West Brom (h) post-match thread

So frustrating. And yet again no changes until very late.

Gundogan was the only one that really showed any desire to win the game.

Ake taking way too many touches before passing the ball. Mendy offering nothing. Foden coming too narrow, same for Sterling. De Bruyne with sloppy forst touches and poor passing until last 5 mins when we should have won the game. Gundogan and Sterling both firing tame headers at the keeper when it was easier to score.

Jesus may as well have not played. Rodri kept wasting good chances to shoot and offered nothing in a creative sense. Kept occupying a position right next to Gundogan which is pointless when you are dominating the game as we were.

Aguero gets a good chance and doesn't even hit the target which was just typical of us this season.

Take aways... Mahrez is frustrating but should probably play over Sterling. Torres has to start. We desperately need Bernardo back to form so we can go Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo in these games as we used to with Silva.
 
its all a bit meh! we don't look like losing but we don't look like winning either
wonder if the special one's bore masterclass(hailed in the media) has affected pep, we've not been the same since
 
supercity88 said:
So frustrating. And yet again no changes until very late.

Gundogan was the only one that really showed any desire to win the game.

Ake taking way too many touches before passing the ball. Mendy offering nothing. Foden coming too narrow, same for Sterling. De Bruyne with sloppy forst touches and poor passing until last 5 mins when we should have won the game. Gundogan and Sterling both firing tame headers at the keeper when it was easier to score.

Jesus may as well have not played. Rodri kept wasting good chances to shoot and offered nothing in a creative sense. Kept occupying a position right next to Gundogan which is pointless when you are dominating the game as we were.

Aguero gets a good chance and doesn't even hit the target which was just typical of us this season.

Take aways... Mahrez is frustrating but should probably play over Sterling. Torres has to start. We desperately need Bernardo back to form so we can go Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo in these games as we used to with Silva.
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Bernardo can't get back in form of he doesn't get played. This was the ideal game for him to come in centrally, but no, it's Gundo and Rodri.
 
Coatigan said:
In the end, i'm happy enough with a point, because it was beginning to look like one of those 'just not your night' games where they would knick a goal at the end, or var would give them a stoppage time pen or something.

Sometimes, things just go against you, the own goal from a free kick that was never a foul, multiple missed chances and top top saves that on another night would have gone in. The game itself, out of context, these ones happen.

Again, we are hugely underestimating the effect fans in the stands would have had in that game, the extra pressure it would put on their defence in those last 20 minutes, the bit of belief it would give our forwards. Enough to get that winner. Let's not bullshit ourselves, we have had these games every time we won the league, we found ways to win them and it was marginal. We also had suckerpunch losses too.

The problem is has been happening a few times.

The bigger issue for me is the narrative this creates. We've already rewritten the last season, and a fair few now seem to be going into kickoff with a low expectation, and then watching the game to try confirm it.

We Are slower than we have been, we are less 'frightening'. But we still keep the posession and we still create the chances. What seems to be missing is belief and confidence. You can see it, from half an hour in, players are in despair and disbelief at missing chances as if it is the 90th minute. It almost looks as if they have convinced thenselves the goals aren't coming.

The narrative around pep will start to build too, can't hack it more than 3 years, anywhere else he'd be sacked, and that will feed into the cycle.

We need a big scoring dominant game to shed the weight, and to follow it up with a basic win. Then it might kick a bit of self belief off.

I think pep should be using torres way more, and regularly, because he is the one player currently not bogged down with this mentality. He is new to the team and league, has that fresh naivity but also that pure hope, has confidence and belief in himself, and the hunger to prove himself and justify his big move. And that will produce goals where a currently fragile sterling or mahrez will miss them.
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A sensible post, take our chances and we would of won that game comfortably, people see the results at the moment and fly off the handle, doesn't help with all the wums, bluemoon is infested by them, that stirs the negativity and people who can't think for themselves decide the wums are right, we controlled the match, we are lacking the david silva player to unlock what is becoming a 10 deep block, I would put kev where gundo was, deep and getting forward, give Bernardo a chance in the middle, we are far off, just need to get through these very defensive teams
 
righty bloody ho, imagine paying for that on a dark December night with your wages!! small mercies.

Sterling needs a wobble, his game is massively sub-standard. So many players out of nick right now, i dont remember the majority of our squad being out of form, which speaks of something else if im honest.

ive said this numerous times, every player gets a free pass in his first season from me, but Ake has to show that he can actually play football above Bournemouth's level soon because i am far from convinced he actually can....

the blue that runs through me knows we should have won that at the end, i cant believe we miss a simple header and then GET ANOTHER go and miss that one too. So yes, we had chances and fluffed it. fine margins. but the sad fact is ive been bored this season, it's just a bit dull.
 
sterling needs taking out he was terrible.even on the right he kept checking back instead of going at them allowing them to reset/we need torres and bernardo kev gundo and foden with jesus and press like fuck.play with pace but get in behind last night when walker came on and added pace was when we started to look like scoring
 
Slow, predictable & boring.

We have no plan B and heads are down. Too many players are keeping their spot in the side and aren’t performing. The own goal last night was a freak, but we hamore than enough chances to have put a cricket score on them last night.

We don’t press anymore.
We don’t vary the play anymore. We play the same passes, in the same system with the same outcome. Wenger did the same for years.

Not usually one to dig out players but we are carrying too many in that squad currently. Players we need to move on because they’re simply not good enough or not reliable enough.

Gundogan’s goal last night came from quick movement. Then we went back to slow and predictable. This changed in the last 7/8 minutes and then the keeper made some decent saves for a couple of poor finishes.

Saturdays game looks very tough to me.
 
The only time Pep showed any passion was with the pointless rant over time added with the 4th official. Over the white line the players continued their slow pedestrian approach although miraculously we got two chances towards the end.
We never seem to make a last determined effort to score throwing bodies and the ball forward just slow slow sideways backwards and a little forwards with a total lack of zip and urgency.
The last straw was the final kick was a timid backwards ball to a centre half.
 
Concerned to see Pep repeating, yet again, that if we have 26 shots we have to score some of them.

Playing as narrow as we do and asking Rodri to shoot through 8 defenders in the box from 20 yards with his first touch, then blaming him for not scoring, is a tad unfair Pep.
 
Slow boring. Slow boring. Slow boring. It’s like all the players have been given Valium to calm them down.
 
city saint said:
sterling needs taking out he was terrible.even on the right he kept checking back instead of going at them allowing them to reset/we need torres and bernardo kev gundo and foden with jesus and press like fuck.play with pace but get in behind last night when walker came on and added pace was when we started to look like scoring
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Bernardo has offered absolutely nothing for 15 months and Jesus was near invisible last night. People talk about service but Aguero offered more of a threat in 20 minutes than Jesus did all game.
 
In all seriousness apart from the defence minis a left back , Foden and Torres , the rest of starting 11 need a major overhaul.
Who would of thought the defence would be the best thing about Man City in 2020 lol
 
It was like watching one of those Boxing Day matches when a team had clearly overdone the mince pies and Sherry. People talking about missing merlin - we are but in terms of his performance he left us over 18 months ago and we have no answer.
 
Another factor in this malaise could be the coaching or lack of it, this current number two we have, what exactly does he bring to the club, his managing record makes Roy Keane's look good, yes it's downright crap. I think we have major problems here and with Pep not knowing any other way to play, results and performances aren't going to change. Long winter ahead.
 
peace frog said:
A sensible post, take our chances and we would of won that game comfortably, people see the results at the moment and fly off the handle, doesn't help with all the wums, bluemoon is infested by them, that stirs the negativity and people who can't think for themselves decide the wums are right, we controlled the match, we are lacking the david silva player to unlock what is becoming a 10 deep block, I would put kev where gundo was, deep and getting forward, give Bernardo a chance in the middle, we are far off, just need to get through these very defensive teams
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I want to agree with you, I really do but the team has been in decline for 18 months and I really worry that Pep has no idea how to fix it.
It’s not so much the results but the way we are playing - it’s beyond belief with the players we have and the money spent. That first 60 minutes against a crap team was inexcusable as was the finishing.
The decline was not so marked last season because of the very strong base we had but it is now serious in my view.
The club hierarchy does not seem to understand how to address this and Khaldoon’s comment pre season that the legends decide when they leave is completely wrong. Toure kept on too long, David has not been replaced even though 18-19 was really his swan song. The Aguero/striker situation is farcical - where the fuck are we going to get a replacement for him for next season? Haaland is not going to come because we won’t deal with his agent so where is that goal scorer who will make us feared like we were before?
Maybe it is the fans missing and maybe it’s Pep screwing up but it’s so sad to see a team almost devoid of personality and real gut wrenching desire. KDB, Walker and Phil seem to be the only ones so I will forgive their bad moments because they have energy, dynamism and just seem to care.
Remember the monstrous efforts to rein Liverpool in 2 years ago led by Bernardo? That seems to have been replaced by powder puff, tippy tappy sideways shit that Pep once said he hated. What has happened to passing with a purpose and the freedom to create in the last third?
Not getting top 4 would be a disaster
 
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