Key points from tonight’s game

[Sozturf7]

There’s 3-4 posters on this board that are driving me mad, I can accept criticism but they’re clueless, and I mean really clueless.

Thank you for saying what so many are probably thinking.

[Carwin261]

The Foster thing is funny. Some of us could tell he was getting up to speed last season and would be better this season. It was pretty obvious his attributes would be well suited to the Prem. He was superb this evening.

Looks like he’s lost a bit of weight ,I reckon he’s going to have a good season.

[Carwin261]

VK must have had a preminision signing all the wingers and CH/s ,Beyer off injured ,and Zaroury banned for 3 games,

[Boss Hogg]

First time I’ve come off a 3-0 defeat more confident about the season to come than I was before it.

Agree with this. I thought we did very well against unbelievable opposition. Foster and Al Dakhil looked very good tonight and Koleosho looks raw but exciting and very quick. Think Muric is the better keeper as it stands and was surprised he didn’t start.

[scouseclaret]

I'm really quite positive from seeing a number of the new signings and a couple that needed time to adjust from last year, like the majority on here as much as I love little Vits we desperately need another answer to the left back/wing back option and I don't see it being Taylor I'm afraid.

Maybe, but I think it’s more likely to be Taylor that Vitinho.

No point trying to draw too many conclusions from tonight. Outclassed as per, but City are in a different class to at least 16 of the other 18 teams in the league, so we finish our pre-season training and the season starts with Villa in a fortnight.

[Roosterbooster]

There’s 3-4 posters on this board that are driving me mad, I can accept criticism but they’re clueless, and I mean really clueless.

One in particular acting like a formidable imbecile atm

[ksrclaret]

Not sure what formation and shape we were going for for much on the match, and I really wasn’t a fan of such an experimental lineup.

Of the new boys:
Trafford did well actually and was nice and calm in possession. He’s no Muric when it comes to distribution.

O’Shea stuck to the task of defending against the worlds best forward line admirably, but had some tough moments. He’s very composed in possession and you can see why he’s here.

Berge was absolutely knackered on the hour but showed some really promising signs, particularly in the build up phase. VK was delighted with him in his interview.

Koleosho is raw but talented. Not ready to play week in week out.

Amdouni will form a great partnership with Foster hopefully and add a touch of class up front we haven’t seen since Danny Ings.

I really hope we get a proper 4231 shape against Villa and practise set piece defending every training session beforehand.

[Vegas Claret]

Best player in world football for me

only because John Deary retired

[Spiral]

Thought Berge actually looked quite nimble with the ball for a guy his size. He's not just a big hustle and bustle type CDM bully. Always rated him, but you watch players a bit differently once they're playing for Burnley.

[Rileybobs]

Thought we played really well. Great tenacity and intensity and a lot of bravery to hunt down the ball in numbers and pen City into their own half for large periods of the game. Of course they’re good enough to handle that in the main but we forced some errors.

I thought Trafford was good, his decision making for when to come for the ball was impressive and he made a few good saves although the best was called offside. His passing was good although he looked less comfortable switching feet than Muric does and it got him into a pickle a couple of times. Difficult to tell whether this was down to him or the fact that we were playing such a good team who know how to set traps. For example the simple ball in to Cullen which was on pretty much every game last season didn’t exist which forced him to go to the right back.

The big positive for me was Foster who looked leaner, sharper and quicker and had by far and away his best game for us in my opinion. This bodes really well as whilst we will need some goals from him, he showed he has a lot more to offer the team.

Overall the team had so much pace, work rate and talent that I’m excited to see how we’ll compete against a team that isn’t the best in the world. There’s a question mark over where the goals will come from but we seem to have a lot of depth and hopefully we’ve got enough.

Defensively we were pretty strong and never looked like we were hanging on, but we’ve obviously got major problems at defending balls into the box and this will be exploited ruthlessly this season. A high proportion of goals in the PL come from set pieces and we must find a way to improve this aspect of our game or we will see points dropped very cheaply.

[Vegas Claret]

The big positive for me was Foster who looked leaner, sharper and quicker and had by far and away his best game for us in my opinion. This bodes really well as whilst we will need some goals from him, he showed he has a lot more to offer the team.

A high proportion of goals in the PL come from set pieces and we must find a way to improve this aspect of our game or we will see points dropped very cheaply.

I couldn't believe how fast he was, he was making a few of the City lads look slow so that's a huge positive

and yes

we need to sort the set pieces out, teams like Brentford will have a field day against us, Ben Mee hat-trick

[Clive 1960]

We did ok what i saw from TV but you can not switch off defending especially against a team like city who didn't break sweat that's how good they are. I thought some of the new lads did ok , the only shock i thought was dropping Brownhill for Berg who as only just arrived. Hopefully we will be able to build on it and learn lessons how to defend against set pieces.

[BigAlClaret]

I came off the game feeling more positive about the new season than before it.
We didn't look like rabbits in the headlights.
Some of our players will make the step up easily.
It's going to be a fun season.
The sooner we gel the higher we finish.
The fans in the CFS are outnumbered maybe 2 to 1 and still outsang City.
A sunny August evening makes for a poor light show.
UTC

[RVclaret]

Some good comments from Riley and ksr above.

I’ll add that last night was the youngest 11 we’ve ever fielded in the Prem at 23 years and 206 days.

Despite that, there was no crumbling under pressure, felt we had a clear game plan and we stuck at it until the final minute.

We’ve got 2 weeks now to get the new lads up to speed, couple more bodies in and two home games against Villa and Spurs where I can see us finding a win.

[Hibsclaret]

The best thing about last night was the performance. I thought it was magnificent with the exception of slightly loose marking for the goals, ruthlessly punished by the best finisher in the world. The speed of our team compared to our previous teams at this level is where the biggest difference is. We will get better and better and will give every team a game. Top half finish minimum based on that performance as being around half of what I expect we are capable of throughout the season.

[MDWat]

Thought we played really well. Great tenacity and intensity and a lot of bravery to hunt down the ball in numbers and pen City into their own half for large periods of the game. Of course they’re good enough to handle that in the main but we forced some errors.

I thought Trafford was good, his decision making for when to come for the ball was impressive and he made a few good saves although the best was called offside. His passing was good although he looked less comfortable switching feet than Muric does and it got him into a pickle a couple of times. Difficult to tell whether this was down to him or the fact that we were playing such a good team who know how to set traps. For example the simple ball in to Cullen which was on pretty much every game last season didn’t exist which forced him to go to the right back.

The big positive for me was Foster who looked leaner, sharper and quicker and had by far and away his best game for us in my opinion. This bodes really well as whilst we will need some goals from him, he showed he has a lot more to offer the team.

Overall the team had so much pace, work rate and talent that I’m excited to see how we’ll compete against a team that isn’t the best in the world. There’s a question mark over where the goals will come from but we seem to have a lot of depth and hopefully we’ve got enough.

Defensively we were pretty strong and never looked like we were hanging on, but we’ve obviously got major problems at defending balls into the box and this will be exploited ruthlessly this season. A high proportion of goals in the PL come from set pieces and we must find a way to improve this aspect of our game or we will see points dropped very cheaply.

Great summary

[fanzone]

Impressive all over the pitch tonight. We lost 3-0 and I were still delighted at what we put on show during the game.

[EarbyClaret]

Agree with the positive comments

That was a team selected specifically to match-up City 1:1 all over the pitch and by and large it worked - but all of that planning is undone if we don't deal with aerial set plays into the box. Most teams at this level will exploit that - not just City

I thought Vitinho did a decent job but an LB, preferably Maatsen is a priority

We look dangerous and full of pace going forward - with game changing options off the bench

Plenty to build on there - we'll only get better

[123EasyasBFC]

I don’t think Trafford had a bad game at all and his passing was generally good but I personally think sometimes the speed in which he decided to pass the ball was at times to slow, muric is so quick to spot a pass and make a decision but that will come in time with Trafford. I would of still started muric purely off the benfica game because he looked like a keeper with so much to prove

[steve1264b]

If we dont have a left back in before villa it has to be Taylor.

[Belgianclaret]

We did the best we could and showed promise.
However, the least enjoyable game for me as City would better b….. off to the super league.

[AGENT_CLARET]

At least we gave the best team in the world a game for decent spells of the match. More gutted at Zaroury being suspended and having two incidents tarnishing our return to the Prem. They not only let the club down, they also let our town down too.

These two dickheads only let themselves down

[Culmclaret]

Since 19 Jan City’s record in all competitions is W25 D5 L2 (one of which was a dead rubber). F83 A 19. Not remotely representative of what we will face this season. They are in a league of their own.

[superdimitri]

We did okay for the most part. Much better than usual performances against them..but we still lost 3-0 and didn't really test them at all so let's not get carried away.
Our young players have a lot to learn and look quite naive off the ball.

Cut down on giving silly free kicks and corners away and making sure we make good clearances from set pieces and we'll be even better. A lot of that will come with experience.

Pretty remarkable we didn't collapse when you consider for most of the game Roberts was the only player with Premier League experience and before tonight he only played in 21 games.

I'm not sure there's a way to even deal with Haaland. Sure you can try and mark him out of the game but that just makes him a fantastic decoy for his team mates to score instead. Only way we will get better is by playing against them.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

We did ok and there were some promising performances but the game was over in 3 minutes.

Be difficult to guess what the line up will be in 2 weeks but hopefully we’ve a recognised left back in place by then preferably Maatsan.

[AGENT_CLARET]

My key points

We only lost 3-0 to the best club team in the world I was expecting our normal 6-0

Foster out wide instead up front centre looks like a new signing, he looked strong, quick and more comfortable in this position.

Koleosho who I thought we bought for the development team is going to be an exciting player this season in the first team once he has a few games under his belt

Amdouni is a star in the making and will be our player of the season

O'Shea looks strong and reads the game well

Zaroury was foolish to go in off the ground from behind

We won't play another team anything like city again all season, we will hold our own and surprise a good few teams this season and comfortably stay up

[brexit]

Pleased with this thread - posters who I respect actually highlighting the positives from last night. Looking forward to the season when it starts against villa.

[Hipper]

Trafford isn’t ready, Muric is miles better in this system and can pass the ball more accurate and better.

I think Muric would have struggled with the limited passing options available yesterday.

I was surprised if not disappointed that Muric wasn't playing. Until last night I've seen nothing from Trafford to suggest he's the better goalkeeper. However he could not be faulted for anything against City. It was a steady debut.

[Newcastleclaret93]

I think Muric would have struggled with the limited passing options available yesterday.

I was surprised if not disappointed that Muric wasn't playing. Until last night I've seen nothing from Trafford to suggest he's the better goalkeeper. However he could not be faulted for anything against City. It was a steady debut.

I don’t know how anyone has a problem with Trafford after last night.

I thought he was excellent

[leelad]

I thought we held our own against them. They are in a league of their own for sure. Of the new signings, I thought Amdouni looked lively and stood out for me. Foster looks quicker, and dare I say it leaner. He looked very lively. Not sure on Trafford yet, his debut was steady. To be fair he didn't have much to do other than pick the ball out of the net for those three goals. We need to do better on defending set pieces. That's the only criticism I would give after watching the game. But that comes from time spent on the training pitch. The break next weekend with Luton being postponed could work in our favour here, allowing this to be worked on and also to get the new signings even more integrated into how we play. I don't think Kompany knows his best team as yet, but last night will have helped his thought process for sure. Onwards and upwards, UTC.