Yeah, I think we were worrying them a bit.
WSL 25/26 | City v United - 13:30 Sat 15 Nov at the Etihad
- Thread starter jojojo
- Start date
Well that's the game done I think, just very slopp. Kind of expected that with the scheduling
We are missing PTJ today. Safi hesitant for both goals in a way I don’t think PTJ would have been.
Argh. Just when we were starting to look more dangerous. Much tougher looking scoreline to go in with at HT
Ooooft.
Top player, Shaw.
Top player, Shaw.
Jeez
Brutal. We're just not with it.
Absolute awful defending.
Stop running, put your hands behind your back AND turn sideways...What was that?
Stop running, put your hands behind your back AND turn sideways...What was that?
The start today was just so disappointing, I could have understood getting tired in the second half but we just came out so flat and allowed them to dominate. Poor
Bit of a football lesson that half. None of our attack are doing well, Terland not much involvement, Toone and Park havent made much progress when they pick the ball up in the attack although after about 30 mins Park did finally start to come a bit deeper and had a bit of success dribbling and passing from deeper. I'd say only Sandberg and mainly Riviere have been good and everyone else has been under par. Toone and Park have quality so hopefully they can start to come good in the 2nd half but coming back from 3 down seems unlikely.
Houghton as BBC pundit at half time referring to “we” when commenting on City.
You don’t play for them anymore Steph so at least do your job and pretend to be neutral.
You don’t play for them anymore Steph so at least do your job and pretend to be neutral.
At 40 minutes I was still hopeful. At HT it feels like game over. It was always going to be a tough match, but for all our possession we've really done very little going forward.
Not sure what I want to see in the second half apart from no injuries.
Not sure what I want to see in the second half apart from no injuries.
Looking at the table now, top 2 already seems out of reach for us. Have to fight with Arsenal for a CL spot. That loss against Villa was just brutal.
Malard for Terland
Toone down with maybe a bad injury to the achilles?
It's a tough situation, there's so little margin for error in the League and we've probably already hit our allowance for the full season. I think it's easy to under estimate how much strain the extra matches of the WCL, qualifying as well as League itself have added.
Didn't look good at all. In not sure why she's staying on.
This co-commentator who seems to do every women’s football match on the BBC really annoys me. Watches the ball clearly come off a City defender and says ‘it was a goal kick’ and then says City are dominating possession when the stats show they’re clearly not. She sounds like the female equivalent of Lee Dixon too.
This was always going to be a difficult game. It is the one against Villa last weekend they messed up.
Agreed, but I don't think we were mentally ready for that one. A mark of inexperience really.
A weeks rest would have helped them, but yes we are not used to midweek CL games impacting on our league games.
That’s a second yellow and she should be off.
One thing that really annoyed me was that when City were on top we showed a lack of game sense with no one slowing the game down. As soon as United got some momentum the City keeper went down with a fake injury. Small things that make a big difference
Apparently Mark Sampson is the United manager these days according to the co-commentator
Those bumps dont look much fun!
Thank heavens that’s over.
Thats why they were top with the most goals scored in the league and we were 3rd. City beat Arsenal while we managed a draw. We were able to match Chelsea for a draw too, but we couldnt match City. They dont have the squad size of Chelsea and maybe Arsenal so maybe at the end of the season they'll slow down but for now City look another level to us and look like it'll be them challenging Chelsea for the title.
I dont think there anything we got right today. Pretty much every player was under par, even who I thought was probably our best player Riviere who was still beaten a few times with crosses from Hemp and along with Zigiotti didnt close Hemp down for the 3rd goal. We looked particularly toothless in attack though with Toone, Galton, Terland and Park constantly unable to make the correct choices and find progress
I dont think there anything we got right today. Pretty much every player was under par, even who I thought was probably our best player Riviere who was still beaten a few times with crosses from Hemp and along with Zigiotti didnt close Hemp down for the 3rd goal. We looked particularly toothless in attack though with Toone, Galton, Terland and Park constantly unable to make the correct choices and find progress
I only caught the last quarter of the game (time zone), but why was Blundell playing instead of Riviere? Were they saving the latter for Wolfsburg?
Also, what is it with City coaches in the men's and the women's game constantly gobbing on the field? What other workplace would that be acceptable in (not talking about the players, obv)? We should start calling them Manchester Spitty.
Also, what is it with City coaches in the men's and the women's game constantly gobbing on the field? What other workplace would that be acceptable in (not talking about the players, obv)? We should start calling them Manchester Spitty.
City dominated the opening, no surprise when they went into the lead. What killed us though is the last five minutes of the first half.
We'd actually started to play better coming forward after about half an hour and seemed to be building a bit of momentum. A bit of a delay for drinks and tactics with the City goalkeeper having a lie down. City came out of the mini-break inspired, we came out flat. 5 minutes later and we're three goals down.
We'd actually started to play better coming forward after about half an hour and seemed to be building a bit of momentum. A bit of a delay for drinks and tactics with the City goalkeeper having a lie down. City came out of the mini-break inspired, we came out flat. 5 minutes later and we're three goals down.
Rivière started the match. When she went off we were three goals down. So yes, done with one eye on the Wolfsburg match, but only when the game was effectively already lost.
That was so disappointing. City played well, obviously, but I don't think they were three goals better than us.
Ah, okay. Thanks.
My belated thoughts about the match:
I should start by admitting that I didn't watch the second half. I didn't quit in an emotional burst of disgust or anger or anything; I just didn't think it would be fun in any way to watch the second half. I'm glad to see that they stopped the bleeding, but the outcome had already been determined. Anyway....
To repeat something I suggested earlier (in this thread or elsewhere), I don't think our problem was physical or mental fatigue, but rather the fact that City had a full week to prepare for this -- i.e., to figure out how to break down our defense and stifle our offense -- whereas we had two days (of presumably light training). If the match had been played today (Sunday) rather than on Saturday, I think that might have made a significant difference. They beat us by one goal per extra day of preparation that they had. If we could have held them to one goal before halftime I think Skinner and his staff might have figured out at halftime how to counter City's tactics: They had to game-plan in real time and might have needed only that few more minutes of play plus the halftime break to do so.
The more I think about it, the more I think the "curse" of being in the Champions League isn't necessarily about having enough healthy and talented bodies on the bench: It's about the inability to game-plan given the short turn-around between matches. Notice that this weekend Chelsea settled for a draw against Liverpool, and Arsenal did the same against Tottenham, after playing CL matches during the week, while City celebrated a big win. I think there's a good chance that City will win the WSL this season, and that the main reason will be that they don't have to deal with CL matches. Interested to hear what others think....
I should start by admitting that I didn't watch the second half. I didn't quit in an emotional burst of disgust or anger or anything; I just didn't think it would be fun in any way to watch the second half. I'm glad to see that they stopped the bleeding, but the outcome had already been determined. Anyway....
To repeat something I suggested earlier (in this thread or elsewhere), I don't think our problem was physical or mental fatigue, but rather the fact that City had a full week to prepare for this -- i.e., to figure out how to break down our defense and stifle our offense -- whereas we had two days (of presumably light training). If the match had been played today (Sunday) rather than on Saturday, I think that might have made a significant difference. They beat us by one goal per extra day of preparation that they had. If we could have held them to one goal before halftime I think Skinner and his staff might have figured out at halftime how to counter City's tactics: They had to game-plan in real time and might have needed only that few more minutes of play plus the halftime break to do so.
The more I think about it, the more I think the "curse" of being in the Champions League isn't necessarily about having enough healthy and talented bodies on the bench: It's about the inability to game-plan given the short turn-around between matches. Notice that this weekend Chelsea settled for a draw against Liverpool, and Arsenal did the same against Tottenham, after playing CL matches during the week, while City celebrated a big win. I think there's a good chance that City will win the WSL this season, and that the main reason will be that they don't have to deal with CL matches. Interested to hear what others think....
Not one of United, Chelsea, or Arsenal won this weekend.
Games that both Chelsea and Arsenal were expected to win.
Don’t underestimate the physical toll of playing Champions League and the WSL week in week out
United had a whole 24 hours less than Chelsea and Arsenal to prep for their game too.
United just don’t have the squad depth to compete on all fronts and I don’t think that’s anything most of us didn’t already knew.
Games that both Chelsea and Arsenal were expected to win.
Don’t underestimate the physical toll of playing Champions League and the WSL week in week out
United had a whole 24 hours less than Chelsea and Arsenal to prep for their game too.
United just don’t have the squad depth to compete on all fronts and I don’t think that’s anything most of us didn’t already knew.
I think everyone agrees that we don't have the squad depth to compete on all fronts, and Skinner re-emphasized the point in his post-match presser. Hopefully his plea works and we're able to bring in some new talent. But my point -- which I'd like to hear others' opinions about -- is that this lack of depth is not the reason we got burned by City on Saturday: I think it was about the lack of preparation time.
Playing in the champions league makes a difference when it comes to fatigue levels, city not being in it this year is working in their favour in the league.
Who’d of funk it.
Who’d of funk it.
The lack of preparation time and recovery time were both crucial. The fact that we had to play on Saturday, and an early kick-off, was clearly a factor and is something that needs to be addressed by the WSL, both for the good.of the game and the well-being of the players - physically and mentally.
I will take nothing away from City. They are a strong side and deserved their victory. I do, however, feel that we were at a huge disadvantage.