West Brom (h) post-match thread

[Nellies left peg]

The highlight of that game was Mendys new haircut.
The rest was lamentable.
Yet again an awful performance.

His hair was so lamentable. The bloke is a total knob. Who would buy a Lamborghini without a valid driving licence or insurance and risk getting it crushed? They don't exactly merge into the background

 

[standupifyouhatemanu]

Go on I'll say it, we missed Mahrez last night, he should have started ahead of Razza just for his hat trick against Burnley. No doubt 2 defensive midfielders isn't helping against well organised relegation fodder. Pep just seems to be stubborn at the minute, also don't change a defensive formula that is working, Dias and Ake? Should have been Dias and Stones with Ake LB. I do think there is something going on behind the scenes, sadly the fight to the end spirit has all but disappeared.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

We finished last night with 2 centre halves and rodri marking their lone striker. Surely Throw Ake or Dias up front for the last 10 and offer something different. kev was firing in some whipped crosses at that stage.Pep never takes a gamble ever.

Pep used to do that with Pique

 

[BLUEMATT23]

His hair was so lamentable. The bloke is a total knob. Who would buy a Lamborghini without a valid driving licence or insurance and risk getting it crushed? They don't exactly merge into the background

Yes I agree, him and Sterlings hair cuts ridiculous.
It's like a fucking pantomime at the moment at the club, Pep needs to sort it out and fast.

 

[Prater70]

Slept on it and woke up feeling no better than when I went to bed. Just depressingly average we are at the moment. Done OK in Champs League and have played much better in that for some odd reason. But some decisions have to be made like taking Sterling out of the team!!! Put Bernie back in. One of the few players with tenacity and pace. Obviously him and Laporte are persona non grata at the moment with Pep !

 

[B\connellblue]

Pep used to do that with Pique

I wish he'd try it here.

 

[Damien10]

Again, another game where a goal is needed and he won’t sub one of the pivots. I think it’s about time pep is honest with the fans instead of making excuses. It’s clearly not working.

2018 and 2019 seasons he would of had 8 attackers on to finish that game.

What a joy them two seasons was to watch.

 

[shemnel]

For me it is early days but Foden seems a fair weather player. Look at the challenge for the ball in the air for West Brom's goal last night. Hope it doesn't turn into a "Where did it all go wrong for Phil". But last night seemed strange, every player bar Gundogan seemed nervous about having the ball, slipping and falling over even Ederson with nothing to do looked edgy. Very strange. Charlie Austin came on no pace could easily have gone to a back three with Mendy off and brought the extra forward on but still continued with Walker as a sub. What were we hoping for from Walker?

the Walker sub was odd - yes by all means bring him on because you have 15 mins against a team camped in their box who will only counter, so Walker is perfect cover due to his pace. so you dont need 4 men at the back, take off Ake and throw on Bernie. but we kept 4 at the back. weird.

 

[Ashleymcduff]

Where was kun and gabby when those crosses came in, they should be bread and butter for the forwards , not having the worst heads of the ball in the team getting on the end of them ffs

 

[StillBluessinceHydeRoad]

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.

This is an excellent post because it attempts to analyse the elements which have gone into producing a disappointing result and a very underwhelming start to the season. Unfortunately many posters rush to abuse as the answer to these difficulties and point to the transfer market as the answer. I do agree that Jesus is not effective at the moment as a centre forward and Raheem is lamentably out of form but I think we need more evidence than a dozen matches before relegating them to the "rubbish" category! My instinct is, like yours, that Torres should play more but I still think Pep is still far and away the best manager in the world and probably in history, so I do wonder why he doesn't do that. I take your point about our being much slower than in the past and I think we don't make those clever passes between full back and CB, but this is probably because we don't have Merlin anymore. But I do think a major factor is the absence of fans - it's so flat in the stadium and I think this encourages the general lethargy of the team whereas our crowd really does encourage our lads to go for the throat! And last night I was nervous before kick off, the lads eased into the game in the relaxed atmosphere and never really seemed to raise the pace or develop a real sense of urgency until very late on and I too could see another deflected shot, a hit-hard-and-hope-harder shot or a joke VAR decision robbing us of the game. But the real sign of the times at the moment came in stoppage time: in 2017 Raz curled a winner into the top corner against Southampton, Gabby got the winner at St Mary's for the 100 points, Raz also got a late winner at Huddersfield, Merlin at home to West Ham - but last night Raz and Gundo put headers in the only place where (the excellent) Johnson could possibly get a leg to it. We could - and should - have had 3 in added time! It certainly was not our night.

 

[wolviedinho]

The whole team can’t pass for shit. Awful at this level.

 

[ZanteWeatherman]

Oh for a left back who can get forward with purpose, maybe score a few goals, cross the ball in decently, and overall, be a useful outlet on the left.... Angelino going to Dortmund was a mistake imho. Pep must know something that I don't.

 

[Keeper!]

 

[The1nvisibleMan]

Oh for a left back who can get forward with purpose, maybe score a few goals, cross the ball in decently, and overall, be a useful outlet on the left.... Angelino going to Dortmund was a mistake imho. Pep must know something that I don't.

Firstly he’s at Leipzig and also he plays a lot higher at Leipzig. I want a left back who is actually a left back who can attack and defend

 

[BLUE THUNDER]

People thinking that we're just unlucky etc are kidding themselves. The pattern for the whole season is that we've lost our cutting edge up front, are a lot easier to defend against, don't create anywhere near the amount of clear cut chances we used to, and when we do create chances our players need an extra touch and fuck it up or just aren't clinical.
I hope Pep realises this and plans to do something about it as opposed to believing the narrative he spouts in the press conference bemoaning our luck and finishing. Because that is just bullshit.
Unless we want to finish 5th we have to learn to WIN games & titles, not protect them.

 

[LangleyBlue1970]

Pretty depressing watching the Spurs game from the On This Day from 2017.
What a performance that was.

 

[chaddblue]

Oh for a left back who can get forward with purpose, maybe score a few goals, cross the ball in decently, and overall, be a useful outlet on the left.... Angelino going to Dortmund was a mistake imho. Pep must know something that I don't.

Yeah... he knows he went to Leipzig

 

[Bluemoon dan]

How low we have fallen that only getting a point against us means you get sacked...

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

the Walker sub was odd - yes by all means bring him on because you have 15 mins against a team camped in their box who will only counter, so Walker is perfect cover due to his pace. so you dont need 4 men at the back, take off Ake and throw on Bernie. but we kept 4 at the back. weird.

I think Pep was desperate to get Mendy, who had fallen apart, off the pitch and switching Cancelo to the left was the only way to do it. I don't think we'll see Mendy in a City shirt again.

 

[mcfcbill91]

Immensely frustrating game last night, but I don't feel we're at disaster levels yet.

Regardless of rotation, the playing pattern of CL/EL sides since October compared to the rest of the league is certain to have an effect. There's very little time to work on changing tactics and recovery/rest.

There's also the empty stadium factor. Not surprising there's so many dull games between the top sides - a crowd provides so much energy and pressure. I feel it's easier to see these games out in total silence. I'm feeling disconnected from football and City to a degree not being able to go.


I don't disagree with the more pragmatic approach Pep has taken of late. Far too many games last season we were ripped on the counter or conceded stupid goals. You would feel nervous whenever a team crossed the half way line. There's a huge change of late where we've kept the 6 clean sheets and found a reliable partnership between Stones & Dias.

WBA's one shot on target was the deflected chance from the ball hitting Cancelo and running into Grant's path. The goal is a fluke and can happen regardless (is it even a free kick?) of how good you are defensively.


The one issue that's carried over from last season, regardless of the number of chances we've created, is the lack of composure and quality finishing. The chances in injury time both have to hit the net. Sterling yet again has fluffed a key chance - like West Ham & Lyon. Gundogan had a good game but the header is weak and too close to the keeper.


It's the same on Saturday, Jesus had a good chance and Mahrez a golden one. Both missed.

For all the complaints of slow play etc, we've given the opposition nothing in open play and then proceeded to miss the chances to win the game - injury time or 10 minutes left, they have to hit the net.

Opposition bus parking etc isn't going to change. We need to take these chances and we'll either win the games then, or it opens the game up and we start hitting 3 or 4 in a game. Liverpool had 14 wins by a single goal last season. It's going to be tight this season and plenty of games may only see a few big chances - we need to take them.