mr_nool wrote:I liked this new cynical side of City. Thought we were great in the first half. We were happy with conceding possession and we're dangerous on the counter. Did they have one good attempt in the first half?
In the second our legs went, so I understand Pep's pragmatic approach. It did almost work.
I thought Bernardo was one of our better players and that Reijnders was more than alright. Nico is growing into the left back role and, despite the early slip, Nunes did alright. That said, him playing right back gives me the shivers.
Foden's been returning to form, but this was a game that largely past him by. My MoM was Doku.
Agree with all that, conceding late made it feel a bit of a lost opportunity, but it was coming and I do think Pep was being pragmatic.
Doku and Haaland as an outlet for FAST transitions is a sign that we're really starting to play to our strengths rather than just a belief in playing by numbers, and that's 2 weeks in a row now Haaland has scored goals exactly like he used to at Dortmund running from inside his own half.
Even though we're less structured, we have the players to really do damage on the counter and I've been arguing ever since signing Haaland that we needed to let teams onto us more so we could play to Haaland's pace. Haaland and Doku now is actually quite a thing for teams to think about, and when you have the likes of Foden, Reindeers and Bernardo who can make good progress on the ball and pass very well on the break, I wonder if this is a sign of an evolving 'we'll score one more than you' approach.
Fair fucks to Pep for changing it these last few games - it's not always been pretty, but a week with a comprehensive win against the rags, comfortable against Napoli and nearly against a very good arsenal side, and I think we're on the right track
