We could have won, we could have lost, the draw was about right and there was more to be pleased than displeased with. It almost feels as though these games against the top sides are largely irrelevant to us though, it’s what we do in the other games that will determine who we are. Being unbeaten against the rest of the top six is a good base to build upon though.
We’ve got nine games left and on paper it’s a much easier run in than any of our rivals have (especially United). That means nothing though, does it? Not with this weird team. Let’s see how we do against West Brom and Stoke in the next few weeks; those are the real tests for these players as games like this are a walk in the park to them.
City had to play really well to get a point, prompting Guardiola to describe it as his proudest day in management Steady on lad, getting a draw against us is hardly justification to be running around like a dog with two dicks. The likes of City, Spurs and Arsenal know how tough it is to play against Klopp’ team though. Chelsea too, to a lesser degree.
It’s not a big deal for United because they don’t play with the mentality of a top team, they’re basically Middlesbrough with better players. For teams that want to play attractive, attacking football, we’re a nightmare, which is probably why Guardiola was so pleased with the point.
We made a bit of a nervy start and City got on top early, but once we settled we started to look comfortable even though it was end to end stuff. It was a mad game, great for the neutral, and there could have been numerous penalties in the first half, not to mention a few red cards.
Otamendi should have gone for clipping the heels of Mané after Sadio had done him for pace and gotten across him. It wasn’t a deliberate foul but once a forward has gotten in front of you and run across your path, you either have to accept it and let him run, or get too close and risk a foul. The fact is Otamendi was beaten but he got too close and made contact with Mané’s foot just as he went to pull the trigger. It put him off and the chance was gone. Penalty and a red card by the letter of the law.
To be honest though, I wasn’t especially angry about it, because it was impossible for Michael Oliver to see that in real time so I can’t criticise him for that one. It was the same when Milner’s last ditch challenge caught Sterling just as he was about to tap in from virtually on the goal line. Again, penalty and red card, but once again we can only say that definitively after seeing various slow motion replays from different angles.
It’s hard being a ref and decisions like that are a nightmare for them. To be fair to Oliver, at least he was consistent in that he wasn’t sure on either so he didn’t give them. City had another appeal when Klavan held Aguero as he went to attack a cross, but there was nothing in that for me and Oliver rightly waved it away.
What did piss me off was his inconsistent use of the yellow card. Matip was booked for an innocuous foul on Aguero (his first foul), while Firmino was booked for a brilliant tackle that won the ball and wasn’t remotely dangerous. It was his first ‘foul’ of the game too, which made it even more irritating that he was booked, especially when Fernandinho was just bouncing round the field fouling everyone he could without any recourse. How he got through 90 minutes without having his name taken is anyone’s guess. He knows where the bodies are buried.
The most egregious decision of the half was not sending Toure off for an appalling lunge on a prone Emre Can. He could easily have pulled out of that if he’d wanted to, but instead he just kept his foot up in the air and followed right through into Can’s chest. That was a red card all day but Oliver bottled it and only gave him a yellow.
It was a pulsating game though and the only surprise at half time was that it was 0-0. Firmino and Lallana had brought saves out of Caballero, while Coutinho curled one over the bar when he probably should have done better. We had a good chance from a set-piece too but Stones did well to block Matip’s shot. It was interesting to see some of our corners looked to be emulating the old Gary Mac near post floater. It didn’t work, but at least it suggests they are working on it, which is something I suppose, as it usually looks like they don’t have a clue what they’re doing.
While Caballero was the busier keeper, City had their moments in the first half. The penalty that Sterling didn’t get would have been immaterial anyway if Fernandinho hadn’t missed an open goal as he came in behind. They got in behind us in wide areas far too often but despite the good situations they carved out for themselves, they didn’t test Mignolet at all. I don’t remember him making a save all day actually.
Maybe someone told Oliver at half time that he’d missed a couple of clear penalties because within minutes of the second half starting he’d pointed to the spot when Clichy barged into Firmino. It was a pen, but I don’t think it was the stonewaller everyone else seems to believe it was. Put it this way, had that been given against us I’d have felt more than a bit aggrieved. Clichy did play the ball first and the reason he collided with Firmino is because the Brazilian was very clever in the way he made sure he got his body in between Clichy and the ball. Still, that was some Alberto Moreno levels of recklessness from the Frenchman.
Milner stepped up and buried it with the minimum of fuss. It will have been a satisfying moment for him as he was getting booed by the City fans all day. What kind of moron boos a player like James fucking Milner? In an era when so many footy players are out of touch, identikit tattooed bellends with shit haircuts, Milner stands out like a beacon of what footballers used to be. No nonsense, no frills, man’s man, Jim Milner.
City fans should be kissing his hairy beanbag, not booing him. He left because he wanted to play every week. He even turned down more money to stay because he wanted regular football. He’s never said anything bad about City, he didn’t screw them over the way Sterling did to Liverpool, yet they’re booing him, the Johnny Come Lately fucking whoppers. Cringeworthy stuff, and I imagine the old school City fans who were there when they were shit were probably mortified by it. Booing James Milner? These ungrateful manc cunts don’t deserve to even breathe the same air as him.
I felt the first goal was going to be crucial and if we’d conceded it I wouldn’t have expected us to come back. Having scored the first I didn’t believe we could hold onto it and keep City out, but I did feel it might spur the players on to add to it, and with a bit more composure and quality on the break they would have done. They let City off the hook though,and you can’t do that as they have too much quality.
City played well to be fair and definitely deserved their equaliser, but it’s frustrating because we put ourselves in position to win it and just didn’t get the job done. For a spell after we took the lead City were like a boxer who had just been knocked down. Their legs had gone (in Yaya Toure’s case quite literally as he just stopped running) and they were just swinging wildly out of desperation. With more composure we could have landed the knockout blow but instead we let them weather the storm, clear their heads and come back at us strongly.
Time and again in that spell after we went in front they gave the ball away as they rushed their attacks. The crowd were on their backs and they were there for the taking. We had them. Toure was walking around and not chasing back at all, which is a problem when you’re the only defensive midfielder in your team. At one point Can looked forward for passing options, realised it was just Toure stood in front of him so just put his head down and ran by him unopposed.
We should have capitalised on that advantage but Firmino missed the only really clear chance we created in that spell. It wasn’t the worst miss in the world and I’m more annoyed at the chances we didn’t create than about the one we missed. We need at least two more quality frontmen this summer, because when the first choice three aren’t getting it done we’ve got nothing to call on from the bench.
Mané was the biggest culprit for me as he’s capable of so much more than he produced against City. Gary Neville must have been trolling us when he gave him man of the match, as I thought he was way below his best level. His workrate was exemplary and he was always a threat because City were scared shitless of him, but he just made too many bad decisions for me, and when he’s your best counter attacking player then that’s always going to hurt you, especially with Coutinho still failing to find any semblance of form.
What annoys me at times with Mané is how he slows it down instead of just going at people. I know why he does it, it’s that old Fernando Torres trick of slowing the defender down and then quickly using your acceleration to go past him. Mané does it all the time, but he chooses the wrong moments to do it and it drives me mad. There was one occasion when he was faced only by Otamendi and he should have just knocked it into space and blew him away again. Instead he slowed it up, but before he got to then put on the after burners he was caught from behind and lost the ball.
Then there was another incident when he did the opposite, except this time it was John Stones, who unlike Otamendi can actually run. Stones got there first and the chance was gone, but if Mané had done his “Torres” routine then he may have skinned him and been clean through.
We’re great at counter pressing, but not so great at counter attacking. There’s big room for improvement there, especially from the forwards.
Firmino was good though I thought, especially given he’s hardly trained for two weeks. His touch was assured, his movement was good, he led the line well and the only thing missing was a goal. He was easily the pick of the front three, but it was our midfield trio who were the most impressive unit on the day.
Can was outstanding, which isn’t surprising given he’s playing for a pay rise. He’ll be our best player over the next few weeks, you just watch. This was his best performance since Dortmund last year, while Wijnaldum and Lallana were both excellent alongside him. Wijnaldum’s strength on the ball and ability to get himself out of difficult looking situations really caught the eye, as did Lallana’s energy and comfort in possession.
Unfortunately for Lallana, all of that will be forgotten because of the horrendous miss that will no doubt haunt him for years. It was such a shame too as it was a wonderful move that he started and should have finished. That would probably have won us the game as it was late on, but City had some great chances too so we can’t feel too aggrieved about it.
Aguero scored but should have had a hat-trick, while De Bruyne hit the post when he looked certain to score. The goal City did score was well worked and I find it difficult to blame any of our defenders for it. I saw Carra on Sky pointing out the positions of Milner and Klavan and saying they could have been a couple of yards this way or that, but these are absolute fine margins were talking about here and you’re never going to get absolute perfection.
It was a good early ball out wide, a brilliant touch and cross from a world class player followed by a good run and sharp finish from one of the top five strikers in the world. Sometimes shit happens. For the most part the defence played well, because City have got some brilliant attacking players and it’s not easy dealing with them. The only disappointment I have with the performance is we didn’t get at their defence more. It’s a shite defence and it had no protection. We should have exposed that more than we did and with a deeper squad we would have done.
Unfortunately we were reduced to having to bring on Origi, and once again he came off the bench and did absolutely fuck all. I think I’ve given up on him now you know, he’s got so much pace and strength but no desire to make the most of it. He just doesn’t play like he’s six foot three and blessed with sprinters speed. He should have been running City ragged, instead he’s doing fucking stepovers and shit and slowing things down. He does my head in, I’m starting to believe that the Origi we saw this time last year was just him having a purple patch rather than it being a sign of what he is.
I’d sell him and Sturridge this summer because they’ve killed us this season. At the start of the season it looked like we had great depth in attacking areas, but it hasn’t turned out that way because Sturridge has been mostly injured and shite when he has played, and Origi has just been mostly shite.
Overall you’d have to say this result and type of performance against City was largely predictable. Since Klopp’s arrival, we never play badly and we very rarely lose when play the rest of the top six. Five draws and five wins this season. It’s a really impressive record and there’s still a chance we could finish as high as second, which is quite funny considering the disdain most fans have for this group of players.
If they were just shit then we wouldn’t be as down on them as we are, but when you see what they are capable of in these big games it just makes it all the more galling when they fuck up against the dregs. They’ve got nine games to prove us wrong now, as dregs are all we have left. There’s 27 points left to play for, Klopp should be setting them a target of at least 21, as that would probably be enough to secure a top four spot.
Star man is Can, by some distance. The other two midfielders were very good, the two centre backs were ok and Milner did well considering the pressure he was put under through City attacking down his side frequently and Coutinho giving him very little help.
Team: Mignolet; Clyne, Matip, Klavan, Milner; Can, Lallana, Wijnaldum; Mané, Firmino (Lucas), Coutinho (Origi):
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