TF Match Report - Man City 4-0 Newcastle Utd
Scott Robson on a day to forget (again) at Eastlands
The giddiness of Cup Final tickets obviously does strange things.
Manchester City aren't what they were, I heard them say. They are playing in the middle of a Real Madrid double header, others mentioned. It's the perfect time to play them, said the optimists
This week I've heard it all. You would think after all this time we should know better.
Beaten yet again before boot goes over the white line. Newcastle capitulation at the Etihad number 3,420. In the words of City fan Johnny Marr, Stop me if you think you've heard this before.It's no secret how bad our record is at this joint, it got embarrassing a long time ago. However, most of the teams we've sent here in the last twenty years have had it coached into them by all from Benitez to Bruce that this is a free hit.
You might get humped but who cares, it's a winnable home game next. I always found that patronising and showed our ambitions as a club. Most seasons we won the ‘don't let the goal difference get mangled’ cup . I was so proud.
This lot though were supposed to be different. It's just over a month since we went to Arsenal and played perfectly. We used our heads as much as we used brawn and that performance should have been the template for today. Get behind them, get at them. Sadly we had the energy of a deflated tyre and therefore we were as much use as one.
Manchester City are never low in confidence. Their supporters used to sing about being the best in the world when they were losing to York, but this game they looked edgy at the start.
They didn't look themselves in the first few touches of the ball. Strangely preoccupied. Never fear lads, Newcastle are in town.
Those first fifteen minutes set the tone. We were slow in closing down, we left gaping holes which saw ordinary balls over the top start to pin us back. In one fell swoop, our meek start gets the City juices flowing again. You don't come back when that is allowed to happen.
It took 19 minutes for us to concede and though it hadn't been back to the walls stuff, you knew it was coming.
Trippier, who looked as if he hadn't headed a ball in his life in the first half, totally misjudged Ederson’s long ball and Marmoush gambled and left Dúbravka looking a bit silly as he sumptuously lobbed in. Canny goal but soft as shite from our perspective, which is all I'm interested in, frankly.
Five minutes later the game was effectively over as Marmoush squeezed a low shot in the bottom corner after more hesitancy from Trippier. So far, so Man City away.
At this point, both full backs were getting tormented. Hall especially. This was more Dortmund away for a player who has seamlessly moved from those rabbit in a headlight days to being an international footballer. He was soon indebted to Burn, who somehow cleared near his own line.
On the ropes doesn't come close.
When we did get the ball, curiously we could have got some joy. Gordon, Murphy, and Isak all got in decent positions in that first half but chose wrong options, and what looked like a decent opening for Isak from the away end, flashed wide.
To say that was a game changing moment would be laughable though and it was soon three. A 13-minute hat trick for Marmoush, finishing in the penalty box after Hall was tormented again before the ball was cut back.
You feared the worst at this stage. Newcastle were getting mauled.
Our midfield was poor throughout. Neither Tonali or Guimarães seemed to get a touch. When the energy of those two is neutralised, the onus is on Murphy and Isak to do the hard yards. It ain't happening is it?
Fear and foreboding were the words I'd use at half time, but City went down the route of just toying with us in the second half. The pass, pass, pass slower death is sometimes worse for the soul than them just scoring a fifth or sixth, especially when you're standing yards from some total mutant taunting you, as you feel sorry for yourself with a chest infection. Take my word for that.
Miley came on for Willock and genuinely improved things. He actually dragged us up the pitch and though it's small mercies, it's something at least.
Man City eventually made it four when McAtee, on for Foden, hooked in after a flick on from Haaland. Again it's not a stretch to call our defending pathetic there either.
That's the trouble with fixtures here and Anfield. Good players turn into bad ones and seasoned internationals like Schär and Trippier are as likely to play like dross as the up and comers. One of those, Livramento, on for Trippier, falling over himself chasing a through ball summed this up.
Nothing has changed after this, effectively. Win one game in March and you get yourselves into Newcastle United folklore, but it's going to be a long slog until then if we play like this.
Teams higher up than Manchester City now await and on this evidence things could get tougher before they get better. Is this indicative of this side? No, it's not. Do we have bouncebackability? Yes.
But until we rid our heads of the fact we aren't worthy to be on the same pitch as these and, worryingly, Liverpool, we will not score or win here in another eighteen years. Simple as that.
On a day like this when we got chased out of Manchester with our tails between our legs, it would surely be churlish to moan about Manchester City's ability to open the wallet and get the likes of Marmoush when the chips are suddenly pointing South. It would be wouldn't it?
Oh, go on then, It's a cartel, I tell you!
Anyone worried about the coughing by the way, my PA will be putting out an update tomorrow. In the meantime go home, lick your wounds and listen to loud music.
When you’re all old you can sit in the armchair and tell the grandkids about the time when Newcastle scored three goals in twenty years at Manchester City.
One time we will all laugh about it. Honestly. At the minute, though, the pain goes on.
Scott Robson
Very poor performance, and it didn't look like we really thought we could win it. I suspect, unfortunately, that this season may well peter out: I can't see us making the Champions League positions, even with the extra place; I'm not sure we have the mentality to win a cup final. We will probably finish in the kind of position that our performances over the entire season will deserve, because apart from the excellent run over December, we've been pretty mediocre all season.
To me, the most concerning thing about this defeat was the attitude of the players. In fact, this has been a big problem for much of the season. People often focus on some players for criticism in this regard (for example, the TF Pod focused on Anthony Gordon alone), but we also need to look at the attitudes of some players who seem to escape any criticism at all. Bruno has had a very mixed season, and Alexander Isak, although he is clearly one of the best strikers in the world, has had as many games in which he's been anonymous as he has in which he has been breathtakingly good. Some of this may stem from all the uncertainty of the summer, but we also need to face the reality that it is a matter of supreme indifference to players like Isak whether we qualify for the Champions League or not: if we do, that's fantastic for him as he'll get a bumper new contract; if we don't, it doesn't much matter because he'll have plenty of suitors who will enable him to play in the Champions League.
If you take the plaudits on the good days then you have to take the flak on the bad ones. Yesterday was a fuckin embarrassment, Bruno may as well have taken a white flag out with him . Changes need making on the the run up to the cup final as some of them have it far too easy in keeping their place. I agree with you about Miley, he's due a place in the starting lineup.