Totally agree that pep makes mistakes,(didn’t he play gundog right wing at anfield in cl QF last year ?) but genuinely don’t think he did here. He’s gonna play kdb v palace and both home games v spurs so he rested him here. Leroy has been inconsistent this season, Mahrez keeps the ball better so it’s understandable to make that call if pep wants to keep things tight away from home in a European QF.Possibly but on past tinkering I doubt it. What about Sane? He's not tired.
I'm not anti-Pep. How could any City fan be, I just feel that on this occasion he got his team selection wrong and when looking to understand why, I see a past trend. I think previous comment/losses have put him on edge in these games. I used to treat any criticism of City as sacrilege but realised over time it's all inconsequential.
There is not much more fundamental to coaching than the line up and subs. He clearly picked a side not to take risks and stay in the tie, i.e. avoid the debacle of Anfield last season. That's my opinion. I believe City paid the price for Pep dealing with the demons of his CL past when we would have been much better off attacking them and playing or usual game. You clearly think so too, but leave other people to say it. In fact I bet 95% of blues are totally bemused at what Pep was trying to do but none will say it.
In Pep we trust. In the minds of us fans, it's a two legged Carabao Cup semi or two (three) Prem games. But we don't know football like Pep. Watching Barca v Manure last night, Barca's similarity to us was noticeable - bright start followed by uncharacteristic individual errors. Their pattern of play resembled us - the technique, the passing patterns, the movement - albeit Barca were marginally better than us.You are blurring the issue.
No doubt City are feeling the effects of a long season, but the team selection was tactical, and not down to rotation for physical reasons. We know this because Pep explained it in the post-match press conference so there's no reason to infer or 2nd guess. He's told us why.
I think he means big games in the CL and in that case he is bang on.Ilkay comes across as an extremely bright, articulate and nice guy. Not sure whether the media twisted his words, but I was surprised to hear about us becoming overly nervous in the big games. Nervousness isn't something I associate with this City team. We tend to win our big games.
Lineker played with a cast on his wrist in the 86 World Cup.I suppose it is to do with the safety of other players rather than Alli himself, every game we see arms swinging and it can't be good to get a smack in the chops with a cast. I doubt a soft brace would offer enough protection.
Says the man who could’ve blocked son’s goal but instead shit him self .Ilkay comes across as an extremely bright, articulate and nice guy. Not sure whether the media twisted his words, but I was surprised to hear about us becoming overly nervous in the big games. Nervousness isn't something I associate with this City team. We tend to win our big games.
I know he means CL games. If that's really true, it's just weird, although we've yet to take a big scalp in this competition.I think he means big games in the CL and in that case he is bang on.
Surely you can see that isn't what I'm referring to ?
Some of the shit posted in the two threads has just been total ****land.
Totally agree that pep makes mistakes,(didn’t he play gundog right wing at anfield in cl QF last year ?) but genuinely don’t think he did here. He’s gonna play kdb v palace and both home games v spurs so he rested him here. Leroy has been inconsistent this season, Mahrez keeps the ball better so it’s understandable to make that call if pep wants to keep things tight away from home in a European QF.