City vs Leicester - Live Thread

[blueboy]

First topic message reminder :

Ok, you'll be pleased to know that my flight home today isn't until 21:30 tonight!!

2 massive back-to-back games that could define our PL title claims this season.

First up, 2nd v 1st, then Spurs.

We really need 3 points today, no draw - the marker needs to be set here today, especially as we are at home.

The defenders and midfielder's need to be on their game, no silly diving in tackles, no ball watching at set pieces, no allowing players to run off the back of you....solid, 100% attention and let the likes of Sergio and Silva do their thing.

With Navas out - which would have been a big help, especially on counter-attacks with Vardy's pace, we have two options - set up to be solid and look to use our class to nick a goal or two, or really go at Leicester and out-score them.

Knowing MP, he'll probably opt for somewhere in between and once we offer little going forward, will probably make a change after 60mins - it's been his way this season.

So, for me, I think he'll go for something like this:

Hart
Zaba, Sagna, Otamendi, Clichy
Fernandinho, Delph
Sterling, TLMLF, Silva
Aguero

I'd worry having DeM in the back 4 with his lack of pace...so maybe utilise Sagna.

[blueboy]

For me....I think if Kompany doesn't come back to his previous form and consistently, we need 4 new defenders to start each week.

Zaba looked well off the pace today - maybe match fitness?

DeM has never been top class and looks like a player 3 years past his best.

Otamendi fills me with dread in the PL. He may have all the time in the world in La Liga, but in the PL he just doesn't read the game well enough and FFS, stop going to ground when you tackle!!! Isn't that the first rule of tackling FFS??? Yet, it clearly seems that none of the coaching staff under MP have said anything to him - it's almost like a 'last ditched effort every time'....what a waste of money.

Kolorov - first game back after injury and he's thrown into a top of the table clash. Awful management by MP. As for Kolorov - get rid, pissing useless.

That leaves Sagna, who by next year will be too old - get rid.

Clichy - maybe keep as back up.

Kompany - and who knows when or for how long he'll stay fit.

All in all - the back 4 are a complete shambles - and the board and the manager have allowed the Jan window to pass them by - did they really think we can fight on 4 fronts with that load shite in front of Joe? Awful.

The Manager - why was it no surprise to see him keep the TLMLF on the pitch and take Delph off? Come on...the guy doesn't warrant a starting place, never mind staying on ahead of a DMF player FFS!

The season isn't over - there's still plenty to play for in the PL.....however, at home, the performance was nothing short of shit - the manager, not just the players - has to take huge responsibility for that.

Looking at Silva today - he was poor. He turned inside at every opportunity - and Morgan read it every time. Sterling was pathetic playing in that role - Fernandinho had a terrible game....we can;t play the top of the table and 9 out of 11 players don't turn up - that's unforgivable and the Manager must take the blame today. No excuses.

Massive clear out needed in the summer - not 3/4 players, 8/9 players IMO....who are simply not good enough.

[leopold]

MCM, if Spurs and Arsenal win, we'll be fourth.

Today was shocking. I can't even bring myself to find a silver lining after that, because I doubt there is one.

[Topdawg]

We can now focus on the CL and leave the PL alone?

[Topdawg]

Liverpool and Spurs take the lead. Spurs scorer? Discarded by city, defender Trippier

[blueboy]

My day just rocks from bad to worse....

[skyblueoz]

just read silva was carrying an injury to the ankle that kept him out recently which could account for some of his recent performances. Having said that though if he wasn't fit why risk him? pel said he will be struggling for next Sunday. Well that's just great with all these important games coming up.

[Guest]

Just back from a night away with the missus, did I miss much?  Didn't even look for the result until after it had finished.

This is 100% why this joker will not be in charge next year.   Trouble is though is this a sign of things to come?  He has zero motivation to get this team back to playing the football we know they should be.   We are as easy to beat as Aston Villa.  All it takes is good organisation and you will pick us off all day.

Is 4th place all we can hope for?   Knowing our luck the rags will step up today and only then be 4 points behind again.  How the Feck has has happened again !!

Lose to spuds next week and we won't catch them either.

[Topdawg]

how did the dippers miss that?

[Topdawg]

penalty!

[Topdawg]

this is what we should have done to the liverpool first tem

[Topdawg]

faupala on. want to see this lad.

[Topdawg]

manu garcia has been poor

[Topdawg]

great play by barker. cleared of the line.

[Topdawg]

if he wants 1st team footy, he needs to put those half chances away

[Topdawg]

another goal. we could have had 8

[Topdawg]

barker has been very good but liverpool have been poor everywhere

[Topdawg]

I'd definitely have alex garcia and brandon barker against chelsea.

[leopold]

I've had some time to calm down after that atrocity on Saturday, so here is my reflective view on how I thought everyone did:

• Hart (6) - Had way too much to do, thanks to a useless defence.  He probably could've done more to stop the second goal (I could see where Mahrez was intending to put it), but he did stop it being an embarrassing rout with some decent saves.  Not his best day, but let down really badly by everyone in front of him.
  
• Otamendi (2) - Occasionally kept Vardy quiet, but for the most part was beaten because he couldn't read the game and his opponents were able to run away from his ankle breaking challenges.  At fault for two of their goals, as far as I'm concerned.  Gets two points because I'm feeling generous as he had to do the work of two men.
  
• Demichelis (1) - What the hell?  We're up against Vardy, one of the quickest strikers in the PL, and we put our oldest and slowest defender on him!  What was wrong with Sagna?  Okay, he's not that fast either, but at least he can move quicker and put in a challenge.  Gets one point for not fucking up most of his passes out of defence.
  
• Kolarov (1) - Didn't make a tackle all day.  Didn't put in a decent cross all day.  Had a shot that went well wide of the mark.  Wasn't able to shepherd his man away from the danger area.  Got caught out of possession far too often.  Gets one point for a solitary decent corner.  Utterly woeful, shouldn't even have been on the pitch.
  
• Zabaleta (4) - Got forward well, should've had a penalty and played with his usual level of heart and soul. There was no way he was getting the better of Mahrez, though.
  
• Delph (5) - I can't fault his efforts, he tried very hard, but he was hung out to dry by a side pressing very hard and not much in the way of assistance from his team-mates.  Inexplicably replaced for Fernando, who only made matters worse.
  
• Fernandinho (5) - Suffered the same as Delph, but seemed to drift out of the game as it went on.  Probably fed up of having to be both centre backs as well as doing his own job.
  
• Silva (3) - Had a terrible game.  Understandably replaced by Celina.
  
• Toure (0) - Played like a man on borrowed time. Lolled around the pitch like he didn't give a shit. Dispossessed too easily. Made no tackles, incisive passes or anything.  Replaced by Iheanacho, after which we looked like we had 11 men on the pitch.  Woeful.
  
• Sterling (2) - I forgot he was playing half the time. Made a few runs and looked like he might be a threat, but ultimately wasn't.  Still wusses out of 50:50 challenges and on two occasions I saw him bale out when the ball was 100% his.
  
• Aguero (7) - The only man on the pitch in a blue shirt who looked like he could make a difference.  But as the game wore on, he ended up playing deeper and wider than he should have to, covering for the shortfalls in every single person he was relying on for service.  Utterly ridiculous.  Was able to stay in more dangerous areas when Celina and Iheanacho were on the park and eventually got a goal.
  
• Fernando (3) - Miraculously, wasn't as dreadful as usual.  But still worse than the man he replaced.
  
• Iheanacho (4) - Tried to get into the game, but Leicester's defence were too strong for him.  But in fairness, his presence did give Sergio a break from having to run around doing everyone else's job for a bit.
  
• Celina (5) - Did more in his ten minute cameo than Yaya and Sterling did. Needs more time to come up to speed and a bit of a baptism of fire for the young lad, but still managed to feed Serge for his goal, something that Yaya, Sterling and Silva failed to manage between them. Funny how we only looked like scoring once he came on, too...
  
• Pellegrini (3) - You're up against the team at the top of the league, one with a mean defence, a centre forward who is both quick and on a purple patch and a midfielder who is driving everything they do going forwards.  So who do you play?  Not Demichelis, that's for sure!  A game crying out for Sagna to be at centre half and he missed it.  A game desperately needing some invention going forward, but saw Silva having another bad day, Sterling being hounded out far too easily and a completely disinterested Toure to sew it all together. I'd have preferred to see Iheanacho and Aguero up front from the off, played Fernandinho on his own at DCM and shoved Delph further forwards, too.
  

Overall score: 3.  Not the worst performance I've seen from us in recent years, but just about the worst I've seen under Pellegrini.  Even with the drubbing we had from Liverpool, there were signs that we could've got into the game with a bit more fortune. But this game, we never looked like we even close to being in it.

[blueboy]

Can't argue with the scores...except:

Sterling (2)...thought he at least tried, maybe a 4/5.

Thought you were a bit kind on the manager - I'd have give him 1, and that was solely for his substitutions early in the 2nd half.

I said before the game - cannot believe he left Sagna on the bench and played DeM. The fact he brought Kolorov back after an absence and left Clichy (who has pace) on the bench.

Played Silva, even though he knew he was struggling with his ankle.

Persists with TLMLF even though he hasn't had a shot on target for months, had an assist for months, hasn't scored a goal for months....it's pathetic. The very fact that he plays him, even though he never gives anything on the pitch, must seriously piss off some of the players - especially poor Kelechi.

Celina had another great game for the U21's....what's worse, is you see the other teams like LFC, United, Chelsea, Spurs in particular, not afraid to blood their youngsters - yet he, relies on the same old same old players....unforgivable for me.

[leopold]

Fair point on Sterling, he did give it a go, but I do find him frustrating at times.  And I gave the boss a 3 for finally having the courage to bring on another youngster (who actually made an impact as well) and for having the sense to remove TLF and Silva, who were both playing badly.  But I'd be happy to dock him a point for taking Delph off.

[ManCityMan]

It's simply a case of some players thinking they just need to put in 50-60% for the massive wages they are paid and the manager is too stubborn or scared to drop them. As far as i'm concerned, Toure should be dropped and Delph moved into the middle with Silva and Fernandinho with Navas and Sterling on the wings. Delph will track back unlike Toure as we all know.
The defence as i already said, is simply woeful, unlike most other teams our defenders are pulled all over the place or are caught out of position by clever passes or long balls to good lone strikers like Vardy or Lukaku and time and again they defend like amateurs. Compare that to the well drilled defences we come up against week after week, it's a joke.
Almost every other team without our resources starts off with working on defence first and getting that right to avoid teams like ours with supposedly top players, turning them over. They start off with the basics, don't let the other team pass you, keep your position, hold the line and dont lunge into the tackle in the box and most teams like Watford, Stoke, Everton, Swansea, Southampton etc are very good at it. Add to that the ability to break with pace and move into good spaces to create passes for team mates and that is the recipe for beating teams like ours that think they have world class players and don't need to do their homework or have world class players that think they do not have to run their lungs out like these other teams.
A major clear out is badly needed and i just hope Pep is ahead of the game and watching this shit and already working out what needs to change and identifying personnel he wants to bring in and perhaps more importantly, who needs to be shown the door. I think we are pretty much all of the same mind on these issues.

[Guest]

At least Chavs did us a massive favour with that late equaliser.   How long can we rely on teams to bale us out though.

4th place is the absolute minimum we need this season, and I am seriously worried for that.

Unless Vinnie gets back and stays fit I simply don't think we will do it.

We're doomed Mr Mainwaring .....

[TMG]

I thought most of the scores were fair apart from TLMLF who deserved less than a zero for making his team mates have to do his work as well

[shakencity]

Well, wtf happened there ?

Complete and utter dis-believement when we walked off the course to see that result come through.

[leopold]

4th place is the absolute minimum we need this season, and I am seriously worried for that.

I'm not even sure 4th will be enough.  UEFA have already made noises that the coefficient for England is getting a bit low and if all our teams have crashed out before the quarter finals again this season, we may well lose our fourth slot to Germany.  And I reckon it'll definitely happen if we finish fourth, seeing as UEFA have it in for us as well...

[leopold]

Well, wtf happened there ?

Complete and utter dis-believement when we walked off the course to see that result come through.

I have absolutely no idea what happened and I was there watching it happen right in front of me.

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