I'm done with football not because of pep.
Or we not winning at the min.
Just because it's shite.
Var mainly.
Tourists.
Tiktok pricks.
The cost.
I wish I didn't feel this way.
But I do .
I'm out
Until var gifts them a made up pen in the last minute .look matey Football and Manchester City is in the blood and many times I have said the same thing
But being a Manchester City fan does not require you to go to every game, I can bet 100% in the next 2 weeks the hunger will be back, its the Manchester Derby at home and we smash them, it's the best feeling in the world
You really are a Doom merchant, but I fear you might be right.Defo a big drop in technical ability. Add to that a lack of confidence, lack of courage and lack of physicality. We also have a manager terrified to make a change before 70 minutes - so for the last half hour of most game our unchanged team is blowing out of its are whilst the opposition with 4 fresh pairs of legs start running amok.
No solution to this. Shit will properly hit the fan after the next 3 games.
Totally disagree. Haaland is our main asset and works very hard, especially off the ball. Our problems are much more nuanced,It's because playing with haaland means the other 10 do a lot more running cos he does nothing other than score. The others run out of gas and pep makes his subs too late.
Totally disagree. Haaland is our main asset and works very hard, especially off the ball. Our problems are much more nuanced,
“Does nothing other than score”
Moron
If you were to try and join a training session with our current team I think you'd be amazed at the individual ability under no pressure. Like most professional sports people they would seem light years ahead of us mere mortals. The issue for me is we have gone from players who had that but more importantly had the footballing smarts to make the game on a real match day seem effortless. That is what separates those who are truly great - David Silva for example seemed to have time, space and was always in the right place to receive and distribute telling passes, same with Kev. What we have now is younger players like Lewis, O'Reilly, Bobb etc who individually have talent but lack the nous needed to be elite.
So many times we watch in despair as teams (often not as good as us) attack at will with acres of space - that is because some of our team cannot predict where a problem is going to develop and charge into areas on the pitch that leaves space and then you're entire backline looks lost. When we had our best years you seldom saw teams like Brighton & Spurs having 3 v's 1 in transitions - that is about having players that have an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time - the drop off has been huge. Silva again would understand by constant assessing where a threat would be and that intelligence meant he didn't have to make last ditch tackles because he was already there to nip in and nullify the opposition - Ferna was also the master at that as well as having the added ability to win 50/50's at will.
It worries me that our academy is producing more & more of these types and when we do buy players who are a bit different the coaching wants to change that. We are not a solid team now and we have to find a way to have players in who have football smarts - Nunes for example is a prime case - great ability but no inbuilt football intelligence.
In summary we need to change our tactics or return to buying players who do these things naturally without panic.
Match fitness, surely if your game is pass, pass, pass you will never be as athletic as players in your same class that play a pacey, power game.There is some truth in this but we also lack energy in the last 20 minutes. We keep getting over-run in midfield and shipping late goals. It is a pattern for two years now.
No it isn't small, you don't think it's good enough completely different thing. Don't care about what liverpool have or haven't done.Wafer thin in terms of quality you only had to look at the bench against Brighton to see that the scousers have bought well I don't understand peps small squad syndrome if Haarland gets injured what next cherki is out for two
I was saying the same thing all last season. You watch the players in the pre-match warmup and they are pinging passes about 50 yards across the pitch right on to the foot of a teammate but when the game starts they can’t make a 5 yard pass. It drives me crazy.Said this in the match thread yesterday. Passes were going behind players, forcing them to turn and allow the opposition to press, or going to feet when they're in motion, forcing them to stop and lose momentum. Obvious passes not being seen and made. How the hell have we regressed so much?
And yet Pep wants them to play as they once did. It is obvious. It is the reason why we are conceding so many transitions. On Saturday Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Marmoush, Reijnders, Bobb, Trafford, Haaland all gave the ball away cheaply, particularly in the opposition half. Is it because many of them have not yet come to terms with our style of play or is it lack of technical ability. They seem to carry the ball into trouble as much as misplace a pass. Only Rodri looked supremely comfortable on the ball.Feels like the obvious point to me.
I dont know when or why we started to move away from the style of passing teams to death, but, in the last 3-4 years we have bought players that aren't good enough on the ball to challenge for the title consistently.
Pep mentioned pre-Brighton that we need to get back to 1000 passes a game, but watching them yesterday, some of the players could barely make a 10-15 yard pass without it bobbling, or putting the receiving player in a worse position. Beyond the passing, the control of the ball was even worse, just bouncing 5-10 yards off of our players.
I say it's the technical ability because passing and controlling the ball allows us to control the game on and off the ball.
A previous version of City 1 nil up yesterday, they would have had Brighton running themselves into the ground trying to get the ball back.
Compare to any team we've had in the last 10 years.
Technical ability 2017/18 v 2025/26 (yesterday):
Ederson > Trafford
Walker > Nunes
Stones = Stones
Otamendi = Khusanov
Delph = Ait Nouri
Fernandinho < Rodri
David Silva > Reijnders
De Bruyne > Bernardo
Sane > Marmoush
Aguero > Haaland
Sterling = Bobb
1 player in the starting XI better than on the ball than what we had 8 years ago
It's the same if you go back 4 years too.
2021/22 v 2025/26:
Ederson > Trafford
Walker > Nunes
Laporte = Stones
Dias = Khusanov
Cancelo > Ait Nouri
Rodri = Rodri
Bernardo > Bernardo
De Bruyne > Reijnders
Sterling = Marmoush
Aguero > Haaland
Mahrez > Bobb
Arguably none better.
Now we may disagree on the odd placement of player's technical ability, but as a whole we are way down across the board.
Players press better now, it is harder to pass but I look at the modern game and players like Aguero, David Silva, a peak KDB would still take the piss and find time and space.
Might seem like a bit of a flap but we aren't going to get better until we start picking an XI that can pass opponents off the park.
Do we have such an XI capable? Not sure we do.
It's small we have a small squad of good players and then we have kids we cannot compete with a small contingent of good players and then a bunch of kids my concerns have come to fruition look at all the injuries we have and key players like cherki and Marmoush out for 3 vital games coming up I remember not so long ago under mancini when we had 4 strikers at our disposal we will burn out players like Bernardo and pep is now going against what he said in the past when players played too many games well this is about to happen with this squad big timeNo it isn't small, you don't think it's good enough completely different thing. Don't care about what liverpool have or haven't done.
Definitely not right. Pep built two legendary sides using technique and tactical understanding and eschewing athleticism.It’s not technical ability we lack, it’s pace, power and attitude.
No it isn’t we are allowed 17 NHG and 4 HG, we have 16 and 3 so 2 short, but we have Foden, Bobb and Trafford club trained then the U21 Lewis and O’Reilly. So if your definition of a small squad is 2 short then yes it’s small, but for me 2 off our maximum allowable isn’t a small squad,and my opinion just 1 under the ideal size.It's small we have a small squad of good players and then we have kids we cannot compete with a small contingent of good players and then a bunch of kids my concerns have come to fruition look at all the injuries we have and key players like cherki and Marmoush out for 3 vital games coming up I remember not so long ago under mancini when we had 4 strikers at our disposal we will burn out players like Bernardo and pep is now going against what he said in the past when players played too many games well this is about to happen with this squad big time
It would've been a brave decision to blow everything up after winning the TrebleBoth should have gone after winning the CL, with a new coach and DOF brought in to rebuild the squad.
It would've been a brave decision to blow everything up after winning the Treble
Agree that mistakes have been made with recruitment but it's easy with hindsight and getting new people in is no guarantee of success
I'm not using hindsight. I said it at the time and have continued to bore myself to near death by repeating it on here.
Guardiola was appointed for one thing. Win the CL. Mission accomplished. That was the time for the club to start to move on from him. Nothing lasts for ever.
A fading coach rebuilding for an unknown / unidentified successor... Bloody daft idea. We're on line to make the same mistake as the rags if the hierarchy try to persuade Pep to stay beyond the end of this season.