The whatever footie that's going on (with actual fans) thread

tim_wand

Citee , were the better team , playing the better football, unfortunately there forwards didn't have their finishing boots on. . Although Credit to Courtois he was brilliant. The Aguero challenge on side show Bob was terrible and deserved a straight Red. But Luis should have gone earlier for the foul on Aguero when he was straight through.
Cesc slapped Fernadinho to provoke his red. Summary Chelski are Cunts with or without JT

pinno

The turning point was Luiz's challenge on Aguero. He should have at least been booked. After that Luiz wasn't exactly an angel and the ref let far too much go until it boiled over because he failed to put a lid on some rough challenges and assert his authority.
Apart from that, City failed to capitalise on some great football with bad finishing and were caught out pushing up the field.

Anyway, what a brilliant performance from Sanchez and what a brilliant fake shot/step over/dummy thing move. It's almost funny.

Stevo_666

Just for you Tim

Stevo 666 wrote:

Winning 3-1 away is pretty decisive, as is being top of the league

kingstonian

Easy win for Spurs, Swansea are in serious trouble. They have such a poor squad, will be incredible if they avoid relegation.

verylonglegs

Stevo 666 wrote:

verylonglegs wrote:

Isn't there history between Aguero and Luiz kicking lumps out of each other?

After today there is, just not the 'each other' bit.

I think it's been evident in a couple of the internationals they've played against each other in the past too.

Stevo_666

verylonglegs wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

verylonglegs wrote:

Isn't there history between Aguero and Luiz kicking lumps out of each other?

After today there is, just not the 'each other' bit.

I think it's been evident in a couple of the internationals they've played against each other in the past too.

I think you may be right.

mr_goo

Scallies at Dean Court today. Not expecting Cherries to get much out of this match so name of game is minimising the defecit.

Stevo_666

Mr Goo wrote:

Scallies at Dean Court today. Not expecting Cherries to get much out of this match so name of game is minimising the defecit.

For Liverpool? Well done The Cherries and thank you

mr_goo

Stevo 666 wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

Scallies at Dean Court today. Not expecting Cherries to get much out of this match so name of game is minimising the defecit.

For Liverpool? Well done The Cherries and thank you

Ta. In the words of Black Sabbath...."Never Say Die".
From reading the reports it's just a shame that rather than giving Cherries credit for pushing forward and attacking Liverpool, it's all about capitulation and goal keeping errors.
Anyhoo. Back up to 10th. And most importantly confidence and morale is high. Away to Burnley on Saturday and they're a tough nut to crack.

tlw1

Stevo 666 wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

Scallies at Dean Court today. Not expecting Cherries to get much out of this match so name of game is minimising the defecit.

For Liverpool? Well done The Cherries and thank you

Hate to say it but they did well

Stevo_666

cornerblock

Jose charged again.

Stevo_666

mr_goo

Bye bye Dean Court. Well in three years time.
Judging by the wording of the statement made today it looks like a potential site may have been found within the Bournemouth borough. Knowing the area really well I cannot for the life if me think where they could build it.

Anyhoo. At Turf Moor sat avo. Burnley a tough nut to crack.

Stevo_666

Mr Goo wrote:

Bye bye Dean Court. Well in three years time.
Judging by the wording of the statement made today it looks like a potential site may have been found within the Bournemouth borough. Knowing the area really well I cannot for the life if me think where they could build it.

Anyhoo. At Turf Moor sat avo. Burnley a tough nut to crack.

Well you had to get somewhere witha few more seats.

Anyhow, come on Stoke, Leicester and Wet Ham.

Stevo_666

I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for Pep. City will have to be the small, unfashionable club to support in the European Trophy Dodgers' Derby next weekend

pinno

City have problems. Their work rate bar a few individuals against Leicester was poor. They were playing some sublime football earlier in the season and this current run is perhaps a wobble beyond recovery.

city_boy

I can't disagree with any of the sentiments in both the above posts.

I understood (not necessarily agreed with), but understood why Pep wanted Joe Hart out of the club and I didn't know enough about Bravo to form an opinion on him as Hart's replacement at the time. It is evident now though that he is nowhere near good enough to keep goal in this league, even Sunday pub league standard might be step to far, he is that bad.

That said though, yesterday the whole team was shambolic and it is entirely on Pep's shoulders. The team selection and set up was beyond naive and the result was a foregone conclusion from the first whistle.

My biggest frustration with Pellegrini was his arrogant stubbornness and his refusal to learn from his mistakes. My biggest fear for City is Pep could be the same (or worse!)...I really hope not.

With Arsenal and Liverpool to play before the end of the year, we will really see what Pep is made of. Come Jan 1, we could either be battling for the title or struggling for top 4.

pinno

Ultimately, Pep will come through. He's too good not to. I think he hasn't adapted to the PL. It's not necessarily about tactics (Serie A) or technique (La Liga), it's about intensity and work rate. Leicester defined that last year. There is a philosophy where you play your tactics, with your style and your tempo - without any consideration for the opposition. This requires a technical level which only a handful of teams can do. The onus is on the opposition who have to adapt. I think this was evident for the first 6 or 7 games. Sometimes I think Arsenal play like that. If you play possession football and are masters at it, it can work. When you have the efficiency of the Pique's, Messi's, Iniesta's et al, you can - game after game.
I do not think MC quite have that especially since their back 4 (5 if you include the GK) are very good at all.
They need another Kompany, someone to boss the defence and put discipline into the back because the front 5 are arguably world class. Kompany is too prone to injury. Sad really, as I like him as a person and his presence on the pitch is a game changer. Given the security of a solid defence, then they could soar above anyone. Chelsea's defence is solid. The league will boil down to the best defence - Arsenal are 8/10, City are at best 6/10, Liverpool leak too many - they need to score more goals than the opposition and with the absence of Coutinho till January, that may be tricky.

I think this is probably the poorest form of his managerial career and will test his adaptability and resolve.

Stevo_666

Pinno wrote:

City have problems. Their work rate bar a few individuals against Leicester was poor. They were playing some sublime football earlier in the season and this current run is perhaps a wobble beyond recovery.

Yep, and given the suspensions they have over the next few weeks other teams have a chance to capitalise on that.

Don't think well be hearing much from City Boy for a bit

city_boy

Yesterday's defeat wasn't down to work rate and intensity TBF. It was Pep's tactics that were all wrong. Playing a back 3 with a high line with 3 of the leagues's slowest defenders against a counter attacking team with one of the league's quickest attackers was suicide!

What Leicester proved last season is that you pick your tactics and playing style around the skill set that you have at your disposal and stick with it, rather than constantly f**k about with you team selection and formation on a weekly basis.

Yes Pep wants to play a certain brand of football, which, with the right players will (I'm sure) be great to watch and will bring success. But, and it's a big BUT, if you haven't got the players to play that kind of football then you need to change your approach to get the best out of what you have until such time as you amassed the players you really need.

I agree with you, I honestly think Pep will get it right over time, but first he needs to buy that time by getting much better results than he is at the moment. 4 points out of a possible 15 from the last 5 home games has (and I hate to admit it) a real look of last season about it.

Wins against Watford and Hull and at least a point each out of Arsenal and Liverpool is a reasonable expectation from a team costing so much and supposedly one expecting to challenging for the title. We shall see...

city_boy

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/1 ... io-9432665

Stevo_666

City Boy wrote:

I agree with you, I honestly think Pep will get it right over time, but first he needs to buy that time by getting much better results than he is at the moment. 4 points out of a possible 15 from the last 5 home games has (and I hate to admit it) a real look of last season about it.

Wins against Watford and Hull and at least a point each out of Arsenal and Liverpool is a reasonable expectation from a team costing so much and supposedly one expecting to challenging for the title. We shall see...

Yay, I was right about the last season thing

Ironically City had apparently looked at hiring Conte, but on balance we'll keep him, you keep Stones and we can call it quits.

Good luck in the ETDD next Sunday :P

pinno

City Boy wrote:

Yesterday's defeat wasn't down to work rate and intensity TBF. It was Pep's tactics that were all wrong. Playing a back 3 with a high line with 3 of the leagues's slowest defenders against a counter attacking team with one of the league's quickest attackers was suicide!

I think it was. Play that formation but the wide men had to work very hard and cover the defence as a defensive 5-3-2 not an attacking 3-5-2.

Stevo_666

West Brom put up a good fight but not quite good enough

Next up - Sunderland, Palace and Bournemouth.

Stevo_666

Stevo_666

Stevo_666

mr_goo

8th

Stevo_666

Gone a bit quiet here hasn't it...and we've got loads of football on. This weekend coming there's the London derby, the Merseyside derby and the European trophy dodgers derby