didierforever

hence proved that, football knowledge + football know how = 0.

accepted that we should be playing a little more expansive football. but lets take somethings into consideration. we were 5 points ahead of our only real title rivals. if we got a draw, we would be 5 points ahead with having played at goodison and etihad. also, we had a system to play under after the last season's brilliant performance against the same team. why would we change it? city adapted really well. the onus was on them to not make the same mistake twice like arsenal do or pool do. they dint let us counter, they dint over commit. they were prepared to take yellows instead of having hazard and willian run a feet more with the ball than necessary. so we were set up to counter meanwhile city were set up to thwart our counters no matter what. also, i dont think we would be this defensive away from home against all "big" teams. look at everton away. i will be suprised if we play this way against spurs and arsenal away. but this match was a 6 pointer in the title race. also, as good as our squad is, city still has a better squad. they have one of the best squads in europe without a doubt. so i dont think there should be any shame in curbing our attacking play for one game.

totally agree. brainwashed!!!! i mean 2 games against united (4 points), 2 games against arsenal (4 points), 3 games against city (7 points), 2 games against pool (6 points), 2 games against spurs (4 points). this is what jose has done against the other "big teams" in PL since coming back. not losing a single game against them.totally brainwashed. starting DD against schalke was a mistake, but one mistake does not mean he is not the best in the world.

so you basically want us to do what arsene wenger and brendan rodgers do. play "their own game" without a care of who, where and under what circumstances we are playing?

PRECISELY. city were playing THAT good. couple it with the fact that we had a lead to protect, we simply sat back. ridiculing jose for it is absolutely wrong (which is what some people are doing).

they doubled up on hazard with a man down? the post was written in the context of last 10-15mins of the match.

people praise jose for the tactics used. like the ones against city last year. like the one against pool last year. or arsenal where we were playing and running like rabid dogs and simply owned their DMs. also go and read mr.blueguy's posts. he is crtitisizing the tactics. not the performance. so know stuff before u speak.

so u r telling me that city were a man down, yet were able to man mark hazard and cesc and create as much problem as they did to us in the last 15 minutes??? well their os your answer. they were THAT dominant then.

if you see the match, you will know how a team can do that. they were that good. and like you said, they were more probable to win, why? cos they were creating that much problem. maybe it was cos of no willian/oscar in the middle to lend our mid that solidity cos i dont remeber cesc anywhere except for losing balls in the last 10-15 minutes. mikel was static. iva was horrible. schurrle was getting skinned by milner. DD was well... to put it lightly, preoccupied. they were bossing us plus we had a lead to protect. so saying that we willingly conceded possession and that city's dominance had no role to play is wrong. city should get their due.

red card, we were in the lead and we were getting outplayed. cesc and hazard getting caught on the ball and leaving us prone to counters. we dint choose to defend, we were FORCED to defend. their is a massive difference here. it was not jose's tactics to make us defend so deep with 11 to 10. city simply were that good in the last 10 minutes. and there is no shame in admitting that. and that is where i feel you are wrong. we were trying to dominate, but it simply was not happening.

Are people idiotson here. I mean seriously what the fuck is wrong? We have played at etihad and goodison and are 5 points clear off the only title rival. Still people are cribbing. We were getting hanmered put there with a man advantage. Jose chose right to simply play out last minutes. Every time city had the ball it seemed they would score. They had the momentum and the crowd. The lamps goal gave them extra impetus. The DD inclusion was a little weird. I would have chosen remy (if he was on the bench) but costa needed to get off. A red card would have been devastating and he was walking a thin line

Why is tje lampard thread locked? Its the perfect litmus test for a chelsea fan. I mean someone who calls lamps a JUDAS must surely be proper chels

Cech Azpi gc zouma luis Mikel baker Schurrle oscar salah Remy.

One of the worst performances I have seen. This includes the qpr game at bridge in which swp scored. We were so shaky defensively, it was unreal. After city went to 10 men, we should have had got the game by the scruf of its neck. But the way we got outplayed by 10 man city was just hopeless and embarassing. Even during the end there seems only one winner ans that was city. Courtois- nothing to do. Dealt with all crosses perfectly. Iva- one of the worst individual performances from any player ever. The number of times he let kolarov cross without any pressure was jsut hopeless. He got skinned by milner towards the end a number of times. Jt-Gc : only reason we were in the game. Azpi- did well to keep milner and pablo in tow with minimal help from EH. matic - MOTM. One of the player who can hold his head up high today. Well played. Cesc- dwelling on the ball consiatently. Losing the ball in the end a number of times. Simoly shiuld not be played as a no.10. Rambo- defensively brilliant but shocking in attack. That tackle alone makes him worth it thouhh. Willian- our only hope of an attack. But he was so isolated that it was a pity. Defensively he was great too. Hazard - useless performance. Trying to take zabaleta on why he ciuld have passed to csta/willian a number of times. Lost the ball more number of times than torres did in any match I think. Dint track back to win it. Left azpi open most of the time with cesc helping out in covering zabaleta. Very very very poor performance. Costa- an average performance. Came up against kompany and mangala, both of whom were fabulous. Still could have got a goal during the end. Still, expexted a little better hold up play. Schurrle- skinned defensively, fot the goal though. Dont know what to say. Nikel- was brought in to slow the pace and control the mid, but our mid got over run by a man down city. At the end, it was a good one point. We could have been 8 points ahead of city. No doubt jose will bash a few people for the missed oppurtunity.

perfect line up/

"this" actually contradicts your first point completely.

messi was not even Argentina's best player in the WC. That would be mascharano and by some distance.,

can anyone copy-paste the article. i cant open it cos it says my ten articles per month is over.

what WC did u watch?

Different posters, different opinions. Which fans can't u understand?

One word - COMPLACENCY. Its good we got this out of our systen before the city game. Dd was poor. Seemed completely off the pace. His only role should be coming of the bench if both the strikers. Hazard was a goal threat all thru out the natch but he needs to start being more selfish. Cutting past 4 people and create a bit of space but then passing it sidewaus to willian should not be his first choice. Cesc, rambo and GC could all have done better in the goal. All in all, a poor performance. Forgettable and simply can't wait for sunday to put this behind us.

One word - COMPLACENCY. Its good we got this out of our systen before the city game. Dd was poor. Seemed completely off the pace. His only role should be coming of the bench if both the strikers. Hazard was a goal threat all thru out the natch but he needs to start being more selfish. Cutting past 4 people and create a bit of space but then passing it sidewaus to willian should not be his first choice. Cesc, rambo and GC could all have done better in the goal. All in all, a poor performance. Forgettable and simply can't wait for sunday to put this behind us.

Courtois Iva gc jt azpi Rambo matic cesc Oscar costa hazard

DROGBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

There has been a BOOM in football's popularity in the recent past. Specially in the younger generation. Kids today are discussing football just like they would discuss and moreover more and more are starting to play the game. We are still light years away from producing a world class player simply cos we don't have the basic facilities and grass root organization for kids to vecome one. The natch our players were getting is a disgrace and so people don't see it as a viable career choice. Hopedully the rise in popularity changes things.