Trafford, Nunes, Khusanov, Stones, Ait-Nouri, Rodri, Bernardo (C), Bobb, Reijnders, Marmoush, Haaland
Subs: Ederson, Dias, Ake, Doku, Nico, Gundogan, Akanji, O'Reilly, Lewis
Faith in the keeper
Numerous changes again but thank fuck Lewis is not starting.
What's happened to Foden? Is he injured again/still?
Great to see Khusanov starting.
C' moon City
Good save by Trafford from Brighton's only real chance.
Love the pace of Khusanov.
Expect us to pick it up second half and score a few more.
C'mom City
Not the greatest half again but we are ahead. Pep seems very optimistic. He must be seeing things in training that we aren't seeing on the pitch.
Decent half , optimistic
Really glad to see Rodri running the show
Enjoyed that first half, more energy in the team. Khusanov looks assured, I think he will become an immense player.
Absolutely rubbish. Created nothing and shambolic at the back. A dreadful performance.
I saw no reaction and no desire to win that second half. Sad to say from Pep or the players.
Terrible defending by us, but great play by Gruba. The team have let themselves down and let Trafford down after his brilliant save.
Saw a lot to like first half, fighting and quickly winning lost ball's back, but second half we just chilled out and didn't get started. Virtually no attacks in the second half, all sideward and backwards. Last season all over. Bernardo is well past his best, I'm sad to say.
How did the referee not see that corner?
What an absolutely gutless team this is. They showed nothing in that second half. Even after the equaliser, we didn't even look like wanting to attack and score.
Quote from: gavin on August 31, 2025, 15:59:05How did the referee not see that corner?
Probably didn't matter as we would have wasted it.
Terrible performance and by that I mean terrible attitude. Keeping the ball and dominating games is great but only with creativity and cutting edge. We have clearly lost that.
The recruitment since we won the treble has been bobbins. We are playing boring turgid football same as last season.
If this continues. Pep will either walk, or will be fired before Xmas.
If we lose against the rags next week the atmosphere inside the etihad will be toxic.
Quote from: gavin on August 31, 2025, 16:04:29What an absolutely gutless team this is. They showed nothing in that second half. Even after the equaliser, we didn't even look like wanting to attack and score.
Exactly what I saw too. Hard to believe but I believe what I see. Something is badly wrong behind the scenes.
Quote from: Hesperus on August 31, 2025, 16:06:16The recruitment since we won the treble has been bobbins. We are playing boring turgid football same as last season.
If this continues. Pep will either walk, or will be fired before Xmas.
If we lose against the rags next week the atmosphere inside the etihad will be toxic.
2 weeks. September 14 but good point.
I probably am boring saying this, but the absolute failure to address the right back issue for so long, and not to drop failing players (defence), is a glaring failure that reflects in failing performances by the team.
I don't think that you can pinpoint one position after a performance like that. It was collectively a total failure. All of the management and players need to ask themselves if they actually want to win. It was that bad. I struggle to think of us doing anything good in that second half at all. And the first half wasn't much good either.
Kyle Walker is a big miss. Nunes and Lewis are not the answer. I agree it is scandalous that a RB hasn't been brought in
Do you think its cause we only had 1 preseason game and our 90 min fitness is not there
Quote from: jingoe on August 31, 2025, 16:19:50Kyle Walker is a big miss. Nunes and Lewis are not the answer. I agree it is scandalous that a RB hasn't been brought in
Whilst KW wasn't the only problem, his turn of paced had noticeably declined and that's what used to get him put of positioning Errors.
He also had a habit of switching off at crucial moments
But yes, a young, fit walker is what we need.
I still think our CM need to do more to help out the defence
If I'm in positive mode (I'm not) Rodri was very good, Trafford was good, where was Marmousch, did we bring on Doku (really: never saw him), Bobb was bobbins. Khusanov promising but needs improvement.
Where was Reindeers, what was Bernardo, where was attacking I repeat did we even really want to attack Brighton. Teams take time to build but that performance indicates structure before skill and player ability; sucking the life out of the talent we have on that field. Pep was a cut out on the side lines.
Finally, where was the team, team spirit and a will to win?
Quote from: Swiss on August 31, 2025, 16:21:54Do you think its cause we only had 1 preseason game and our 90 min fitness is not there
No we done the same against Al Hilal in the World Club B Cup, and Spurs. Is not fitness, it's desire.
Shite at the back as usual
Given Arsenal and Liverpool will likely lose 4 games in total this season, we've already lost 2 in our first 3 games!
Thank god for the upcoming international break, I can now relax for 2 weeks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g9bSaXSerQ
Pep still seems very positive about the season. It is hard for me to understand why. But he is the football genius.
I am at a loss as to why we are linked with Donnarumma as he's totally useless with his feet.
At least there is hope Trafford can learn and improve.
Next three games are Rags, Napoli and Arsenal.
Quote from: gavin on August 31, 2025, 21:51:05Next three games are Rags, Napoli and Arsenal.
That does not look good!
It concerns me that Pep comes out and says that we played well for 60 minutes. Well we seemed to be in control of the game sure. But never did we look like we would kill them off. It looks all too similar to last year. We fail to make the most of our domination of the ball and then we are a soft touch at the back.
I get why Pep is saying what he's saying, and he spoke in the same way last season, but he isn't fooling anyone, probably most importantly he isn't fooling the players. We're 3 games in and he's already under big pressure.
Quote from: reddishblue on August 31, 2025, 17:43:22Thank god for the upcoming international break, I can now relax for 2 weeks.
Get the stress levels down