***Champions v Dippers Official Match Thread***

[Bluemoon16]

This result doesn't reflect our performance today. Team has significantly improved & we continued to dominate possession/midfield with intent to attack. We won most of the midfield battles and literally forced them to park all their 11 players inside their own box. We also dominated the game right from the start & if it wasn't for their first deflected goal, result may have been different. Outstanding performance from Doku, Khusanov & Nico. Yes, Nico played brilliantly today doing all the horse-work that barely gets noticed.

[PeterParker]

What exactly do we expect from next season?

Because tactically we are not showing any signs on trying to even adapt, not change it.
Sure, blame the players, but at the end of the day, you can't have Stones, Dias, Walker, Ederson, Gundogan, Kevin, Haaland, Bernie, Grealish, Foden responsible for the drop. When Bernie and Gundo are not playing, we are on Dias and Kevin and so on. Like a rollercoaster.
I refuse to believe this players decided over night to become the laughing stock of an entire world.

[PeterParker]

This result doesn't reflect our performance today. Team has significantly improved & we continued to dominate possession/midfield with intent to attack. We won most of the midfield battles and literally forced them to park all their 11 players inside their own box. We also dominated the game right from the start & if it wasn't for their first deflected goal, result may have been different. Outstanding performance from Doku, Khusanov & Nico. Yes, Nico played brilliantly today doing all the horse-work that barely gets noticed.

I didn't see the game, mate, but did we have a chance to score? Were we even close?
Because it sounds the usually tippy-tappy to me.

[Nickyboy]

Last time we were this bad we got 100 points the following season.

We'll be back with a vengeance next season. Mark my words.

[Sideshow Bob]

This result doesn't reflect our performance today. Team has significantly improved & we continued to dominate possession/midfield with intent to attack. We won most of the midfield battles and literally forced them to park all their 11 players inside their own box. We also dominated the game right from the start & if it wasn't for their first deflected goal, result may have been different. Outstanding performance from Doku, Khusanov & Nico. Yes, Nico played brilliantly today doing all the horse-work that barely gets noticed.

lol you’ll catch a few with that.

[Outcast]

The only thing I took from that is khusanov is going to be a player for us.
Apart from that, it was horrible.
This season cannot end soon enough.

Don't get your hopes up for next season

[Bluemoon16]

This result doesn't reflect our performance today. Team has significantly improved & we continued to dominate possession/midfield with intent to attack. We won most of the midfield battles and literally forced them to park all their 11 players inside their own box. We also dominated the game right from the start & if it wasn't for their first deflected goal, result may have been different. Outstanding performance from Doku, Khusanov & Nico. Yes, Nico played brilliantly today doing all the horse-work that barely gets noticed.

I didn't see the game, mate, but did we have a chance to score? Were we even close?
Because it sounds the usually tippy-tappy to me.

They got absolutely lucky with two early goals but we dominated most of the game & they literally shit themselves every time Doku got the ball sending 3 men to mark him. We played two wingers without anyone on the receiving end for the tap-in/cross & that basically reduced our chances to score. But midfield and defence was absolutely solid and we bossed them despite the result.

[zuricity]

Scouse did what every other team does coming to the Etihad. Park the bus with 11 men around their area.

Stupid options by rico ,firstly gifting them the corner that lead to their first goal and secondly , Gvardiols inability to close down Salah.

Sure, they got a few more chances, but City also went close, even scoring albeit offside.

[sheblue]

This result doesn't reflect our performance today. Team has significantly improved & we continued to dominate possession/midfield with intent to attack. We won most of the midfield battles and literally forced them to park all their 11 players inside their own box. We also dominated the game right from the start & if it wasn't for their first deflected goal, result may have been different. Outstanding performance from Doku, Khusanov & Nico. Yes, Nico played brilliantly today doing all the horse-work that barely gets noticed.

lol you’ll catch a few with that.

I can't stop laughing, cheered me right up.

[Mase]

No leaders at all. The team has been full of them the last 5 years. Those same players that were once leaders aren’t anymore. Big changes needed in the summer.

[zabbadabbado]

I am starting t think Pep might be trying to work his Exit with a nice big fat compensation package,

Looks totally disinterested to me. Bringing on Kovacic and Gundogan he had totally given up at that point.

Madrid was shocking we were not arsed either,

Is the managers Job to have them up for big games, yet despite the odd good performance on the main we always look slow, tired, unfit like we are running in treacle.

Spurs up next we will play exactly the same way we play every week, throw in a Keystone Cop mistake, or two.

This time we will rotate to start Gundogan Bernie, with Lewis being first name on the team sheet.

Starting to feel like the Pearce era, when you knew what was coming every game. It is horrible to watch.

We have so many players injured because he never takes a chance on youth.It pisses me off.

Any half decent manager would gut that team and play a few of the Kids hope for a good League finish, take a chance, rather than just playing the same players knowing we will lose any way. He has had months to try find something new. He spent £200 million and we look no different.

Maybe he is the problem.

[zabbadabbado]

This result doesn't reflect our performance today. Team has significantly improved & we continued to dominate possession/midfield with intent to attack. We won most of the midfield battles and literally forced them to park all their 11 players inside their own box. We also dominated the game right from the start & if it wasn't for their first deflected goal, result may have been different. Outstanding performance from Doku, Khusanov & Nico. Yes, Nico played brilliantly today doing all the horse-work that barely gets noticed.

I am so ,so,,,happy.

[Sparklehorse]

For me, now, Pep has proved that he cannot inspire these players even to put some effort in. I hope he resigns, I genuinely think he’s been lucky to have such a squad of players at his disposal to win the trophies that we have won, which of course is no mean feat. Alarmingly there has been no transition management, no forethought, no slowly replacing the ageing players with youth. His management of Grealish is nothing short of scandalous, he may be a handful behind the scenes, but we always play our best football when he’s on the pitch. Foden is another one, he did absolutely nothing against RM and did nothing against today. Pep needs to start playing his team in their natural positions instead of trying to drive square pegs in round holes. This is a pig of a season, and I haven’t seen anything from the management to instill confidence in their ability to turn it around. He can go for me, the sooner the better.

[Kippax Sean]

It's been alluded to a few times that Pep doesn't inspire or motivate the team.... ffs if they can't motivate themselves then they're more f#ck@d up than I thought. I'm in the Pep for one more season camp but we need a change. Half that team have a bad attitude for professional footballers. Some are lazy minded and carry themselves that way on and off the pitch.

[Nick]

Bored me to tears. No shots. All cunts.

[zuricity]

Ake got an own goal ! but for some reason they gave it to salad.

Clear goal from Ake. Otherwise a shot straight at big Ed.

Actually City's attacking stats were way better than scouse, just poor, poor finishing and we did have shots even on target but weak or poor and at the goalie.

[PeterParker]

I'm in the Pep for one more season camp but we need a change. Half that team have a bad attitude for professional footballers. Some are lazy minded and carry themselves that way on and off the pitch.

We've seen the documentaries, we've seen the unity between player. How can things turn so badly?
An example: if you would be Gvardiol, arguably one of the best young center backs in the world, and be forced to play as a left back a position where you are not as good. Would you do it until your end of days as a footballer? Or at some point you would say, hey, this is my career and I don't want this.

Also, if Walker, Ed, Bernie and others came and said: listen, I've won everything, I need something else. And they are immediately shut down, how could they find it in them to still fight on the pitch? Would anyone do it?

I think these two from above are the reasons why we are here. And the tactics that players understood they are not working anymore, see Gundog's reaction a few months ago.

[zuricity]

I'm in the Pep for one more season camp but we need a change. Half that team have a bad attitude for professional footballers. Some are lazy minded and carry themselves that way on and off the pitch.

We've seen the documentaries, we've seen the unity between player. How can things turn so badly?
An example: if you would be Gvardiol, arguably one of the best young center backs in the world, and be forced to play as a left back a position where you are not as good. Would you do it until your end of days as a footballer? Or at some point you would say, hey, this is my career and I don't want this.

Also, if Walker, Ed, Bernie and others came and said: listen, I've won everything, I need something else. And they are immediately shut down, how could they find it in them to still fight on the pitch? Would anyone do it?

I think these two from above are the reasons why we are here. And the tactics that players understood they are not working anymore, see Gundog's reaction a few months ago.

Gündo should have kept his mouth shut. He willingly left to go to Barca and after one good season, it was clear the new German trainer didn't want him around.

Much as he was integral to the machine for so many years , leaving for Barca, of all teams was clearly ill advised and poor taste for all at City.

I also don't believe that it is players not caring. Kdb is so poor right now , is he still injured and hiding it ? his passing , once again today was bad.

Dias was off dicking around over the Xmas period and today just confirmed that he has lost it . Wednesday , slow , not able to read the movement and caught out by a lump of the ball forward. The stalwarts from last season and before are just off form, injured or too old. Kdb has had multiple long term injuries in the last four years. Last week it looked good with gundo in the middle , but Newcastle didn't pack 11 around the box like scouse did today. It really is difficult to break through eleven man defences , like today showed.

[Nick]

Everyone saying we played well.. was bored to tears and left early for first time ever

[Nick]

At least when we were shit sometimes we tried snd had shots. I just hate watching us