MAN CITY 2 – 2 Ajax – MY THOUGHTS
7 Nov
A controversial end to a game which, from a Blue’s perspective, started awfully, improved shortly afterwards, gave us hope towards the end and then frustrated at the final whistle. It was a night which signaled the end of our Champions League dreams for another year, an odd match in which City played as well as they have done in this competition during the group stage but were left ruing a pair of concerning, sloppily conceded goals and a couple of very debatable refereeing decisions.
Overall, the reality of the situation is that, simply, we have not been good enough. Performance-wise, we were trounced at the Bernabeu, battered by an effervescent Borussia Dortmund side and then taught a footballing lesson by Ajax in Holland. An hour of promising, lively attacking football was pleasing to see last night but it was not enough. This, however, is solely a review of yesterday’s game and not a reflection of our failures in general in Europe. That will come shortly.
It was a must-win game last night if we were to have any realistic chance of progressing to the next round, and what was perhaps most disappointing was the loss of concentration at such vital moments. It was a bright opening ten minutes from City, but such was the lackadaisical and, frankly, amateurish, defending from a pair of corners, we found ourselves two goals down and with a mountain to climb.
It does not matter whether a team man-marks or zonal-marks from a corner. What is imperative is that the players do their job and that didn’t happen last night. For the first goal, we switched off. Defenders should be alive in the box. They know it is their sole job to clear the ball but too many were flat-footed. And for the second, Yaya Touré didn’t track his man. It was basic, embarrassing work and that needs to be cut out of our play instantly.
Those mistakes left us with too much to do, despite the laudable spirit and character on display. What we have previously lacked in Europe is the ability to control the tempo of a game, as we do so frequently in the Premier League, but for the last hour yesterday we were in control. There was a drive and a purpose about our play that should have been there in every game, not just when we were two goals down in the fourth group game.
A sublime strike from Yaya gave us a lifeline and then Sergio Aguero produced a clinical finish to provide us with hope going into the final few minutes. And then came the refereeing controversy. Aguero scored again but Aleks Kolarov was deemed, harshly, to have been offside and then Balotelli was somehow denied the most blatant of penalties in the final seconds of the game. It was a terrible decision not to award the spot-kick but that officiating howler has given us an excuse we shouldn’t be looking for.
It is all too easy to blame others but what we ought to recognise is that the failings have been our own. I’ll delve into that more in another piece, but it is frustrating not to see us learning from erstwhile errors. We do not have a divine right to win every game and no City fan expected the Blues to lift the Champions League trophy, but the minimum requirement has to be to improve and stop making the same naive mistakes.
We still have a mathematical chance of advancing but it is extremely unlikely. As for the Europa League, I’d love us to be in that competition rather than meekly finishing fourth. We need the coefficient points for future seasons, but more importantly, we need the experience of playing more often in Europe. We’ve struggled in the Champions League against different styles of football, against sides who do not fear us as many domestically do. We ought to relish the chance of facing European challenges, even if they come in what is regarded as a second-rate competition. Having proved ourselves inadequate in the Champions League, it would be arrogant in the extreme to view ourselves as too good for the next best version.
Of course, perspective must be kept. We are unbeaten in the Premier League despite playing well below our best, and that is down to the quality of individuals and the mentality and resilience of the squad. However, in Europe it has been a different matter entirely and a good performance against Ajax when we knew we needed to attack should not hide what is obvious. We have not been good enough.
Too true, for the players or the Fans to not not take the Europa league seriously now would be a disgrace. Remember our exit from that competition last time was a disgrace with Joe Hart of all people scrambling in the opposing box to get us a winning goal.
It was very pleasing to see the urge and the drive displayed by City when they fell behind by 2 goals. Since the start of season, I never saw City to play with such determination. I do hope they start playing with the same urgency.
As for Europa league, I sit on the opposite end of the spectrum and I do hope City does not qualify so that they can focus on domestic cups. With the amount of money spent and the resources available, we should not rely on coefficient points or referee’s bad judgment to only make it from group stages let alone the knock-out phase.
The truth, as you said, is that we were not good enough and we need to improve.
the Europa League would be a massive blow to our attempt to retain our status as Champions .big risk of injury to players for a micky mouse cup
It is a well known fact you CANNOT outjump a running player from a standing position. That is the case against zonal marking done…..
Point well made by the way. SO much so I will copy and paste it into my comment. Well done
“We still have a mathematical chance of advancing but it is extremely unlikely. As for the Europa League, I’d love us to be in that competition rather than meekly finishing fourth. We need the coefficient points for future seasons, but more importantly, we need the experience of playing more often in Europe. We’ve struggled in the Champions League against different styles of football, against sides who do not fear us as many domestically do. We ought to relish the chance of facing European challenges, even if they come in what is regarded as a second-rate competition. Having proved ourselves inadequate in the Champions League, it would be arrogant in the extreme to view ourselves as too good for the next best version.!”
Yeah I definitely hope we make Europa too. We have a ton of players that want game time, we need games. I don’t understand how you can call it a “Mickey mouse cup” either when it’s harder to win than the fa cup.
‘A controversial end to a game which, from a Blue’s perspective, started awfully, improved shortly afterwards, gave us hope towards the end and then frustrated at the final whistle’ sums up the game perfectly.