QF 1st Leg Post Match Thread

[Marvin]

Yes, I do. He had to rest some of the leading lights at some stage over these next three games and last night was the obvious time. The team he put out could and should have won.

Why do you think he got it wrong?

Sane and KDB don't need rest. Sane has not played much football recently whilst KDB has just recovered from injury. City could have won last night but what we did was pick a team that would contain and not get caught out on the counter attack. It's like he picked that side with last season's Champions League tie in mind.

I am not against pragmatic football. If you play a stronger side, it is in your interest to close the game down. If you have technically better players, then you open the game up.

I think what Pep did was give in to fear. It was an irrational team selection. What was the rationale of playing Mahrez who for me has shown himself to be no more than a squad player?

 

[nellyonthewing]

There

I think we strung more than 10 passes together on lots of occasions......

Laporte to Otamendi to Laporte to Emerson to Otamendi to Delph to Emerson.....and repeat

At one point we must have made around 40 sideways and backward passes in our half before we finally hoofed it forward aimlessly. That only served to encourage Spurs that we were scared of them ..We showed them way to much fear.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Got be said, I've not read huge amounts of this thread but I've seen enough crap to overwhelm Thames Water's sewage farms.

The manage put out a team to control the game and they did that. Unfortunately, every player, even the very finest, is imperfect and a couple of errors turned what might have been a narrow victory into a narrow defeat.

He will pick a different side in the second leg and it will be one that, if the players perform as they are capable, should turn this around. However, they are human and shit happens so it may not work out but that's football. That people didn't like his team selection from the off and that we lost does not mean that it was a bad plan: no plan when it comes to football is foolproof.

The only thing more ridiculous is the confirmation bias of those people who complained about the team beforehand and seemingly think on this occasion they knew more than Pep.

Especially so, when the same sceptics and footballing geniuses would never have cited their own pre-match misgivings again if Sergio had scored a penalty or we got a result of any kind.

 

[city saint]

Quite a lot of anger on here.

Sure Spurs got a bit lucky and you weren't perfect but still good. The issue seems to be that some of you think it is unacceptable to lose 1-0 at Spurs. That is a little disrespectful. We are not as good as you but we're still pretty good. It is not that much of a disgrace.

I like it on here because there is some civility but today it feels like RAWK.

I agree with you mate to be honest people kicking off if we arnt 3 up after 20 miniutes.spurs are a good side and 1 0 away defeat is not like we got beat at stockport county.some entitled fuckers who take wins for granted.

 

[Marvin]

and would we have won? I have no idea, nor have you

Our record going into that game was 22 wins from 23 and suddenly from nowhere we get this change of tactic. There was no need to be cautious and no need to rest Sane. Play Sterling on the right, Sane on the left, De Bruyne driving from midfield with Silva in behind. There was no need to reinvent City

 

[northwichblue]

Why did'nt he just treat it like a normal league game, i'm sure we would have got a better result

 

[Marvin]

The only thing more ridiculous is the confirmation bias of those people who complained about the team beforehand and seemingly think on this occasion they knew more than Pep.

Especially so, when the same sceptics and footballing geniuses would never have cited their own pre-match misgivings again if Sergio had scored a penalty or we got a result of any kind.

You should at the very least be puzzled at what Pep was trying to do when players like Sterling, Sane, Jesus, and Aguero have been tearing up the Premier League for the last two seasons. There was absolutely no reason for the caution.

I hope he has learned from the experience.

It's not a question of knowing more than Pep, it's a question of a coach making a mistake and City fans being able to discuss the game

 

[mosssideblue]

Sane and KDB don't need rest. Sane has not played much football recently whilst KDB has just recovered from injury. City could have won last night but what we did was pick a team that would contain and not get caught out on the counter attack. It's like he picked that side with last season's Champions League tie in mind.

I am not against pragmatic football. If you play a stronger side, it is in your interest to close the game down. If you have technically better players, then you open the game up.

I think what Pep did was give in to fear. It was an irrational team selection. What was the rationale of playing Mahrez who for me has shown himself to be no more than a squad player?

Unless you know the tactics and game plan (which no one on here does) then you are simply speculating about who should and should not have played. Maybe pep, as someone pointed out earlier wanted Sterling on the left and was going to use Bernardo on the right.

Stop saying you know he gave into fear, that is pure reactionary bollocks of which I know you are bright enough to see, but you keep pushing this nonsense out. KDB is not 100% fit and you would rather start him in the away leg and then what was your plan for him for the next two games, assuming he didn't aggravate the injury again. We are more than still in this and can now play on Sun with a bloody strong team

 

[mosssideblue]

Our record going into that game was 22 wins from 23 and suddenly from nowhere we get this change of tactic. There was no need to be cautious and no need to rest Sane. Play Sterling on the right, Sane on the left, De Bruyne driving from midfield with Silva in behind. There was no need to reinvent City

You never answered the question, can you assure us that we would have won if we lined up as you purport?

 

[mosssideblue]

Our record going into that game was 22 wins from 23 and suddenly from nowhere we get this change of tactic. There was no need to be cautious and no need to rest Sane. Play Sterling on the right, Sane on the left, De Bruyne driving from midfield with Silva in behind. There was no need to reinvent City

A 2 legged tie with a must win PL game sandwiched in between, i would suggest Pep was looking at more than just last night and again, if Aguero didn't back pass to Lloris, it would have worked as Spuds didn't look like creating much