Saturday 28 September 2013

Aston Villa 3 - 2 Man City - BAFFLED!

Well our little run of good results has ended, how that managed to happen is just a mystery to me.

I have no idea what happened today that meant we didn't leave Villa Park with three points, we played well, we created chances and Villa could not handle us.

The team were playing well and when we went ahead it was an overdue well deserved goal, then Villa out of nowhere equalised and stunned us, the goal shouldn't of stood due to an offside but that was just the first bit of luck Villa got.

We were back in front six minutes later and we were able to breathe a sigh of relief, surely we were going to go on and secure the game, it wasn't to be. Villa got their second piece of luck when the referee decided to award a free kick because Weimann decided to jump over Nastasic's leg, the poor refereeing was followed by a good free kick that managed to beat Joe Hart who was for some reason, stood behind his wall.

Surely we were not going to walk away with anything else but three points after totally dominating this game? Actually not only were we not going to take three points, we didn't even hold on for a draw. Villa's miraculous victory was complete when Guzan pumped a ball up field only for our defenders to get into a mess and let Weimann run on to it and toe poke it past the on rushing Joe Hart.

This was unbelievable today, how Villa managed to win is just crazy, saying that although it cant be denied that we gave Villa a footballing lesson, I am sure Villa fans would be quick to point out that we did make mistakes. Joe Hart's positioning was poor for the free kick and then obviously our defence totally made a mess to let Weimann through to score, ok so it was still remarkable that Villa won but if we had defended better in these two instances, maybe they wouldn't have.

We are five points off top spot now and while I am not overly worried on the back of this freak result today, we can't fall any further behind, we need to overhaul the deficit as soon as possible if we are to win the title.

A tiny set back today but lets not dwell on it because we have an exciting and a big game against Bayern Munich to look forward to on Wednesday.

Aston Villa vs Man City Live stream information

Up to now there are 26 stations that should be available to watch todays match against Aston Villa.

I know a lot of people are familiar with online streaming now but for those that are not, this should help.

If you go to the following link http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=216493&part=sports then you will see the page that will display the links to watch today's game, the links to the streams will not be displayed until one hour before kick off.

Each link will be run via a different type of software for example you may just be able to click one that will load on your web browser or there will be some where you have to download software.

Each stream will tell you which software it is being run on for example if next to one of the links it says Sopcast you will need to download the Sopcast player software. All software is available via this next link http://www.wiziwig.tv/software.php?part=software .

The best streams to watch are the ones with the higher Kbps rate, so if one stream says 150 Kbps and one says 2000 Kbps then you choose the latter and this will also help you know which software to download so you can get the best possible stream.

A little heads up I always find Sopcast the best software to use, so it would probably be worth downloading that in preparation for when the game links are announced.

Hopefully this was helpful and not confusing. I think everyone should be able to understand once you explore the links, it is quite straight forward.

Enjoy, hopefully!

Aston Villa vs Man City - Sat 28th Sep 15:00 pm



Back to premier league duty for our in form City team, a trip to Birmingham to face Aston Villa is our next test.

I have to say I am really looking forward to the game today, we have been in really good form and I just don't see Aston Villa putting a stop to that.

Villa have had a good result against Arsenal this season and haven't really done much else, they have a poor home record and I only see that getting worse against City.

I don't want to be disrespectful to Villa but with Benteke missing from their team due to injury, I just don't see anyone else in their team who could inspire them to getting something out of this game. Villa are not the best at home either, they haven't managed to take any points from their first two home games and have conceded at home in their last 13 league games, couple this with the fact that City have won 6 of the last 7 against Villa and it helps me to believe that we will not see anything but a City win.

We are absolutely flying at the moment and if I am honest I think there could be another hiding handed out, with Villa on the receiving end. When we are on form the way we are at the moment we are unstoppable, games like this against Villa should be our bread and butter.

It would be nice if we could put this game to bed in the first half today so that we can take it easy for the remainder of the game, we have got Bayern Munich on Wednesday so if we can avoid tiring ourselves out and any potential injuries, that would be ideal. Of course my view on today's game is based on the consistent performances we have put in lately, that however could be very naive of me.

Man City Team News:
Sergio Aguero is set to be out after picking up a knock against Utd, David Silva (thigh) has been training but his return may be saved for the Bayern game. Demichelis (knee) is still unavailable for selection.

Aston Villa Team News:
Main man Christian Benteke is out with a hip injury,  Ashley Westwood (thigh), Jores Okore (knee), Charles N'Zogbia (Achilles) and Gary Gardner (back) are also missing for Villa.

Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Kompany, Clichy, Toure, Fernandinho, Nasri, Navas, Dzeko, Negredo.

Possible Aston Villa Line Up: Guzan, Bacuna, Vlaar, Clark, Luna, Tonev, Delph, El Ahmadi, Weimann, Agbonlahor, Kozak.

My Prediction: Aston Villa 0 - 4 Man City.

Worth A Bet: Fernandinho scores the first goal on a 0 - 4 Man City win @ 230/1.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Man City 5 - 0 Wigan Athletic - Goals and Highlights

Another game and another win, a very comfortable 5 - 0 victory was secured with goals from Dzeko, Jovetic (2), Toure and Navas.

Our 'second choice' eleven breezed through to the next round of the cup, we played well tonight but the team certainly didn't have to overly exert themselves to secure the victory.

Although this wasn't our first eleven tonight with Marcos Lopes the only youngster in the starting line up, we still had a strong team. We won very comfortably at five nil but it could of and probably should of been at least six or seven, we wasted a lot of good chances.

If I were to analyse the game it would just be for the sake of writing words, there was nothing special about our performance as such, we just did our job and did it well. If there was anything to highlight it would of been the performance of Lopes, he is still only a kid but he looks very good and confident to boot, hopefully we will start seeing him around the first team a bit more so he can keep developing because he is far too good to be playing with his own age group.

We have had three good results on the bounce now and I am starting to get a bit excited about what this season could hold for us if we keep it up. I don't see why we cant go on to win the next ten games if I am honest, the team must be absolutely brimming with confidence at the moment and when you put confidence with class then you generally have a recipe for success.

Apologises for the short post but there is really nothing more to say about the game and I have unfortunately got work in the morning so bed beckons.

GOALS AND HIGHLIGHTS.

Man City vs Wigan Athletic live stream information

Up to now there are 18 stations that should be available to watch tonight's match against Wigan.

I know a lot of people are familiar with online streaming now but for those that are not, this should help.

If you go to the following link http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=221526&part=sports  then you will see the page that will display the links to watch today's game, the links to the streams will not be displayed until one hour before kick off.

Each link will be run via a different type of software for example you may just be able to click one that will load on your web browser or there will be some where you have to download software.

Each stream will tell you which software it is being run on for example if next to one of the links it says Sopcast you will need to download the Sopcast player software. All software is available via this next link http://www.wiziwig.tv/software.php?part=software .

The best streams to watch are the ones with the higher Kbps rate, so if one stream says 150 Kbps and one says 2000 Kbps then you choose the latter and this will also help you know which software to download so you can get the best possible stream.

A little heads up I always find Sopcast the best software to use, so it would probably be worth downloading that in preparation for when the game links are announced.

Hopefully this was helpful and not confusing. I think everyone should be able to understand once you explore the links, it is quite straight forward.

Enjoy, hopefully!

Monday 23 September 2013

Man City vs Wigan Athletic - Tue 24th Sep 19:45 pm










The games and competitions keep coming and next up is the Capital One Cup third round tie against Wigan Athletic.

I am not going to be able to go into much detail about what this game potentially holds, with both teams expected to make at least a few changes to their starting elevens, but I will give it a go.

I have to say I am fond of Wigan, a Northern club who came all the way through the divisions to reach the top division, stay there for a while and then beat one of the best teams in Europe to win the FA Cup, what a brilliant story, saying that we owe them one and whatever team we put out I hope we smash them.

Wigan have had a patchy start to the season and have not really impressed, when I have managed to catch a few minutes of them here and there they have looked mediocre and the good brand of football they used to play under Martinez seems to have somewhat disappeared under what I consider to be a  terrible manager in Owen Coyle.

Earlier I was reading an article where Owen Coyle was moaning about having to play too many games in a short space of time and basically that this is going to force him to make changes to his team against City, I agree with him I think it is wrong. Teams shouldn't be forced to come and play a top team like City without any time to prepare after playing in Europe and domestically, the chances of them being able to compete are cut right down and it does not help to make these matches attractive.

So we know Wigan are going to ring the changes but what about our beloved City, well we are certainly going to make changes but fortunately enough for us we can replace class with class.

After working hard to secure a very important win against Utd, Pellegrini will be keen to give his first choice players a break as well as trying to ease people into the first team picture. The likes of Richards, Jovetic, Pantilimon and Lescott are expected to come into the 'weakened' starting eleven and get the chance to impress the manager.

It is going to be hard work to try and pick the possible line ups, I am hoping to see a few youngsters playing for City but I will mostly go with players from the first team squad for now, so bear with me.

Man City Team News:
Demichelis (knee) is out, Clichy and Silva (both thigh) have both been training but it is unclear whether either player will be quite fit enough to make an appearance, Rodwell missed the derby with a knock and may come back into contention.

Wigan Athletic Team News:
Long term injuries to Ivan Ramis, Gary Caldwell and Ali Al Habsi mean that they miss out, Grant Holt is struggling with a knee injury and is unlikely to take part, Marc-Antoine is struggling with a hamstring injury and Shaun Maloney is doubtful with a back problem.

Possible Man City Line Up: Pantilimon, Richards, Boyata, Lescott, Kolarov, Milner, Garcia, Rodwell, Evans, Jovetic, Dzeko.

Possible Wigan Athletic Line Up: Nicholls, Crainey, Garcia, Buxton, Mustoe, Espinoza, Gomez, Beausejour, McCann, Dicko, Powell.

Obviously a shot in the dark when it came to the two teams, please feel free to have your say on what the line ups could be.

My Prediction: Man City 3 - 0 Wigan Athletic.

Worth A Bet: Jovetic scores the first goal in  3 - 0 Man City win @ 25/1.

Sunday 22 September 2013

Manchester City 4 - 1 Man Utd - Goals and Highlights

What a performance! I am already hearing a lot of excuses from people about why Utd lost today, the main one being Van Persie's absence, there are no feasible excuses though just one reason, City played magnificent.

We have been waiting for the team to put in a performance that displays their talent and they picked the perfect game to do just that, dominating a team like Utd the way we did sends out a fierce message to the rest of the league.

Everything went perfect today, the manager did his job well, the players did their job brilliantly and the fans did their job impressively, we couldn't of asked for more.

Pellegrini set us up as an attacking machine today, Nasri was preferred to Milner and Negredo chosen ahead of Dzeko, two decisions that had a big influence on the game. Nasri had his best game in a City shirt by far today, he tormented Utd and they just couldn't deal with him, Negredo was tireless up front and bullied Utds defence giving Aguero the freedom he needed to punish them.

It wasn't just those two that impressed today though the whole team were on top form, the defence didn't let Utd have a sniff with Kompany leading by example as always, the midfield finally looked like a solid unit led by Yaya who had his best game for a long time and up front Aguero and Negredo were running the Utd defence ragged, the team were just all round exceptional.

In terms of the title race this was an important result, it is easy to forget that we aren't just competing for bragging rights when we play Utd these days, we are coming up against a potential title rival. The three points are much more important than getting to go to work or school with a smile on our faces, they could be the difference come the end of the season.

This was hopefully a big step in terms of our season today, we have had two good wins on the bounce and confidence should be high, its time to kick on and consistently produce this kind of form.

GOALS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Man City vs Man Utd - Sun 22nd Sep 16:00 pm



The time has come for one of the biggest games of our season and Man Utd's alike, not just a battle of two old rivals these days, but a very important match in terms of the title race.

I am anxious when City are playing at the best of times but derby day is on a different level, I will be sat on the edge of my seat littering the aisle with my finger nails for the whole match, every time Utd begin an attack I will be in bits screaming for a tackle to be made, equally when City go forward I will be praying for a goal, the experience and emotions on derby day are unreal and that is why I live for it.

Going into this game I could talk about our form so far this season and Utd's for that matter, non of us have peaked and shown what we are really capable of, but as far as tomorrows game is concerned it is irrelevant, the form book goes out of the window.

We want City to go into the game tomorrow with a never say die attitude, we want to see players that do not stop fighting for the entirety of the game, most of all we want to see them take pride in wearing our shirt and if we throw a touch of class in along the way then I would say we have more than a good chance of winning.

If there was a good time for us to have to play a derby match, then I would say now is that time. We come into this game on the back of an away win in the Champions League which has surely relieved some pressure and boosted our confidence, we just need to stay on that track now and a win against Utd could really help us kick start our season.

On a finishing note, lets make sure we as fans put in the level of effort in supporting our players as we expect from them on the pitch, so get the vocal cords warmed up. COME ON CITY! CTID!

Man City Team News:
Demichelis (knee) is still unavailable for selection, Clichy (thigh) and Richards (hamstring) have been training but are not expected to be fit enough to make the squad, David Silva has also been training after struggling with a thigh injury and is rumoured to be fit enough to play, although there are conflicting reports on his fitness.

Man Utd Team News:
Jones (ankle) and Rafael (hamstring) are out injured and Fletcher is struggling with his bowel problem. Welbeck (knee) is doubtful.

Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Kompany, Kolarov, Milner, Toure, Fernandinho, Navas, Dzeko, Aguero.

Possible Man Utd Line Up: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Fellaini, Kagawa, Rooney, Van Persie.

My Prediction: Man City 3 - 0 Man Utd.

Worth A Bet: All odds on City players to score the first goal in a 3 - 0 win are good, my favourite is for our captain to lead the way by scoring the first goal in a 3 - 0 win @ 375/1.

Tuesday 17 September 2013

FC Viktoria Plzen 0 - 3 Man City *Goals Videos*

Three second half goals from Dzeko, Toure and Aguero in a ten minute period secured a comfortable victory in our first Champions League group game.

Well that has got to be a relief, I know it is for me. It was very important we won tonight, not just because of the Champions League but for our confidence.

For the first 10 or 15 minutes tonight we looked ok, nothing amazing just a bit better than we have been, then we went quiet and let Plzen into the game pretty much for the remainder of the first half, the half finished with a feeling of disappointment.

The second half had hardly started when we struck through Edin Dzeko and that goal was the beginning of a better, more determined City performance. The game restarted and we were playing well with it taking just five minutes before Yaya banged in our second, we had finally started to peak and after another five minutes of playing good football we scored our third goal thanks to Sergio Aguero.

The second half was brilliant tonight, it was like someone had turned a light on and the players could see how much better they can be. We were organised, we worked hard and we were focused on the task at hand, Plzen didn't know what had hit them and couldn't handle our talented team.

The best thing about our second half performance is that although we were good, we were still not running at full speed, the potential of our team is scary we just need to start realising that potential and if we do I think we will go a long way in every competition this season.

Hopefully this victory has released some of the pressure that's been on the players lately, as well as give them confidence heading into what is already an important game in terms of the title race.

Monday 16 September 2013

FC Viktoria Plzen vs Man City - Tue 17th Sep 19:45 pm










Champions League football is back on the agenda, the first game sees us travel to the Czech Republic to face current Gambrinus Liga champions, FC Viktoria Plzen.

I should be on a buzz because I normally am when its time to play in the champions league, I mean its a dream come true for us City fans to get to watch our team play along side Europe's elite isn't it, its just that with our poor form of late and the pressure to get through the group stage, all I can feel is anxiety.

Tomorrows opponents have won their domestic league twice in the last three seasons, although its not the strongest league in the world, beating the likes of Sparta and Slavia Prague to the championship means your doing something right. Plzen certainly know how to win games against the big European teams as well, beating both Atletico Madrid and Napoli a couple of seasons ago in the Europa league, all of a sudden the team that we were all over joyed at drawing look potentially menacing.

Surely though we should comfortably win this game, shouldn't we? Well its hard to say isn't it, we should of won our first four league fixtures and it hasn't happened, consistency is our problem and why it is a problem I don't really know. If I were to lean towards anything then I would say it is down to the manager, I don't think Pellegrini has shown any special abilities regarding his management skills and I don't think that the players understand what he wants from them either, everything about the team has been untidy and overcomplicated.

Hopefully tomorrow we can put the poor start to our season behind us, relieve some more pressure by winning our first group game and kick on from there, in an ideal world of course.

Man City Team News:
Vincent Kompany makes a surprise return to the squad and if deemed 100% fit before the match he is likely to start, Silva (thigh), Clichy (thigh), Richards (hamstring) and Demichelis (knee) should all still be out for the blues barring anymore miraculous recoveries.

FC Viktoria Plzen Team News:
Central defender and scorer of five goals in qualifying Marian Cisovsky is set to miss out with a calf injury, whilst fellow defender Radim Reznik faces a late fitness test.

Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Kompany, Kolarov, Milner, Toure, Fernandinho, Nasri, Navas, Aguero.

Possible FC Viktoria Plzen Line Up: Kozáčik, Rajtoral, Procházka, Hejda, Limberský. Hořava, Horvath, Petržela, Kolář, Kovařík, Bakoš.

My Prediction : FC Viktoria Plzen 0 - 3 Man City.

Worth A Bet: Yaya Toure scores the first goal in a
0 - 3 Man City win @ 66/1.

Sunday 15 September 2013

City poor again! Barry stars for Everton

Another frustrating below par performance left us leaving the Britannia feeling grateful for the point that we were coming away with.

Stoke played well today and seem to be an ever improving team under Mark Hughes's guidance, so fair play to them but City are playing really badly under Pellegrini and if it does not improve we can forget about any sort of silverware this season.

First lets look at the team selection, no Aguero or Navas and he decided to throw Jovetic in straight from the start after just over coming injury. Ok so maybe he was trying to rest players because of the CL game but you don't drop one of the best strikers in the world who possesses premier league experience in favour of not one but two new players who are still settling in, one of which who has been injured since he arrived. Along with that he rested the impressive Navas and by doing so he left the team without energy and supply, rotate don't decimate!

Now lets look at the statistics to get a real idea of how poorly we are performing, 35 clearances had to be made in comparison to Stokes 15, out of 21 crosses only 9.5% were successful, only 42.5% of duels won, only 10 shots with just 3 on target, no offsides and yes I am moaning about not being off side because if your attacking well with fluent sharp passing and movement like we should be then you expect to be caught a couple of times and finally although Stoke have good height in their team, we only won 30.2% of aerial duels even though we had 7 players in the starting line up at 6ft plus, these stats do not make impressive reading.

There is honestly nothing I can see in Pellegrini that suggests he is any more capable than Mancini, I am not getting on his back it is still early days but when your going for the title you cannot afford to slip up at any stage and with all due respect our first four fixtures should have been victories on paper and the pitch.

I just feel that at the moment the players do not understand the way in which Pellegrini wants them to play, they look lost at times on the pitch, there's no understanding amongst the players, no shape and no real effort. Everything is trying to be executed in the most perfect fashion, the football we play is over complicated when it doesn't need to be and I can only guess that this is something Pellegrini has tried to implement into the team.

This isn't a blame Pellegrini exercise either, the players are also responsible and certain big names are not nearly pulling their weight. For the purpose of an example look at Yaya Toure never criticised but apart from his two free kicks, if you think about it, what has he contributed this season? He has been a stagnant part of the midfield, no powerful runs forward nor any defensive influence. Players of his ability should be leading by example and inspiring the rest of the team, it isn't happening though just look at todays game, Nastasic at twenty years of age was left defending pretty much by himself at times even though he was surrounded by experienced internationals, not good enough I'm afraid.

Whilst talking about experience it is the perfect time to mention Gareth Barry. On my way home this evening I decided to put my new phone through its paces so I stuck Everton vs Chelsea on, at the end of the game I was impressed by my phone but not as impressed as I was with Gareth Barry's performance. I made it known before Barry left that I thought he should be playing for City and when he did leave I was left disappointed and a bit bitter at the thought that maybe he just wasn't a big enough name for Pellegrini, what else could it have been?

Nobody can question the part Gareth Barry has played in our teams transformation, he was often an undetected top performer for City and I can not think of a good reason why Pellegrini let him leave. He is exactly what we are missing at the moment, we have nobody doing the water carrying in midfield, we need someone who will slow things down, craftily win fouls, win tackles and pop up in the gaps, all the things Barry is good at. He was brilliant for Everton today and I really hope he does well, I also think if Pellegrini were to see his performance today, against one of the best teams in Europe, he would kick himself.

To conclude, I know its not doom and gloom time just yet but things need to change quickly, fortunately or maybe unfortunately depending on how you look at it, these are the pressures of wanting to be a successful club. CTID!

Saturday 14 September 2013

Stoke City vs Man City live stream information

Up to now there are 20 stations that should be available to watch today's match against Stoke.

I know a lot of people are familiar with online streaming now but for those that are not, this should help.

If you go to the following link http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=216473&part=sports then you will see the page that will display the links to watch today's game, the links to the streams will not be displayed until one hour before kick off.

Each link will be run via a different type of software for example you may just be able to click one that will load on your web browser or there will be some where you have to download software.

Each stream will tell you which software it is being run on for example if next to one of the links it says Sopcast you will need to download the Sopcast player software. All software is available via this next link http://www.wiziwig.tv/software.php?part=software .

The best streams to watch are the ones with the higher Kbps rate, so if one stream says 150 Kbps and one says 2000 Kbps then you choose the latter and this will also help you know which software to download so you can get the best possible stream.

A little heads up I always find Sopcast the best software to use, so it would probably be worth downloading that in preparation for when the game links are announced.

 Hopefully this was helpful and not confusing. I think everyone should be able to understand once you explore the links, it is quite straight forward.

Enjoy, hopefully!

Stoke City vs Man City - Sat 14th September 15:00 pm


Tomorrows trip sees us travel to the Britannia stadium to face a Stoke team that have made a good start to the season. We will be coming up against our former boss Mark Hughes and possibly our former Irish star Stephen Ireland, who will both have a point to prove against their former employers.

Stoke is always a tough trip to make and from what I have seen of them so far this season, tomorrow will be no different. Hughes has got them playing some good football, Stoke are notorious for their no nonsense, long ball and just down right basic football tactics and although it has served them well at times in the past, things seem to be changing. Hughes is clearly implementing a different style of football and so far he is doing a good job of it, his Stoke team have been passing the ball really well, their movement is sharper and basically all round they are a classier looking outfit.

The worry for me in tomorrows game is that Stoke revert to their old game plan and set up to shut us out, as is common knowledge we don't seem to know how to break teams down that put men behind the ball, couple this with the fact Stoke are capable of playing a passing game now and it could be the perfect formula to beat us.

As for us, I am hoping that the International break has given Pellegrini the time he needed to figure out why the team are not performing near to the level that they are capable of. We have to start performing, you do not win titles playing the way that we are. We are lacking in midfield, lacking in effort and we are certainly lacking a plan B, things that you would expect a top manager to be able to put right and quickly at that.

Man City Team News:
Our bad run of injuries continues with Kompany (groin), Silva (thigh), Clichy (thigh), Richards (hamstring) and Demichelis (knee) all missing out, Stevan Jovetic had a slight problem with his hamstring during the International break but is expected to be available for selection.

Stoke City Team News:
Marc Muniesa misses out with a groin injury whilst last minute signings Marko Arnautovic and Stephen Ireland are expected to feature.

Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Lescott, Kolarov, Nasri, Toure, Fernandinho, Navas, Aguero, Negredo.

Possible Stoke City Line Up: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Huth, Pieters, Walters, N'Zonzi, Adam, Wilson, Etherington, Jones.

My Prediction: Stoke City 0 - 2 Man City.

Worth A Bet: Aguero scores the first goal in a 2 - 0 Man City win @ 22/1.