Manchester City-Chelsea Champions League Final Post Match Thread | Page 3 | Vital Football

Manchester City-Chelsea Champions League Final Post Match Thread

22:54
'Hopefully we will be here again'
FT: Man City 0-1 Chelsea

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola to BT Sport: "It has been an exceptional season for us. It was a tight game. We had chances. We were brilliant in the second half, we were brave and we could not convert the chances as they were so strong. The players were exceptional. We come back maybe one day again!

"I did what I thought was the best decision [on his team selection].

"[Kevin de Bruyne] got injured but that happens in this competition and in these games. We needed everyone.

"The ambition now is to rest but then prepare for the next season. It was the first time we were at this stage. Hopefully we will be here again in the future."
 
22:42
'He might have seen a weakness'
FT: Man City 0-1 Chelsea

Rio Ferdinand
Former England defender on BT Sport

[Did Pep Guardiola tinker too much?] I think that will levelled at him because he changed the way he had played all season. he has always had Rodri or Fernandinho in there but he changed it.

We know tactically he tinkers, he might have seen a weakness in there but Thomas Tuchel nullified any threat.

We saw Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling played really wide, they've not really done that this season and maybe that is something City did wrong.
He could have matched their formation, but Mendy is not the player he once was, so 433 was fine by me. However leaving out both our DM's as a tactic did not work. Pep must have wanted extra high pressing from his attackers, but that did not work either. This was our best chance to stamp our team as #1 in Europe, but we failed. Yes it was only one goal, but we were second best all over the park. Little Tommy T gave a Maureen +++ on how to beat City.
 
Sky Player Ratings
Ederson (6), Walker (7), Stones (6), Dias (6), Zinchenko (4), Gundogan (4), Silva (3), Mahrez (5), Sterling (4), Foden (5), De Bruyne (6)

Subs: Jesus (6), Fernandinho (6), Aguero (5)

still poor in my opinion and Zinchenko was more than a 4, Foden I thought was our best forward when he got the chance, but as they say that is history now.
 
I woke up after a nightmare where I thought Pep picked a side dfferent to what had worked all season and without the imperious Fernandinho or his understudy Rodri.

What? :oops:

That wasn’t a dream?

:arrghh:
 
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Turns out the real nightmare was the 90+ minutes yesterday evening.
We flirted with danger early doors coughing up possession and rode our luck as Chelsea fluffed two very early chances.
The absence of a proper DM proved costly in the extreme. This game was not the time to experiment or Go Bold.
Tuchel is hailed as a Footballing Genius when in fact he has simply made Chelsea hard to beat by parking the bus and winning games by nicking the odd goal on the break. Maureen #2. No one (pundits) calling it out for being dull is quite frustrating.
We had some chances but poor control (Sterling) and solid defending (vs Foden) proved crucial.
Taking out De Bruyne worked - Rudiger’s cynical pole axing of the poor guy was a disgrace. Fernandinho would have been crucified (& probably sent off) foe a similar action.
But overall we lacked the ability to break down the sort of defences we had faced before - flat back 8-9 - and the late arrival of the more mobile and inventive Gabby and Sergio was not enough.

I wonder what might have been if Sergio had put his foot through the ball when it dropped to him at the far post instead of trying to chip it across to Foden?

I am as gutted as everyone but reiterate what I said in earlier posts. I wouldn’t want to watch us playing Tuchel’s ’brand’ of football and two trophies, a third league title in four years and four consecutive League Cups isn’t too shabby.
 
Turns out the real nightmare was the 90+ minutes yesterday evening.
We flirted with danger early doors coughing up possession and rode our luck as Chelsea fluffed two very early chances.
The absence of a proper DM proved costly in the extreme. This game was not the time to experiment or Go Bold.
Tuchel is hailed as a Footballing Genius when in fact he has simply made Chelsea hard to beat by parking the bus and winning games by nicking the odd goal on the break. Maureen #2. No one (pundits) calling it out for being dull is quite frustrating.
We had some chances but poor control (Sterling) and solid defending (vs Foden) proved crucial.
Taking out De Bruyne worked - Rudiger’s cynical pole axing of the poor guy was a disgrace. Fernandinho would have been crucified (& probably sent off) foe a similar action.
But overall we lacked the ability to break down the sort of defences we had faced before - flat back 8-9 - and the late arrival of the more mobile and inventive Gabby and Sergio was not enough.

I wonder what might have been if Sergio had put his foot through the ball when it dropped to him at the far post instead of trying to chip it across to Foden?

I am as gutted as everyone but reiterate what I said in earlier posts. I wouldn’t want to watch us playing Tuchel’s ’brand’ of football and two trophies, a third league title in four years and four consecutive League Cups isn’t too shabby.

On Aguero, that was the moment, he could've made himself a hero all over again, I think chipping it across was the right option, he just got it badly wrong, sadly.
 
On Aguero, that was the moment, he could've made himself a hero all over again, I think chipping it across was the right option, he just got it badly wrong, sadly.
On his right foot I think he would have leathered it.....but I still remember that fantastic near post strike vs Liverpool which he took with his left foot from a similar angle. Had he been on the pitch for longer maybe he would have trusted himself to do it again.
 
I thought it'd be easier after I slept on it, it's not.

I shouldn't be pissed off with Guardiola but I can't help it.

Fucking football
It still hurts, hours later, but in a Cup final anything can happen, so self pity over summer will not help much, so next season we start with a fresh slate and hope.
 
Who was it who said that football is a simple game (made difficult by...?). Why did Pep have to mess around/experiment in the CL final, if he'd thought about taking Gundogan from a position in which he has excelled all season to take F25's position why not try it against Everton? F25's presence would have given the forwards more confidence and the defence some protection. Maybe being a 'genius' sometimes means not having to prove that you're a 'genius'. And yes, I like OZ11 and think he's underrated but please can we buy a left back. Pissed off.
 
Who was it who said that football is a simple game (made difficult by...?). Why did Pep have to mess around/experiment in the CL final, if he'd thought about taking Gundogan from a position in which he has excelled all season to take F25's position why not try it against Everton? F25's presence would have given the forwards more confidence and the defence some protection. Maybe being a 'genius' sometimes means not having to prove that you're a 'genius'. And yes, I like OZ11 and think he's underrated but please can we buy a left back. Pissed off.
I think we all feel the same way, but a Cup game is a Cup game and anything can happen, however we had the players to win this and Pep will have to take most of the flak re our strating line up and tactics.
 
Who was it who said that football is a simple game (made difficult by...?). Why did Pep have to mess around/experiment in the CL final, if he'd thought about taking Gundogan from a position in which he has excelled all season to take F25's position why not try it against Everton? F25's presence would have given the forwards more confidence and the defence some protection. Maybe being a 'genius' sometimes means not having to prove that you're a 'genius'. And yes, I like OZ11 and think he's underrated but please can we buy a left back. Pissed off.

And yet it might have worked, had Sterling's touch from Ederson's pass been better, had Rudiger not made that fantastic block on Foden.

But ultimately you're right, why change something that served you so well all season?

I wonder was it that lack of Fernandinho/Rodri that affected Stones, he had a mare in that first half and even their goal came as a result of him playing Havertz on as he was dropping of Werner who had him shitting himself.