16 minutes ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

You rate Havertz but not Benzema....you are something else man.

0 shots on target, what's there to rate really? 

So advantage Paris and City through. When was the last time we thrashed someone in a first leg so we could take it easy the second?

A handsome Liverpool win will top it off of my 3 most disliked potential CL winners.

2 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

So advantage Paris and City through. When was the last time we thrashed someone in a first leg so we could take it easy the second?

A handsome Liverpool win will top it off of my 3 most disliked potential CL winners.

The question is when will Man City meet PSG? I think Uefa will delay that till the final.

10 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

0 shots on target, what's there to rate really? 

so you base your opinion on a player off one game ? really?

1 minute ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

so you base your opinion on a player off one game ? really?

I just said he's underwhelming which he was this game just looking at the shots difference. 

2 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

I just said he's underwhelming which he was this game just looking at the shots difference. 

Real Madrid can't do anything in attack, they kept the same trio of Kroos-Modric-Casemiro but without Ronaldo they just look clueless. Not saying that Benzema is a bad player but he's underwhelming.

 

this is your quote. You are basically saying that since Ronaldo left they (Modric Kroos Casemiro) have looked clueless and that Benzema has been underwhelming wich has been the complete opposite.

And for today, Yes Benzema was bad mainly because he missed the last 3 weeks with an harmstring injury and Carlo's gameplan was terrible.

I just dont know where you are going with that first quote.

City look the best to win this time. And they have the experience from the finals last time. 

2 minutes ago, RomansRoubles said:

City look the best to win this time. And they have the experience from the finals last time. 

Plus, they’re arguably at their best since Pep has been there and literally everyone else isn’t even near their best. They can only lose in the final in the one off game as over two legs they can’t be beaten. And I doubt they’ll cock it up two years on the trot by leaving their best two midfielders out of the starting eleven.

29 minutes ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

Real Madrid can't do anything in attack, they kept the same trio of Kroos-Modric-Casemiro but without Ronaldo they just look clueless. Not saying that Benzema is a bad player but he's underwhelming.

 

this is your quote. You are basically saying that since Ronaldo left they (Modric Kroos Casemiro) have looked clueless and that Benzema has been underwhelming wich has been the complete opposite.

And for today, Yes Benzema was bad mainly because he missed the last 3 weeks with an harmstring injury and Carlo's gameplan was terrible.

I just dont know where you are going with that first quote.

Well the fact remains that since Ronaldo left them they couldn't come close to winning the CL again after winning 3 years in a row, they have been missing that edge in the attack for years now. And Benzema can't fill up those shoes but they rely on him even he has been injured? That's very unusual for Real Madrid specially since he's way over 30.

1 hour ago, Snedger said:

Plus, they’re arguably at their best since Pep has been there and literally everyone else isn’t even near their best. They can only lose in the final in the one off game as over two legs they can’t be beaten. And I doubt they’ll cock it up two years on the trot by leaving their best two midfielders out of the starting eleven.

Disagree on that. Pool can beat them over 2 legs, Bayern can too. Everyone else yup no chance. So if they avoid those 2 they make the final imo.

35 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Disagree on that. Pool can beat them over 2 legs, Bayern can too. Everyone else yup no chance. So if they avoid those 2 they make the final imo.

Bayern couldn’t beat an egg at the moment. Liverpool, yes, they’re the one side that possibly could. But I’d still bet on City. Unfortunately it is inevitable that they’ll win it.

23 minutes ago, Snedger said:

Bayern couldn’t beat an egg at the moment. Liverpool, yes, they’re the one side that possibly could. But I’d still bet on City. Unfortunately it is inevitable that they’ll win it.

Can never rule Bayern out. Far as pool goes is not to something said, Anfield plays a huge part in those ties and I think City would buckle under that pressure.

5 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Man City 2:0 up 20 minutes in. They play a 4-3-3 with only 1 defensively oriented midfielder Rodri. Maybe that's why it's so easy for them, top attacking players with constant movement and without a classic striker.

Constant movement ??

3 hours ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

Real Madrid can't do anything in attack, they kept the same trio of Kroos-Modric-Casemiro but without Ronaldo they just look clueless. Not saying that Benzema is a bad player but he's underwhelming.

 

this is your quote. You are basically saying that since Ronaldo left they (Modric Kroos Casemiro) have looked clueless and that Benzema has been underwhelming wich has been the complete opposite.

And for today, Yes Benzema was bad mainly because he missed the last 3 weeks with an harmstring injury and Carlo's gameplan was terrible.

I just dont know where you are going with that first quote.

Benzema is 34. 

12 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Man City 2:0 up 20 minutes in. They play a 4-3-3 with only 1 defensively oriented midfielder Rodri. Maybe that's why it's so easy for them, top attacking players with constant movement and without a classic striker.

Exactly why we need a proper DM ... :-) 

10 hours ago, axman2526 said:

So advantage Paris and City through. When was the last time we thrashed someone in a first leg so we could take it easy the second?

A handsome Liverpool win will top it off of my 3 most disliked potential CL winners.

Probably when we played Jeunesse Hautcharage in the Cup Winners Cup in 1971 !

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/history/more-history/key-matches/key-match30

Quite hilarious that our opponents included a schoolboy, a 40 year old and a guy with one arm in their line up :-) 

7 hours ago, Snedger said:

Unfortunately it is inevitable that they’ll win it.

Just like last year !

 

 

Raheem Sterling's record for Manchester City:

323 appearances, 127 goals, 91 assists. 

His numbers for the Premier League only are 216 appearances, 88 goals and 52 assists. 

Still only 27 years old. I do feel like he goes under the radar a bit but the level of consistency he's shown for City is really impressive. 

4 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Exactly why we need a proper DM ... 🙂

That narrative, that we can't compete because we don't have a proper DM has been false all along. Sorry...

3 hours ago, Gol15 said:

That narrative, that we can't compete because we don't have a proper DM has been false all along. Sorry...

I don't follow your logic. You're envious of City, and yet you argue strongly against any changes in midfield personnel that would enable us to play an attacking 4-3-3 like they do.

None of our current midfielders are classic DMs. It's why Frank wanted Rice, and why we are also linked with Tchouameni. 

We can absolutely compete with them with what we have in Cup competitions, as we proved last year. But if we want another PL title, then something has to give as we don't have enough attacking edge to put the string of wins together that are needed these days. We've demonstrated this shortcoming in spades for 3+ seasons now.

So will Pool out do City tonight? Or match there 5 goals, or accept 3 or 4 as good enough?

19 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

I don't follow your logic. You're envious of City, and yet you argue strongly against any changes in midfield personnel that would enable us to play an attacking 4-3-3 like they do.

None of our current midfielders are classic DMs. It's why Frank wanted Rice, and why we are also linked with Tchouameni. 

We can absolutely compete with them with what we have in Cup competitions, as we proved last year. But if we want another PL title, then something has to give as we don't have enough attacking edge to put the string of wins together that are needed these days. We've demonstrated this shortcoming in spades for 3+ seasons now.

Your logic is that we don't have a proper midfielder despite recent history showig the exact opposite. Frankie stopped playing Jorginho and as a result he got sacked so your example is probably the worst. 

I'm not against new players or a change of key players, I'm against the dumb narrative of 'not having a proper DM is the sole reason for all of our troubles'. Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic is a world class midfield. Even on our average season with them we at the very least reach top 4 and Cup finals.

Man City play a brave game, it doesn't really make a difference for them if Foden and DeBruyne are in the front 3 or in the midfield 3 and it doesn't matter if they play Rodri or Gundogan in the middle, their movement off the ball is amazing and they just play the ball till they get into the box.

All of them are technical and their roles are fluid, I don't envy them but I admire the approach of not even caring to replace Aguero but using what they have in such a way where you don't know where the goal is coming from.

We signed Lukaku and that is going to dictate our playstyle, it already has and it's nowhere near as advanced as Man City's attack is and that has very little or absolutely nothing to do with having Jorginho or Rice on the pitch. We prefer to play with the 3 at the back + Kante which simply can't match the creativity of Man City's 4-3-3 and having the most classical DM that you can think of won't change that.

20 hours ago, mojo said:

it was a quick release shot from the edge of the box not many can score or shoot like that imo

His shooting had been poor up until then yet that was a cracker and alas looks like he is either back to his best or can still deliver the odd piece of sublime skill.

Thought Dunk was unlucky, Elanga came from his blind side and put his foot in front of Dunk, surely there is room for interpretation.

1 hour ago, strider6004 said:

His shooting had been poor up until then yet that was a cracker and alas looks like he is either back to his best or can still deliver the odd piece of sublime skill.

Thought Dunk was unlucky, Elanga came from his blind side and put his foot in front of Dunk, surely there is room for interpretation.

There is indeed. The interpretation is if McGuire does it then no booking, if the opposition does it punish them.

it's annoying how they keep on praising Van Dijk for doing absolutely mundane defensive tasks 

 

ffs he is able to keep up with a 35 yr old Dzeko and they think he is lightning quick 

it's really f**king annoying, he doesn't even do anything special and they keep on praising him

Edited February 16, 20224 yr by azpi28