v Brentford

[gavin]

XI | Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (C), Bernardo, Haaland, Foden

SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Dias, Phillips, Grealish, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Palmer, Lewis

The beast is back.

[Stephen Paul]

Strong team
Good to see Foden start

[gavin]

Need to buck up second half. It wasn't a surprise when they scored. Great strike from Phil after a poor half from him.

[Stephen Paul]

Hopefully keep the tempo up now and an early goal second half

[KunDB]

Starting 'sleepy Joe' mode is becoming an ingrained habit these days in the Premier League.

Need to keep the tempo up Second half.

Brentford over physical

[The Blue Blooded Maniac]

Why do we aimlessly pass the ball around the corners of the box with every one stood in the box waiting for a cross? Genuine question cos it baffles me.

[lee]

Piss poor that.
Heads already in Qatar

[KunDB]

We never looked like winning. As Lee said World Cup Itis without doubt.

Very physical Brentford but very deserving too.   

It has been coming as in general we have been poor at home despite our record of 7 wins. Our defending has been poor this season and we are rubbish at set pieces this year.

[lee]

Cancelo is turning into a bit of  a pleb

[silvablue]

Cancelo has been poor this season.

The score actually flattered us as it could easily have been 4 1 for Brentford. Apart from the Foden goal we did not create many real chances.

[Stephen Paul]

Very poor today

Should have been hammered

[gavin]

City were bad today. The referee had no interest in there being a game of football.

[Hesperus]

Oh dear. Complacent? Eyes on World Cup?

I don't think we've been that good this season. Haalands goals have saved us. The defence and goalie haven't been good enough.

Arsenal now with a real advantage in the title race, they've played much harder games than us too.

Boredom now until after Xmas!

[KunDB]

The multiple stoppages didn't help us, but no excuse we simply were not good enough outplayed and out worked by Brentford.

Sour taste is defeat going into the World Cup.

[Victoria]

 That performance has been coming over the last month: can't complain: well played Brentford!

[Neil Mcnab]

A bag of shit. Understandable but unprofessional if they were worried about knocks for the let down by Southgate show.

[jingoe]

Right from the kick off Brentford went route 1 and bullied us . Pep is always reluctant to change things up with subs. Appalling miss by Gundo too

[Stephen Paul]

A poor day all round but onwards and upwards

The Xmas period will set the stone

[bbk]

This has been coming. We have been very poor this season. Strike me down for blasphemy, but I think there is a link between Haaland and the team being poor. I think he has disrupted a well-functioning team and, conversely, his goals have masked how poor the collective have been this season. "We'd have won that game if we had a number 9" won't fly any more.

[KunDB]

This has been coming. We have been very poor this season. Strike me down for blasphemy, but I think there is a link between Haaland and the team being poor. I think he has disrupted a well-functioning team and, conversely, his goals have masked how poor the collective have been this season. "We'd have won that game if we had a number 9" won't fly any more.

I have thought the same Gavin, but when I analyse it further, I feel it is all a part of the bedding in process for have such a potent tip on our spear now (a hugely successful and prolific number 9). The team has to adjust and adjust massively from last season. They have to get to know him, and he has to get to know them. He means a loss of a player in midfield essentially so less control and less options to penetrate the usual brick wall defences. They also importantly have to learn to adjust using him especially when he is double and physically marked like yesterday. The team has to take responsibility to themselves to score and to exploit the space that the double marking creates, and he has to learn how to drag his close markers around to create more space for his teammates to exploit. That did not happen yesterday or in some previous games as well. It takes time to gel, but in the second part of the season I can see that happening because these players are so talented.

Yesterday, was also impacted by players playing at 90% saving themselves, consciously or sub-consciously, for the world cup and understandably so. Brentford exploited this by being physically aggressive and it paid off big time.