*** Barcelona v City - Official Match Thread ***

[phips]

utterly woeful first half. everyone bar Vincent and maybe Fern and Yaya was crap. Sergio and Nasri were anonymous. Silva couldnt complete a pass.
we should've been down 2-0 in the first 18 mins. stonewall pen and an incorrectly ruled out offside goal.


we were much better in the 2nd half. much better than Barca.

for once, our back 4 outperformed our front 4. we offered virtually nothing going forward until Dzeko came on.

maybe next season we will do well in the CL.

[dick dastardley]

Anyone else think Txiki and Soriano were obsessed with that tie due to their Barca connections? The word quixotic springs to mind.

Today's team should have played on Sunday, and we should have put the "Bayern away" squad out today. We were never going to be allowed to win the tie, even if the performance was perfect.

Zero pragmatism shown in the last four days, and now we are out of one cup that we were already out of two weeks ago, and another cup that we had every chance of winning.

Much less forgivable blunder than not knowing how many goals we needed to top the group. IMO.

^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^

[dick dastardley]

Lescott had a fucking good game. You find a centre back in our league who can go to Barca & stand up against Messi & Co like VK & JL did. You'd need about six fucking midfield players round Terry & Cahill in a game v that lot.

I thought he did ok in thr first half, but the more we chased the game it was inevitable that they would get us on the break or a total fuck up by the ref

[blues2win]

Lescott did some good things but made some bad mistakes. He was lucky with the penalty decision panicked and made the mistake for the goal and was responsible for the mistake which led to the shot against the post. He had a good game against Chelsea in the cup which wasn't that long ago so it wasn't rustiness. Yes Zaba and Kolarov had poor games too but Lescott looked out of his depth at times last night. He's not good enough to be Vinny's first choice partner and neither are MDM or Nastasic. We must sign a top class centre back in the close season and should have done so in January. The club obviously thought very highly of Mangala and we probably should have swallowed hard and paid the necessary. We probably won't get him now and players like that don't grow on trees.I personally would give Lescott another year but it would only be as a reserve choice.

[Breks]

Lescott always looks vulnerable when rushed and he always looks awkward with the ball at his feet. Demi, Nasti and Lescott are not good enough.

[Beefymcfc]

Lescott made a couple of mistakes with one leading to the goal but who wouldn't against the likes of Messi, we all knew it would be a mis-match. He also did some very good stuff and his distribution was excellent for the majority.

Not a complaint but has anybody got a gif of their goal 'cos at the time I thought Messi was offside?

[zuricity]

Lescott made a couple of mistakes with one leading to the goal but who wouldn't against the likes of Messi, we all knew it would be a mis-match. He also did some very good stuff and his distribution was excellent for the majority.

Not a complaint but has anybody got a gif of their goal 'cos at the time I thought Messi was offside?

I wouldn't even consider it a mistake by Joleon for their goal. He simply wasn't able to block or intercept a pass. It deflected perfectly for Messi( funny how these things happen eh ? The ball seemed to bounce to them all the time!). It bounced off his leg and could have gone anywhere.

[gmercer1]

Lescott made a couple of mistakes with one leading to the goal but who wouldn't against the likes of Messi, we all knew it would be a mis-match. He also did some very good stuff and his distribution was excellent for the majority.

Not a complaint but has anybody got a gif of their goal 'cos at the time I thought Messi was offside?

I was saying that in the pub last night.....Messi did look off when the ball was kicked.

[Ted Hughes]

Lescott did some good things but made some bad mistakes. He was lucky with the penalty decision panicked and made the mistake for the goal and was responsible for the mistake which led to the shot against the post. He had a good game against Chelsea in the cup which wasn't that long ago so it wasn't rustiness. Yes Zaba and Kolarov had poor games too but Lescott looked out of his depth at times last night. He's not good enough to be Vinny's first choice partner and neither are MDM or Nastasic. We must sign a top class centre back in the close season and should have done so in January. The club obviously thought very highly of Mangala and we probably should have swallowed hard and paid the necessary. We probably won't get him now and players like that don't grow on trees.I personally would give Lescott another year but it would only be as a reserve choice.

Lescott was absolutely not more 'out of his depth' than those two, either defensively or in possession. He defended better & he passed better under pressure than they did. If his performance means he isn't upto it, then they need replacing also. Can't judge one player different to the others (but everyone will). Note Kolarov just kick the ball off the pitch when trying to pass a straight ball to Milner at the end of the first half ? Head the ball to Neymar then fall on his arse leaving Neymar through on goal ?

I'm sorry but you simply can't allow stuff like that & the crap Zabba came up with, then ignore it in favour of picking one player as being below that level.

Also, Lescott's suitability to play v Barca, has no baring whatsoever on his ability to play in the Premier League.

I said before the game that I would even consider not playing an orthodox central defender next to Kompany because there is nothing for them to do & nobody for them to mark, we are chasing the game, will be wide open & they will struggle.

Mascherano would be a better cb than Lescott when playing Barca. Lescott would be a better choice than him when playing every other team on the planet.

[Breks]

Who was Lescott shouting at after HE had fucked up and gifted Messi a goal? Lescott is a big clumsy fucket, he isn't a footballer. He's been a waste of £24 million. It's not the 1st time he's fucked up either. Title winning season against Qpr springs to mind. 12 games to go and we have a major problem, with no competent partner to play alongside Vinny.

[Blue Since 76]

Not a complaint but has anybody got a gif of their goal 'cos at the time I thought Messi was offside?

For some reason, the director never showed an angle where you could tell, so I'd guess he was off.

Same as the tackle on Silva in the penalty area which was eventually shown once from an angle where you couldn't tell if he'd dived or been fouled. As oppose to Lescott's on Messi which was shown about 100 times from every know angle.

[Blue Since 76]

Who was Lescott shouting at after HE had fucked up and gifted Messi a goal? Lescott is a big clumsy fucket, he isn't a footballer. He's been a waste of £24 million. It's not the 1st time he's fucked up either. Title winning season against Qpr springs to mind. 12 games to go and we have a major problem, with no competent partner to play alongside Vinny.

QPR scored two goals. Can you recall who was at fault for the other one?

[Breks]

QPR scored two goals. Can you recall who was at fault for the other one?

As I remember Mancini directed his anger towards Nasri for the Jamie Mackay goal.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

You know what's hilarious? Lescott was brilliant for us in the title winning season but the only thing some fans remember is hiss mess up in the QPR game. A game we won anyway.
It's just ridiculous at times.

[mcfc1632]

I guess this has been mentioned several times already - but the CITY fans are just immense!! There were so many out here - all over the fucking place - Do not know how many tickets we were allocated but I can guarantee that there were a lot out here without.

This morning though there are some real sore heads - just finished by 3rd beer so starting to feel better - but the guys on the next table - well I will just say that there is not enough drink they can buy to sort them out!!

[Breks]

You know what's hilarious? Lescott was brilliant for us in the title winning season but the only thing some fans remember is hiss mess up in the QPR game. A game we won anyway.
It's just ridiculous at times.

He wasn't brilliant at all, he had numerous lacklustre performances.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

You know what's hilarious? Lescott was brilliant for us in the title winning season but the only thing some fans remember is hiss mess up in the QPR game. A game we won anyway.
It's just ridiculous at times.

He wasn't brilliant at all, he had numerous lacklustre performances.

We had the best defence in the league and he was part of that.
Can you remind me of some of his lacklusture performances please?

[Ted Hughes]

You know what's hilarious? Lescott was brilliant for us in the title winning season but the only thing some fans remember is hiss mess up in the QPR game. A game we won anyway.
It's just ridiculous at times.

He wasn't brilliant at all, he had numerous lacklustre performances.

Then neither was Kompany.

Your £24 million comment & the fact you are happy to go back two seasons to find something to pick on Lescott, but ignore the 2nd goal, is typical of the kind of shit directed at him & it shows the problem he has always had with a section of fans & media.

A bunch of City fans set their stall out against us signing Lescott, many of whom were confirmed Hughes haters. A load of media sided with 'good ol Moysie' against City & Lescott at the time.

Few of them have ever been able to admit since then if Lescott plays well, only seeing & memorising his mistakes.

A mistake from Lescott, is worth five or six from anyone else.

He was a key part of us winning the title & 40 years ago would have got huge respect for it. These days he just gets shit from the same people who had it in for him since the day he signed.

I bet there's not one single person, who didn't give Lescott shit when we first signed him, but gives him shit now. Not fucking one.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

You know what's hilarious? Lescott was brilliant for us in the title winning season but the only thing some fans remember is hiss mess up in the QPR game. A game we won anyway.
It's just ridiculous at times.

He wasn't brilliant at all, he had numerous lacklustre performances.

Then neither was Kompany.

Your £24 million comment & the fact you are happy to go back two seasons to find something to pick on Lescott, but ignore the 2nd goal, is typical of the kind of shit directed at him & it shows the problem he has always had with a section of fans & media.

A bunch of City fans set their stall out against us signing Lescott, many of whom were confirmed Hughes haters. A load of media sided with 'good ol Moysie' against City & Lescott at the time.

Few of them have ever been able to admit since then if Lescott plays well, only seeing & memorising his mistakes.

A mistake from Lescott, is worth five or six from anyone else.

He was a key part of us winning the title & 40 years ago would have got huge respect for it. These days he just gets shit from the same people who had it in for him since the day he signed.

I bet there's not one single person, who didn't give Lescott shit when we first signed him, but gives him shit now. Not fucking one.

My only 'disappointment' regarding Lescott is that he hasn't got anywhere near the amount of goals from free kicks or corners that he did for Everton, he got ten in one season for them! However that really is being picky and overall he's been a great servant and a great player for us who has played a huge role in our recent success.

[carl_feedthegoat]

At the end of the day 90 k a week for someone like him is fucking shocking...this is a major reason why City are not interested in him remaining with us.

He is history.

And the other 3 can fucking join him.