City v Leicester - Live Thread

[blueboy]

First topic message reminder :

Big win needed today. Will Mahrez start, on the bench? 

Gonna be a tough sort of game I think. With all this Mahrez shit going on this week, now he's back, I'm sure it'll give them a boost.

Starting line-up? Who knows.

For me, it'll be the following:

Ederson
Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko
Ferdy
Sterling, KDB, Gunda, Bernardo
Aguero

[Strange Blue]

5-1 wow!

[Guest]

Sergio is a beast sometimes

[Strange Blue]

A game of two halves & all that 

[Moonchester]

Crap that Aguero fella then eh?   )))))

[Topdawg]

Game over

[Topdawg]

Lucky goals 

[Strange Blue]

Aguero was poor in the 1st half, but then 4 goals what can you say?

[blueboy]

Aguero was average in the 1st half...obviously got a kick up the arse at HT from Pep.

He was magnificent 2nd half.

However, great to see Foden get game time...this kid should be in ahead of Gundogan and Bernardo for me. Both were shit all game imo.

As for KDB.....fuck me, apart from Messi, is there a better player on planet earth?

[shakencity]

Completely agree with regards Serge, distinctly average 1st half but utterly fantastic 2nd.

Thought Laporte and Otamendi were poor, but I was impressed with Zinchenko back there.
KDB is on a different level than anyone else at the minute and once again he was superb, if he and Daveed are both on the pitch at Wembley it's ours to lose.

[blueboy]

Yeah, not sure Laporte was so bad, but Ota had a very poor game today, which is unusual for him.

Agree also, thought Zinky had a good game. So, without Mendy, we've now got 2 converted LMF players who are comfortable at LB.

Pep's a genius.

[shakencity]

Yeah may be I'm being a tad harsh on Laporte there....just remembering him slipping on the half way line leaving us exposed at the back. I guess he had a relatively easy game beside that....Ota was poor though.

[blueboy]

[blueboy]

[skyblueoz]

Having watched the game now I have to say we dominated for the whole game yet apart from a couple of long range shots from Gundogan and a deflection when sterling went round the keeper we didn't trouble them 2 much in the final third. We kept on getting almost there but a final pass was intercepted or mis guided. I really couldn't find a weak link in the city side on that performance the only player who seemed under par to me was Otamendi. I really can't see where Gundogan and silva were so bad I thought they both played well. They are both good at retaining possession and winning the ball back which is a fundamental of peps game. Whilst I agree that neither are a David Silva or a Leroy Sane the job they do when they come into the side is just as important and they both do it in my opinion very well. Well enough in fact to even give Fernandinho a bit of a rest yesterday. This is an honest observation and I am happy with them both.

[blueboy]

We all have opinions Oz. I like Sterling, Den doesn't rate him. 

I understand what you're saying about Gundo and Silva, but against better teams, they'll need to step up and provide far more in an attacking sense than they are offering against average opposition. It helps to mask their contribution, when you have KDB supplying 3 assists. I want them both to be offering more assists/goals etc. 

Let's not forget....Sterling is a winger, a la Bernardo. Bernardo has played loads of games recently....yet how many assists or goals has he scored?

Likewise, Gundogan plays in an attacking MF role, like KDB....but how many assists or goals has he got, and he's had lot's of game time lately?

Time to step up IMO....especially as both players cost us close to £70m.

[ManCityMan]

I agree that they need to contribute more with assists and goals but i am not sure that Bernardo is a real winger. He is considered to be an attacking midfielder. I think his best position is more central than on the wing as he played at Monaco did he not? But with the middle positions being oversubscribed, Pep plays him on the wing, so i am willing to give him more time, he's not terrible by any means and i think he does what Pep requires from him in the main.

[blueboy]

No...he was a winger at Monaco. He played wide right. Hence my point. He's not playing in an unusual position. He played there for Monaco. 

He's only better in a central role, as he's offering nothing from wide right. When Sane comes back, he'll be back on the bench.

[blueboy]

[blueboy]

[ManCityMan]

Serge ducks it up again

blueboyAGUERO....what a twat!!

Fucking garbage!

They go up the pitch and score.    


Knee jerk reactions?  
I know it's easy to say in hindsight after he scored 4 goals but we all know Kun can be greedy and sometimes needs 4 chances to score one goal but......he is irreplaceable! 
How many other PL or top European teams would take him in a heart beat? All the talk of him being forced out by Jesus seems laughable now, Jesus has been less than impressive in comparison and has a lot of work to do to replace Aguero. I would never call him "a twat" 

Wasn't the Leicester goal a result of a terrible pass from Otamendi anyway? We were in no danger until Ota presented the ball to the one guy that could hurt us.

[blueboy]

I really want Bernardo and Gundogan to do well....I really do. However, so far, we've brought in Silva and he's just a more expensive Navas....but less quick and doesn't track back as much. 

For £43m....when Sane is fit, Sterling will be back on the right and Silva will be back on the bench. Now, for an additional £25-30m, we'd have Mahrez. Who would provide assist and goals. 

Let's hope he needs this season....but I've been very underwhelmed with his end product so far.

As for Gundogan, I'm sure injuries have stolen something from him. He does have some great games...but again, it's very sporadic. Give me Foden ahead of Gundogan, every day of the week....he got an assist yesterday and was only on for 14 minutes. Let's blood him and Diaz now until the end of the season....see what they can offer. The League could be pretty much wrapped up if United draw or lose today - now 0-0....so 16 points would some lead.

[blueboy]

Serge ducks it up again

blueboyAGUERO....what a twat!!

Fucking garbage!

They go up the pitch and score.    


Knee jerk reactions?  
I know it's easy to say in hindsight after he scored 4 goals but we all know Kun can be greedy and sometimes needs 4 chances to score one goal but......he is irreplaceable! 
How many other PL or top European teams would take him in a heart beat? All the talk of him being forced out by Jesus seems laughable now, Jesus has been less than impressive in comparison and has a lot of work to do to replace Aguero. I would never call him "a twat" 

Wasn't the Leicester goal a result of a terrible pass from Otamendi anyway? We were in no danger until Ota presented the ball to the one guy that could hurt us.

Huh, because I call him a twat....he's now a shit player and I don't like him???

In-game commentary....he was poor and ended up in their area after a pass from Sterling, lost the ball cheaply and they went up the pitch and scored. Yes, a shit pass from Otamendi...but he shouldn't have lost the ball so cheaply to start with. 

I love Aguero...but I was only posting what happened, live in the game. Maybe you should try it...rather than using in-game commentary to justify your argument - AFTER THE FACT.

[ManCityMan]

My apologies

[Topdawg]

Aguero was crap in the 1st half. Far far too greedy. As I said at the time, great if you pull something amazing out of the bag but there must have been 4-5 times when he should have passed rather than look for a world goal.

My feeling is he's doesn't care the same way he did a few years ago. He wants to look great in a highlights package with amazing goals rather than help the team succeed.

Instead of being maybe two or three up at HT we were level. I can imagine some better teams than Leicester not letting us have that many chances.

[skyblueoz]

i have just read what you said about gundogan & silva having to step up or be found wanting in the big games. I sort of understand what you are implying but the fact of the matter is that so far we have only lost 1 game & a dead rubber champs league game. The league defeat v Liverpool neither started as I recall so in effect as yet they have done a job when needed. I really do not see them being a problem in big games as I say both have been playing in my opinion very well. Bernardo offers twice as much as Navas did. Mainly because the players around him are always available for the cut backs & give and goes, assists statistics always account for the last pass before the recipient finishes off the move. Yesterday it was silva's interplay with walker that ended with silva teeing up the pass perfectly for debruynne to not even break stride & whip the ball across the 6 yard box for sterlings tap in. How many of those contributions get noticed. Twice yesterday gundogan laid 2 beautiful through balls for aguero & sterling neither gets mentioned because the end result was not a goal. Like I say Silva & Gundogan to me are worth exactly what we paid for them.

[Topdawg]

Kev was the man yesterday. Tap in for Sterling followed by a tap in for Serge.

[blueboy]

i have just read what you said about gundogan & silva having to step up or be found wanting in the big games. I sort of understand what you are implying but the fact of the matter is that so far we have only lost 1 game & a dead rubber champs league game. The league defeat v Liverpool neither started as I recall so in effect as yet they have done a job when needed. I really do not see them being a problem in big games as I say both have been playing in my opinion very well. Bernardo offers twice as much as Navas did. Mainly because the players around him are always available for the cut backs & give and goes, assists statistics always account for the last pass before the recipient finishes off the move. Yesterday it was silva's interplay with walker that ended with silva teeing up the pass perfectly for debruynne to not even break stride & whip the ball across the 6 yard box for sterlings tap in. How many of those contributions get noticed. Twice yesterday gundogan laid 2 beautiful through balls for aguero & sterling neither gets mentioned because the end result was not a goal. Like I say Silva & Gundogan to me are worth exactly what we paid for them.

The fact of the matter is Oz...we have differing opinions and that's absolutely fine with me. Guess we'll agree to disagree.

[blueboy]

My apologies

Fella...not sure if that's a genuine apology (if so, no need to apologise as we all have our own opinions) or whether it's a disingenuous apology..,.either way, we all have opinions and it'd be shit if we all agreed on everything. 

[Strange Blue]

Gotta say I agree with Oz, think they both offer a lot. Gundogan hasn't found the form he had last season before he got injured, but still a solid MF. B Silva shows flashes of brilliance, but is still finding his feet. Agree that hes not being played in his best position however some players just need more time than others the potential is definitely there IMHO.

[Topdawg]

Without looking, who do you think has played a part in the most games this season???

[shakencity]

Ederson

[Topdawg]

Ederson

nope because ehe's not been our cup keeper

[shakencity]

KDB

[Strange Blue]

Gotta be Kevin

[Topdawg]

nope

[Strange Blue]

Ok Nico?

[Moonchester]

the weighting on your question leans it towards Bernard.... (lots of sub appearances early season)

[Topdawg]

Bernardo Silva with 38

[Topdawg]

So Pep must see something in him. 

In Oeo we trust. No?

[blueboy]

I don't trust anyone who's called Oeo. 

[Strange Blue]

Bernardo? OK that surprised me. 

[blueboy]

Without looking, who do you think has played a part in the most games this season???

As for that stat....wtf has that got to do with anything? Played a part in most games????

He cost us £43m! Here's some stats for you...

Gabriel cost £27m....he has 10 goals and 2 assists.

Leroy Sane is a winger and cost us £37m...he has 11 goals and 12 assists.

Otamendi is a defender and cost us £32m....he has 5 goals.

John Stones is a defender, cost us £49m and has 3 goals.

KDB cost us £50m and he has 12 goals and 18 assists.

Bernardo Silva cost us £43m and he has 4 goals and 8 assists.

Otamendi has more goals than Bernardo. John Stones has 1 less. Sane has 7 more goals, Sterling has 16 more goals....none of these are strikers. We're talking about defenders, wingers and midfielders...a position that B.Silva occupies. He's played more minutes this season than Gabriel Jesus, by 250 mins (nearly 3 whole games worth). He's close to the same time that David Silva has played...

See, stats can always be construed whichever way you choose them to look.

I'll happily hold judgement until next season...but for me, he's just another Navas, that will be a bench player when Sane returns.

[Topdawg]

I don't talk about the money we pay. That's just vulgar.

But Nico hasn't scored for months???

[Strange Blue]

The money is meaningless anyway, what we payed for a played 2-3 years ago would be at least 1/3 more now if not more.

[blueboy]

The money is meaningless anyway, what we payed for a played 2-3 years ago would be at least 1/3 more now if not more.

Why is what we pay meaningless? Wasn't everyone on here slating Mangala because of what we paid for him? If he cost us £5m, he'd just be a shit signing, but because we paid £40m+ for him, he was an awful signing.

[Topdawg]

He was an awful signing. End of. Regardless of what we paid. Got to be a little careful here, but he'd not even been capped for France when we bought him (like Laporte). His control is unbelievably poor and he looks afraid of the ball.

[Topdawg]

And I think what SB means is that prices have gone crazy in the last 2 years. Can you imagine we paid £55M for Kev only  2.5 yrs ago?

[Topdawg]

You've got Harry Maguire being touted as a £50M defender now

[Strange Blue]

It’s meaningless in terms of making a comparison, because of inflation in an over heated market. A player that cost £20M a few years ago is now going for £40M etc. So what I’m saying is that Bernardo’s price represents good value in the current market.

[blueboy]

It’s meaningless in terms of making a comparison, because of inflation in an over heated market. A player that cost £20M a few years ago is now going for £40M etc. So what I’m saying is that Bernardo’s price represents good value in the current market.

Or...he's actually a £20m player and we paid £43m for him!!

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