Wigan (a) pre-match thread

[Academica]

Ederson is fundamental to how we play from the back calmly, and picks out superb passes. I don't see any room for sentiment in the final, if we play Bravo it gives Arsenal a boost straight away, and I think it'd be the same if he plays against Wigan tonight. They'll pump balls in and close him down. We should just pick the side most likely to win the game, and definitely in the final on Sunday. Don't risk a trophy and win over Arse, it's obvious Eddie is far better in goal and with his distribution. Why deliberately handicap ourselves!?

Totally agree.

 

[rnblade]

Are these our new Middlesborough? You can imagine the media wankfest if Wigan win this!!
I don’t think Pep will take this game lightly.
I think they’ll see what Rochdale did and will employ the same tactics. It’s up to us to cut through them and move the Ball forward quickly and BE CLINICAL with the finishing. We really need to be on our game from the start, if it is still equal during the second half, they’ll get a boost, and we all saw how Rochdale did. It’s time for us to put in a professional performance again, move the ball fast and make them chase the game. No injuries or silly bookings. We have 5 days after this to get ready for a cup final. Would love to see Merlin stroking the ball around and opening them up.
0-2 will do. Fingers crossed.

 

[domalino]

Ederson is fundamental to how we play from the back calmly, and picks out superb passes. I don't see any room for sentiment in the final, if we play Bravo it gives Arsenal a boost straight away, and I think it'd be the same if he plays against Wigan tonight. They'll pump balls in and close him down. We should just pick the side most likely to win the game, and definitely in the final on Sunday. Don't risk a trophy and win over Arse, it's obvious Eddie is far better in goal and with his distribution. Why deliberately handicap ourselves!?

Because the morale of the squad is important, it's one of the reasons we are where we are.

Bravo got us to the final, now he'll win it, just like Caballero before him.

 

[John Oliver]

Good luck to all travelling to the game.

Impressed with Rochdale and doubtless Pep will use this to guard against any complacency. With the injury situation improving we should hopefully be in a better situation to rotate and still get a win without any major panics.

 

[aguero93:20]

Ederson is fundamental to how we play from the back calmly, and picks out superb passes. I don't see any room for sentiment in the final, if we play Bravo it gives Arsenal a boost straight away, and I think it'd be the same if he plays against Wigan tonight. They'll pump balls in and close him down. We should just pick the side most likely to win the game, and definitely in the final on Sunday. Don't risk a trophy and win over Arse, it's obvious Eddie is far better in goal and with his distribution. Why deliberately handicap ourselves!?

Bravo is the cup keeper.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

If KDB starts against Wigan we will win , we are not a one man team but he is simply unstoppable , if he doesnt start it will be a massive boost for Latics but i suspect with KDB's attitude he wants to start every game because he is a workaholic and Pep will know his fitness levels and as always he knows best , if KDB does start Pep is taking the FA Cup and the quadruple very very seriously. Looking forward to quite a tight game but i think Wigan will run out of steam in the 2nd half and we will shade it , ive backed 2-0 and 2-1. It won't be a goals avalanche they are defensively strong and work their socks off and thankfully they will not resort to Warnocks school of thinking "if it moves kick it"

If by next Sunday evening we have the League Cup in the trophy cabinet ,and need only to win our remaining home games for the title ,with a home draw against relegation candidates Saints to progress to a FA Cup semi final and we are already nailed on for Champs league quarter finals then there will be some bookies twitching on the quadruple. If all goes to form then after Sunday's final we essentially need eleven big wins from the potentially twenty remaining games , five from eleven league games(87 pts will be enough) , three from six champs league games (avoiding a heavy defeat in the other three games)and finally all three possible remaining FA Cup games

The crunch and very losable games are Sunday v the Goons , two difficult champs league away games and final , and the FA Cup Wembley games semi final and the final

Alternatively we could get stuffed by Wigan tonight and the Goons get lucky at Wembley again , either way this has been the best season ever watching gods own club ,this is not counting chickens or jinxing our season just a (possibly flawed) thought process on what we might have to do to make history

 

[blue by birth]

Eddie is the better keeper by a country mile but Bravo has played in the cup games and played well.
I can't see Pep changing it now unless Bravo is injured.
We will play a decent team against Wigan and then a strong team against Le Arse and hopefully Bravo will get a winners medal he deserves.

 

[geoff clipp]

Because the morale of the squad is important, it's one of the reasons we are where we are.

Bravo got us to the final, now he'll win it, just like Caballero before him.

Whilst I wish we could just play Ederson, i agree it's too late to drop Bravo now in the league cup final. The point about morale is interesting though. We have a team that has worked incredibly hard all season and that wants to win an unprecedented quadruple. I do wonder if there's also any damage to morale when those efforts are slightly undermined by not including one of the most integral players to how we play in a final?

I know many have said Bravo must be the best reserve keeper in the league and it's important to keep him happy, but to be honest if we're judging him on his time here, he hasn't looked anything special.

I get the argument that it's advantageous to keep a second choice keeper sharp and ready to step in in the event of injury. But if the point of all this is to maximise chances of winning as much as possible, is it really worth putting yourself at a disadvantage in games where trophies are actually at stake on that day? Do the benefits of adhering rigidly to this cup keeper system genuinely outweigh the the costs?

 

[Easy]

Everyone seems to think Laporte and Stones will start but I wonder if it’s the right choice.

An away match in the FA cup. Maybe it’s better to start Kompany and Stones. Kompany for his leadership and Stones needs game time and hasn’t started in a while.

Think it would be better to ease Laporte in. Let’s not forget he is young and needs to get used to the league. Maybe would be best to give him his next start against Basel at home. No need to rush him when everyone is fit.

 

[Deleted member 81382]

Bravo
Walker
Stones
Laporte
Danilo
Fernandinho
De Bruyne
Silva
Bernardo
Sané
Aguero

Ederson
Kompany
Yaya Touré
Gundogan
Zinchenko
Foden
Diaz

4-0 City