Manchester City v Celtic post match thread

[simon23]

Result is completely irrelevant but there were some things to notice

Bobb and to a slightly lesser extend Mcatee were very good.

Haaland link up play was good and a good goal

Grealish - looked a lot fitter but he really needs to add end product instead of just being good at retaining possession. His final pass in the attacking third leaves a lot to be desired

Perrone looked good but not sure he will be good enough to break into the first team

Phillips - just aint a city player...his decision making and awareness is just a few seconds too slow and even in a friendly it is so obvious that he just isnt upto scratch.

Ortega - the difference in his distributon compared with Ederson is worrying. He is probably the better shot stopper and you can make the excuse he is playing with a very inexperienced back 4 plus Kalvin Phillips but he kicked the ball straight out of play at least 3 times in the first half when under no pressure.....what we gain in shot stopping we lose in build up play and confidence of the defenders when the Gk has the ball at his feet - losing Ederson (if we do) will out our defenders under a lot more pressure.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

I'm struggling to remember who we played in the USA last Summer as these tours are all a bit samey, and I might be confusing with the previous year.
That's how serious I took last night and it's not as though the previous tours have impacted negatively on the team's performances

Last season was Korea and Japan.
The year before was Houston and Green Bay

 

[Damanino]

I am afraid we can hand over the title to Lego Pep.

 

[hammocity]

I am afraid we can hand over the title to Lego Pep.

Good job you're not an odds compiler.

 

[Kippaxpete]

I am afraid we can hand over the title to Lego Pep.

I hope you're being ironic. Otherwise, the bedwetters have started early this season.

 

[madloaf]

I am afraid we can hand over the title to Lego Pep.

After watching 8 mins of highlights I concur. This team just hasn't got it. Ah well.

 

[Fordyboy46]

Add Ake & Savinho to that list also

Oh aye

 

[SebastianBlue]

I agree with the sentiment behind your post, we need to project a positive image of the club.

I haven't seen the game yet, what were the main issues you had?

My post from the post-match thread sums them up:

Jokes about #PepOut aside, the one real criticism I would levy at last night has nothing to do with the team performance (it was as expected in my mind, and I thought the young lads did fairly well, given the circumstances) and everything to do with the amateurishness of the overall production of the match.

From the prematch coverage (including truly uncomfortable to watch interviews with local fans) to the half-empty stadium (partly due to it being too big for the nature of the match, partly due to the less-than-ideal location for putting on a football match, and partly due to the overpriced tickets) to the sod turf over tarp over Astro turf pitch laid a week ago to pitch mics picking up constant booing of our players (particularly Grealish) on the match broadcast to the truly awful commentators on ESPN that couldn’t even get our players’ names right (and the co-commentator using words like “helper” to describe an assist) to the very difficult to watch post-match interviews, I do hope the club take stock of how badly it was produced. I said in the match thread it reminded of some of the friendlies we had in the late 90s where everything looked to have been arranged the day before.

Most of it was no doubt out of City’s hands and down to the “FC Series” organisers but I don’t think it was a worthy showcase of the club, which is the main point of this sort of friendly, so hopefully Soriano et al take note and avoid this in the future. Or at least give a kick up the arse of the organisers to do better in the future.

Hopefully the next match in NYC will be put on with substantially more polish and professionalism.

Edit: I somehow forgot to mention the officials who were truly woeful, ignoring three penalties for us (two pretty clear ones, the first of which should have seen the Celtic player sent off for DOGSO), one of their goals being given despite being miles offside, numerous wrong decisions for throw ins, and letting the Celtic players continually kick ours (especially toward the end) with nary a stern word.

It’s only a friendly, but add this with all the other issues, and it really made the game feel like an American SoccerAid at times, but with even less polish.

 

[Lowtower]

Was there not a halftime show for this prestigious occasion?!

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

My post from the post-match thread sums them up:


Edit: I somehow forgot to mention the officials who truly woeful.

The 4th official was excellent......