[Lost bear]

Will they ever get their commupence though

They will. It may take some time. But they will.

 

[croadyman]

They will. It may take some time. But they will.

Wish I had your confidence on that

 

[Judas]

The morning after, we just about lost to a far superior team who are so far along in their development with a much bigger squad. I think it hurts more because of the treble aspect, but we did what we could with what we had. Shame about the nature of the goals, but it is what it is.

 

[Theonas]

I honestly don't know which standards we are judged on for this game. Bayern got battered against this City side. Real could have conceded 7 and Arsenal, their main title challenger were lucky to escape with 4 and that was in the past few weeks alone. Did we not know already that City are the by far the best team in the world currently? It's a team that's been together getting better each season for 7 years now whereas we were close to current Chelsea only 12 months ago. That's not lowering the standards, it's just understanding where we are at this moment in time. We couldn't outplay them or put them under sustained pressure but again, no one can in the present. To expect us to suddenly go out and attack them creating chances and having an equal share of the ball is just crazy. The boys did the best they could, we were aggressive and showed more than most teams that we can actually come back against them and make it close and competitive up until the last minute. I think we should take a lot of positives from today.

 

[Lost bear]

Wish I had your confidence on that

It can be arranged, but there will be a fee involved (appropriately enough.)

 

[cletus7]

Dont blame ETH at all. I blame the players for not stepping up in the moment. That game was theirs to be nicked and simply didnt put the effort in.

100%… winnable game. Don’t understand all the defeatism. If City played better, I’d get it but they didn’t and if we showed more desire, we would have rattled them massively and at the very least tired them out for their champs league final. ETH shares blame though.. clearly preached too much patience and caution. Don’t think he got the whole thing about stopping them from taking our treble crown. Team didn’t look nearly as motivated as home game against them nor home game against Pool. Tiredness a factor but it’s last game before a rest.

 

[Belisarius]

I honestly don't know which standards we are judged on for this game. Bayern got battered against this City side. Real could have conceded 7 and Arsenal, their main title challenger were lucky to escape with 4 and that was in the past few weeks alone. Did we not know already that City are the by far the best team in the world currently? It's a team that's been together getting better each season for 7 years now whereas we were close to current Chelsea only 12 months ago. That's not lowering the standards, it's just understanding where we are at this moment in time. We couldn't outplay them or put them under sustained pressure but again, no one can in the present. To expect us to suddenly go out and attack them creating chances and having an equal share of the ball is just crazy. The boys did the best they could, we were aggressive and showed more than most teams that we can actually come back against them and make it close and competitive up until the last minute. I think we should take a lot of positives from today.

This. Great post.

 

[cletus7]

I honestly don't know which standards we are judged on for this game. Bayern got battered against this City side. Real could have conceded 7 and Arsenal, their main title challenger were lucky to escape with 4 and that was in the past few weeks alone. Did we not know already that City are the by far the best team in the world currently? It's a team that's been together getting better each season for 7 years now whereas we were close to current Chelsea only 12 months ago. That's not lowering the standards, it's just understanding where we are at this moment in time. We couldn't outplay them or put them under sustained pressure but again, no one can in the present. To expect us to suddenly go out and attack them creating chances and having an equal share of the ball is just crazy. The boys did the best they could, we were aggressive and showed more than most teams that we can actually come back against them and make it close and competitive up until the last minute. I think we should take a lot of positives from today.

Brighton showed some belief and got a draw. Let’s take that as measure. City were off the boil and we should have done better and at very least rattled them ahead of their next final. I didn’t see nearly enough desire. We’ve shown much more at several points in the season. Too many people drinking the City coolade. So what if they played terrific against Bayern, Real and Arsenal?? We played terrific against Barca. That was then. You got to show up in these big games and give everything.

 

[croadyman]

They are the measuring stick in Club Football

 

[lex talionis]

We didn’t get hammered, which is the good news. But we never looked like a side capable of grabbing the cup after smashing on the pitch. City did not look great at all, but obviously they didn’t need to.

Our front line was not only toothless, it was gumless. Sancho in particular was horrifying in his non relevance, but Rashford was nonexistent as well. Eriksen…oof.

Defensively we of course left Gundogan open twice, but the back line overall put in a decent shift.

Hopefully there’s no one left even in Siberia who denies we need a 9 and 8 more than we need a keeper.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

How do we expect to challenge a team which have been doping for many years?

They are now too strong even for RM and BM. We would like the 115 breaches to be settled before awarding them anything. The past titles also should be stripped if found guilty.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

They are the measuring stick in Club Football

U mean with unlimited funds, 115 breaches, and how to shit on UEFA FFP?

 

[Fabio Rochemback]

I honestly don't know which standards we are judged on for this game. Bayern got battered against this City side. Real could have conceded 7 and Arsenal, their main title challenger were lucky to escape with 4 and that was in the past few weeks alone. Did we not know already that City are the by far the best team in the world currently? It's a team that's been together getting better each season for 7 years now whereas we were close to current Chelsea only 12 months ago. That's not lowering the standards, it's just understanding where we are at this moment in time. We couldn't outplay them or put them under sustained pressure but again, no one can in the present. To expect us to suddenly go out and attack them creating chances and having an equal share of the ball is just crazy. The boys did the best they could, we were aggressive and showed more than most teams that we can actually come back against them and make it close and competitive up until the last minute. I think we should take a lot of positives from today.

Totally agree. We did decently against financially doped cheats with a great coach. The low player ratings on here are bizarre, and criticism of EtH for yesterday is even more so.

 

[TheRedHearted]

how was sanchos ball retention and passing accuracy?

I said - pull up the stats. To me it seemed he had a good game, I’ll be honest and admit I’m wrong if his numbers were bad.

 

[Belisarius]

For years we were hearing about how Ole couldn't coach "patterns of play" and that he relied instead on a combination of individual brilliance and luck. I think a year of ETH has shown this criticism was mostly true.

The ironic thing is that it wasn't "patterns of play" that beat us today. It was individual brilliance (1st goal, a bit of 2nd) and luck (2nd goal) along with a bit of sloppiness on our part. For the most part we neutralized their nice passing which didn't result in many scoring chances and we created a few decent scoring chances of our own. Sometimes it's just not your day.

 

[tenpoless]

I honestly don't know which standards we are judged on for this game. Bayern got battered against this City side. Real could have conceded 7 and Arsenal, their main title challenger were lucky to escape with 4 and that was in the past few weeks alone. Did we not know already that City are the by far the best team in the world currently? It's a team that's been together getting better each season for 7 years now whereas we were close to current Chelsea only 12 months ago. That's not lowering the standards, it's just understanding where we are at this moment in time. We couldn't outplay them or put them under sustained pressure but again, no one can in the present. To expect us to suddenly go out and attack them creating chances and having an equal share of the ball is just crazy. The boys did the best they could, we were aggressive and showed more than most teams that we can actually come back against them and make it close and competitive up until the last minute. I think we should take a lot of positives from today.

It's by the standard of us hating City to win the treble and other fans expecting them to do it. So driven by emotion more than anything. But if we use our head, it's pretty simple. Those front 4 of City, plus Guardiola coaching them for years, on top of their bench option should easily tell us that we have more chance to lose than to win it. It's disgusting how many top class players they have, some of them are even the best in world.

 

[RedBanker]

Didn’t get embarrassed so …..

Yeah well we won the XG so there

That's two trophies right there....get in!!!

 

[Sky1981]

How do we expect to challenge a team which have been doping for many years?

They are now too strong even for RM and BM. We would like the 115 breaches to be settled before awarding them anything. The past titles also should be stripped if found guilty.

We lose to a skint Arsenal side too point wise..whats our excuse?

 

[redcafe_reader]

The fact that a lot of people think " The boys did the best" or "we can't fault the effort" etc is really depressed. Our effort is terrible, City doesn't have to be at their best and they control the game comfortably, no damage to their fitness. Garnacho aside, we didn't show any fighting spirit at all.

Before the match I always know that our player will give a lackluster performance. I don't really care about the result. Man City is obviously a stronger team than us so their win is not surprise, but we need to fight, we need to be aggressive and make it hard for them, especially consider that they still have to play a Champions League final later. But we gave them an easy game. It's like our player (maybe except Casemiro) try to avoid confrontation and to keep City's leg fresh for their final. This is our last game of the season and we have a chance to stop them from winning a treble and then we play like...that. I am sure the player will come up with PR about how they are hurt and determined and whatever... and the sad thing is a lot of our fan will eat that up.

It's true we didn't get battered, because City didn't need to batter us. They need an easy game, easy win and keep their leg fresh for the CL final, and they got exactly that.

It's long way to go for ETH, I think it's quite clear he wanted more, consider what he said before the game. I just hope he got support from the board (small chances) and from the fan (even smaller chances) to rebuild our culture toward a winning ones.

 

[Brianschoccysurprise]

To me, the team carried out ETH's plan. They were clearly told under no circumstances to break the team shape and dive in or press the city defense unless it was in their own box. This can look like a lack of effort but it was a clear instruction.

Unfortunately for us we didnt create a single thing apart from Varane's cahnce before half time and McSauce at the end.

We kept it tight and came into the match and at 1-1 it was looking like an even game but the 2nd city goal is a killer and it was so soft.

We need an upgrade on De Gea, he is too soft. Great at reflex saves but bang average at everything else. He should of saved the 2nd goal.

 

[the_cliff]

I don't get this whole City beat us and didn't even play well none sense.

Surely that's a credit to ETH and players like AWB, Varane and Fred that had City's main threats in their back pockets...

 

[Bearded One]

Brighton showed some belief and got a draw. Let’s take that as measure. City were off the boil and we should have done better and at very least rattled them ahead of their next final. I didn’t see nearly enough desire. We’ve shown much more at several points in the season. Too many people drinking the City coolade. So what if they played terrific against Bayern, Real and Arsenal?? We played terrific against Barca. That was then. You got to show up in these big games and give everything.

If I remember correctly, they had the league wrapped up at the time they were playing Brighton so it was just a game to keep in shape more than a competitive one. I wouldn’t use that as a measure.

 

[Telsim]

If we are looking to go further next season, De Gea, Sancho, and Eriksen cannot be starters.

 

[Wrecking ralf]

Really don’t know what some people on this site expect at times. Obviously we’re not even close to the team city are. But we played well at times and didn’t get the drubbing most expected us too. We didn’t have a chance of dominating the game but to lose 2-1 and actually have a go at them, we did alright and came up short. We achieved above all pre season expectations and will strengthen in the summer. We’re the 3rd best team in England after being an absolute embarrassment the season before. Notice the progress and be proud of the lads and the gaffer. It was a good season for us

 

[dal]

I am in ore of city.

 

[Alonzo]

U mean with unlimited funds, 115 breaches, and how to shit on UEFA FFP?

Also found guilty twice already, made to pay £90m (paid £30m). That’s before getting into the far more serious, non football related issues surrounding their ownership

 

[erikcred]

The fact that a lot of people think " The boys did the best" or "we can't fault the effort" etc is really depressed. Our effort is terrible, City doesn't have to be at their best and they control the game comfortably, no damage to their fitness. Garnacho aside, we didn't show any fighting spirit at all.

Before the match I always know that our player will give a lackluster performance. I don't really care about the result. Man City is obviously a stronger team than us so their win is not surprise, but we need to fight, we need to be aggressive and make it hard for them, especially consider that they still have to play a Champions League final later. But we gave them an easy game. It's like our player (maybe except Casemiro) try to avoid confrontation and to keep City's leg fresh for their final. This is our last game of the season and we have a chance to stop them from winning a treble and then we play like...that. I am sure the player will come up with PR about how they are hurt and determined and whatever... and the sad thing is a lot of our fan will eat that up.

It's true we didn't get battered, because City didn't need to batter us. They need an easy game, easy win and keep their leg fresh for the CL final, and they got exactly that.

It's long way to go for ETH, I think it's quite clear he wanted more, consider what he said before the game. I just hope he got support from the board (small chances) and from the fan (even smaller chances) to rebuild our culture toward a winning ones.

This is a good post.

All this jubilation at not being smashed for a cricket score is embarassing. Yay, we took some shots which is more than we expected. Good day's work. When in fact, it didn't even feel like a derby, let alone one where a treble is at stake.

 

[Salfordlad70]

The morning after and my thoughts are….

I was weirdly uninterested right up until kick and then the pit of my stomach felt awful, but when the goal went in and I felt oddly calm.

We played ok and we didn’t get hammered which was my biggest fear and while city looked a bit fatigued, I honestly think we gave a good account of ourselves.

It’s hard not to appreciate Pep’s team. It’s an astounding team and I have some envy, but the club itself is all wrong and the fans, despite lapping it all up are in serious denial about the way the whole set up has arrived at where it is. I do think that football would benefit from them either being exonerated or punished as soon as possible.

As for united, we’ll have a good summer and we’re way ahead of where I thought we’d be at this stage under ETH. I wish now that he’s started with Garnacho and he may be thinking the same this morning, but we have a star in the making.

I can’t wait for the new season and a few scores will be settled, I’m sure of that. Despite how awful yesterday felt, it will make The good times feel even better.

It feels good to be a red this morning.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

We lose to a skint Arsenal side too point wise..whats our excuse?

We are better than Arsenal. We won a cup, runner up in another and also go late into EL while finishing 3rd in the league.

 

[erikcred]

I don't get this whole City beat us and didn't even play well none sense.

Surely that's a credit to ETH and players like AWB, Varane and Fred that had City's main threats in their back pockets...

Not necessarily. Players can have an off day or a quiet game without it being a reflection on how well the opposition played. City didn't seem knackered at the end and its cup final derby! It always seemed like they had a few gears they could use if needed.

 

[Hammondo]

I don't get this whole City beat us and didn't even play well none sense.

Surely that's a credit to ETH and players like AWB, Varane and Fred that had City's main threats in their back pockets...

They had a bad day, looked way off their normal selves and we lost, it was a setup for us to win and the only shot on target was a pen.

 

[Chungy]

I really disagree with the 'we didn't try hard enough', 'we were gutless' narrative some people are trying to push.

First, if you haven't noticed, they're passing's rather good. Incessant pressing by everyone wouldn't have worked because they'd just pass around us and scored 10. We pressed when we can, and if they got round it, some players had to cover space while others got back, that's modern football.

Also, the 'we were gutless' in terms of tackling isn't exactly merited either. It's not the 1980s. You couldn't just kick someone just because they got the ball past you, we'd have 5 men sent off before 30 minutes if we did that. I would say we could be more aggressive at certain points, but overall, we tried as much as can be reasonably expected of us.

I could understand the 'gutless' sentiment in terms of attacking play (dribbling past players), but if you haven't noticed, Garnacho, fresh from being subbed on against tiring legs (due to the heat of the day more than anything), got eased off the ball easily in his first run. But because he was fresh, was more effective later as they tired more. I guarantee you he'd been equally as ineffective if he had started the game, when they're concentration and energy level was at their sharpest.

Yes, we could have done a bit better. But let's get away from the 'we were absolutely terrible' narrative. It was always difficult to win this one, and we put in a relatively good effort.

Lastly, I simply disagree with the 'they were off the boil, if we actually tried, we'd have won'. We did try hard, that's why they didn't play as well as they could.

 

[lysglimt]

Let's be realistic here:

They have a better team
They have a better squad
Their players aren't as tired as ours
They have less injuries than us

We always knew we would need a bit of luck to get something from the game - and strangely enough we almost got it. But it's rather obvious that we will need 6-7 new players if we are going to match City both in terms of quality and quantity.

 

[nickyboy1981]

One thing to hold onto... Still couldn't sell out their allocation for the first ever Derby cup final. They don't care about the champions league either and boo the anthem yet they will be wanking over it next week. Embarrassing fanbase. Yes I'm bitter!

 

[Zed 101]

Think it was a perfect barometer for where we are, city played very well and we managed to stifle them for the main part, they were clearly the better side, yet if we had equalised or even won we had shown enough that it would still have been a fair result.... overall I was fearing a drubbing, which did not happen, it was pleasing at times to see us able to pin them back.

Aside from the 1st teams the benches are telling, once we had Garnacho, a talented but still 18yo in his first season, the rest of our bench was pants, whereas Citys bench would probably all be good enough to start for us.

Not on the DeGea hate train but he should have attempted to save the first, he does this quite often, if you watch, acts if a shot is unsaveable, as per dropping to one knee and opening his arms, without even trying and before the shot is past him..... yeah ok the first was quality but if he had been on his marks and tried it was eminently saveable imo, it would have been a top drawer save but then that is his best attribute normally, and the second goal, he got enough of a hand to it to be able to push it around, again imo he should be saving that... bottom line is his positioning, control of the box, passing and distribution are poor, however he has always pulled out soem amazing saves, if he stops making those saves then what does he have, for me and I know I will draw down the haters, but for me that is yet another match DeGea has lost us this season, I am not ignoring that he made some good saves in the match, but that is what he is there to do.

 

[The Oracle]

The penalty aside, we had two shots on target in the entire match, and they came 5 seconds apart in injury time at the end of the 90 minutes, from Varane and McTominay.

We were facing City’s second choice goalkeeper, and that was the best we could come up with.

In a Cup Final, that is absolutely abysmal.

When it’s against arguably our biggest rivals, and we’re trying to protect the club’s legacy of being the only English team to win The Treble, it’s even more shocking.

We got past Brighton in the semi-final, but the sad reality is, is that Brighton would have put up more of a fight against City than what we did.

Major changes are needed in the squad, and even more so in the starting eleven if we want to compete against the best in the division and beyond.

 

[Roosney]

They had a bad day, looked way off their normal selves and we lost, it was a setup for us to win and the only shot on target was a pen.

Hit the bar, then got denied practically off the goal line plus Rashford and Garnacho shot just inches wide. I think we did better than City when it comes to chances created.

 

[Sandikan]

The scoreline flatter us. We're so far behind in ball retention, and tactical as a team. City barely on 4th gear.

And they have a bjgger final, if this is their last match of the season we'd be in more trouble.

Still 4-5 season away from challenging them. We have so many deadwoods all over. And what made it worse is that in 4 season Casemiro and Bruno would probably needs to be replaced

The indicator to win the league is not a 1v1 with city but to be consistently plowing teams to reach 86+ points to even stand a chance.

This 4-5 years talk is silly.
Arsenal went from outside the top 4 to having a decent lead for a fair while.

Liverpool utterly dropped of a cliff, so noone knows what things will look like. Pep will be long gone and they may well have had a reducer from the league by then.

 

[Hammondo]

Hit the bar, then got denied practically off the goal line plus Rashford and Garnacho shot just inches wide. I think we did better than City when it comes to chances created.

None of them were great chances, none easy to finish. Haaland has some easier chances and did terrible.

 

[Redfrog]

We are not far away. Back the manager is ne we can win the title in a year or two I think.
The priorities are a goalscorer (Kane please, he is exactly what we need), a goalkeeper and a midfielder.