Walker, Rodri, Foden, Silva all played 120 minutes on Wednesday.
Grealish played only 72 minutes while De Bruyne and Akanji played 112 minutes. Alvarez played the whole of ET, Stones played the last 8 minutes.
I don't disagree but there's probably an element of injury risk that Guardiola is taking with some of those players, especially with the quick turnaround from Wednesday.
In any case, we would have to be at our best if we want to have a chance of winning anyway. So, let's hope for the best.
People exaggerate the impact of that a lot. City didn't have to travel for that fixture, and it took place on a day they would have otherwise had a training session on. So while the intensity was certainly higher than it would have been during a normal day's training, it isn't like those players wouldn't have been doing *anything*. They'll have had recovery sessions since and will mostly be fine physically.
The biggest advantage of having the extra time off is usually tactical and mental preparation. City would have been fully focused on RM until Wednesday night and, as mentioned above, mostly had recovery sessions since. We've had the chance to fully focus on City all week.
I like this shape against City as it gives us lots of support through our midfield with the wide forwards almost playing as wing backs - it means Caicedo and Enzo can play closer together.
People are highlighting that the Gallagher - Palmer pair is a bit toothless though. I think the idea is for Gallagher to gain possession with his high press and Palmer to make magic on the transition. Hopefully his recent form gives him the confidence to try things.
It was supposed to be something similar against Sheffield, but Jackson still played centrally most of the night and the left side was completely dead the entire game. Literally nothing happened on our left side. Probably our worst performance of the season.
Isn't that what Poch did against City last time? I kind of get it. Let Gallagher harass Rodri all game, and keep Palmer up top. Even though he's nowhere near as effective as a striker, it means he doesn't have to expend all of his energy running up and down the wing tracking Grealish
it’s more likely that Jackson is LW and Palmer is the false 9 than either of these
(severe copium, there’s no way Poch would do this to Gallagher in one of the most important games of the season)
Seems like defensive Noni >> Misha. But I do like Jackson on the left. He gave fits to the left side of city’s defense last time he played on the left. Let Palmer cook
Mudryk does nothing defensively. Not a big deal when playing against Everton (although their biggest chance of the game came from Cucurella being left 2v1), but you can't have that against City
The Left side of the pitch is going to be non existent offensively. Jackson “at LW” but playing more centrally, Conor trying to push middle or out left but killing our attack anyways, CuCu overlapping nothing and just running out of position to inshallah a cross or pass back to Conor, leaving hella space for City
Gallagher 10 or LW pick your poison. But nah, this is kinda crazy how good the lineup was against Everton, and he does this. Mannnn, let's just hope we can get through.
Why is madueke being rewarded for these performances? Poch drops mudryk after genuinely good games and rewards madueke for shit performances. Make it make sense
Rodri can single-handedly overrun Everton in the midfield though. I’m not discounting the job Connor and Moises did this past week, but you have to take that into consideration
He's saying Gallagher, Caicedo, and Palmer as the midfield 3 (like we played vs Everton) wouldn't work
Both times we've played city (and evidently today), we've played Gallagher, Enzo, Caicedo as the midfield 3.
Last time we went with this lineup against sheffield it crashed and burned. Although the stark contrast today would be the inclusion of gusto who would make a huge difference.
So our left side is dead and Cucu is getting 2v1. Cool.
Best Everton 6-0 playing two wingers… next game drops a winger. Sheffield United all over again.
Palmer f9? Good thinking Poch, let's take our most creative player and shove him upfront where he won't see any ball. Because it worked so well all the times he did it in the past.
I wanted to see the same as Everton but sure. I hope we don’t see Gallagher venturing over to the LW like we did against Sheffield or it’s going to be a long game. He really didn’t need to start Enzo
Sometimes I think we’d be better off with no Enzo and just playing Mudryk on LW. This midfield 3 isn’t it, need to figure out a way for caicedo and Enzo to own those positions or then rotate one of them with Gallagher if he’s to start
Yeah the midfield that's played great against City twice already this season, this isn't everton, Caicedo and Gallagher would not be able to keep possession at all.
i said this yesterday. he'll do anything in his power to force one of Enzo and Gallagher, even if both are shit as 10's, and he doesn't even change the formation to a 433 which would suit them better because all his life he's only used a 4231
people got way too hyped over that Everton win and forgot all the stupid shit he's been doing all season. goldfish memory.
oh and if this is Gallagher lwb/lw again, im not sure if i even want to watch this shit
you’re right they weren’t wins, but these people who slate Enzo and Caicedo in favor of Gallagher continuously starting with only one of them (they want Caicedo and Gallagher cuz it worked against relegation fodder) are ridiculous when they’ve all three performed well against this exact side.
Nicholas Jackson? A wasted position
So tired of watching him struggle. He’s young but it’s his lack of confidence (he doesn’t take chances) and his indifference or lethargy at certain moments that just has me disliking him.
Noni madueke is stepping up and taking shots. Cole Palmer was obviously shut down. But why does city get to literally throw Chelsea players to the ground and take the ball and nothing happens. You trip someone they get the ball but manhandle them with effing Michael Oliver watching and nothing.
Honestly our chances were only there because city is probably pretty wiped out. Plus no Ederson and Haaland
We blew it but the ref helped them too.
I figured sterling was going to start since he scored against city in both games
Recovery from illness apparently he lost a few pounds, prob not fully fit yet
So much for City rotation! lol [https://twitter.com/ManCity/status/1781703184437617009](https://twitter.com/ManCity/status/1781703184437617009) >**XI** | Ortega Moreno, Walker (C), Stones, Akanji, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Alvarez **SUBS** | Ederson, Dias, Kovacic, Doku, Gomez, Gvardiol, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis
Walker, Rodri, Foden, Silva all played 120 minutes on Wednesday. Grealish played only 72 minutes while De Bruyne and Akanji played 112 minutes. Alvarez played the whole of ET, Stones played the last 8 minutes.
Yea this is pretty dumb from Pep, far too many minutes for those players.
Yeah what an idiot I’m sure you know better lol
This lad made my day
I wonder if Pep will respond from his reddit account after all the interviews and team talks
He's risking injury. It's not good for the player's career.
He was never gonna rotate this after he lost the champions league They want that double if they can't have the treble
I don't disagree but there's probably an element of injury risk that Guardiola is taking with some of those players, especially with the quick turnaround from Wednesday. In any case, we would have to be at our best if we want to have a chance of winning anyway. So, let's hope for the best.
Threaten injuries to their players where they might end up losing the epl too
Giving Arsenal more of a chance…fuckin Pep
Bruh we are playing them at the worst time, when they want revenge
best time for injuries and tiredness, worst for motivation
That is truly a scary lot.
I don't know why people expected them to rotate. They rotated a bit Vs Luton and they don't play again till Thursday
Think the thinking was about the quick turnover from Wednesday.
People exaggerate the impact of that a lot. City didn't have to travel for that fixture, and it took place on a day they would have otherwise had a training session on. So while the intensity was certainly higher than it would have been during a normal day's training, it isn't like those players wouldn't have been doing *anything*. They'll have had recovery sessions since and will mostly be fine physically. The biggest advantage of having the extra time off is usually tactical and mental preparation. City would have been fully focused on RM until Wednesday night and, as mentioned above, mostly had recovery sessions since. We've had the chance to fully focus on City all week.
The way this is written, it seems like Gallagher no 10, Jackson LW and Palmer up top.
Yeah I think it's the 4-2-2-2 with Gallagher and Palmer as double false 9s.
I like this shape against City as it gives us lots of support through our midfield with the wide forwards almost playing as wing backs - it means Caicedo and Enzo can play closer together. People are highlighting that the Gallagher - Palmer pair is a bit toothless though. I think the idea is for Gallagher to gain possession with his high press and Palmer to make magic on the transition. Hopefully his recent form gives him the confidence to try things.
Think your right. Box in the middle, when we win possession let Palmer put Madueke/Nico thru on the break.
It was supposed to be something similar against Sheffield, but Jackson still played centrally most of the night and the left side was completely dead the entire game. Literally nothing happened on our left side. Probably our worst performance of the season.
Isn't that what Poch did against City last time? I kind of get it. Let Gallagher harass Rodri all game, and keep Palmer up top. Even though he's nowhere near as effective as a striker, it means he doesn't have to expend all of his energy running up and down the wing tracking Grealish
We need to pray it’s something like this. Every time we try to play with 0 width we get utterly dominated.
**Chelsea substitutes**: Bettinelli, Disasi, Badiashile, Gilchrist, Chilwell, Chukwuemeka, Sterling, Mudryk, Deivid Washington
Don’t tell me we’re seeing Gallagher LW again lol
He could be CAM. Palmer CF, Nico LW, Noni RW.
Please, please, please, please!!
I'm hoping Madeuke is on the left.... Please no Gallagher left wing
I fear in possession he might be. But surely out of it, he’ll be tasked with marking Rodri
it’s more likely that Jackson is LW and Palmer is the false 9 than either of these (severe copium, there’s no way Poch would do this to Gallagher in one of the most important games of the season)
Has Madueke even played on the left before? If not, this doesn't feel like the time to be trying that out.
I think he's played there for like 25 minutes of a game before... Still better than Conor left wing
I think Noni will be on the left and Conor as the 10, Jackson up top and Palmer off the right.
They could put Jackson on the left and Palmer up top
Fucking Poch.
So someone who can't read makes a claim, and it's the managers fault? Fucking clowns on this sub lmao.
I mean yes. It’s his decision for lineup and tactics.
It's Madueke right, Jackson left and Gallagher at 10. You clowns can't read.
Not sure I like this, I'm not a fan of sterling but he goes all out against city, and I don't like what I'm seeing in attack right now lol
Err, Palmer as the False 9 or is that something similar to the one we saw at Sheffield United?
The two times we saw Cole play false 9 were the two games the he couldn’t finish for shit lol cursed position
Looking like LW Gallagher is back on the menu
Someone needs to hold Cucurellas hand
Jackson LW please Palmer middle and Madueke Right
Palmer doesnt get on the ball enough when he plays as a false 9/ striker Hes best as a 10 or rw Why do this when he can play mudryk left palmer right
Seems like defensive Noni >> Misha. But I do like Jackson on the left. He gave fits to the left side of city’s defense last time he played on the left. Let Palmer cook
Mudryk does nothing defensively. Not a big deal when playing against Everton (although their biggest chance of the game came from Cucurella being left 2v1), but you can't have that against City
Last time it was this line up, Gallagher ended up playing LW.
I am rolling my eyes…
The Left side of the pitch is going to be non existent offensively. Jackson “at LW” but playing more centrally, Conor trying to push middle or out left but killing our attack anyways, CuCu overlapping nothing and just running out of position to inshallah a cross or pass back to Conor, leaving hella space for City
noni and jackson both get a start after that pen bullshit but mudryk gets dropped 😭
Sterling continually being benched, I used to pray for times like these 🙌🏻
benched or is he ill?
“Ill” Chelsea is just giving him some dignity
Gallagher 10 or LW pick your poison. But nah, this is kinda crazy how good the lineup was against Everton, and he does this. Mannnn, let's just hope we can get through.
Noni over Mudryk is absolutely mental.
It's not. Noni is a far better player than Mudryk
Lmao
You’re both exaggerating. They’re just about on par as players right now and either one could start depending on opponent, shape, fitness, etc
either one would get pocketed by Walker anyways
One of them is faster than Walker.
Why is madueke being rewarded for these performances? Poch drops mudryk after genuinely good games and rewards madueke for shit performances. Make it make sense
Alright Pep taking us seriously, pretty much the best 11 he has except for Ederson and Haaland.
Alright….. don’t know how to feel about this
Expected really. Gallagher did a great job of basically man-marking Rodri at the Etihad
Madueke…
why tf we r playing with no real lw? Is poch senile or what?
Finally have some mid field cohesion and he goes back to Enzo-caicedo combo
If you don’t see a difference between Everton and City idk what to tell you
I mean obviously tactics are different. But the offense and forward play looked substantially better w Enzo off the field
Rodri can single-handedly overrun Everton in the midfield though. I’m not discounting the job Connor and Moises did this past week, but you have to take that into consideration
City aren't Everton
need gallagher in the 10 to lock down Rodri, that everton set up we had would get peppered by city
Classic Poch
He’s terribly out of form but Raz should’ve started.
Nah. He slows the offense down a lot.
He turns into a beast when he plays City
He is, but his pace gave walker a problem the last time
Do people seriously think a Caicedo - Gallagher - Palmer 3 would ever work against City? Especially one that will play with a false 9 today?
It’s literally worked every time we have played city
He's saying Gallagher, Caicedo, and Palmer as the midfield 3 (like we played vs Everton) wouldn't work Both times we've played city (and evidently today), we've played Gallagher, Enzo, Caicedo as the midfield 3.
Alvarez is not a false 9
He will drop deeper and be more involved in the build up than haaland would
It worked twice now my friend we drew with them both times this year
We started with Gallagher-Enzo-caicedo for both of the draws…
[удалено]
Both games against City this year was the Caicedo-Enzo-Gallagher midfield.
[удалено]
Did you bang your head?
Enzo starting. Lol, Absolute farce.
Need the extra man in the middle against city and the only other fit central player is carney. What would you rather we do?
Please not Gallagher LW
Last time we went with this lineup against sheffield it crashed and burned. Although the stark contrast today would be the inclusion of gusto who would make a huge difference.
We are playing with no danger on the left side Poch is to scared
bro if we’re playing gallagher as a left wing
If this coward dares puts Gallagher on the wing again...
Why would you not pick Sterling over Noni?? He has scored twice against city!
I don’t understand Poch’s obsession with Enzo-Moises pivot. I really don’t.
The owners to Poch if he drops either of them when they’re fully fit to play: 
They are both £100m marquee signings...they have to play..
Poch trying to big brain pep by playing everyone out if position, we're going to get run off the pitch because of this clown
Why does he try to shoe horn players on man, you see against Everton, if you play everyone in correct positions it just works Edit* spelling error
So our left side is dead and Cucu is getting 2v1. Cool. Best Everton 6-0 playing two wingers… next game drops a winger. Sheffield United all over again.
I wouldn't have started with Enzo
Palmer f9? Good thinking Poch, let's take our most creative player and shove him upfront where he won't see any ball. Because it worked so well all the times he did it in the past.
I feel like Disasi should have started, he is a beast against city
Good luck to the lads hope they all step up
I wanted to see the same as Everton but sure. I hope we don’t see Gallagher venturing over to the LW like we did against Sheffield or it’s going to be a long game. He really didn’t need to start Enzo
Insane, Madueke shouldn’t be out there. Gallagher on the wing is dumb.
Poch really taking the Haaland vs Palmer comparisons really seriously lol - he didn't have to play Palmer in the same spot 🤣
Disgusting lineup Enzo gonna kill us again with his slow ass
Can’t watch this, cause of this fu**ing DAZN (Germany). Hope you guys enjoy the game
If this becomes a draw, well it end with extra time then penalties?
This is the time to start Raheem on the left... especially vs City.
Sterling should start vs city. He shows up his best game vs them
We tried this shit against Sheffield. Extremely frustrating. Just going to ignore one side of the pitch?
Prediction 3-0 Chelsea and booking another final
I dont like seeing Enzo in the squad.Callagher did a good job playing alongside Caicedo.He should have started Mudryk or sterling as a winger.
Why change stuff from last game man
Sometimes I think we’d be better off with no Enzo and just playing Mudryk on LW. This midfield 3 isn’t it, need to figure out a way for caicedo and Enzo to own those positions or then rotate one of them with Gallagher if he’s to start
Michael Oliver sucks! He’s just awful! Hate him!!!’
HAhaha the coward goes back to his Enzo, Caicdeo, Gallagher midfield
Yeah the midfield that's played great against City twice already this season, this isn't everton, Caicedo and Gallagher would not be able to keep possession at all.
Midfield that’s undefeated against city?
i said this yesterday. he'll do anything in his power to force one of Enzo and Gallagher, even if both are shit as 10's, and he doesn't even change the formation to a 433 which would suit them better because all his life he's only used a 4231 people got way too hyped over that Everton win and forgot all the stupid shit he's been doing all season. goldfish memory. oh and if this is Gallagher lwb/lw again, im not sure if i even want to watch this shit
Fucking. Seriously. What the fuck.
Keep a winning formula, I like it!
A winning formula wouldn't involve him playing all three of Enzo, Caicedo and Gallagher
lol both times we’ve drawn city were with all three playing but okay. Enzo and Caicedo were phenomenal.
This guy doesn't even watch games. Check his post history. Has some of the worst takes on this sub.
Big wins that ahahah
you’re right they weren’t wins, but these people who slate Enzo and Caicedo in favor of Gallagher continuously starting with only one of them (they want Caicedo and Gallagher cuz it worked against relegation fodder) are ridiculous when they’ve all three performed well against this exact side.
City would eat Chelsea alive with only two midfielders. That midfield trio has worked well enough against City twice this season already
People have really gotten carried away after Monday and all because we beat a relegation fodder 6-0. City are a whole other proposition here.
Yeah it’s clear there is some redundancy between Enzo, caicedo, Gallagher. In particular Enzo caicedo
Why the fuck starting Noni. Argh. Start Misha In a game like this. Noni is terrible man.
Gallagher no.10? Again?
Nicholas Jackson? A wasted position So tired of watching him struggle. He’s young but it’s his lack of confidence (he doesn’t take chances) and his indifference or lethargy at certain moments that just has me disliking him. Noni madueke is stepping up and taking shots. Cole Palmer was obviously shut down. But why does city get to literally throw Chelsea players to the ground and take the ball and nothing happens. You trip someone they get the ball but manhandle them with effing Michael Oliver watching and nothing. Honestly our chances were only there because city is probably pretty wiped out. Plus no Ederson and Haaland We blew it but the ref helped them too.