***Official Manchester City vSSC Napoli match thread***

[dazby]

I don't think our aerial dominance was exploited enough either. A few more crosses into the box could have yielded big rewards.

[Rag_hater]

Really entertaining game, I thought. Thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I was a bit apprehensive going into the game, seeing as it was the second time I was watching youse this season. I felt that City may have gone all "Mourinho" on us and decided to pummel a team for the first 10 minutes, bag a couple of goals and leave the final 80 minutes null and void. Such a formulaic approach is hard to stomach (although I do wish the red n whites would adopt such an attitude now and again!)

A draw ain't too bad a result going into the Champions League proper. Rather refreshing also to see that the home fans didn't boo the team off after a draw following 4 straight wins. Stranger things have happened, but I think the majority of City fans were just happy to be there, given the crap that's gone on in the last 15 years.

Having said all that, do you think that a group stage elimination for City may spell a premature end for Mancini's tenure mid-way through the season?

I would expect him to be if he fails like that.
For me the amount of time he has had and the money he has no excuses.
I think last night we got taught that slowing a game down until its time to attack is the way to play European football.

[Florida Blue]

Lescott...he does fuckall with the ball....sideways and backwards every fucking time he got the ball (barring one time) and slow to boot.....does my head in.

But he was miles miles better than Vinny at doing his job. Vinny was shite & lucky to get away with it.

In defense of Vinny he saved us from losing with that incredible goal line clearence....if it wasnt for that I would have slagged him off no end as his overall play was KAK.

What would you be saying about Vinny with that tackle he bottled that led to Napoli hitting the post? I agree with Ted here, Lescott did more (first half especially) than Vinny on this occasion.

I still think Mancini's argument of nerves is pretty valid. More valid than the Scum fans who told me that fact that Benfica was wearing "Un***d's" red kits made it hard... really?

[Original Dub]

Blessing in disguise.


I've been telling people all season not too get too carried away because although we've done well we've come up against absolute shite ( Spurs included). We will have to play and beat better teams than Napoli to stand a chance and at times tonight we ran out of ideas.


We have the making of a great side but one step at a time. The other thing great sides do is have a real onslaught in the final 10 minutes and nick plenty of late goals.

You also been telling people that Dzeko is shite.

As for the rest of it - we have every right to get carried away. We have one of the best sides in world football and with that tiny bit more confidence, which we will have more of in each champions league game, we will turn any team over. Couple that with the fact that we are unbeaten at home since last year in all competitions, winning 17 of those 19 matches.

I don't buy into this "reality check bollox". We pounded the shit out of their box for the first 20 mins and in that situation would normally have scored. The game would have been completely different then. Some debutant nerves set in in places and we got punished. That will not continually happen.

Nope, I'm enjoying getting carried away. I've waited for this my whole life.

[carl_feedthegoat]

I hope Mancini tells Yaya to get up off the bastid floor when he goes off on one of his runs and falls over and then decides to look at the sky for half an hour before he gets up again...does my fucking head in it does...there was a time yesterday when he went down and was still fucking down and we had regained possesion on the left hand side of the pen area.......daft cunt he is.

[Rag_hater]

I hope Mancini tells Yaya to get up off the bastid floor when he goes off on one of his runs and falls over and then decides to look at the sky for half an hour before he gets up again...does my fucking head in it does...there was a time yesterday when he went down and was still fucking down and we had regained possesion on the left hand side of the pen area.......daft cunt he is.

I hope he tells him to keep on putting on MOM performances like in my opinion and a few others he did.The incident you refer to what blunder resutled from it.
I'm afraid I dont share your indignation.

[carl_feedthegoat]

I hope Mancini tells Yaya to get up off the bastid floor when he goes off on one of his runs and falls over and then decides to look at the sky for half an hour before he gets up again...does my fucking head in it does...there was a time yesterday when he went down and was still fucking down and we had regained possesion on the left hand side of the pen area.......daft cunt he is.

I hope he tells him to keep on putting on MOM performances like in my opinion and a few others he did.The incident you refer to what blunder resutled from it.
I'm afraid I dont share your indignation.

You are a mistake...have you asked your parents this?

[shawzy]

I thought Yaya played really well..Those long low passes flicked with the outside of his boot found his man everytime.
I can think of a fair few that played worse last night.

[carl_feedthegoat]

I thought Yaya played really well..Those long low passes flicked with the outside of his boot found his man everytime.
I can think of a fair few that played worse last night.

I never said he played badly...he obviously played very well , its just that he ha shtis habbit that when he goes on those runs of his he more often than not falls flat on his back after a surging run and shot and stays there..no urgency to get back up at all. He did that when he hit the bar then I think Aguero got the ball back but Yaya was still on his back !

[Mase]

I thought Yaya played really well..Those long low passes flicked with the outside of his boot found his man everytime.
I can think of a fair few that played worse last night.

I never said he played badly...he obviously played very well , its just that he ha shtis habbit that when he goes on those runs of his he more often than not falls flat on his back after a surging run and shot and stays there..no urgency to get back up at all. He did that when he hit the bar then I think Aguero got the ball back but Yaya was still on his back !

Yupp I remember it. The camera kept panning back to him on his deck chair and I was screaming 'GET THE FUCK BACK UP!!!'

[shawzy]

I thought Yaya played really well..Those long low passes flicked with the outside of his boot found his man everytime.
I can think of a fair few that played worse last night.

I never said he played badly...he obviously played very well , its just that he ha shtis habbit that when he goes on those runs of his he more often than not falls flat on his back after a surging run and shot and stays there..no urgency to get back up at all. He did that when he hit the bar then I think Aguero got the ball back but Yaya was still on his back !

Sorry bud, that wasn't aimed at you..I was just saying he was my fav player last night..Zabba was good to.
Ye he did stay on the floor abit too fookin long though lol.

[Kladze]

If the only criticism we can find is that he takes a while to recover from lung-bursters then he must have had a decent game.

[carl_feedthegoat]

If the only criticism we can find is that he takes a while to recover from lung-bursters then he must have had a decent game.

I actually think yaya is 42 yrs old....this would explain his constant "bent over Im fucked" pose that he does all the time.

I rate him very highly by the way...its just the above that does my head in.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

It's gonna be a difficult group to qualify from. Draw was decent but we really needed to win that. Lose to Bayern and Napoli beat Villereal ( isn't unlikely) would make things very tricky.

Need something from Bayern.

[Rag_hater]

I hope Mancini tells Yaya to get up off the bastid floor when he goes off on one of his runs and falls over and then decides to look at the sky for half an hour before he gets up again...does my fucking head in it does...there was a time yesterday when he went down and was still fucking down and we had regained possesion on the left hand side of the pen area.......daft cunt he is.

I hope he tells him to keep on putting on MOM performances like in my opinion and a few others he did.The incident you refer to what blunder resutled from it.
I'm afraid I dont share your indignation.

You are a mistake...have you asked your parents this?

Your predictable mock outrage is repetative also.
Your spoutings come across as a faked display of righteous or resentful anger mixed with a small amount of actual anger.
If its real I think you need to ask your parents why you are so angry.Were you dropped on your head as a child
Oh by the way mine are in Southen cemetary and I havent figured out how to speak to the dead yet so can't confirm your mistake theory with them.

[Mase]

I hope Mancini tells Yaya to get up off the bastid floor when he goes off on one of his runs and falls over and then decides to look at the sky for half an hour before he gets up again...does my fucking head in it does...there was a time yesterday when he went down and was still fucking down and we had regained possesion on the left hand side of the pen area.......daft cunt he is.

I hope he tells him to keep on putting on MOM performances like in my opinion and a few others he did.The incident you refer to what blunder resutled from it.
I'm afraid I dont share your indignation.

You are a mistake...have you asked your parents this?

Your predictable mock outrage is repetative also.
Your spoutings come across as a faked display of righteous or resentful anger mixed with a small amount of actual anger.
If its real I think you need to ask your parents why you are so angry.Were you dropped on your head as a child
Oh by the way mine are in Southen cemetary and I havent figured out how to speak to the dead yet so can't confirm your mistake theory with them.

I'd watch Sixth Sense a few times. Although I've seen it about four times now and I still can't manage to talk to my dead fish Sonic from when I was eight. I might try watching Ghost and then get back to you though.

[Ted Hughes]

Lots of players did good & bad things last night. Imo Barry was fantastic 1st half but both him & Yaya were overworked & started to drop more & more bollocks as the game went on. In the end few players had a great night over 90 mins. They all dropped bollocks & had good moments bar Dzeko who, imo, was outstanding throughout.

[carl_feedthegoat]

I hope Mancini tells Yaya to get up off the bastid floor when he goes off on one of his runs and falls over and then decides to look at the sky for half an hour before he gets up again...does my fucking head in it does...there was a time yesterday when he went down and was still fucking down and we had regained possesion on the left hand side of the pen area.......daft cunt he is.

I hope he tells him to keep on putting on MOM performances like in my opinion and a few others he did.The incident you refer to what blunder resutled from it.
I'm afraid I dont share your indignation.

You are a mistake...have you asked your parents this?

Your predictable mock outrage is repetative also.
Your spoutings come across as a faked display of righteous or resentful anger mixed with a small amount of actual anger.
If its real I think you need to ask your parents why you are so angry.Were you dropped on your head as a child
Oh by the way mine are in Southen cemetary and I havent figured out how to speak to the dead yet so can't confirm your mistake theory with them.

Keep up the good work you village idiot.

[brite blu sky]

Lots of players did good & bad things last night. Imo Barry was fantastic 1st half but both him & Yaya were overworked & started to drop more & more bollocks as the game went on. In the end few players had a great night over 90 mins. They all dropped bollocks & had good moments bar Dzeko who, imo, was outstanding throughout.

Not sure about the overworked idea that doesn't really square with me tbh.
My own take is that the players allowed themselves to get sucked into the mess around the area.. more and more and more as it went on. That's lack of discipline and experience of holding certain shapes. The front lot tried to take station in the area instead of staying outside it and running at them, and that then drew Silva,Barry and Yaya right to the edge of the first line of Napoli players.. leaving no-one waiting for mop ups. That was dangerous as we saw and the other aspect was the front men were sat in positions way too tight with players to then be able to move with the ball and pull defenders around.

Yaya and Barry should never both have gone in to get involved and should have sat further back allowing some space in front of the first Napoli line. Silva should have mainly stayed in that zone, picking up there and being able to face the Napoli defence, Aguero to some extent too also doing that. With the extra space and more importantly momentum they could have then looked to spread the ball out to Kolorov or Zabba while running.. and by doing so again have pulled the Napoli defence some.

The basic problem was it was all compressed with no momentum, Napoli players didn't have to move around chasing players they just had to shift weight and step to close off plays.

The two parts of the game where City were not all getting sucked in was the first 20-25 mins and the last 10-15. In both those episodes City were running from deeper with more momentum at the Napoli players and other City players were running parallel with them or accross the defence and it caused a lot more panic.

City brought that on themselves to a large extent, you could also say that Napoli played for that and encouraged it by leaving no space between the first line and the second line of defenders.
Mourinho did pretty much the same thing to Barca in the CL final and Barca also got sucked into it in the same way.

[Ted Hughes]

Silva & Nasri stopped dropping back as much & almost played like forwards at times. Barry & Yaya were being asked to turn defence into attack & in the end, they stopped doing it, leaving the defenders to try & create from the back.

We were pretty much 4-2-4 for periods of that game, but an effective 4-2-4 has wingers who put crosses in, not people turnig into trouble inside.