The usual from the refs.
Stopping our momentum, blowing up against us for nothing, allowing the oppo more leeway in these instances.
Blocking our passing lanes making us turn back to find space. Mike Dean played great at DM for Spurs today.
There was certain areas where every time Kev got the ball, Mike Dean closed him down, meaning we’re negotiating and trying to find space in a well packed Spurs defence but an extra man too in the ref too.
The time wasting is awful, our players are constantly acting as ball boys for the opposition. Yet it’s allowed game after game.
Selective interpretation of the rules again for the disallowed goal. The lack of consistency is sickeningly obvious from anyone watching City regularly I’m thinking now if Gabby and Laporte combine to score against Spurs it’s automatically disallowed.
Ref allowed Spurs to slow down our free kicks by blocking us off, our players had to scramble to get the ball to take the free kick before a Spurs player kicked it away.
Ref and lines man allowed them block off our corners long and short by not inforcing the rules that don’t encroach and they stay at the 10yard line. KDB could be heard shouting early in the first half about this. Fuck all done about it. Fuck all done about the time wasting.
I don’t feel like I’m just pissing and whining here. I’ve been watching the same formula for years, but this season and last, it’s taking a lot of momentum out of our team and the players heads are dropping as a result.
In the past it made our achievements all that much sweeter for me, that we were not only the best team in the league but also able to over come the cheating and the bias. It’s harder these days and it’s frustrating, some games I’m down right angry having to endure this shit. Can only imagine what it’s like being a player.
Ederson; a maverick, a joy to watch when pinging long passes and maintaining composure when being pressed by the oppo. But he’s made too many errors lately leading to soft goals. I think he’s a very good keeper but needs to wake up and not just go to default setting of rushing out all the time. His positioning and decision making today made it a lot easier for the 2 goals.
Cancelo ; looks our sharpest player going forward, he brings a bit more urgency when he’s in the ball than we’ve seen from others. Good recovery speed too. I think a continued run of games will be good for him.
Mahrez ; very quiet, went missing completely today. Still not tracking or working hard enough. Still afraid of a tackle. Still isn’t passing as much or as quickly as he needs to. But now he’s not even getting shots off. Didn’t offer himself enough or look for the ball. Didn’t link up or even look like he’s was part of our front 3 today. Completely out of sync. Looked like Ferran and Gabby trying to knit together and some other bloke not entirely interested to make up the front 3. Offered nothing again today. Having him in for Phil from the start had a diminishing effect every level today. I’d be happy to cash in.
Kev, I wonder if he’s playing through some sort of niggle or playing through the pain barrier, cos he doesn’t look right, his body shape doesn’t look his normal in certain positions. He’s not got the acceleration. Could be just fatigue with no preseason. The lack of Dave won’t help him obviously but that’s where we’re at. We’ve been spoilt watching a midfield trio of Dave Kev and Fern. But again, this is where we’re at. So maybe our expectations need to shift slightly. Time will tell. I’m expecting Kev to find his too form again.
Can’t understand not staring Phil.
Gabby worked his bollax off, as per usual rarely gets the luck in the big decisions. Good to have him back.
Did we look a bit fitter today than previous games? Our intensity has dropped off usually around 60mins this season, hard to tell today as Spurs came more into the game in spells.
Frustrating day. If we’re gonna play the high line then we gotta get the offside trap right. But then I don’t trust VAR to even show us the right frames or make a just decision. Maybe we could have and should have sat a bit deeper at times today. Spurs just scrapped, frustrated us, exploited the space twice, scored and won. And had it not been for Walker they’d have exploited the space more on the break. The usual mixture of being organised and smothering the oppositions creativity. That unmistakably horrible Maureen style. But done nothing in the game to suggest they deserve get the win.
it’s gonna be a long and very strange season. There’s plenty to play for, we’re not out of it by any stretch. But we need to get a run if wins going starting with next week.