Heroic saves from Stekelenburg deny City

That's me in a downbeat mood even before a ball is kicked.

I would have preferred to have seen Baines start, but guess this game has come to soon for him.

Tell Cleverley and Deulofeu to run their bollocks off for an hour, then introduce Barkley and Mirallas with a point to prove.

C'mon you Blue Boys!

Hope Bolasie runs his way in behind Stones and nips one in!!!

COYB

Not sure Lukaku has touched the ball yet.

Not convinced by the way the team is set up, but defensively Koeman has transformed this side. With Stekelenburg's penalty save, we get to half time still all-square.

Beyond that, has he really been called into action much, for all Shitteh's possession?

It's a helluva ask to continue in the same vein for another 45 minutes. At some point, we need to have some threat going forward. If we can do that, I wonder if we could pull off an unlikely 'rope a dope' victory?

The point on the board shouldn't change the analysis of that game at all.

Gareth Barry's feeble feigning of injury summed up that game for me. Pathetic.

I'll be interested to hear Koeman's no-nonsense, shooting-from-the-hip thoughts on that game.

Take a bow, Maarten Stekelenburg.

Not a pretty game by any means and not much football on show from Everton, but in fairness they battled well at the back, but that won't be enough to achieve anything in this league.

A few people on here were saying this week that Stekelenburg wasn't good enough for us. Well that's at least 3 league performances that he's saved us points this season.

And as for those saying we're not reliant on Lukaku for goals...?

Happy with a point, but another game highlighting what we already know. Koeman has made us hard to beat, but Martinez's legacy lives on. Far too many players – Deulofeu, Oviedo, Mirallas, Cleverley, flatter to deceive.

Can't understand the cry-arsing of some people.

Jags was awful, Coleman must have been told to stay put, and Deulofeu doesn't seem to understand the offside rule!

A stolen point.

It's exactly what you need to do against a side that is technically far superior to us.

Apart from crosses, we look rock solid... except for when Jags leaves his leg hanging out!!

A point in isolation at Manchester City is, of course, a good one; however, the performance was pretty average, to say the least. If we want to make progress, we have to be able to 'steal' all three points from those types of games. Our lack of creativity is the real issue, whether at Manchester City or Bournemouth or any other venue.

Oviedo very vulnerable. Jags made some good tackles but those penalties... Stek – take a bow. And a well-taken goal, Rom.

The pluses: confirmation that we are defensively much more solid; we can stop looking for a goalkeeper; Rom will score, even if he gets no service!

Totally powder-puff offensively in the 1st half, but mostly solid defensively, but for Jag's trailing leg for the 1st pen. Other than that, did the league leaders really threaten our goal?

In the 2nd half, whilst certainly not fluent, nor overly competent in retaining possession to take the sting out of Shitteh and give the defence some reprieve, at least we carried some threat on some good counters, as epitomized by Romelu's superb goal.

For the most part, the defence continued to stand firm against an extremely talented team and individuals. The two pens given up by Jags look bad on his match stats, but he and Williams were otherwise immense in the heart of defence. Oviedo and Coleman had extremely speedy and tricky opponents to combat, and they stuck to their task well, with little or no help from the likes of Bolasie or Deulofeu in front of them.

Stekelenburg was outstanding. I like a keeper who keeps stock still as he did on the 2 pens, forcing the penalty taker to take a decision only on shooting where to put the ball. Doing so increases the odds in the keeper's favour in making the save.

He made 2-3 other top, top saves, also.

So forgive me for not joining in the condemnation of the side or individuals.

A point at City, in the form they are showing, I'll take any time.

Well done, Blues!

Small steps, I know but at least defensively we are improving and it's something we can build on.

Stekelenburg is a good keeper – he was incredible today, which he will get plaudits for, but he's been good all season.

Penalties aside, I thought we defended really well. Oviedo started slowly but had a really good 2nd half. I thought Coleman, Jagielka and Williams were immense – although Jags had two moments of madness, he defended well aside from that.

Dare I say it, but we seem to have discovered some character and game management again. Williams delaying Aguero's pen. Getting stuck in. Running down the clock at the end, Barry going down injured to run down the clock. I think I even saw Lukaku do a slide tackle.

I'm made up with that point. A lot of unsung heroes in midfield there – Barry, Gueye, Cleverley and McCarthy (when he came on) ran their nuts off. Not many teams will get a point there.

The strategy was realistic and good. The defence looked solid and I don't think Man City should have gotten two penalties. Why the fuck did not city get any yellow cards for their brat theater easy falling downs inside and outside the penalty box?? Good tackle Coleman did on Sterling.

Sharp knives to a gunfight for the rest of the game,

I can't help wondering if we'd have been better really going at them but I suppose it's £200m vs £1,000m so we really can't complain about 1 point.

Great goalkeeping by Stekelenburg and stout defending by the back 4 again.

If we can just get the offensive side sorted in January, we could have a decent season.

But our Jags looks broken. Time is up for him, I'm afraid. He was never captaincy material and it seems like his defending nous is deserting him too. Both the penalties given today were needless and this can't go on.

One thing I admire about Ron so far is that he doesn't care for reputations. If you play like shite, you'll be benched. This happened to Ross, will it happen to Jags?

But let's be honest, we were lucky: very lucky. I'm happy with the point. After all, it is a point. But going on how we have played today and in our last three games I think it's a point to stave off relegation rather than a point towards finishing near the top.

Any team can take points off the top teams. And our players fought hard today to get that point. I just want to go out tonight and have a few pints thinking we are on the up rather than smiling because we got a lucky draw.

Anyone moaning about how we played... lucky point, blah blah blah – we just came away from the probable Champions (City looked the dog's danglies) with a hard-fought point so go give your heads a wobble. Oh, and we are still only 4 points off top spot!!

Stats: Man City: 18 shots and 1 scored. Everton: 3 shots and 1 scored. 1 in 3 is not bad, therefore.

Goalkeeper, simply excellent, who clearly saved us. Great goal by Lukaku, however.

And as for the goal City did get, why was Williams standing yards beyond the back post rather than in the centre of the six-yard box? I thought he was supposed to be our answer to susceptibility in the air...

We really do need to tell our midfield not only to try and be creative but to occasionally move into the opposition's half.

Before the game, we may well have settled for that result but we should never settle for that performance.

We are sat 6th on 15 points from 8 games in a tightly bunched table, but you believe:

"... it's a point to stave off relegation rather than a point towards finishing near the top."

Seriously?

GTF!

We defended well and restricted them really well. They huffed and puffed but we stood strong. This is not luck – this is good defending.

They dominated, but unless the rules have changed, domination gets you nothing. Putting the ball in the back of the net is the name of the game. I didn't see anything today to suggest we were lucky – I saw a dogged away performance. Our keeper being outstanding is not luck – we pay him to keep the ball out, FFS!

Do you think the fans of Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Man Utd or Liverpool would be cheering about getting a point like that???

Time to get real, I think... Looks like our ambition isn't what some fans want but others are prepared to be very happy with.

Only 4 points off top spot after only 8 matches managed by Koeman. I would have taken that all day at the start of the season!

We played well and we had no choice but to let City dictate the game... but, when you have Lukaku sitting up top, then you know you have an option to hit them on the break.

What do some of you people expect from a new management team? As far as I am concerned, that was a brilliant defensive effort. Yes, we need to improve in attacking areas and we do need improved talent in our creative area, but let's give credit where it's due. A good point earned, no matter what some think.

Against a club with such depth of talent, I think Koeman had the tactics about right – tight as an overall defensive unit, with some fast guys up front in the event of a break. We played well to those tactics, so in that sense, I'm happy with the performance. The tactics, I imagine, were devised to secure a point – so I'm happy with the outcome.

Well, yes, we were under the cosh, but we would have lost that last season, probably in the last 10 mins or so. Yes, there was a lack of cohesion upfront, due mainly to playing a front 3 instead of our usual 4, thus sitting too far back with 3 proper midfielders instead of the usual 2!

I was critical of this myself... however, we didn't lose; they lost points for the first time at home this season. We still have the 2nd best defence in the Premier League, have lost 1 league game in 8 and we are obviously still work in progress! We may not agree with everything the managerial team do, but we they have made us a harder team to beat in only a short period of time! I will take that!

Koeman is installing a work ethic and belief and adding players next year may lead to something. At present, we play to our strengths. Last season, we may have lost 4-1 and had 70% possession. We got lucky... no.

I am delighted with the result!

COYB

However, further up the field is still a real problem. You can see why so much effort went into attempts to bring in more attacking pace and power in midfield and up front.

You would hope that a lot of effort is currently going into setting up about 3 transfers of offensive players in January. In the meantime, we are reliant on Rom scoring and staying fit and Koeman,s ability to sort out the tactics and the shape.

I wish he could sort Barkley and Deulofeu in the meantime though.

I'm not unhappy with the result, but I'm not too happy that we created so little and haven't as yet created too much in most of the games we have played this season. There's hope that we may improve that side of our game when Ron decides the time is right to do so.

For those slating the performance, goalkeepers are paid to make saves and defenders are paid to defend – and Koeman already has us 10 times better at it!

Suck these possession-obsessed teams in and counter hard and very quickly; you will be beating them – home or away. The man knows what he's doing; stop moaning and let him get on with it!

Barkley fully deserved being dropped too.

Why are you both equating the satisfaction expressed by some in this thread at a (merited) hard-earned point as evidence that said fans passively accept 'mediocrity' and 'celebrate' playing like "Stoke, Crystal Palace, West Brom, Sunderland, Hull etc"?

I am celebrating the resilience of the team in the face of the Premier League's most potent and most richly assembled team, on their home patch, where they have absolutely mullered all-comers thus far.

Plenty – including myself – acknowledge we were neither fluent nor competent in possession, but even so, in the 2nd half carried some threat on the counter.

You see, there any many aspects of the game from which it is possible to derive pleasure. And for me, our defensive organization and resilience today was one of them.

When you have that, it enables the team to stay in a game – like today – even when not playing well offensively. After Rom's strike, we could have nicked all 3 points today and I for one would have been delighted if we had. I fancy I wouldn't be alone in celebrating the victory, either.

By the same token I'm quite sure a few curmudgeons (a bit like yourselves...) would still have a grumble even if we had won.

I hope not!

The penalty decisions are always going to be given to the top teams. They have already had 8 so far this season. I thought they were soft.

Tom Cleverly played well and Bryan Oviedo got better as the game went on. It was a full 90 minutes performance against a superstar team costing sqillions. There is still a lot of improving but it's great to see the team play without the ball.

There is a long way to go but, believe it or not, you are not the only one who sees the problems. I think until we are Barcelona, the good results should be enjoyed.

Did you watch the Celtic game? Spurs game?

We were given a free coaching manual on how to deal with Man City.

Today we did the exact opposite. It's all good and well saying we defended well, but watching 10 men behind the ball with sod-all closing down is not what I want to see from this team.

The confidence levels will rise, we are now hard to beat again, after 8 matches!!! What are we gonna be like after 2 seasons? We will reach the desired levels as our manager is a winner.

Anyone who thinks that a point earned at the Etihad is a bad result, is deeply mentally ill.

Those were Moyes and Martinez tactics, and although many will reasonably argue that we achieved what we set out to do, we have used up all our nine lives in one single game.

If we are to employ the same line-up and mindset every time we face a 'top team' away, we are destined for repeated defeats and mid-table mediocrity.

We are Everton, with a new manager and a team more than capable of taking games to people. Today we assumed a subordinate role right from the kick-off. We played like Sunderland.

So happy with a point. But extremely unhappy to see the creeping return of our "knife to a gunfight" inferiority complex – where we are prepared to conceded the initiative right from the start..

Like today, it may well get us a point here and there, but it is not a philosophy that will endure throughout the course of a season, better our standing or reputation and, most importantly of all, win us anything.

We got out of jail big time. We desperately need some new creative players brought in.

Exactly my sentiments – which I tried to express earlier in the thread but obviously I didn't do it properly like you have. Despite Dr Ryan's prognosis, it was a point gained but not in the manner we want to see from a supposedly ambitious Everton team.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace, who we also struggled to take a point off at Goodison Park,have lost to the Hammers at Selhurst Park (0-1).

After that, the effort and pride in the shirt the team gave to finally gain a point was magnificent. Keeper, back four with Barry and Gueye in front were immense. This is Koeman installing fight and organisation into this team, foundations to expand on as he builds a team to succeed.

No complaints from me today, the boys did us proud today. Good to see no aggro after the game with both sets of fans walking home with no problems.

Last season, the team would've folded and that could've been '7' with City in that form. The defence is unrecognisable from last season.

The guy's managed us for two minutes and has said clearly it will take 2 YEARS to build his team. Give him a chance.

Question 1. Who would have taken 1 point at 3pm today?

Question 2. How many people thought or expected us to have more than 35% possession? (I know we had less!)

Question 3. How many teams do people think will come away from there with ANY points this season?

Question 5. Does anyone not think defensively we were outstanding today? (You have to ultimately build from the back.)

Question 6. Why are there people who aren't happy with being 6th in the league, 4pts off top spot with the 2nd best defence in the league?

Question 7. At the end of last and start of this season, where exactly do people expect us to be in the league exactly, both points and position wise?

No grumbles from me, but it shows how much real work Koeman has left to do. We will get there, I am sure, and possibly a bit slower than we would like, but if the same spirit is shown in future games we will win more than we lose, big time...

1.) Most of us – as is the case with most away games.

2.) Can't say I have ever predicted how much possession we might have prior to a game.

3.) Some teams will stop Man City on their home patch and some teams may indeed take all 3 points away with them. Don't know which teams but I reckon at least half of the usual suspects might fancy their chances.

4.) There is no Q4.

5.) We were very resolute in defence; no argument with that point at all.

6.) Because at the moment we don't have enough up front to create enough chances to cause other teams enough problems and that means we will draw too many games and will not win enough to mount a proper challenge for the European spots.

7.) I'd hoped we could improve significantly on the last two seasons and come closer to matching Moyes's last season or Martinez's first. I don't think we'll do much better than last season because we won't win enough games. We'll lose less but we won't win often enough. Circa 8th place is probably where we'll end up, which is about what I thought prior to the start of the season.

They are always soft penalties, just like those awarded today. That ref was so desperate for them to win that, given another weak opportunity, they would have been given another – and another – until finally Stones would have scored a 'panenka'.

It is not lucky when a goalkeeper makes 3 great saves – the hardest not being either penalty. City did not hit the woodwork directly, have good goals disallowed, or have a torrent of shots cleared off the line!

Jags and Williams were excellent in making numerous clearances in the six-yard box while Stekelenburg's shot stopping was brilliant.

If we had had another top class forward to play alongside Lukaku, we might well have come away with three points. As it is, the majority of teams will leave the Etihad empty-handed and we can be very happy to have left with a hard-earned point.

I predict Ashley Williams might be remembered as a Goodison great (maybe a bit premature) as fans love a defender who defends like Dave Watson!! I have a premonition that he's the next man to lift a trophy for the Blues!!!

City were given every chance to hammer us and because of our fantastic goalkeeper they threw it away.

From what I saw today told me that the powers that be DO NOT want another Leicester type team winning the league, hence the soft penalty decisions.

I also saw that the all-seeing eyes of the Koeman family will next be turned towards our nothingness of a midfield...

In the last league meeting at the Etihad, John Stones got away without conceding a penalty in the closing stages of the match. The previous season, "Yaya Toure's penalty, after Phil Jagielka was controversially adjudged to have fouled James Milner, secured a fourth straight league win."

In October 2013, "The spot-kick, awarded after Seamus Coleman tangled with Pablo Zabaleta but hotly disputed by the visitors, was credited as an own goal to the unfortunate Howard as the ball hit the diving goalkeeper and crossed the line after initially striking the post."

In December 2012, "The corner that followed saw Fellaini concede the controversial penalty that led to City's equaliser, with Dzeko going to ground after having his shirt tugged by the Belgian. Referee Lee Probert pointed to the spot and Tevez stepped up to fire down the centre of the goal."

So we haven't had too much luck in relation to conceding spot-kicks at the Etihad in recent years. As far as I can tell, the last penalty we scored at Manchester City was way back in 2002, when David Unsworth converted a consolation goal in a defeat (3-1), although we may have been awarded one in the interim period but I don't remember it.

I do think there is something to what Stan @104 is saying. We are not playing well yet still in a decent league position with some very average players who will be moved on in the next couple of windows. I look forward to seeing our side after Koeman has had another 2 windows to shape his team.

Williams was excellent and should be Captain. Jagielka and Barry are model professionals but not leaders.

Everybody knows we have virtually no attacking midfield worthy of the name but I'm sure Koeman will put that right in time. A very satisfying point indeed.

There were lots of pluses out there today: our goal was fantastic, no tricks, no fucking about, just raw power – exhilarating! Two penalty saves when the home fans (horrible fuckers these days) were already gloating.

The defiance was there for all to see, we were run ragged at times, but we never threw the towel in. I'm made up with a point... but Patrick is right: as a spectacle, we were bit-part players.

Fantastic though Lukaku's goal was, he, Deulofeu and Boasie were shockingly poor. That's our problem, all three (actually let's include Mirallas) need the stars to be perfectly aligned for them. Give them a chance to run at a defender and they are all capable of causing problems... but what else do they offer?

We are screaming out for a Graham Sharp. Sharpie wasn't as fast as any of the current four, but he had more footballing nouse than the four of them put together. Until we find a player who can hold on to the ball in the opposition half, we will always be relying on a smash 'n grab at places like this.

Good hard-earned point against a rampant City... but the gulf in class was embarrassing at times... soooo much work to be done.

That's the level of defending and concentration I've been itching to see for a long time. Build from the back, be hard to beat and then get the attacking side right.

We need so much more from our attacking midfield and forward line. The next step will be dealing with that while keeping the defence as strong as it is. I'm confident Koeman can do it.

I didn't think there was such a marked difference in class. City played well, whilst we didn't apart from defensive solidity.

It does cause me to think what the hell we can achieve if and once things really start clicking into place. I say 'if' because nothing is certain, but it's still early days, this is a work in progress, and we need a few things sorting with the current squad, without any new signings.

That's the point as far as I can see; a few things can be sorted with the current squad, there being a lot of ability there. In other words, when we start playing well with this group of players, who knows what could happen...

Sometimes you need the right tools for that job. Currently we do not have the right tools. Guaranteed in 18 months time, half that squad which played today won't be at Everton.

Patience is required. A point against the potential champions with the 'current' players isn't that bad of a result.

I'll take an ugly point away against the "big" sides while we play a different brand of football and take 3 points from the teams we should.

Do the math(s). You do that you're 70+ points at season's end.

Heroic effort defensively.

Jags needs to pull his out of of his ass...

We gave away two clear penalties. On any other day at least one of those would be converted and we would have deservedly lost the game. If I want to watch a side just put 10 men behind the ball I'd have Pulis as manager. Last time I checked every time we play his teams this forum is flooded with people complaining about his anti-football tactics. But we do the same thing and people applaud the fine tactics.

Sorry, it's garbage. It's small club mentality with small club tactics. Drop everyone back and just hope. It shouldn't be good enough at this club.

My thoughts entirely and as I expressed in #97.

Low ambition, damage limitation thinking today, where we got (very) lucky.

This is not what we expected(ed) and will not succeed in the short or long-term.

Thought we'd seen the last of this cowardly lion nonsense...

He was one of the most underrated players we have ever had. What a wonderful, all-round, centre-forward in every respect.

Had they scored first, or taken just one of their two penalties, we'd have been finished. We'd have capitulated, without a Plan B and got a proper hiding.

Are we going to do the same and hope for the best at Arsenal, Spurs, Man Utd, Chelsea and, heaven forbid, Anfield? If we do, we won't get five points from the lot.

Well, we're playing solidly, not consistently attractive, but as a basis for progress. This was surely Koeman's primary mission at this stage. I do not expect that as the season progresses this will endure. I fully expect a fuller cohesiveness from defence to midfield to attack.

This was a good result given the circumstances we're in. For City, they could be thinking, if this is what can happen when we play well, let's hope we don't play badly.

If... if... we played like we did today in previous weeks and again this upcoming next week, I think you'd have a point. We'd all be screaming "GARBAGE!!!".

But today, I simply saw a manager employ solid tactics against a side that clearly, no matter what we did, would have the lion's share of possession.

So we gave them the ball, defended, and tried to hit them on the break. It failed / fizzled out time and again the first half. But you could see what they were trying to achieve with the countering. And it worked once thanks to Rom.

Oh and... we can defend! How refreshing is it to be able to say that??!!

I've no problem at all with this game, the way we played it, or the way our manager set us up. Now if this were the norm... But it's not the norm thus far. And that's really the point don't you think?

Luck well-ridden today and if anyone thinks that is a serious recipe for success, I disagree. We are Everton, not West Brom.

Spurs and Celtic had given us a blueprint to follow in the last two games, and we fortuitously sandbagged it with 7.5 defenders on the pitch (I'll give Cleverley half a point for his attacking ability).

I expect more from Everton. It was like a training match for most of the 90 minutes.

For some reason, we have the evil eye on City results wise but really today was men against the boys. On that evidence Koeman has an awful lot to prove.

So it was depressing was it, Tony? Seriously mate, I think you need treatment.

Fair point, if that is what you meant. I really do not think we should start with Cleverley, Gana and Barry in the same team. However, I can see why it was done, I can see that it is a pragmatic approach and frankly, it worked.

If I thought this was the future, I would be endorsing your view and that of David Barks. I see it as part of a plan to keep us solid top half and developing every aspect of the club.

Stekelenburg 㿷k. Coleman 㿨k. Oviedo ٟ.5m. Williams 㾸m. Jagielka ٢m. Cleverley ٞ. Barry ٠m. Gueye ٥m. Deulofeu ٢m. Lukaku 㿈m. Bolasie 㿅m. That's about 䀀m.

Apart from last season's one-off, the richest clubs buy the best players, therefore win the most games and titles.

Lady Luck was well and truly against us that day, today we got a result against one of the richest assembled teams in the world, backs to the wall.. .but also a team that is still on a rebuilding progress at Everton.

For all his knockers, when we get McCarthy at full speed after injury, playing alongside Gueye, that will be a big plus in our midfield.

If we can land a top quality forward in January to help Lukaku out, we can push forward. As I said, still rebuilding; by the start of next season, Koeman should have the type of players and team assembled, but today is a start.

a) Is that all we are? – we should be better than this.

b) We performed well as a unit and you can see the progress.

Both aren't completely true or untrue. But I lean towards 'b' with a dash of 'a' – we should be better than this.

Hopefully what we saw today was the foundation to build on rather than the finished product / be-all and end-all. Koeman &Walsh will need all of their nouse, all of the next 2-3 years and a large dollop of Sky / Moshiri money to finish it off.

I think that it will be mainly Sky money as I get the feeling that Moshiri is more Interested in the Dockside Investment than Pitch-side.

Some clever guy said "Rome wasn't built in a day". Clever bugger but so right. Looking forward to continuous improvement, new stadium and some trophies. COYB

And that kit looks good too.

And don't get me started on his pathetic attempts to actually make a tackle. He's not even good enough to call a show pony. Get rid, Ronald!

How many teams have won at Man City over the last 3 seasons?

We were set up to hang on for a point, hoping to catch them on the break, which we did. However, we could have had more goals if the midfield could have got up to support the attack more quickly. The pace of Bolasie, Deulofeu and Lukaku often leave the rest of the team lagging behind and one poor touch later and we are on the back foot again.

McCarthy helped to stem the tide and our front line fared better after his introduction, but we are crying out for someone like Arteta. Most of our performances have been devoid of midfield creativity, and when the wingers run into cul-de-sacs Lukaku is starved. Until we get someone in to fill this gap, we will be unable to dominate games in the manner of Arsenal, Man City, and our neighbours.

So let's not kid ourselves with a point. We were on the rack and, even though some of our boys put in a huge effort, we thank our keeper for making 4 or 5 fabulous saves.

It was telling that, once we had gone ahead, they waltzed through us to claim the equaliser. Our zonal marking allowed Nolito to jump unhindered, as Williams (our second best player) watched two yards away.

Burnley will be just as tough a game but, if we don't win there, we will continue our slow slide to the 9th place that is waiting for us, unless a quality creative midfielder can be found.

I think they came through the test with flying colours against Man City and that augers well for the rest of the season.

Most teams would have folded under the pressure that City put us under for the first 30 minutes – it was like the siege of Tobruk. But they just hung in there. Well done to the boys in blue.

Williams showed why he is keeping Funes Mori out of the team. Jags has enough credit in the bank with me to keep the captaincy despite having a mare. I can see McCarthy replacing Cleverley and Barkley back in for Deulofeu next week.

The Stek is my Player of the Season so far. I am still puzzled that he wasn't even first choice at Fulham.

1. Tactically I think Pep was the looser. He played 5-6 small technically gifted midfielders and no real striker. (I see the young fellow Ienacho as a half-striker.) So, with a midfield like this, obviously they would have possession, as they had. This was like watching Barca and Arsenal at their worst. A lot of possession but no-one to finish it off.

Obviously they feel they should have won. But I don't think they will become champions if they play that tactic for a full season. Granted they missed two penalties (clumsy by the way, Jags). But, apart from that, it was not that they created a lot of clear-cut chances.

So, in my opinion, they paid the price for their tactics. And they will dominate a lot of games without winning against the bottom half teams if they insist on playing with only midfielders.

2. The second point is that Deulofeu is a frustrating player to watch. In tennis, they have stats for unforced errors. If we had stats for unforced offsides, he would be leading that stat. And when you are in a team sat up for counter-attacking you need to stay clear of the offside.

Either he ran offside by running far too early or on occasions he just stood still in an offside position. Forgive me but it just seemed so unintelligent. Or maybe he just doesn't know the offside rule.

You will be able to judge from future posts as to the success or otherwise of the remedies suggested but, after six decades of supporting the Blues, I suspect my moods will continue to be governed by the team's performances.

If he can't do it now – and personally I want him to rediscover the attacking verve he used to have – I don't now see him having much of a future with us. Maybe it's time to give a good run to the likes of Davies (and one or two others).

Also, I thought Jags had a very good game. The first penalty was very soft. The second was correctly given and Man City scored within a couple of minutes of that miss. If the penalty had been scored, the Nolito goal would not have occurred as the course of the game would have been changed.

Good decision to effectively rest Barkley. Sometimes these decisions have to be taken for the good of the team; good management by Ronald Koeman. Man Utd have shown it too – taking out slow/ineffective players in Fellaini and Rooney for the good of the team.

Why you and others on this site complain about yesterday's performance as if it is what Koeman's finished article will be producing is just beyond me.

Emery knew what he had at Sevilla, I think his words were "good going forward but awful defensively", that's why he never played him. Koeman has stated he wants us to be tougher; that will never happen with Deulofeu, he's as weak as pisswater, he should only ever be used for the last 10 minutes if we're chasing a game or winning a game comfortably.

Also as for his attacking attributes, how many times have we seen him put in a good shift? Once every eight games... the other seven, giving the ball away, losing possession, whining to teammates, headless-chicken play, pathetic tackling. He's not good enough on a consistent basis and needs to be shown the door.

If I was a City fan today I'd be really pissed. 72% possession, 4 shots on target (including 2 penalties from 2 world-class players). Why control the ball for most of the game and come off with a draw? To me, it's like a basketball team that get the ball and only have a real attempt at the net every so often.

We cannot go toe to toe with City – I wish we could – but Koeman obviously decided we could not do a Spurs (again, I wish we could) and Guardiola had set his team up to get hold of the ball and keep it for as long as possible. Perhaps he thought we would lie down as teams often do in Spain when playing Barca?

Well, it's different here. I was annoyed whilst watching the first half yesterday as I wasn't expecting EFC to play the way we did but in Koeman we must trust. I thought our goal was a cracker, starting with a great interception by Jags, a beautiful side step to beat his man by Oviedo, a couple of good passes, a great touch on by Bolasie and then an executioner's goal by Rom – great stuff. If City had done it, we'd still be seeing replays today.

Their goal came from a cross, oh the irony. In fact another of their goals this season against Man Utd came from a long ball and a header on – sometimes keeping it simple is the way to go, Mr Guardiola. In a rebuilding phase, a point at City is not to be sniffed at. COYB.

With Koeman I somehow feel that we are going to do it more often than not, I don't have that dread that we're going to make a routine mess of it. Nothing scientific in that and I was horribly wrong in thinking similar of Martinez when he started. But this fella is a cold one and he wants to polish up his CV for Barca, for which 7th-8th will be nowhere near good enough – that's where our hope lies.

"Zonal Marking"?

Williams was standing well beyond the far post. It was headed in from more or less the centre of the goal. He had an excellent game, but if we are looking for fault for that goal, I think it was more likely down to sleep apnoea than zonal marking.

I hate to say this, but I don't think Oviedo is ever going to get back to his best. The City players were queueing up to get down his side yesterday. Pity, he's one of my favourites, but he's been so poor since that injury. Williams was working overtime yesterday having to get across to cover every time somebody went past him.

Funny really... Seamus wasn't at his best, Jags and Oviedo were all at sea, but we still managed to get lots of compliments for our defending. Amazing how far bloody mindedness can take you!

Deulofeu can only mesmerise himself at the moment, in fact, I dread when he manages to get possession of the ball. The only way he can try to impress nowadays is with a silly new hair-do!

I'd take him and Austin now. Oh, and Van Dijk and Forster too.

Time we pillaged Southampton for a couple of their players. We could give them half a team in part-ex to sweeten the deal.

Someone made a very succinct remark about "possession" on here some time back...

You chat this bird up all night at the bar, buy all her drinks and, at closing time, your mate smooths in, whisks her off and gives her one. Now, YOU'VE had all the possession...

I hope we see some changes in January, Redmond, Tadic and Van Dijk in; Deulofeu, Cleverley and Lennon out would be fantastic.

Meanwhile, the way I see it is we have now established half a team:- Stekelenburg, Coleman, Williams, Gueye, Bolasie and Lukaku.

For the other half, we have a selection from Baines, Barkley, McCarthy, Deulofeu, Mirallas, Jagielka, Funes Mori, Besic (injured), Lennon, Cleverley, and Valencia, who either have to shape up or ship out so to speak. (Baines, Jagielka and Barry are in the 2nd group by virtue of their age. No disrespect intended...)

It could be said that in one (incomplete) transfer window, Koeman has identified and addressed / replaced the most significant half of the team, the defensive part, with a real value-for-money approach, and will possibly finish the job in the next transfer window, or if not then during the summer. This means by next season another 5 players will be sought.

This next wave of player improvements, the balance 50% if you will, could be made up of the following:- a) a reformed character or two (Barkley or Deulofeu or Besic or all if we are lucky), a Finch Farm product, (Davies, Dowell, Evans etc.) and a new player or 2 of the right quality. ESPECIALLY THE CREATIVE NO 10...

In the process, if we move some peripheral performers on, and unearth a Walsh bargain, then I think we should have 1, possibly 2 star buys to savour.

Lukaku may stay or he may go. If he goes, it would be a loss, no doubt, but at least Koeman will have had the time to sort out an alternative.

Lastly, there is the chemistry that Baines highlighted last season. To achieve that is Koeman's secret and I trust he will get it right.

COYB...

I agree with Redmond and Van Dijk in; not Tadic – too hit and miss... Add Barkley to the list of outs!

Haha... perfect analysis! 👌