Belated impressions from my trip to Nashville:
Man City out-fought and out-thought us thoroughly. Their press was so effective we spent most of the game going backwards. As to why that is, I'm not sure, but the worst case scenario IMO is that Man City is very good. I hope it was more a case of our players not turning up for the last game in a long road trip. They certainly did not look up for it, and were second to every ball. Bright spots were very few and very far between. N'Koudou looked lively. On a day when we were unable to string two passes together, his speed dribbling actually got us somewhere from time to time. Janssen's backheel flick that cleared both defender and goalkeeper was delightful, even if it didn't result in a goal. Winks looked good early, but faded. Kane at one point made a concerted effort to get us back in the game, but City wisely kept him surrounded with four players. Vorm did about as well as could be hoped. Vertonghen and Wanyama made powerful cases for themselves by their absences.
Trippier got flack from the crowd for being particularly bad, and while he was, almost everyone was fairly awful. I don't know how many times I saw Eriksen telegraph a pass to Kane, only for the defender to step in front and intercept. Finally, I didn't like the way the crowd booed Walker. He was a good servant to the club, and did nothing obnoxious concerning the move.
On the bright side, driving back from Nashville I found the most American thing ever: a fifty foot high statue of Jesus rising from a cornfield. What makes it the most American thing ever is that it replaced an earlier, 60 foot high statue known as Touchdown Jesus, because his arms were raised in the way gridiron refs indicate a touchdown. Why would anyone replace something as wonderful as Touchdown Jesus, you ask?
Because--I swear I am not making this up--it was struck by lightning and burned to cinders. Not, on the face of it, a ringing endorsement of the statue, or perhaps even of Christianity itself. Certainly not an indication that trusting faith over science (we don't need no stinkin' lightning rod!) may come back to bite you in the ass. But a good comeback from the church responsible for the statues nonetheless. The day after God scored a direct hit on Touchdown Jesus and idolatry in general, beside his charred remains appeared a large sign reading, "He'll be back."
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/16/touchdown-jesus-statue-burns-down?CMP=share_btn_link
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