Monaco - Post Match thread.

First half was baffling. For me it was worse than Madrid last year. The energy seemed low, the spirit seemed lacking, the fight didn't seem to be there at all. Second half was much better - well apart from that daft goal conceded !

If it showed one thing then it was that Ferna can't operate as a 'pivot'. I love the guy to bits but that role demands a technical excellence that few have. In our recent run then Yaya has been key and without him we just couldn't control the ball.

In a perverse way it affirms how we have eveolved under Pep. Last year most folks would have hated Yaya being in a "defensive" two; now we miss him as a deep lying one. It had worked because he is so technically good and Pep has got the others into a teamwork mindset - where they are working much harder and more intelligently without the ball.

It's always a sign of how important someone is when they aren't there as not just did we miss Yaya but the players around him, all top quality, didn't rise to the occasion and compensate.

Second half Kev came a bit deeper and thank God managed to get his passing sorted.

I love Pep's approach and care for the game. Reading the books about him then his key player had always been his pivot. I come away from Monaco wondering who on earth he has in mind for this.
 
Bayblue said:
First half was baffling. For me it was worse than Madrid last year. The energy seemed low, the spirit seemed lacking, the fight didn't seem to be there at all. Second half was much better - well apart from that daft goal conceded !

If it showed one thing then it was that Ferna can't operate as a 'pivot'. I love the guy to bits but that role demands a technical excellence that few have. In our recent run then Yaya has been key and without him we just couldn't control the ball.

In a perverse way it affirms how we have eveolved under Pep. Last year most folks would have hated Yaya being in a "defensive" two; now we miss him as a deep lying one. It had worked because he is so technically good and Pep has got the others into a teamwork mindset - where they are working much harder and more intelligently without the ball.

It's always a sign of how important someone is when they aren't there as not just did we miss Yaya but the players around him, all top quality, didn't rise to the occasion and compensate.

Second half Kev came a bit deeper and thank God managed to get his passing sorted.

I love Pep's approach and care for the game. Reading the books about him then his key player had always been his pivot. I come away from Monaco wondering who on earth he has in mind for this.
Click to expand...

The pivot role needs a player that not only is technically good, it also needs a player that is confident in his own ability
bordering on arrogance. Ie he doesn't panic as soon as he sees the shirt of an opponent.
 
Bayblue said:
First half was baffling. For me it was worse than Madrid last year. The energy seemed low, the spirit seemed lacking, the fight didn't seem to be there at all. Second half was much better - well apart from that daft goal conceded !

If it showed one thing then it was that Ferna can't operate as a 'pivot'. I love the guy to bits but that role demands a technical excellence that few have. In our recent run then Yaya has been key and without him we just couldn't control the ball.

In a perverse way it affirms how we have eveolved under Pep. Last year most folks would have hated Yaya being in a "defensive" two; now we miss him as a deep lying one. It had worked because he is so technically good and Pep has got the others into a teamwork mindset - where they are working much harder and more intelligently without the ball.

It's always a sign of how important someone is when they aren't there as not just did we miss Yaya but the players around him, all top quality, didn't rise to the occasion and compensate.

Second half Kev came a bit deeper and thank God managed to get his passing sorted.

I love Pep's approach and care for the game. Reading the books about him then his key player had always been his pivot. I come away from Monaco wondering who on earth he has in mind for this.
Click to expand...
Going to sound stupid now but isn't the problem that you can't play with only one defensive or even central midfielder, bring Ya Ya on to play beside/infromt/behind Fred1 and we've got 2?
It's how I see we've come unstuck in most of the Prem games we've lost / drawn.
 
Anyone got any idea why at that level of football the linesman decided to raise his flag for offside from a throw in?
 
BluessinceHydeRoad said:
It's Friday and I am still bewildered by what I saw on Wednesday evening. City were completely outclassed and outplayed in every department of the game by a team which was quicker in both thought and movement, and I have to give credit to a superb Monaco side on the night. They were simply too good for us. We were too strong for them at the Etihad but in Monaco they were far and away the better side. Obviously, I can't say they would have beaten anyone on the night but it would have taken an excellent team to hold them and on the night City were a long way short of excellence and I don't know why. It wasn't lack of effort, it wasn't lack of ability and it wasn't lack of planning. The papers have given it Pep in the neck for fielding an eleven which was too attacking, but who should have played who didn't? Ya Ya is mentioned but Ya Ya's weaknesses are defensive and I think he would have struggled with the pace of the Monaco team. We may well have been crucifying Ya Ya today for being played round too easily. The sad fact is that with the possible exception of Ya Ya no-one on our bench was anything other than a mile short of those already on the pitch, though personally I might except Zaba from that. That was - and it pains me to say it - as near as damn it to our best eleven and on the night Monaco made mincemeat of it. We had been warned. Pep had been telling all of us how we had to play and hammering the message home at every opportunity - and on the night we couldn't do it.

Partially this was an "on the night" matter - we had an awful night where none of our players were anything like their norm, let alone their best. Fernandinho was swamped because he couldn't make an accurate ten yard pass in the first half at least and Silva, KdB, Sterling and Sane seemed to be content to observe, rather than play in the match. Clichy and Sagna were played out of the game by forwards who were too good for them. We have to accept that many of our team were not good enough on the night and some are simply not good enough at all. Willy did OK but will never be a keeper in a team which wins the CL. The problem in our goal is not that Joe is now in Turin so much as that his replacement has had his worst season ever, a real nightmare. We know the full backs are not good enough and are too old. It seems unlikely that Vinnie will ever lead our team again. All I can say is that Pep did try to bring in Bellerin, Bonucci, Laporte, the two lads from Atletico to bolster the defence which shows he was aware of the problems, but they wouldn't come... He's sure to try again this summer. We couldn't adopt a more defensive approach on Wednesday because we haven't got the players. And we couldn't attack until Monaco showed signs of being unable to keep the level of intensity up in the second half.

So, at the moment I think promises of jam tomorrow will have to be our diet. I do believe that Pep has been aware of the problems since his earliest days at the club and he will bring us a very successful future but it certainly didn't begin on Wednesday night.
Click to expand...

Excellent post.

Spot on!
 
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