Men against Boys

[Auntie Andy]

So Zinchenko at left back ahead of Danilo is Man City at full strength?

They didn't play Raheem Sterling, their second top scorer, against you lot either

You also have no idea how pathetic "But then we can’t all run them this close" sounds

Bless him, he is only 13

[Jursset_BrisCity]

So you lost by two goals and so did we. Isn’t it your bed time

Over 2 games and one at the Etihad where we led at half time.
At the end Guardiola states what superb football we play.
I believe he’s been a little less complimentary today....

[Barry Shitpeas]

Incredibly harsh to judge us on a performance against the (more or less) first XI of the best side in the country and one of the best (if not the best) in the world, they've battered Premier League teams with 3 times our budget and we did very well to keep it to 2, we probably deserved a goal and came close a few times

A few of their league wins to put this into perspective: Liverpool 5-0, Watford away 6-0, Palace 5-0, Stoke 7-2, Arsenal 3-1, Swansea away 4-0, Spurs 4-1, Bournemouth 4-0

Absolutely agree with this.
Just got home and I’m really surprised by some of the comments on here from this afternoon. Given the money they have and the massive gap in quality of our two squads I think we probably did as well as most would have expected. The way De Bruyne runs things, the short quick passes, the one two’s, the pace they have all over the pitch, we just couldn’t do much about it.
As far as I was concerned this was a free game today. The important stuff starts again next Saturday.

[Jursset_BrisCity]

So Zinchenko at left back ahead of Danilo is Man City at full strength?

They didn't play Raheem Sterling, their second top scorer, against you lot either

You also have no idea how pathetic "But then we can’t all run them this close" sounds

They did in the first game away and he didn’t score.
We also had to contend with David Silva.

The side we played was stronger. We played them away as well and scored 3 goals.
Plus we also didn’t leave the set of games with people thinking we are a bunch of kick and rush thugs.
But still horses for courses eh?

The “Johnson style of football - is this how to rattle Man City” as Sky called it.

Never mind.
Lovely football from you today. Well done .

[Barry Shitpeas]

Just shows to me how much the sport of football has moved on.

Warnock has been great for this club but when listen to him talk you could be listening to someone from 1975.

We have to have a long term vision if we are going survive. I think (and hope) that peps brand of football will be contagious in Britain in the years to come and we either find a strategy of competing or we'll be left behind.

Man City are rumoured to be bidding £150m for Hazzard. How the hell does anyone compete with that?

[Jeff Mansfield]

Just shows to me how much the sport of football has moved on.

Warnock has been great for this club but when listen to him talk you could be listening to someone from 1975.

We have to have a long term vision if we are going survive. I think (and hope) that peps brand of football will be contagious in Britain in the years to come and we either find a strategy of competing or we'll be left behind.

I watch Spanish Second Division(Championship) games on freesat and they play similar to what we saw from the Mancs today. It's all about hold it, pass it and move, all on the deck and at speed. So much better than what we see in the Championship. But we are what we are and at least now we're free to concentrate on the league and do something about the deteriorating quality of our play. Still time - it can be done.

[Zenith]

I watch Spanish Second Division(Championship) games on freesat and they play similar to what we saw from the Mancs today. It's all about hold it, pass it and move, all on the deck and at speed. So much better than what we see in the Championship. But we are what we are and at least now we're free to concentrate on the league and do something about the deteriorating quality of our play. Still time - it can be done.

What channel is the Segunda showed on mate?

[City123]

They did in the first game away and he didn’t score.
We also had to contend with David Silva.

The side we played was stronger. We played them away as well and scored 3 goals.
Plus we also didn’t leave the set of games with people thinking we are a bunch of kick and rush thugs.
But still horses for courses eh?

The “Johnson style of football - is this how to rattle Man City” as Sky called it.

Never mind.
Lovely football from you today. Well done .

How do you equate them playing a 21 year old midfielder at left-back ahead of Danilo as a stronger side?

Face it, we aren't as good as Manchester City, neither are you. They could have easily stuck a few more on both of us (as evidenced by the fact that, as soon as you equalised at Ashton Gate they went up the other end and scored), so stop being a pillock, have a cup of tea, and go to bed.

Alternatively, go on the team you support's (when they're winning) messageboard instead of their rivals

[thehumblegringo]

How do you equate them playing a 21 year old midfielder at left-back ahead of Danilo as a stronger side?

Face it, we aren't as good as Manchester City, neither are you. They could have easily stuck a few more on both of us (as evidenced by the fact that, as soon as you equalised at Ashton Gate they went up the other end and scored), so stop being a pillock, have a cup of tea, and go to bed.

Alternatively, go on the team you support's (when they're winning) messageboard instead of their rivals

I'm not gonna get involved with ****ing gimp from Bristol but the one player I thought was a weak link for Citeh today was Danilo

[Penarth Blues]

Just shows to me how much the sport of football has moved on.

Warnock has been great for this club but when listen to him talk you could be listening to someone from 1975.

We have to have a long term vision if we are going survive. I think (and hope) that peps brand of football will be contagious in Britain in the years to come and we either find a strategy of competing or we'll be left behind.

Sorry but, stunning though they were, if that becomes the future of football then I think the future will be a less rich one for the average fan.

I'd be interested in how a team of Man City players abilities playing for Warnock would get on against this Man City team playing Pep's way. I don't think the outcome is obvious at all. It's easy to look good when you've got many of the world's best players. That's not to underestimate Pep's ability to bring the best out of his players too but there's more than one way to skin a cat...

[life on mars]

They were at half speed today making sure no Injuries were picked up, going through the motions,knowing they could move to another gear at anytime.

I'm just glad we didn't thrashed.

They may be seen as a shit Man U ,however its a successful, recently purchased side, and there lies the differences.

[thehumblegringo]

Sorry but, stunning though they were, if that becomes the future of football then I think the future will be a less rich one for the average fan.

I'd be interested in how a team of Man City players abilities playing for Warnock would get on against this Man City team playing Pep's way. I don't think the outcome is obvious at all. It's easy to look good when you've got many of the world's best players. That's not to underestimate Pep's ability to bring the best out of his players too but there's more than one way to skin a cat...

My observation is not just on what I witnessed today. I watch a lot of academy football at all age groups and though I see differences on things like emphasis on 1v1 domination and game understanding I have never seen an academy team say let's bypass the midfield and just smash the ball forward.
How are any youngsters from the academy gonna break through with Warnock at the helm when he plays a brand of football completely alien to them.

Most midfielders are now specialist in that they are number 4s, 8s, 10s etc but we play in straight lines all to often so how could a player like Jamie Veale or Sean Spence ever break into the first team?

[Penarth Blues]

My observation is not just on what I witnessed today. I watch a lot of academy football at all age groups and though I see differences on things like emphasis on 1v1 domination and game understanding I have never seen an academy team say let's bypass the midfield and just smash the ball forward.
How are any youngsters from the academy gonna break through with Warnock at the helm when he plays a brand of football completely alien to them.

Most midfielders are now specialist in that they are number 4s, 8s, 10s etc but we play in straight lines all to often so how could a player like Jamie Veale or Sean Spence ever break into the first team?

I think you're confusing styles of play to playing to the strengths of your players. We don't have anywhere near the best players in this division let alone the Prem, so Warnock is forced to work within the skill sets of the players he has unless we suddenly have a major cash windfall.

There are very few players in our team who can pass the ball accurately, so there is no sense in trying to play as if they can. Warnock built a very successful team around a maverick player in Taraabt and changed styles to suit accordingly, which included good passing.

If Warnock had inherited a skilful team he'd play to their strengths. He hasn't and so has been forced to go down a different route to firstly try and save us from the drop and then try and make us competitive. He's spent very little on reinforcements compared to almost all the other teams and this means we have a goalie whose every kick is a lottery; a midfield who are not great passers of the ball and forwards who, apart from Hoilett, probably wouldn't have even got in a matchday squad anywhere else at the start of this season.

Even Gunnarsson's major weakness is he can't pass the ball accurately. If we tried to change to that approach we'd be slaughtered most weeks. I think Warnock is taking the right approach to try and get us up the right end of the table, try to get in some better players on the back of this success (Wildschut looked useful the first time I saw him and Grujic should get up to match pace soon) and then gradually change to a more fluid passing game.

The problem with fans is we think every fix is obvious and easy. It isn't unless you have huge amounts of money and the recent FFP rules mean that a Man City is no longer possible as they'd never have been allowed to spend the money they did initially now. It's all about the big boys stifling competition so we may as well get used to it.

[joecity]

Over 2 games and one at the Etihad where we led at half time.
At the end Guardiola states what superb football we play.
I believe he’s been a little less complimentary today....

Its like your mum being complimentary about the milkman but a little less forthcoming about you're dad you neck.

[thehumblegringo]

I think you're confusing styles of play to playing to the strengths of your players. We don't have anywhere near the best players in this division let alone the Prem, so Warnock is forced to work within the skill sets of the players he has unless we suddenly have a major cash windfall.

There are very few players in our team who can pass the ball accurately, so there is no sense in trying to play as if they can. Warnock built a very successful team around a maverick player in Taraabt and changed styles to suit accordingly, which included good passing.

If Warnock had inherited a skilful team he'd play to their strengths. He hasn't and so has been forced to go down a different route to firstly try and save us from the drop and then try and make us competitive. He's spent very little on reinforcements compared to almost all the other teams and this means we have a goalie whose every kick is a lottery; a midfield who are not great passers of the ball and forwards who, apart from Hoilett, probably wouldn't have even got in a matchday squad anywhere else at the start of this season.

Even Gunnarsson's major weakness is he can't pass the ball accurately. If we tried to change to that approach we'd be slaughtered most weeks. I think Warnock is taking the right approach to try and get us up the right end of the table, try to get in some better players on the back of this success (Wildschut looked useful the first time I saw him and Grujic should get up to match pace soon) and then gradually change to a more fluid passing game.

The problem with fans is we think every fix is obvious and easy. It isn't unless you have huge amounts of money and the recent FFP rules mean that a Man City is no longer possible as they'd never have been allowed to spend the money they did initially now. It's all about the big boys stifling competition so we may as well get used to it.

He may not have inherited a great group of passing players but he's added to it a group of players that can't pass!

Damour, Bryson, Feeney, Mendez-Laing, Bogle, Halford, just to name a few are all players who seem to be able to just run (apart from Halford).

I do think Warnock has been really good for the club but my point about how academy players will ever break through stands.

[Penarth Blues]

He may not have inherited a great group of passing players but he's added to it a group of players that can't pass!

Damour, Bryson, Feeney, Mendez-Laing, Bogle, Halford, just to name a few are all players who seem to be able to just run (apart from Halford).

I do think Warnock has been really good for the club but my point about how academy players will ever break through stands.

None of those cost us a transfer fee as far as I am aware, so you take what you can get and I think they're all just about capable of contributing something we might need during a game. All our players have weaknesses otherwise they'd not be playing for us. Warnock has prioritised strength and pace in terms of qualities, over being a neat and tidy player who perhaps doesn't help otherwise in terms of making us a threat. Bryson is the one player I'd say is neat and tidy in the team and to be honest he is not a threat at all in a normal game.

I'd love us to be a quick and passing team, but it'll take time and patience. Warnock knows that to make the changes needed will take a long time, and in the meantime he has to keep us competitive or he'll lose his job. Try to remember how far we've come in just over a year that we're all disappointed not to have been more effective against arguably the best club side in the world.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Warnock knows that to make the changes needed will take a long time

Herein lies a problem I have. He's not going to be in the job for a long time. He's said so himself. If the building of Cardiff City is going to take a few seasons, Warnock isn't the man to do it. Stabilise and hand over to someone else was probably his idea. Otherwise someone else will come in and try and build something different and we end up back at square one (though with a more galvanised club).

[Penarth Blues]

Herein lies a problem I have. He's not going to be in the job for a long time. He's said so himself. If the building of Cardiff City is going to take a few seasons, Warnock isn't the man to do it. Stabilise and hand over to someone else was probably his idea.

I think that's his idea too, and what he's proposed as far as I understand.

[Henry Hill]

Bless him, he is only 13

😂😆😆

[StraightOuttaCanton]

I think you're confusing styles of play to playing to the strengths of your players. We don't have anywhere near the best players in this division let alone the Prem, so Warnock is forced to work within the skill sets of the players he has unless we suddenly have a major cash windfall.

There are very few players in our team who can pass the ball accurately, so there is no sense in trying to play as if they can. Warnock built a very successful team around a maverick player in Taraabt and changed styles to suit accordingly, which included good passing.

If Warnock had inherited a skilful team he'd play to their strengths. He hasn't and so has been forced to go down a different route to firstly try and save us from the drop and then try and make us competitive. He's spent very little on reinforcements compared to almost all the other teams and this means we have a goalie whose every kick is a lottery; a midfield who are not great passers of the ball and forwards who, apart from Hoilett, probably wouldn't have even got in a matchday squad anywhere else at the start of this season.

Even Gunnarsson's major weakness is he can't pass the ball accurately. If we tried to change to that approach we'd be slaughtered most weeks. I think Warnock is taking the right approach to try and get us up the right end of the table, try to get in some better players on the back of this success (Wildschut looked useful the first time I saw him and Grujic should get up to match pace soon) and then gradually change to a more fluid passing game.

The problem with fans is we think every fix is obvious and easy. It isn't unless you have huge amounts of money and the recent FFP rules mean that a Man City is no longer possible as they'd never have been allowed to spend the money they did initially now. It's all about the big boys stifling competition so we may as well get used to it.

Nice sensibly balanced post

[the other bob wilson]

It was men against boys - Man City wouldn't have had a more comfortable afternoon all season. We stood off them for the first ten minutes (the last thing I would have expected from a Warnock team) and, apart from a ten minute spell in the first half and a a few shots at the end we looked like we were in awe of them. People say how can you compete against a team with those sort of resources, but the wurzel is right - his team made a far, far, far better job of doing it than we did, so did Wolves and so did Newport County, who are two and a half leagues below us, on Saturday (they faced a much bigger gap in terms of resources and talent than we did).

I went along to the game hoping we'd do ourselves justice and we didn't.

[Louth]

It was men against boys - Man City wouldn't have had a more comfortable afternoon all season. We stood off them for the first ten minutes (the last thing I would have expected from a Warnock team) and, apart from a ten minute spell in the first half and a a few shots at the end we looked like we were in awe of them. People say how can you compete against a team with those sort of resources, but the wurzel is right - his team made a far, far, far better job of doing it than we did, so did Wolves and so did Newport County, who are two and a half leagues below us, on Saturday (they faced a much bigger gap in terms of resources and talent than we did).

I went along to the game hoping we'd do ourselves justice and we didn't.

We should allow rugby on our pitch too. I'm in favour of playing on a bog

[the other bob wilson]

We should allow rugby on our pitch too. I'm in favour of playing on a bog

So it was just the pitch which allowed Newport to show the heart, pride and ability that they did? Nonsense, County believed they could give Spurs a game, whereas we looked scared stiff of Man City from the first whistle and, on a much better pitch than Newport's, played as if we were performing on a bog where the only way to compete was to whack it forward.

[ccfcwelshlad]

Over 2 games and one at the Etihad where we led at half time.
At the end Guardiola states what superb football we play.
I believe he’s been a little less complimentary today....

They created 10 more chances against you in both games than they did against us. (26 in the first leg, 28 in the second leg, 17 against us). If it wasn't for some luck and poor finishing you'd have been completely out of sight by the end of the first leg. Don't kid yourself.

[ccfcwelshlad]

So it was just the pitch which allowed Newport to show the heart, pride and ability that they did? Nonsense, County believed they could give Spurs a game, whereas we looked scared stiff of Man City from the first whistle and, on a much better pitch than Newport's, played as if we were performing on a bog where the only way to compete was to whack it forward.

We didn't look scared when NML ruined Danilo in the first couple of minutes, Bob. If his quality into the box was a little better, we could've gone ahead. We were ok until we conceded such a daft goal and that was that.

I enjoy watching Man City and tend to watch if they're on TV. They often make teams look incapable and resort to kicking the ball away just for a moments rest; I'm not sure why anyone expected us to be any different.

I think we would have given Spurs a game, given the way they performed on Saturday.