The Difference

[Douglas Higginbottom]

It is unforgivable to leave a player like shrek unmarked and that last goal was unforgiveable but somewhere in there for the first 2 goals we were just slightly unlucky. For the first we had players all around and couldnt get a really good foot on the ball and each touch/half tackle or whatever the ball just seemed to bounce back to them and even the shot would probably have missed if it hadnt been deflected.
The 2nd also followed a half decent challenge by Boyata and the ball just fell nicely for the pass/shot. Even the 3rd goal we did at least have people out there for the short corner but from the challenge the ball rolled to Giggs inviting the cross he put in.

I think I had better stop typing as this is close to saying we wuz robbed which we weren't. But it's not all bad and we will get our moments of good fortune this year and hopefully a wembley appearance.

[Ted Hughes]

It is unforgivable to leave a player like shrek unmarked and that last goal was unforgiveable but somewhere in there for the first 2 goals we were just slightly unlucky. For the first we had players all around and couldnt get a really good foot on the ball and each touch/half tackle or whatever the ball just seemed to bounce back to them and even the shot would probably have missed if it hadnt been deflected.
The 2nd also followed a half decent challenge by Boyata and the ball just fell nicely for the pass/shot. Even the 3rd goal we did at least have people out there for the short corner but from the challenge the ball rolled to Giggs inviting the cross he put in.

I think I had better stop typing as this is close to saying we wuz robbed which we weren't. But it's not all bad and we will get our moments of good fortune this year and hopefully a wembley appearance.

Imo the ball bounced to them quite a lot because our players were sometimes in a state of panic & didn't have the composure to control it & make rational decisions when the pressure was on. We were fine when the rags dropped the intensity & even looked the better team but as soon as they raised the tempo/pressure we became a shambles instantly. Some players just froze & stood still, others stabbed at the ball when it was in our possession, not knowing what effect contact would have or where it would go & some ran toward players who were already marked leaving others free.

[Mase]

Well played Micah, Tevez and Vinnie.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

It is unforgivable to leave a player like shrek unmarked and that last goal was unforgiveable but somewhere in there for the first 2 goals we were just slightly unlucky. For the first we had players all around and couldnt get a really good foot on the ball and each touch/half tackle or whatever the ball just seemed to bounce back to them and even the shot would probably have missed if it hadnt been deflected.
The 2nd also followed a half decent challenge by Boyata and the ball just fell nicely for the pass/shot. Even the 3rd goal we did at least have people out there for the short corner but from the challenge the ball rolled to Giggs inviting the cross he put in.

I think I had better stop typing as this is close to saying we wuz robbed which we weren't. But it's not all bad and we will get our moments of good fortune this year and hopefully a wembley appearance.

Imo the ball bounced to them quite a lot because our players were sometimes in a state of panic & didn't have the composure to control it & make rational decisions when the pressure was on. We were fine when the rags dropped the intensity & even looked the better team but as soon as they raised the tempo/pressure we became a shambles instantly. Some players just froze & stood still, others stabbed at the ball when it was in our possession, not knowing what effect contact would have or where it would go & some ran toward players who were already marked leaving others free.

Absolutely right Ted and of course they tend to have players flooding into box around the ball.

[Original Dub]

Agree about the midfield but despite all the good overall performances at the back, the defence completely, utterly fell to pieces 4 times. You could have Colin Bell & Steven Gerrard in midfield but if you concede such easily preventable goals you're struggling. There were 4-5 City players around the ball on each of the 1st two goals & yet the ball ended up at the feet of rags because of sheer panic. Then we failed to block shots which should have been stopped easily.

Wayne Rooney (the bloke who scored 4 goals on Saturday) was left completely unmarked 6 yards from goal TWICE. Someone needs to explain to me why that would happen once in a season, never mind twice in one game. Do they not recognise him? "Who's that stood in our 6 yard box?" "Some ginger bloke, it'll be ok" Is it not possible for just one player in the team to be alert enough to cover? I mean whose fucking zone was he in when he headed the winner unnopposed in injury time? Boyata was near post then there were about 8 City players stood in the box ignoring Rooney! Why? Take some responsibility ffs. Sort it out.

Re midfield. Ours has shown in the games with rags that they don't currently have the bottle to play football under pressure. They're ok when the rags are having a quiet spell but as soon as the pressures on, they give the ball away too easily & they start chasing shadows & missing important tackles. In this season's big away games none, including Ireland, have proved themselves to be good enough for the very top level. Whether they can get there, or where we find 'A' list players if they can't, I don't know.

Thats the unforgivable part.

To have the most in from striker, probably in world football at the minute, have two free shots on goal from closer than the penalty spot is ridiculous.

We better beat a good team soon.

didn't we last week?

No, we won the first half of a two legged tie. A result that Baconface was more than content with.

I said it last week, if that was a league game I would have been creaming myself like some on here were, but it wasn't and it wasn't a particularly good result, given the circumstances.

We have met two decent teams - Everton and Man United. Everton beat us 2-0 and United beat us 4-3.

We better beat a decent team soon.

[Green & Blue]

It is unforgivable to leave a player like shrek unmarked and that last goal was unforgiveable but somewhere in there for the first 2 goals we were just slightly unlucky. For the first we had players all around and couldnt get a really good foot on the ball and each touch/half tackle or whatever the ball just seemed to bounce back to them and even the shot would probably have missed if it hadnt been deflected.
The 2nd also followed a half decent challenge by Boyata and the ball just fell nicely for the pass/shot. Even the 3rd goal we did at least have people out there for the short corner but from the challenge the ball rolled to Giggs inviting the cross he put in.

I think I had better stop typing as this is close to saying we wuz robbed which we weren't. But it's not all bad and we will get our moments of good fortune this year and hopefully a wembley appearance.

Imo the ball bounced to them quite a lot because our players were sometimes in a state of panic & didn't have the composure to control it & make rational decisions when the pressure was on. We were fine when the rags dropped the intensity & even looked the better team but as soon as they raised the tempo/pressure we became a shambles instantly. Some players just froze & stood still, others stabbed at the ball when it was in our possession, not knowing what effect contact would have or where it would go & some ran toward players who were already marked leaving others free.

Thats a top post Ted i agree with your words exactly some of the players looked like they were bricking it at times.This is something that was far more apparent in the side under Hughes,you could see when the panic button was pushed and could feel we were going to concede.Although Mancini has for sure gone a long way towards sorting this problem but elements of this are still their.It was happening in the final stages of the 1st leg also

[mr_nool]

Agree about the midfield but despite all the good overall performances at the back, the defence completely, utterly fell to pieces 4 times. You could have Colin Bell & Steven Gerrard in midfield but if you concede such easily preventable goals you're struggling. There were 4-5 City players around the ball on each of the 1st two goals & yet the ball ended up at the feet of rags because of sheer panic. Then we failed to block shots which should have been stopped easily.

Wayne Rooney (the bloke who scored 4 goals on Saturday) was left completely unmarked 6 yards from goal TWICE. Someone needs to explain to me why that would happen once in a season, never mind twice in one game. Do they not recognise him? "Who's that stood in our 6 yard box?" "Some ginger bloke, it'll be ok" Is it not possible for just one player in the team to be alert enough to cover? I mean whose fucking zone was he in when he headed the winner unnopposed in injury time? Boyata was near post then there were about 8 City players stood in the box ignoring Rooney! Why? Take some responsibility ffs. Sort it out.

Re midfield. Ours has shown in the games with rags that they don't currently have the bottle to play football under pressure. They're ok when the rags are having a quiet spell but as soon as the pressures on, they give the ball away too easily & they start chasing shadows & missing important tackles. In this season's big away games none, including Ireland, have proved themselves to be good enough for the very top level. Whether they can get there, or where we find 'A' list players if they can't, I don't know.

Thats the unforgivable part.

To have the most in from striker, probably in world football at the minute, have two free shots on goal from closer than the penalty spot is ridiculous.

We better beat a good team soon.

didn't we last week?

No, we won the first half of a two legged tie. A result that Baconface was more than content with.

I said it last week, if that was a league game I would have been creaming myself like some on here were, but it wasn't and it wasn't a particularly good result, given the circumstances.

We have met two decent teams - Everton and Man U***d. Everton beat us 2-0 and U***d beat us 4-3.

We better beat a decent team soon.

I do agree with you. We need to win against decent teams as well, if we want to stay in contention for that fourth place. But I can't help thinking that there's a hidden agenda lurking behind that statement ... Yes, we lost against the two decent teams we've been up to, but on the other hand, we didn't draw agaist the shit teams we played.

[Original Dub]

No mate, there's no agenda. In fact if you look in the Mancini thread, I made one post last night and that was one of support for the manager, who I felt got it right on the night. I said last week that he got it wrong and I was slated. So there is no agenda other than wanting us to do well.

We looked scared of the two decent teams we met IMO, so I want that put to rest asap.

[mr_nool]

No mate, there's no agenda. In fact if you look in the Mancini thread, I made one post last night and that was one of support for the manager, who I felt got it right on the night. I said last week that he got it wrong and I was slated. So there is no agenda other than wanting us to do well.

We looked scared of the two decent teams we met IMO, so I want that put to rest asap.

Been keeping out of that beehive of a thread ;-)

I thought we looked a bit scared the first leg, but that we held our ground really well last night, so I guess we're agreeing then. Bummer ... ;-)

[Original Dub]

No mate, there's no agenda. In fact if you look in the Mancini thread, I made one post last night and that was one of support for the manager, who I felt got it right on the night. I said last week that he got it wrong and I was slated. So there is no agenda other than wanting us to do well.

We looked scared of the two decent teams we met IMO, so I want that put to rest asap.

Been keeping out of that beehive of a thread ;-)

I thought we looked a bit scared the first leg, but that we held our ground really well last night, so I guess we're agreeing then. Bummer ... ;-)

Yeah mate, its one of those days... and they are rare I tell thee....

But I just don't have the fire in me today... so its just as well we do agree !

[MaineRoadMemories]

The difference is they knew how to play a two legged game much better than we do. Carrick said in his interview last night that they set out to contain us in the first half and not concede and then go for it in the second to win the tie.

Mancini has instructured both Richards and Garrido to tuck inside and defend from the 18 yard line. This was a brave call in the first leg but a criminal decision in the second leg. Giggs has only been around for 50 odd years delivering perfect balls for strikers, surely he knows about that?

The difference was mentality and implementation of tactics, we have got better results than 3-1 with worse teams at OT before. Granted Rooney is playing the best football of his career but we had the capability to score more than 1 goal if we had tried.

[MANCTANK]

I thought we lost the semi final at eastlands due to the fact we never went at united playing with one striker instead of 2 i thought the lads did really well last night but the side he put out at eastlands was wrong and we should have had a right good go at them with 2 forwards not 1.

[the_georgian_genius]

We lost the tie in the first leg. Taking a two goal lead to there last night would of made the difference.

[john@staustell]

I thought we lost the semi final at eastlands due to the fact we never went at U***d playing with one striker instead of 2 i thought the lads did really well last night but the side he put out at eastlands was wrong and we should have had a right good go at them with 2 forwards not 1.

He changed it from 2 forwards to match their five in midfield as we were being over-run, pulled Bellamy back to left wing. Taking off Tevez and SWP and going back into our shell when we were on top at 2-1 was the error.

[ronk]

No, we won the first half of a two legged tie. A result that Baconface was more than content with.

I said it last week, if that was a league game I would have been creaming myself like some on here were, but it wasn't and it wasn't a particularly good result, given the circumstances.

We have met two decent teams - Everton and Man U***d. Everton beat us 2-0 and U***d beat us 4-3.

We better beat a decent team soon.

Sorry but that is absolute garbage, I can't accept for a moment that Baconface was in any way content to lose 2-1 against us, not ever. They knew they were still in the tie but they still had to get out of jail and at the end of the day they got lucky.

They weren't confident, they weren't favourites, this was a huge huge win for them. How can you be naive enough to accept that bullshit and believe it.

2-1 was a great result, especially when you've come from behind. It's never enough to kill a tie against them, not against any team in the world at the moment, not every time.

Again yesterday we came back against them. This season, more than most others, is one where the form book is worthless when it comes to big games. We'll all been turning each other over.

This win means that rag fans won't be paying as much attention to the wolf coming up to the door. They think nothing has changed, but we're learning and toughening up. All (all!) of the thuggery came from their side and we kept ourselves from getting cards, we got rattled tactically but picked ourselves back up.

I've never seen that banner shown so prominently: it's desperation.

We've beaten Chelsea, scum and Arsenal twice while drawing away with Liverpool. We've had a few bad games but our defeats against the scum both came within seconds of the end of the game.

[MaineRoadMemories]

Whenever you play European football and the away leg is first, managers are delighted to score an away goal EVEN if that is at the expense of 2 goals conceded. It meant they could control the second leg and do the business in the second half of the match.

So to answer your question Ronk, I'm pretty sure he would have been very pleased with the 2-1 scoreline after the first leg hence why I was disappointed with the result and posted so on here after the match last week.

[Kiss_The_Goat]

Vieira would have been massive for us in this game had he been fit. We missed someone in the middle of the park to grab hold of the game and bully them back. We were getting a kick in at times and no-one seemed to be giving it back apart from maybe Bellers and Zabs. We lacked steel and leadership. I'm still totally depressed :(