Manchester City FC 1894 1-2 FC Basel 1893 - Stats Link & Post Match Reaction & Debate Thread | Vital Football

Manchester City FC 1894 1-2 FC Basel 1893 - Stats Link & Post Match Reaction & Debate Thread

Johnny Baguette

Alert Team
<b>The Ped into Report by Pedmachine to follow</b>

Match Stats:

http://www.manchestercity.vitalfootball.co.uk/stats.asp?a=590724
 
This game pissed me off, to be honest. We could have won at a canter, but team selection put paid to that. Maybe Pep had a reason for this, but it eludes me. Not happy with tonight.
 
Well, at the end of the day this was a dead rubber. Credit to Basel and their brilliant support, they could have rolled over at 1-0. Two BIG plusses out of this work out. Firstly Ederson, Otamendi, Kompany, Spanish Dave, The Prince, Fernandinho and Aguero earned themselves this full week of light training with the 4-0 in Switzerland. Secondly, a furious Pep knows who he can count on should any of the aforementioned fall. Ok many players gained valuable game time tonight but if we are to win the Premier League by double figures and reach the CL Final, then he will have to rotate his star players VERY carefully.
 
"You've got to roll with it"

Man City 1-2 Basel (agg 5-2)

Chris Bevan

BBC Sport at Etihad Stadium

Oasis blasts out of the speakers at the Etihad at the final whistle and the lyrics are very appropriate: "You've got to roll with it".

I think most of the home fans will - they have just been beaten at home for the first time since December 2016 but they still go through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Basel's supporters can go home happy too. They are currently bouncing up and down in tribute to their team, who have gone over to salute them. They are out but great work from the Swiss side's players and fans tonight.
 
The Bravo selection was the deathnail. Not blaming him totally for the goals, but he doesn't know how to play out of the back, and it shows with defense in front of him.
 
'they have just been beaten at home for the first time since December 2016'

Why? How? We could have been the better team.

Earlier this week, Pep and others were talking about the need to keep pressing, keep winning, keep up the momentum.

Serious miscalculation with the team selection here I think.
 
OptaJoe
@OptaJoe

978 - Manchester City completed 978 passes tonight; the most recorded by a side in a Champions League match since 2003-04 (when we have this data available from), three days after having the most in a Premier League game (902 v Chelsea). Robotic.

 
Pep Guardiola:

"From tomorrow, we'll be happy because we have reached the quarter-finals for the second time in the Club's history. We are new in that position and we are so happy for that.

"In the first half, we were quite good. In the second half, we forgot to attack and forgot to play - to pass the ball, move the opponents and to attack.

"In the second half, we were really poor.

"Foden was very good.

"In the second half, he - along with Leroy Sane - was the only one who tried to be aggressive.

"The others were were just passing. Maybe Gundogan and Bernardo were tired. It’s good for the rhythm of the future.

"It is difficult to play with a 4-0 advantage.

"We showed in first half we wanted to win and created chances but in the second half after 1-1, we didn’t create and find passes.

"That is not football. Everything was slow and without rhythm.

"You will find in all clubs in the world - when they make so many changes - they’re not the same. We knew that today would be in that way,

"Maybe people can think that because of the way we played today, we do not fight and will not get through. We will forget this and move on.

"After our game on Monday, we have a few weeks off Europe and then we will focus on our position in the Premier League. We are so happy to be in the next stage of the Champions League.

"We will see the difference in quarter-finals. At that level, all the teams will be so tough and demanding. We will try to be ready and to come back because we did it in the recent games."
 
When is the quarter final draw?

We’ll learn our fate on Friday 16 March. The draw ceremony begins at 11am.

Where is the draw?

As always, the draw takes place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Who can we face?

Four of the eight quarter finalists have already been confirmed and we are joined in the last eight by Liverpool, Real Madrid and Juventus.

The final four spots will be confirmed next week with the conclusion of the remaining last 16 games between:

Manchester United (0) v (0) Sevilla

Roma (1) v (2) Shakhtar Donetsk

Besiktas (0) v (5) Bayern Munich

Barcelona (1) v (1) Chelsea
 
"Oasis blasts out of the speakers at the Etihad at the final whistle and the lyrics are very appropriate: "You've got to roll with it". "


Good choice of song.
 
After this home defeat I don't see how Guardiola can carry on. Simply put he has to go; no wafting around like a stale fart after everyone has cleaned themselves up and washed their hands - like Wenger.

 
Pep’s summation covers everything. He is clearly disappointed as he wants to win every game but it is also more important for him for his team to play the right way and THAT is what really grinds his gears - “That is not football. Everything was slow and without rhythm.”

Certain people were only at 75% effort and it showed and overall he has been proved absolutely right about Yaya Toure. A magnificent servant for the club who has played an immense part in our development of the past several years but the contrast between how he plays (& slows the whole tempo down) and Fernandinho does could not have been starker. The difference may have been starker because Ferna is supported by KDB and Silva etc, but even so I think it is clear that that may have been Yaya’s European swan song. :009:
 
I look at it this way, we have lost 2 games in the Champions League, neither of which had that much importance, but it did show the frailties of players who were not match fit or those who were not on the same page as Pep.

We passed sideways and backwards almost all the night an exam[ple of when high up the field Zinchenko for some reason sent a 70 metre pass back to Bravo.

It goes to show, when you take out both playmakers Kevin and David and a leader at the back and put in two relative strangers and apart from Zinchenko, all the others defenders played against Wigan and they have not had enough time on the field to bond.

Yaya was ok in bursts, but the game was slow and frustrated Sane, whilst Foden was trying his best and then we had a cameo from Diaz, but the Commentator wanted to read more into this defeat which had 9 changes, but it was a chance for Pep to rest his star men and no harnm done in the end.

Anyone who thinks this defeat was the start of a City collapse is either a rag or a person who does not take into account a weakened side.

What we found out was you cannot do wholesale changes and still expect the scintillating football we have come to expect as normal
 
That commentator was awful, I can only assume that he doesn't normally cover football as he hadn't a clue what he was talking about, anyone know who he is?

Not fussed at all about last night, the most disappointing thing for me was Jesus picking up a needless yellow card.
 
BamaEngineer - 7/3/2018 22:00

The Bravo selection was the deathnail. Not blaming him totally for the goals, but he doesn't know how to play out of the back, and it shows with defense in front of him.

You won't be surprised that I disagree, he was fine with his footwork last night, in fact put him in Yaya's place and we'd probably have won the game.
 
Just having a cup of tea and reading through this thread. All good, well-considered points, guys.
:026:

 
Rising - 8/3/2018 09:12


Just having a cup of tea and reading through this thread. All good, well-considered points, guys.
:026:
Any wine last night Rising?

The wife and I managed just the one bottle, albeit I did sneak an extra glass of vodka and coke when she wasn't looking!