The Manager

[Mancio]

Ronaldo makes his own space when you play against him

I think any player can be kept quiet by putting 2 or 3 on him (it has only taken 1 at times to keep Silva quiet, ie. Rodwell against Everton), I've even seen Messi kept quiet by stubborn teams double/tripling up on him. The risk is that it frees space for others to get the ball but in our circumstances last night I think we should have smothered Ronaldo when we were 2-1 up, as in literally had him man marked by two so he would have been lucky to create any space for himself. It might have given Di Maria or someone more space but Ronaldo is always the biggest risk of being the difference maker.

I agree with you, but since Mancio didn't move one of the defenders in his five-man backline up to the top of the box, they continued to unleash dangerous shots from that area (see RM's first and second goals). If Marcelo hadn't been just off on his first two shots, the game would have been out-of-reach midway through the second half.

why the hell should we have been worried by out of the box shots when in goal we have got the world best shot stopper ?

 

[Blue Heaven]

I think any player can be kept quiet by putting 2 or 3 on him (it has only taken 1 at times to keep Silva quiet, ie. Rodwell against Everton), I've even seen Messi kept quiet by stubborn teams double/tripling up on him. The risk is that it frees space for others to get the ball but in our circumstances last night I think we should have smothered Ronaldo when we were 2-1 up, as in literally had him man marked by two so he would have been lucky to create any space for himself. It might have given Di Maria or someone more space but Ronaldo is always the biggest risk of being the difference maker.

I agree with you, but since Mancio didn't move one of the defenders in his five-man backline up to the top of the box, they continued to unleash dangerous shots from that area (see RM's first and second goals). If Marcelo hadn't been just off on his first two shots, the game would have been out-of-reach midway through the second half.

why the hell should we have been worried by out of the box shots when in goal we have got the world best shot stopper ?

Did you view the match against Real Madrid? Both Marcelo (on the THIRD attempt) and Benzema scored from there, and CR began his move from there, one-on-one against Zabs. Or maybe you don't care that Real Madrid scored three goals and beat us...

 

[Mancio]

I agree with you, but since Mancio didn't move one of the defenders in his five-man backline up to the top of the box, they continued to unleash dangerous shots from that area (see RM's first and second goals). If Marcelo hadn't been just off on his first two shots, the game would have been out-of-reach midway through the second half.

why the hell should we have been worried by out of the box shots when in goal we have got the world best shot stopper ?

Did you view the match against Real Madrid? Both Marcelo (on the THIRD attempt) and Benzema scored from there, and CR began his move from there, one-on-one against Zabs. Or maybe you don't care that Real Madrid scored three goals and beat us...

when you play vs a team like real madrid you have 2 choices , defend high and press or defend deep and let them shot from outside the box.

both way can be good or wrong , depend on if you do it well or not.

tre weeks ago barcelona defended high and were fucked by real madrid counter attack.

yesterday we defended deep and were fucked by shots from outside the box.

maybe you have to accept that play at bernabeu its not an easy task , particularly when the fuckers are really motivated.

 

[Blue Heaven]

why the hell should we have been worried by out of the box shots when in goal we have got the world best shot stopper ?

Did you view the match against Real Madrid? Both Marcelo (on the THIRD attempt) and Benzema scored from there, and CR began his move from there, one-on-one against Zabs. Or maybe you don't care that Real Madrid scored three goals and beat us...

when you play vs a team like real madrid you have 2 choices , defend high and press or defend deep and let them shot from outside the box.

both way can be good or wrong , depend on if you do it well or not.

tre weeks ago barcelona defended high and were fucked by real madrid counter attack.

yesterday we defended deep and were fucked by shots from outside the box.

maybe you have to accept that play at bernabeu its not an easy task , particularly when the fuckers are really motivated.

I agree that there is a choice that must be made, and it's never an easy one against RM at home. However, when they have just scored two, and nearly four, from essentially the same positions, one might want to do something to attempt to shut off those options. We did not, and we all saw the result - a winning goal from CR. Other than Zabs, no other defender was in position to contain CR. He's the second-best player in the world, going into this fixture with 151 goals in 150 RM matches. Wasn't it a mistake to leave Zabs one-on-one with him?

 

[SuperSilva]

why the hell should we have been worried by out of the box shots when in goal we have got the world best shot stopper ?

Did you view the match against Real Madrid? Both Marcelo (on the THIRD attempt) and Benzema scored from there, and CR began his move from there, one-on-one against Zabs. Or maybe you don't care that Real Madrid scored three goals and beat us...

when you play vs a team like real madrid you have 2 choices , defend high and press or defend deep and let them shot from outside the box.

both way can be good or wrong , depend on if you do it well or not.

tre weeks ago barcelona defended high and were fucked by real madrid counter attack.

yesterday we defended deep and were fucked by shots from outside the box.

maybe you have to accept that play at bernabeu its not an easy task , particularly when the fuckers are really motivated.

Spot on from Mancio.

Why can't people see that we pushed Real Madrid, probably the best team in Europe/World, on the same level as Barca. Real played against us the way they play against Barca, and on top of that we scored twice, in the lead twice AND at their home with a very large and loud crowd against.

If we went and lost 4-1 or 4-0 then yes... be pissed, but 3-2 cos of a defensive mistake by Zaba ?! I can confidently say We, City, are now almost at the same level of Real Madrid & Barca. A little bit more time and we'll be going to their pitch and winning games.

 

[Mancio]

Did you view the match against Real Madrid? Both Marcelo (on the THIRD attempt) and Benzema scored from there, and CR began his move from there, one-on-one against Zabs. Or maybe you don't care that Real Madrid scored three goals and beat us...

when you play vs a team like real madrid you have 2 choices , defend high and press or defend deep and let them shot from outside the box.

both way can be good or wrong , depend on if you do it well or not.

tre weeks ago barcelona defended high and were fucked by real madrid counter attack.

yesterday we defended deep and were fucked by shots from outside the box.

maybe you have to accept that play at bernabeu its not an easy task , particularly when the fuckers are really motivated.

I agree that there is a choice that must be made, and it's never an easy one against RM at home. However, when they have just scored two, and nearly four, from essentially the same positions, one might want to do something to attempt to shut off those options. We did not, and we all saw the result - a winning goal from CR. Other than Zabs, no other defender was in position to contain CR. He's the second-best player in the world, going into this fixture with 151 goals in 150 RM matches. Wasn't it a mistake to leave Zabs one-on-one with him?

obviously it was a mistake , obviously kompany should have been near to zab doubling on ronaldo instead of being on the six yards box line , but you know , shit happens , and everybody cen see yesterday wasnt kompany life best performance

 

[SuperSilva]

Did you view the match against Real Madrid? Both Marcelo (on the THIRD attempt) and Benzema scored from there, and CR began his move from there, one-on-one against Zabs. Or maybe you don't care that Real Madrid scored three goals and beat us...

when you play vs a team like real madrid you have 2 choices , defend high and press or defend deep and let them shot from outside the box.

both way can be good or wrong , depend on if you do it well or not.

tre weeks ago barcelona defended high and were fucked by real madrid counter attack.

yesterday we defended deep and were fucked by shots from outside the box.

maybe you have to accept that play at bernabeu its not an easy task , particularly when the fuckers are really motivated.

Spot on from Mancio.

Why can't people see that we pushed Real Madrid, probably the best team in Europe/World, on the same level as Barca. Real played against us the way they play against Barca, and on top of that we scored twice, in the lead twice AND at their home with a very large and loud crowd against.

If we went and lost 4-1 or 4-0 then yes... be pissed, but 3-2 cos of a defensive mistake by Zaba ?! I can confidently say We, City, are now almost at the same level of Real Madrid & Barca. A little bit more time and we'll be going to their pitch and winning games.

In fact I think a lot of teams who watched us will really fear how strong we are ... pushing the mighty Real Madrid back at their home pitch in front of their own crowd and making beating us by the slightest of margins.

2 days after this game its looking a lot more positive in perspective.... and we've yet to play Aguero against them!

 

[Blue Heaven]

Did you view the match against Real Madrid? Both Marcelo (on the THIRD attempt) and Benzema scored from there, and CR began his move from there, one-on-one against Zabs. Or maybe you don't care that Real Madrid scored three goals and beat us...

when you play vs a team like real madrid you have 2 choices , defend high and press or defend deep and let them shot from outside the box.

both way can be good or wrong , depend on if you do it well or not.

tre weeks ago barcelona defended high and were fucked by real madrid counter attack.

yesterday we defended deep and were fucked by shots from outside the box.

maybe you have to accept that play at bernabeu its not an easy task , particularly when the fuckers are really motivated.

Spot on from Mancio.

Why can't people see that we pushed Real Madrid, probably the best team in Europe/World, on the same level as Barca. Real played against us the way they play against Barca, and on top of that we scored twice, in the lead twice AND at their home with a very large and loud crowd against.

If we went and lost 4-1 or 4-0 then yes... be pissed, but 3-2 cos of a defensive mistake by Zaba ?! I can confidently say We, City, are now almost at the same level of Real Madrid & Barca. A little bit more time and we'll be going to their pitch and winning games.

Hello, I am actually feeling pretty good about our performance, as I've posted elsewhere. Considering that this was our first fixture in only our second CL campaign ever, I think we've come a very long way in a very short period of time. I have my criticisms of Mancio, but he has instilled a knowledge and expectation of tactical awareness for all players at all times. It's not like under Agent Hughes when we had wonderfully fit players running around like headless chickens when our opponents were in possession. This is a tremendous leap forward.

To go to the Bernabeu and force Real Madrid to dig deep down to muster a 90th minute winner is an achievement, in my book. Now, even though we blew the match late, our squad knows that with a little more discipline and experience, we need fear no club on any pitch.

I did not criticize Zabs for a mistake, though I certainly could have. The big error came about because a necessary tactical adjustment wasn't made. And yes, Vinnie could and should have provided some support to Zabs, all alone by himself on an island against CR. After all, it's not like Vinnie blocked a shot he could have easily headed away to safely!

 

[Deleted member 14625]

Did you view the match against Real Madrid? Both Marcelo (on the THIRD attempt) and Benzema scored from there, and CR began his move from there, one-on-one against Zabs. Or maybe you don't care that Real Madrid scored three goals and beat us...

when you play vs a team like real madrid you have 2 choices , defend high and press or defend deep and let them shot from outside the box.

both way can be good or wrong , depend on if you do it well or not.

tre weeks ago barcelona defended high and were fucked by real madrid counter attack.

yesterday we defended deep and were fucked by shots from outside the box.

maybe you have to accept that play at bernabeu its not an easy task , particularly when the fuckers are really motivated.

Spot on from Mancio.

Why can't people see that we pushed Real Madrid, probably the best team in Europe/World, on the same level as Barca. Real played against us the way they play against Barca, and on top of that we scored twice, in the lead twice AND at their home with a very large and loud crowd against.

If we went and lost 4-1 or 4-0 then yes... be pissed, but 3-2 cos of a defensive mistake by Zaba ?! I can confidently say We, City, are now almost at the same level of Real Madrid & Barca. A little bit more time and we'll be going to their pitch and winning games.

I think the differences were stark. We are a good way off being as good as Real/Barca yet. 31 shots to 12 (15 to 3 on target) are the sort of numbers we put on bottom half Prem clubs. They could easily have scored double what they did.

Plus they had loads of decent chances in the box. Four that Joe saved, two missed over the bar from unmarked players six yards out and that's just off the top of my head.

I'm just trying to stop people getting carried away.

 

[Mancio]

when you play vs a team like real madrid you have 2 choices , defend high and press or defend deep and let them shot from outside the box.

both way can be good or wrong , depend on if you do it well or not.

tre weeks ago barcelona defended high and were fucked by real madrid counter attack.

yesterday we defended deep and were fucked by shots from outside the box.

maybe you have to accept that play at bernabeu its not an easy task , particularly when the fuckers are really motivated.

Spot on from Mancio.

Why can't people see that we pushed Real Madrid, probably the best team in Europe/World, on the same level as Barca. Real played against us the way they play against Barca, and on top of that we scored twice, in the lead twice AND at their home with a very large and loud crowd against.

If we went and lost 4-1 or 4-0 then yes... be pissed, but 3-2 cos of a defensive mistake by Zaba ?! I can confidently say We, City, are now almost at the same level of Real Madrid & Barca. A little bit more time and we'll be going to their pitch and winning games.

I think the differences were stark. We are a good way off being as good as Real/Barca yet. 31 shots to 12 (15 to 3 on target) are the sort of numbers we put on bottom half Prem clubs. They could easily have scored double what they did.

Plus they had loads of decent chances in the box. Four that Joe saved, two missed over the bar from unmarked players six yards out and that's just off the top of my head.

I'm just trying to stop people getting carried away.

sad truth and exactly what I said a few days ago to those deluded people who thought we were going to madrid to "mark a sign"

unfortunally FFP has clipped our wings a year before we could be on the same level as the RM or Barca. we still are 3/4 world class player away from them and i cannot see how we'll close that gap.