I don't understand why people are extremely suppotive of Tottenham winning Champions League.
They actually have a lower wage bill than Juve, Atletico, BVB etc. and they didn't sign anyone in the summer either.
Never mind that Tottenham's budget is nowhere near as big as Man City.
Man City have never made a secret about winning Champions League as the main objective.
It's the reason why we wanted to get Pep Guardiola in the first place.
We have spent billions and billions of moneys to sign world class players.
It would be humiliating if Tottenham wins Champions League ahead of us.
People would forever make fun of Man City if that happens.
At least with Liverpool, I don't mind if they win Champions League.
They have also spent billions of money to get world class players like us.
All good points, but it's not only about mental attitude and taking your chances, is it. (I am not discounting it, not at all, just saying there's more to it.)Two great games to watch and what I took out of it, was simply this. Sometimes it comes down to having the mental strength to get over the line. To believe you can do it and to fight. When you get to the latter stages, it’s always teams who have players capable of winning games. That isn’t enough. Turning up when needed most to prove you are better is the key.
Like it or not, both Liverpool and Spurs did that. There is no doubt in my mind that City should be there, but, two years in a row failed to overcome both of these teams, who for me aren’t as good. We can come up with excuses all day long. Refs, decisions etc, that to me is avoiding the main problem. In the CL when it gets to the business end, City don’t put their superiority of class into a mindset of getting the job done. If that mental strength was there in the CL, then City would have been in the final these last two years. The fact they aren’t when they should have, highlights an area that needs to be addressed.
Being the best team in Europe, as I believe City are, isn’t enough unless you have the mindset to turn up to prove it. The bottom line is they haven’t when it mattered in the CL. Pep needs to address that. The alternative is to blame the world and it’s aunty. The problem to me doesn’t lie there. Defensive weakness at crucial times, failing to take chances when on top is, and when push comes to shove, this has cost you. I will now retreat into my bomb proof bunker to get away from the incoming for my view.
Good luck on Sunday, I hope and believe you will do it.
All good points, but it's not only about mental attitude and taking your chances, is it. (I am not discounting it, not at all, just saying there's more to it.)
The other bit is the style of play. Despite the various pundits swooning over how Pep does things so differently and is so innovative in the way he sets his teams up, in some ways, he's the opposite: he's very fixed in the way he likes his teams to play and how he likes them to defend.
Invariably, Pep's belief is that the best form of offence is attack. He wants the ball, all the time and when we lose it, he wants it back as quickly as possible. He's never happy to let the opponents have the ball. His teams press, high up the pitch all the time. We often see 10 City players in the opposition's half. We defend set pieces incredibly high up the pitch.
These are all fine tactics for 30+ PL games a season, maybe even for 38. But it's risky and it leaves us wide open if we make any balls up. And of course sometimes we do make balls ups. Walker or Mendy will fall over and lose possession, or KDB will try a killer pass that goes straight to an attacking opponent. Normally we get away with it, but against the top, top teams we sometimes don't.
This epitomises what happened at Liverpool away last year and against Spurs at home this year. A couple of moments of madness/ brainfarts and we've conceded a goal, or two, or three.
I'm not suggesting we should change how we play, because it's exciting, great to watch, brilliant football. But it's not *pragmatic* football. Pep doesn't do pragmatic much.