AKA the hiding to nothing. Will we be the first team in 15 to get something out of a league game with them? Will our defence be able to hold out, without the assurance of Toby (and Sanchez still suspended)? Will Son continue his great form? Most of all, will Poch find the right plan to get a point or even 3? Strangely hopeful, of a good performance even if not any points.
Too many players are trying to be the hero in this one. They're treating this like a job interview for City.
well ... I'm off to work. if we get anything from it - and I'm hopeful - it'll be a bonus. but Dele should've just been sent off. so ... I guess I'll take whatever we get.
Look on the bright side, we don't have to go there in the 2nd half of the season in the league... Pep has created a footballing organism that eats up opposing teams and spits them out. As painful as it was to watch, you have to appreciate the genius of Guardiola. He has made the best coaches in the division (Conte, Mourinho, Poch, Klopp) look like rank amateurs. I think opposing coaches are confusing this year's City with last year's edition. They all want to press City on the goal kicks and hope they will give the ball away (like they would tend to do last year). That is exactly what Pep wants. This year's version can play out of the back in 2 or 3 quick passes and be steaming in on the opposition defense in a matter of seconds. And if nothing is on, they have a goalkeeper who can ping 75 yard passes on a sixpence and bypass the press and the opposing midfield entirely. The positioning and the movement of the City players are brilliant. They use the whole width and length of the pitch, which means if you try to press them, they play the ball into the open spaces vacated by the opposition. You could see that in the game yesterday - the number of times de Bruyne, Sterling and Sane received the ball in space with nobody in front of them but the last 3 defenders was remarkable. So pull everyone back and hit them on the counter right? Well, that doesn't work either (Man U and Chelsea tried that and still got outclassed). Having said all that, Spurs were still in the game for 3 quarters of it and had they displayed some composure on the ball, they could have created more scoring chances. But for whatever reason, our technical play has declined dramatically from the last 2 seasons. The number of poor passes and touches from the likes of Dele, Kane and Eriksen has been alarming. The priority now should be to finish in the top 4. We are now in a 20 game race against Liverpool, Woolwich and Burnley to get that precious spot. We need to be active in January and bolster the squad, the team is definitely in need of a spark.
Team has been utter shite lately on the road and against other top 6 teams... Buying too much of the hype and big heads after the Real Madrid results but they still got to put the work in beyond the Stokes and Brightons.