half chances, sterling 2 foot out from goal with a tap in,and sterling with a free header 6 yards out, rodri against the post , gundo clear shot on goal but the ball stuck under his feet, theres 4 without thinking,I think stats flattered us... yes 23 shots but only 5 on target? they had 6 on target i think, and had the best chance of the game with martial... ours were half chances at best (especially when sterling is on the end of things then its a flip of a coin). We didnt look like scoring and you could tell with their attitude and work-rate from pretty early on in the game. As many have said on here... hopefully its a wake up call.
I still can't figure out what the fuck he was doing back there. Maybe in the last couple of minutes, when you're defending a narrow lead, you can understand the forwards dropping deeper. Not that bloody deep, though. And Stones and Dias had Martial covered; he was a minimal threat at that moment.Can't play for a 0-0, when your forward decides to give away a pen from the 1st minute off.
I firmly believe the game plan was supposed to be more cautious and let the Rags come to us, but being down 0-1 at less than 5 minutes wrecked that.
But here's the thing, we have to go out and attack them because we are 0-1 down. At 0-0, we could have sat back like they did and hit them on the break, but 0-1 put the situation in their favor. The Rags immediately retreated into their box since they got the pen.I was not suggesting playing for a 0-0 and you are right that the penalty ruined things. My point was we should have swamped the midfield like we did in the League Cup semi and played a false number 9. Our basic standpoint should have been we would not allow any counter attacks. We could have picked them off when they ran out of steam in the second half. We started with the wrong formation and I am sure Pep and the players are well aware of that today. We have been mugged three times in recent years by United at the Etihad and each match was exactly the same.
Knowing Gaby, I'll say it's over-eagerness. Honestly, I can't fault him for effort, but it was really daft.I still can't figure out what the fuck he was doing back there. Maybe in the last couple of minutes, when you're defending a narrow lead, you can understand the forwards dropping deeper. Not that bloody deep, though. And Stones and Dias had Martial covered; he was a minimal threat at that moment.
To be fair I thought Stones was great yesterday. He tried to drag us back into the match. Dias didn't play as well but he gave 100 per cent. Some of the others went missing and I am sure you know which ones. For me Bernardo and Foden are both big game players and should have started. We really need a new striker to lead the line but who can also adapt to different systems.The derby is a big game. Yaya gone, Kompany gone, Aguero on the bench.. where are our big game players???
not even sure he "tackled" he was pressing, martial moved to his right and jesus got his legs tangled , stupid i know when there was no dangerAgree but also you don't risk a bad challenge in the box particularly when you have two colleagues making sure everything is under control.
It was totally unnecessary but the boy will learn from the experience.
I agree but believe we could have overcome the blow of the penalty if we had more energy on the field and the right players including Foden and Bernardo. In my view we were never in control of the game. United's finishing was as bad as ours and they could have scored more. Kev had his worst game for us and doesn't look anywhere near fit.But here's the thing, we have to go out and attack them because we are 0-1 down. At 0-0, we could have sat back like they did and hit them on the break, but 0-1 put the situation in their favor. The Rags immediately retreated into their box since they got the pen.
Pep did say before that sometimes due to individual mistakes, we never get to see his actual plan for the game, and I believe that this was one of those games. I don't think the team played well, and I think Foden/Bernardo should've started this game. However, overall, we did create alot of chances, but our players refuse to bury them, something Pep can't do anything about.
It wasn't a tackle. He got too close and legs collided. Happens all the time in open play but you cant do it in the box.not even sure he "tackled" he was pressing, martial moved to his right and jesus got his legs tangled , stupid i know when there was no danger