Magic Lamps

Thats what we need. Unfortunately if Klopps kids were able to beat us so will City's far superior 2nd XI. We need them tired AND our best performance of the season to beat them.

It's uncanny. If you have seen it once you can never unsee it https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CyL0IseWEAA-RxO?format=jpg&name=small

Beatrix von Storch is coming on for Real.

there it is. that goal should give city momentum. so many happy asian tourists in the stands of the emptihad.

Arsenal were always gonna lose today but from City I expected more but with the way the fail to penetrate I can see them crashing out today too. Wham and Liverpool are 100% to go out tmrw. Villa I think will progress.

same. I think it would be best if they have to go to extra time and chase a goal there, really tire themselves out.

City are really gonna fuck this up aren't they? already 2 huge chances missed. looks like one of those days for them.

You are absolutely right about the rebounds being a concern. It is similar to Courtois who also used to parry balls straight back into the danger zone earlier in his career. But i do believe this can be ironed out here too. It is more difficult for guys like Kepa or Piggie who just have weak wrists and short reach they will just let in some balls mamar easily rebounds and they will never be able to improve upon that. But I do believe there are drills that help with directing reaction parries and also gaining more experience will help.

This is why I don’t think this squad has it in them to get it over the line when it matters. Lost their head vs Arsenal after being 2 up and dominating the game, lost a 2 nil lead vs a poor Manure side after completely outplaying them. On both occasions the assist to the first goal they got back came from a Chelsea player . In the league cup final we had 4 golden chances to put it to bed and fluffed the lines. This team is afraid of winning. Even if we somehow make it past city I am 100% sure we will cave vs Manure in the final.

Yup Kobel is off the table, yellow black through and trough the only remotely class young goalie available for reasonable money is still Marma. Coming off another solid season at Valencia. The bats have a similar squad structure like ours with only 2 players in their early 30ies and most under 25. Still a respectable season with Marma being one of their more experienced ones and a leadership figure within the team. I was surprised Bayern did not deem him ready and bet on Nübel instead but surely Marma is ripe for a big transfer in summer

Yup, PL can kiss that 5th CL spot goodbye which is mostly liverpools fault. quite frustrating cos they would have had it in any of the last 5+ seasons one of which we indeed finished 5th I don’t think a German team will reach the CL final but surely EL. Bayer Leverkusen and Mancity are clear favourites so far IMO

Arsenal are chokers. Would surprise me if they even got past the worst Bayern team in over a decade

After tmrw rest of the cl campaign is pointless. The winner between city and real is obviously gonna walk it

That substantiates my point further then

That’s totally missing the point. Just a year ago we disposed of Dortmund quite easily and they are roughly the same side today. We obviously have downgraded quite a bit but Dortmund are no way be the level we aspire to be. Right now they are 5th in Bundesliga, 23 points off the top and that is a fair reflection of their level. Back to Maatsen, he is probably one of their worse starters. Anonymous today again apart from his goal. So this is basically his level. Cucu is obviously pants so between him and Maatsen it is just the lesser of two evils. Pre injury Chilly is obviously head and shoulders above Maatsen

We should not get ahead of ourselves. Maatsen has been alright for Dortmund but not the second coming of Marcelo like some here make it out to be. also, 40m is quite a bit of cash for BVB. They will try to lowball us into another loan first before considering to pay up. In fact it would be their transfer record

I sometimes read these KDB comparisons. And I get it, both are key players and the history with us giving the ginger away basically for free to bite us back is too obvious an analogy. But they are totally different players. Where KDB is a straightforward, driving force from midfield Cole palmer is more of a free roaming attacker. Yeah his passing too is spot on and he is creative but more of an artist than the crafter KDB. For me Palmer is way more exciting. A bit of a modern cruyff. A breed of footballer I thought had gone extinct. Unrestricted by a fixed single position he can exploit spaces and also thread it through the needle with his vast technical arsenal. A flick here, a backheel there but always with a purpose in mind. Hence most importantly he scores and makes goals. That is what will get the attention and bring us forward. He is a player we can build a team around if he stays fit.

The immaturity on show in that penalty spat highlights exactly what is wrong with this group of players and why they fold in so many key moments. I can often forgive lack of quality when you give it all for the team which. Jackson and madurke have often enough put in the yards but playing for the team is also about putting it first, being disciplined when it counts. Yesterday it didn’t count that much in the moment but it shines a bad light on our leadership. When Gallagher is the only one to step in after it went on for seconds there is something wrong with the character of team as well as the authority of the coach.

Let’s hope such a feelgood win gets the vibes back opposition was shocking ofc but we showed some cohesion at last. teams around us dropping points. If we or esp cole can keep this up there is still a chance for EL qualification. But more importantly that Fa cup

Fkin love those heartfelt celebrations just look what it means to him. Always special having an academy boy score his first for us

Looks like Palmer is playing the furthest up front by design. Makes sense given he is our best finisher. in German we have astreine and lupenreine Hattricks meaning consecutive goals and within one halftime. So his hat trick today is all three. Perfect, astrein and lupenrein.

Great way to make sure your players peak at 22

The problem is our naturally more talented players (apart from palmer) are the ones ravaged by injuries. Based on natural ability alone I would consider Lavia, Carney, Malo, James, Nkunku, Chilwell and even Fofana far superior to their current back ups. So being without them (or them owing perma wrecked but still blocking a spot) for the majority of the season has probably cost us 15+ points.

Whoever our next manager is it has to be a proven, serial winner. No one with a promising football brand but no credentials like the three above, some fluke singular title winner and or someone who only did it in a one team league.

I don’t entirely get the sentiment. I don’t think another title for shitty and them surpassing us even further is better. I hate all three, no lesser evil there