at Spuds

[gavin]

XI | Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne (C), Mahrez, Bernardo, Torres, Jesus

SUBS | Steffen, Stones, Sterling, Gundogan, Aguero, Foden, Garcia

Nice to see Sergio on the bench

[Stephen Paul]

Expecting a few goals this game

Yes ,good news Sergio back

[Paddy]

Why is that dick head marez on the pitch. useless waste of space

[KunDB]

So disappointing a goal to concede.

Mahrez is a greedy waster pull him off.

[The Blue Blooded Maniac]

Poo and wee this.

[gavin]

So disappointing to concede such an easy goal for them so early. Since then it has been the inevitable game of defence v attack. Spuds don't look like they will hold out to me and we've a lot to come from the bench.

[lee]

M a h r e z =G a s h

[Paddy]

Is there somewhere in the rules that say that City cannot shoot from outside the box ...

[KunDB]

Is there somewhere in the rules that say that City cannot shoot from outside the box ...

Very few goals are scored from outside the box. Very low and if you rely on that you are just winging it and hoping. Issue is pedestrian pace around the box and wasting the opportunities by giving the ball away cheaply (eg Mahrez repeatedly in box).

[Stephen Paul]

Torres looks sharp

[Stephen Paul]

Sergio and Foden on please

[Hesperus]

Sergio and Foden on please

Yes mahrez and Rodri off.

[The Blue Blooded Maniac]

Aids on toast this.

[Hesperus]

FFS.

Don’t look like scoring and caught on the break.

[Hesperus]

Poor keeping from Ederson.

Top ten this season?

[KunDB]

Ederson very poor for both goals.

Lacking creativity midfield and cutting edge in front of goal.

Team needs to gel.

[KunDB]

Poor all round.

Absolute crap in front of goal. Seriously worrying and PL race already over.

This team needs to sharpen up and quickly.

[gavin]

Just so toothless second half. Pep has his work cut out.

[KunDB]

Just no zip in our passing and no urgency to attack their defence.

Our players in their box are too static like cut out statues.

[Hesperus]

Too many of the players have been off form this season, couple that with starting Mahrez and Rodri,  a striker in Jesus who isn’t that great and we’ve got a real problem scoring. Not sure why the likes of Ederson, KDB, Sterling and Silva Have been bang average this season but we need to buck up.

[Neil Mcnab]

Didnt want Mahrez, not what we needed. We are fully in transition, D Silva gone, Fernandinho on the way out, Kuns lack of fitness making him look the same way. Top 4 and a cup, if we are lucky.

[lee]

Early days yet and im not writing us off.
Trying to walk the fookin ball in though is becoming tedious.Shoot ffs!!!

Mahrez is just a complete waste.Anyone but him on that wing.My dog has more tricks

[KunDB]

Mahrez has brilliant ball control skills and dribbling skills but he’s so greedy and predictable he wastes them.

Pep lamented us not taking our chances, what chances we barely created one clear chance just 22 at best half chances.

The consistent slowness of our attack means we have to always find ways through well organised defences and that is not always possible against good teams. It also makes us very predictable to read.

I think Pep can stick to his principles while mixing up our play a bit.

[CTID]

A team low on confidence. Itw as clear to see the heads went down after Spurs second and we did not play until the end just cycling through he motions.

Just a lack of creativity from midfield and just to much reliance on a single forward to score presently.

Not enough of our players are confident goal scorers.

Mahrez is but too selfish and lacks a team mentality.
Jesus is a natural scorer but is not prolific enough and not favoured by our style of play (he would be a sensation elsewhere).
Torres and Foden are goal scorers, but too young to be consistent.
KdB is capable of scoring but well off form currently.
Sterling is capable of scoring but it does not come natural too him so wastes an awful lot.

Transition period so hopefully by February and the later stages of the CL we will have found our form and our self belief again. We need to quietly suffer the pain and remain in hope.

[Neil Mcnab]

Confidence is lacking. A lot of the players look off form. The problem this season is we are going off the boil as Spurs and Chelsea are on the up. Throw in Leicester and the shit and the top four is a battle.

[Swiss]

That was a hard match to watch, but it was clear we wouldn't  score all day with those tactics.

1. Why didn't Rodri stick on Kane? He was pulling laporte and Dias out of position into that position between def and mid all day. Conclusion is, he's a half decent passer and header of the ball. Typical Spanish  cm. Not a dm.

2. As said above, time and time again, Mahrez made the wrong decision. As did others, but he got in good positions and chose wrongly.

3. Why are we firing in high crosses? We're used to low cross along the byline.

4. Why are we not prepared for teams to break on us!? We play these tactics week in and out. I don't know why we don't move the ball back towards our goal line a bit, invite the 11 man defence out and then attack the gaps.

KDB seems to be playing deeper than normal. Maybe to compensate for the lack of effort from some of the other cm's...

Love Jesus, really puts in a shift. But sometimes I just want him to stay up pitch a bit to give us an option in the middle.