When ‘Patient Play’ Turns Into Snooze Fest…
Manchester City’s first-half performance at Nottingham Forest was about as exciting as watching paint dry. ‘Abysmal. Awful to watch. Nothing to report,’ cried fans who might have nodded off while the referees decided a nap was a better option than injury time. If you expected a thrilling showdown between a team allergic to possession and one that does nothing with it, you were either wildly optimistic or just mad.
Back in 2023, City struggled at this tricky ground, snatching a draw from the jaws of victory and then scraping a sketchy win. Those were the glory days of turmoil – not much has changed. Surprise! Forest, who recently yawned their way back into the league, now sits above the reigning champions. Something about City’s routine pasting of Forest had us thinking they’d turned a corner, but all roads just led back to chaos.
As City fans held their hopes aloft, possibly with tissues at hand, eight minutes from glory, the drama unfolded. Despite Guardiola playing a game of ‘musical chairs’ with the lineup, the outcome was a farcical defensive ballet. City’s once-epic aura has taken a gymnastic plunge. As long as mistakes are on the menu, the fixture list’s generosity might just go unnoticed.
