Did you see the game? Barcelona were, frankly, awful and 4-0 completely flattered them. Individual errors cost Man City dearly. Fernandinho's slip, Bravo's handball, Stones' dummy ( that was funny) and poor finishing.
I fail to see how you can call a team awful after winning 4-0 against what most would consider the strongest English side in the country. If awful means battering a top class side then I'd happily be awful each game. We were pretty much at our best to beat City at The Lane the other week, the sheer fact Barca barely got out of second gear just shows the difference in quality between those in England and the best team in the world - hence men against boys. If I remember rightly, only one of City's mistakes truly cost them a goal and that was Fernandinho's slip, had he not fallen, good chance that ball's getting cleared. Bravo's handball and even Kolarov's penalty didn't result in direct goals. Losing possession resulting in a Barca goal isn't necessarily down to errors, it's just the effective high press of the Spaniards as it puts opposition players under quick and intense pressure, we try to emulate that high press just obviously nowhere near their level. Neymar's goal and Messi's second (think it was his second) were just down to superb skill and team work. And speaking of Stones, it's becoming more clear to me by the day that he's not a true CB, stick him at DM and I reckon he'd be much better.
Last night's game is a pretty good indicator of where Pep's Citeh revolution currently sits. It's mostly in his head. He has ideas that his current players can't implement. Anyone who watched them last season would have realised that defensively Citeh weren't anywhere near to being at a level to seriously challenge for the PL or UCL. He's not managed a club with players who weren't good enough before. He failed to see it or do anything about it at Citeh over the summer. As people like Brian Kidd are still there from the previous regime and he must have seen all the games over the summer, that's amazing to me. If you asked most people what problems they had from last season, pretty much everyone would have said their defence isn't good enough. They conceded 4 to us, Liverpool and Southampton. They shipped 3 to Liverpool and Leicester. Right now, that's a big and costly error. There's not a single player in their 7 'defensive' positions that would get into the Spurs or Arsenal teams and a number of them wouldn't make it as second choices at those clubs. Not the goalkeeper, full-backs, centre halves or holding midfielders. Gundogan and Stones will settle and improve but right now they're not at the level needed to turn things around, especially when things are getting difficult. I was shocked that he didn't buy a full back in the summer given that the current lot are very clearly not good enough and getting on a bit into the bargain. However, they spent big on attacking players Nolito, Sane and Gabriel Jesus despite already having Aguero, De Bruyne, Silva, Sterling and Iheanacho, amongst others. At this point, against the better teams, they would probably be better off picking an Ossie Ardiles, 'all-out attacking' team and going out to score more than the opposition, no matter how many they concede. Leaving Aguero out against Barcelona just seems bizarre. What will he have to do for the press to see that he's not magic and is as full of **** as any other manager?
But did you watch the game? Barcelona deserved the win but 4-0 doesn't tell the story of the game. Even at 10 vs 11 Man City looked the better side. Means nowt of course because they got done 4-0. But it certainly wasn't convincing. Barcelona took their chances and Man City didn't.
I thought City were well in the game up until the sending off. Barca defence looks very ordinary in the sense that City went round them with ease with repeat moves. As for City being the best side in the PL don't think their defence is up to much either. I think Arsenal, Liverpool and us would all give Barca a tougher time as the three best teams in the PL IMO. City might make 4th, might! Attach no significance to italics just lap top enjoying itself.
Have to pick you up on your 7 defensive positions not getting into your side. Fernandinho would walk into it blindfolded. He's brilliant.
No mate didn't watch it, just happen to know about Pique being a class act with the mascots in the tunnel, Fernandinho's slip, Bravo's hand ball, Stones looking **** (again) and missing a glorious header, Messi slicing through with ease like usual, Neymar's great goal but poor penalty, ter Stegen's decent save vs Nolito, Mathieu being a cock and making two stupid tackles in quick succession . The story of the game is somewhat irrelevant when the scoreline is that big, would you not agree? It's not as though it was a scraped victory in which City could've won 2-1 had chances been finished, it was a 4-0 margin with Barca not even being at their usual posession-dominating best. Had Barca been in the form like they were in the Celtic game, that scoreline could've been far worse for City.
And further as PNP said earlier the diving antics of Barca are pathetic, we all know what Suarez is like but he's not alone in that team of prima donnas. Shame as their forward talent is truly amazing they don't need to do that.
Performances are always irrelevant. Results are important and Man City lost 4-0. But 4-0 flattered Barcelona. Until Bravo went off City were unlucky to be losing.
Disagree on the latter. PL clubs on average are far worse on what should be a given for a pro (ball control, passing accuracy etc) then their La Liga / Bundesliga counterparts. To many people confuse the roller-coaster ride of the PL season as being a statement of the average technical competence of the clubs.
In Spain, first touch and control are basic requirements, even for kids. It's drilled into them. You can run as hard and as far as you like, but if you can't control and keep the ball for more than a few seconds, you're going nowhere!..
Citeh seem to be where they were exactly 12 months agos. A few demolitions and media PL shoo-ins, then lose emphatically to Spurs and the same questions are being asked. I assume they are sufficiently UEFA FFP "compliant" to be able to spend their way out of their current plateau to meet Peps' vision ...
So we've had a few comments from Luka Modric about his move to Los Ladrones. You may want to put blunt objects out of reach... There came a time at Tottenham where I had to change to improve and grow as a player. I did not doubt my quality and I knew that sooner or later I would succeed here, working every day in training and in the games. I've always had confidence in myself. I did not start well, but I never stopped believing in myself. I think I have developed as a player in these four years. I have more experience than before and need to keep on the same path to help the team to play well both in defence and attack. I must continue at the same level.
Yet he has done neither at get Real Madrid. The same Modric who played for Spurs, just with a more lethal attack in front of him. Still doesn't grab the game by the scruff of the neck when his team are in the mire.
The rumours are that there's a 'money no object' bid to go in for Bellerin, David Alaba, you name it. Given what they paid for Stones, who is raw talent but some way off being someone who you can build a top defence around, there's going to be an enormous price to be paid for players that can do that job straight out of the box. There's talk of £60m for Bonucci and Juventus aren't having that. They're getting him to sign a new contract, either he stays or if they have to sell because the player wants to go, they double the asking price. Napoli turned down £60m for Koulibaly from Chelsea. If Citeh came in for Walker or Alderweireld and we decided for some reason that we had to sell to a club with bottomless funds and a desperate need, what would we charge? I'd tell them to come up with a figure and then treble it. **** 'em. In a world of £100m TV rights payments and Chinese investors, where everyone is cash rich, why not ask them to break the transfer record? They can afford it. They're supposedly paying Pep £15m p.a. for 3 year contract, so they're completely barking mad.
Sure somebody told us a while ago their Academy was going to be the biggest and best ... in the world. How is that working out for them ... ?? <rhetorical>
