Perfect. Keep the attention away from our squad. Let us do our business quietly and efficiently.
Weekend games 22-23 Dec
- Thread starter Modo
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Status
Perfect. Keep the attention away from our squad. Let us do our business quietly and efficiently.
Come on Woodward. Bring up the checkbook and sign him permanent!!
That was the idea like.
Just stating the obvious like. As you were.
A Pretty god damn good weekend all in all, City and Chelsea losing, against average sides, whilst we won, sure Arsenal and Utd won but so they should, Spurs can lose too, that'd be nice.
If we can keep this 4pt buffer or greater in place for the City game at the start of Jan then it could be massive.
If we can keep this 4pt buffer or greater in place for the City game at the start of Jan then it could be massive.
Just got in from Christmas shopping. To see that both City and Chelsea got beat at home !
Holy mother of all that's Holy !!! Rather nice. 🙂
Sounds good..but I think we just have to win because City will go on overdrive against us. Also the idea of giving Arsenal a good pasting at home is a massive fantasy for me as I would just love to see get one over Dracula and his team especially after the Europa cup final defeat. I am actually more worried about the Newcastle game knowing the type of suffering defence that Rafa will put up.
Our next three games are HUGE. Two wins against Newcastle & Arsenal, followed by turning over City could have us absolutely flying.
As always the next game is the one to focus on but we now the pressure is cranking up on city as the country’s expectations were for them to walk it. All these questions of them being the league’s greatest - and they need to step up. Teams are now attacking them and i hope we’ll see more like today.
Leicester up next for them.
As always the next game is the one to focus on but we now the pressure is cranking up on city as the country’s expectations were for them to walk it. All these questions of them being the league’s greatest - and they need to step up. Teams are now attacking them and i hope we’ll see more like today.
Leicester up next for them.
What a weekend of football this was! Some really cracking games and goals and mostly very good results for us.
For City to crumble without Fernandinho is not exactly news. If there is a weak point in that squad it's the lack of cover at DM. Pep's arrogance, thinking that he can make the same system work with Stones just slotting in there, came to bite him in the ass. Let's hope that the title race pressure and crunch of the holiday fixtures will get to him and push him to experiment some more – I'd like to see City play with more defenders in midfield, midfielders in defense, striker-less formations etc.
Chelsea seem to be falling away, finally – Sarri's honeymoon period is over and he seems rightly concerned by how his team can play so well and then lose all confidence so easily after conceding a goal. At this rate, they might not make top 4.
Arsenal fielded an experimental line-up, other than the top 2 strikers up front, seemed like a scrappy game, but in the end it was still enough for Burnley. They seem to have a bit of a defensive crisis with this week's back 4 being Lichsteiner-Sokratis-Monreal-Kolasinac. The goal they conceded was exactly the kind of goal we used to concede against the likes of Burnley in the past: poor offside line, lose a couple of second balls, panic, ricochet, goal. Klopp will need to make sure our set piece delivery is up to scratch on Saturday, because I feel Van Dijk and Lovren will be licking their lips looking at that.
Finally, I know it's not fashionable to comment on United here, but I have to say, the difference in the performance of the players under Mourinho and now has been just striking. It's like a before and after picture of an abused animal in a shelter vs. a happy adopted puppy running around. From the highlights it seemed like Pogba was masterminding things; he seems to be the natural leader of this whole young group like Martial, Rashford, Lingard etc and it's now especially clear how much Mourinho's "war" with him hurt the overall morale. Solskjaer seems like a decent bloke, being a Liverpool fan and all, but I think any other manager who would unshackle this group and let them play at speed, take chances and be creative, be it Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers or Eddie Howe, would achieve a similar initial effect. We will start seeing what Solskjaer is truly made of after a few weeks; I still think he will fuck it up.
For City to crumble without Fernandinho is not exactly news. If there is a weak point in that squad it's the lack of cover at DM. Pep's arrogance, thinking that he can make the same system work with Stones just slotting in there, came to bite him in the ass. Let's hope that the title race pressure and crunch of the holiday fixtures will get to him and push him to experiment some more – I'd like to see City play with more defenders in midfield, midfielders in defense, striker-less formations etc.
Chelsea seem to be falling away, finally – Sarri's honeymoon period is over and he seems rightly concerned by how his team can play so well and then lose all confidence so easily after conceding a goal. At this rate, they might not make top 4.
Arsenal fielded an experimental line-up, other than the top 2 strikers up front, seemed like a scrappy game, but in the end it was still enough for Burnley. They seem to have a bit of a defensive crisis with this week's back 4 being Lichsteiner-Sokratis-Monreal-Kolasinac. The goal they conceded was exactly the kind of goal we used to concede against the likes of Burnley in the past: poor offside line, lose a couple of second balls, panic, ricochet, goal. Klopp will need to make sure our set piece delivery is up to scratch on Saturday, because I feel Van Dijk and Lovren will be licking their lips looking at that.
Finally, I know it's not fashionable to comment on United here, but I have to say, the difference in the performance of the players under Mourinho and now has been just striking. It's like a before and after picture of an abused animal in a shelter vs. a happy adopted puppy running around. From the highlights it seemed like Pogba was masterminding things; he seems to be the natural leader of this whole young group like Martial, Rashford, Lingard etc and it's now especially clear how much Mourinho's "war" with him hurt the overall morale. Solskjaer seems like a decent bloke, being a Liverpool fan and all, but I think any other manager who would unshackle this group and let them play at speed, take chances and be creative, be it Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers or Eddie Howe, would achieve a similar initial effect. We will start seeing what Solskjaer is truly made of after a few weeks; I still think he will fuck it up.
Last edited:
The fuck at least a point against Arsenal! We should be winning that one.
On the subject, i was thinking the other day that van Anholt would be a decent replacement of Moreno in the summer. I discounted the likes of Chilwell etc as Robertson is the first choice
My english is not that good but fox sport australia headline - Manchester City stunned Crystal Palace - got me scratching my head
they should show more respect towards pep and man city, shouldn't they.
they should show more respect towards pep and man city, shouldn't they.
Last edited:
Woy was on the Athletico Mince podcast during the week. Loves Warhammer apparently. Weird.
He's a fucking liability, don't ever say that shit again.
I think that's harsh on Pep's arrogance - they gave up 3 shots, 2 wonder goals and a peno. They should have at worst drawn ... They were a far better team.
As for the Man U comment, isn't Lingard older than Pogba (or at least the same age)? I agree with your analysis on them
Agreed I watched the game from start to finish. This was that type of game you quit and restart on Football manager and win 9 times out of 10.
Crystal Palace were very lucky.
Last edited:
I only watched 2nd half and highlights, but City seemed out of ideas and almost nervous after the break. Don't think Schlupp's was a wonder-goal, if it was Sane or Aguero you would just say it's a quality finish. De Bruyne's goal on the other hand was pure luck. And if you remember the time a few years ago when LFC seemed to concede every time an opponent crossed the half-way line, we fans knew this wasn't just bad luck or coincidence, just like Walker's bad defending for the 1st and 3rd goal had nothing to do with luck. I still think the biggest culprit was the absence of Fernandinho; there was no one in that midfield capable of putting out the fire before it spreads and Zaha and co. always looked like they could cause problems. They also missed David Silva's creativity, Jesus was MIA and Sane was totally outplayed on the flank by the impressive Wan-Bissaka.
You're right on Lingard, somehow I've fallen into the typical trap of thinking he's a "young player" even though I know he's not.
Last edited:
Jesus has had a terrible year - I think they'll replace him next year as he's just not able to give them much if Aguero is out.
schlupp's finish is just world class - not sure any keeper saves it as its hit so well.
KdB's was pure luck -
But that being said, Palace had 3 shots on goal ... and I think Sane's struggles were what hurt them (wan-bissaka is quality - he'll be on a top 4 team within 2 years imo) as it made them easier to hurt them.
Fernandinho is key - and I hope he's out for longer as the drop between him and Stones is massive. However, they really should have won yesterday ...
That's what pressure does for them. Its no coincidence that their two losses this season follow immediately after two land mark wins for us - one that took us above them for the first time (bar early weeks) and the second which extended our lead. Last season no-one was bothering them so they would react to a Crystal Palace goal by just going back up field & scoring a few more, this year as soon as a team does something against them the nerves kick in
Is Fernandinho injured?
Manchester City could not call on Fernandinho for Saturday's game with Crystal Palace after the midfielder pulled up with a problem the day before the game in training. City's key midfielder returned to action last weekend after a rare absence but, having been rested for the Carabao Cup win in midweek, suffered a setback on Friday.
Pep Guardiola could have turned to Ilkay Gundogan or Kevin De Bruyne in that position but opted for John Stones, who had earned the manager's praise playing in that position against Leicester. It was not a comfortable afternoon for the English international, who suffered with the rest of his teammates as Roy Hodgson's side pulled off a shock 3-2 victory.
However, Guardiola announced he did not have regrets about his selection.
"When you win I am a genius, when you lose I am not good. I don’t know what would happen if Kevin start or Sergio [Aguero] starts," he said. "Dinho is injured, yesterday he felt again that problem. John played so good in Leicester so I wanted to give another option for the long balls. They are a strong team in the air and we decided to play him and He played good except one ball in the beginning. I admire, I give credit to people who try and adapt to positions they are not used to. In the second half I used Gundogan and De Bruyne in that position but that is when the game is more open and everyone defend deep. The game is more about counter-attacks and in that situation it is not necessary to be so precise in the way we attack."
David Silva, Danilo, Benjamin Mendy were also among the injured players, while De Bruyne and Aguero were on the bench.
City fans have been going on about Fernandinho and the lack of cover for a couple years now. I think that and the striker situation is what they'll address next - you're right, Jesus just hasn't matured into the sort of player they can rely on.
Wan-Bissaka will move in the summer I reckon. Utd will probably go for him as they have no RB of note. Shame though because he looks like a star.
- Status
