Napoli post-match thread

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

Did you used to walk around Maine Road with a big sign stating the end was nigh??? You've just come up with a 5000-1 conundrum on City not qualifying to the group stages. Are you a a glass 9/10ths empty kinda guy? :-D

He's not even got a glass......

 

[inbetween]

Barca played 8 conceded 3
City played 8 conceded 4
PSG played 9 conceded 6
Bayern played 8 conceded 7
Real Madrid played 8 conceded 7

????

PSG and the others also defend like we do, they defend by keeping the ball which will be a lot harder against us.

None of them have played each other yet and in those games the only thing that matters is us. I don't care all that much how we defend because at the minute the only way to defend better is to keep the ball more or do a Mourinho.

Pep will want to win games by winning them and not cowering so we just need to keep doing what we are doing.

 

[abu13]

The one concern i how is how the physical demands of our play impacts upon the players, some were looking tired last night and im not surprised after playing three high tempo games and an international break inbetween them. Squad rotation is going to be key if we are to keep everyone fresh.

Myself I would be looking to make the changes below quickly, if not all at once against Burnley.

Walker to be replaced by Danilo
Sterling to be replaced by Bernardo.
Silva to be replaced by Gundogan.
Jesus to be replaced by Aguero.

We need to manage the squad very carefully.

 

[I.bleed.blue]

I don't understand why so many on here keep going on about how we scraped our way to a victory. We can all agree on the first 30 min. when we could have been out of sight. After that I think we slowly helped Napoli back in the game by slowing down the tempo and playing too many passes either sideways or back. Than again Napoli got one good chance and that was the penalty that they missed.
The second half started quite open and still we had the better chances. We did let have Napoli the ball too often and stopped pressing high up field, where their weakness lies. Again not many chances occured for Napoli other than a Fernandinho howler that led to a great block by Stones, and the 2nd penalty that they put away. It was more the scoreline that kept Napoli in the game and made ours look nervous. And still we had a few great chances with Sterling delivering a poor cross when Jesus was on his own in front of goal, and Silva leaving it too late to get Sane going. Napoli had one shot hardly troubeling Ederson and a counter attack that was shot wide. It was simply the one goal difference and us letting Napoli having the ball more often that made it look nervy.
So all in all I think it was a very good win versus a very good side. Probably one of the best you can play right now as Napoli would probably say the same about us.
Finally I think the game at Napoli will be pretty much the same. It'll be close but there's every chance for us to win it. Maybe even more comfortable than some on here expect.

Quite right. First 30 mins Napoli were blown away and looked a bit shell shocked. They regained composure really well and made life more difficult with their slick high quality passing. It was also very apparent in the second half that they deliberately sought to nullify any out ball for Ederson (especially from goalkick situations) and it took City some time to adapt to that. The key thing is that we did adapt and for the last 15–20 mins we were excellent playing out from the back and linking play through midfield quickly again.
Make no mistake that was a serious test last night against a top team - and we came through with flying colours. We were worthy winners in the end as Napoli were far and away the best side we have faced this season.

 

[Dreadzone]

i reckon if that game had gone on for 10 mins longer napoli would have probably scored. they really grew into the game in the second half and were unlucky not to have got at least another.

Sorry, am not having this. We knew this would be our toughest test yet. We passed with flying colours. In fact the 'typical city' vibe has been laid to rest surely? And I honestly believe we should have had 4/5 goals in the first half. Yes, Napoli did grow into the game and the two penalties gave them impetus, but we still held them. In my opinion of course x

 

[abu13]

Wouldn’t be surprised if we suffer a loss in Naples and would expect Shaktar to beat Feyenoord. Leaves us on 9 Shaktar on 9 and Napoli on 6.

We should beat Feyenoord. So if we get beat in Naples we want Shaktar or draw in their match with Napoli. A Napoli win however leaves us on 12 Shaktar on 9 and Napoli on 9.

So a win or draw in the final game sees us top the group regardless. A one or two goal loss should see us through as well on head to head then goal difference regardless of other results.

Basically I think we should be ok as long as we beat Feyenoord and don’t get beat by more than 2 in Donetsk. Feel free to correct me.

Given that it looks like 5 english clubs are looking good to go through to the next round it makes it interesting to see if we would be better off qualifying top of the group or second.

I think i'm right in saying that you can't play against a club from the same country at the next round or a club in the group you have qualified from.

 

[Neville Kneville]

As another engineer, Spot On! I also agree though with the comments that we played around at the back too much in the second half because our midfield were knackered, getting outnumbered and not presenting our defence with enough outlets. That first 30 minutes was breathtaking, the best I can remember for very many years.

This is absolutely why Napoli came into the game more imo.

It is really hard work, to play the way City have been playing & it's not just physical work, it's mentally taxing too. You have to be seriously fucking sharp to play like that & very few teams can do it. In fact if there was a team in europe playing anywhere close to that level of sharpness right now, it isn't Real or Barca or Bayern Munich, it's Napoli.

And yet they barely created a solid chance & were lucky not to be 5 down in 30 mins. We had to be sharper than them to get ahead of them. We did, we trounced them & it took its toll on the team allowing them in, when our players paid for that effort.

 

[Magicpole]

He's a Celtic fan.....

I am. And I am not having a go. I would love to see you win it. I just think tightening up will need to happen in order for that to happen.

Anyway, I have enough to contend with today as we go up against Bayern tonight without our best CB.

Don't get me wrong, I expected nothing but four severe hidings from them and PSG. Our fight was for third and I think we will achieve that.

I just hope they don't totally destroy us. Which is a distinct possibility.

I would still take that to get the money the CL can provide and hopefully see us get a bit better each year.

It's not easy when you don't have a pot to piss in, but hopefully we can put up a fight at least.

Going to be a long day as I go through every conceivable nightmare scenario. :)

 

[SWP's back]

Have I misunderstood something, or is the group F table a lot less comfortable than it looks like?

City could still end up third in case of the following:
1. Feyenoord loose all their games; Their remaining games are Napoli home, City away and Shakthar away, so this is very likely.
AND
2. Napoli beats Shakthar at home. Quite likely in my opinion.
AND
3. City loose both away games to Napoli and Shakthar

If all 3 conditions are fulfilled Napoli, Shakthar and City will all end up with 12 points.
In that case the following rules determine the ranking of the teams:

1. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
2. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
3. higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
4. higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;

What this means is essentially that in case all 3 teams have 12 points, we can throw away the results against Feyenoord, and only the direct comparison between the 3 teams will count. In other words City will have to beat at least one of Napoli and Shakthar in the direct home/away comparison to qualify for the next stage. We have started okayish by beating them both at home, 2-0 and 2-1. But actually yesterdays result is not very comfortable. Napoli only have to beat us 1-0 at home, and they are better than us in the direct comparison.

So City needs to get a result in at least one of the 2 away games in Napoli and Donetzk to be sure to qualify. If we want to win our group we need a result in both games. Given that Napoli and Shakthar probably are the best 2 teams we have played this season, that is not gonna be easy. We need a couple of performances equal to what we did in the Chelsea game to go through.

A draw in Napoli will see us qualified. Or a draw in Shaktar. That’s all that matters.

 

[Palace glad all over]

Abu13

You need to worry about KDB - save him against the weaker teams - more than any other player - There seems to be a sentiment that he is the be all and end all - and pep wont rotate him. A bit ironic considering the Kane comment ;) - Silva may also need rest. Sterling - does he? has he even played enough minutes?

but anyway-KDB he was flustered and tired at the half time, mentally and physically - clearly - he was redder than ever and he got overly stressed and sounded out - very unlike him.

The team can deal with Burnley without him.. no problem at all.