Thetownend.com

I've watched football for 58 years and can honestly say I've never seen a performance that was better than Manchester City's first half against Real Madrid last night.

Yeah it was top class. Good to see Walker and Grealish at the top of their game as well.

We scored against City, Real Madrid didn't, ergo we are better than them but not as good as City.
That's how it works isn't it!? Said he with a sigh of contentment.

City will have to contend with a degree of shithousery in the final against opponents not to be underestimated, but realistically the only thing standing between them and the trophy is possibly Pep outthinking himself again, but lessons will have been learned I suspect.

There is a lot said about the resources at his disposal, but Pep's ability to get a team to play tactically is supreme.  What he did with Barcelona basically changed the way we now see football played in the top leagues - some of that is good, some of it not so much (you get a lot or attempts to copy but that itself stifles new innovations).  Watching Real Madrid completely confounded in how to defend their midfielders was fun - it looks so simple, but we know Real Madrid are masters at soaking up pressure and hitting teams on the break.

When you see newness in football, you usually get about 18 months or so before other teams work out how to counter it (if they cant rely on being better).   Like Ardiles in the 90's in England, bringing in the diamond.  Looked gorgeous for a couple of seasons before it looked impotent not so long after.  Pep has managed to come up with a couple of variations on a theme since his early Barcelona transformation, which has generally kept other teams guessing.  I imagine the full back moving into midfield will be adjusted in the next year or so and some other new quirk will appear (maybe last nights playing of double wingers).  My limited tactical knowledge would suggest he tinkers with how to get overloads in certain positions of the pitch - the game is moving that around often enough so that other Managers struggle to combat it.

Inter to put two lumps up front and go long with an over loaded back line.

Fuck pep that would!

It's always nice to see Madrid getting a thumping!

At last something we agree on.

Flynn strikes me as more play it by the book than tactical innovator.
But it would be good to see something a bit different that will bamboozle L2 next season.
A right back spraying it around in midfield or a centre back living in ithe opponents half less likely than a team of grafters grinding out attritional 1-0 wins every week.

Won't matter how we get there as long as we do.

Wellens tried something with us - he had the full back push high when we had the ball with the GK and then dropped the best passer into their position from midfield (usually, Doughty or Rose).  The idea being the wide player would follow the fullback and the opposition midfielder had a choice to make - follow our midfielder and open a huge gap in midfield, or stay where they were and give our best person the freedom to act as a playmaker without pressure.

They were sublime. That’s all

So, based on recent results we're not too far behind Real Madrid then.  :football:

Miraculously, my phone signal held out well enough for me to watch the entire game on the train down to London. Man City were imperious. An absolute pasting.

Unfortunately not, they held City to a draw at home :)

I'm basing it on our last respective match against City.  :)