterling back where they belong.

Let's get Mahrez in the ten role and give poor Dave a rest.

Bang on pal, exactly this, Mahrez is not a winger.

 

[stonerblue]

I’m not patronising, merely pointing out some people can’t wait to have a moan. We see it in all walks of life, not just football, but moaning City fans should conduct an head wobbling exercise, a few years ago City in the CL? We need to take defeat with humility and understand for whatever reason sometimes we get beaten amd outplayed by a better team on the night.

Afuckinmen to that. Some right smacked arses on here.

 

[Akira]

I think one thing that emerged from last night, in addition to the players playing crap, is Arteta is not Pep's successor. He is far too quiet and lacks the motivational skills to change things

Tbf, I think it's still too early to tell.

 

[Manchester1894]

The balance of that team was wrong from the off. Think I saw Delph passed it 107 times and Gundogan 40. That stat should be the other way around. I don't lay the blame at either player but the management. We got it wrong end of. 22 shots is a misleading stat too. It felt like every shot was a speculative one from either Delph or Fernandinho. It wasn't the worst performance. I bet the neutral couldn't believe we'd lost, but off nights happen.

 

[City Man]

Said it last night but still think the same, on recent games it looks like we've made the same mistake as the last 2 times we won the league and not strengthened and freshened the squad in the summer.

Not bringing in a DM was a major mistake.

Absolutely bang on Sir.
After a successful season our club badge should be a bunch of laurel leaves with a fat ass sitting on them.
There's simply no impetus there. Our passing is laboured, too many touches and our ball recovery seems much less industrious.
We can argue the transfer window until the cows come home, but fresh faces and hunger added to an already successful team would have pushed us on.
However, hopefully some personal reflection and pride will emerge from this.

We're missing out on target players because we seem to be adopting a moral high ground about paying what's needed to get them meaning we get gazumped by other clubs. We've missed out on Jorginho Van Dijk and Pogba (who knows what he would've been like under Pep) for that reason. Liverpool paid over the odds for Van Dijk but I don't hear anyone saying they've wasted their money.

 

[CityPar]

Delph was absolutely brilliant in a team that broke all the records last year but after one bad game he's not the answer? Nice one

Hence why I said a bad DAY the office. He's not the LONG TERM answer for LB. Plain as day. He is for me a natural successor for Fernandinho. The sooner we sort that out the better. Ferni needs help/rest.

 

[Father Paul]

Delph was absolutely brilliant in a team that broke all the records last year but after one bad game he's not the answer? Nice one

I thought he played well against Fulham too. He is more than adequate cover imo although it was a bad mistake for the goal. The problems are elsewhere methinks with about 3 obvious areas to fix if we are to go further in the CL this year and retain our crown. Some of these problems perhaps may not be fixed in the short term but time will tell.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Most of the team were poor last night & the tactical shape also fell apart.

When Pep came here, he discovered that we needed more pace & at times physical size, atheleticism & youth, in the defence in particular & brought in the players to give us those options.

For us to maintain & improve, unless we spew all the cups & just go for the title, we need to bring more of that into the midfield.

Imo we have dodged a bullet with Jorginho. Another slow, pass recycling weakling, will not prevent the kind of thing we saw last night. All players get caught out, trying passes in tight spots, no matter how good or clever they are.

Having more pace to run away from it & more athleticism to recover it, minimises the risk when it goes wrong.

The energy of players like Foden, would help the current bunch rest more, by decreasing their workload, but we had Fernandinho legging it about at fullback weekend, instead.

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

Cant remember our players having that many touches before passing the ball for years. We were so slow, nothing incisive and poor movement. Very bad day at the office last night. We were so different to how we generally play Im sure it was just an abberation and nothing to be too concerned about. We need to get Foden in and playing much more to take the pressure of Ferna, and I am a bit worried about Jesus as it isnt good for strikers to be struggling for goals for too long. We are really missing KdB, but we have got to get over that and play without him. It may not be a bad thing to have a performance like that to focus that the minds. Im sure it wont be repeated, it was that bad all round I dont expect it will hppen again

 

[K.Reeves right foot]

I’m not patronising, merely pointing out some people can’t wait to have a moan. We see it in all walks of life, not just football, but moaning City fans should conduct an head wobbling exercise, a few years ago City in the CL? We need to take defeat with humility and understand for whatever reason sometimes we get beaten amd outplayed by a better team on the night.

I doubt those people wanted to have a moan for the sake of it, theyd much prefer a good performance and 3 points like the rest of us.
As for us not being in the CL a few years ago, true, but now we are, and have been for many years and we have owners who are providing all the necessary means to win it. That performance last night was a shock to us all but yeah it can happen and only in hindsignt will we be able to see it as either a blip in an otherwise succesful season or something worse. Time will tell. There are certain things that do need addressing though which are being repeated time after time which ive mentioned earlier. As we have more success as we have been, our expectations go higher, when we have a manager like pep our expectations go higher, thats normal. So we criticise when its due and praise in equal measure when its due. Otherwise itd be pointless having a forum.

 

[Mon Autre]

We looked off the pace last night and lacked intensity. That said, I do think the match reports and the fans are going slightly overboard about just how bad we were (and also how well Lyon played). Lyon's two goals came from two ridiculously sloppy mistakes. We handed them that victory. We were sloppy throughout and looked short on ideas at times, but we battered them in that second half. It was an off day but i'm not sure we were as abject as some are suggesting.

Main things I would take away from this:
1) Fernandinho needs to be well rested and used sparingly. Thought it was stupid on Saturday leaving him on the pitch for so long and especially to play in a position he is not suited to.
2) Obviously we missed KDB too, he is potentially the difference between playing badly and still winning.
3) We have enough wide options without needing to shoehorn Bernardo into the team by playing him on the right. He's shown his future with us is in the middle so keep playing him there.
4) Jesus had zero service last night. People might have their own views about how well he's progressing but a game last night isn't one i'd use as a measure. Aguero has often been left isolated and ineffectual in games like that where the overall team performance lacked any cutting edge.

 

[K.Reeves right foot]

Most of the team were poor last night & the tactical shape also fell apart.

When Pep came here, he discovered that we needed more pace & at times physical size, atheleticism & youth, in the defence in particular & brought in the players to give us those options.

For us to maintain & improve, unless we spew all the cups & just go for the title, we need to bring more of that into the midfield.

Imo we have dodged a bullet with Jorginho. Another slow, pass recycling weakling, will not prevent the kind of thing we saw last night. All players get caught out, trying passes in tight spots, no matter how good or clever they are.

Having more pace to run away from it & more athleticism to recover it, minimises the risk when it goes wrong.

The energy of players like Foden, would help the current bunch rest more, by decreasing their workload, but we had Fernandinho legging it about at fullback weekend, instead.

Completely agree with that, ive seen him most games for Chelsea and a few for Napoli and he is so risk averse its untrue. A hundred 3 yard passses per game isnt what we need. Cant help thinking a certain ex-player currently at Liverpool is what we could do with for the more tricky games. Or someone similar if thats to much to stomach!

 

[ancoats]

am not going to pick out anybody and you win and lose as a team, it was always going to happen and i had said it before the fulham game we are starting to talk and act like billy big bollocks, i truly believe that winning the league like we did with the 100 points would be a major stone around the team neck for a long time, and fans have jumped early on the bandwagon thinking we are untouchable and we are going to beat everybody

for me last night should be the wake up call to everybody (club and fans) we can not stand still and look at what we did and think we will get respect from the others, they are after us and every tom dick and harry want a bit of us to show they can beat us and become a major scalp in there back pockets

the one thing i did pick on last night was the lack of firepower in front of goal ?? we never looked like we had goals in the team and the need for another top draw striker was clear and jesus and aguero can not run the lines all season between themselves. sterling and sane are not strikers and both silva's and KDB will not be in the 20 goals a season and riyad mahrez needs a GPS to find the goals, so something pep and city need to look at if we want to play to win in all competitions

am not being all doom and gloom we are still a amazing team and i will never complain in what we have at manchester city and its dreamland, but sometimes a nightmare pops up and you weak up and smell the coffee and i hate coffee

 

[lionheart]

My worries started when I saw both Kompany AND Otamendi on the bench with no full back in reserve. If Walker had taken a knock, we would have been truly stuffed. Danilo and/or Zivchenko should have been on the bench rather than two centre halves. It shows a lack of respect for the opposition.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Completely agree with that, ive seen him most games for Chelsea and a few for Napoli and he is so risk averse its untrue. A hundred 3 yard passses per game isnt what we need. Cant help thinking a certain ex-player currently at Liverpool is what we could do with for the more tricky games. Or someone similar if thats to much to stomach!

Imo, we have already seen this problem in the past with Fern trying to babysit Yaya week in week out.

KDB at times moving deep, enabled us to do it last season & we look much better currently when Bernardo goes in there. But imo we are already not making best use of the resources we do have, by not getting Foden involved more & getting Silva & Fern off the pitch & by the way we have underused Sané.

It's not that much of a problem imo provided we realise there is one, & start to do something to fix it. We don't need the perfect midfield in most games, in order to win. In some though,, we need everyone at 100%.

Last weekend's bizarre subs, 3-0 up v a wide open Fulham team, was a waste of time imo.

 

[uwe rosler 28]

Absolute garbage last night the players looked disinterested maybe didn't like being bollocked after playing well against Fulham. Bernardo for me can't play on the right at home it's too tight mahrez doesn't look half the player he was at Leicester and is scared of making mistakes the 2 center backs were all over the place positionally.every time we play a team that is quick to press our midfield 3 we struggle after watching the hoffeinhiam game I can see us being bottom with 2 losses on the board a shame as we are going to have to go full strength now in every game I was hoping we could get rest into key players last 2 group matches.