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All purpose football thread 20-21 season II

That's the football world though isn't it - you're either considered as absolute crap or the best thing since sliced bread.
I think Pep's plan was to come out of the blocks fast,get an early goal and then manage the game using resources from the bench as and when necessary.
What was apparent to me was that every time Chelsea attacked they looked dangerous and Stones, in particular, looked uncomfortable against pace.
I doubt there's a single City fan on here that would have predicted or picked that starting eleven - by contrast the Chelsea starting eleven was entirely predictable with every player knowing exactly what their role was.

I think most City fans were just hoping to see the same team that beat PSG again. Lose with that and we'd just hold our hands up and say well done Chelsea but that team selection went down like a lead ballon at the big screen event at the CFA. It was just baffling and set the team on the back foot from the off. I wonder how many times they've even played that shape in training? A couple of times this week maybe? Was never going to be enough to beat this well drilled Chelsea team. Another opportunity lost and there's no guessing when we'll be in this position to win it again.

Oh well.
 
Just watching the game back again and after all the excitement and stand out performances, Andreas Christensen deserves a mention. The fact that he replaced Silva so seamlessly as the pivot between Azpi and Rudiger speaks to his emergence as a top quality centre back.
 
I think most City fans were just hoping to see the same team that beat PSG again. Lose with that and we'd just hold our hands up and say well done Chelsea but that team selection went down like a lead ballon at the big screen event at the CFA. It was just baffling and set the team on the back foot from the off. I wonder how many times they've even played that shape in training? A couple of times this week maybe? Was never going to be enough to beat this well drilled Chelsea team. Another opportunity lost and there's no guessing when we'll be in this position to win it again.

Oh well.

genuinely, that’s 2 consecutive years when you most probably should have won it if not for ‘overthinking’ the opposition - great manager but guilty of tactical errors on both occasions
 
genuinely, that’s 2 consecutive years when you most probably should have won it if not for ‘overthinking’ the opposition - great manager but guilty of tactical errors on both occasions
Not sure about that - Bayern were absolutely outstanding last year.
 
A game played with great intensity, I think that all the Chelsea players had good games and that James and Kante were outstanding. City had some players, notably Sterling ( apart from one sublime pass ) who did not do enough.....they need to find David Silva mk2
 
If Man City fans are grumpy with the manager over thinking tactics I suggest a swap with Steve Bruce as a solution.

It was a strange team selection but Chelsea were superb last night. The foul by the Rudiger fella was a bad one and the diving about is pathetic.

Really pleased for one of my cousins and his lad.
 
Good analysis of the game here which suggests that it was Havertz occupying Zinchenko that was key to undoing Pep’s plan to control the middle

The heat map shows Havertz out wide for most of the game, which I have to confess, I didn’t see from watching it live

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It's been a quirky season, one which initially threatened to falter and end in cancellation due to Covid outbreaks. Weren't we all grateful for those international matches where players contracted corona virus? The pandemic seemed to drain the intensity of play out of many a team. Not everyone was firing on all cylinders, apart perhaps for Everton who excelled in their cynical foul play ending VVD's season and sidelining Thiago for months.
City appeared to be out of it but recovered well after their postponed game against Everton. Liverpool would top the table on the basis of the last 10 games. United haven't had a bad season but need to refresh the team and give some thought re a new manager. Chelsea's tactics and discipline under Tuchel have been the revelation of the season.
It's really hard to be successful in a number of competitions and City who looked at one point to be on for 4 trophies managed 2. Well, 2 trophies is success by the standards of most clubs.
I had a hunch that Chelsea would win old big ears, should have put money on it and a few other results in the last week or so!
Pep is of course a great manager. Back in the day there was a lot of hopeful chat on RAWK that he'd join Liverpool before moving to City. Klopp joked about his record of winning 6 semi finals but not winning a final.He of course went on to break the habit. Pep of course has won finals but can he actually fulfil what his employers expect? The overthinking raises question marks. Yes he won the European Cup but that was a decade ago and football has changed. I suspect they'll stick with him but you never know.
I'm looking forward to next season, I hope the City fans on here aren't feeling too bad today. When Liverpool lost in 2017-18 I was absolutely gutted and I knew that we'd be back the following year and win it. I suspect the Liverpool team had similar views.
Well done Chelsea, remarkable defending last night! City fans, you'll be hoping you can build on the pain of defeat.
Hoping for an injury free Euro's. The Premier League is better when teams have a full squad to pick!
 
I can confirm this was a superb season. As the song goes, “we won the league, we won the cup, we’ve been to Europe too...”. And I was in the stadium last night, it was magic! So now we'll have a few weeks off and kick off the new season against Leicester at Wembley. When you’ve done Grimsby away on a freezing cold Wednesday night, Porto down on the seafront on a warm Saturday evening is like a fantasy. In fact it’s a trip baby!

Let’s do it all again next year! :D:D:D

And if we get relegated, we'll enjoy that too!

CTID
 
genuinely, that’s 2 consecutive years when you most probably should have won it if not for ‘overthinking’ the opposition - great manager but guilty of tactical errors on both occasions

We were definitely good to beat Lyon but Bayern were different class that season and I doubt our defence would've coped with them in the final. Against Chelsea we didn't turn up in the FA Cup and Pep made too many changes In the league game so I didn't pay too much attention to those defeats but Pep obviously did. He beats himself at times.
 
My recollection of the final stages were that Bayern had a significant advantage over the other teams as they’d restarted the Bundesliga 5-6 weeks earlier than the EPL and thus were far more conditioned than their competitors, playing the games over a single leg at a neutral ground also helped
 
Just watching the game back again and after all the excitement and stand out performances, Andreas Christensen deserves a mention. The fact that he replaced Silva so seamlessly as the pivot between Azpi and Rudiger speaks to his emergence as a top quality centre back.
The reaction and play acting of Azpi to the knock on the knee was somewhat embarrassing... simple gamesmanship
 
I can confirm this was a superb season. As the song goes, “we won the league, we won the cup, we’ve been to Europe too...”. And I was in the stadium last night, it was magic! So now we'll have a few weeks off and kick off the new season against Leicester at Wembley. When you’ve done Grimsby away on a freezing cold Wednesday night, Porto down on the seafront on a warm Saturday evening is like a fantasy. In fact it’s a trip baby!

Let’s do it all again next year! :D:D:D

And if we get relegated, we'll enjoy that too!

CTID
At least your not singing " Don't look back in Anger " . Pep does a good version of that.
 
The reaction and play acting of Azpi to the knock on the knee was somewhat embarrassing... simple gamesmanship
Knees hurt when knocked. Not gamesmanship. Not embarrassing. Just pain.

City had any number of player rolling around, including Sterling who was, yet again, rolling around after no contact.
 


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