***City v Rags Official Match Thread***

[stevefromdonny]

we made utd look like a shit team, most players got a 7/10 a couple got better a 8/10, we have had 5 games this season [ 1 a pre season ] so we will get better the more we play.

[Nigels Tackle]

we made utd look like a shit team, most players got a 7/10 a couple got better a 8/10, we have had 5 games this season [ 1 a pre season ] so we will get better the more we play.

there were some green shoots yesterday:
josko back is massive
gigi is a real presence between the sticks
haaland a demon in both boxes
khus solid
doku with 2 assists
phil looking good

balancing that out with....
rodri looking off the pace, nico coming on to replace him looked worse
bernardo was awful
savio as waste of space

[Im_Spartacus]

we made utd look like a shit team, most players got a 7/10 a couple got better a 8/10, we have had 5 games this season [ 1 a pre season ] so we will get better the more we play.

there were some green shoots yesterday:
josko back is massive
gigi is a real presence between the sticks
haaland a demon in both boxes
khus solid
doku with 2 assists
phil looking good

balancing that out with....
rodri looking off the pace, nico coming on to replace him looked worse
bernardo was awful
savio as waste of space

I didn't even realise Savio came on

We desperately need to find the right role for Bernardo - him and Reindeers in the middle 'should' work with Rodi, but Bernardo needs to play central to get max value from him, there should be no real need for him to keep drifting wide. If those ahead of them Foden / Doku / Marmoush / Bobb etc are finding space, these two should be able to find them.

Interesting yesterday there was no consistent attacking intent shown from either fullback. No sure whether that's because it turned out not to be needed, or because of a shift in approach.

Now we've had an extended break after the shitshow of the first few weeks of the season, it will be good to see if the coaching staff have come up with solutions to the problems the previous games highlighted. Yesterday was no real evidence of anything other than how bad a state united are in, and while we looked fragile at times, we seemed to have the defence a little deeper and therefore less exposed to the counter.

[PeterParker]

I think we are going to have an ambulance on the pitch next week if Arsenal tries their corner tactic near Donna.

[Nigels Tackle]

we made utd look like a shit team, most players got a 7/10 a couple got better a 8/10, we have had 5 games this season [ 1 a pre season ] so we will get better the more we play.

there were some green shoots yesterday:
josko back is massive
gigi is a real presence between the sticks
haaland a demon in both boxes
khus solid
doku with 2 assists
phil looking good

balancing that out with....
rodri looking off the pace, nico coming on to replace him looked worse
bernardo was awful
savio as waste of space

I didn't even realise Savio came on

We desperately need to find the right role for Bernardo - him and Reindeers in the middle 'should' work with Rodi, but Bernardo needs to play central to get max value from him, there should be no real need for him to keep drifting wide. If those ahead of them Foden / Doku / Marmoush / Bobb etc are finding space, these two should be able to find them.

Interesting yesterday there was no consistent attacking intent shown from either fullback. No sure whether that's because it turned out not to be needed, or because of a shift in approach.

Now we've had an extended break after the shitshow of the first few weeks of the season, it will be good to see if the coaching staff have come up with solutions to the problems the previous games highlighted. Yesterday was no real evidence of anything other than how bad a state united are in, and while we looked fragile at times, we seemed to have the defence a little deeper and therefore less exposed to the counter.

seems like a no brainer
also opens up more space for haaland to run into

[Wonderwall]

we made utd look like a shit team, most players got a 7/10 a couple got better a 8/10, we have had 5 games this season [ 1 a pre season ] so we will get better the more we play.

there were some green shoots yesterday:
josko back is massive
gigi is a real presence between the sticks
haaland a demon in both boxes
khus solid
doku with 2 assists
phil looking good

balancing that out with....
rodri looking off the pace, nico coming on to replace him looked worse
bernardo was awful
savio as waste of space

Keeper
We need to get used to not having someone with the passing ability of KDB in goal. Gigi has a good short game, but his mid to long range passing is shite. He needs to look where Erling is and aim for him if is not going short. Good presence between the posts and came and punched everything yesterday, top quality save that I think Ederson may not have made.

Defence
Yeah, josko being back was really good to see, he was really vocal and organising and gave Dias a bollocking at one point.
Kushanov was good and also gave me a heart attack, he is like a rapid Otamendi the way he dives in. Potential to be fantastic.
Dias was ok, hard to criticise a clean sheet.
Orielly had a very good game and for someone played out of position, should get high praise for his performance.

Midfield
Rodri - makes me sad. He is so far off his Balon d'Or form, but he will need more time and I am hoping that if gets a 10 game run under his belt, he will start to show the Rodri that made him the best player in the world.
Bernardo - time is up - legs are not there and has lost a yard of pace that he never had anyway. One of my all time favourites for city, but he was our worst player yesterday.
Reijnders - 2nd worst after Bernie. Looked lost a lot of the time, nowhere near the player that was on the field against wolves, but he was the legs in the middle and did cover a lot of ground. Should have scored the 1 on 1.

Attackers
Doku looked dangerous all the time and made some great runs and was never passed to. His two goal contributions were very good, he scared them to death at the back. I love that we have that on our team.
Foden - he was really up for it yesterday, looked to get on the ball all the time. That's the Phil we want to see every game. Welcome back young man.
Haaland - all round game was very good yesterday. He was absolutely out on his feet, he covered a hell of a lot of ground and looked spent way before he was subbed off. What a monster to have. Please stay fit