Man City 3 Saints 0 reaction

We outplayed City at our place last season.

True but still only managed a 1-1...

If we had won today my expectations would jazzed in their pants. Luckily this didn't happen so I have no reason for a red faced clean up.

I deffo wrote jizzed.

Boogger.

The game all changed after Morgan had to go off and we lost our defensive screen. Even then there was too much faffing around at the back in the second half. In front of their GK and back four they are a very good team but whenever the ball was lumped in the air they flapped and panicked and we got some decent chances from the knock downs so want do we do?

Faff around, faff around, lose the ball.

Faff around, faff around, lose the ball.

Faff around, faff around, lose the ball.

And so it went on until they shot, and scored, and shot, and shot..

Pellè was inconspicuous. Tadic poor first touch and awful crosses. Their 3rd came from his poor corner and the whole stand around me was screaming that Clichy was free Mané was self-indulgent.

Long would have been a far better choice for that position.

We came up against a City side firing on all cylinders and were simply not good enough. Thought we may have weathered the storm after they tore us apart for the first 20 minutes, but losing Schneiderlin was probably just too much for us to handle given we had no other midfielder (good enough) on the bench.

As someone said above, it was very much like the Chelsea game where an in form & very decent side outplayed us.

Target for me would be to try & get 2(or more) points from the next two games & win in the Cup.

The thing is we did that last season didn't we? and still didn't really get results against the big teams and couldn't beat teams like Sunderland playing that way either.

You're surely not blaming Forster for any of their goals???

They were excellent, we weren't. But it doesn't particularly bother me. The top teams do that when they play their best.

Hopefully the bloke 2 rows behind me never sits there again. In all the hundreds and hundreds of matches I've been to I have never heard anyone so negative. He was with his kids but is probably divorced.

We contributed to our own downfall by giving them too much respect. That we manged to get into the gam at all after the first 20 minutes is a plus but we needed to take them game to them from the off and didn't. Apparently as the teams were lining up in the tunnel City were pumped up and shouting encouragement to each other and are lot were stood there silent and scared according to Radio 5.

They turned up, we didn't . They were very good. Goodnight

We contributed to our own downfall by giving them too much respect. That we manged to get into the gam at all after the first 20 minutes is a plus but we needed to take them game to them from the off and didn't. Apparently as the teams were lining up in the tunnel City were pumped up and shouting encouragement to each other and are lot were stood there silent and scared according to Radio 5.

take all that with a pinch of salt, result suited all the media

after saying that i thought both Pelle and Tadic now know what the premier league is all about, flicks and tricks need to be mixed with graft and effort. difference for me today was front lines not midfield or defenders.

we are 2 forwards away from a really good side

Not at our best, but a lot of credit should go to city who didn't give us any time or space on the ball. Constantly hassling and forcing us back. The first twenty minutes we looked very nervous which was concerning - Fonte's tackle on Aguero was a clear example of this - he just dived in which is out of character for him this year. Got lucky with that.

Worried by the contribution of Mane and Tadic in the last two matches, Pelle as well was pretty anonymous but at least won a few attacking headers.

On the plus side: good save from Forster in the one v one with Aguero and I thought Toby had an excellent first half, bit trickier in the second when he was moved out of position. Wanyama broke up play well and considering how early his yellow was did well to keep his discipline. Long made a good cameo from the bench.

take all that with a pinch of salt, result suited all the media

after saying that i thought both Pelle and Tadic now know what the premier league is all about, flicks and tricks need to be mixed with graft and effort. difference for me today was front lines not midfield or defenders.

we are 2 forwards away from a really good side

Agree completely.

City came here full of respect for Saints and played like champions. Every time in midfield when we had the ball they had a couple of players to take it away. We seemed to stand off them.

Plenty of our players had off games particularly Tadic who did not have a clue how to cross a ball! I personally thought Wanyama had a good game.

The three goals - Clyne should have tackled, it was clear he would be beaten for speed and he was. Davis sleep for the second and had the ball taken from his feet. As he went off soon after I am assuming he was suffering from his injury or just knackered. The third was the worse. Tadic crossing behind everyone and the break and goal was the sad result.

Very disappointed because it shows we are not quite there yet. But overall a great season so far.

Think we tried to act too grown up an should of acted our age!

Horrific performance.

 

Wanyama got robbed several times during the game..

 

What has happened to our crossing.

 

Pelle and tadic bang out of form and can't be dropped as we haven't the replacements.

But all these people have been telling me this feels so different to last season and how much more strength in depth we have?

take all that with a pinch of salt, result suited all the media

after saying that i thought both Pelle and Tadic now know what the premier league is all about, flicks and tricks need to be mixed with graft and effort. difference for me today was front lines not midfield or defenders.

we are 2 forwards away from a really good side

Agreed.. I'm hoping Rodriguez will be one.. the premier league grind is taking its toll on Tadic for sure.. needs a rest but we haven't the squad depth to allow for it.

Nice of City to pay us the respect of pulling Nasri for Milner as soon as they went one up. Though the ref was absolutely diabolical today, he'd already ballsed up 3 times by the time he wrongly booked Aguero for the pen they should have had (though he dived later and wasn't booked...).

Just back from the game...

reminded me of the Chelsea game last year. Did ok for 50 minutes or so then got punished.

First half was tight. Thought Morgan and Big vic were excellent. City are a dangerous side and could have easily been in front. They looked like they could score every time they attacked.

First goal was always going to be crucial and should have put some money on Toure. Thought he was awesome today.

Davis (who had a good game) error led to the inevitable Lampard goal and that was that. Chasing the game and even after the sending off we looked like conceding more. Fair play to City, they are genuine title contenders on that form.

Mane was poor in the first half but much better in the 2nd. Would start Long on Wednesday though.

Poor games from Tadic and Pelle as mentioned elsewhere.

Looked a little bereft of ideas in the final 3rd. Poor crossing and woeful set pieces.

Toby can play anywhere imho. Class. MOTM between him and Vic which just goes to show how good Toure was.

A home loss to a team who will be pushing to retain their title. No disgrace there.

Liked the music at the end.

Let's stick together-Bryan Ferry.

COYS!

Just back from the game also. You've saved me the need to type my thoughts as they pretty much echo what you said.

Hope Morgan isn't out for long. Game changer.

Just back from the game also. You've saved me the need to type my thoughts as they pretty much echo what you said.

 

Hope Morgan isn't out for long. Game changer.

Yep summed up what I saw on the telly.

Great that we can feel a little disappointed: third place with a third of the season gone.

#meltdown!

Pants

Completely outclassed. Failed our first big test of the season.

On a positive note, I think City and chelsea are head and shoulders above anyone else so hopefully we will fair better against lesser sides like Man U and Arsenal.

Obviously the usual few loonies on here using words like embarrassing and disgraceful. Someone also suggesting Forster had a bad game. ??? But most are calling it right, outplayed by the champions who finally found some form. Actually weren't that far off them for a while, but with Morgan off and a goal down, we tried chasing and were punished for a mistake and then having not enough cover. Not going to get too upset, and still think the top 4 is a chance, albeit an outside chance. Chelsea will win the league, and city will be second. No disgrace in being outclassed by either of them.

In terms of the morgan sub, I kind of agree that maybe reed should have had his chance, I just think wanyamas yellow card made Koeman nervous about putting him as the anchorman. Only real issue for me is that for the second game running our crossing was awful. We've had at least a dozen corners in the last 2 games and barely threatened once.

Oh, and the ref was dreadful. Mostly in our favour actually, especially with the aguero 'dive', but as bad a performance as I've seen since we got back in the premier league. Anyway, let's move on to arsenal. Another very difficult game and I won't be overly concerned if we drop another 3 points as we are still on for a great season, but I think we have half a chance of a result against their defence. Coys.

Morgan, is our linchpin!

Since we've been back our home games against City are won one, drawn one and lost one. Better than most i'd wager.

Just back from the game also. You've saved me the need to type my thoughts as they pretty much echo what you said.

 

Hope Morgan isn't out for long. Game changer.

come on, they were miles better with him on the pitch

We were, like at Villa:

Slow

lost posession cheaply

poor set pieces and crosses

Pelle and Tadic out of form and out of sorts

Against City, we were doomed to lose by about 3 goals with those problems. Hell, we nearly lost to Villa.

Changed completely when Morgan had to come off. Might have been able to cope if we'd had Corky on the bench, but disrupting the defence by moving Toby didn't work. Crossing today was really terrible. I know Pelle has done much the last few games but he's really not had the service. I would have taken off Tadic rather than Mane. Mane erratic but occasionally dangerous, Tadic out-muscled and crossing was dire!

come on, they were miles better with him on the pitch

Sorry ?

Sorry ?

people are saying the 'game changed' in the 2nd half.

we were very much 2nd best in both halves

We contributed to our own downfall by giving them too much respect. That we manged to get into the gam at all after the first 20 minutes is a plus but we needed to take them game to them from the off and didn't. Apparently as the teams were lining up in the tunnel City were pumped up and shouting encouragement to each other and are lot were stood there silent and scared according to Radio 5.

No idea if true or not, but we really seem to be overawed by them today.A bit like our first time back at Anfied when I got a sense the players (& mgmnt) were overtaken by the occasion.

On that form today, I would say City are going to give Chelsea a run for their money.

Wow, we're disappointed we lost to the reigning league champions, that's a massive step up in expectations.

We march on.

COYR !

They turned up, we didn't . They were very good. Goodnight

They moved the ball forwards , we moved it sideways ad backwards.

people are saying the 'game changed' in the 2nd half.

we were very much 2nd best in both halves

The midfield battle was more or less even with Morgan on the pitch, afterwards we lost out. Despite Toby actually looking good on the ball he just wasnt able to plug the gaps that Morgan does, and so City gained in strength and turned the screw

What has Reed got to do, to get on the pitch? Morgan, Cork and JWP all out and he is still not in, he'll probably leave in the summer and who can blame him?

What has Reed got to do, to get on the pitch? Morgan, Cork and JWP all out and he is still not in, he'll probably leave in the summer and who can blame him?

Maybe he's deemed not good enough at this moment in time?

We were well in the game up to the first goal. Clyne pulled out of a fifty fifty tackle allowing a break which caught us cold for the first. Davis lost the ball for break number two for the second. Tadic can't seem to get the ball in the air, hit the first man for God knows how many times and with everybody forward we were caught on the break again.

surely when we are chasing the game especially against a team that pressed well who are nervous when the ball is lofted in we can play differently. I lost count of the sideways and backwards passes going nowhere even against 10/9 men especially with three strikers waiting and calling for the ball which never came.

i wouldn't mind if we were keeping our shape and attacking with forward runs and movement but we weren't, we were just far too slow. Long wide right for me. Tadic on the left and some forward passes and runs from midfield. Pelle needs service and he isn't getting any of that.

Mane needs to stop dribbling so often.with the ball taking lots of touches. He has bags of pace and sometimes needs to put the ball past the defender and run him. Today he had a good chance to get through early on and instead of knocking the ball wide and running the defender who was without backup he tried to dribble inside and lost the ball. He would have been round the back of the defence. He does it far too often for me.

people are saying the 'game changed' in the 2nd half.

we were very much 2nd best in both halves

I disagree. 0-0 was a fair reflection of the first half. Yes, they've got better players than us when all's said and done but Morgan going off was a game changer in my opinion. At half time I felt we stood a decent chance of getting a draw but Morgan having to go off made the chances of that outcome far less likely.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2854991/Southampton-0-3-Manchester-City-MATCH-ZONE-Morgan-Schneiderlin-injury-plays-major-role-result-Saints-capitulate-Frenchman-picks-knock.html

We are 3rd in the Premier League. We are 4 points above Manchester United and 9 ahead of Liverpool. I'm happy. We can't win every week

Thought at half time that we had a good chance of getting something from the game until I heard Morgan was off and Yoshida was on.

Maybe he's deemed not good enough at this moment in time?

Then why did they give him a long term contract in the summer

Then why did they give him a long term contract in the summer

Because they believe he will be a good player in the future.

He was probably on the bench as much to make up the numbers as anything today. It's hardly as if he was keeping a better player out of the match day squad.

Missed Osvaldo

Personally feel we can compete with these guys when Jay Rod Cork and JWP are fit, would love to see Mane and Long come off the bench most weeks with 25 to go, with Jay Rod Pelle and Tadic up top, give teams like this no breathing room and have pace at them the whole 90.

Can I just check the rules here. If losing to the team in second means we can't finish top 4, what happens if we lose to the team in 10th? I mean, we can't not finish in the top 20, or do we just get kicked out of the league?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/nov/30/southampton-manchester-city-reality-check

Thanks, interesting read.

'Pellè and Dusan Tadic were subdued, and Sadio Mané scatty' sums it up nicely.

Personally feel we can compete with these guys when Jay Rod Cork and JWP are fit, would love to see Mane and Long come off the bench most weeks with 25 to go, with Jay Rod Pelle and Tadic up top, give teams like this no breathing room and have pace at them the whole 90.

We will never have a fully fit squad for many weeks this season (or any season)

It's a tough order to play Man City in the second half without three midfielders: Morgan, Cork and JWP. Not sure some of the doom merchants have really focussed on this

1. We were found out today - and so was Koeman who didn't seem to have a clue.

2. Mane was dreadful - almost embarrassingly bad.

3. Our corners and free kicks were woeful.

4. What has gone wrong with Tadic and Pelle - not in the last two games. Tadic seemed to bottle every challenge.

5. Too slow and second top the ball.

6. Referee Jones was dreadful too.

City were very good indeed while we weren't at our best, but we hung in there and should have taken a boost from the red card. Instead we capitulated, which was very frustrating. Think there was a point in that for us.

Thought Alderweireld was absolutely sensational at centre half and didn't do a bad job in midfield either. Long's got a good claim to a start against Arsenal given how poor Tadic and Mane have been recently.