9 minutes ago, big blue said:

Not sure how anyone can question Tuchel, if he gets backed the same way Klopp and Pep have, then we will some team. 

 

 

This is the first time since Mou the first time (the 2006 Christmas) I feel the manager hasn't been largely responsible for our rut. Infact I feel it's largely thanks to him we've only come out of it with one fluke defeat.

We'd still be in the title race if it wasn't for that managerial freak Guardiola. 

7 minutes ago, Jangz said:

you know the difference in the league nowadays is not your performance but the refrees.. If we get the penalty last game and the red card to mane we close the gap by 4 points. If city doesnt get the dodgy silva penalty thats a gap of 4 points..

People often used to say it evens out over the season, but I don't hear that said much these days. Probably because it was always a load of sh*t. 

Just now, Jangz said:

or influence the ref .. buy the FA.. get Anthony Taylor to ref us..

We also get the soft penalties like the Rudiger ones so we can't complain much.

Lets be honest the PL refs are a merry-go-round of jokers.

If we don't get Taylor, we get either Mike Dean, Clattenburg, Friend and the list goes on. 

1 minute ago, Scott Harris said:

People often used to say it evens out over the season, but I don't hear that said much these days. Probably because it was always a load of sh*t. 

Utd used to get these back in the day .. its City now.. cant remember when we could say that for us.

Even without the goal, Kovacic was absolutely elite today, incredible performance.

Didn't expect that, after going down by two expected the worst, but really boosted my mood seeing how the team came back with two great goals before half-time, and while second half not quite as dramatic, we held our own, could even believably have won it with a bit more luck!

City may be far ahead again this season at the moment, but today  was a big improvement from us on some recent performances, a much more competitive better effort, especially with so many injuries etc.

A not bad at all draw, hope to see more positive performances again in the rest of the season, feck the scousers, and up the Chels!

 

Just now, timetowaste said:

Even without the goal, Kovacic was absolutely elite today, incredible performance.

Been a huge miss. Our best cm now I’d argue

this was such an improvement over the dull chloroformed games we played before 

Kante and Kovacic were magnificent 

 

1 minute ago, Deino said:

We also get the soft penalties like the Rudiger ones so we can't complain much.

Lets be honest the PL refs are a merry-go-round of jokers.

If we don't get Taylor, we get either Mike Dean, Clattenburg, Friend and the list goes on. 

Exactly. And Rudiger could easily have walked in the last game and didn't.  I thought Mane was a red card offence today but i can see why Taylor only gave a yellow. What I don't understand is why it didn't appear that VAR looked at it.

1 minute ago, Adamrb said:

Been a huge miss. Our best cm now I’d argue

Can't agree there. Kante isn't just our best midfielder. He is head and shoulders our best player full stop. 

Trevoh Chalobah hasn't been on a losing side this season. Good recovery from him after the early howlers today.

1 minute ago, loz said:

Exactly. And Rudiger could easily have walked in the last game and didn't.  I thought Mane was a red card offence today but i can see why Taylor only gave a yellow. What I don't understand is why it didn't appear that VAR looked at it.

I chalk it down to incompetence. Probably left it to the ref on the pitch 

6 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I honestly don't know. When I watch them, I can't tell if they have been really good or if the opposition just haven't turned up. One thing is for certain, I rarely see teams put in the same amount of energy against them as they do against us. It's like so many teams approach City with a defeatist attitude. City's games are so boring to watch because they play at such a casual pace but still somehow find it so easy to win. I know it's hard to stop them, but I rarely see teams actually fight like crazy to get something against City like they do against us, Liverpool or United.

I think teams and sportsmen (tennis I have in mind) develop a mental edge / aura of invincibility that comes from winning and just seems to compound their wins. Lesser teams are like “we’d be lucky with a point” and roll over. I remember observing this with United in Ferguson’s heyday.

 

 

Some goal ! 

 

 

1 minute ago, loz said:

Can't agree there. Kante isn't just our best midfielder. He is head and shoulders our best player full stop. 

What is bizarre is that we have a pretty average record when he starts games this season ... P13, W6 D6 L1 ... granted he can't do it all on his own, but unexpected either way !

12 minutes ago, carrickblue said:

the inconsistency in refereeing is definitely a huge factor when the margins between the actual teams are so tight

The finishing of the strikers plays a bigger part I would say. We consistently miss sitters

Well done to the lads on fighting our way back in and not losing to the Kopities. 

Given everything going on with us it was very impressive how we fought back and could have beaten a quality side.

We need that some spirit in all games, not just big ones.

Disappointed to see some turn on Trev for his errors when he was facing elite level forwards and then he recovered well and was a rock. 

4 minutes ago, loz said:

Can't agree there. Kante isn't just our best midfielder. He is head and shoulders our best player full stop. 

Can’t argue re Kante. maybe Kova’s better than Everton standard though 

2 minutes ago, Argo said:

This is the first time since Mou the first time (the 2006 Christmas) I feel the manager hasn't been largely responsible for our rut. Infact I feel it's largely thanks to him we've only come out of it with one fluke defeat.

We'd still be in the title race if it wasn't for that managerial freak Guardiola. 

It's imperative we stay put as a coherent unity, that's what made us really strong in the first place (and a reason to go down hard on Rom because s*** like that corrodes our main strength) - and Idon't have the impression Abramovic is a short sighted idiot: as long as there isn't a locker room revolt (don't see it) and good explanations for some of our performances (think there are obvious ones) and most importantly another elite coach to be had (??- Zidane won't do it) TT won't be fired anytime soon. Funnily enough it's the "fans" that seem to be even more ruthless than Roman.

If TT gets fired after this season he'll be Pep's successor at City the next day with a sabbatical inbetween.

16 minutes ago, carrickblue said:

want us to win the world club thing- I know it's meaningless really but it'd be good to have it on the club's history. apart from that defend the CL as best we can, maybe pick up a cup. that'd still be a half decent season

why would Lukaku not want to be part of a team that played with the spirit shown today. we're just missing a clinical striker. hasn't it always been that way.    

It's like we're cursed to never have a good striker since Drogba or Anelka. Either they don't play well or they ruffle enough feathers to cause backroom drama (Costa and Lukaku). It's honestly depressing at this point.

1 minute ago, Evenflow20 said:

The finishing of the strikers plays a bigger part I would say. We consistently miss sitters

that's so true. if we had Salah..... (oh, we did once) 

 

Kovacic's goal had an XG of 0.02 ! 

5 minutes ago, loz said:

Can't agree there. Kante isn't just our best midfielder. He is head and shoulders our best player full stop. 

I think at their best, Kante is better, but before Kovacic got injured, I preferred him next Jorginho because he was playing so well. Amongst his usual work rate and skill, he was starting to add assists to his game, something he lacked before. In the 8 games he started before his injury, he had 1 goal and 5 assists.

His injury went under the radar compared to the likes of Chilwell and Kante, but it can be argued that we missed him the most.

with Kante and Kova any team would struggle to play with us.. some of their play was breathtaking.. Disappointed in the result, the final third we were not sharp enough.. While mount does a job there i dont think he is a long term forward... Havertz is not a striker; dont think he fits into this system.. 

Pool were there for the taking apart from Salah and Mane and VVD/TAA they are quite average.