VAR- City Match

Looks like Pochettinos lucky streak continues , City were and are a class above us in terms of quality of play , movement , on and off the ball etc.

VAR working in our favour twice , firstly the rugby tackle from Lamela on Rodri which was a blatant pen was ignored and then the handball which led to the goal being disallowed.

Not complaining that decisions went our way of course but the ridiculous jubilation of having our inept display covered over by this is just pure denial of the gulf between the 2 sides and why City will be genuine Title Contenders compared to our Title Pretenders over the course of a season.

Now a point away at the Citizens is nothing to be sniffed at and I would've taken that before kick off so it's a case of a point gained for us and 2 dropped for City so no complaint there.

But to think we were anywhere near good enough for the point is being disingenuous to say the least.

This incessant passing from Left back to Right back via a couple one twos between the Centre halves and Lloris in an area as pushed up as the edge of the area and as deep as the 6 yard box is a complete joke , not only is it dull as it's also suicidal especially with as many weak passers we have in those positions.
One inevitable mistake and your already under huge pressure without the attack really having to do much, it's ridiculous and we were fortunate not to have conceded a bag full playing this way.

Both Cities goals coming from quick passing and getting accurate supply from wide into the box early left our defence looking like statues (please Poch, Full Backs, Midfield, Attacking Mids take note)

Lamela having tried his hand at Rugby League earlier in the game actually for once saw an opportunity from Edersons bad positioning was decisive and took his goal well completely against the run of play.

For large spells of the 1st half it looked like City Vs our back 5 the rest of our team shadow chasing , couldn't string 3 passes together (unless across our goal of course zzzzz)

The introduction of Moura in the 2nd half gave us the shot in the arm of pace we so drastically needed and what an introduction it was , 1st touch beats Walker to the jump and glances a great header in (what's he got to do to be a starter?)

The game wore on and it became less trenched in our final 3rd but still City looked the better side and come the dying moments the goal they really over all deserved was cancelled out and according to the new rules was rightly disallowed so there can't be much complaint there.
Had it been seasons past it would have been a goal and on the balance of play could say it was deserved.

But VAR favoured us again and as I said a point away to City is the main thing.

I'm yet to see anything remotely coherent in our play , again most of our attack looked stranded and non existent lacking in pace, movement , creativity etc

Newcastle up next followed by the Scum both are games I want to see a big improvement on our style of play putting both to the sword.

I prefer watching my side playing with conviction and earning their points rather than clinging on and relying on VAR personally.

 

Fair report
I think that City playing like that are going to steam roller anyone. De Bruyne makes them a class apart and Pep alluded to it being the best they had played

I actually think we would have been better with Moura starting instead of CE. CE never got in the game and needs more time on the ball which he wasn’t given. Lamela coped with that much better

Sissy was our best outlet to start things moving but still needs to not panic when he has to do the final ball

Great result for us , let’s hope Ali and son help get us on track by the time we play the NLD

COYS

 

Man. city are a top team, with a top coach so getting a draw is a good result. The performance was that of a team in transition, it was like 11 individuals and not a cohesive unit, Mp seems to struggle to place players where they will play best.
Playing CE LM showed up his weakness and negated his strength's. He looked lost and it is no surprise that the source to both goals came down the left. CE is a nailed on no10/am this is where he can pick a pass and create goal scoring opportunities, how mp can't see this is beyond me.
I hope CE is sold not because he is a bad player, i just think spurs might get a balanced team without Mp having to think too much about where to fit in CE.
Mp doesn't know his best 11 i am afraid he will continue to play square pegs in round holes which seems to be his forte.

 

Missing Son and Dele reduces our choices of quality options. Holding breath and praying for the real team to show up.

 

We lost both ties last season. There was nothing personnel wise that would warrant anything different. The loss was expected. We got two goals on two SOGs. Spurs got one point. VAR saved, whilst Jesus didn't. Bruce with his Magpies are coming. COYS!!!

 

When Maureen says that City's B team is one of the top four premier sides you know beating the first team is gonna be a struggle man o man. So how else would you play it - contain, contain and break seems the right approach to me. 23 vs 3 attempts on goal and two of ours went in. That's pretty good productivity. A little sick of hearing how we were outclassed and lucky. VAR and the ref did what the rules say - who raised the handball alert - were we distracted in defence. Who knows. No one else in the league could have gotten a draw with key players absent - give the man some credit.

 

If you think what we did was 'containing' when the stats say 23 attempts on goal, that's hanging on.
There's a big difference between the 2 ,one your in control of what's going on the other your riding your luck.
We rode our luck big time.

 

I hate to be a smartass, but wasn't it thirty attempts, not just a mere twenty-three? Anyway, totally agree about Pochettino's incredible luck - the contrast between his last two matches against City, and those of some of his recent predecessors is quite something. I doubt any of us will ever forget the away game in 2011/12, when we came back from 2-o down, could/should have won it when Defoe missed a sitter, and then lost it in stoppage time to a penalty scored by Balotelli, who was retrospectively banned for his earlier foul on Parker, instead of being red-carded at the time.
Then there was Sherwood's turn a couple of years later, when we were pushing for an equaliser at 1-0 down in the second half, only for Rose to be penalised for a perfectly good tackle, giving away a penalty and getting sent-off in the process, the final score of 5-1 to City being almost as flattering to them as Saturday's 2-2 was to us. So many injustices in the past (frequently at Old Trafford), but hardly any under Pochettino (and I don't count the Sissoko CL Final penalty - I'd have wanted a pen if it had happened at the other end), whose contract with the devil (the horned one with the goat's bottom half, not the bald one with the permanently erect pay packet) unfortunately seems to exclude trophies - too bad!

 

Yes it was 30 to our 3 , 1 of our 3 being the 60yard shank from Kane aswell.
It was a 30 chance containment masterclass obviously.....

 

So we were totally outclassed....and we drew. It's a funny old game for sure. It was such a painful watch, too narrow at the back, Sterling with acres of space, nobody assigned to DeBryne to block the stream of passes and crosses.

Eriksen no show, Ndombele passed by totally, he was off the pace, despite the assist. Lloris faffing and farting around across his 6 yard box. Does he do it to prove he can ffs or just to give us all heart failure?

KWP needed support early on, which never came quick enough - put Sissoko there to help. The lad didn't do so bad, despite being up against a potential 30 goal forward in Sterling.

The Arse will be a test, for sure. Murder the Bar Codes first.

COYS

 

Re Eriksen.. Couldn't believe the praised heaped upon him by the media after the villa game last week especially on soccer Saturday talking like he's a world beater. Can't argue with his stats for spurs but Kevin de bruyne he ain't.. To me he should play in the no10 or not at all. He's awful when he plays as an orthodox centre mid. Not too fussed whether he stays or not but personally I'd sell rather than lose for nothing. If he stays the squad is in great shape as we will have eriksen alli will no longer be guaranteed starters highlighting the strength in depth we now have with Son still to return. Parrot cannot be far off a call up. Also missing Saturday aurier wanyama Davies foyth. All those missing v a full strength city squad who for my money are easily the best side in world football in which I'd include international teams. On the negative side winks needs to really improve his work off the ball as he was at fault for both goals Saturday.

 

A little one on sissoko.. He struggled for his first 3 seasons playing out wide and then last season was unbelievable in a central role. Then Saturday we see him play pretty much wide right again and he struggled. Personally I'd play a 433 like Lpool do with a narrow mid of dier sissoko ndombele. Up top a narrow 3 with Kane in between moura and Son. Kane can drop into the no10 leaving space for the other 2 to run into and feeding off his thru balls and flick ons. As soon as moura came on Saturday city's backline dropped 15 yards or so and we got bk into the game. That would leave a bench consisting of alli eriksen winks lo celso lamela vertonghen gazza.

 

Like Palmover said earlier Poch doesn't know his best 11 , which after entering his 6th year with us is laughable and just goes to show how utterly clueless his and Levy's transfer strategies have been.

A suspect GK and inexperienced RB , can't make his mind up about the CB trio conundrum, Shoe horns in Winks CE Lamela Alli whenever they're fit regardless.
Couple all this with no width , little pace, slow passing and this is where the project is going.
Just as Toby CE n Jan all look to be available on frees in the summer currently if not fire sold before Sept 2nd. All must be bemused with where it's all heading.

 

We do seem to be stuck in between systems again and far too many centre mids. Dier wanyama winks Skipp wanyama sissoko lo celso ndombele all vying for 2 Centre mid spots. 3 if we play a 433 or a diamond.

 

The good news is that spurs have better squads than Man.u and chelsea, the arse look like they will be spurs main rival for 3rd place.
I do agree that spurs do lack pace up front, however, there is enough talent to put together a fluid team.
The positives for me have been Kwp who has done well and Lamela who at least is now contributing, hopefully he can stay fit.

On present form, fitness and team balance a team consisting of.
Lloris
Kwp sanchez verts rose

sisoko tanguy

Lucas locelso lamela

kane

Subs Ses, dele, son, winks, toby, dier

squad serge, foyth, wanyama, davies, gkn, skip, parrot.

As well as selling Ce levy could get away with selling wanyama and possibly serge.

The players have to know that if they perform below par there is someone waiting to take their place, up to now Mp seems to play his favs even if they play bad, that has to change.

 

Stuck between 2?
We don't even have 1 anymore

 

Spurs looked best playing a 4-2-3-1. That seems to be their strongest. Eriksen looks a goner. Levy will not risk him leaving for free. So Lo Celso will take his place. I believe Wanyama will leave too.

 

The problem is this system relies on quality wing backs as we had in Rose & Walker at their peak, 1 was sold and the other has regressed the replenishment has been ignored.
I agree though Poch needs to get back to basics and stop dicking about with the formation just for inclusion sales.
I'm all for trying different things if things aren't working in a match and having different plans but for the last year or so we've badly missed a steady spine/foundation to build from hence the lack in coherent play.

 

Yes. It worked well in the past with Rose and Walker. But I remember, most of the time when we operated this system, we attack down the right flank. We can do the same now with Rose and attack down the left.

 

I cannot recall any match where City was as good as they were Sat. They could beat any team in the world. They would all look as bad as Spurs.
Why everyone is talking about improvements in attack? Were we outplayed by City because the attack wasn't good? How the better attackers would stop City from domination? We scored 2 goals. It should be enough to win over any opponent. We need to defend better. Lloris cannot control his 6 yard box, not a news, really. First goal could be avoided , if he fisted the cross out. It seems that Poch made him aware of it, so Hugo attempted and miss a few interceptions in second period.. That could have ended bad. Out of top 6 Spurs have the worst G. KWP was better than Trippier defensively. Rose was slow, but anyone would, whilst opposing KDB. Both Sanchez and Tobi did well. 30 attempts resulted in 2 goals, the 3rd could not be scored without handball re-direction to Jesus.
Felon82 wants Levy to spend 400 million on players City did under Pep. You've got to root for the club you've got. Even Arsenal fans aren't as harsh on us.