A draw at this point of time will do.
Mikel picked up a 4-4-2 today, Calafiori and Timber on either side of defensive line, Declan Rice and Partey anchoring the midfield with Martinelli and Saka on the wings. Trossard and Havertz lead the line.
We are 20 minutes into the match and Haaland has already scored one and Gundogan could have scored 2 more on any other day. City are fearless today, they have started a perfect game today and we are struggling in front of the best team in Premier league. And they are without their best player in De Bruyne.
WE need to re-group, start pressing and shed some of that fear. Thomas Partey is looking a bit lively but we need 10 more lively players on the pitch.
There’s still 70 odd minutes to go. Lets work towards a point at least.
Oliver waves play on but line-o persuades him it’s a foul. Breathtaking.
Yeah, that linesman is trying to get a rise in paycheck today. Martinelli left the ball and it was a throw for City?
Calafiori saved the day. It was instictive
Italians are quite tactically sound
Raya is going to do that a lot today.
Marc—of course VAR has to identify the singular reasoning behind the second yellow, but I think it’s more nuamced than that…first he brought the refs eyes towards him with the overly aggressive play, then he proceeded to inflame the situation by kicking the ball away…just not a very savvy maneuver on his part considering the circumstances
nuanced
we should be elated if we can leave with a point, let alone all 3…we must show some inkling of an offence or this will get exceedingly more difficult
“The frustration around the Etihad grows”
That’s the only thing they know, because we have been singing more with 1/20th of the fans in red and white. Fuck them.
TRVL
I think the plan is to let Martinelli go back in the attack, Rice has tried a few times but Kyle Walker isn’t letting Martinelli run with the ball
But, yeah. It’s getting harder.
Could not see what happened to Raya.
Time wasting and some breathing time.
if we can keep them on the perimeter our biggest enemy might be a deflected shot
Pep’s general disdain for crosses against a parked bus might be our greatest ally
I think martinelli needs to come off
Kiwior coming on for Calafiori.
Calafiori is injured. And Kwilor who remained unsold coming in.
El B has bucket load of Karma
Timber’s fancy footwork is much more on display when he’s being deployed on his proper side
15 more min.. come on lads.
Raya thing sounds plausible
Thanks Ambarish.
KP—Marts likely should come off, but for who? I don’t think MA has any confidence in Sterling coming on as a “defensive” replacement
with Grealish coming in we had better be aware of Pep’s change in plans…he will generally put in crosses far more often than anyone else
Odds that if we’re still winning or drawing come 90 minutes they’ll be an hour and a half added on but if we’re losing they’ll be 2 minutes?
this is when having no KDB or Rodri on the pitch really favours us
It would be funny if we go on and score 3rd one.. just saying..
we’ve done some good defensive shell work, but considering our lineup in the 2nd half that should come as no surprise
Diaz shot just landed in New Delhi
TRVL
I’m not sure there’s many teams in the PL who could have held out for this long.
I feel like the City players might have been studying MA’s old shooting from distance training sessions when he was Pep’s underling…bully for us
That was some save from Raya.
Our defense has never been in question it’s the midfield and attack that we can’t score from open play
Marc—in these situations you need to either have those who can pick the finest of passes or someone who has a knack for scoring from distance…two of their most prominent players, in those regards, aren’t on the pitch…so I’m not maligning our good works, I’m just dealing with the present facts
This is a farce but one that will give us 3 points so I’ll take it
And top of the league
7 minutes added on – fuck sake I’ve seen matches where the opposition have wasted entire decades with no comeback bar their keeper being booked on the 89th minute.
Suddenly a player can’t get cramp.
I like that we’ve decided not to defend directly in front of players who can’t finish from distance…I’m a bit surprised that City have made some many station-to-station passes, instead of going two men through, so as to provide them with some wider openings
Raya really is proving himself and me massively wrong in what he’s done this season.
good command by Raya again today
It was coming.
Fuck em