Post Match Thread: City v Juventus

[Chi-town blues]

They had least two players glued with Silva, Nasri and Sterling. That insolated Bony with two tall center backs .
At times it was two double decker parked in front of Buffon.
Yup the Italian way.

 

[stablemcfc]

Being more optimistic; there's still every chance we top this group. Juve looked solid but not spectacular, no reason why we can't get a result out there. Sevilla are the danger team for me, if we can put in 2 good performances and get 6 points from them, then it wouldn't surprise me if they took points off Juve.

Let's hope all our guys are fit this weekend, Fernando back to fitness, Silva/Aguero/Sterling will hopefully be back at 100% & Kompany will hopefully be fit also.

A good performance & result at the weekend washes away this disappointment and brings back the confidence before we face Gladbach.

 

[toddluvzgta]

Sterling should've made more of his chance set up by Silva and put the match away. But we clearly lost to the better (and luckier) team.

Not gloryhunting but I'd certainly like to see some more goals banged in after all the money we've spent, if not 3 points in the bag and leading the group as most reckoned. 0-0 after 89 min against Palace? Cmon i can accept 0 goals at fulltime vs bus parking Chelsea but vs Palace? Should not be the case of Typical City anymore; we need to wipe that title off our slate.
Bony has been a waste of funds and is clearly not cut out for Champions League football. Get rid and buy another striker. I'm missing Negredo and Jovetic already; anyone else feel the same? Jovetic has been on form for Inter to start.

Still the odds are that we'll qualify, but we'll have to manage more than 2 draws vs Sevilla and pray Navas don't get homesick again in the home leg if he gets pitch time.

Being more optimistic; there's still every chance we top this group. Juve looked solid but not spectacular, no reason why we can't get a result out there. Sevilla are the danger team for me, if we can put in 2 good performances and get 6 points from them, then it wouldn't surprise me if they took points off Juve.

Let's hope all our guys are fit this weekend, Fernando back to fitness, Silva/Aguero/Sterling will hopefully be back at 100% & Kompany will hopefully be fit also.

A good performance & result at the weekend washes away this disappointment and brings back the confidence before we face Gladbach.

Honestly I don't think we'll top the group now that we've lost to Juve when we should have won; we'll qualify 2nd provided we beat Sevilla more than once.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Maybe I'm looking through my blue tinted spectiacles but I didn't think we were anywhere near as bad as the media seem to have been making out. Most years after the first match I have felt totally deflated by our performance as we tend to have been outplayed, this time I am pissed of about the result and still wondering how the fuck we managed to lose but a lot less concerned by the performance. They were ruthless with the few chances they had and we were wasteful but I thought generally we controlled large parts of the game and made more and better chances than them. Juventus did the same all the way through last year's CL and look set to do the same again. Very frustrating and already looks like we might be playing for second place.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Not gloryhunting but I'd certainly like to see some more goals banged in after all the money we've spent, if not 3 points in the bag and leading the group as most reckoned. 0-0 after 89 min against Palace? Cmon i can accept 0 goals at fulltime vs bus parking Chelsea but vs Palace?

I think you're so wrong, the win against Palace was fantastic. You can't be banging in 3 goals a match so the hard fought wins like that are incredibly important and all good teams need to win some games like that.

 

[cleavers]

Maybe I'm looking through my blue tinted spectiacles but I didn't think we were anywhere near as bad as the media seem to have been making out.

No its not your blue tinted specs, its their red ones.

We were OK, but missed chances, and made a few mistakes, and were too slow to get forward, allowing their well organised defending to get in place.

 

[MC ID]

Let's not dress this up to be something it wasn't; if we'd been playing Bayern, Barca or Real last night, we'd have gotten well and truly done over. On the other hand, if we start picking the right players, and playing them in their best positions, we'll have a better chance against the likes of Juve and Sevilla.

+1

 

[unlikelyfan19]

I thought we were ok. I would agree with some posters that it was Silva who had the off game last night, not necessarily Nasri. Not a fan of Nasri myself, but I wouldn't put that loss on him, I guess people just need a scapegoat. The scapegoat should just be our lack of confidence throughout the players on the field and stadium. The Etihad should have been rocking, but you could tell there was a sense of uneasiness in the atmosphere. That probably had to do with the fact we were playing keep away for most of the game and it took our own crowd out.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Maybe I'm looking through my blue tinted spectiacles but I didn't think we were anywhere near as bad as the media seem to have been making out. Most years after the first match I have felt totally deflated by our performance as we tend to have been outplayed, this time I am pissed of about the result and still wondering how the fuck we managed to lose but a lot less concerned by the performance. They were ruthless with the few chances they had and we were wasteful but I thought generally we controlled large parts of the game and made more and better chances than them. Juventus did the same all the way through last year's CL and look set to do the same again. Very frustrating and already looks like we might be playing for second place.

I am pretty much in agreement with this, and Kompany's brush-it-off comments seem to indicate he (and by extension the side) feel the same. Having said that, I also concur that Juve's stayed glued to our AMs and isolated Bony . . . but as such, isn't that the kind of tactic that should be answered by pushing Yaya farther forward and having him cut through their heart? I saw precious few of those runs yesterday. Especially with Fernandinho playing so well and getting after everything.

 

[lasereyes]

I wouldnt be quite as relaxed about the performance. Yes it is not the end of the world and yes, we were going to lose sometime, and yes it was a well drilled Juventus team. But I was concerned that our playing style departed significantly from what we have seen in the league. We were unquestionably lower tempo throughout the first half and especially at the start of the second, where we barely touched the ball for about 5 minutes. I dont know if Nasri in for Navas and general anxiety playing in CL was the reason, or MP instructed us to be cautious so as not to give away cheap, early goals as we have at times in Europe. Whichever it was, it had the effect of neutralizing the momentum distinction between a team with a 100% domestic record outscoring opponents 11-0 and another who has yet to win. Compare this to the way we started the West Brom and Chelsea games where they didnt know what had hit them. Juventus are solid, but they are no Barcelona and not even as strong as they were last season.

If we are to succeed as we should this year, we need to play the free flowing, up-tempo, wide reaching game that stretches our opponents and opens up all manner of opportunities. It is a high energy style and we are competing on 4 fronts, but that's why we have a large squad with strong backups for almost every position. Reverting to a low tempo passing-in-midfield approach risks a repeat of Jan-Apr earlier this year.