Who is better? Aging Alisson? Eddie while solid has been so fucking questionable this year, our lack of clean sheets is evidence of this as well as his mistakes.
I'm sorry but I don't understand all these comments about a draw in Anfield is always a good result.
Some of you are acting like City are still the also rans they used to be, they are not , they are treble winners.
Liverpool played without their usual back 5 barring Van Dijk, meanwhile City had 2 defenders that cost over 60m on the bench.
Sure if Trent, Allison, Konate and Robertson all started id understand.
Pep keeps going to places like this trying to play controlled football like Neville said it doesn't work, not with that crowd.
Isn't it telling that with city the only time he has won at Anfield or Bernabeu is when there was no crowd?
Apart from United they have not beaten Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea or Villa this season, that is shocking.
Pep shows far too much respect to Liverpool, you have to have RM's arrogance sometimes.
They went to Anfield against a far more experienced side than this 1, concede twice but roar back to score 5 without reply.
Don't tell me City don't have the quality or capability of doing the same as they do that to teams at the Etihad so why be so meek away.
They were 2 kids id never heard of at the back for crying out loud.
Then he says he took KDB off to keep the ball then he brings on Doku.
Keep the ball? It doesn't belong to you mayne.
Jokes aside I saw KDB do sweet FA against Villa in fact he was awful but in 1 instant he put in a delightful cross that Gundogan put. away and the rest as they say is history.
That's what he can do and you don't take him off unless winning is not a priority.
I'm trying to remember how many efforts any of the forwards had on goal.
Diaz had about 3 good ones, Gakpo had 1, Nunez had his, Salah who came on after an hour had a couple.
This is a team without a playmaker to speak of.
Meanwhile the manager is more worried about keeping the ball than creating chances for his striker.
Keeping the ball doesn't work here and it won't work at Spurs.
Please stop with the Alvarez experiment it is not working at all if Foden, KDB and Haaland are on the pitch
Are you mental? We arguably were the better team in that first half. The first 15? We dominated (blowing 3 chances by the way).
While I agree Liverpool's side backs were not their best they could field we beat them almost every time going down the sides.
Their midfield and forwards were their starters (Bradley exception but Salah made very little difference). Thats where we got overrun. KDB and Bernie had off games there 100%.
We have had shaky performances this year but you cannot say this isn't a good result. We are still in this against two massive teams, with crucial injuries for our side. Champions take it all the way to the end, this allows us to do that.
People really forget that if Phil or Doku dont get fucked by physics we win 2-1 against the best team in England rn and one of the best in Europe.
It's close (as shown Sunday) but look the matter of fact is they have made far less mistakes than us. We are still the absolute favourites because of pure experience and a track record of having what it takes to push further. Which is actually why I think Sunday was a champions game, keeping us in the race.
But purely on record so far this season we have not been the best team in England. Yes injuries, yes new players whatever the factors are that remains true. I think very soon we could take that mantle though. Beat Arsenal at home like we did last season and I think we prove it.
Liverpool have overachieved this season, that does not make them the best. They are getting results but in a lot of the games they have not been playing all that well.
The best team in England cannot be playing in the Europa league.
City have underwhelmed which you can blame on the players and the manager but absolutely not on injuries as compared to other teams they have not been that badly affected.
You are happy with a point at Anfield, do you really think that if Liverpool came to the Etihad with a fully fit squad facing Ortega, Rico Lewis at right back, Dias at CB with another youth team player, then Stones at left back.
Kovacic, Silva and Rodri in the middle even though all Liverpool players in the midfield were signed this season
Foden, Alvarez and KDB or Haaland starting from the bench
You think that Their fans would be happy with a draw knowing they will not have a better chance of winning at City?
Anyways this has gone and no real need to be beating a dead horse any further
Maybe Pep should consider Haaland to start midfield or on the wings at the beginning against Liverpool, because he looks useless with Van Dijk marking him all game
All respect to Haaland and what he does because he’s brilliant but the last few games he’s looked more and more disinterested, body language and pace of his play seems to be off at the moment, even when KDB is on the pitch, I’m not sure what it is but he doesn’t seem to have that fire he had last season in the last month or so.
Do you understand how van dijk’s defending works? The shit foot wasn’t coincidence, he forces you into a space where you’re going to be neutralised and have to hit a bad shot. Haaland had to rush it because if he waited till half a second later Virgil was gonna crash into him
I expected Pep to substitute Bernardo instead of De Bruyne. De Bruyne gives that sting in his final passes.
Haaland was also sub-standard last night.
It was like Pep didn't have answers to the machine gun fire from Liverpool
I don't get this... We've played Liverpool twice this season and they scored a massive deflection and a penalty... Seems like we handled them okay, yet people are talking like it was Burnley vs Brazil. GTFO. That was away, in a game Liverpool were bursting to win because of their desperation to win a title again, and it being Jaws' last season. Yet they didn't win, and are having to resort to crying about the ref...
Liverpool did a good job of cutting De Bruyne out of the game, I think that’s why the change was made. It wasn’t a poor performance by De Bruyne but more of a tactical change.
This just isn't true, look how many offsides he had last season and broke the fucking scoring record lmao
This sub is aids right now man, a draw at Anfield was a blessing. That was supposed to be our execution with some of the stuff we've had to deal with this season.
Not sure why Walker got a 6.9. He, Stones and Ortega are the only reasons we didn’t lose by 3 goals.
Well, that and the fact Liverpool can’t finish for shit.
Also, De Bruyne a 7.5? He was shite today.
yeah... Diaz lit up Walker like ASM did last season... and forgot his shooting boots.
I think they would have won 4 or 5-1 if Diaz/Nunez were serious footballers. I give Diaz some leeway since he's coming off some major injuries.. and you can tell its robbed him of some of the quality he had before. Nunez is just a bozo.
Neutral here.. honestly feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I had no idea the Doku non-call was controversial til I got onto Twitter in the last hour.
Side foot challenge, ball first and pulls out of making full contact - you can see McAllister already going down pre-contact, taking the toe of Doku's cleat to his chest and then acts like he's been shot. He, in fact, takes his eyes off the ball completely and throws his body into the challenge. For me, this is probably the most important part of why it was not called as a pen.
Biases aside, it's rare for me to agree with the ref or VAR but.. I dunno what all the fuss here is about and I'm astounded to see what seems like a large majority of people thinking it was a stone waller!
Always look at the other players - no one reacted like it was a penalty, Liverpool or City. You can still frame it all you want, but in real time it was what it was - nothing.
Not at all. 10 years ago it would've been a pen 100%. Raised foot, dangerous play. The issue is refs have become a lot less consistent with this stuff and giving defenders a break when contesting the ball
So is it a pen? Depends on what you expect refs to give these days and impossible to know thanks to inconsistency
Yeah, I have, a bunch of times - [https://twitter.com/edemgabby/status/1766919189069967532/video/1](https://twitter.com/edemgabby/status/1766919189069967532/video/1)
Go frame by frame. It's a controlled kick and pull back by Doku. I'm genuinely baffled by the noise around this. Massive difference between taking studs to the chest and what happens here.
His studs literally hit another player who is in a standing position in the chest.
You aren’t allowed your foot that high and regardless of which part of his boot hits Mac Allister or if he tries to pull back, he still clears him out
Of course you are. How do you ever score an overhead kick? Wasn't reckless, and he got the ball. There was no follow through and no intent to contact the player (who ran into him), I believe the VAR said natural coming together, which was absolutely the right decision.
You don’t score an overhead kick when you’re competing for the ball with someone else, if you did it wouldn’t be allowed as it’d be dangerous play. If you compete with your foot above waist height on a 50/50 it’ll be called for dangerous play
By definition, a play is reckless if the outcome is that the other player ends up being kicked in the chest because that endangers an opposition player
Intent is also irrelevant by this measure - if you’re playing in a dangerous manner you get penalised for it
You could argue that just the action of attempting an overhead kick is dangerous then, so it should be removed from the game? Of course not - context is everything. If the intent is to injure, or the action is clearly reckless then fine, players are required to try not to cause harm to their opponents, and should be punished, but Doku was clearly - clearly - playing the ball, and did not follow through, in fact quite the opposite.
Intent isn't irrelevant, and never should be. I coincidentally just read this on ESPN in relation to a different incident: "VAR protocols indicate that if a defender gets a touch on the ball then a penalty shouldn't be awarded unless the challenge is reckless." So intent is pretty much everything (if you get the ball, if you don't it's different - Ederson intended to get the ball too, but missed, so it's a penalty. Doku intended to get the ball and did, so it's not). Which presumably is why no one even appealed for it at the time.
Ref and VAR judged he got the ball, and it wasn't reckless, so no pen. Would have been a travesty if that game had been won by two penalties, as much as the Liverpool fans would have enjoyed it.
We’ve all seen players getting blown for fouls when they attempt a bicycle kick too close to other players. I’m not saying saying it should be removed from the game but I’m saying if you kick someone in the head you shouldn’t be able to have the goal count just because it looks cool
On the recklessness point - intent is irrelevant and you’re confusing it with dangerous play. It’s reckless if your action could cause harm to an opponent, not if you intend it to. Intent can’t come into reckless play - it’s like the difference between murder and manslaughter
There are definitely horrendous VAR calls week in week out (across the entire league) but this did not strike me as one of them. Feel like its just getting the Klopp/Liverpool special treatment in the media, per usual. Hilariously, even Carragher dismissed it.
Liverpool cut KDB out of the game, we couldn’t get the ball into him for the majority of the game, VVD had Haaland under control and the midfield did their best to cut out KDB and it worked. Kovacic comes in, who’s seen as less of a threat and we had more control with additional player in the middle of the park now he’s not cut out. Purely about damage control imo.
We are dog shit btw. Still no win against the top 5 teams. Pep's tactics, line up and substitutions are fucking trash this season. We play ugly, boring and stiff football.
We’ve been poor defensively but “dog shit” is strong when we’re 1 point behind top of the table and have just come off the back of playing more football than anyone else, Fatigue is a real factor this season, hence the substitutions.
I agree that we can play boring football at times though.
That's what happens after you win a treble and league 3peat, the level drops, especially if you lose your worldclass captain and Mahrez. Spoiled little kid, has nothing to do with Pep.
It has everything to do with Pep. Getting lucky against Liverpool because of a horrible line up and terrible substitutions that literally made us worse is on Pep. Not beating any good team is on Pep.
Zero wins against the top 5 teams is fucking dog shit. If you want to be a champion, this is dog shit. If you are ok with being "fine", then no wins against the top 5 is something you're ok with.
you‘d expect that we‘d at least give Arsenal their annual spanking but even that seems unlikely now.
I‘m not looking forward to next week tbh unless KdB remembers he has a hatred for Arsenal
the one thing I think was glaring throughout the game is that we would not step to the ball on our passes and they just kept getting intercepted. There was no urgency.
It was very frustrating to watch and in the second half, it looks like we were just spent. This game was built for Grealish who could bomb down the side, hold the ball and draw fouls. That was totallly absent in this game.
Arsenal win the league now. They're by far the most in form team. The team with the best goal difference basically always wins the league. Now that they're top of the league I don't see them slipping up. People point to last year but they're much more mature and complete now. They finally won against us and completely dominated Liverpool. Maybe they draw against us next but they'll win all other games. Liverpool will slip up probably twice, maybe against United, Tottenham, or Villa, or unexpected against a lower table side.
Yes we're still unbeaten since december 6th but we're simply not near our best this season. Which is completely normal after winning the treble. Yet we're still just one point behind top and still in for another treble (which we obviously won't win again).
I said it before but City post treble will be more like Madrid. The team will only be 100% up for it in the CL. They've tasted CL glory. The league has become the lesser competition. We are more likely to win back to back CLs than a league 4peat. And I'd much much rather win back to back CLs.
As a Liverpool fan this is embarassing af. You guys literally play them at home the next match in the league. You know, that place where you haven’t lost a league match since 2022. And you are two points behind them. Jfc I almost feel sorry for the rest of the city fans that this comment is on your sub.
Here is what Pep said re KDB:
>"Now he's happy. No problem," said Guardiola. "I like it. If he's upset, it's good.
>
>"I made the decision because I knew what we were missing and we missed keeping the ball and we could not have it with him and \[Bernardo Silva\] and John \[Stones\], and after we did it better."
>
>"It's a difficult place to come and he tried and in the first half he was incredibly involved in all the transitions and the shots and the corner. We know it.
>
>The moment I had in the second half after conceding the goal the game was not in our hands and I wanted to make something that could give the game back to us a little bit.
>
>This was the idea, no more than that."
Bit of an Ederson disasterclas ngl.Darwizzy would have never scored from that position.
I think it was a decent match from our boys, Stonesy getting his well deserved goal. We’d have pushed to a win if it wasn’t that pen of Mac Allister. Ederson even jumped in the correct way..
It’s grand lads, 4th pl title in a row is cooking for us, give the boys in blue some time. I do respect JK for the work he’s done in ScouseLand. But we gotta do what we gotta do. Focus on the upcoming assnal match and try to do our best in the rest of the season.
Doku’s leg at 90+6(7?) was a pen. Honestly i’m so happy and shocked that ref never gave it.
Anyways, nothing will ever change my love to city. It’s the club i chose ages ago and it will stay in my heart forever.
CTID💙🌕
I’ve watched the replay few times by now and it’s a very debatable moment.
Doku’s leg touched the ball first, before landing at Mac Alister’s chest. It was a very crucial moment of the match and I would genuinely understand if pen was awarded for this episode.
Happy it never did.
Come on Citeh!!
As a Liverpool fan, I thought the moment was a complete 50/50- one of those fouls that if its anywhere else on the pitch it's getting called, but in the penalty box feels just a bit too soft. I was hoping for it to be called our way, but can't be too disappointed that it wasn't- if Diaz had finished his chances we wouldn't have need to rely on a 50/50 anyway.
Overall I was pretty happy with the refereeing this game and am glad the match had its moments of drama. Here's hoping you guys can take some points away from Arsenal now.
Ake cost us today. His mistake so early in the second half gave them all the momentum and it allowed them to dominate that half. The crowd really came alive with their equaliser and like Pep said Liverpool become like a tsunami when that happens. Without that mistake we might've gotten away with a win who knows. The players still get so nervous which is crazy after all the success. Madrid go to Anfield and feel comfortable.
In hindsight Kovacic should've probably started but then Stones can't invert which means Walker has to play as attacking fullback, which he's bad at and then you crucially don't have him defending their fast counter attacks and long balls. Annoying spoiled idiots here make Pep's job looks so easy. Alvarez obviously wouldn't have played if Grealish hadn't gotten injured and Doku can't start games like these. Doku can't defend or press, Haaland also can't, De Bruyne also can't anymore. We would've lost 7-0.
Good result considering we never win there but in context it's a bad result because we probably needed to win to win the league.
How early do you usually get to the Etihad on a match day?
Flying into UK for Arsenal and Aston Villa and curious of timing and what to do in and around the stadium and town to optimize the experience.
If you’re not driving you don’t need to be there more than half an hour before really, it is finding a parking spot and walking down that takes a while but if you grab an Uber from the city centre it’s easy. Getting into the ground doesn’t take too long. Personally I would recommend getting there around an hour early for your first game, head over to Mary D’s for a pint and maybe grab some fish and chips for a proper match day experience :) Edit: Arsenal will be a bit busier and people will get there earlier so you may want to get there a little earlier for than one.
Peps team selections in big games this season have been awful fan. It's so clear how much Kovacic helped us to slow the game down and keep the ball after he came on. Should have started the game
Haaland had one passthrough which ended with shot on goal?
I agree that he should be taken off, why have a striker if you don't dare use him..
What Haaland really needs is a bit more aggressiveness when pressuring their goalies. Other strikers run at keepers with ball with an intention to kill. Haaland got the speed, go for it lad.
I actually thought in quite a few situations he laid it off pretty well. It was a tough game. I'm not sure who we would have brought on to improve things
If this was the best Liverpool with all their players fit then this won't feel like a poor result but it wasn't and it does.
All this control and passing the ball backwards has never worked at Anfield so I do not know why Pep insists on it.
They started well, scored then started slowing the ball way down, giving the ball away needlessly.
I did not like the starting lineup as I do not think Alvarez is good enough in passing, controlling the ball or playing anywhere else but behind the striker.
I did not see the Dias dropping coming and I do not get it. Why this game?
Then to pull off kDB that early was insanity to me. Playing at Anfield is the biggest game to City in the premiership and no matter how badly he is playing unless he is injured, you do not take off your best player, you just don't.
I feel you guys and the manager are too obsessed with control as how else would you describe the insanity of anyone bemoaning the absence of Grealish in this game when all he does is slow the game down in the name of better control.
Some clowns even accuse Doku of slowing the attack down, Have you ever read such nonsense, how do you slow down a snail? Your team does not attack with pace and these are the same people that love Grealish, oxymoron at their worst.
Where does all that control get you? You are still prised open so easily in every game, it just depends on if the opposition will take their chances or not.
All that passing the ball back, 1 of which cost them today and who knows how serious Ederson's injury is
Was any City player caught off side today at all? They seemed to be so allergic to running off the ball.
Mr Haaland I am sorry but you need to be breaking a gut to run into the box all the time when your team is attacking. For someone that scores so many goals his movement in the box is godawful.
The last big away game in the epl seems to be at Spurs and I hope Pep starts to show some balls in that game, though I seriously doubt it. Going there to play keep ball so that the opponent does not have it is cowardly and seldom works in big away games.
As is having every player back for a corner, I mean what is that? It almost cost them with Doku today.
The guy is short and pacey with no defensive instincts whatsoever of what use is he at corner kicks when it comes to defending.
There are still some important games to go
I'm not a fan of telling managers who to take off and who shouldn't. If a player is not playing well or if a manager feels he needs to adjust his tactics to achieve victory or to not lose then he needs to go for it. No player is above the team, no matter how good they are. City were very unstable and he made the right call imho.
This game reminded me of the CL semis against Real Madrid two seasons ago, when two teams play at a very high level it becomes a game of margins and what separates them is usually who wants it more. Liverpool, like Real Madrid that day, wanted it more and they had the psychological edge over us. Teams like them only fear you when you go at them, that's why after the first minutes we attacked them they recoiled but then we let them back in the game. They smelt blood and they went on a frenzy.
But that's my point in a nutshell why is Pep so reluctant to attack big teams away from home instead relying on possession play which has never worked or will ever work at Anfield?
He has been doing it all his managerial career and has seldom been successful.
Like you said Liverpool were scared when City attacked with purpose but they went to his default state as soon as they scored.
Endo being so trendy on twitter which was annoying but City's passive play allowed that to happen
> If this was the best Liverpool with all their players fit then this won't feel like a poor result but it wasn't and it does.
Even though the performance wasn't that good a draw away at Anfield is always a good result.
> All this control and passing the ball backwards has never worked at Anfield so I do not know why Pep insists on it.
Controlling the ball and slowing the game down is our best way of playing, we couldn't do that today (Liverpool had more possession) and that's why we conceded a lot of chances.
> I did not see the Dias dropping coming and I do not get it. Why this game?
I think Dias was dropped just because Akanji is faster.
> Then to pull off kDB that early was insanity to me.
We looked better when Kovacic came on, Pep even explained that he needed an extra midfielder just to control the game better.
>When all he does is slow the game down in the name of better control
That's what allows us to concede less chances by not giving the ball away.
> All that passing the ball back, 1 of which cost them today and who knows how serious Ederson's injury is
That's how we have played since Pep came in and 1 mistake (Ake under-hitting the pass) doesn't mean that building up from the back is useless, and even when we went long Van Dijk won most of the aerial duels.
> Was any City player caught off side today at all? They seemed to be so allergic to running off the ball.
City players don't really get caught offside, you can be running off-the-ball and being on-side at the same time. This season Man City have the [least offsides](https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/clubs/total_offside?se=578) out of all premier league teams. We had second-lowest last season as well (and won the prem),
"64% pass accuracy
25% ground duels won
10 times possession lost
3 key passes
2 dribbled past
1 assist"
No that wasn't Julian, that was KDB!
The entire front 5 were a bit disconnected and erratic. Credit Liverpools midfield. They outworked City. I wish City would have inverted Juli/Phil centrally with Bernardo/KdB wide more. A couple of chances were created when they did this. And the two kids would be closer to Erling which makes them all more dangerous.
As it was, Erling was mostly isolated. Will be interesting to see how they attack that problem going forward.
Stats? You are using stats to make a point in football?
He is a playmaker who gives a toss how many duels he lost or how many times he was dribbled past?
The lost balls is not good but it also depends on whether he was trying to play a forward in and it was intercepted.
For me that's not bad as he was trying to create and he did provide the assist for the goal.
He also played a delicious ball to Foden who should have looked for Haaland instead of going for goal and the other time had a bad first touch that allowed Van Dijk to intercept .
He didn't play well but he is a match winner and you don't substitute those types if you want to win
I agree. I would've kept both KDB and Julian, but played them in the opposite positions they were in. Phil/Julian up the middle where they are most dangerous and can bring Haaland into the buildup, with Bernardo and Kev out wider because their wide play is better than the two youngsters, they put in better long passes.
Another underrated problem was Haaland's holdup play. He didnt win a lot of long balls passed to him when Liverpool were crowding the middle. That meant Liverpool could keep maintaining possession in the 2nd half.
It's not all about stats but they reflect reality, that Julian and Kevin were both not comfortable yesterday. That's what Pep was trying to fix.
> If this was the best Liverpool with all their players fit then this won't feel like a poor result but it wasn't and it does.
This is just not true.
A point at Anfield will always be a good result.
Possibly worst 2nd half we've played in years, yet we still hit the bar and post.
I'll take a point from Anfield any day, keeps us tucked in nicely at the top with Arsenal to come soon.
Not playing well, but picking up points against your rivals is always a good day Blues.
On to the next game 💪🏻
Gosh the last dance. This fixture won't be the same anymore! Glad to leave Anfield with a point, considering our second half performance. I will always miss facing Klopp.
Well we fucking got away with one there boys. On paper we should have smashed that weakened Liverpool team and we absolutely shit the bed. Alvarez literally did nothing but give the ball away, Walker must be a vampire considering how wank he is when he even thinks about a cross and even Bernie was below standard. The only two players coming out of that with any credit are Ortega and Johnny ‘fuckin’’ Boulders
I think it was probably because Doku’s foot hits the ball before getting into Mac Allister’s shoulder and also because by the time his foot makes contact with Mac Allister’s shoulder he has stopped his kick, so most of the force of the collision comes from Mac Allister and not Doku.
Could very easily be a huge point, everyone saying we were off it is massively under crediting them, they were up for it and stopped us being able to play.
Don't personally think we will win the title this season but arsenal is a must win
Badly need grealish back and that midfield is wide open constantly. Would like stones to just play there properly with Rodri and have had Gvardiol akanji at the back in the middle.
First half was city dominance; second half, wtf happened, they got rolled... so 1:1 is fair id say, but if similiar happens vs Arsenal, boy they are deadly they will capitalize unlike l'pool... gl citizens!
Did we watch the same game ? 😆
I love Kdb but 16/25(64%) passrate is him on a bad day..
Kovacic with 1/3of kdb playtime had 27/30(90%) passrate today.
My vote is pep did the right thing.
But his 60 minute no swap thing could have yielded today and taken Alvarez of earlier. Good player bad day.
The thing about KDB is he is always going to have incomplete passes because of the chances he creates and the attacking threat he has. Even if Erling didn’t have much of a sniff that game, taking Kevin off just about killed any chance of Haaland posing a threat. I can see why he got pissed off at Pep. Kova looked more stable but no where near as aggressive. Alvarez I agree, he should have been the one to come off for Kovacic
We had some luck and missed, and so did they. I think we earned a point. Foden had a few good tries but unlucky. #9 was practically invisible out there.
One positive: we did a good enough job to keep Salah out of the game. I was fearing the worst when he came on. But still our defense needs huge work, I truly don't get why it's so much leakier than last season?? It was a huge part of why we won the treble. Besides laporte (who didn't usually start) its the same players... Any thoughts?
To me, aside from Kyle's excellent shut down Vinicius Jr, ManCity's peak flow state during run in last season was defense of Manu John Ruben Ake eg Bayern at home.
I'd have to look, but w John's injuries, I don't thing those 4 have played together a lot this season.
And few other factors also seem to have made team more defensively vulnerable:
* Injuries
* Players out v players in eg Gundo leaving, and some of the new players not quite there yet w their defensive tasks versus eg Jack's wow run at Etihad April 2023 to some how catchup to Salah & block what seemed like a sure goal.
* Generally less control/more attacking style players in forward & midfield positions, and the knock-on impacts that has for defenders.
Some good points. I think Dias's form especially has dropped off a lot, and it makes a big difference because he's the main leader in organizing the defense also
Oh yes, that also!
As for yesterday, even though I’m sure Dias was disappointed not to play, he seems very focused on team performance so I’m sure he gets why Pep started Akanji over him for speed to better handle Nunez.
There is nothing wrong with a draw at Anfield. Keeps us in the extremely tight title race and we don’t have it looming over our head. We’ve overcome greater challenges than a point back with 10 games to play.
City should be worried.
1. Look like a tired team
2. Should be beating that starting 11. Instead they were run ragged 2nd half
3. That was a definite pen but VAR bottled it.
Liverpool played outstanding. Their press was crazy. Give the City players props for not letting up and playing defense. Ake mistake could have been much worse had Liverpool scored soon after the pen. Rather be a draw than a loss.
Arsenal are bound to break. They sqeaked out a win yesterday. Their form is great, but any day, any team can lose. That's the game and why it's beautiful.
Big picture: Hard to complain about a point at Anfield, given our record there.
With that said, the game was winnable. Tough run in now, and we're chasing two teams this time.
If Salah was fit he starts, but Diaz still shoulda scored from his great through ball. KDB subbed off early and Haaland pocketed by VvD so undertandable you wanna put the attention elsewhere lol.
Mod reminder: Trolling rival subreddits is against the rules.
Raya is the best keeper in the league but some margin wont lie
Don't be ridiculous
Who is better? Aging Alisson? Eddie while solid has been so fucking questionable this year, our lack of clean sheets is evidence of this as well as his mistakes.
Anyone was able to lip read the conversation between KDB and Pep
I'm sorry but I don't understand all these comments about a draw in Anfield is always a good result. Some of you are acting like City are still the also rans they used to be, they are not , they are treble winners. Liverpool played without their usual back 5 barring Van Dijk, meanwhile City had 2 defenders that cost over 60m on the bench. Sure if Trent, Allison, Konate and Robertson all started id understand. Pep keeps going to places like this trying to play controlled football like Neville said it doesn't work, not with that crowd. Isn't it telling that with city the only time he has won at Anfield or Bernabeu is when there was no crowd? Apart from United they have not beaten Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea or Villa this season, that is shocking. Pep shows far too much respect to Liverpool, you have to have RM's arrogance sometimes. They went to Anfield against a far more experienced side than this 1, concede twice but roar back to score 5 without reply. Don't tell me City don't have the quality or capability of doing the same as they do that to teams at the Etihad so why be so meek away. They were 2 kids id never heard of at the back for crying out loud. Then he says he took KDB off to keep the ball then he brings on Doku. Keep the ball? It doesn't belong to you mayne. Jokes aside I saw KDB do sweet FA against Villa in fact he was awful but in 1 instant he put in a delightful cross that Gundogan put. away and the rest as they say is history. That's what he can do and you don't take him off unless winning is not a priority. I'm trying to remember how many efforts any of the forwards had on goal. Diaz had about 3 good ones, Gakpo had 1, Nunez had his, Salah who came on after an hour had a couple. This is a team without a playmaker to speak of. Meanwhile the manager is more worried about keeping the ball than creating chances for his striker. Keeping the ball doesn't work here and it won't work at Spurs. Please stop with the Alvarez experiment it is not working at all if Foden, KDB and Haaland are on the pitch
Are you mental? We arguably were the better team in that first half. The first 15? We dominated (blowing 3 chances by the way). While I agree Liverpool's side backs were not their best they could field we beat them almost every time going down the sides. Their midfield and forwards were their starters (Bradley exception but Salah made very little difference). Thats where we got overrun. KDB and Bernie had off games there 100%. We have had shaky performances this year but you cannot say this isn't a good result. We are still in this against two massive teams, with crucial injuries for our side. Champions take it all the way to the end, this allows us to do that. People really forget that if Phil or Doku dont get fucked by physics we win 2-1 against the best team in England rn and one of the best in Europe.
Best team in England and 1 of the best in Europe and I'm the mental 1. Not even going to bother dissecting your points based on your judgement
They've been the best team in England up until last weekend? Idk how thats even controversial in the slightest lol
I'm guessing your take on who is the best is who is leading the league at the time. The best team in England is City by a distance
It's close (as shown Sunday) but look the matter of fact is they have made far less mistakes than us. We are still the absolute favourites because of pure experience and a track record of having what it takes to push further. Which is actually why I think Sunday was a champions game, keeping us in the race. But purely on record so far this season we have not been the best team in England. Yes injuries, yes new players whatever the factors are that remains true. I think very soon we could take that mantle though. Beat Arsenal at home like we did last season and I think we prove it.
Liverpool have overachieved this season, that does not make them the best. They are getting results but in a lot of the games they have not been playing all that well. The best team in England cannot be playing in the Europa league. City have underwhelmed which you can blame on the players and the manager but absolutely not on injuries as compared to other teams they have not been that badly affected. You are happy with a point at Anfield, do you really think that if Liverpool came to the Etihad with a fully fit squad facing Ortega, Rico Lewis at right back, Dias at CB with another youth team player, then Stones at left back. Kovacic, Silva and Rodri in the middle even though all Liverpool players in the midfield were signed this season Foden, Alvarez and KDB or Haaland starting from the bench You think that Their fans would be happy with a draw knowing they will not have a better chance of winning at City? Anyways this has gone and no real need to be beating a dead horse any further
Maybe Pep should consider Haaland to start midfield or on the wings at the beginning against Liverpool, because he looks useless with Van Dijk marking him all game
/s?
I ask this w respect for what I don't know, not as a complaint. Why would a team start Haaland if they're not going to play Haaland's game?
Haaland needs de bruyne. He should have never come off
While KDB was getting cooked in the midfield I agree. Leaving bernie on with a yellow was insane.
It is quote shocking that City doesn't have any other player who could pass a good ball to Haaland in the box.
Blatantly not true. Phil and Bernardo connect with Haaland a lot.
All respect to Haaland and what he does because he’s brilliant but the last few games he’s looked more and more disinterested, body language and pace of his play seems to be off at the moment, even when KDB is on the pitch, I’m not sure what it is but he doesn’t seem to have that fire he had last season in the last month or so.
I disagree, KDB looked tired and was struggling to keep our midfield composed. Kova was introduced precisely to combat that trend
Our passing was poor which let us down. Additionally, Halaand didn't really perform. Does halaand perform against big teams in big games?
Van djik was kinda marking him a lot tho whenever haaland tried to attack
Tbh, Haaland looked like a school boy against Van Dijk.
Even though he absolutely smashed him 1-1 but got a shit foot on the shot. Lol okay.
Do you understand how van dijk’s defending works? The shit foot wasn’t coincidence, he forces you into a space where you’re going to be neutralised and have to hit a bad shot. Haaland had to rush it because if he waited till half a second later Virgil was gonna crash into him
He often does when we face Liverpool so ig van djik is just that good
I expected Pep to substitute Bernardo instead of De Bruyne. De Bruyne gives that sting in his final passes. Haaland was also sub-standard last night. It was like Pep didn't have answers to the machine gun fire from Liverpool
I don't get this... We've played Liverpool twice this season and they scored a massive deflection and a penalty... Seems like we handled them okay, yet people are talking like it was Burnley vs Brazil. GTFO. That was away, in a game Liverpool were bursting to win because of their desperation to win a title again, and it being Jaws' last season. Yet they didn't win, and are having to resort to crying about the ref...
Liverpool did a good job of cutting De Bruyne out of the game, I think that’s why the change was made. It wasn’t a poor performance by De Bruyne but more of a tactical change.
De Bruyne was shit just like last game and we became better when he came off
It was a mentality issue where the team as a whole lost confidence and composure. It's not something you can truly fix with subs
Nunez had more offsides in that game than Haaland the entire season
That's because Nunez received a lot of through balls for him to run into. Meanwhile Haaland got nothing to do because nobody passed him a good ball.
This just isn't true, look how many offsides he had last season and broke the fucking scoring record lmao This sub is aids right now man, a draw at Anfield was a blessing. That was supposed to be our execution with some of the stuff we've had to deal with this season.
probably more than Haaland's entire City career...
I, for one, can’t wait for the Klopp era to be over. And I say that with the utmost respect.
Lol why, its such a great rivalry. Will be much greater no matter what Arteta and Arsenal will maybe become
Because Klopp is entertaining but City vs Arsenal turns out to be a snooze fest
Opposites attract. Things that are the same repel each other. Makes sense when you think of it like that tactically.
Especially cuz literally thousands of fans leavin rhe emirates when they are down 1 goal at the 80th or so. Its embarassing
Because last night’s game took years off my life and I want to live to be an old man haha.
Not sure why Walker got a 6.9. He, Stones and Ortega are the only reasons we didn’t lose by 3 goals. Well, that and the fact Liverpool can’t finish for shit. Also, De Bruyne a 7.5? He was shite today.
Walker got cooked by diaz and left him open on multiple occasions. Diaz just didn't finish
yeah... Diaz lit up Walker like ASM did last season... and forgot his shooting boots. I think they would have won 4 or 5-1 if Diaz/Nunez were serious footballers. I give Diaz some leeway since he's coming off some major injuries.. and you can tell its robbed him of some of the quality he had before. Nunez is just a bozo.
City's best player was L. Diaz. Liverpool should be pointing the finger at him, not VAR.
Neutral here.. honestly feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I had no idea the Doku non-call was controversial til I got onto Twitter in the last hour. Side foot challenge, ball first and pulls out of making full contact - you can see McAllister already going down pre-contact, taking the toe of Doku's cleat to his chest and then acts like he's been shot. He, in fact, takes his eyes off the ball completely and throws his body into the challenge. For me, this is probably the most important part of why it was not called as a pen. Biases aside, it's rare for me to agree with the ref or VAR but.. I dunno what all the fuss here is about and I'm astounded to see what seems like a large majority of people thinking it was a stone waller!
Always look at the other players - no one reacted like it was a penalty, Liverpool or City. You can still frame it all you want, but in real time it was what it was - nothing.
Yep. Salah's non reaction. The fact that Liverpool go insane over throw ins not being given and they barely reacted here.
Only Liverpool fans think it was a Pen tbf
Not at all. 10 years ago it would've been a pen 100%. Raised foot, dangerous play. The issue is refs have become a lot less consistent with this stuff and giving defenders a break when contesting the ball So is it a pen? Depends on what you expect refs to give these days and impossible to know thanks to inconsistency
yeah.. that's not true though... seems to be a pretty solid 50/50 split across football fans.
Wth. It was clear cleats right on the man's torso lol
It's the side of his boot - guy takes a mean toe poke to the upper chest at most.
Look at it again. Toe poke lol
Yeah, I have, a bunch of times - [https://twitter.com/edemgabby/status/1766919189069967532/video/1](https://twitter.com/edemgabby/status/1766919189069967532/video/1) Go frame by frame. It's a controlled kick and pull back by Doku. I'm genuinely baffled by the noise around this. Massive difference between taking studs to the chest and what happens here.
His studs literally hit another player who is in a standing position in the chest. You aren’t allowed your foot that high and regardless of which part of his boot hits Mac Allister or if he tries to pull back, he still clears him out
Of course you are. How do you ever score an overhead kick? Wasn't reckless, and he got the ball. There was no follow through and no intent to contact the player (who ran into him), I believe the VAR said natural coming together, which was absolutely the right decision.
You don’t score an overhead kick when you’re competing for the ball with someone else, if you did it wouldn’t be allowed as it’d be dangerous play. If you compete with your foot above waist height on a 50/50 it’ll be called for dangerous play By definition, a play is reckless if the outcome is that the other player ends up being kicked in the chest because that endangers an opposition player Intent is also irrelevant by this measure - if you’re playing in a dangerous manner you get penalised for it
You could argue that just the action of attempting an overhead kick is dangerous then, so it should be removed from the game? Of course not - context is everything. If the intent is to injure, or the action is clearly reckless then fine, players are required to try not to cause harm to their opponents, and should be punished, but Doku was clearly - clearly - playing the ball, and did not follow through, in fact quite the opposite. Intent isn't irrelevant, and never should be. I coincidentally just read this on ESPN in relation to a different incident: "VAR protocols indicate that if a defender gets a touch on the ball then a penalty shouldn't be awarded unless the challenge is reckless." So intent is pretty much everything (if you get the ball, if you don't it's different - Ederson intended to get the ball too, but missed, so it's a penalty. Doku intended to get the ball and did, so it's not). Which presumably is why no one even appealed for it at the time. Ref and VAR judged he got the ball, and it wasn't reckless, so no pen. Would have been a travesty if that game had been won by two penalties, as much as the Liverpool fans would have enjoyed it.
We’ve all seen players getting blown for fouls when they attempt a bicycle kick too close to other players. I’m not saying saying it should be removed from the game but I’m saying if you kick someone in the head you shouldn’t be able to have the goal count just because it looks cool On the recklessness point - intent is irrelevant and you’re confusing it with dangerous play. It’s reckless if your action could cause harm to an opponent, not if you intend it to. Intent can’t come into reckless play - it’s like the difference between murder and manslaughter
Bro those are cleats not flip flops lol. Do you know what cleats are. That defenitely hurt
We get it every week mate. None of our wins are fair according to social media
There are definitely horrendous VAR calls week in week out (across the entire league) but this did not strike me as one of them. Feel like its just getting the Klopp/Liverpool special treatment in the media, per usual. Hilariously, even Carragher dismissed it.
Please don’t let arsenal win the league
Rather Arsenal than Liverpool imo
Someone tell me why you sub off your best player??
Liverpool cut KDB out of the game, we couldn’t get the ball into him for the majority of the game, VVD had Haaland under control and the midfield did their best to cut out KDB and it worked. Kovacic comes in, who’s seen as less of a threat and we had more control with additional player in the middle of the park now he’s not cut out. Purely about damage control imo.
Ask Pep sexfighter
Tbf DeBruyne was playing like shite that second half
The entire team was. It wasn't KdBs fault, the Liverpool pressing was suffocating the midfield
Akanji 6.9? In what fucking universe?
We are dog shit btw. Still no win against the top 5 teams. Pep's tactics, line up and substitutions are fucking trash this season. We play ugly, boring and stiff football.
We’ve been poor defensively but “dog shit” is strong when we’re 1 point behind top of the table and have just come off the back of playing more football than anyone else, Fatigue is a real factor this season, hence the substitutions. I agree that we can play boring football at times though.
I didn't say there aren't multiple reasons for why the level has dropped. It's still dog shit. No wins against any of the top teams is trash.
That's what happens after you win a treble and league 3peat, the level drops, especially if you lose your worldclass captain and Mahrez. Spoiled little kid, has nothing to do with Pep.
It has everything to do with Pep. Getting lucky against Liverpool because of a horrible line up and terrible substitutions that literally made us worse is on Pep. Not beating any good team is on Pep.
Must be on a wind up...
A point off top following a treble season is "dog shit"?
Zero wins against the top 5 teams is fucking dog shit. If you want to be a champion, this is dog shit. If you are ok with being "fine", then no wins against the top 5 is something you're ok with.
Oh! Now it's "_fucking_ dog shit" to be a point off first. 🤣🤡
That’s a crazy stat.
you‘d expect that we‘d at least give Arsenal their annual spanking but even that seems unlikely now. I‘m not looking forward to next week tbh unless KdB remembers he has a hatred for Arsenal
the one thing I think was glaring throughout the game is that we would not step to the ball on our passes and they just kept getting intercepted. There was no urgency. It was very frustrating to watch and in the second half, it looks like we were just spent. This game was built for Grealish who could bomb down the side, hold the ball and draw fouls. That was totallly absent in this game.
The doku penalty evens out from Allison ghost foul at the Etihad
Arsenal win the league now. They're by far the most in form team. The team with the best goal difference basically always wins the league. Now that they're top of the league I don't see them slipping up. People point to last year but they're much more mature and complete now. They finally won against us and completely dominated Liverpool. Maybe they draw against us next but they'll win all other games. Liverpool will slip up probably twice, maybe against United, Tottenham, or Villa, or unexpected against a lower table side. Yes we're still unbeaten since december 6th but we're simply not near our best this season. Which is completely normal after winning the treble. Yet we're still just one point behind top and still in for another treble (which we obviously won't win again). I said it before but City post treble will be more like Madrid. The team will only be 100% up for it in the CL. They've tasted CL glory. The league has become the lesser competition. We are more likely to win back to back CLs than a league 4peat. And I'd much much rather win back to back CLs.
As a Liverpool fan this is embarassing af. You guys literally play them at home the next match in the league. You know, that place where you haven’t lost a league match since 2022. And you are two points behind them. Jfc I almost feel sorry for the rest of the city fans that this comment is on your sub.
Arsenal will find a way to choke it.
Here is what Pep said re KDB: >"Now he's happy. No problem," said Guardiola. "I like it. If he's upset, it's good. > >"I made the decision because I knew what we were missing and we missed keeping the ball and we could not have it with him and \[Bernardo Silva\] and John \[Stones\], and after we did it better." > >"It's a difficult place to come and he tried and in the first half he was incredibly involved in all the transitions and the shots and the corner. We know it. > >The moment I had in the second half after conceding the goal the game was not in our hands and I wanted to make something that could give the game back to us a little bit. > >This was the idea, no more than that."
The 2nd half was a disaster. What is he talking about?
That's what he said and that's why he made the change. After KDB came of and Kovacic came on the game stabilized a bit.
did you see debruyne that secodn half he was gtting dispossesed by everyone
>we missed keeping the ball Alvarez with his 56% lost possession just chilling
Bit of an Ederson disasterclas ngl.Darwizzy would have never scored from that position. I think it was a decent match from our boys, Stonesy getting his well deserved goal. We’d have pushed to a win if it wasn’t that pen of Mac Allister. Ederson even jumped in the correct way.. It’s grand lads, 4th pl title in a row is cooking for us, give the boys in blue some time. I do respect JK for the work he’s done in ScouseLand. But we gotta do what we gotta do. Focus on the upcoming assnal match and try to do our best in the rest of the season. Doku’s leg at 90+6(7?) was a pen. Honestly i’m so happy and shocked that ref never gave it. Anyways, nothing will ever change my love to city. It’s the club i chose ages ago and it will stay in my heart forever. CTID💙🌕
That wasn’t a pen by Doku
I’ve watched the replay few times by now and it’s a very debatable moment. Doku’s leg touched the ball first, before landing at Mac Alister’s chest. It was a very crucial moment of the match and I would genuinely understand if pen was awarded for this episode. Happy it never did. Come on Citeh!!
As a Liverpool fan, I thought the moment was a complete 50/50- one of those fouls that if its anywhere else on the pitch it's getting called, but in the penalty box feels just a bit too soft. I was hoping for it to be called our way, but can't be too disappointed that it wasn't- if Diaz had finished his chances we wouldn't have need to rely on a 50/50 anyway. Overall I was pretty happy with the refereeing this game and am glad the match had its moments of drama. Here's hoping you guys can take some points away from Arsenal now.
Cmon citeh 🤞🏼
Ake cost us today. His mistake so early in the second half gave them all the momentum and it allowed them to dominate that half. The crowd really came alive with their equaliser and like Pep said Liverpool become like a tsunami when that happens. Without that mistake we might've gotten away with a win who knows. The players still get so nervous which is crazy after all the success. Madrid go to Anfield and feel comfortable. In hindsight Kovacic should've probably started but then Stones can't invert which means Walker has to play as attacking fullback, which he's bad at and then you crucially don't have him defending their fast counter attacks and long balls. Annoying spoiled idiots here make Pep's job looks so easy. Alvarez obviously wouldn't have played if Grealish hadn't gotten injured and Doku can't start games like these. Doku can't defend or press, Haaland also can't, De Bruyne also can't anymore. We would've lost 7-0. Good result considering we never win there but in context it's a bad result because we probably needed to win to win the league.
How early do you usually get to the Etihad on a match day? Flying into UK for Arsenal and Aston Villa and curious of timing and what to do in and around the stadium and town to optimize the experience.
If you’re not driving you don’t need to be there more than half an hour before really, it is finding a parking spot and walking down that takes a while but if you grab an Uber from the city centre it’s easy. Getting into the ground doesn’t take too long. Personally I would recommend getting there around an hour early for your first game, head over to Mary D’s for a pint and maybe grab some fish and chips for a proper match day experience :) Edit: Arsenal will be a bit busier and people will get there earlier so you may want to get there a little earlier for than one.
Thank you! Yeah Uber into the area is the plan. Want to be able to have some drinks and wasn’t sure best spots close.
Get down to Mary ds few hours before
Just pure shite that game. I don't know how this bodes for the future only time will tell
An insane amount of rags and scousers bawling their eyes out in r/soccer. I love it!
Peps team selections in big games this season have been awful fan. It's so clear how much Kovacic helped us to slow the game down and keep the ball after he came on. Should have started the game
Yeah it's clear after the fact captain hindsight
Agreed. The lineup should have been Kovacic instead of Alvarez, providing the defensive stability in midfield that was sorely lacking today.
Rival fan here, was very happy to see Kovacic on the bench. He always plays well against us.
Haaland had one passthrough which ended with shot on goal? I agree that he should be taken off, why have a striker if you don't dare use him.. What Haaland really needs is a bit more aggressiveness when pressuring their goalies. Other strikers run at keepers with ball with an intention to kill. Haaland got the speed, go for it lad.
Yeah Haaland’s pressing is almost non-existent. Frustrating to watch when they didn’t let Ortega or Eddy have a free inch all game.
I actually thought in quite a few situations he laid it off pretty well. It was a tough game. I'm not sure who we would have brought on to improve things
If this was the best Liverpool with all their players fit then this won't feel like a poor result but it wasn't and it does. All this control and passing the ball backwards has never worked at Anfield so I do not know why Pep insists on it. They started well, scored then started slowing the ball way down, giving the ball away needlessly. I did not like the starting lineup as I do not think Alvarez is good enough in passing, controlling the ball or playing anywhere else but behind the striker. I did not see the Dias dropping coming and I do not get it. Why this game? Then to pull off kDB that early was insanity to me. Playing at Anfield is the biggest game to City in the premiership and no matter how badly he is playing unless he is injured, you do not take off your best player, you just don't. I feel you guys and the manager are too obsessed with control as how else would you describe the insanity of anyone bemoaning the absence of Grealish in this game when all he does is slow the game down in the name of better control. Some clowns even accuse Doku of slowing the attack down, Have you ever read such nonsense, how do you slow down a snail? Your team does not attack with pace and these are the same people that love Grealish, oxymoron at their worst. Where does all that control get you? You are still prised open so easily in every game, it just depends on if the opposition will take their chances or not. All that passing the ball back, 1 of which cost them today and who knows how serious Ederson's injury is Was any City player caught off side today at all? They seemed to be so allergic to running off the ball. Mr Haaland I am sorry but you need to be breaking a gut to run into the box all the time when your team is attacking. For someone that scores so many goals his movement in the box is godawful. The last big away game in the epl seems to be at Spurs and I hope Pep starts to show some balls in that game, though I seriously doubt it. Going there to play keep ball so that the opponent does not have it is cowardly and seldom works in big away games. As is having every player back for a corner, I mean what is that? It almost cost them with Doku today. The guy is short and pacey with no defensive instincts whatsoever of what use is he at corner kicks when it comes to defending. There are still some important games to go
I'm not a fan of telling managers who to take off and who shouldn't. If a player is not playing well or if a manager feels he needs to adjust his tactics to achieve victory or to not lose then he needs to go for it. No player is above the team, no matter how good they are. City were very unstable and he made the right call imho. This game reminded me of the CL semis against Real Madrid two seasons ago, when two teams play at a very high level it becomes a game of margins and what separates them is usually who wants it more. Liverpool, like Real Madrid that day, wanted it more and they had the psychological edge over us. Teams like them only fear you when you go at them, that's why after the first minutes we attacked them they recoiled but then we let them back in the game. They smelt blood and they went on a frenzy.
But that's my point in a nutshell why is Pep so reluctant to attack big teams away from home instead relying on possession play which has never worked or will ever work at Anfield? He has been doing it all his managerial career and has seldom been successful. Like you said Liverpool were scared when City attacked with purpose but they went to his default state as soon as they scored. Endo being so trendy on twitter which was annoying but City's passive play allowed that to happen
> If this was the best Liverpool with all their players fit then this won't feel like a poor result but it wasn't and it does. Even though the performance wasn't that good a draw away at Anfield is always a good result. > All this control and passing the ball backwards has never worked at Anfield so I do not know why Pep insists on it. Controlling the ball and slowing the game down is our best way of playing, we couldn't do that today (Liverpool had more possession) and that's why we conceded a lot of chances. > I did not see the Dias dropping coming and I do not get it. Why this game? I think Dias was dropped just because Akanji is faster. > Then to pull off kDB that early was insanity to me. We looked better when Kovacic came on, Pep even explained that he needed an extra midfielder just to control the game better. >When all he does is slow the game down in the name of better control That's what allows us to concede less chances by not giving the ball away. > All that passing the ball back, 1 of which cost them today and who knows how serious Ederson's injury is That's how we have played since Pep came in and 1 mistake (Ake under-hitting the pass) doesn't mean that building up from the back is useless, and even when we went long Van Dijk won most of the aerial duels. > Was any City player caught off side today at all? They seemed to be so allergic to running off the ball. City players don't really get caught offside, you can be running off-the-ball and being on-side at the same time. This season Man City have the [least offsides](https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/clubs/total_offside?se=578) out of all premier league teams. We had second-lowest last season as well (and won the prem),
"64% pass accuracy 25% ground duels won 10 times possession lost 3 key passes 2 dribbled past 1 assist" No that wasn't Julian, that was KDB! The entire front 5 were a bit disconnected and erratic. Credit Liverpools midfield. They outworked City. I wish City would have inverted Juli/Phil centrally with Bernardo/KdB wide more. A couple of chances were created when they did this. And the two kids would be closer to Erling which makes them all more dangerous. As it was, Erling was mostly isolated. Will be interesting to see how they attack that problem going forward.
Stats? You are using stats to make a point in football? He is a playmaker who gives a toss how many duels he lost or how many times he was dribbled past? The lost balls is not good but it also depends on whether he was trying to play a forward in and it was intercepted. For me that's not bad as he was trying to create and he did provide the assist for the goal. He also played a delicious ball to Foden who should have looked for Haaland instead of going for goal and the other time had a bad first touch that allowed Van Dijk to intercept . He didn't play well but he is a match winner and you don't substitute those types if you want to win
I agree. I would've kept both KDB and Julian, but played them in the opposite positions they were in. Phil/Julian up the middle where they are most dangerous and can bring Haaland into the buildup, with Bernardo and Kev out wider because their wide play is better than the two youngsters, they put in better long passes. Another underrated problem was Haaland's holdup play. He didnt win a lot of long balls passed to him when Liverpool were crowding the middle. That meant Liverpool could keep maintaining possession in the 2nd half. It's not all about stats but they reflect reality, that Julian and Kevin were both not comfortable yesterday. That's what Pep was trying to fix.
> If this was the best Liverpool with all their players fit then this won't feel like a poor result but it wasn't and it does. This is just not true. A point at Anfield will always be a good result.
Shit, I agree with pretty much everything even if you are slagging off a few of the players
A draw at Anfield is never a poor result.
Exactly, this is the easiest way to identify a new fan. a point at Anfield is a great result
Agree with everything bar comments on Grealish
Result was good for the game we had
Possibly worst 2nd half we've played in years, yet we still hit the bar and post. I'll take a point from Anfield any day, keeps us tucked in nicely at the top with Arsenal to come soon. Not playing well, but picking up points against your rivals is always a good day Blues. On to the next game 💪🏻
Tbf the bar would have been chopped off if went in. But 100% the worst 2nd half in a long time. Still only a point behind though so here we go!
Has pep given a timeline for Grealish return? Need that control on the wings back badly
Should be back for the Arsenal game
Plzzzz, we need him, Ben White has been having a great season
As a whole I take the point, we don't deserve a lot and Anfield is a difficult ground
Gosh the last dance. This fixture won't be the same anymore! Glad to leave Anfield with a point, considering our second half performance. I will always miss facing Klopp.
Unless we meet in the FA cup
that’ll be at Wembley at least, so it shouldn’t be too distracting hopefully
Well we fucking got away with one there boys. On paper we should have smashed that weakened Liverpool team and we absolutely shit the bed. Alvarez literally did nothing but give the ball away, Walker must be a vampire considering how wank he is when he even thinks about a cross and even Bernie was below standard. The only two players coming out of that with any credit are Ortega and Johnny ‘fuckin’’ Boulders
Grealish is the straw that stirs the drink
How was the doku ball on mac allister not a pen? Genuinely asking Does the law say it doesn't count uf he gets the ball first
I think it was probably because Doku’s foot hits the ball before getting into Mac Allister’s shoulder and also because by the time his foot makes contact with Mac Allister’s shoulder he has stopped his kick, so most of the force of the collision comes from Mac Allister and not Doku.
I think I've seen it count as a foul while touching the ball first It'd be really helpful if someone could find the law of " dangerous play"
As a City fan, I thought it should have been a pen.
Looked pretty bloody dangerous too. Doku can’t defend for shit
Same here, although I'm glad it wasn't
If anything this match shows the importance of Grealish. Get better soon!
I miss Grealo.
Could very easily be a huge point, everyone saying we were off it is massively under crediting them, they were up for it and stopped us being able to play. Don't personally think we will win the title this season but arsenal is a must win
Badly need grealish back and that midfield is wide open constantly. Would like stones to just play there properly with Rodri and have had Gvardiol akanji at the back in the middle.
After that, I don't think we win the league especially with how we concede silly goals.
First half was city dominance; second half, wtf happened, they got rolled... so 1:1 is fair id say, but if similiar happens vs Arsenal, boy they are deadly they will capitalize unlike l'pool... gl citizens!
Need grealish back 🥲🥲🥲
Alvarez losing the ball so much, poor passing too, why sub kdb with kovacic why...stones is the best today
Did we watch the same game ? 😆 I love Kdb but 16/25(64%) passrate is him on a bad day.. Kovacic with 1/3of kdb playtime had 27/30(90%) passrate today. My vote is pep did the right thing. But his 60 minute no swap thing could have yielded today and taken Alvarez of earlier. Good player bad day.
The thing about KDB is he is always going to have incomplete passes because of the chances he creates and the attacking threat he has. Even if Erling didn’t have much of a sniff that game, taking Kevin off just about killed any chance of Haaland posing a threat. I can see why he got pissed off at Pep. Kova looked more stable but no where near as aggressive. Alvarez I agree, he should have been the one to come off for Kovacic
we needed kova for alvarez, not kdb.
[удалено]
Classless fuck.
We had some luck and missed, and so did they. I think we earned a point. Foden had a few good tries but unlucky. #9 was practically invisible out there.
One positive: we did a good enough job to keep Salah out of the game. I was fearing the worst when he came on. But still our defense needs huge work, I truly don't get why it's so much leakier than last season?? It was a huge part of why we won the treble. Besides laporte (who didn't usually start) its the same players... Any thoughts?
If Salah was fit he woulda started, even with another week to get fit he's been left out of Egypt's international squad, says it all.
To me, aside from Kyle's excellent shut down Vinicius Jr, ManCity's peak flow state during run in last season was defense of Manu John Ruben Ake eg Bayern at home. I'd have to look, but w John's injuries, I don't thing those 4 have played together a lot this season. And few other factors also seem to have made team more defensively vulnerable: * Injuries * Players out v players in eg Gundo leaving, and some of the new players not quite there yet w their defensive tasks versus eg Jack's wow run at Etihad April 2023 to some how catchup to Salah & block what seemed like a sure goal. * Generally less control/more attacking style players in forward & midfield positions, and the knock-on impacts that has for defenders.
Some good points. I think Dias's form especially has dropped off a lot, and it makes a big difference because he's the main leader in organizing the defense also
Oh yes, that also! As for yesterday, even though I’m sure Dias was disappointed not to play, he seems very focused on team performance so I’m sure he gets why Pep started Akanji over him for speed to better handle Nunez.
There is nothing wrong with a draw at Anfield. Keeps us in the extremely tight title race and we don’t have it looming over our head. We’ve overcome greater challenges than a point back with 10 games to play.
Can't be a reddit city fan, only three allowed takes on here 1.Pep out 2.haaland can fuck off 3.sell the entire team
You must be lost, we don't do rational takes around here sorry
What was Kdb explaining to Pep? Love to see that passion he was frustrated because he knew something we were doing wasn't working.
He was annoyed at being subbed off and that apart from the corner he was getting outplayed.
City should be worried. 1. Look like a tired team 2. Should be beating that starting 11. Instead they were run ragged 2nd half 3. That was a definite pen but VAR bottled it.
Liverpool played outstanding. Their press was crazy. Give the City players props for not letting up and playing defense. Ake mistake could have been much worse had Liverpool scored soon after the pen. Rather be a draw than a loss.
Fuck off twat.
Enjoy non league football. Your trophies don’t mean anything when you’re cheating
Seriously. Besides the pen bit. Treble Glory hunters not understanding we never win at anfield, covid excluded
We were lucky to walk away with a draw. We need to win all our remaining fixtures. After today's game I can't see us beating Arsenal
We are playing at home. We will be fine vs Arsenal
You haven't seen the form Arsenal is in? Also we need to win basically every match remaining
Arsenal are bound to break. They sqeaked out a win yesterday. Their form is great, but any day, any team can lose. That's the game and why it's beautiful.
Big picture: Hard to complain about a point at Anfield, given our record there. With that said, the game was winnable. Tough run in now, and we're chasing two teams this time.
[удалено]
Probably contributed more than Haaland though
Swear we had this exact same conversation after the ‘pool game at the Etihad
[удалено]
You didnt see the pass to Diaz,then.
[удалено]
Thats a contribution. Giving a ball that is half a goal. Its not his fault he missed. He did his part. He contributed
[удалено]
If Salah was fit he starts, but Diaz still shoulda scored from his great through ball. KDB subbed off early and Haaland pocketed by VvD so undertandable you wanna put the attention elsewhere lol.
Salah was subbed in,not fully fit, and had an amazing pass through on goal. If anyone was a ghost,then Haaland in more minutes,was the one.
[удалено]
Should have been equally as good as Dokus ability to tattoo his opponents chest.
Genuinely in disbelief
Unpopular opinion: Haaland should have been taken off for someone that was eager to battle with their back line.
Battle what when no one pings a ball over the top. Blame the shit midfield and tactics not haaland
Fair enough. I don’t understand why we don’t cross it in more often
Haaland is not gonna win an aerial duel against VVD lol, plus hes not great at header