But not disastrously bad, just noticeably (and understandably) not at his best this early with a lack of football.Having John Stones at his best will win us the league - no doubt about that. When he's bad he's bad, but when he gets up to speed he's literally one of the best. Poor today though
Thats simply not true imho. On the very few occasions Walker was in the right back position he dealt with St-M fine. He was in CM most the game so when St-M got the ball Walker was 10-20 yards behind him. He has no chance of catching him. Walker and stones’s performances were totally all on Pep todayWalker could most definitely not cope with his speed. He was running in his vapour trail most of the game. Walker's pace looked like a distant memory for much of the game.
Absolute cynical time wasting cunts.
Got to be more than a yellow for Trippier.
If not a red. It's an orange. 10 minute sin bin
Grealish I guess, but I agree with you, the planning this summer was bizarre. Our squad allows for basically only two players to be injured at any given time before we’re suddenly very short. Will be interesting to see now that Ake is out for a bit whether Pep gives Mbete any minute or just plays Stones/Dias every minute.Not just the fullbacks, who's pushing Foden? His form has been below his previous standard for most of 2022. Mahrez cannot play on the LW, Alvarez got our attention playing central or right, Palmer doesn't play there.
In fact not just who is pushing him, who replaces him if his form drops or he gets injured?
It just needs using in the right games.This full back thing moving into midfield has had its day imo. Klipperty plays his normal system and trusts his players individual class to make the difference? Walker was truly horrific today and the system seemed to drop Rodri in the shit as well. Still think we need another LB before the window shuts but sense we are done.
He didn’t have to pull it back. A square pass would have been latched onto by Haaland. He's no slouch, witness his performance against WHU.To pull it back that far though there is a chance of the defender blocking it. I think he looked earlier and the pass wasn't on so he has decided to go past the defender and shoot. You don't really have much time to think of much else at that point.
I'm going to throw another one in..skewering?Scything? The drama increases by the hour.
It wasn't too enjoyable just after HT!Really enjoyed that today. Such a refreshing change to see a team give as good as they get and have a real go. Allowed ourselves to play at pace, exploit the spaces and also face the considerable risk on the counter. Sometimes, even if the result does not go your way, its worth remembering why you got into football in the first place, and it was for matches like today.
Brilliant spectacle, hats off to both teams and well played City for salvaging a draw when lesser sides would have buckled.
Holy shit. Grealish being blamed for us struggling and he wasn't even in the squad. That's gotta be some sort of record. JFC
Wouldn’t surprise me if they held Dias out because he wasn’t fully fit coming in. When has Pep ever chosen Ake over him? Hope he’s fit now…Pep had said in his press conference on Friday that some players had 'niggles'. Maybe he could not bring on certain players because of that?
Problem is we arent hearing what theyre saying. Got no problem theoretically with them saying go take a look, but theres no reason not to broadcast their discussion. Just a lack of transparencyWhat really puzzles me is VAR should only be used for a clear and obvious error. The ref saw it as a red, VAR didn’t. The video replay added nothing to the debate, however once they asked him over they were overturning his opinion, when the referee’s decision should be final. Add to narrative we were level with, what 10, 15 minutes left? That was a result influencing decision in a title race we were looking to run away with. Over to the agenda thread!!
bollockshaaland speed would have got him there - poor by Foden, Grealkish would have tried to square it
By ten and a few ales consumed it will be hung drawn and quarteredI'm going to throw another one in..skewering?