re: Manchester City 2016-17 season long thread:"Jesus has risen"

that was an elite performance. i had to miss the 60 minute chunk in the middle of the game, but from what i saw, it couldn't have gone much better.

Yeah, that was likely the best game we've ever played in the UCL over 90 minutes.

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The transformation from last year is astounding.

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It truly is. I honestly wasn't expecting anything this close to refined until maybe the end of the year or year two. I can't believe how different and dominant our play is in just a few months.

I just checked... City still awesome.

He isn't wrong about Bournemouth in that quote.

They had an actual plan and tried to actually play through the midfield instead of hoofing it over the top.

Go back and watch the second half of the derby and you'll see what I mean. It was constant long ball, after long ball which is one of the reasons why everyone said Pogba was non-existant. They didn't try to actually possess the ball and attack. It was always try and dish it out wide ASAP which resulted in exactly one chance, the disallowed Rashford goal.

Here's a comment (from a United fan) regarding the blindness of the people saying United were competitive in the second half last weekend:

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More and more, it's becoming evident to me that a lot of United fans don't actually understand the game of football. They've enjoyed the many years of success under SAF and never cared a bit how the game looks or works.
We created nothing tangible in that game. The only real chance we created was the Blind outlet ball to Rashford. The goal was disqualified because of Zlatan but even that goal Rashford was all by himself. No one else ran in support. Whereas when you guys broke, Sane and KdB were always lively with the ball.
It's crazy that anyone could watch that match and say we matched City. We lobbed the ball and hoped for the best. It was one of the most pathetic showings against City since the Moyes era. The first half was pitiful. Zero press, and no attempt to retain possession and actually try to build an attack.

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It doesn´t know the pressure of the CL.

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I'd say not getting our shite pushed in by the later champions in the semis is handling the pressure pretty well for our first time that far in the competition.

I'm not saying in any way that we'll win the thing, but if we didn't at least make the quarterfinals then I'd be disappointed.

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It doesn´t know the pressure of the CL

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Makes no sense to me. The entire team was in the Semis last season. Gundogan has been in a Final, and Bravo's won it. The only player who hasn't made at least the semis is Stones.

In 2014, Real hadn't been in the Final for 12 years. How did they win it without knowing the pressure?

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I also thought Bravo won it, but I believe that Ter Stegen started every match in the UCL.

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That's fair. I did realize he didn't play, but I do suppose as a keeper you don't feel as much pressure on the bench with little chance of playing.

Regardless I think it's a silly suggestion that pressure will be the reason they won't win. Nearly all of the team have already played at that level and held their own. Either they'll be good enough or they won't, and that's all there is.

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In 2014, Real hadn't been in the Final for 12 years. How did they win it without knowing the pressure?

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They have the responsibility and pressure of winning, each and every day. It is part of the club culture.