Monaco - Post Match thread.

[chesterbells]

Not sure Pep can be blamed for us missing chances or defenders being unable to defend three crosses.

We very rarely seem to block crosses. Noticed that with Stones in the build up to their first goal; didnt really even attempt a block

 

[Mattyc55]

Pep has to take a huge amount of the blame for that one. Did he think to deeply and bamboozle himself? Whatever, his tactics of just having Fernandinho in front of our defence tonight in the first half cost us big time. It was shocking. Did he not watch the previous game? And why didn't he change it earlier than he did?
Much better in the second half - but we really should have scored at least 2 more goals more than we did in the second half.
Shocking free kick to concede the third from - indeed, I really don't know why we use that tactic as it always looks dodgy.
We need major restructuring at the back and in defensive midfield to move forward.

All this - 'we have to attack' angle that he kept coming from in his pre-match comments definitely had an impact on the midfield he chose.

He overthought it - Yaya has along with Silva been our best midfielder since he came back into the side, so why drop him? To be honest, we probably would have stood more chance with the extra protection of dare I say it Fernando in there too. Try and keep it tight and hit them on the break - I guess thats easier to say in hindsight as our defence is so fucking bad that playing him probably wouldn't have worked either.

Kolarov CB in the last 16 of the CL - jesus wept.

 

[cookster]

Some fucking bellends in this thread as per

We were shite first half which cost us the game , nothing to do with tactics , we just didn't come out with any determination to impose ourselves

Second half we dominated apart from a split second on a set piece

This team needs to grow and nights like this will help going forward , we will ready this time next year

Well the tactical change from first to second half would indicate it did have something to do with tactics.

 

[Bluemoonie92]

I'm sick of watching Sagna go 5 yards forward then swivel and pass the ball back to the centre half. Roll on summer when we can sort out the fullbacks because we play like a crab at times.

 

[chaddblue]

All the blame has to go down to Pep tonight. He was naive and frankly, arrogant, to go there and attack.

with a 2 goal lead in a away game, you dont play 5 attacking players and leave the back exposed. Should have had another player like Yaya or Fernando in the middle with Ferny to whether the storm at least for the 1st half

There was oceans of space between Ferny and Kev and Silva that killed us, not on the flanks. Kev and Dave weren't tracking midfielders in the 1st half.

Think you've pretty much nailed it there. Suicidal team selection

 

[Metalartin]

I'm disappointed but I'm going to remember being a fan is more than just enjoying the wins. You don't get to bash a player one minute and pretend you always knew he was class when he wins you a trophy.

Our fullbacks try and get involved in attacking play but it's like they are fighting against their instincts when they are on the ball, you can't really blame them too much for that I suppose. The CL was too tall of an ask this season, I still think we're the better team out of us and Monaco and their 2nd and 3rd goals could have easily have been dealt with. That freekick is a shit goal to go out to(before that we were going through) but the game was lost in the first half, not by the manager or the selection it was by the players themselves they didn't seem to want to attack until they really had to even at 1-0. Pep said it before the game he was trying to convince them not to fall into that mindset, it happens to teams all the time, more scared to lose the advantage you've got than to play and win the minutes ahead. What the fuck do you expect Pep to do other than to warn them why it would be disastrous to fall into that mindset... mind control?

 

[Armaan]

KDB and silva have to take most of the blame imo. Both shockingly shit, summed up by KDB giving a free kick away for no reason at all from which they score from. Also, that free kick we had at the end where KDB just kicked it to their keeper, deary me. We are miles behind the top teams.

None of our defence are good enough, maybe Stones can be maybe. Our keeper isn't good enough. Our CM is shit, only yaya but he's too old. Silva should be moved on this year and we should be looking at bringing in Monaco's silva, he looks dynamite. KDB has been poor for so long, often saved by his odd world class cross here and there.

Sterling for me is too erratic to start for a team aiming for the stars, has the pace and intelligence just lacks the natural ability and finesse. Just don't see how we'll figure this out in one summer, from last summer it's only really Sane who we've signed that's good enough.

 

[Dave S]

Whinging twats on here as per usual!!!

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

The whole lot of them, from Pep down, were a fucking mess 1st half & because of it, we have lost to a side we could have beaten comfortably.

Monaco are fucking good, but they are shite at defending & when we pass the ball, they can't stop us. That's our advantage. So what do we do ? Pass it like wankers. Advantage Monaco.

Second half, all over them. But as is now common in big games, Aguero misses the opportunities to kill the game & the defence falls asleep & concedes yet another run of the mill goal.

This is now the routine & I don't think it will change until the players do.

Which i'm sure will happen.

 

[Akiva]

Missed our chances, defended horribly, had some really, really poor performances from key players.

Sagna/Clichy are long since done and will be out in the summer. I personally believe Kolarov, Zaba, Aguero and possibly Yaya too. Our squad isn't good enough and ultimately our aging, paceless defence couldn't cope with their speed.

People will blame Pep for this, already seeing the same names as after the Stoke game, but Kun takes his chances and we're through, or KDB doesn't have such a shocker. Ditto Sterling and first half Silva.

Big improvement needed pronto with a tough league run coming up.

Some fucking bellends in this thread as per

We were shite first half which cost us the game , nothing to do with tactics , we just didn't come out with any determination to impose ourselves

Second half we dominated apart from a split second on a set piece

This team needs to grow and nights like this will help going forward , we will ready this time next year

Great post.

We've went backwards from last season though.

Nope.

 

[gocity]

Yaya is too slow nowadays to have started this game, however he should have been on after an hour when it was obvious Monaco had ran out of steam.

I know his ball set up the goal, but Kev was like a sunday league player today, fucking abysmal.

Thought Sergio tried his best, just didn't fall for him.

Can't wait for new full backs!

We have been waiting for them for the last four years, but no one at City seems to know that, because all we get are attackers, midfielders or cental defenders, so the poor performances at critical times still go on.

 

[lancs blue]

Awful first half from us but it summed it up for me with that stupid fucking wall for the freekick, we DO NOT work on defensive tactics, it's just hit and miss and a pure gamble every game we play, a lot of that is on Pep tonight. We only had to go there tonight and not concede. Pellegrini was hounded for being a 1 trick pony yet this guy gets a very easy ride for me, yes it isn't his team but it is no excuse to not adapt the tactics once in a while. All of the best managers do it.

Post-takeover I reckon only Mancini has ever done that but it's very difficult to prosper at the very top without a sound defensive strategy.

 

[ID70]

He chooses the team and tactics so hardly blameless

 

[RayCTID]

We've went backwards from last season though.

Although there have only been glimpses this season, we do look a better team. With better full-backs will help the team more, and an extra attacking midfielder to put pressure on de Bruyne would be welcomed.

 

[vmsuhail]

lol @ obsessive attacking philosophy. Can only be compared to a driver who refuses to use the brake.

We had a similar one for 3 years and it didn't end well. Hope we get an Italian after Pep.

 

[Brendan110_0]

Could tell in the first 30 minutes Yaya was needed to dictate play for us. Focus on the cup and top 4 now.

 

[slicky202]

Kdb ballooning every set piece well past the mark. Sterling bottling his final balls. We just didn't deserve it. FA cup it is then.

 

[Charlesfarsbar]

I agree to a point but it won't be this team that grow as half the shite will be gone. Defence not good enough, as someone posted earlier the fullbacks played for Wenger years ago and our midfield lacks a NDJ or GB or the tenacity of a Tevez

We will have two new fullbacks next year

The defence wasn't the problem tonight , the midfield couldnt string two passes together in the first half

We are still playing square pegs in round holes in that respect , it will be corrected next year

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Lost that game in the first half really. Absolutely piss weak in midfield and KDB/Silva did absolutely nothing to affect the game.

De Bruyne is a brilliant player and seems like a decent guy but he needs to step up in some of these bigger games. Goes missing way too often and goes into the 50/50 balls a bit half heartedly. Silva improved a little in the second half but also seemed way off the pace.

Sterling and Sane were a bit more lively but Sterling didn't have a great game at all. Aguero missed a couple of decent chances but it felt like for a lot of that game the midfield just wasn't doing enough to bring the front three into the game.

A slight plus point is that despite us conceding three goals, i thought the two CBs had a decent game.

Finally, WHY defend the free kick for the third goal in that way? Just doesn't make sense to me to invite them to put an inswinger in like that!

We're just not good enough to compete at the business end of a tournament like this. Hopefully we'll at least give the FA Cup a serious go now as it'd be a great year to win it given the calibre of teams left in it now. Will be interesting to see how Monaco progress, they have some pretty decent players in that team.

Yup, agree with all of that. DeBruyne needs to take a long hard look at himself. When the going gets tough, he disappears far too often. Jogging after opponents, powderpuff tackles? Unacceptable.
One thing I pray we buy in the summer are two full backs, who can actually cross the ball. Sagna, Clichy and Sterling are terrible at it to the point of embarrassment, and when you're chasing a game like that you need as many options as possible. Our lack of professionalism when things aren't going our way is a real concern for me as well. That was an appalling goal to concede

 

[dave_blue12]

The whole lot of them, from Pep down, were a fucking mess 1st half & because of it, we have lost to a side we could have beaten comfortably.

Monaco are fucking good, but they are shite at defending & when we pass the ball, they can't stop us. That's our advantage. So what do we do ? Pass it like wankers. Advantage Monaco.

Second half, all over them. But as is now common in big games, Aguero misses the opportunities to kill the game & the defence falls asleep & concedes yet another run of the mill goal.

This is now the routine & I don't think it will change until the players do.

I'm struggling to see how our wank passing, Aguero missing opportunities and the defence falling asleep is Pep's fault ?