Audi cup final

[Tim777]

First City game I've missed out on in a while. I had promised the family an evening out & couldn't get out of it. Oh well, great to see Negredo on the scoreboard, hope to see Jovetic scoring soon too. Missing Aguero like hell! 2-1 loss: not ideal but I'm glad the squad is getting pre-season exposure with the likes of Bayern which will mentally prepare us for the CL.

[Moonchesteri]

Dry August for me. Day one. Sweating.

No wonder you're on a bad mood! ;o)

[Moonchesteri]

Tried posting a picture but there's something up with the App apparently...

Don't hold your breath it's been like that for months (iOS)

[Ted Hughes]

Speaking as a Gareth Barry fan, who thinks he should be playing behind Yaya & Fernandinho in situations like the 1st half plan today, I don't like the look of him.

He didn't seem to be puttiing himself about as he usually does & that concerns me, especially as he should be fighting for a shirt.

I think he has lost a bit of heart due to not feeling he has a future at the club, & he simply can't function at 90%, he needs to be full on if he is to be any use.

I feel sorry for him, but if he's not on it, he will be a liability.

Hopfully the Count will spot it & have a word.

[City64]

THAT LINESMAN realy didnt want us to win in Munich did he ? ;-)

Class performance from a well short of "1st" string eleven , that standard against the elite of europe in their own back garden will see us piss the league . Great width , great passing so glad Negredo got off the mark with a class finish ! Kompany was class at the back , Zab,s so uncharateristically sloppy ???? / unlucky ???? for the two Bayern goals ??? Its all looking so good , Aguero needs a spin out soon , hope all is well there !

[Im_Spartacus]

THAT LINESMAN realy didnt want us to win in Munich did he ? ;-)

Class performance from a well short of "1st" string eleven , that standard against the elite of europe in their own back garden will see us piss the league . Great width , great passing so glad Negredo got off the mark with a class finish ! Kompany was class at the back , Zab,s so uncharateristically sloppy ???? / unlucky ???? for the two Bayern goals ??? Its all looking so good , Aguero needs a spin out soon , hope all is well there !

Good post, hard to disagree with any of that

[MilnersJaw]

I thought the commentary team were good, especially Owen Hargreaves who is actually intelligent. The three arseholes in the studio were appalling.

The ref was bent.

Have seen enough of us this pre-season to be thinking of sticking some dough on us to win the title. I think we'll also do well in the Champions League.

I thought Hargreaves was some Irish guy. I disagree I thought he couldn't help but slag off city players at any opportunity in the first half. Might be because he was a double rag. The studio guys were clueless and again slagging off city.

Glad pants played, puts effort in.

[gillie]

I thought the commentary team were good, especially Owen Hargreaves who is actually intelligent. The three arseholes in the studio were appalling.

The ref was bent.

Have seen enough of us this pre-season to be thinking of sticking some dough on us to win the title. I think we'll also do well in the Champions League.

I thought Hargreaves was some Irish guy. I disagree I thought he couldn't help but slag off city players at any opportunity in the first half. Might be because he was a double rag. The studio guys were clueless and again slagging off city.

Glad pants played, puts effort in.

I thought Hargreaves called it as it was during the game and he quite clearly called the pen a disgrace.The muppets in the studio i did not listen to.

[brite blu sky]

I hinted at it at the start of the thread when I saw the selection, that it looked to me that The Count was looking at containing them and then expanding in the second half. I thought he'd bring Yaya and Silva on, but he went for Navas, which is fine but I'd expect Jovetic would stay put if this was to be tried out for real.

Basically though I'd say it was a test of changing the dynamic of the team by simply replacing two midfielders. If that was the case it worked quite well given the oppo, the relative pre-season levels, the ref and them at home.
City collapsed briefly after their second goal but pulled themselves together, good to see and a good game plan from Pelligrini.

Ted, you might be right about Barry, maybe he is just a bit later getting up to fitness for some reason we don't know. Time will tell for sure. Wasn't he a bit like this last pre-season too?

[Dunnylad]

Thought Navas looked potentially outstanding as he did against Sunderland where you could see the potential despite the pitch. The only thing is that it exposes the fact we don't have a Navas on the left!

Liked the way Negrado (sic?) took his goal, bit of strength and plenty of pace and placed it perfectly

[Douglas Higginbottom]

THAT LINESMAN realy didnt want us to win in Munich did he ? ;-)

Class performance from a well short of "1st" string eleven , that standard against the elite of europe in their own back garden will see us piss the league . Great width , great passing so glad Negredo got off the mark with a class finish ! Kompany was class at the back , Zab,s so uncharateristically sloppy ???? / unlucky ???? for the two Bayern goals ??? Its all looking so good , Aguero needs a spin out soon , hope all is well there !

Good post, hard to disagree with any of that

Fairly happy overall and such a shame that a penalty is given for that but it sort of summed things up for Zaba.He had a mare but he is behind on pre season so I can forgive him this one.Vincent was magnificent and although we weren't retaining the ball most of the first half I thought the discipline and organisation was pretty good. Barry might not have looked very good but he fills holes well and let's face it Bayern didn't really have many chances in that first half despite all the possession.

Negredo should have scored before he did but he was there where it mattered and I reckon he will score plenty.Navas looking excellent again and although Milner and Nasri didn't shine both put in crosses that could so easily have been goals.Much more positive than negative.

[phips]

Just got to watch this.

1. Yaya was anonymous in the 45 mins he was on.... i dunno if its because Bayern had most of the ball or because he was primarily so deep.
2. Jovetic wasnt nearly as influential as he was yesterday
3. We looked like we missed Silva
4. Kompany looks great
5. Negredo definitely put forth his best performance so far
6. Fernandinho looks to have virtually solidified his spot in whatever our "best lineup" will be
7. Bayern are clearly the best club in the world.

It was a preseason friendly so it doesnt mean much but it was also against the stiffest competition yet who played with basically their lineup best 11 to begin with.

[DoomMerchant]

Just got to watch this.

1. Yaya was anonymous in the 45 mins he was on.... i dunno if its because Bayern had most of the ball or because he was primarily so deep.
2. Jovetic wasnt nearly as influential as he was yesterday
3. We looked like we missed Silva
4. Kompany looks great
5. Negredo definitely put forth his best performance so far
6. Fernandinho looks to have virtually solidified his spot in whatever our "best lineup" will be
7. Bayern are clearly the best club in the world.

It was a preseason friendly so it doesnt mean much but it was also against the stiffest competition yet who played with basically their lineup best 11 to begin with.

what about the match made you believe No 7? i thought that Bayern were lucky to not be down a couple goals and were very wasteful with their possession and their chances. Without the homeristic pen they'd have gotten beaten i believe.

Regardless, it was a nice tune up and fun to watch. I enjoyed it.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Real homer of a ref and he helped them out when they really needed it. Very encouraging though. Liked the look of Navas very much. Could and maybe should have been a couple up before Bayern scored. We certainly looked dangerous.

[dick dastardley]

we created lots of chances in the home of the european champions and with probably their best 11. A ref that basically did us no favours much like judges in boxing in germany.
positives kompany, navas, fernandinho, negredo looked superb though negredo needs to find the net rather than the keeper.
negatives barry too slow, zabba a couple of weeks behind the rest of the squad, rest of the team showed enough for me to think we will be in there come may and possibly getting out of the group stages of the chump league

[gmercer1]

I wouldn't fancy trying to overlap Navas! You wouldn't be able to catch the little whippet never mind overlap him.

He looks amazing. Negredo I think will score loads of goals. Strong and showed some pace for the goal (even though I'm sure either Owen or McMannaman said he was "slow" before the game).
I can't wait to see Evera's face when he comes up against Navas......he'll have a face like that Phil Jones when Aguero scored last season.
Roll on the season the futures bright.....the futures blue.

[Clowncrete]

Opinions on Boyata? I thought he did well. Unfairly booked, but he did well under Kompany's leadership.

[gmercer1]

Opinions on Boyata? I thought he did well. Unfairly booked, but he did well under Kompany's leadership.

Yeah I agree I thought he had a good game

[Green & Blue]

Just got to watch this.

1. Yaya was anonymous in the 45 mins he was on.... i dunno if its because Bayern had most of the ball or because he was primarily so deep.
2. Jovetic wasnt nearly as influential as he was yesterday
3. We looked like we missed Silva
4. Kompany looks great
5. Negredo definitely put forth his best performance so far
6. Fernandinho looks to have virtually solidified his spot in whatever our "best lineup" will be
7. Bayern are clearly the best club in the world.

It was a preseason friendly so it doesnt mean much but it was also against the stiffest competition yet who played with basically their lineup best 11 to begin with.

what about the match made you believe No 7? i thought that Bayern were lucky to not be down a couple goals and were very wasteful with their possession and their chances. Without the homeristic pen they'd have gotten beaten i believe.

Regardless, it was a nice tune up and fun to watch. I enjoyed it.

I would have to agree with Phips.Going on last seasons evidence Bayern are clearly the benchmark at the moment.At full strength they are unplayable at times.I don't think much argument can be made against that as results speak for themselves and they really should have won the Champions league back to back, to say Chelsea were lucky would be an understatement.

[Green & Blue]

Opinions on Boyata? I thought he did well. Unfairly booked, but he did well under Kompany's leadership.

Yeah I agree I thought he had a good game

He did himself no harm at all but i still would not be confident seeing his name on the team sheet.The defence is a bit of a worry now not knowing how long we may be without Nastasic.We should be good as long as Lescott and Kompany stay fit but if either were out it would be a major concern.

I had hoped that Garcia might surprise me at centre back but again his performances have been poor, not sure where he fits in or how he can best be utilized.His distinct lack of pace is going to leave him wanting in the premier league, the only stand out part of his game is his aerial ability.