Manchester City (Home)

[Kant]

How likely is to get another LB injured? Once Galloway was injured, then there was not a clear option: Barry would have been murdered by Navas and his pace, and at least Browning is young and strong.

 

The team was exactly the same as last week, and I was happy to see a good 1st half, both teams having a go at it and playing some nice football. It could have been 1-1, 2-0 or 0-2, and the match was very entertaining. Lukaku had a poor game overall but he almost score in that freekick at the end of the half.

 

The second half showed why City are contenders and Everton are not: once the players run out of stamina you can see that City has a bit more in terms of quality. Silva was a joy to watch today, Aguero and Sterling combine movement with great technique and once they get De Bruyne instead of Navas they can become a formidable outlet. Otamendi should be better than Mangala, so I expect them to improve.

 

I was quite happy with the first half, not so much with the second half as Sterling and Navas started to cause havoc on our wings, and the tiredness of our centre mids allowed Silva extra time with the ball.

 

The team has a problem with the current formation: Barkley and Kone do not track back. Kone is a striker, so it is quite understandable that he does not have any defensive instincts, and Barkley is totally lost as well. Once the ball goes past them, they just jog back, leaving the full backs exposed and making the whole team unbalance (a CM goes to that cover, or a CB, and the defence starts to lose its shape).

 

I understand that RM wanted more stamina and aggressiveness with Naismith for Kone (who, IMO, did a great job linking up midfield with attack). Mirallas and Deulofeu never track back either and the game required effort as well as movement. The last 20 mins both teams were exhausted, but I am not unhappy with what the team showed today. Howard should have done better in the first goal, though.

[Quinn31]

Better team won, simple. I'm not upset as I thought we gave them a game.

This. If we put in the effort we did today then we should get a result from a struggling Spurs team or a struggling Chelsea.

[Hafnia]

Tbh mate Howard made some good stops today - swings and roundabouts

He made plenty of saves and if not for the goals would have been man of the match. That's how much he had to deal with.

 

There will not be many keepers who shut them out.

 

Maybe if we have £15m+ to spend on a keeper we can look at doing something. I give him a hard time but that was a case of numbers game today, they simply just battered away at us.

[Finn balor]

He is a goalkeeper for fucks sake. He Is supposed to save one on ones etc he isn't to be supposed to be beat on his near post at this level. It was awful.

[Hafnia]

He is a goalkeeper for fucks sake. He Is supposed to save one on ones etc he isn't to be supposed to be beat on his near post at this level. It was awful.

I agree and I said that at the time but he did have a decision to make, kolorov if he crossed would have set up a goal, he made the wrong choice.

[Romey 1878]

I agree and I said that at the time but he did have a decision to make, kolorov if he crossed would have set up a goal, he made the wrong choice.

And makes that same wrong choice over and over. If it was the first time he's done it then I wouldn't understand why he's receiving harsh criticism, but it's a fact that getting beat at his near post is a regular occurrence for Howard.

[MC11]

I find it bizarre Howard is getting blamed for the loss.

[MikeO]

I find it bizarre Howard is getting blamed for the loss.

 

I agree.

[Romey 1878]

I'm not for a minute one of those blaming him for the defeat, MC and Mike!

[c1982]

I find it bizarre Howard is getting blamed for the loss.

The sponsors MOTM at the game.

[Hafnia]

McCarthy was at fault for the second, stones allowed sterling time to pick a pass for the first. They are golden boys and can't be criticized.

[Paddock]

O find ot bizarre that because he done his job and made a few decent saves people are saying it's acceptable for him to let that first goal in, I really do.

[MC11]

Can anyone tell me what happened to the bloke who got stretcherd out from the Gwladys street? Heart attack or something?

[jofanon]

My football knowledge leads me to believe Nasri is a prick

[Paddock]

Can anyone tell me what happened to the bloke who got stretcherd out from the Gwladys street? Heart attack or something?

Yes heart attack he was stretchered right past us with oxygene mask on. Someone on twitter said it was his grandad and he is ok.

 

Hopefully it's true.

[Romey 1878]

Everton tweeted it was an epileptic fit didn't they?

[Quinn31]

Everton tweeted it was an epileptic fit didn't they?

Yes.

[Romey 1878]

Yes.

 

So either Everton have it wrong or someone is trying to sensationalise it, which is just sad!

[WTFiGO!?!]

There's three types of defeat for me:

1) we play shite and lose (sends me homicidal)

2) we play well enough but lose (sends me suicidal)

3) we happen to be playing a far superior side

 

I was, as always after defeat, pissed off but have not tried to kill myself or anyone else since the end of the game.

 

There needs to be serious reinforcement in defence (especially in the absence of Baines) but then I suppose you all know that there's an attempted mass-migration of refugees into Europe, as well.

 

I would say that on another day we may, may have knicked it but I'm not even sure about that. Incidentally, the way we played in the second 1/4 of the game led me to have a bit of half time faith. Moral of the story: never have faith.

[MC11]

We didn't play bad at all. It was a decent performance. But we lacked penetration in the final third. My only criticism goes at the manager for not using the squad in a positive manner I.e the substitutions.

[Romey 1878]

We didn't play bad at all. It was a decent performance. But we lacked penetration in the final third. My only criticism goes at the manager for not using the squad in a positive manner I.e the substitutions.

 

I'm still scratching my head at all three substitutions.

[Finn balor]

The subs were poor. I have to say McCarthy had his worst game I've seen for a while and I felt sorry for Galloway he had no support at all.

[Matt]

Yes heart attack he was stretchered right past us with oxygene mask on. Someone on twitter said it was his grandad and he is ok.

 

Hopefully it's true.

Hope thats true too

[Paddock]

 

So either Everton have it wrong or someone is trying to sensationalise it, which is just sad!

No ideaate, he was stretchered right past us (we are front row) his shirt was unbuttoned and he had an oxygene mask on and I saw a defeibulator going in the Street end. Some lad tweeted "thanks for all the tweets about the fan it was my grandad he had a heart attack but is recovering well" if the club have said epileptic fit it my well of been but do they give you oxygene if you have one (genuine question as I have no idea)

 

The lad didn't make a big deal in the tweet like just a quick thank you.

[AlbanyNYToffee]

Main takeaways for me - not much that hasnt been said already.

 

1. Man City are simply a much better side, especially at this moment. I'm a firm believer in the old adage its not who you play its when you play them. City will be beatable at some point this season but in this form they could challenge the Arsenal invincibles.

 

2. Coleman, Stones, Jags, Barry, Barkley, Cleverley stood out for me.

 

3. Browning was a complete disaster. I totally understand that not being his natural position and him im sure not expecting to play but come on lad at least put a shift in. His effort was abysmal. Truly shocking even from a youngster.

 

4. Howard overall had a great game and made some unbelievable saves but there is no question he is at fault for the first goal. Cannot ever happen. Who knows what happens if we dont concede that soft goal.

[AlbanyNYToffee]

Sorry forgot about 5/6

 

5. Lukaku on an island almost the entire game. Received little help from Kone because of his defensive duties. Can't find much fault in his performance.

 

6. The substitutions were absolutely shocking! I cant remember a game where i was more disappointed in the subs which for an everton fan to say is alot because we are consistently the most frustrating team in terms of subs. RM has shown a willingness to play Barry at LB. Play the final 3 mins of the half with 10 and take your time to think about the sub for Galloway at half time. Bringing browning on was such a knee jerk reaction. Naismith for kone? WTF is that. Has to be mirallas there and i dont even like mirallas. Gerry with 5 mins left? Why bother? First appearance is PL in 2 years he needs more than 5 mins to find his feet. What a waste.

 

Most disappointed in the subs and brownings performance. City simply the best team in the league right now.

[Romey 1878]

On the whole I was pretty pleased with the first half. It wasn't up there with the Southampton performance but that was more to do with just how good City are - we could't have runners all over the pitch for example because we'd have gotten trampled into the ground. But I thought we fought well and did our best to go toe to toe with them, and didn't just roll over for them. We made it very tough for them and caused them a few problems; more problems than a lot of teams will do this season. We were at our most dangerous when we made a little space for ourselves and were able to run at them. The runs by Barkley and Cleverley were highlights of this and brought us right to edge of their area and got us free-kicks in dangerous areas. Unfortunately we couldn't quite take advantage of those positions, and we also couldn't get into those positions more often due to City just having that much more quality than us. On another day we'd have gone in at half time with a lead, but 0-0 was nothing to be sniffed at and I was believing we could get something out of the game. My only negative of this half was that we weren't getting close enough to them when they had the ball. They just seemed to have a ridiculous amount of time on the ball and were dragging us all over the pitch. Some of that was obviously down to the quality that City possess, but I felt we could have been doing a lot more pressing.

 

However, I was very disappointed with our second half showing. Maybe our effort in the first half took it out of us? But we really were not at the races, IMO. We were so sloppy with the ball, we just couldn't keep hold of it whenever we did manage to get hold of it - there was a distinct lack of composure from our players, and they too often panicked - I remember when we were chasing the game at 1-0 and Rom received the ball in the middle of pitch, and instead of taking the ball in and then giving the ball on to the free man to have a free run at their goal, he tried to just flick the ball on straight away when he had so much time and ended up not getting enough on the ball and it went to a City player for them to attack us again. There were loads of instances of tired and under hit passes like that in the second half. It's those sorts of things that separate us (the good) from the likes of City (the great) - when they were attacking us their flicks and quick passes were spot on and we couldn't live with it. Their pressure eventually told and we conceded two very sloppy goals that could have quite easily been prevented. Mental and physical tiredness I think are the reasons for this - we were being pummeled into submission by that point to be honest and it was only a matter of time.

 

I really hate losing but I'm not down in the dumps over this one to be honest. City were absolutely quality right from the first minute but for the first half we more than gave them a game, and other sides would have crumbled under the intensity but we didn't; we fought back as much as we possibly could. Eventually their quality told but we can take many positives from the game. On another day we'd have taken something from this game, and against other sides we'd have had more than enough to have taken three points. We don't have to face City every week after all.

 

 

Howard - A Jekyll & Hyde showing from him really. He made some fantastic saves for us and then there's the shambolic effort for their first goal. It really was horrendous by him and he keeps on doing it. The amount of times he's beaten at his near post is embarrassing. He maybe could have been less hesitant with their second goal but I don't really hold him responsible for that one. Just before that one went in he was keeping us in the game.

 

 

Coleman -Took his time getting into the game for me. He seemed reluctant to attack at first, which is understandable when you're up against City who can destroy you on the break, but I think once he realised Cleverley was always going to be there when he went forward his confidence grew and he was one of our most dangerous players. He ran at them constantly and was always looking to make things happen.

 

Stones - A bit up and down. He made some lovely challenges throughout the game but then on other occasions he brought unnecessary pressure on our defence, and I don't think he coped at all well against Sterling. Sterling definitely had the better of him and he turned him inside out in the build up to their first goal.

 

Jagielka - I thought he had a better game than Stones and dealt with their attacks in a more no nonsense way that was needed.

 

Galloway - Him getting injured was probably a blessing for the lad because he getting torn to shreds. Pretty much every attack of City's came down his side in the first half. It didn't help that absolutely no one was helping him out and he was often having to deal with two or three City players at once.

 

 

Cleverley - I thought he was absolutely brilliant. He worked tirelessly to give Coleman the protection he needed to attack by constantly tracking back with City players, and he provided an attacking outlet himself - he played one hell of a peachy ball into the box, and his run to win the free-kick for Lukaku's chance was lovely to watch. Also, can he take all of our corners please? Every single one he puts in causes problems. I was sat there at one point wishing we could clone him so he could play on the left too to replace the completely ineffectual Kone. My MOTM.

 

McCarthy - Pretty crap from him really. Stood off City players too much, lost the ball a lot, probably could have done better for their second goal. A bad afternoon for him.

 

Barry - He did well. He got stuck in when he could and used the ball well. Couldn't ask for more from him really; he just did what he was asked to do.

 

Kone - Bit of a comedown from last week! He hung Galloway out to dry and offered very little in attack or as support for Rom.

 

 

Barkley - Not as good as last week but I thought it was another encouraging performance by him. He looked confident and willing to try things, produced a few driving runs when he could (a difficult ask against a side as good as City), and generally looked to be positive in most things he did.

 

 

Lukaku - I thought he looked good in the first half and as much of a threat as he was allowed to be with limited opportunity - he certainly didn't lack any effort. Second half he was largely a bystander as we struggled to keep hold of the ball and to even get the ball up the pitch, and when we did manage to there was largely very little support for him, meaning he was having to go up against Kompany and Mangala alone.

[johnh]

When a manager makes a substitution 5 minutes from time it is usually to try and waste a bit of time or disrupt the flow of play of the opposition, particularly if it is to protect a lead. When losing 2 - 0, presumably a manager makes a substitution for tactical reasons, if so, surely you have to allow more than 5 minutes for it to have some effect?

The substitution by Martinez was a complete waste of time with absolutely no logic.

[Cornish Steve]

Romy, I would disagree with you on Kone. Just look at the difference when he was replaced by Naismith. Much of what he did went unnoticed, until it was no longer there.

[Romey 1878]

Romy, I would disagree with you on Kone. Just look at the difference when he was replaced by Naismith. Much of what he did went unnoticed, until it was no longer there.

That's fair enough, I'm not infallible .