Sevilla (A) | Post Match Thread

[supercity88]

Great win away from home and puts us in an excellent position. Beat Dortmund at home and we could qualify after 4 games and be in a position to rest players.

Gomez was okay, a few times he played aimless passes forwards and didn't look all that comfortable defensively but a good experience for him. Akanji was brilliant and looked like he'd been with us for years. Foden back to his best. Still a few sloppy passes and a period at 1-0 where we were failing to exert control just before half time but dominated again after the break.

We'll need to play a lot better against Spurs though. Sevilla had no one looking to run into space so it was a very easy almost training-like exercise to defend them. We'll need to be more solid and sharp in possession and less sloppy if we're to kick on but good signs early in the season as new players are integrated.

 

[crazyg]

Norwegian Blue ...?

Beautiful plumage.

 

[PaleBlue]

Tried out my newly purchased IPTV subscription last night. Disappointed that only got to watch 75 minutes of it but delighted with what I did see. Foden great, Haaland wonderful, Garcia and Akanji look useful, and it was a great watch.

 

[lionheart]

Tap in Merchant shaping up well isn't he.

No other EPL striker would have reached the ball from KDB's high pace cross. Certainly no tap in.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Weird take on a night he played well after coming back from injury, but judging from other posts regarding Grealish tonight it seems some are just too blind or set in their opinions to notice anything other than what they want to see.
What shit does he need to sort out?

His hair and shin pads.

 

[Tangled up in blue.]

Tried out my newly purchased IPTV subscription last night. Disappointed that only got to watch 75 minutes of it but delighted with what I did see. Foden great, Haaland wonderful, Garcia and Akanji look useful, and it was a great watch.

I thought Garcia went to Barca

 

[Dribble]

11 goals in 7 games. Hope we get there soon

Record goal scorers don't guarantee winning matches as the Villa match proved. Think back to how many fans recognised our need to bring on Alvarez who could drop deep & help with the buildup play & then finish in the box?

12 touches & two goals in a match speaks volumes & I think this is what Pep was alluding to without overtly criticising Haaland. It will do for 90% of matches, but in some matches we need someone who can drop deeper & contribute to our buildup play in order to turn a draw against a well organised defensive outfit into a win.

 

[mancityvstoke]

How the fuck did we draw with Villa?

 

[Dribble]

the beauty of having as many excellent attacking players is that we don’t need Haaland to offer great amounts of build up play. The players around him do that. That’s why we wanted a proper striker isn’t it?

Kane is an excellent player when it comes to assists and build up play, Didn’t he get top goals and assist both in the same season two seasons ago? But a large part of that is out of necessity too, he’s obviously good enough to do it which should be respected, but he doesn’t have the depth of talent around him that we have at city. I bet if he did, his managers would be keener for him to just be focusing on banging goals in if they had more creative players and his finishing at their disposal.

I dunno. After Haaland's first few matches, I mentioned Kane as the player he needs to observe. Yes Kane probably drops deep out of necessity, but to be honest I never realised how good an actual football player he actually was. I thought he was just a mere goal machine.

Looking at Mbappé last night, one of his goals came from him taking up a deep midfield position. I'd rather a City with Haaland than without, but I think he needs to get involved in the play more & the team needs to adapt to know when to look for him & when to do what we've been doing over the last few seasons.

 

[StillBluessinceHydeRoad]

I beg to disagree with those arguing that Haaland adds little to build up play at the moment. I have always been interested in Pep's liking for players who "play without the ball". In Haaland we have perhaps the best practitioner in football today. Last night he would make endless runs into space and when he didn't get the ball he'd make another run - each time taking a defender away or losing them completely in the area. That's playing without the ball - until we start finding him more regularly with the ball.

But yes he is a tap in merchant. Two goals last night from 6 yards at most and when the rules are changed to ensure fair play - so that an on target shot from outside the area by a player in a red shirt counts two goals while a goal from inside the area by a player in sky blue (or change colours) counts half a goal - he'll be found out for sure. He's even worse than Sterling.