West Brom (League Cup) Post match thread

[Beyond Belief]

I'm just worried about facing West Brom 3 days before Napoli away, which is followed by the Arsenal match.

No doubt they'll play like ****s again & foul like crazy.

If you were Pulis wouldn't you tell them to be less restrained than if they were playing at old scaffold?

 

[buckshot]

Just saw Sane's 2nd and, dayum. All I can say is...

 

[bluetonium]

Great goals from sane, particularly the second. His class got us out of jail there after missing some great chances, and we still had to rely on their poor finishing to see us through.

I'd say fair play to west brom for giving it a good go and so on, but imo there is no way that idiot yacob should have even been on the pitch to level the score at that point. He'd made several borderline yellow card offences already, before going in two footed from behind and injuring a player. Looked a red at the time and just looks even worse with replays, what a cowards tackle. Scumbag.

No idea what the ref was thinking with keeping him on the pitch, a decision he followed up by seemingly bollocking sane for not taking a corner because there were two balls on the pitch.

My main other concern was how we struggled with the long diagonal balls bypassing our midfield totally, something which is a rag speciality under mourinho, and our loss of discipline. Means against the cloggers and the hoofers Mendy and Walker need to start.

 

[citytilllidie]

Walker massively at fault for their goal. Statuesque and no inkling of the player running in behind. Attack the ball Kyle, don't wait for others

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

An uneven performance coming good in the end with a victory.

This match highlights two things for me: we need to finish off teams early with at least a two-goal lead and we need to maintain possession of the ball. In the first half we failed to do the former while in the 2nd half, the later lead to numerous dangerous chances for WBA.

Sane was extremely impressive, MoTM. Gundogan was running the game until withdrawn due to injury. Sterling and Jesus also looked sharp.

When Gundogan went off we lost focus. Our play became very sloppy with needless give-aways. WBA pressed high on goal kicks forcing Bravo to kick it long which also lead to turn overs.

Glad to get a win as WBA missed several clear chances to score.

 

[Chi-town blues]

It takes the piss doesn't it? Not only do they kick fuck out of our footballers but we get punished for getting in their way while they do it. Other teams will take note of that and will tactically target the Silvas, De Bruyne, Gundogan whoever it is that pulls the strings controls the game and makes us tick. Will they get away with doing that to media darlings? Will they fuck, that shit can't be tolerated.

Managers of opposing teams will be taking note, kick them up and down the park because the refs don't give a fuck about protecting real football players from dangerous tackles by inferior opposition. It's almost as if they are allowed to express their frustration at chasing shadows but we are held to the highest standards they can possibly justify. Already this season our fair play record, like last season is atrocious. We get players booked and sent off for kicking the ball away, looking aggressively over their shoulders at other players and having the audacity to think celebrate 97th minute winning goals in front of our own fans is ok.

Fuck them. Like 2012 we have to do it the hard way and they make sure we won't have a lead to relax with at the end of the season (or a healthy squad of players for that matter)

It's bullshit and we are up against it nearly every game. We need to blast teams out of sight with a relentless pursuit of goals. Knock that corrupt strategising out of them when the result can be influenced by fine margins. Tonight the ref sent the message to the rest of the league, target your man when you play City and mash him up when you get the chance, it's ok, you get to keep your thug to kick again (yacob who went on to score tonight) and City have to use a sub for a injured player.

Agreed.

 

[Bluekiwi]

You probably thought Mane wasn't a red - 'Pool against City. Studs -?. in the face 5 feet off the ground. ?.

Just seen an almost identical incident in a Bundesliga game - no complaints from anyone when he was shown a red card. Commentator and pundit said the player got what he deserved, an early bath.

 

[lazza]

Pulis really is a stain on football...

Been the same for years, every club he’s been at has been involved in ugly challenges, injuries etc

He represents the very worst of British football

You're wrong; he's better than Pellegrini (supposedly)

 

[Grassland Blue]

Pulis really is a stain on football...

Been the same for years, every club he’s been at has been involved in ugly challenges, injuries etc

He represents the very worst of British football

Remember when he even had a go at 'the charming man'?

 

[blueinsa]

It was always going to be a case of after the lord mayor's show comes the dust cart so to speak given the changes and the fact its the league cup which whether we like it or not as fans is an irritant to top clubs these days and players have one thought in mind and that's not getting injured.

To be fair to us that first 45 mins was excellent despite the above but in the 2nd half we lost focus and Gundog to a horror tackle and it began to show in virtually all of them.

Moment of sheer class form Sane got us through in the end and we have a great chance of progression now at home, finally, to Wolves but we will never see the levels of performance in this competition that we do in the league, never and i think in the next 5 years, top PL clubs will either opt out of it completely or be able to enter their EDS sides instead.