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Manchester City (Away) Monday August 21st


markjazzbassist

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Before the game, a draw would have been ok in my eyes.

 

But now...we wasted that!

 

We looked like we played with 10 men most of the game, not City. We got absolutely murdered out there in that 2nd half.

 

My concern, again, is how many central players we play with. The only width we could use was from Baines and Holgate. They've not much chance of getting forward! We had so many central players that all City had to do was go wide and we were a mess. There didn't seem to be any organisation with who was marking who. Just looked a bit chaotic to me.

 

We really needed a wide man out there. Rooney should have gone off a lot earlier to be replaced with the pace of Lookman. Our outlet options were so limited.

 

Sadly, tonight reminded me of the Moyes type era when we came up against these games. The players looked nervous and just wanted to cling on. We could have done better tonight.

 

But, it's a good point. Just not quite how we want to play. Too much industry not enough creativity.

 

I just hope Koeman starts settling for a system and allows the players to work at it. I'm not sure we have enough days training between games at the moment to keep swapping systems and players having to change positions.

Edited by Newty82
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Think the subs really let us down, two big money midfielders coming on against 10 men and had zero impact.

 

Agree. Apart from the saving touch out of Klassen. Neither really added anything going forward and if they were being brought on to defend it should have been Besic instead.

 

 

I actually thought Siggy looked solid, all things considered. Our tactics left no room for link up play in the midfielf and he picked out some nice passes regardless. Not the impact you'd ideally want but hard to expect anymore given the situation.

 

Thought Siggurdson looked a good couple steps off the pace. I think it will be a couple weeks before he's up to speed, but maybe he has enough now to start a slower paced European game and give us some nous.

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Disappointing result because we were up a man. Schneiderlin shouldn't have been sent off, but neither should have Walker. Given an equal match, I'd feel happy at 1-1, but with the illegitimate sending off of Walker, 1-1 feels poor.

 

Rooney was terrible save for the goal, which was too close in not to finish. DCL the only real positive in this match for me.

 

Kind of looking forward to see what Koeman does without Schneiderlin, as i feel his reliance is too deep.

 

And thank you Btay for saying what needed to be said about hafnia. You're only a target because you make yourself one.

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City are great at attacking, they come forward in waves, there passing and movement is fantastic. Very few teams will get anything from them at home.

 

We played defensively and looked to hit on the counter and it worked, yes we rode our luck at times but so do all teams. I liked the fact that Koeman changed it up and I liked the subs, taking a defender and Davies off for more attacking players. I maybe would have kept Davies on for his running and energy.

 

I would have taken Rooney off for Lookman around 75 minutes but apart from that I was impressed with how we played. I think Davies, Holgate, DCL, Keane and Pickford played really well (although his kicking was poor). Bright times ahead.

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Same old, same old. Doesn't seem to matter what manager we have, what players we put out there, we just struggle to be positive against the top sides. It's really frustrating. We came close but, more often than not, against City you'll win by going at them and giving them something to worry about. This needs to change and it needs to be Koeman that makes that happen, he's been given the tools to make that change.

 

DCL was absolutely quality tonight. I loved his performance and the only thing that let him down was him holding his face when Walker was nowhere near connecting with his face. Jags was another standout for me, thought he was rock solid and held things together.

 

Particular bad performances for me were Keane and Davies. Keane looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights and Davies was absolutely anonymous. Our ball retention was dog shit too. You'll get nowhere if you give the ball away as cheaply as we did tonight.

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A draw away to City is a very good result overall. Some of the nonsense spouted in this thread tonight... wow. I personally prefer to actually watch the game - some were certainly more interested in yapping in here than the game itself.

 

I can see why some were frustrated but it's easy to say go toe to toe with City - personally, I think we'd have been talking about a 3-1 defeat had that been our tactics. Maybe more positivity was needed at 1 up against 10 men and I think that was addressed to an extent but we still lack the experienced target man where it just sticks - someone who DCL could play with when we're playing on the counter. We also lack the type of player that Man C seem to have in abundance - the wizard who gets the ball and can run with it - the type defenders won't dare touch - I'd personally go all out for Mahrez, probably unrealistic, but what we lack in my opinion.

 

All in all a solid point against a team who won't drop many at home all season (certainly not in the summer/warmer months).

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A draw away to City is a very good result overall. Some of the nonsense spouted in this thread tonight... wow. I personally prefer to actually watch the game - some were certainly more interested in yapping in here than the game itself.

I can see why some were frustrated but it's easy to say go toe to toe with City - personally, I think we'd have been talking about a 3-1 defeat had that been our tactics. Maybe more positivity was needed at 1 up against 10 men and I think that was addressed to an extent but we still lack the experienced target man where it just sticks - someone who DCL could play with when we're playing on the counter. We also lack the type of player that Man C seem to have in abundance - the wizard who gets the ball and can run with it - the type defenders won't dare touch - I'd personally go all out for Mahrez, probably unrealistic, but what we lack in my opinion.

All in all a solid point against a team who won't drop many at home all season (certainly not in the summer/warmer months).

I honestly wouldn't ask or want us to go toe to toe, that's completely unrealistic, but I dunno, I expected a bit more tonight. To push a bit more often than we have in the past.

 

You're right we do need that creative runner but it doesn't look like that's even been in the thinking this summer, which is a huge worry really.

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I honestly wouldn't ask or want us to go toe to toe, that's completely unrealistic, but I dunno, I expected a bit more tonight. To push a bit more often than we have in the past.

 

You're right we do need that creative runner but it doesn't look like that's even been in the thinking this summer, which is a huge worry really.

Koeman said we need a top striker to take us to that next level post match. We clearly do and I think that will change the role of a few others and how we play in general. I have a sneaky feeling that we'll get 3 more in - striker, centre back and a winger.

 

There's a lot of new players that need to gel but I, for one, feel very positive that there's a clear plan/style in what we're working towards and we'll get there.

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I honestly wouldn't ask or want us to go toe to toe, that's completely unrealistic, but I dunno, I expected a bit more tonight. To push a bit more often than we have in the past.

 

You're right we do need that creative runner but it doesn't look like that's even been in the thinking this summer, which is a huge worry really.

exactly.

 

Not sure what nonsense C is talking about, but being a man up and not getting into their defensive third was a joke. Instead, we invited the pressure by sitting on our defensive third and hoping we could weather the storm.

 

DCL did a brilliant job chasing hoof balls and being isolated as hell (once Rooney ran out of steam) and so our counter tactics we never going to work.

 

A draw was a good result, I'd have taken it at KO. But when they were 1-0 down and a man down, we should've gone at them instead of 45 mins of emergency defending. Makes it so hard to take.

Edited by Matt
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A fair result based on each team's performance. Neither team played particularly well, though.

 

The Holgate - DCL partnership has a lot of potential. Apart from Holgate's wayward header to Sterling, he was candidate for man of the match. His control and creativity are awesome for a lad of his age. DCL, too, has amazing control. These two are the future of Everton, and I really hope they get the chance to play together regularly. Pickford was also a delight to watch. Baines had a good night, as did Jagielka. Gueye was just OK but the best of the midfield. Davies didn't make much of a mark. Rooney's finish was great, but his contributions were rather limited on the whole.

 

Schneiderlin did not deserve to be sent off, but he was pretty anonymous for much of the game. There were far too many safe passes back instead of probing passes forward. Apart from his one touch near the end, Klaassen was also AWOL; frankly, he's too slow. Was Sigurdsson even on the pitch? He didn't contribute much at all. Indeed, I thought our substitutions were poor - other than Besic at the end. Pretty much all the excitement was generated by Holgate and DCL; we are desperately missing a creative and controlling spark in midfield.

 

Again, a fair result. The game was worth watching solely because of Holgate and DCL. What a future these two guys offer!

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What would koeman have done differently with a better striker?!

 

He set up to stop their attacking midfielders. Ffs he's getting in excuses.

Hold the ball up more to get others higher up the pitch. Calvert-Lewin was excellent at the flick ons and getting possession high up the pitch but the ball came back too easily - by no fault of his own. A Giroud type player pins the defender back and wins free-kicks in attacking positions with his strength. I'd love to see Calvert-Lewin playing with this type of striker.

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Koeman said we need a top striker to take us to that next level post match. We clearly do and I think that will change the role of a few others and how we play in general. I have a sneaky feeling that we'll get 3 more in - striker, centre back and a winger.

There's a lot of new players that need to gel but I, for one, feel very positive that there's a clear plan/style in what we're working towards and we'll get there.

I think the problem was in midfield myself.

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I just don't know why we didn't bring on Mirallas, or Lookman (or both) instead of Sigurdsson or Klaasen. DCL was making it pretty clear that the city defence was struggling with his pace, so we really had to be targeting that more 2nd half with them going down to 10 men. Didn't even look to bring one of them on for those last 10-15 minutes just to relieve some of the pressure on us.

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Very Moyes performance.

I do not think its Moyes performance...as for Moyes, he had an average team that punched above their weight and they fought for every ball till the refree blew the whistle..they had the mentality which is better than current bunch.....

Here we have a better team but screwed performance and very poor winner mentality coupled with bad tactics.......

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I just don't know why we didn't bring on Mirallas, or Lookman (or both) instead of Sigurdsson or Klaasen. DCL was making it pretty clear that the city defence was struggling with his pace, so we really had to be targeting that more 2nd half with them going down to 10 men. Didn't even look to bring one of them on for those last 10-15 minutes just to relieve some of the pressure on us.

 

It only makes me believe that Koeman does not believe the team has what it takes to win high pressured matches on away grounds... instead, he will rather walk away with a point by playing defensive, park the bus game ....

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I think the problem was in midfield myself.

Indeed, our midfield seems weaker as compared to last season.They seem like a weak link...somehow, maybe we need another commanding holding midfiedler.... our current midfield was not able to string 5-10 passes together in a game over last few games, instead we have been chasing shadows...

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Indeed, our midfield seems weaker as compared to last season.They seem like a weak link...somehow, maybe we need another commanding holding midfiedler.... our current midfield was not able to string 5-10 passes together in a game over last few games, instead we have been chasing shadows...

It'll take time to gel - Gylfi and Klaassen are both clever players who are comfortable in possession and we know what Gueye, Schneiderlin and Davies can do - it'll just be finding the right combinations and shape. Most midfields will look inferior to what we were up against last night.

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Yeah I understand that and I was thinking exactly the same.

I still can't take to Klaassen I can't see him cutting the mustard.

I think the game bypassed Klaassen and Davies for that matter too. Klaassen's intervention late on was vitally important though. I do think he'll be an excellent signing though.

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