Noisy Neighbours - the Man City thread

[Karabiner]

I love Fernandinho as a player but he needs to work on his diving tekkers.

[Archer]

Man City have won a lot of games by 2/3/4+ goals this season. But when a game has been tight & a player needed to make the difference, it's usually been Sterling. and then yesterday

90+ minute goals in CL against shakhtar and napoli as well to seal wins as well.

[Archer]

I love Fernandinho as a player but he needs to work on his diving tekkers.

I didn't see it 

[flushthemout]

Was the toughest game yesterday, another ground off my bucket list, Said to my lad when 1-0 down we will still win this. Swansea away 13th Dec so that will be another one off the list. Lads birthday on the day so wife booked us in a hotel for a treat. At least I can have a decent beer for a change. Ctid

[tikay]

Man City have won a lot of games by 2/3/4+ goals this season. But when a game has been tight & a player needed to make the difference, it's usually been Sterling. and then yesterday

90+ minute goals in CL against shakhtar and napoli as well to seal wins as well.

Extraordinary, with City being held 1-1 & 96 minutes on the clock, Sterling does it yet again.

[hhyftrftdr]

A victory for football last night.

I'm all for teams having a gameplan despite how negative it might be, and Saints stuck to theirs rigidly, but when you blatantly waste time from the first whistle then you deserve to lose to a 96th minute winner. Football karma at its finest.

[tikay]

A victory for football last night.

I'm all for teams having a gameplan despite how negative it might be, and Saints stuck to theirs rigidly, but when you blatantly waste time from the first whistle then you deserve to lose to a 96th minute winner. Football karma at its finest.

No no, look at it a different way.

Without all that time-wasting, the Sterling injury time winner stat would not exist, as he'd have scored just after half-time last night. 

[hhyftrftdr]

A victory for football last night.

I'm all for teams having a gameplan despite how negative it might be, and Saints stuck to theirs rigidly, but when you blatantly waste time from the first whistle then you deserve to lose to a 96th minute winner. Football karma at its finest.

No no, look at it a different way.

Without all that time-wasting, the Sterling injury time winner stat would not exist, as he'd have scored just after half-time last night. 

Feel a bit sorry for the fans who travelled all that way on a cold midweek night only to see their team dish up that dirge. Zero desire to get anything out of the game. Only wanted to waste time. Then sent packing with a Sterling screamer.

Forster might be a decent shot stopper but dear me he is hopeless with the ball. Punt after punt after punt. Not once did he pass it out of defence, and he saw plenty of the ball over 96 minutes. The contrast between keepers of his ilk and Ederson is incred. Ederson would walk into England's midfield, he's that good......or England's midfield is that shit

Nothing against Southampton; I think they are a decent club, well run, and like City they have languished in the lower tiers previously and come back strong. But last night was dire from them. It was almost as if Mourinho was managing them.

[Mark_Porter]

Click to see full-size image.

I believe that this is the best XG that any team has put up against City this year and one of their lowest XG home attacking performances.

I though it was an excellent defensive performance. Defended very strongly, restricting City to long range efforts. Looked dangerous at time and exposed the issues in the City defense.

We are making huge strides with an excellent performance against Everton and feeling was very positive after last night. You can't really expect teams to turn up and go gung ho against the best attack the premier league has ever seen?

[DungBeetle]

A victory for football last night.

I'm all for teams having a gameplan despite how negative it might be, and Saints stuck to theirs rigidly, but when you blatantly waste time from the first whistle then you deserve to lose to a 96th minute winner. Football karma at its finest.

What are teams supposed to do though.  We attacked you and lost 6-0 at home!!

[Archer]

Click to see full-size image.

I believe that this is the best XG that any team has put up against City this year and one of their lowest XG home attacking performances.

I though it was an excellent defensive performance. Defended very strongly, restricting City to long range efforts. Looked dangerous at time and exposed the issues in the City defense.

We are making huge strides with an excellent performance against Everton and feeling was very positive after last night. You can't really expect teams to turn up and go gung ho against the best attack the premier league has ever seen?

It was a  great example of a game where xG is more illuminating than the actual numbers for shots, shots on target etc. It looks like a battering with City’s 73% possession and 26 attempts of which 12 were on target. Southampton having 7 attempts and 2 on target. Yet in xG terms it was very tight. There are slight variations in the xG models and in 2 of the 4 I’ve looked at Southampton actually had the best of it.

You are right that it was the best xG any team has put up against City this year home or away and the 2nd highest in a league game at the Etihad this season or last. We looked very vulnerable on corners which is worrying from my perspective – until the weekend we had hadn’t conceded a goal from a set piece or corner in the league this season!

As for the game, I have zero problem with your game plan last night. You did a great job, you were so, so close to getting a result  and frustrated City on a night when our levels were the lowest in a league game this season.

[Archer]

A victory for football last night.

I'm all for teams having a gameplan despite how negative it might be, and Saints stuck to theirs rigidly, but when you blatantly waste time from the first whistle then you deserve to lose to a 96th minute winner. Football karma at its finest.

What are teams supposed to do though.  We attacked you and lost 6-0 at home!!

The issue is not with the gameplan it is the  timewasting that is so annoying. Tilting in any game I watch.

[DungBeetle]

A victory for football last night.

I'm all for teams having a gameplan despite how negative it might be, and Saints stuck to theirs rigidly, but when you blatantly waste time from the first whistle then you deserve to lose to a 96th minute winner. Football karma at its finest.

What are teams supposed to do though.  We attacked you and lost 6-0 at home!!

The issue is not with the gameplan it is the  timewasting that is so annoying. Tilting in any game I watch.

Yeah hate that.  West Brom under Pulis timewasted against us in the 1st half.  Foster did the same against Spurs.   Refs need to be stronger and just yellow card these idiot keepers.

[hhyftrftdr]

Click to see full-size image.

I believe that this is the best XG that any team has put up against City this year and one of their lowest XG home attacking performances.

I though it was an excellent defensive performance. Defended very strongly, restricting City to long range efforts. Looked dangerous at time and exposed the issues in the City defense.

We are making huge strides with an excellent performance against Everton and feeling was very positive after last night. You can't really expect teams to turn up and go gung ho against the best attack the premier league has ever seen?

Can you elaborate on the ''issues in the City defence''?

Curious as to what these are....

[hhyftrftdr]

A victory for football last night.

I'm all for teams having a gameplan despite how negative it might be, and Saints stuck to theirs rigidly, but when you blatantly waste time from the first whistle then you deserve to lose to a 96th minute winner. Football karma at its finest.

What are teams supposed to do though.  We attacked you and lost 6-0 at home!!

As Archer said, it wasn't the tactics or set up as such (despite it being very negative, you gotta do what you gotta do), it was the blatant timewasting from the off that was grinding. Probably the worst I've ever seen at Eastlands and that is saying something!

Forster shoulda been in the book within 10 minutes, it was patently obvious what he was gonna do all game but the ref let him get away with it when it needed nipping in the bud early doors. Likewise the players in cahoots at every throw in taking forever after spending what felt like 20 minutes deciding who would take it.

It did amuse me when, having just gone 1-0 up, Saints got a goal kick and the ballboy took his time and half arsed rolled the ball back to Forster, who suddenly decided that he wanted to play a bit quicker. Clever kid