Villarreal (A) | CL | Post Match Thread

[cyan]

Interesting takes on our two wingers - but I thought both did very well.

Savinho was great from the first minute when he intercepted a lose ball and set up Haaland for what could have been a first minute goal - dont think he really expected the ball back. His full back didn't know which way to turn all through the half, great link up play with Lewis throughout leading to the first goal. and then they switched for the second so that Savinho could supply the assistance with a beautifully precise cross. Second half he was seen a bit less, but then the whole team was dropping back - but then one lovely run passed three defenders - just wish he had buried it.

Doku had a trickier time, his defender was very tight to him and played him well. He seemed to be able to match Doku's acceleration and so that advantage Doku has was nullified - but he kept at it, kept the width, kept worrying the defence. At the same time the referee wasn't giving Doku much and tended to give fouls against Doku for not a lot and not give fouls when he seemed to be blocked. Although when he did eventually give Doku a free kick - he also booked the defender and it really didn't look much of a foul to me never mind a booking! I don't think any of that is a reflection on Doku's performance - he did what he had to do. Sometimes a combination of good defending and erratic refereeing will mean he doesn't have the impact we would like to see.

 

[East Level 2]

I like Reshmin, her delivery is kind of an odd mix of say Garth Crooks and Emily Maitlis. She’s wasted on idle football chit chat with dull as ditchwater pundits. And to be fair to her, the editorial position doesn’t come from her, she’s just the highly polished deliverer of the message.

The real question here is how the fuck does Owen Hargreaves get any work at all

You actually know the answer to that don't you?

 

[blue by birth]

One of those weird European away day performances.....not a lot of atmosphere in the stadium....we should have won at a canter (and in some ways we did)...excellent parts of a performance and some other sloppy bits as well....

Haaland on fire and looking very sharp - he seems to be taking more shots from distance this year as well
Nico G decent and Stones looking good again...especially after such a long lay off.
Nunes decent at fullback - loved the bit where he covered across the other side of the pitch int he first half....proper fullback work there from him...
Kova looked pretty good when he came on as well.

Wide men a bit hit and miss....Sav looking more positive again in taking his man on..still lacking killer instinct and Doku did some great work but most of it deeper than he would like probably...got fouled an awful lot and was lookking a bit frustrated.

would like to have seen cherki more but i guess its about managing his minutes at the moment.

Hope Nico G is ok as we need him

Harder game vs Villa at weekend.

I thought the City fans were great..sounded good on TV..
Credit to the travelling blues..great support as usual

 

[.db.]

Sorry - but were you there?

'not a lot of atmosphere in the stadium'

We were singing the entire game - even through the crappy second half...not sure if it came over on the telly, but unlike Monaco which was shocking, we were bouncing in the away end - for a very tough away fixture for travel and in a town that closes at 7pm.

Huge credit to all the travelling Blues - proud to be with you.

I read that as if he meant in the stadium as a whole, not City fans. There wasn’t a lot of atmosphere in the Ceràmica last night; there was a shit drum that was being twatted very quickly with seemingly no rhythm but barely any singing other than City fans. It did make it feel like another odd CL night where the lack of atmosphere in a stadium makes the game seem unimportant.

It was even worse at Monaco, which felt like a training game such was the lack of atmosphere in their stadium… could hear the players talking through the game.

City fans were good last night though and it came across on the tele (even BBC Sport commented on the City fans). But there wasn’t much atmosphere in the Ceràmica from the Villarreal fans as a whole at all.

 

[BillyShears]

Quietly professional performance which should have all our rivals very concerned.

Villa next with a rested Foden. Win that and tongues will start wagging and we'll no longer be under the radar so to speak.

 

[IT and Me]

I am becoming increasingly concerned about Gvardiol. His wayward passing is gifting counter attacks on a regular basis. We could have conceded 2 tonight as a result of his very poor distribution attempts.
Not sure I would trust him against the very best for this reason.
He's solid as a central defender and good in the opposition box but I just don't trust him in possession.

 

[johnny crossan]

Listening to McPointy and the other TNT commentators run down the quality of the opposition was laughable - not City good just Villareal bad - they are 3rd in La Liga and haven't lost at home for over a year.

 

[hinchcliffes bulbous conk]

Well in blue boys, a solid performance both on and off the pitch! Shame about Nico G, the Viking continues to pillage and flashes from Sav. On to Villa!

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

That one's on Pep.

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Interesting takes on our two wingers - but I thought both did very well.

Savinho was great from the first minute when he intercepted a lose ball and set up Haaland for what could have been a first minute goal - dont think he really expected the ball back. His full back didn't know which way to turn all through the half, great link up play with Lewis throughout leading to the first goal. and then they switched for the second so that Savinho could supply the assistance with a beautifully precise cross. Second half he was seen a bit less, but then the whole team was dropping back - but then one lovely run passed three defenders - just wish he had buried it.

Doku had a trickier time, his defender was very tight to him and played him well. He seemed to be able to match Doku's acceleration and so that advantage Doku has was nullified - but he kept at it, kept the width, kept worrying the defence. At the same time the referee wasn't giving Doku much and tended to give fouls against Doku for not a lot and not give fouls when he seemed to be blocked. Although when he did eventually give Doku a free kick - he also booked the defender and it really didn't look much of a foul to me never mind a booking! I don't think any of that is a reflection on Doku's performance - he did what he had to do. Sometimes a combination of good defending and erratic refereeing will mean he doesn't have the impact we would like to see.

If Doku is going to get double or triple marked then it's up to the rest of the team to take advantage of that, as I thought we did really well in the first half.

 

[ancoats]

So if both us and arsenal have same points and are fighting for 8th place, who do you think will get 8th place

Pretty much nothing else matters other than winning it

 

[ancoats]

I get your point, but at 2-0 they hit the post, the whole atmosphere in the ground changes if that goss in,the opposition players mindset changes and all of a sudden its game on

Sometimes the other team can have a period in the game, plus the City players also need to take a breather
Yes 2.0 is never a good score to rest and defend, but in the end it was ok and 3 points won

 

[ancoats]

I agree, although at our best, we could kill a game by keeping possession efficiently and not giving our opponents any opportunity to get back into the game, while at the same time giving ourselves chances to score more.

Maybe could have used the bench earlier and changed it up, but being 2.0 up is a difficult choice to change a team

 

[Norbiton]

I am becoming increasingly concerned about Gvardiol. His wayward passing is gifting counter attacks on a regular basis. We could have conceded 2 tonight as a result of his very poor distribution attempts.
Not sure I would trust him against the very best for this reason.
He's solid as a central defender and good in the opposition box but I just don't trust him in possession.

Guardiol is so much better in central defence than left back. Hopefully if Ait Nouri comes good to challenge O’Reilly for that position we won’t need to try Guardiol there again.

 

[simon23]

I thought the City fans were great..sounded good on TV..
Credit to the travelling blues..great support as usual

Ah watching it on the lap top so maybe the sound quality wasnt great

 

[simon23]

Sorry - but were you there?

'not a lot of atmosphere in the stadium'

We were singing the entire game - even through the crappy second half...not sure if it came over on the telly, but unlike Monaco which was shocking, we were bouncing in the away end - for a very tough away fixture for travel and in a town that closes at 7pm.

Huge credit to all the travelling Blues - proud to be with you.

Wasnt talking about our fans

in general the stadium and their fans in particular were pretty quiet

 

[gray740]

Excellent performance from the lads ,if only we could get through a game without an injury ,can`t remember the last time that happened .

 

[mac]

Our fans were very loud. They never stopped Top day and a chilled atmosphere before kick off outside having a bevvy. Gotten job done in low gear. That was we had to do .

 

[blue by birth]

Ah watching it on the lap top so maybe the sound quality wasnt great

Yeah that's why I try not to watch on laptop..sound quality not great. Mind you it's an old fucking thing lol..bit like me

 

[jimharri]

The Forest fan not happy!