A touch of realism required about tonight’s game

[Watto]

2 hours ago, pazowl55 said:

Yeah and a player of the calibre of Da Cruz shouldn't be letting the likes of Otemendi and Stones get the better of him either.

 

Da Cruz is garbage , why ff went off last night and not him is anyone's guess , I've not seen anything yet in his play that makes me think he's improved the overall squad, runs around and is willing but not a championship player for me.

With him and pelupussy we have two poor players not fit for this standard of football.

[alanharper]

For some further perspective, the only teams to have limited Man City to a maximum of 1 goal in the 44 games that they've played this season have been :

 

Liverpool (drew 1-1 and won 3-1)

Man Utd (won 2-1 and 1-0)

Wolves (won 2-0)

Atalanta (drew 1-1)

Shakhtar (drew 1-1)

Sheffield United (lost 1-0)

Leicester (lost 1-0)

Sheffield Wednesday (lost 1-0)

[dorian gray]

1 minute ago, teddybeararmy said:

Open top bus parade today to celebrate our wonderful 1-0 defeat to the team of the universe Manchester City. 

as I've just posted it'll be an 'open top bus parade' for monk, the coaches, and squad in comparison to a multi-goal thrashing on tv (due to open arsed football) in relation to morale alone, for the upcoming games.

our side managed to hold the premier leagues most efficient scoring machine to one goal in 90+ minutes, that in it self is an achievement.

when taken against the fact that we're good for a goal a game at best in championship football, it's a highly commendable effort. 

you see I've seen people playing with their phone during games (bored I guess) and thought what a waste.

but I now see it isn't, it's them finding something to do, rather than watch something way over their head that they don't fully understand.

the clubs primary objective this season has to be to retain championship football, that objective will be easier to obtain IF squad and team morale is good, a multi-goal thrashing on tv at home so 'some' fans can feel they got their monies worth will not have come into the reckoning in comparison.

[Musn't Grumble]

1 hour ago, dewsburyowl58 said:

With the ball at our feet we just didn’t show enough movement and support imo , it’s not a moan I know it was difficult 

 

I think that on the rare occasions that Man City were out of possession, they did the "dirty job" of closing down, intercepting and tackling really well, too.

 

As soon as we got the ball on the floor in their half, our players were surrounded by two or more defenders who gave us no time and simply took the ball back.

 

Shows you what a class outfit they really are.

[victorturner]

8 hours ago, RigBon said:

Totally agree.

 

Whilst I would've obviously preferred a win, I certainly don't think the lads should be embarrassed by their performance tonight. (Except perhaps Bannan with his petulance!)

 

Joe Wildsmith was hugely impressive.

 

 

Not embarrassed at all. But you cannot pretend Man City were  playing flat out. They tried to stroll through much of the match but we lacked the ability to fluster them except on one or two occasions. We played as if we knew we could not land a glove on them and we did so only once when Fletcher missed that chance from Hunt’s lovely cross. It was a long way from classic Cup matches when the underdog shows they could win and a long way from when we beat Arsenal 3-0 4/5 years ago.

[victorturner]

14 minutes ago, alanharper said:

For some further perspective, the only teams to have limited Man City to a maximum of 1 goal in the 44 games that they've played this season have been :

 

Liverpool (drew 1-1 and won 3-1)

Man Utd (won 2-1 and 1-0)

Wolves (won 2-0)

Atalanta (drew 1-1)

Shakhtar (drew 1-1)

Sheffield United (lost 1-0)

Leicester (lost 1-0)

Sheffield Wednesday (lost 1-0)

Don’t think they needed to expend much effort last night though,  unlike in those other matches. Not comparable. And they were playing at least one well known dodgy defender who has struggled whenever he has played,  which has been irregular.

[WalthamOwl]

I agree OP. However I think some of us would have liked to have seen a shot or 2 on target though. Defence was very good last night, attacking was non existent. 

[victorturner]

2 hours ago, latemodelchild said:

Did you see the bit in the first half where Borner came out of defence to make a tackle on the half way line? They 2on the ball back and their player played an inch perfect pass onto the head of their striker who was stood exactly where Borner would have been had he not been out of position pressing. We'd have been destroyed if we'd tried to take the game to em. 

They demonstrated how a midfield which appears like magic whenever the opposition has the ball towards their penalty area can stifle attacks.
We know this about our team by default as it has been demonstrated since Wembley that we need a better midfield. We have instead acquired numerous wingers and strikers, although Longuo was at last the right kind of acquisition. 

[dorian gray]

11 minutes ago, victorturner said:

Not embarrassed at all. But you cannot pretend Man City were  playing flat out. They tried to stroll through much of the match but we lacked the ability to fluster them except on one or two occasions. We played as if we knew we could not land a glove on them and we did so only once when Fletcher missed that chance from Hunt’s lovely cross. It was a long way from classic Cup matches when the underdog shows they could win and a long way from when we beat Arsenal 3-0 4/5 years ago.

FFS let's get this elephant out once and for all, we didn't beat arsenal, we beat an arsenal Xl.

he threw some first teamers on to bolster the side he thought should have been capable of the task at hand, but wasn't.

our side was in it's pomp, fresh legs and up for it, those nowadays over the hill players haven't got anywhere near the legs of that side 4/5 years ago, and this citeh side would have ripped that arsenal Xl two new ar$eholes, not one, and a number of full strength arsenal sides can testify to that.

[pazowl55]

6 minutes ago, dorian gray said:

FFS let's get this elephant out once and for all, we didn't beat arsenal, we beat an arsenal Xl.

he threw some first teamers on to bolster the side he thought should have been capable of the task at hand, but wasn't.

our side was in it's pomp, fresh legs and up for it, those nowadays over the hill players haven't got anywhere near the legs of that side 4/5 years ago, and this citeh side would have ripped that arsenal Xl two new ar$eholes, not one, and a number of full strength arsenal sides can testify to that.

Can only beat what's infront of you. 

[sheriwozgod]

56 minutes ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

Read this a lot.

 

There's fans of about 80 clubs in the league that could accuse their clubs of being mediocre.

 

Yet they still turn up every week.

 

I don't know. IT's strange. It's almost as if they support them or something.

 

 

 

Ah come on Snoots...................it is possible to support your team but still have misgivings / be critical of how they perform.

 

Are we really going down the "proper fan " route ?................Todwick and I just have a different opinion which we are entitled to just as you and Shandy etc are.

 

Yes we were dogged and it could have been a heck of a lot worse but for an average wage of 20 grand a week i expect us to look better than we did last night in possession, regardless of how good City are........just my opinion and it doesn`t mean i don`t "support" them.

 

 

[Parsons Cross Owl]

Let`s face it we have played one of the Worlds best teams, disappointed we didn`t give it more of a go though.

Easy to defend, and look better than we are.

 

The gap financially between the two was the difference, but we are one big investor away from competing on an even keel with teams like this.

 

P.s, I thought the crowd was nearer 25,000 than 21,000, tax fiddle?

[alanharper]

7 minutes ago, dorian gray said:

FFS let's get this elephant out once and for all, we didn't beat arsenal, we beat an arsenal Xl.

he threw some first teamers on to bolster the side he thought should have been capable of the task at hand, but wasn't.

our side was in it's pomp, fresh legs and up for it, those nowadays over the hill players haven't got anywhere near the legs of that side 4/5 years ago, and this citeh side would have ripped that arsenal Xl two new ar$eholes, not one, and a number of full strength arsenal sides can testify to that.

 

It wasn't a full strength Arsenal side we played against by any means - but all 14 players they used that night were (or have since become in a couple of cases), international players. Including 2 who have a World Cup winners medal pinned on their bathroom wall.

[dewsburyowl58]

34 minutes ago, Musn't Grumble said:

 

I think that on the rare occasions that Man City were out of possession, they did the "dirty job" of closing down, intercepting and tackling really well, too.

 

As soon as we got the ball on the floor in their half, our players were surrounded by two or more defenders who gave us no time and simply took the ball back.

 

Shows you what a class outfit they really are.

Yes they work twice as hard to get the ball back and hunt it down in packs !!! Class act arent they . I have just watched the game again and realise that City didn’t have to play at their best so lacked some attacking intensity but we defended really well it had to be said .

[dorian gray]

1 minute ago, pazowl55 said:

Can only beat what's infront of you. 

TRUE, and I've never said we didn't beat them. 

BUT what took the field for them was nowhere near a full strength arsenal side, and by the time he'd brought on more strength the game was getting out of reach for him.

he prided himself on 'blooding' youngsters in the league cup, but that night it badly backfired on his selections.

[dorian gray]

3 minutes ago, alanharper said:

 

It wasn't a full strength Arsenal side we played against by any means - but all 14 players they used that night were (or have since become in a couple of cases), international players. Including 2 who have a World Cup winners medal pinned on their bathroom wall.

I don't think they put world cup medals on bathroom walls, however...IF 

i'd fought Anthony Joshua when he was 4 and I was 28, would that have made me heavyweight champion of the world?' TIMING.

they weren't international players then.

stop making it something it wasn't. it's a well known fact throughout football, that wenger blooded youngsters in league cup sides, he did so against other premier sides, let alone a championship one.

whatever they went onto be, they weren't at that level that night.

[pazowl55]

12 minutes ago, dorian gray said:

TRUE, and I've never said we didn't beat them. 

BUT what took the field for them was nowhere near a full strength arsenal side, and by the time he'd brought on more strength the game was getting out of reach for him.

he prided himself on 'blooding' youngsters in the league cup, but that night it badly backfired on his selections.

I know i was kidding not one Arsenal player would have got in that City team last night.

[alanharper]

3 minutes ago, dorian gray said:

I don't think they put world cup medals on bathroom walls, however...IF 

i'd fought Anthony Joshua when he was 4 and I was 28, would that have made me heavyweight champion of the world?' TIMING.

they weren't international players then.

stop making it something it wasn't. it's a well known fact throughout football, that wenger blooded youngsters in league cup sides, he did so against other premier sides, let alone a championship one.

whatever they went onto be, they weren't at that level that night.

 

11 of the 14 were.

 

WIth at least 9 of them being very experienced senior players.

[dorian gray]

1 minute ago, alanharper said:

 

11 of the 14 were.

 

WIth at least 9 of them being very experienced senior players.

eventually?

both on the night, and career timeline.

we beat an arsenal Xl, get over it.

[dorian gray]

4 minutes ago, pazowl55 said:

I know i was kidding not one Arsenal player would have got in that City team last night.

I don't rate that citeh defence, they're not solid against bigger sides. picking backline players because they're 'ball players' is fools gold (even for pep) I want defenders to be able to defend as their first strength, i'm not sure they were selected by citeh for that reason.

as for the keeper, i'd be trying 'goalie when needed', or try him up front as he looks to me like 'he's always got a goal in him'.