Okay deep breaths I've had time to calm down but I'm still angry. Before I begin yes I know we've had a magnificent run, yes I know we beat Liverpool for the first time in years, although so is everyone else at the minute and yes I know the run had to end sometime. However......
Hands up who didn't look at that line up and get an uneasy feeling? That midfield for a derby?? No real pace, stamina, fight or legs and so it proved. Sterling and Jesus have never scored against the rags and after today you can see why. We fucked about getting a centre half forever and we lost a season because of it. We have done the same with a decent 25-30 goal powerful striker and it is costing us. Not so much in the run of the mill games but in big games, especially the champions league knockout stages. We need an alternate to a load of lightweight midgets who need five chances to score one, if they're lucky.
Onto the game. Less than two minutes in and a shocking slack idiotic passage of play and we're a goal down. Cancello.....get that throw in down the line! Instead he throws a high difficult to control aimless ball into a dangerous area. Jesus loses it then chases back and makes the sort of challenge he does at the other end. Now that's fine at the other end but not in our fucking box, pulling and hacking away like a fucking Sunday league player until job done he fells him and it's a penalty. Utterly criminal. 1-0 down and that plays right into the rags hands and the inevitable happened as we chase the game, they breakaway and score again. Game over. We could still be playing now and not score.
The rags must have looked at that lineup and got a lift. No Silva or Foden pressing and snarling at their heels everywhere. It made their life 50% easier. We face a team with pace on the counter and leave our fastest defender on the bench. Three utterly stupid decisions by Pep.
Now to the real elephant in the room and this isn't going to be popular. KDB. At the moment he isn't worthy of a place in the team. In fact I believe him coming back has disrupted our rhythm and reduced our effectiveness by at least 30%. When he was out we got Gundogan further forward and KDB's place went to either Foden or Silver who did the graft and covering he can't do. It was a revelation, teams couldn't handle it and Gundogan couldn't stop scoring. If Pep wants to shoehorn KDB into the team then he goes on the right alternating with Mahrez . He is costing us at both ends at the moment in the middle
Let's hope we regroup and go on another long winning run picking up all the trophies along the way. I fear however that in crunch games Pep is going to do similar as today and cost us.
