Spurs (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

[Stoned Rose]

Total shots - 23 City 9 Spurs
Shots on target - 5 City 7 Spurs
Shots off target - 11 City 2 Spurs
Blocked shots - 7 City 0 Spurs
Keeper saves - 3 City 5 Spurs
Corners - 9 City 3 Spurs
Touches in the box - 43 City 17 Spurs
Fouls - 19 City 9 Spurs (Wow!)
Possession- City 57.6%

These stats suggest that we’re not poor but we are not clinical and we are defensively naive. Our fantastic possession based football is currently undermined by a worrying loss of speed in midfield and defence. We haven’t managed to block a single shot as Spurs simply ran away from us. This team has the ability but not the legs. Until we can sign fresher quality players we will continue to be concede regularly against quicker counter attacking teams. Unless we get our shooting boots on, we will not outscore the opposition. Our shooting technique is schoolyard poor. If you don’t hit the goal you aren’t likely to score.

Pep has some big decisions. IMHO he has to play Nunes and McAtee, sacrifice aging top quality for more legs in midfield. We should have enough quality and experience elsewhere to compensate. He has to try and be more pragmatic with this current version of City and perhaps sit slightly deeper as a team, give up a (tiny) bit of possession for more shape and press high up the pitch more sparingly. It was embarrassing to watch Spurs play through us yesterday, bypass our sluggish midfield and bear down unchallenged on our goal.

Finally - set pieces FFS. Why did our set-piece coach leave us to go to Arsenal (a poorer team)? Unless they were doubling his wages it can only be because he was undervalued and underused here. Surely we have players with the ability to cross a dead ball into a dangerous area 9 times out of 10. If Lazarus Saka can do it, we must have someone who can spend 30 minutes a day in training perfecting the delivery? Our corners are unprofessional and this needs to change?

If we adapt slightly we’ll be OK. If we don’t, it’s going to be a long hard season unless our luck changes and missed chances turn into goals.

My views might be wrong and way off but this is what I think and what I am seeing.

Anyway CTID.

For me at the moment parts of our team look like the sort of older 6 a side mobs you see at tournaments.

You can see they were all players back in the day and can use their brain / know how to smash teams their age but they get to the semis and get pumped 8-4 by a team of 20 year olds who are better physically.

 

[Cobwebcat]

This will all be sorted out but the league has gone. CL and FAC plus top 4 still possible once we regain our confidence and we will.

Trust Pep and the club. It’s not normal to win constantly for years.

 

[fathellensbellend]

the injuries are killing us, but our diabolical transfer window has really come back to haunt us, if Haaland got a knock now we will be totally knackered. The past is the past, it's been unbeliveable, but with Txixi leaving, uncertainty with Pep, the continuity that has been our hallmark seems to have gone and we look a disjointed mess with the ability to play for 10/15 minutes until we get picked off. Rico And Gundo in midfield is just horrific, no physicality, no height, no energy, Rico stepping onto everything, it's a hard watch. Phil has been a shadow of last season, i look at him as a senior player now and i thought he was ready to take over from KDB, not on this form, nowhere near. Jack Grealish 100 million, hardly been seen since 2023, where is he, love him to bits, but he should be in his prime, i don't have a clue what's happening with him. The fullbacks are an accident waiting to happen, and again, nothing in reserve. City need to go out and spend the Alvarez money and get some proper depth, it's bizarre how little cover we have in many areas of the team, i know Pep loves a smaller squad with a game every 4 days we are beyond breaking point

 

[chaddblue]

For me at the moment parts of our team look like the sort of older 6 a side mobs you see at tournaments.

You can see they were all players back in the day and can use their brain / know how to smash teams their age but they get to the semis and get pumped 8-4 by a team of 20 year olds who are better physically.

Makes you wonder why there doesn’t appear to be anybody at the club that could see this situation looming and nothing was done

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Makes you wonder why there doesn’t appear to be anybody at the club that could see this situation looming and nothing was done

Nothing lasts forever.

My guess is that Trixxi wasn't fully engaged for whatever reason the past 2 seasons or so and our transfers have suffered. Just an uniformed guess though.

 

[wolviedinho]

I have decided to look upon this season with positivity.

The downturn in performances will allow the club to sit down and ruthlessly cut the playing squad. Before we couldn’t do that because the bastards continued to win season after season so we left them to it and patched the squad up bit by bit.

Treble
4 in a row

Both achievements stand out to us city fans for the rest of our lives. It also put us in a funny position regarding transfers. How could we treat the players like shit after all they have done? We didn’t and because we didn’t the squad has run its natural course.

So yes it’s shit, every other fan especially those red clubs and the media will now be happy that finally the city winning machine is ground to a stop.

We don’t treat people like shit. We appreciate their past achievements(name training grounds and put up statues) and now we can look them in the eye and say you need to be moved on for the club to keep the standards set.

Could it have been managed better? Sure but it ain’t the end of the world.

Serial winners come to an end. No other club has won as much as us so they have no right to judge now we need a rebuild.

I am genuinely grateful to every single one of them and wish them all the best going forward.

The pressure to win the league is off, try to get back to playing some nice attacking football before they leave.

Iv learned the hard way to tune out any outside negativity.

 

[simon23]

Lewis is a 19 year old kid and should only be being phased in and out at this point in his development.

The current injury situation and the fact Nunes is dog shit has forced Pep’s hand.

Agree but it is what it is and Lewis (at present) isnt good enough in certain situations in midfield.....great in tight spaces but once out of them attacking wise he aint good enough....defensively he is weak...Not righting him off but he along with others (Gundo) are not good enough at present or going forward.

Nunes I agree on but that aint his fault.....thats recruitments fault...his signing along with Phillips at the time were panick buys when others didnt come off....

 

[hilts]

Absolutely, we need players who have pace, we’re so predictable atm it’s embarrassing and that’s everything to do with no pace in the team.

Until he flatters to deceive and then he will be called shit like pretty much every other player has.

In terms of Doku and Savinho it seems a pretty even split on here and those I have talked to in the real world.

A third think doku isn't great savinho is better
A third think savinho isn't great doku is better
A third think both aren't great

 

[sir baconface]

I hope nobody noticed I predicted a 4-1 City win….

 

[flook]

Makes you wonder why there doesn’t appear to be anybody at the club that could see this situation looming and nothing was done

agree with this 100%, signs were clear last season, I was honestly surprised we won the league, thought we'd win the CL though. Looking back, we won the league the same way as the rags did in the last ferguson season, other teams were still afraid of them and not quite at the level needed. This season it's different.

We need a serious rebuild and let's spend some money. I'm fine with a small squad if thats Peps preference, but it needs to be a quality small squad. Recruitment, with the exception of Josko, has been poor for the last 2 years.