Madueke should start and Palmer should play centrally, if there is to be any kind of buildup from last season this should have been our plan today.

Boring opening match, old Kovacic outplayed the most expensive duo ever of Enzo and Caicedo.

The positive is Lavia though.

3 minutes ago, KonaKai Blue said:

You say you've watched us last season but flog Petrovic and start Sanchez. Terrible keeper.

What ?  Me ?

44 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Madueke should start and Palmer should play centrally, if there is to be any kind of buildup from last season this should have been our plan today.

Boring opening match, old Kovacic outplayed the most expensive duo ever of Enzo and Caicedo.

The positive is Lavia though.

Can we go back to Athletico and offer them Enzo instead of Conor?

Felt that was a reasonably good start in terms of performance given the opposition, though I can see fernandez becoming an albatross for him (and us) if he feels obliged to keep him in the team. 

lol clearlake has fcked up Chelsea pretty bad.. playing Enzo in the Gallagher role.. what is Maresca on.. Enzo should be given the same treatment as chilwell.. no place in this system.. 

 

3 minutes ago, g3.7 said:

Felt that was a reasonably good start in terms of performance given the opposition, though I can see fernandez becoming an albatross for him (and us) if he feels obliged to keep him in the team. 

Reality is going to hit hard with when we face Wolves next week and put in the same performance. City today were the weakest they are ever going to be this season, there was no better time to play them, and we still had nothing to counter them.

If we play like this again against Wolves, they will beat us.

2 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Reality is going to hit hard with when we face Wolves next week and put in the same performance. City today were the weakest they are ever going to be this season, there was no better time to play them, and we still had nothing to counter them.

If we play like this again against Wolves, they will beat us.

Wolves have had our number the last couple of seasons, so it isn't a fixture I look forward to. It also comes right after a Thursday night game when we will be looking to build a first leg lead against Servette.

5 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Reality is going to hit hard with when we face Wolves next week and put in the same performance. City today were the weakest they are ever going to be this season, there was no better time to play them, and we still had nothing to counter them.

If we play like this again against Wolves, they will beat us.

By the same token there's going to be no better time to play us either - early on in the development of the team and squad, some players undercooked after summer etc etc. 

I think we have to put aside whether you like the style of football (because it is what it is) - in terms of execution it wasn't bad as a start, considering the factors I mentioned. 

We made a few chances and conceded a few (but not a lot), and we kept the ball fairly well against a well organised pressing side. A lot of people have been worried about marescas possible lack of pragmatism but we saw some of that today. Obviously there's a hundred questions that remain unanswered but like I said, I thought it was a reasonable start. 

24 minutes ago, g3.7 said:

By the same token there's going to be no better time to play us either - early on in the development of the team and squad, some players undercooked after summer etc etc. 

I think we have to put aside whether you like the style of football (because it is what it is) - in terms of execution it wasn't bad as a start, considering the factors I mentioned. 

We made a few chances and conceded a few (but not a lot), and we kept the ball fairly well against a well organised pressing side. A lot of people have been worried about marescas possible lack of pragmatism but we saw some of that today. Obviously there's a hundred questions that remain unanswered but like I said, I thought it was a reasonable start. 

The meltdown is genuinely mad, I must have been watching a different game to half the fanbase as I thought we were alright, uninspiring but not awful. Fairly scrappy Haaland chance and a Sanchez howler cost us. We wasted multiple very good goalscoring situations. There was about a combined 10cm in 2 situations away from us being 1-0 up at half time. 

Bar Rodri, it was a stellar line-up in Guardiola's 9th season at the club. It does not matter whether it is the 1st round or the last one when they have already secured the league title, Guardiola is unique in world football and his team will always dominate whoever they play against no matter the time of the season. 

City are lucky to have hit the jackpot with Guardiola. Soon he will leave. Let's see if they are capable of being the same juggernaut. I personally am 100% they won't be as dominant as they are and all this because of this brilliant manager. Nobody can replicate his style of play no matter how many years they spend as his assistant.

45 minutes ago, g3.7 said:

By the same token there's going to be no better time to play us either - early on in the development of the team and squad, some players undercooked after summer etc etc. 

I think we have to put aside whether you like the style of football (because it is what it is) - in terms of execution it wasn't bad as a start, considering the factors I mentioned. 

We made a few chances and conceded a few (but not a lot), and we kept the ball fairly well against a well organised pressing side. A lot of people have been worried about marescas possible lack of pragmatism but we saw some of that today. Obviously there's a hundred questions that remain unanswered but like I said, I thought it was a reasonable start. 

The difference is that we have been like this for years now. This isn't something new under Maresca, we've been playing this way for a long time now, Maresca is just the type of coach to double down on it. We will play this way many times again from now until the end of the season. We'll be here at Christmas seeing this exact same performance, low energy, bored fans, plodding along doing nothing whilst the opposition play with speed and making their fans excited to watch them as they take multiple shots per game and play entertaining football. This is will be the norm for us and I have no reason to believe it will be any different.

Edited August 18, 20241 yr by Scott Harris

20 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

The difference is that we have been like this for years now. This isn't something new under Maresca, we've been playing this way for a long time now, Maresca is just the type of coach to double down on it. We will play this way many times again from now until the end of the season. We'll be here at Christmas seeing this exact same performance, low energy, bored fans, plodding along doing nothing whilst the opposition play with speed and making their fans excited to watch them as they take multiple shots per game and play entertaining football. This is will be the norm for us and I have no reason to believe it will be any different.

I don't really agree that it is the same tbh. Certain fundamentals in top football have changed and that includes building out from the back, so in that regard there is more homogeneity, but what maresca wants is I think quite clearly different from what pochettino wants (for better and for worse).  

In any case I don't think it is fair to judge him on what previous managers have done, and I don't think it is fair to judge him on stuff that hasn't yet happened either!

2 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Boring opening match, old Kovacic outplayed the most expensive duo ever of Enzo and Caicedo.

Embarrassing really. 

The fact that there were a group of 'fans' at the ground today booing is an absolute disgrace by the way. First game of the season under a new manager against the best team in the world, the fanbase is so unbelievably toxic right now.

I’m reserving judgement until I’ve see a few more games but my gut feeling wasn’t particularly positive. We barely landed a glove on City or put any real sustained pressure. I’m hoping that it was just because Marseca was being very cautious. 
 

Gary Neville called us “basic” today but kind of sums it up. 

3 minutes ago, JM7 said:

I’m reserving judgement until I’ve see a few more games but my gut feeling wasn’t particularly positive. We barely landed a glove on City or put any real sustained pressure. I’m hoping that it was just because Marseca was being very cautious. 
 

Gary Neville called us “basic” today but kind of sums it up. 

I think it was very cautious because of the opposition. We didn't build from the back like we have done pre-season, we didn't play inverted full backs and we played 3 CMs.

Edited August 18, 20241 yr by timetowaste

3 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

I think it was very cautious because of the opposition. We didn't build from the back like we have done pre-season, we didn't play inverted full backs and we played 3 CMs.

Yeah Sky’s commentary also pointed that out and said in pre-season we were a lot more aggressive. 

1 hour ago, timetowaste said:

The fact that there were a group of 'fans' at the ground today booing is an absolute disgrace by the way. First game of the season under a new manager against the best team in the world, the fanbase is so unbelievably toxic right now.

Disagree. Fans don't even see their club anymore, it's been turned into something unrecognisable. They want to feel something again, not watch these miserable dead performances every single week. They were getting that towards the end of last season, and because of these owners, that has disappeared again. They pay good money, they have every right to feel entitled to be entertained, and they haven't been getting that for a very long time now.

Played a safe game , which is completely understandable. You don't want repeat that game in pre-season and end up losing 6:2 on the first outing in front of your boss. We can't play like a billion dollar team, because we reboot every season with a new manager, and most of our money are spent on the 'future prospect'. The City game is pressure free, the scrutiny will come in if we fail to beat the likes of Brentford, WestHam, Everton etc.

Staying patient for now, but not lowering expectations.  For the money, squad, and stature of the club, we have to start winning.  The defense was better today, but we had no real momentum through midfield and attack looked like it was the first time they had played together.  Maybe the Europa Conference league will give the game time we actually need. 

22 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

Staying patient for now, but not lowering expectations.  For the money, squad, and stature of the club, we have to start winning.  The defense was better today, but we had no real momentum through midfield and attack looked like it was the first time they had played together.  Maybe the Europa Conference league will give the game time we actually need. 

There is a reason Cucurella came off with cramp today, and why Pep did not use players like Walker and Stones.

Palmer and Cucu should have been given more time off and eased back in slowly. Likely they will suffer for this during the season.

Conference league should be for those not being used in the league.

17 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

There is a reason Cucurella came off with cramp today, and why Pep did not use players like Walker and Stones.

Palmer and Cucu should have been given more time off and eased back in slowly. Likely they will suffer for this during the season.

Conference league should be for those not being used in the league.

Agree. Be good to run out Madueke, KDH, Badiashile, Neto, maybe even one or two younger kids. But you’re right about time off and eased back in  

I meant somewhat over time I think these players need the games to learn the system. 

Unexpected result as I didn't think Maresca would lose a game all season based on what I saw against Club America. 

Enzo Fernandez is a problem, trying to play far too forward where he has to run at players and receive the ball back-to-goal. I'm not clear on whether this is a coaching problem or an Enzo problem but my money is on the latter. 

Given his off-field antics and the damage he has done to the dressing room and club reputation, if he's no use on the field then the club just needs to bin him. His amortization value is something like 11m, even a Serie A club would have a go at that.

7 hours ago, timetowaste said:

I think it was very cautious because of the opposition. We didn't build from the back like we have done pre-season, we didn't play inverted full backs and we played 3 CMs.

It was very strange for me. Maresca has always maintained  that he will stick with his system come hell or high water but he definitely changed it today. I did see some positives today but felt Maresca doesn't know what his best team is yet.  I don't think the USA pre season tour helped one bit.

8 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Disagree. Fans don't even see their club anymore, it's been turned into something unrecognisable. They want to feel something again, not watch these miserable dead performances every single week. They were getting that towards the end of last season, and because of these owners, that has disappeared again. They pay good money, they have every right to feel entitled to be entertained, and they haven't been getting that for a very long time now.

So do you really think that booing the manager, the owners and the players on the first game of a new season is the way to do make fans "feel something again"? How can you honestly sit there and say that this is useful in any way? Fans creating a hostile environment towards their own team to the point where players prefer playing away from home. If you can't see that this is a problem then I can't help you.
 

It's all well and good being intent on having a negative mindset like some of you guys on here where it has no effect on the players, but to hear your own fans booing you at home, first game of the season under a new manager against the best team in the country is just self serving garbage and shows they don't give a sh*t about the club.