What absolute bollocks,the players couldn't wait to pass the ball and hav a rest against Celtic in the second half,that'll be why in the last half hour Celtic struggled to get out their own half or out of their 18yd box last 15 mins.
You say Pep saw no reason why we couldn't go from win to win,hav I missed something or hav we not won all our league games so far.
If anything you could make a better case for him overestimating the league not underestimating it.
Pep was also spot on about Swansea as the only thing that stopped it being a rout was our wastefulness in good positions.
To finish off you talk about him thinking his system is perfect.
For one he has many systems and I'm sure he doesn't think any of them are perfect but by fuck with fans like you he's up against it.
I think Sagna and Stones were rested with Spurs in mind. KDB, Nolito and Kompany are a big miss. But so is Kane for Spurs.Pep has said several times this season, "I make mistakes". What he didn't say, because he's a bit too modest, is "I also think obsessively about them, and then go about correcting them". That's what makes him the best manager in the world. We can get a draw at Spurs, but Stones must be played, Sagna too.
Not been to Liverpool or Arsenal yet!!!Still think we'll have too much for them, although a point is a good result. IF we win, that's the two toughest away games done and dusted.
Bravo
Sagna Stones Otamendi Clichy
Sterling Dinho Fernando Gundo Silva
Aguero.
2-1 City.
I think Celtic's gameplan was a wake up call for our whole team, and particularly our defence. We needed that test. It's shown that when pressed we have mistakes in us still. I've seen that the Guardian and Jenas on BBC both suggest that by pressing City you can beat them, in fact Jenas believes Spurs will beat us because they're so good at pressing the ball..
What are you on about a "Hurricane" for? They are a decent side but they are not Barcelona and I would suggest that the atmosphere will be nowhere near as hostile as Celtic park. I accept we do have defensive frailties which may well be exposed and come May this area may be our downfall if we can't get in quality in January. That said we are still more than good enough to take all three points on Sunday especially if the rub of the green goes in our favour this time unlike both games against Spurs last season.This will be a tough game make no mistake. The game at Celtic will be a summer shower compared to the hurricane we are going to face on Sunday. Stones must play as must Sagna imo. I personally would also play Navas for his ability to get back and cover his fullback.
Last season for the first 40 minutes we were the better side, then they scored 3 offside goals.
I would snatch your hands off if a draw was being offered. Come on City....!!
I don't think Pep has ever said that "His" or anybody else's system is perfect. In fact if you listen carefully to the man he talks incessantly about refinement and improvement. Of course when players are expending a lot of energy there comes a point when fatigue enters the equation and this has to be factored in. What would you suggest as a better alternative have the players jog around for 90 minutes like last season watching the scores pile up? Contrary to what you think I believe Pep is acutely aware that he is on a steep learning curve at present and does not underestimate the task he is faced with. Yes we may lose on Sunday but I doubt if it will be the same scoreline as last seasons fixture.We don't need the press saying it, we can see it for ourselves. In the second half v celtic they couldn't wait to get rid of the ball and have a little walk for a bit. It was a criticism of pep at bayern when they lost to barca and
I wasn't too enamoured last week when pep said the players aren't getting tired because they're winning. Well maybe they didn't realise they were or maybe pep thinks we wouldn't ever start losing but they certainly look tired now. I don't know how much was just talk but he said in his noel chat that he didn't see why he can't just go from win to win to win like he has done previously. Maybe he has underestimated this league. People always talk about Christmas being a big drain on the English based players, but yet he thinks we can get through that with this intensity and just keep winning.
I think he's done amazingly well and we've been brilliant so far, but I fear he has more to learn than r is prepared to accept.
He said the only pro let at Swansea was finishing attacks off, the part of the job he says is down to the players and he can't help with, but it wasn't. Our pressing style committed players out of position leaving spaces for them to exploit. If he thinks his system is perfect then he is in for a shock and this weekend could be a first taste of that.
Still a number of tough away fixtures what about the Dippers and the Gooners?Still think we'll have too much for them, although a point is a good result. IF we win, that's the two toughest away games done and dusted.
Bravo
Sagna Stones Otamendi Clichy
Sterling Dinho Fernando Gundo Silva
Aguero.
2-1 City.
Still a number of tough away fixtures what about the Dippers and the Gooners?
Agreed. Dippers away is the toughest fixture in the calendar. Not because they are so great, but because it's always their fecking cup final and we usually bottle it. I'd like to think Pep can fix that, but I imagine it will be just like Wednesday only Liverpool have better players.
From memory our goal was marginally offside as well. Still it was a strange game with us being completely dominant and deserving of more goals in the first half and them being dominant in the second half.We were robbed last year , the fact their goals were offside was glossed over in most match reports and we have given them some good hidings in recent years at their place which will make them think twice about attacking us at will .
1. You should post more.I think Celtic's gameplan was a wake up call for our whole team, and particularly our defence. We needed that test. It's shown that when pressed we have mistakes in us still. I've seen that the Guardian and Jenas on BBC both suggest that by pressing City you can beat them, in fact Jenas believes Spurs will beat us because they're so good at pressing the ball.
I think Guardiola is far more intelligent than those articles are giving him credit for. He can't work his magic immediately, it will take time before we've ironed out issues and are completely comfortable on the ball when under pressure - as his Bayern side were more often that not. But it's not a case of press us and you'll beat us. That's such an exaggeration. We pressed Bayern and beat them. But despite having ten men they still dominated and the win was never certain. I've seen pressing teams get torn apart by a side playing more direct, and I think Spurs will get torn apart on Sunday. We've been wasteful in front of goal, but we create so many chances. They'll press us but we'll have been working all week preparing for that and I think we'll shock them. We've seen tactical tweaks such as full backs tucking into the centre of the park. Mourinho expected us to do that when we played the Rags, we didn't and we had acres of room down the flanks because of it.
Either way, we will not encounter too many sides that can a) press consistently for the entire game or b) score more than we will. The Celtic game showed that despite that pressing we'll get chances, and by pressing you're leaving space elsewhere should you not manage to win the ball.
We'll have been working in training this week on a plan of action for the Spurs game, well aware they'll take it to us. I'm interested to see how Pep sets us up to cope with this. Looking forward to the game, it will be our first major test (apart from the derby) considering 5 of the 6 sides we've beaten are sat at the bottom of the league.
One side of me thinks Pep will get us to play slightly different to counter their pressing. Perhaps by looking to play the ball over their defence for Sterling/Aguero to run onto. The other side thinks Pep is using this season in general as a training exercise for the next few years under his management. He'd rather we played it out from the back, made mistakes and lost than lose our identity. Spurs had it easy last time, without Kane they're slightly more fluid but I think we'll beat them.