Match Report and MOM v Citeh...

AFCB Lost in Brum said:
Anyone who was surprised we went to a back five against one of the very best sides in Europe needs their head testing.

Knowing that, anyone who was surprised EH then picked tried and tested PL players over Harry Wilson really does need their head testing.

Mepham had a good game and is an undeserving scapegoat.

The 'ease we were carved out at the back' wasn't down to our failure, it's because Citeh are just brilliant.

I hate the fuckers but their quick, one touch passing, often while off balance and moving at speed was nothing short of beautiful. 99% of sides across Europe can't contain that.

The reason we didn't get a point wasn't down to our defenders, it was because significant chances weren't taken up front and almost all our corners were wasted.

Ramsdale getting a 6 is ridiculous. He did nothing wrong against Citeh, did a lot right and, unlike his predecessors, repeatedly helped our attacks.

Generally though, the persistent heroes and villains trope is lazy.

Two games ago people rushed to pile in on Rico. It was really embarrassing.

Fast forward to this match. We played the (now annual) PL Champions and put on a great team performance but it's reduced to blaming Mepham/team selection and slipping in yet another irrelevant eulogy to the ghost of Arter. That's just so TalkSport.

I need to stop reading these. Even playing Dawson Match Report Bingo isn't funny any more.
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Rather than stopping reading the reports I think you need to read them more carefully. ;)It was a good performance and I don’t know how many times I had to write that for you to read it.

Eddie came straight out after disappointed with the defending for the goals but we are not allowed to point it out because we were playing Man C?

They did cut through us, but never got behind Ake or Cook. It was always Mepham with Smith. That’s a fact, it’s not scapegoating. They scored from our throw in. Eddie went ballistic but I have to write a report saying it was Aguero and we are not worthy?

Rico switched off for a free kick v Sheff U and was subsequently dropped for the next game and had to watch a right winger playing left back on the third game. Again, facts... not scapegoating. Scapegoating is blaming a player for relegation not the errors of one game.

We did play well. I personally have a view five at the back doesn’t suit us until we learn to play it properly, I also said whatever system we played was highly likely to get beaten.

I think you are looking for stuff that isn’t there.
 
Mepham and Smith has Sterling up against them , arguably the most potent player at attacking space in behind , I suspect the left side may have been exposed by his pace too .
 
Neil Dawson said:
Rather than stopping reading the reports I think you need to read them more carefully. ;)It was a good performance and I don’t know how many times I had to write that for you to read it.

Eddie came straight out after disappointed with the defending for the goals but we are not allowed to point it out because we were playing Man C?

They did cut through us, but never got behind Ake or Cook. It was always Mepham with Smith. That’s a fact, it’s not scapegoating. They scored from our throw in. Eddie went ballistic but I have to write a report saying it was Aguero and we are not worthy?

Rico switched off for a free kick v Sheff U and was subsequently dropped for the next game and had to watch a right winger playing left back on the third game. Again, facts... not scapegoating. Scapegoating is blaming a player for relegation not the errors of one game.

We did play well. I personally have a view five at the back doesn’t suit us until we learn to play it properly, I also said whatever system we played was highly likely to get beaten.

I think you are looking for stuff that isn’t there.
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Your facts are nonsense.

They walked through both Cook and Ake for their all important third. We were arguably on top at that point too.
 
SlowDownDerek said:
Your facts are nonsense.

They walked through both Cook and Ake for their all important third. We were arguably on top at that point too.
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They didn’t though. They came in through the same right channel of ours. From our throw in on the right wing. Ake came across to block the shot. Cook was on the left moving into the middle where he should have been and also came across. It’s where they were allowed to come in from (for all three goals). It’s plain viewing.
 
It’s funny with all the back and forth ,and defense of our opinions the MOM match report gradually makes the players performances sound worse and worse than they actually were . I think we all agree and the OP stated it in the match report it was a “good loss “everyone put in a shift and with a couple of lucky breaks we could have squeezed a result against an extremely strong side .
 
RobTrent said:
I think we did try and mix it up a little. We went more long ball than I've seen for a long time.
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We did. Some of the punts at Wilson were vintage Stoke. I think the plan was to get him, King and Fraser to pull City back so they were playing their football out of our half not in front of our back five. It worked well for periods.

It was also quite exciting. It’s been a long time since we have witnessed a big punt forward with the crowd getting on it. It might catch on ;)
 
Neil Dawson said:
We did. Some of the punts at Wilson were vintage Stoke. I think the plan was to get him, King and Fraser to pull City back so they were playing their football out of our half not in front of our back five. It worked well for periods.

It was also quite exciting. It’s been a long time since we have witnessed a big punt forward with the crowd getting on it. It might catch on ;)
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Thats your plan to get your dreamboat manager, Tony Pulis, back at DC. ;-)
 
Neil Dawson said:
They didn’t though. They came in through the same right channel of ours. From our throw in on the right wing. Ake came across to block the shot. Cook was on the left moving into the middle where he should have been and also came across. It’s where they were allowed to come in from (for all three goals). It’s plain viewing.
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They absolutely did walk through both players for that goal.
 
SlowDownDerek said:
They absolutely did walk through both players for that goal.
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Ake won the ball with a block. Aguero pounced on the rebound. They came through the right hand side to score it, from our throw in in a right wing defensive position.

I know you always like to argue black is white with anything I say but that’s pure comedy gold.
 
Neil Dawson said:
Ake won the ball with a block. Aguero pounced on the rebound. They came through the right hand side to score it, from our throw in in a right wing defensive position.

I know you always like to argue black is white with anything I say but that’s pure comedy gold.
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I'm not arguing black is white I'm saying they walked through both Cook and Ake on their way to goal, which they did.

Cook's was the bigger error and Ake was exposed because of it but both were more to blame that Mepham or Smith.
 
SlowDownDerek said:
I'm not arguing black is white I'm saying they walked through both Cook and Ake on their way to goal, which they did.

Cook's was the bigger error and Ake was exposed because of it but both were more to blame that Mepham or Smith.
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I actually agree with you here but it’s a bit of a worry that we are debating the culpability of 4 separate players in a particular goal. Yes it was Man City, but it was also rubbish defending
 
thegazzyb said:
Agree with this. Generally we hold our own pretty well in a good old ding dong. We always struggle badly when teams pay us too much respect and are happy to just sit back. We need to be better at creating goals in these sorts of games. It is another area where I would like to see an improvement this season. With those sorts of opponents we might need to score from a corner or a free kick, it could be our only opportunity. This is why I think the importance of using corner kicks and free kicks effectively should not be underestimated and if we are lacking in that department it is definitely something worth spending valuable training time on to improve it. With Stanislas out it seems H.Wilson should be our go to man for free kicks from now on. Those taking the corner kicks should be given more training time to focus on the accuracy of their delivery. These small details can change results, our corners against City were by and large completely toothless.
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I hope that L. Cook and Brooks will inspire some creativity when they are back to help us break down the types of teams that have frustrated us. I am really quite pleased with the personnel of this side when healthy, we should definitely be able to reach a historic points total this season.
(or, just stay off the bottom! :throw:
 
Neil Dawson said:
H-Bomb doesn't wipe out City.

For those not obsessed with points there are poor wins and there are good defeats ..


That said - whatever formation you pick City normally find a solution so today was about could we put in the effort and bravery and could we make the key moments count. Two out of three ain't bad and a lot of positives to take into training this week.
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Thanks for the report Neil. I'm not sure I'd want to defend every word / sentence afterwards though!

I thought King deserved a higher score. Lerma my MoM.
I think the Lerma / Billing partnership will prosper this season, we'll have a great midfield in a 4-3-3 formation with Lewis Cook back.

Further thoughts, our corners at the moment are rubbish and I never expect anything from them at the moment.

Cheers!
 
SlowDownDerek said:
Smith wasn't very good either but Rico was particularly poor in his passing and positioning. Smith has shown that he has these skills and Rico hasn't so far in a cherries shirt.
I'd pick him and hope to play him into form personally but he definitely needs to improve if he's going to be worth his place.
One thing that we can't agree to disagree on is that he got dropped after that performance and appears to be down the pecking order behind Fraser as a left wingback. He had a similarly poor performance at Burnley last year and was hooked off at half time and not seen again for ages.
It appears that it's not just people on here that think he needs to improve.
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We'll agree to disagree on the Sheff U game.

However Rico not getting on against Citeh was only part of the story.

I too initially saw it as him simply being out of favour but then Ibe replaced Smith at RB in the same game.

So then our full backs were two attacking wingers facing Man City, a game that's guaranteed to see them pinned back 90% of the time.

People around me thought EH had a game plan with the substitutions and defenders weren't part of it.

But, although we were always chasing a point, the realities of playing the top side in the PL meant we might not have any choice but just defend and defend and defend, etc.

Either way, Eddie's substitution decisions have me flummoxed so far.
 
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