That's a very fair assessment and I agree with most of it.
Dias looked pretty good and it seems Pep may have finally gotten a CB worth their price tag. It's still a bit early in his Man City career but he looked promising yesterday. KdB looked worn out but he was still dangerous on the ball. His delivery from a freekick which went unattacked was amazing and his shot which went wide also had Alisson scrambling. Luckily for us and unfortunately for City, he looks physically spent. Sterling was pretty bad. The only time i noticed him during the game was when he went down 3 seconds after being impeded but have to give him props for trying to stay on his feet. Apart from that, I thought he was dealt with quite easily and didn't do much.
The City subs were quite meh. Bernardo Silva was easily dealt with by Robertson and I didn't see Foden do anything on the pitch.
I wonder what's next for City. They can go up a level easily but they can also regress. Will they turn into a more defensive-minded team playing for 1-0 and 2-0 scorelines? I think that way makes a lot more sense with the age of the main players on the team.
I get the sense that Pep may not stick around after this season considering there's a massive overhaul required in midfield and attack. Things have gone a bit stale for City and their players are older too. But one never knows with the money involved at City - he may well be tempted to stick around for a couple of more years with the hierarchy that's in place.
To be fair to the poor fella, he never made it on to the pitch
Bit worrying, I think two years ago Pep wouldnt have hesitated to make changes to try and win it, but yesterday both teams on the pitch were visibly knackered and starting to both be happy with a draw, for Pep to ask Phil to get changed and then decide against subbing him on probably because he feared Phil forcing the issue with intensity as he often does would leave space is pretty damning. Then again its fascinating to see one of the more naive managers becoming this pragmatic.
I think our defence is fixed now, at least I would hope so. Dias-Laporte has all the tools to be an assured partnership that doesn't do mistakes. Walker has many detractors in this thread and while I agree he is the most limited footballer we have and downright stupid at times, his pace and power in dealing with potential counters his pretty unique in football and very important for us. Cancelo fits the left because his ability to play on the inside.
Our attack isn't as good as it was I fear, but Ferran excites me. Only 20 and has a lot to offer already. As I already said, Raz needs to get back to the right for his own sake, sadly he wants to be cutting in and shooting on his right, but on the left its the only move he has and its not even that good considering his shooting technique leaves a lot to be desired. I love Gabby and hopefully he can finally take another step into that world-class bracket, loved his performance yesterday. Mahrez needs to be sent to the moon where he can do step overs for himself for eternity.
Our decline in midfield is what worries me. Losing Silva means losing control in the final third. Foden and KdB is to similisr in style and will never play together in midfield. I think Bernardo could be good in that role because his dribbling in tight spaces, calmness on the ball and grit in defence but Pep doesn't to rate him anymore which baffles me. Gundogan is not good enough, and when he plays that role he plays too close to the pivot, crippling our passing lanes into the channels. He is also a sideways-merchant with no grit. Okay option to have to kill tesms with posession but if you need penetration he is better left at home. This is the position I think Messi would have played if he actually turned up, even though his workrate in the press might not been a fit. We were linked to Aoar as well who definitely would have been a upgrade on Gundogan
