We gave a scrappy goal away early on and that set them up to get 11 men behind the ball and defend deep for the next hour or so. It would have been difficult for any team to break it down if I'm honest.
However, I will get take some positives away. Llalana looked bright, not at his best (understandable given he's just back) but still bright. I actually thought Balo had a good game, he was taking on their players and causing problems...and not reacting to the deliberate targeting he was receiving. Coutinho looked really sharp even though it's difficult to play against such a tightly packed last 3rd. We actually had some options on the bench. Being able to bring on Sterling and Lambert was good (we would have had no options last year) and we still have Sturridge and Can to come back - the depth is looking better.
We had huge posession. Our passing and ball retention is becoming our strengths. We actually out-passed City in their ground for the first half and we controlled the posession against Villa. It's another improvement to our game.
So, I don't think it was as big a disaster as some are making it out to be on Saturday. There were a number of factors, which created a "perfect storm" for us and we failed to break them down. That is something we have to work on. But it wasn't a complete sh*t show that people are claiming it was.
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