City

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Tell me how much Real have overspent from all the dodgy deals they’ve done with Spanish and local government like selling their old training ground to fund the first galacticos era.

Indeed .And likewise because Real Madrid is a institution Ive read in the past the Spanish government have bent the rules for them money wise . On another note I was in Madrid last year and went to the stadium and club shop. Highly impressive the ongoing refurbishment works but prices in the club shop were ridiculous. I remember shirts being roughly 140 euros  the equivalent to £120 pounds. Wish some fans wouldn't pay this and then prices would drop(reflects football in general) . Ridiculous amount of money.

Sometimes it’s better not to whinge about the money spent and just marvel at the absolute top drawer football on display. We watch it for entertainment purposes don’t forget. City were excellent last night.

John Stone master class in midfield, just goes to show how good a coach Pep is. Yes he spent a lot of money, but wisely and then improved the players and took them up a few notches. No amount of money on its own can do that.

Quoted from jimgtfc

Sometimes it’s better not to whinge about the money spent and just marvel at the absolute top drawer football on display. We watch it for entertainment purposes don’t forget. City were excellent last night.

Have to admit I didn't expect a 4-0 thrashing by Man City on Madrid . Expected it to be tighter with it possibly going into extra time. Having said that although they lost nearly always a pleasure watching Vinicius Jr play and the player I most enjoy watching in football at the moment worldwide.  Having BT sport is a bonus as I  can watch him on champion league nights.

Quoted from mimma

John Stone master class in midfield, just goes to show how good a coach Pep is. Yes he spent a lot of money, but wisely and then improved the players and took them up a few notches. No amount of money on its own can do that.

He is the best English defender since Bobby Moore in my opinion.

It was a privilege to witness that performance by City last night. I’m getting old but I hated being surrounded by tourists on their phone’s filming rather than celebrating Bernardo’s opener. Real Madrid the biggest and best club side in the world were lucky it wasn’t 8-0.

One game at a time, but win the treble and it’s the best football side this country has ever produced.

Quoted from NorfolkImp

I’m getting old but I hated being surrounded by tourists on their phone’s filming rather than celebrating Bernardo’s opener.

Funnily enough, that's a little similar to what the City fans, who can remember trudging along at Maine Road (FYI, that was City's ground a few years before they became good), say about these folk who ditch their local side when they get relegated for a winning side.  

And regards Stones...

Sorry, not a patch on a few defenders before him just yet.  He's got the ingredients there but he needs to show much more consistency.  

I've never understood the criticism of him for England.  The defence should be built around him as he's the only one really capable of bringing it out and doing something other than hoofing it.  

But still not as good as Ferdinand as that Rolls Royce type defender.  He'll never be an Adams, Terry type who just wins everything but he's by far the best we've had for a fair while in doing what he does.  Interesting how Pep has brought his game on, from seemingly outcast to now a key player who's capable of playing in more than one position.  Unfortunately for England there's little other option than to play him at centre-back.

I felt a bit sorry for Haaland last night (but only a bit)...

He spent all night chasing fairly poor balls from KDB to no avail. As soon as Foden and Alvarez are on, Foden delivers an inch perfect pass that splits the defence and Alvarez scores. Haaland must have been thinking 'hang on a f*cking minute...'

But yes, what a performance.

I must admit, I expected Man City to batter Real in terms of possession and chances created (though not necessarily scoring as many), so the result wasn't too much of a surprise.

De Bruyne was a little out of sorts last night, but I think Haaland should still have scored one or two - he gave Courtois the opportunity to save a couple of those big chances.

I was impressed by the way Grealish played - he tries to stay on his feet more when playing for Man City, as opposed to looking to win free-kicks when playing for England. Caused them lots of problems and put in a good shift as well.

Stones is a decent defender who is good on the ball, but moving into midfield in that manner was only possible because Real didn't attempt to press them at any point, unlike most modern teams. It's certainly a role he can repeat when England play weaker countries who are 'parking the bus' in the qualifiers, but I would expect him to be too busy defending against the better sides to manage more than the odd sortie into midfield.

Quoted from Maringer

I must admit, I expected Man City to batter Real in terms of possession and chances created (though not necessarily scoring as many), so the result wasn't too much of a surprise.

De Bruyne was a little out of sorts last night, but I think Haaland should still have scored one or two - he gave Courtois the opportunity to save a couple of those big chances.

I was impressed by the way Grealish played - he tries to stay on his feet more when playing for Man City, as opposed to looking to win free-kicks when playing for England. Caused them lots of problems and put in a good shift as well.

Stones is a decent defender who is good on the ball, but moving into midfield in that manner was only possible because Real didn't attempt to press them at any point, unlike most modern teams. It's certainly a role he can repeat when England play weaker countries who are 'parking the bus' in the qualifiers, but I would expect him to be too busy defending against the better sides to manage more than the odd sortie into midfield.

I used to be a centre back and/or a left back and I often watch Grealish and think he must be a f*cking nightmare to play against - he's quick and strong, keeps the ball, holds the ball close to him, never stops running and if you get a bit physical he goes down like a bag of pooh and always gets the free kick.

For me he needs to produce the killer final ball more often. Mostly he offloads the ball to someone else on the edge of the box. Unless that's what Pep wants him to do to keep possession.