What’s the status on Bobby’s injury? I think we have missed him more than we probably realise over the past couple of weeks.
Mane and Salah look so jaded in possession at times, they are just trying too hard and look tired.
He was back in training so wouldn’t surprise me if he gets some minutes against Villa.
Klopp said it might make more sense for him train through the weekend rather than put him in the Squad but was undecided, I assume he decided to do the former in the end.
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I think we look tired because we haven’t rotated, Tsimi has been an able deputy for Robbo and should have had more game time and I also thing Joe has done excellently replacing Trent, I do think Bobby has been a big miss to take the workload off our other front players.
Thought Trent and Robbo were poor last night and the way we set up we need to them to be a 7/10 and last night they were 2/10.
Also Salahs form is a bit concerning. He’s not been at his level for 4 months now.
Our set pieces were shocking and our crosses never picked out anyone.
Spurs had 11 behind the ball and we were too slow with the passing and it was all in front of them which they wanted.
I thought we should’ve put on Gomez for Trent and Origi for Mane - who looked shattered.
We can’t be great every week but we city about we need to be.
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First of, it’s not over till it’s over.
Second, Mourinho and Simeone would have been proud of Conte’s parked bus.
Third, Tottenham were perfect defensively. They didn’t put a foot wrong and we needed a slice of luck to get the equalizer. Davies and Royal in particular were immaculate, they left no space and blocked everything thrown at them.
Last but not least, the team gave everything. No one can’t fault them for their effort and commitment. We just needed a bit more luck and more fresh legs against far fresher opponents that were having the game of their life defensively. It’s somewhat worrying that signs of fatigue crept up, but we need to pull through. We still have everything to play for and we can’t afford to play two finals flat and worn out. We have to make one final push to make this season a historical one.
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Two things
The league title was never in our hands. We were counting on a slip by the Cheaters now we have to count on a stumble by the Cheaters. It’s still not impossible, just a tad more difficult.
I’m happy with the result in the sense that we needed a wakeup call before two important finals. I would rather drop points in the league where we are already trailing than drop a trophy.
YNWA.
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But he doesn’t and hasn’t been making the decision on playing. That’s fully in Klopp’s hands. I doubt Klopp is going to prioritise Mo Salah over the team, so there is likely a reason he is playing. It’s probably due to a lack of something better on the right while still having the shape he wants given Salah’s fatigue and form.
The fatigue aspect had been evident for weeks now. Just take a look at the regulars in the Sandcastle game. Robbo has looked shot to pieces recently, and it was a surprise to me that he started this game if I’m honest.
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After the CL final, the friendlies and semi friendlies (nations league) start well into June. 
Did anyone else notice the big hug JK gave Son after the game and they were both laughing together…wonder what he said to him?
Actions like that sum up for me what a great guy he is…how blessed are we to have him as our boss.
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Let’s see how City respond. If they can get themselves up and beat Newcastle then fairplay to them. We still try to win every game to still put the pressure on them.
I was surprised Klopp did not start Tsimikas instead of Robbo and also did bring in Divock when chasing.
FIFY. Two deflected goals against us, the non-handball by Rodri, repeatedly getting away with tactical fouling… the list goes on.
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And jet from the T5 teams we could only beat Arsenal, that is something to think about too.
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Stats say there was 1 offside.
There’s nothing in this really
They’ve taken 14 points from the top 5 teams (4W, 2D, 2L)
We’ve taken 12 points (2W, 6D).
That’s not an indication of where our season went wrong (if it in fact has…). IMO it’s more to do with us clustering our dropped points and therefore having to go on long winning runs (hard to do) to make up the ground. Certainly some of the draws against mid table teams hurt.
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To me there is, not being able to beat Chelsea and Spurs who are playing “bus parking tactics” home and away and very well tells me that we need work or perhaps a different kind of CF for those situations, in breaking open top teams that use that tactic.
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All clubs have their problem teams. City drew both PL games against Soton. They lost both their PL games against CP. They lost both their games against Spurs. We did none of those things. That we drew all our games against two top 4 teams is insignificant if we aren’t directly competing with them.
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If we were fully fit and rested we’d have beaten them. We were dominant in possession, we created the openings but our final pass or execution let us down. That’s a sign of mental fatigue, that loss of 1-2% of intensity or split second delay in everything where it all falls down.
We clearly had a game plan to switch the play, then a late runner off the back of Mo (who came centrally) into the space to cut it back. Hendo did this twice and both times our in the box movement was none existant, similar Thiago just slightly overhit a pass to Trent within 10mins to go. The exact same play.
It’s fine margins but against the very best at defending deep you need to take your chances when you get them.
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But it tells you something about how we cope with top teams who play that tactic that’s my point, we need to get better at breaking them up.
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The worst 2 points dropped was at Anfield against 10 chavs.
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If Man City go on to win the league, i think i will look back at the 28 or so PL wins we achieved (enough to win the league in many years) rather than get caught up at a specific moment that we dropped points. For me it results in us picking specific bad moments and inevitably laying blame on player X or Y and feeling resentment.
This, thus far, has been the greatest season ive ever witnesses. Finish with three bits of silverware and its a hugely successful season.
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