Man City Post Match Thread - first defeat in 12

[Mike Oxlong]

When they press we have to by pass it by going long - we then have Vardy up against their suspect defence 

 

Baffled why we didn’t do this more 

[foxinsox]

We have looked rather flat all three games this week. 

 

But look on the bright side, safe at Christmas on 39 points, in second place. As we all know, when Liverpool are in first place at Christmas, the second place team picks up the trophy! 😎

[Jonezy]

That Man City team can be the best in the world when they are on it and today we probably faced exactly that and lost deservedly. Masterclass from them. Respect.

 

We need to show more steel in games like this and get into them, instead of just backing off. Was hoping we were better than this, but maybe we have also hit poor form finally.

 

Oh well, can't win them all. Heads up everyone! 

[NaijaFox]

4 minutes ago, Sampson said:

In other news, Vardy is still good and just a step above.

 

Still cant believe there were people voting Soyunchu or Ndidi as our player of the season so far.

 

If Vardy doesn't win it this season it will be daylight robbery.

All 3 players have been SUPERB this season (which is not even halfway over). Let’s not overact on account of one game.

[KingsX]

Ironic that's the most goals we've given up in the PL under Rodgers; and yet Kasper was my MotM. 

 

Five days for Rodgers to rethink.  Klopp will take a lesson on tactics from today.  Onward and upward.

[reynard]

A massive reality check for some of our fans. Truth is Liverpool and Man City are streets ahead of every other team in the league. We need some investment in January or even staying in the top 4 will be very difficult,

We have some very good players but the bench isn't good enough at the very top. Too many players are having to play and perform at 8 out of 10 levels each and every game. This isn't sustainable.

They were very very good and utterly outclassed us to be fair. De Bruyne probably the best player in the league at the moment.

[TheF1Bob]

As good as City were, they still needed help from the refs for this result.

 

Oh well.

[North Leeds Fox]

Beaten by a brilliant side. Could see how much fresher a lot of their players were that didn't play in midweek. Wasnt our best day but it shows where we need to improve and things for rodgers to work on. Hopefully better back at the KP on boxing day. 

[Guest An Sionnach]

We are second in the premiership, wide players who can really make a difference would cost us far too much. We paid 30 million for Perez!

[Pliskin]

Say what you want, point fingers at who you want and moan about Rodger and “getting it wrong” all you like, they’re fantastic side... When their front line is firing like that not many can stop them. It’s tough to take but ultimately with the amount of talent they had today all pulling together you can’t do much to stop it. 
 

We started well enough, but they found a way and punished us for our inadequacies. Man City are well out our league, they’ve had a wobble but KDB for me is the best player in the league when he is on form, and unfortunately for us he was. 
 

They were well worth their win, we offered little and really struggled to cope with their relentless pressure, Chilwell struggles sometimes when under pressure, so Mahrez went for him and left him bamboozled. They pull you all over the park, N’didi was often left on his own to face more than one player, Tielemans crowded out every time he got the ball so he was unable to recycle possession, Maddison just could not be found. 
 

We have an opportunity to finish in the top four, and that is what we need to focus on, we can’t lose focus of that or lose heart. Despite the recent dip City are still miles away, from everyone else at full strength.

 

we’ve just been on a phenomenal run of wins, we’re a fantastic side, we’re just not as good as Man City and the many millions they have in their side.

[Rusko187]

Could be disappointed, but in truth we've been having a great season.... so I'm just going to finish my beer and chill tonight!

[wardyfox86]

There's 2 teams head and shoulders above anyone on their day. We aren't one of them. 

 

The aim is to be in the mix for Champions League, so the best if the rest. 

[Houdini Logic]

Still 11 points clear for Champions League football... 12 including our incredible goal difference. Life is alright

[reynard]

Just now, An Sionnach said:

We are second in the premiership, wide players who can really make a difference would cost us far too much. We paid 30 million for Perez!

If we really want to be a top 4 side then the money will at some point probably have to be spent. It's ok shopping in Lidl but sometimes you can only find what you want in Waitrose.

[Tom12345]

Vardy - brilliant in a game where he is so isolated and should be left disappointed by his teammates. Worldclass player.

 

Kasper and Evans - solid and if not for them two the scoreline could be worst.

 

Maddison - a shout out for him. I think he did alright in the circumstances and he had the right ideas in terms of dropping back to help out.

 

Tielemans - disappointing yet again. Poor passing, loose in possession and did not work half as hard as his midfield partner.

 

Chilly - oh dear. He has been truly found out by Man City today. His defensive fragilities were exposed badly and he was probably specifically targeted by Man City following what was also a poor showing at Norwich.

 

Albrighton - did well in the limited time he was on and he should now definitively start ahead of ineffective constantly falling over Perez.

[Chrysalis]

3 minutes ago, Mike Oxlong said:

When they press we have to by pass it by going long - we then have Vardy up against their suspect defence 

 

Baffled why we didn’t do this more 

It took us 85 mins to start playing ,we gave them way too much space especially Mahrez.

 

Sadly it does seem Brendan doesnt know how to setup against the best teams, I was shouting at the screen for them to press.

 

Right now we on track for 72 points.  We can get top 4 without beating the top 6 but it means winning 26-27 out of 28 games against the bottom 14, depending how many draws we get on the top 6.  The draw against norwich probably means we need to get a win against one top 6 side, or at least a couple more draws against them.

[Sampson]

Just now, NaijaFox said:

All 3 players have been SUPERB this season (which is not even halfway over). Let’s not overact on account of one game.

Vardy is producing a once-in-a-lifetime season we will likely never see from Leicester again.

 

Nothing to do with today. Of course Soyunchu and Ndidi have been superb, but Vardy is producing probably the greatest ever season of any Leicester player. The hipster vote saying anyone but Vardy has been POTY is just being edgy for the sake of being edgy.

[NaijaFox]

Don’t want to pick out just one player, but Tielemans sorely needs to pick it up or take a seat on the bench.

[jmono84]

Any team would have outplayed us today... we have a real problem with our wingers, they offered nothing nothing except for a great pass by Barnes... we need better quality there

[splinterdream]

2 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

I think criticising the tactical setup today is valid as it didn't do us any favours.

 

But at the same time, individual player performances also let us down. When Norwich beat Man City (and to a lesser extent got a point against us), they did so by playing out of and around the Man City Press. They had confidence to knock the ball around in midfield and tried to play football. We just didn't get that side of our game going very well at all. I think it wasn't until the second half where we had any decent passage of play to shout about.

 

So whilst I think we can be critical of Rodgers for not starting the right way or changing things up, I don't think it would have changed the result. They were simply better than us all over the park tonight.

I think that's spot on. Start of the season BR guilty of showing too much respect to teams, today I thought he didn't show them enough respect. We were better off playing 4-4-2 and playing aggresive long ball kick and rush tactics. Passing it back all the time, standing off them just didn't work. 

[Chrysalis]

1 minute ago, splinterdream said:

I think that's spot on. Start of the season BR guilty of showing too much respect to teams, today I thought he didn't show them enough respect. We were better off playing 4-4-2 and playing aggresive long ball kick and rush tactics. Passing it back all the time, standing off them just didn't work. 

Today needed a press and counter.

 

When we started passing it around to do a build up just seemed bizarre.

[eastendfox]

Their quality at that level of intensity was a class above, their best performance of the season, and we couldn't cope. At best you hope we learn from that and can find an extra gear to match the best when they're at their best. Vardy and Schmeichel can do it, Evans and Soyuncu weren't far off, the rest struggled. 

 

Move on. 

[Livid]

They were up for it, we weren’t really there. 
 

Surprised we started Perez and Barnes. Defensively they don’t offer much and we never really got control of the game to put Man City on the back foot.

 

Couple of soft goals in the deflection and penalty but they were good value for the win. 

[Crazy Kop Corner]

We’ve froze at Man U, Liverpool and Man City - to be expected to some degree and I feel sorry for Vardy as a few of our players don’t turn up for the very big games.

[splinterdream]

2 minutes ago, NaijaFox said:

Don’t want to pick out just one player, but Tielemans sorely needs to pick it up or take a seat on the bench.

He's been poor for a few games imo, musplaced passes and lack of urgency