Man City (N) - FAC Semi Final, Sat 16th Apr 2022 (3:30pm)

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Just realised the whole match is available on the iPlayer.

[Edward.]

5 minutes ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

Just realised the whole match is available on the iPlayer.

Yeah watched it last night with both eyes focused 

[Jarvinja Ilnow]

I liked the way they nearly equalised, and nearly took the game into extra time. I liked the way they suddenly started to believe in themselves, that they believed they could salvage the game, imagining the heroics of creating an Istanbul style comeback. I also liked the way they all slumped to the ground at the final whistle, broken dreams spilling onto the Wembley turf, heroes in their minds just for a moment, then gone. 

[Arniepie]

2 hours ago, Grinch said:

Fa cup final lads.  Ten fucking years and this time we won’t be playing Jay Spearing, Downing and bringing Carroll off the bench.

.

Beaten to.it

[Arniepie]

48 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

To be fair, Carroll coming off the bench was the highlight of that day. He absolutely battered them and 5 more minutes we would have equalised then gone on and won. 

A modern mystery why kemmy didn't start him or at least bring him on at half time.

[Captain Howdy]

I still can’t figure out how Fernandinho gets away with it. Has a dirtier player ever played the game? He just hacks and kicks his way through every single game.

[Anubis]

2 hours ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

Those attempts at blocking are ambitious, to say the least. They've brought a fart to a shit fight, there.

Virgil casually disposing of Grealish is addictive. I’m not even watching the goal, just Virgil shoving Grealish over like a little rag doll.

[VladimirIlyich]

59 minutes ago, Arniepie said:

A modern mystery why kemmy didn't start him or at least bring him on at half time.

Kemmy and his heavy metal football?

[Guest]

 

[Aventus]

11 minutes ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

 

I like this. 

[dockers_strike]

Unfortunately, the accompanying pictures dont pull through.

 

Jurgen Klopp is playing down Liverpool's chances of a historic quadruple, but he could not hide his satisfaction with their first-half dismantling of Manchester City.

"I think the first half was one of the best we ever played," Klopp said post-match. "We did all the right stuff, we scored in the right moments, we played an incredible game in the first half, I really loved each second of it."

Considering the way his Liverpool team have swept teams off the pitch in the early stages of games at Anfield, that is quite some statement.

City were weary after their exertions against Atletico Madrid - when they made just two changes to their starting XI in contrast to Liverpool's seven against Benfica - and their vulnerabilities were ruthlessly exploited.

Liverpool's first-half was markedly more intense and high-quality compared to their opening 45 minutes at the Etihad in the league match, when they were fortunate to stay in the game.

There were the moments that comprised a Liverpool masterclass.

Liverpool's press

Manchester City were able to gain mastery of the Premier League meeting with a slight tweak to their usual midfield structure, with Bernardo Silva dropping deeper alongside Rodri to give them an extra dexterous ball-player to escape pressure.

Though this move in the 12th minute showed City's intentions as they worked the ball from Zach Steffen into Bernardo Silva and into Jack Grealish in a centre-forward position, it was a rare occurrence of City playing through Liverpool lines.

Liverpool worked hard to apply pressure high up the pitch

Klopp's team were more intense and quicker to the challenge at Wembley than they were at the Etihad. In the first 45 minutes of the league meeting, Liverpool won just 13 duels, only a shade more than 37 per cent of those competed. In the same period of time on Saturday, they won 33 duels, almost 56 per cent of those competed for.

 

It was not all about smashing into collisions though; Liverpool were better at ushering City into safe areas.

 

Sadio Mane produced his most effervescent performance in months in a central position, trying to cut the link between Steffen and Fernandinho. Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah shadowed the two-full backs and stood ready to close down a pass short to the centre-backs.

Liverpool's cohesion in their pressing disrupted City rhythm

Liverpool offered City the clip to the touchline, a low-risk area to pass to for the defensive team because they can use the touchline as their friend. 

Liverpool rushed City into mistakes

The ball goes straight for a throw-in. In a similar incident later in the half to the other flank, Zinchenko heads down into midfield where Fabinho - much improved - gobbles it up. 

Playing between the lines

The league match produced an interesting reversal of approaches, with City targeting Liverpool with direct attacks and Klopp's team seeking to work the ball through the thirds. City played more long passes than any home game this season.

 

“We played fewer long balls than usual, wanted to play between the lines, their last line," said Klopp.

 

Liverpool were far more successful at finding space behind City's midfield at Wembley, with an outstanding performance from Thiago helping them pick their way through. Their possession game had far more composure, completing an extra 39 passes compared to the first 45 minutes of the league match.

 

At the Etihad, Fabinho found Diogo Jota just four times while Thiago completed just two passes to Liverpool's false nine. Mane rolling off City's centre-backs proved a far more effective link.

This move sums up how easily Liverpool were able to progress play. One pass from Alisson into Naby Keita eliminates City's first line.

Liverpool beat City's press with accurate and quick passing

He lays the ball off to Fabinho who hooks the ball around the corner for Diaz who is in acres of space and able to turn and run at City's back four.

Fabinho and Keita combined well to dominate the midfield

Bernardo is waving his arms in the air in the middle of the picture, knowing City's structure has been pulled out of shape. 

City players grew frustrated by how Liverpool got through them

The switch of play

Switching play from one side to the other is a hallmark of Liverpool's play, and Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the game's finest exponents of this pass.

They drag opponents over to one side of the pitch, and then ping the ball to the weaker side where they have a player isolated against his opposite man.

Guardiola himself best summarised this tactic some years ago, telling biographer Marti Perarnau: "In all team sports, the secret is to overload one side of the pitch so that the opponent must tilt its own defence to cope.

"You overload one side and draw them in so that they leave the other side weak. And when we've done all that, we attack and score from the other side."

The attack that led to Mane's cracking third goal started with one of those Alexander-Arnold switches. The overload was actually created from an Alexander-Arnold throw-in chested back to him by Mane, surely one of the routines devised by much-mocked throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark.

Liverpool's third goal started when Alexander-Arnold opened up the pitch with an excellent crossfield pass

Liverpool's proficiency with dead-balls was also in evidence on the opening goal, when Ibrahima Konate scored another header. No team has scored more goals from set-pieces than Liverpool in the Premier League this season, and they have more than any other team in the Champions League.

These marginal gains are just one reason why, despite Klopp's protestations, Liverpool look as well-placed to complete the clean sweep than any side in recent memory. 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/04/17/liverpools-45-minutes-perfection-shook-world/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

[Captain Turdseye]

3 hours ago, Scott_M said:

After 4 hours in The Green Man beer garden, my baldy fod feels like it’s on fire today. 

As I left to walk down, you were in the process of sending that bird back to the bar to get 20 jäger bombs. Did she come back?

 

I’m very, very sunburned. It’s genuinely painful. Face, neck and arms all fucked. 

[jonnyp]

3 hours ago, Caramac said:

Coming through!

[Mil-ing Around]

On 16/04/2022 at 13:15, Mil-ing Around said:

I feel like this is a must win for us. If we knock them out it will severely hurt them and might fuck them up in the other two competitions. The pressure of us achieving a quadruple or treble adds something to their games and mindset.

 

Lose, and the motivation and momentum it gives them to achieve a treble themselves might be a deciding factor. They have piss easy games in the league and should batter Madrid. We need to knock these fuckers out of their stride and land a physiological blow. Come on Liverpool!!

 

Blow landed!

 

That will hurt these fuckers. Deep down they'll know we out played them. The bald nut job will be clapping them in training today forcing them to believe they nearly came back and showed great character but inside the players will know we out classed them. If they don't score that early goal, we would have walked that. 

 

Yes, they weren't at full strength but the pressure we have now put them under is huge. Every game and every minute they play will have us in the back of their minds. We don't need to lower ourselves making this into the fierce ugly rivalry the media wants this to be, we do our talking on the pitch. Their fans showed how pathetic they are with that minutes silence. 

 

That win was so huge, not for the possible trophy but for what it does to them psychologically. Pep will be drowning himself in red wine the next few days. We just won't go away and perfectionists like him don't deal with this kind of shit well. We've knocked on the door these last two months, now lets break it down like a heist and take everything away from these bastards.

[Chocoholic]

49 minutes ago, Captain Turdseye said:

As I left to walk down, you were in the process of sending that bird back to the bar to get 20 jäger bombs. Did she come back?

 

I’m very, very sunburned. It’s genuinely painful. Face, neck and arms all fucked. 

Is this you?

On 16/04/2022 at 09:29, Bjornebye said:

 

[littletedwest]

[dockers_strike]

Even accounting for the travel difficulties yesterday, the gaps in the city allocation were an eye opener.

 

Said it before, my mate who is a life long city fan just phones the club about cup final tickets and they say 'How many do you want?' He isnt a STH either.

[Chocoholic]

The narrative reaction to yesterday's game is laughable, in portraying a 3-2 scoreline as a close game.

 

We walked all over them in the first half, and they went in shellshocked at 3-0 down, at half time, pretty much like we did in Istanbul. But they didn't have their 2nd half 6 minute spell to equalise. Nor did they force it to extra time or penalties. Scoring at the extremes of the 2nd half brought drama and talk of a possible comeback, but their first goal was too little, their 2nd, too late.

 

The match was won in the 1st half, when they didn't have any answer to anything we put up to them. Our 2nd half was a mixture of bad decisions and missed chances to cement the result, leading to an opportunity for a false narrative of a close game. It doesn't change the true story, though.

[Aventus]

19 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

Even accounting for the travel difficulties yesterday, the gaps in the city allocation were an eye opener.

 

Said it before, my mate who is a life long city fan just phones the club about cup final tickets and they say 'How many do you want?' He isnt a STH either.

Yeah last time I checked it had dropped down through all the tiers until it was at the point that anybody with a membership number with a single game attended was eligible to buy up to 4 tickets. 

Some of the tickets were £30 with a free coach ride.

 

And they still couldn't sell out their allocation. 

[Kevin D]

 

[Aventus]

6 hours ago, Caramac said:

The fucking size of him, I'm honestly in awe. He's like that kid in your under 12s league that hit puberty before everyone else and just dominantes everything that comes near him. 

 

I thought Virgil was a handful for defenders from corners, it got to the point where he was being double marked because they know how dangerous he is in the air. How is anybody going to cope with the pair of them? 

[Rushies tash]

8 minutes ago, Aventus said:

The fucking size of him, I'm honestly in awe. He's like that kid in your under 12s league that hit puberty before everyone else and just dominantes everything that comes near him. 

 

I thought Virgil was a handful for defenders from corners, it got to the point where he was being double marked because they know how dangerous he is in the air. How is anybody going to cope with the pair of them? 

It's not even that good a header. He's just decided that he's going to get on the end of it and there's fuck all the City defenders can do about it. They try to block him, pull his shirt and get swatted aside like 5 year olds.

[Edward.]

6 hours ago, Jimmy Hills Chin said:

Haven't seen any of the game as I was expecting, you know, the BBC to put the highlights on Match Of The Fucking Day, what with it being quite important and all that. Were Fernandinho's tackles as bad as they sounded or was it a bit of TLW getting caught up in the moment?

The whole thing is iplayer.

[Chip Butty]

 

[Scott_M]

4 hours ago, Captain Turdseye said:

As I left to walk down, you were in the process of sending that bird back to the bar to get 20 jäger bombs. Did she come back?

 

I can’t remember. Quite a lot of the afternoon was a blur.