What Is lacking?

[burning blue soul]

It is where he played them is the deciding factor as opposed to the PSG game.

But in both games he played a true DM and won both games, he didn't in the final and we lost and that is the answer, the question really is why?

Because dortmund and psg play different to Chelsea.
I don't agree with the change, but I see what he was trying to do.

Edit: just to be clear, I don't agree with the change because if we lose I want us to lose with no excuses. Best reliable team. But, as a manager, he made a tactical tweak that could have made the difference. It didn't, so he's made a mess.
That's the life of a manager.

 

[city warrior]

Yet the player you bang the drum for was our worst attacking option until he went off injured, KDB was next to useless when on the pitch yesterday, was he carrying a knock?

It was undoubtedly the decision to not play Fernie or Rodri but to revert Gundy back to DM that cost us this game.

It really doesn't matter if Pep is the best manager in the world he still makes utter brain farts in this bastard competition, play your best fucking team and let them worry about us for a fucking change.

His recent record against OGS and now Tuchel is shocking and the first isn't good enough to manage an u9's youth team.

So? Even Messi's had awful matches against elite competitions. I am not saying that KDB is always 10/10 in big matches, I am saying he, Foden, Dias and to lesser degree Zinchenko, Ederson and Walker tend to bring their A game against though competitions. It's easy to see just by their mentality, their intensity and body language. They like these type of games.

KDB is by far our best player. Whenever you want to know which players are our BIG players, you go and ask to knowledgeable people who are fans of other teams in Europe. They'll only watch the important City's games, so they won't care if Sterling or Mahrez or whoever scored a hattrick against Crystal. And guess what? KDB is by far our best player to most of them.

Yes, Pep made a blunder, but the quality of the offensive was awful and that's not only Pep's fault. The intensity and attitude were even worse.

 

[hilts]

Players? Mentality? Leadership? Quality In Key Areas? All Of The Above?

Basically, can this be sorted with new players or does this go deeper and is it more of a mentality issue? If so, how do we move forward and sort this?

Managers fault end of, he threw them under a bus in the most important game of their lives.

 

[bluealf]

So? Even Messi's had awful matches against elite competitions. I am not saying that KDB is always 10/10 in big matches, I am saying he, Foden, Dias and to lesser degree Zinchenko, Ederson and Walker tend to bring their A game against though competitions. It's easy to see just by their mentality, their intensity and body language. They like these type of games.

KDB is by far our best player. Whenever you want to know which players are our BIG players, you go and ask to knowledgeable people who are fans of other teams in Europe. They'll only watch the important City's games, so they won't care if Sterling or Mahrez or whoever scored a hattrick against Crystal. And guess what? KDB is by far our best player to most of them.

Yes, Pep made a blunder, but the quality of the offensive was awful and that's not only Pep's fault. The intensity and attitude were even worse.

So?

You lecture me and then again end with a statement that doesn't apply to KDB yesterday, he was walking on that pitch, no intensity whatsoever either and I don't care if he is our best player (i never said he wasn't either for starters), walking in a champions league final is totally unacceptable, I then offered 'was he carrying a knock?' as a possible reason.

Actually, the quality of the attack was directly Pep's fault, he selected the team and formation that stopped it from working, no Fernie who not only offers options in defence but also drives forward in attack, an out of form Sterling getting the gig to go from the off, then probably just as bad was not changing it at half time when it was obvious it wasn't working and that is all on Pep.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

So?

You lecture me and then again end with a statement that doesn't apply to KDB yesterday, he was walking on that pitch, no intensity whatsoever either and I don't care if he is our best player (i never said he wasn't either for starters), walking in a champions league final is totally unacceptable, I then offered 'was he carrying a knock?' as a possible reason.

Actually, the quality of the attack was directly Pep's fault, he selected the team and formation that stopped it from working, no Fernie who not only offers options in defence but also drives forward in attack, an out of form Sterling getting the gig to go from the off, then probably just as bad was not changing it at half time when it was obvious it wasn't working and that is all on Pep.

The not changing it was criminal. I can’t believe he watched that first half and thought we were doing ok.

At 1-0 down and with lots of subs available I would have changed it then. Fern on, Jesus on, Cancelo on just for his attacking threat. Sterling off, Zinchenko off, Bernado off.

 

[bluemoon32]

The not changing it was criminal. I can’t believe he watched that first half and thought we were doing ok.

At 1-0 down and with lots of subs available I would have changed it then. Fern on, Jesus on, Cancelo on just for his attacking threat. Sterling off, Zinchenko off, Bernado off.

But that would mean accepting he'd got it wrong, Pep is far too stubborn for that.
Fantastic at winning national titles, decidedly average in the CL

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

But that would mean accepting he'd got it wrong, Pep is far too stubborn for that.
Fantastic at winning national titles, decidedly average in the CL

True

 

[manchester blue]

Just hope Pep realises we need a top striker. We’ve played great football and you’ve got to be happy with the season, but getting a Kane, Haaland or Lukaku would take us to the next level.

I’m not sure Kane would have made a difference last night. Haaland and Lukaku would though I think. Haaland in particular is a beast.

 

[mscenterh750]

Pep stop trying to be a clever arse in big games, especially when we’ve got to a final, with a tried and trusted team set up.

 

[JoeD]

Good post. TBH i cant see us ever winning the CL under Pep, everytime he cocks it up.

I honestly thought that he put that behind him after the 2nd leg against PSG. Keep it simple, trust your starting XI, force your opponent to adapt to your style, not the other way around. Tinker then in-game, if needed.

Not come with some outlandish 6 attacking midfielders and 4 defenders against one of the best organized teams in the world with a packed, quality midfield.

I might be talking rubbish, but my guess is that he wanted two wide players (Sterling for his pace and Mahrez who manhandled Chilwell many times in the past) to stretch their backline and prevent their wingbacks to bomb forward. Plus overloading the midfield with attacking players to multiply the offensive options and literally asphyxiate their midfield. Forcing them to stay in their half with no possibility of playing out of the back, until they make a mistake. It was an extremely offensive system.

That or whatever went through his head. I've yet to hear any reasonable explanation as to why he decided to play without defensive midfielder.

There's still a chance for him to win it with you. It will be very hard though.