Newcastle (a) post-match thread

[jrb]

Just got up.

Still can’t believe how bad we played.

From what I remember.

Newcastle.

Maybe 3 or 4 proper attacks in 90 minutes, which lead to 2 goals.

I’ll leave it at that.

 

[gingerprince]

I've started this post five times then deleted it all again as it just degenerated into frustrated angst.

I've decided it's just a game....isnt it? and just concentrate my efforts in putting up the xmas tree...

 

[ID70]

Problem is the type of performance they put in yesterday is symptomatic of the performances this season, the mid-week game v Shakhtar was one the worst games of football I’ve watched since Pearce was in charge

 

[bavarian blue]

I don't usually let the game get to me but I must admit to feeling a bit down, losing the league before Christmas.

 

[yerwot?]

pretty much agree with all that, but with a darker take on the situation. "Melt-downs", "wheels coming off", and various other descriptions of a lack of form that throw up many and various reasons/solutions from frustrated fans....desperate for a return to the heights we have achieved recently, angry at the perceived lack of "passion", blah blah.
Individual failings can be coped with by resting/replacing , but squad under-performance is a much bigger problem, and sometimes only fixed by a change of coach/manager/ system. Which is the very last thing we need. But...."losing the dressing-room" happens to successful managers, and as fans we rarely get the full story....Not for a second suggesting Pep is at fault, but what we see on the pitch is miles from a season ago.....individually and collectively....the corner we need to turn is getting further away...

 

[A_Salty_Nut]

Bye Pep.

Really dont get comments like these.

 

[Rammy Blue]

Having had half a day to ruminate on the game, it feels very typical of our labored performances this season.

Last season, Pep mentioned repeatedly how hard it was to try to win back to back Premier Leagues, because the English game is a 10 month slog against teams of all stripes, under weather of all stripes, with injuries and upsets constantly being thrown up into the mix. We did it. Barely, but we went on a ridiculous run to do it by 1 point against a team that only lost ONE GAME ALL SEASON...and that was against us, by 11 millimeters!

This season, with only one addition in the middle of the park, in one of the most important positions in the Pep scheme, was always going to be difficult, but when players started getting niggles, and two major knee injuries (to our best defender and one of the most impactful wingers in world football) occurred, it was clear that the planets were aligning against us...as our main rival got stronger and escaped any serious injuries.

I think most neutral observers can see that Liverpool are winning games they shouldn’t, while City are drawing games they should win and even throwing up losses to teams that seemed unthinkable over the last two seasons.

City players look tired. Bored? Unenthused? Stuck in a rut?

Is the problem that now the players have learned Pep’s system, there is nothing new to help get them over humps? No lucky breaks coming their way? One niggle too many? I don’t know for certain, but it looks like we need something new, some energy from somewhere, some impetus from somewhere that appears to not being in the horizon.

From here, for me, it is about keeping it all together, making sure that fissures don’t appear or get magnified out of control, and that City take care of the business they need to do this January and Summer.

“The Project” has been, to a large degree, been completed, and from here it needs to be sustainable. To be sustainable against opponents who themselves are unwilling to standstill, are improving, and are injecting energy and vigor into their game as we appear to be unwinding, takes money and a very detailed, future-based, approach to the improvements necessary.

In ice hockey, there is a saying that the player is good not because he is always where the puck is, but where the puck is going. Likewise, we need to leap over where the puck is and quickly skate towards where the puck is going.You can call Klopp’s approach to football anything you want, but when it blunts the supposed most beautiful football in the world, and beats it regularly, then HE had already skated to where the puck was going to be in 2018/19, but missed it by a second. However, by this season, that team and squad was absolutely where the puck was heading, and we were still skating around celebrating being “Fourmidable!”

This season is now about Top 3, picking up some domestic silverware, and WINNING THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. If we don’t win the CL this season, possibly next, I honestly think we can write it off for another few years as the squad gets rebuilt around the core of what we have and the younger players coming through.

Hard to believe all of that flows from a 2-2 draw away at a place where we lost last season and still won the League, but it is simply the cherry on the icing on a cake that pales in comparison to what we have been feasting on for the last few years. We have been spoiled, but have come to like being spoiled, which means it feels a little jarring to be told “no more cake!”

This, too, shall pass, and shouldn’t even last too long, but it will be painful to watch Liverpool pick up where we left off, Spurs bouncing back under Mourinho, and maybe even Chelsea become a threat yet again under Lampard’s kids this season. It’s not the end of the world, only the ending of an era of 10 years of unbelievable growth.

From here, City as a club (and team) needs to mature into what “The Project” was supposed to become. The recent investment from America appears to indicate the future is a strong one, but business takes place in the boardroom, while the football, which pays for it all, has to be done on the field. Let’s hope that is where the focus is kept, and where the time, effort and money is now spent to reinvigorate this squad.

The Future is Blue.

More chance of plaiting fog than us winning the Chumps this season. Not a prayer.

 

[feedmpenzaandhewillscore]

I've started this post five times then deleted it all again as it just degenerated into frustrated angst.

I've decided it's just a game....isnt it? and just concentrate my efforts in putting up the xmas tree...

The sodding Christmas tree, I had to contend with that going up during the game. Least straightening out the branches and testing the lights took my attention from that shit show of a performance.

 

[alexmcity]

Was afraid this was going to be a transitional season and even created a thread about it after the loss from Wolves.

We still might end up winning a domestic trophy and the CL though. Which would make it a brilliant season after all. Hopefully we won't have important absences in the squad for the crunch games in the CL.

It's normal to blame the defence which conceded 2 goals from 3-4 attacks, but truth is that our attacking players are not in top form either. Even Raz hasn't been excellent in the last few games apart from the 2nd half against the dippers. The altercation with Gomez has had negative influence on his peformances. Bernardo is poor right now, Mahrez blows hot and cold, Jesus' confidence is shot to pieces...Not having both Kun and Sane in a situation like this is a big problem, obviously.

The proper replacing of legends like Kompany, Dinho, Dave and Kun will take time. Pep hoped he could win 3 titles in a row like he did with Barca and Bayern, but the competiiton here is fierce and the legends around which the team is built are a bit over the hill now. Leadership is a problem too. Kompany was incredible.

Hope Pep stays another 2-3 seasons and builds a great team without the current legends. Will be difficult, but far from impossible.

 

[dhruvblue]

Need to reinvigorate the team with a couple of pacy signings in January. We just look flat and one-paced, half-arsed slow play. Imagine what it would do to this side if we signed Sancho in January.

Hopefully Laporte will be back by then too.

You don't easily get top players in January and Inguess Sancho with his attitude is last thing we need this season