Reply With QuoteChelsea thoroughly deserved it, Citeh even resorted to playing Warnock tactics late on out of desperation. Think Pep tried to be too clever with his team selection and tactics.
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James is a fantastic player. Kante had a blinder too. At half time I thought Man City had enough on the bench to change the game, but sadly for them (and for us neutrals) the change that really mattered was De Bruyne going off. That seemed to dent their confidence, while Chelsea’s grew.
Chelsea thoroughly deserved it, Citeh even resorted to playing Warnock tactics late on out of desperation. Think Pep tried to be too clever with his team selection and tactics.
Chelsea seem to work harder in winning those vital second balls, Kante is such a tireless contributor it's like having an extra man, mid season managerial changes can work.
Put an asterisk next to the trophy. If Lewandoski stayed injury free, PSG would have been brushed aside and so would have both of tonight’s finalists. You would have been looking at Bayern retaining the trophy.
Surely the Spanish archer for Pep now.
Brought in to win the CL, and has failed miserably.
he's hardly failed miserably he got to the final and won the prem again playing the greatest football the UK as ever seen !Originally Posted by William Treseder
Not done what he was brought in to do though.
agree with that but I would reword your paragraph with something like it was disappointing pep didn;t win the CL for the club
his free flowing futsal style game as been captivating to me for the last few years . To me no one will ever come close to him in the modern game
Having watched what passes for football at Cardiff City Stadium since 14/15, I certainly appreciate smaller, technically proficient footballers these days if I didn't before. However, while Pep is, justifiably up there with the best coaches of all time, I'm definitely starting to believe that his lack of success in the Champions League in the last decade or so is playing on his mind. Last night's selection just looked wrong - you need to balance the skill with a smattering of power and athleticism and Chelsea had far more of that than Man City, while also showing the ability you'd expect from a team which reached the Final of a such a competition.
The goal summed up the difference between the teams. Just imagine what, say, Kevin DeBruyne would have been faced with if he had found himself with a bit of time with the ball at his feet in the position Mason Mount was for the goal. Based on what happened throughout the ninety minutes, he would have seen a Chelsea back three sitting deep with one or both of Kante and Jorginho patrolling the middle and James and Chilwell keeping tabs on Sterling and Mahrez on the flanks, even a passer of DeBeruyne's capabilities would have found it next to impossible to completely open that defence up with a single pass.
However, if he was able to do so, who in the Man City would have made the forward run that Havertz did for Chelsea? Sterling, who has been in poor form by his standards for most of the season, yes, but could he have been relied on to score? Foden, maybe and that's about it - Gundogan, who has been proof of Pep's greatness with his transformation into a goal machine of a central midfielder might have been another if he had not been shackled by the defensive duties which should have been Fernandinho's or Rodri's. So, for all of their surfeit of neat, technical footballers in front of their defence, Man City were short of the sort of players who Mount had for targets when he got the ball just before half time.
So, with more dangerous attacking runners in front of him in Havertz and Werner to name but two, the pitch in front of Mount was still far less congested than the one deBruyne would have seen and there was also all of that grass to run into behind the Man City centrebacks. The pundits raved about Mount's pass to Havertz, but I thought that, for a player of his capabilities, it was q pretty simple one to play when it came to the amount of technique and vision needed. I'm not sure where Gundogan was, but he was unable to stop Dias and Stones being exposed.
So, in effect, the goal showed that Pep's selection left Man City weaker at both ends of the pitch.
He should have started with the players he brought on I reckon....like he has all season...
How Sterling gets into that team, on form, I'll never know. Quite happy to see him in the England squad.
N’GOLO KANTÉ:
2014. Debut in Ligue1 with Caen.
2015. Joins Leicester for €9m.
2016. Premier League winner with Leicester.
2017. Premier League winner with Chelsea.
2018. World Cup winner with France.
2019. Europa League winner with Chelsea.
2021. UCL winner with Chelsea.
(from various places on twitter).
It's highly likely that either England or France win the Euros this summer so there's a chance he breaks his streak of one major trophy only per year since 2016.
He is outstanding and so self effacing.
I always remember what the Leicester fans used to say about him:: "2 thirds of the world is covered by water, the other third is covered by Kante."
He’s a great and proper role model for Kids!
Not what the intrepid BBC reporter expected visiting Phil Fodens school. Top Red Kid.. 😆 pic.twitter.com/5syFLn3xi6
— Scott (@scottlley) May 28, 2021
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