***Champions v Villa Official Match Thread***

[blues2win]

Credit where it’s due Bernardo had a good game.

[Mase]

Bernardo played very well tonight.

Credit where it’s due Bernardo had a good game.

One more mate and you win the ‘Mase Stalker of the Match’ award.

[Mase]

Looking at the table and if Palace win tonight we’re only 5 points off Arsenal. That’s crazy really when you think they’ve had a “good” season and we’ve been crap.

[sniffer]

Agree Bernardo had a good game, simply because he wasn't stuck on the left wing where he is useless. Pep packed midfield and relied on Nunes and Nico for width. Seemed to work pretty well.

[blues2win]

Arsenal? Second again second again second again ole ole!

[Mase]

Arsenal? Second again second again second again ole ole!

brilliant

[MARKMAKAVELI]

Villa didn't come to win but did look very dangerous on the counter.
I just love Doku. Frustrating at times, but we need players who will take a risk and run at people.
The sideways/backwards passing kills me.
I reckon Doku has alot more assists with a bit of luck, he often puts it in a dangerous area.

[john@staustell]

Villa didn't come to win but did look very dangerous on the counter.
I just love Doku. Frustrating at times, but we need players who will take a risk and run at people.
The sideways/backwards passing kills me.
I reckon Doku has alot more assists with a bit of luck, he often puts it in a dangerous area.

That's probably 1 assist in about 300 dribbles, Mark, no need to get too excited yet!

[MARKMAKAVELI]

fair play mate

[Douglas Higginbottom]

5 wins and a draw in the last 6 games and Pep keeps playing Kova , KDB, Gundo , Silva. How dare he ... anyone would think they are actually good players and he knows what he's doing.

No youth games to focus on ?

what humour!!

My focus and support is always on City and it's TEAMS , it's players and it's managers. I actually sense a level of disappointment on here from some that Pep has done what he's done and the team winning again. But doubt the story will be we were lucky and it was inspite of Pep rather than because of him and players.

Nearly a month ago we went to Bournemouth , one of the teams of the season at the time, and the expectation was we would struggle to win and especially so by some when the team selection was announced. Despite going a goal down we bossed that game, deservedly won 2.1 and stiffled Bournemouth in the second half.

Then Leicester and a comfortable 2 nil win. Far from a great performance but it should have been 5 or 6.

Onto the swamp and again not a good performance but considering how poor we had been away in so many performances. A clean sheet and a point . Could we , should we have gone in with a more attacking approach. We might have won but we also might have lost.

Home to Palace, one of the form teams in the league and excellent away from home. A much more attacking line up selected and we were 2 down early on and looking very fragile. A few tweaks from Pep, a key goal before half time from from KDB and we were back in it ending convincing winners as the confidence started to flow.

Away to Everton another form team and so hard to beat especially at home. Rubbish team selection was the word again but we manged to dominate the ball albeit with little real threat of scoring. Pep makes a couple of substitutions and lo and behold we win 2 nil.

Now to Villa another team in hot form and it seems with the team selection we will get battered. Again not a great performance in the manner we'vee seen in recent years but a controlled one with limited real chances for them. A slightly fortunate penalty decision plus a few good runs by Rashord but all in all not that much for Ortega. Another substitute or two and again we score and take a prized victory. Of course all down to luck and their poor goalkeeper making a mistake and nothing at all to do with Pep and the players.

5 wins and a draw in 6 games and not all easy games. According to some with awful team selections pretty well across the board by Pep using players who shouldn't be near the pitch apparently.

Overall of course we have had a poor season and Pep has obviously contributed to that. The biggest factor has undoubtedly been the injuries and not just Rodri but widespread throughout the team but it was disappointing that Pep didn't try youth more but rather continued to play players either woefully out of form or carrying and injury. Would it have been a lot better using Nico , JM ,SP , JW a lot more... we will never know but I felt he should have tried them so at least we would have found out more about their levels. Imo it probably wouldn't have changed much.

But from Bournemoth onwards it has feelt like a corner was turned. A few injury issues subsided , a few new players in, some from returning and mostly belief returning. Pep retained his confidence in the experienced players, has adapted the teams playing style to be a little less adventurous ( given how teams had run through us so easily ) and the results have started to come through. Will it carry on only time will tell but things are deinitely looking up.

Good to see the poll now reflects that the majority think Pep should stay

[stupot]

Fantastic post

[PeterParker]

5 wins and a draw in the last 6 games and Pep keeps playing Kova , KDB, Gundo , Silva. How dare he ... anyone would think they are actually good players and he knows what he's doing.

No youth games to focus on ?

what humour!!

My focus and support is always on City and it's TEAMS , it's players and it's managers. I actually sense a level of disappointment on here from some that Pep has done what he's done and the team winning again. But doubt the story will be we were lucky and it was inspite of Pep rather than because of him and players.

Nearly a month ago we went to Bournemouth , one of the teams of the season at the time, and the expectation was we would struggle to win and especially so by some when the team selection was announced. Despite going a goal down we bossed that game, deservedly won 2.1 and stiffled Bournemouth in the second half.

Then Leicester and a comfortable 2 nil win. Far from a great performance but it should have been 5 or 6.

Onto the swamp and again not a good performance but considering how poor we had been away in so many performances. A clean sheet and a point . Could we , should we have gone in with a more attacking approach. We might have won but we also might have lost.

Home to Palace, one of the form teams in the league and excellent away from home. A much more attacking line up selected and we were 2 down early on and looking very fragile. A few tweaks from Pep, a key goal before half time from from KDB and we were back in it ending convincing winners as the confidence started to flow.

Away to Everton another form team and so hard to beat especially at home. Rubbish team selection was the word again but we manged to dominate the ball albeit with little real threat of scoring. Pep makes a couple of substitutions and lo and behold we win 2 nil.

Now to Villa another team in hot form and it seems with the team selection we will get battered. Again not a great performance in the manner we'vee seen in recent years but a controlled one with limited real chances for them. A slightly fortunate penalty decision plus a few good runs by Rashord but all in all not that much for Ortega. Another substitute or two and again we score and take a prized victory. Of course all down to luck and their poor goalkeeper making a mistake and nothing at all to do with Pep and the players.

5 wins and a draw in 6 games and not all easy games. According to some with awful team selections pretty well across the board by Pep using players who shouldn't be near the pitch apparently.

Overall of course we have had a poor season and Pep has obviously contributed to that. The biggest factor has undoubtedly been the injuries and not just Rodri but widespread throughout the team but it was disappointing that Pep didn't try youth more but rather continued to play players either woefully out of form or carrying and injury. Would it have been a lot better using Nico , JM ,SP , JW a lot more... we will never know but I felt he should have tried them so at least we would have found out more about their levels. Imo it probably wouldn't have changed much.

But from Bournemoth onwards it has feelt like a corner was turned. A few injury issues subsided , a few new players in, some from returning and mostly belief returning. Pep retained his confidence in the experienced players, has adapted the teams playing style to be a little less adventurous ( given how teams had run through us so easily ) and the results have started to come through. Will it carry on only time will tell but things are deinitely looking up.

Good to see the poll now reflects that the majority think Pep should stay

That doesn’t change the fact that we’ve played poorly in most of those games. Everton, for example, were the better side on the day.

I don’t understand this idea that pointing out what went wrong this season — or what Pep may be getting wrong — automatically means there’s hate involved. I’m not saying you’ve done that, mate, but some people act like any criticism of Pep is some kind of betrayal.

No one is bigger than the club. We have, without a doubt, the best manager of the past 15 years. But that same manager is capable of the most baffling decisions in key moments — and he’s done it more than once. That’s not hate; that’s reality. He’s still here, and he’ll be here next season, because he’s earned the benefit of the doubt for everything he’s brought us — and let’s not forget, he’s been more than fairly rewarded for it.

But what do people expect? That we just follow blindly and ignore the signs? Fans were calling it out last year: we looked different, less hungry. The system started to feel outdated, easier to counter. The transfer window raised eyebrows. Players were being played out of position. Talents like Doku or Savio are being moulded into something they’re not. We lack a plan B.

If we gloss over these issues with “but we’re unbeaten,” then we’re setting ourselves up to repeat the same mistakes.

This summer will define what comes next. People have every right to question Pep. And at the same time, people are right to trust him with another shot because of what he’s achieved. That’s not contradiction — that’s balance, if you ask me. He earned it.

And honestly, no other club or fanbase would give a manager this much respect and space with his transfer record. That says everything.

[stupot]

"His transfer record", so the players that got 100 points, domestic treble and The Treble. That transfer record.
We didn't play poorly second half of the Bournemouth game, we played very well against Palace, we were dogmatic against Everton and we played well last night. Every one of those games people on here were tipping us to lose. We must be very lucky

[PeterParker]

"His transfer record", so the players that got 100 points, domestic treble and The Treble. That transfer record.
We didn't play poorly second half of the Bournemouth game, we played very well against Palace, we were dogmatic against Everton and we played well last night. Every one of those games people on here were tipping us to lose. We must be very lucky

His transfer record is a hit & miss every single way you want to put it.

[Mase]

Weird that when we sign a shit player - “it wasn’t a Pep signing, it was Tixi” but when we sign someone class - “Pep has done brilliantly”

We know which are the Pep signings and which aren’t. He didn’t want Haaland. He didn’t want Grealish. He openly said he loved Nunes. He got Phillips recommended by his hero at Leeds.

Let’s not be silly.

[stupot]

Weird that when we sign a shit player - “it wasn’t a Pep signing, it was Tixi” but when we sign someone class - “Pep has done brilliantly”

We know which are the Pep signings and which aren’t. He didn’t want Haaland. He didn’t want Grealish. He openly said he loved Nunes. He got Phillips recommended by his hero at Leeds.

Let’s not be silly.

Who said he didn't want Haaland and Grealish and who's said the bad signings have been Txixi- no way they don't collaborate on it.
Ederson, Walker, Gvardiol Dias, Silva, Gundo ( 1st time)Rodri, Mahrez, His signings on the whole have been fantastic

[blues2win]

Txiki is in charge of signings. Sometimes Pep knows a player coming in sometimes he doesn’t. He didn’t know much at all about Khusanov Reis Doku or Savinho. He knew more about Grealish because he saw him in the PL. It varies. If Pep knew a player well and really didn’t want him he likely wouldn’t come. Of course he wanted Haaland. It would mean changing the way City play but the rewards would be great.

[Mase]

Weird that when we sign a shit player - “it wasn’t a Pep signing, it was Tixi” but when we sign someone class - “Pep has done brilliantly”

We know which are the Pep signings and which aren’t. He didn’t want Haaland. He didn’t want Grealish. He openly said he loved Nunes. He got Phillips recommended by his hero at Leeds.

Let’s not be silly.

Who said he didn't want Haaland and Grealish and who's said the bad signings have been Txixi- no way they don't collaborate on it.
Ederson, Walker, Gvardiol Dias, Silva, Gundo ( 1st time)Rodri, Mahrez, His signings on the whole have been fantastic

If you believe he wanted Haaland then you’re a nutcase! We’re seeing now he never wanted Grealish - proof is there to see.

[stupot]

Weird that when we sign a shit player - “it wasn’t a Pep signing, it was Tixi” but when we sign someone class - “Pep has done brilliantly”

We know which are the Pep signings and which aren’t. He didn’t want Haaland. He didn’t want Grealish. He openly said he loved Nunes. He got Phillips recommended by his hero at Leeds.

Let’s not be silly.

Who said he didn't want Haaland and Grealish and who's said the bad signings have been Txixi- no way they don't collaborate on it.
Ederson, Walker, Gvardiol Dias, Silva, Gundo ( 1st time)Rodri, Mahrez, His signings on the whole have been fantastic

If you believe he wanted Haaland then you’re a nutcase! We’re seeing now he never wanted Grealish - proof is there to see.

As the post above says- of course he wanted Haaland and it's not me that's the nutcase .Do you really think he's some sort of puppet singing to his masters tune.
He wanted Grealish as well, he played him repeatedly in the treble season.There's the proof. Have they had a falling out- absolutely

[Mase]

Weird that when we sign a shit player - “it wasn’t a Pep signing, it was Tixi” but when we sign someone class - “Pep has done brilliantly”

We know which are the Pep signings and which aren’t. He didn’t want Haaland. He didn’t want Grealish. He openly said he loved Nunes. He got Phillips recommended by his hero at Leeds.

Let’s not be silly.

Who said he didn't want Haaland and Grealish and who's said the bad signings have been Txixi- no way they don't collaborate on it.
Ederson, Walker, Gvardiol Dias, Silva, Gundo ( 1st time)Rodri, Mahrez, His signings on the whole have been fantastic

If you believe he wanted Haaland then you’re a nutcase! We’re seeing now he never wanted Grealish - proof is there to see.

As the post above says- of course he wanted Haaland and it's not me that's the nutcase .Do you really think he's some sort of puppet singing to his masters tune.
He wanted Grealish as well, he played him repeatedly in the treble season.There's the proof. Have they had a falling out- absolutely

What about the seasons before the treble season? What about now? He played him that season because Jack was class.

Haaland was not a Pep signing. I genuinely think you’re mad to think he was. Pep’s had plenty of opportunities to big up Haaland, when asked by the media, and he uses as an opportunity to mention Messi. Literally.