Manchester City (Home) Wednesday 17th February

[markjazzbassist]

They aren’t the juggernauts they used to be.  Weak at the back (still!!) and now having some trouble in attack.  It will be a big match and interesting to see how Carlo lines us up.  We need to get something point wise out of this if we want to keep pace with European places.  Lineup forthcoming.

[Matt]

8 hours ago, markjazzbassist said:

They aren’t the juggernauts they used to be.  Weak at the back (still!!) and now having some trouble in attack.  It will be a big match and interesting to see how Carlo lines us up.  We need to get something point wise out of this if we want to keep pace with European places.  Lineup forthcoming.

Well they just scored 6 so that trouble in attack part might need reviewing  

[markjazzbassist]

5 minutes ago, Matt said:

Well they just scored 6 so that trouble in attack part might need reviewing  

United scored 6, this is the city thread they scored 1 goal their last outing and 0 goals the one before that

[Matt]

Just now, markjazzbassist said:

United scored 6, this is the city thread they scored 1 goal their last outing and 0 goals the one before that

 my bad! Serves me right for not wearing glasses  

[MikeO]

Jesus and Walker out after positive covid tests.

[Romey 1878]

Just now, MikeO said:

Jesus and Walker out after positive covid tests.

First he was crucified for us and now he's taking on covid for us. What a bloke.

[Bailey]

Its a bit of a shame Walker is out. He always has a gaffe in him at the moment! 

[Romey 1878]

1 hour ago, Bailey said:

Its a bit of a shame Walker is out. He always has a gaffe in him at the moment! 

By at the moment do you mean always?

[AlbanyNYToffee]

Sorry to sound defeatist here but getting anything from this is a huge success. 6th game in 17 days for us, ridiculous injury list, City unbeaten I think 20 in a row. 
 

positive: de Bruyne played full 90 today so we should avoid him playing.

negative: surely we have to give Doucoure a rest now. 
 

let us pray: James is fit. 
 

Olsen

Coleman Godfrey Keane Niels

Gomes Holgate Davies

James DCL Bernard

[Romey 1878]

James isn’t going to play again this year, Carlo said he’d miss the next two (before tonight’s game). 

[Palfy]

The best eleven available no talk of resting players because were going to lose so this would be a good opportunity to give 2-3 a rest, we have a decent record against City so let’s go it no holding players back and defeat ourselves before we step on the pitch. 
I believe Ancelotti is a winner and his mind set is to put the best 11 available to him out for every game. 

[Romey 1878]

53 minutes ago, Palfy said:

The best eleven available no talk of resting players because were going to lose so this would be a good opportunity to give 2-3 a rest, we have a decent record against City so let’s go it no holding players back and defeat ourselves before we step on the pitch. 
I believe Ancelotti is a winner and his mind set is to put the best 11 available to him out for every game. 

He’s already said this will be the game he’ll rotate. So I’m expecting a bit of a skeleton team. 

[markjazzbassist]

They are not as strong as they have been in years.  They struggle in defense and I’m not sold on Jesus leading the line.  I believe if we play our game we could win this, I will also be happy with a point.  Gritty back 4 CB and sit compact like we have been doing it will be tough for them.

[Palfy]

2 hours ago, Romey 1878 said:

He’s already said this will be the game he’ll rotate. So I’m expecting a bit of a skeleton team. 

Does that mean no DCL , Doucoure or Richarlison on top of the the injuries to James, Digne, Allan and possible injuries to Keane and Davies, then does Iwobi and Gylfi fall into that rotation. 
What are you expecting as the starting eleven in this skeleton team ?

[Zoo 2.0]

1 hour ago, markjazzbassist said:

They are not as strong as they have been in years.  They struggle in defense and I’m not sold on Jesus leading the line.  I believe if we play our game we could win this, I will also be happy with a point.  Gritty back 4 CB and sit compact like we have been doing it will be tough for them.

They are an outstanding squad, correct that they are not as strong as they have been (at their peak they were arguably the best team the Premier League has seen) but they're still unbelievable and we're not at their table yet. I'm not sold on Jesus either as a matter of fact, think they should have binned him a while ago and brought someone in that will actually be able to bag the 30+ goals they need a season but I'm pretty sure that he will be out for this as both he and Walker have coronavirus?

Hopefully they shoehorn Ferran up front rather than Aguero, would make them a bit weaker up top although in defence I'd argue that they're actually very good, it's the one thing that they seem to have nailed this season.

Edit: My "Skeleton XI" would be; Olsen, Nkounkou, Branthwaite, Kenny, Coleman, Davies, Gomes, Gordon, Bernard, Tosun.

[Bailey]

14 hours ago, AlbanyNYToffee said:

Sorry to sound defeatist here but getting anything from this is a huge success. 6th game in 17 days for us, ridiculous injury list, City unbeaten I think 20 in a row. 
 

positive: de Bruyne played full 90 today so we should avoid him playing.

negative: surely we have to give Doucoure a rest now. 
 

let us pray: James is fit. 
 

Olsen

Coleman Godfrey Keane Niels

Gomes Holgate Davies

James DCL Bernard

Historically De Bruyne has played every game he can under Pep. I think he might even start some of the U23 games midweek! 

13 hours ago, Romey 1878 said:

James isn’t going to play again this year, Carlo said he’d miss the next two (before tonight’s game). 

Whilst we could do with some fresh legs, it could be a blessing in disguise.

1 hour ago, markjazzbassist said:

They are not as strong as they have been in years.  They struggle in defense and I’m not sold on Jesus leading the line.  I believe if we play our game we could win this, I will also be happy with a point.  Gritty back 4 CB and sit compact like we have been doing it will be tough for them.

MJB you are going to have to start doing more research!

City have conceded the least goals this season in the league. Since conceding 5 against Leicester, they have let in 8 in 20 games in all comps which includes 2 against Spurs and 1 against Liverpool who were up there as the form teams in European football at the time. That means they have let in 5 other goals in the remaining 18 games. 

[Palfy]

2 minutes ago, Bailey said:

City have conceded the least goals this season in the league. Since conceding 5 against Leicester, they have let in 8 in 20 games in all comps which includes 2 against Spurs and 1 against Liverpool who were up there as the form teams in European football at the time. That means they have let in 5 other goals in the remaining 18 games. 

We still have to give it our best shot we can’t expect to improve if we don’t go head to head with the better teams in the league, just because we might think the chances of getting any result is slim, shouldn’t mean you put your lesser squad players out instead of giving your best shot. 

[markjazzbassist]

27 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Historically De Bruyne has played every game he can under Pep. I think he might even start some of the U23 games midweek! 

Whilst we could do with some fresh legs, it could be a blessing in disguise.

MJB you are going to have to start doing more research!

City have conceded the least goals this season in the league. Since conceding 5 against Leicester, they have let in 8 in 20 games in all comps which includes 2 against Spurs and 1 against Liverpool who were up there as the form teams in European football at the time. That means they have let in 5 other goals in the remaining 18 games. 

In years past they beat everyone with conviction.  This year they have drawn with sides they have no business drawing with.  West ham, Leeds, and west brom.  Losing to Leicester and Spurs (we beat both).  Vintage city would have blitzed them all except maybe Spurs.  

[Bailey]

43 minutes ago, Zoo 2.0 said:

They are an outstanding squad, correct that they are not as strong as they have been (at their peak they were arguably the best team the Premier League has seen) but they're still unbelievable and we're not at their table yet. I'm not sold on Jesus either as a matter of fact, think they should have binned him a while ago and brought someone in that will actually be able to bag the 30+ goals they need a season but I'm pretty sure that he will be out for this as both he and Walker have coronavirus?

Hopefully they shoehorn Ferran up front rather than Aguero.

I think that Jesus would be classed as an excellent striker had it not been for Aguero. There are only a handful of players in world football that can follow in his footsteps and Jesus is marked down because he isn't as good. 

His goalscoring record is good, he works hard for the team and he has caused us problems almost every time he has played against us. 

Like you say though, it means we are likely to face Aguero. Even if its Torres, he still looks tidy. I will be hoping its Sterling up front!

 

[Romey 1878]

1 hour ago, Palfy said:

Does that mean no DCL , Doucoure or Richarlison on top of the the injuries to James, Digne, Allan and possible injuries to Keane and Davies, then does Iwobi and Gylfi fall into that rotation. 
What are you expecting as the starting eleven in this skeleton team ?

Palf, I'm not saying it's what I want but it's what Carlo has alluded to. I'd rather have more of a go but he's the one making the decisions and it sounds like it's the way he's going to go.

I just hope if it happens that we don't get hammered because that'll kill confidence.

[Palfy]

34 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

I just hope if it happens that we don't get hammered because that'll kill confidence.

That’s my concern a really bad defeat could derail the team, all will be revealed soon. 

[MikeO]

11-0 win and we're top of the league

[Gwlad]

9 points from Chelsea, Leicester, Arsenal in 2 weeks, who'd have thought it? Don't want to drop points now but if it happened I wouldn't be disheartened. On the other hand Carlo is our manager and he's a winner.

[London Blue]

Needs to be rotation, we have to look at the bigger picture, we have a very tired first team and we have a very winnable match against West Ham. So as Carlo says we need to use the squad.

                            Olsen

Coleman       Braithwaite   Keane  Neils

                        Davies  Beni

Bernard              Gomes        Gordon

                           Cenk

Yes this team will struggle, but we need to rotate.

[Palfy]

1 hour ago, London Blue said:

Needs to be rotation, we have to look at the bigger picture, we have a very tired first team and we have a very winnable match against West Ham. So as Carlo says we need to use the squad.

                            Olsen

Coleman       Braithwaite   Keane  Neils

                        Davies  Beni

Bernard              Gomes        Gordon

                           Cenk

Yes this team will struggle, but we need to rotate.

That’s just surrendering nothing to do with trying to win a game of football, I hate it when people try to pick and choose what games to go for and what ones to chuck, usually that’s what managers do who know they have a greater chance of relegation than safety, they try to plan to beat the teams that will be in and around them come the end of the season, if you have designs of trying to finish in the top four you don’t allow the team’s who are fighting for the same positions to walk all over you. 
I want to see every player that started Sheffield game if not injured start the City game unless better player is ready to return from injury. 

[London Blue]

31 minutes ago, Palfy said:

That’s just surrendering nothing to do with trying to win a game of football, I hate it when people try to pick and choose what games to go for and what ones to chuck, usually that’s what managers do who know they have a greater chance of relegation than safety, they try to plan to beat the teams that will be in and around them come the end of the season, if you have designs of trying to finish in the top four you don’t allow the team’s who are fighting for the same positions to walk all over you. 
I want to see every player that started Sheffield game if not injured start the City game unless better player is ready to return from injury. 

We have played a ridiculous 6 games in 14 days, mostly using the same players, those players who have played the majority of those gamed need to be rested. If we played the same team as we did against Sheffield we will lose to a City team that excel in moving the ball around and tiring players out. We also risk injury to players who will be even more tired when they line up for the more winnable match against West Ham.

We looked tired against Man Utd and lost, we looked tired against Sheffield and scraped over the line. This is a squad game for a reason, its time to use the rest of the squad.

I'm not saying we run up the white flag against City, the players in the squad will want to prove a point and win the match, and have lots of energy to do so. They are Premier League players and many with international experience after all.

A part of winning is playing the percentages, City are a better team than West Ham, therefore we have a better chance of beating West Ham with a rested team than with a tired team if we win thats 3 points. If we play a  tired team against City then maybe we get a point, maybe.

Then we play West Ham with a even more tired team and get another laboured point so thats 2 points.

A well known military maxim is you put your resources into the battles you have the best chance of winning.

[Palfy]

6 minutes ago, London Blue said:

We have played a ridiculous 6 games in 14 days, mostly using the same players, those players who have played the majority of those gamed need to be rested. If we played the same team as we did against Sheffield we will lose to a City team that excel in moving the ball around and tiring players out. We also risk injury to players who will be even more tired when they line up for the more winnable match against West Ham.

We looked tired against Man Utd and lost, we looked tired against Sheffield and scraped over the line. This is a squad game for a reason, its time to use the rest of the squad.

I'm not saying we run up the white flag against City, the players in the squad will want to prove a point and win the match, and have lots of energy to do so. They are Premier League players and many with international experience after all.

A part of winning is playing the percentages, City are a better team than West Ham, therefore we have a better chance of beating West Ham with a rested team than with a tired team if we win thats 3 points. If we play a  tired team against City then maybe we get a point, maybe.

Then we play West Ham with a even more tired team and get another laboured point so thats 2 points.

A well known military maxim is you put your resources into the battles you have the best chance of winning.

So not the same for other teams that their players have played the same games it’s all relative every team have had to endure the same schedule we aren’t the only ones, a draw against City would be much better than a loss it keeps them below us, I honestly think Ancelotti will go out with the best players available to him, and who knows we good even get the win it’s happened on numerous occasions over the last few years against City. But using your maxim you have to defeat your enemies to win the war, and if we consider 4th and above winning the war you can’t allow the established teams at the top take all 3 points, if we hadn’t beaten Spurs Chelsea Leicester and Arsenal they would all be above us now, that’s how important it is to take the points of these teams if you want to improve your league position.

With Braithwaite Neil’s Beni Gordon and Cenk starting your looking at a massacre, I hope I never have to witness a team that has them together as long as I live.

[Hafnia]

43 minutes ago, London Blue said:

We have played a ridiculous 6 games in 14 days, mostly using the same players, those players who have played the majority of those gamed need to be rested. If we played the same team as we did against Sheffield we will lose to a City team that excel in moving the ball around and tiring players out. We also risk injury to players who will be even more tired when they line up for the more winnable match against West Ham.

We looked tired against Man Utd and lost, we looked tired against Sheffield and scraped over the line. This is a squad game for a reason, its time to use the rest of the squad.

I'm not saying we run up the white flag against City, the players in the squad will want to prove a point and win the match, and have lots of energy to do so. They are Premier League players and many with international experience after all.

A part of winning is playing the percentages, City are a better team than West Ham, therefore we have a better chance of beating West Ham with a rested team than with a tired team if we win thats 3 points. If we play a  tired team against City then maybe we get a point, maybe.

Then we play West Ham with a even more tired team and get another laboured point so thats 2 points.

A well known military maxim is you put your resources into the battles you have the best chance of winning.

Factor in that man city will be tired too. 

[London Blue]

Just now, Hafnia said:

Factor in that man city will be tired too. 

True, but they have a better squad.

[c1982]

2 hours ago, London Blue said:

Needs to be rotation, we have to look at the bigger picture, we have a very tired first team and we have a very winnable match against West Ham. So as Carlo says we need to use the squad.

                            Olsen

Coleman       Braithwaite   Keane  Neils

                        Davies  Beni

Bernard              Gomes        Gordon

                           Cenk

Yes this team will struggle, but we need to rotate.

I get your sentiment but that line-up would be ridiculous. We’ll make a couple of changes but don’t see wholesale changes until the cup game.