Goals from Negredo and Dzeko in extra time were enough to secure victory at St James park, the win has set us up for an away tie to Leicester in the quarter finals.
The game was quite poor to watch tonight, we were lacking creativity and desire, we looked like we were playing a training game at times. When we did produce some good movement and passing we scored two goals and it took us until the 99th minute to do that.
As far as Newcastle are concerned they didn't put in a good performance either really and looked very unconvincing, they did create a few chances though, some were poorly executed, some well defended and some just unlucky, I would certainly understand their fans going away from the game thinking that they should have scored a couple of goals.
The best way to describe the result is 'job done', there wasn't really any positives to take away from our performance apart from maybe Pantilimon's decent showing in goal, which included one really good save to keep us in the game.
Most important thing is that we are through to the quarter finals and only a few games away from a final appearance, although to get there we will have to play a lot better than we did tonight.
Apologies for the quick post match, work beckons in the morning unfortunately.
Highlights.
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Newcastle United vs Man City - Weds 30th Oct 19:45 pm
The games are coming thick and fast, our next game takes us to Newcastle to face the magpies in a league cup tie.
The league cup is generally viewed as a nothing competition these days, managers will give players that have been sitting on the bench for a while a run out and throw in the odd youngster here and there. I am half way when it comes to this because although I like to see a youngster or a fringe player coming in to an extent, I still think it should be taken seriously because any trophy is an achievement when all said and done.
Luckily for us rotation means replacing class players with more class players, so we do have the luxury of being able to rest key men, it is still important that whoever does come into the team is eager to impress because there is a quarter final of a cup beckoning.
There were easier ties that we could have been handed than a trip to St James park, however I am not overly concerned about the threat of Newcastle and I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, I just think our squad is strong enough to compete and perhaps win the game.
Tomorrows game could well see a hangover from the league, we were beaten in a game that we deserved something out of and Newcastle lost to their rivals. I am sure there will be a lot of frustration within both camps that will need to be relieved, which is what I am most worried about. Newcastle do have some really good players that can hurt teams and in front of their own fans they will want to make amends for the defeat to Sunderland, I just hope that we also want to prove a point and perform well because I really want us to win this competition.
Man City Team News:
Vincent Kompany is our only notable injury concern, he is said to be training again after suffering with a thigh injury but it is doubtful he will play a part against Newcastle.
Newcastle United Team News:
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is available after missing the game against Sunderland because of suspension, Coloccini (groin) and Steven Taylor (hamstring) are doubts, Gutierrez may still be missing for the home side due to personal reasons and Ryan Taylor will miss the game after undergoing a knee operation.
Possible Man City Line Up: Pantilimon, Richards, Demichelis, Lescott, Kolarov, Milner, Navas, Fernandinho, Lopes, Dzeko, Jovetic.
Possible Newcastle United Line Up: Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon, Gouffran, Cabaye, Tiote, Ben Arfa, Cisse, Remy.
My Prediction: Newcastle 1 - 3 Man City.
Worth A Bet: Stevan Jovetic scores the first goal in a 1 - 3 Man City win @ 45/1.
Sunday, 27 October 2013
Chelsea 2 - 1 Man City *Goals and Highlights*
Well we have seen some bad away results this season but this has to be the worst considering the manner in which we lost, we played well today and it would have been deserved had we won the game.
I will start with the mess up that lost us the game, with the game at 1-1 a harmless ball over the top somehow ended with the ball in the back of the net. Nastasic was running on to the ball watching it come over his shoulder with Torres on his tail, as long as Hart was stood in his area the danger would be averted, for some reason Hart wasn't stood in his area. Instead Hart decided to charge out of his area towards the ball when all he had to do was stand still and wait for Nastasic to nod it back to him, Nastasic did indeed head the ball back but past the on rushing Hart, leaving Torres to run on and score.
I have heard many different opinions on who was at fault already, I am sticking the blame firmly with Hart. It was easy to see what was going to happen all he had to do is wait for Nastasic to head it back. I think the people blaming Nastasic are wrong to do so, it looks like he could of changed where he headed it when you watch it but it happens a lot quicker than that and he would of been more concerned about not missing the header whilst expecting his keeper to be waiting to receive it.
As well as that mistake I wasn't pleased with Chelsea's first goal, Clichy was beaten far too easily and it was too simple for Schurrle to trick Demichelis with his movement as well. Well I am talking about Clichy he hasn't been himself for some time now, he looks sluggish and easy to beat, he was integral when we won the title and I am a really big fan of his, I think he is a victim of rotation and I hope he returns to full form soon.
Back to the game, apart from the horrific mistake at the end, we were superb. We controlled large parts of the game and man for man we were the better team. Pellegrini made the right decision by putting extra men in midfield although he put one to many in there for me, because I think with two up top we would have had the game sewn up, that is by the by though because we did play well enough to win the game regardless of that.
We played really well as a unit today, everyone was playing for each other and out working the opposition, the midfield particularly were better than I have seen them for a long time, with the stand out performance in my opinion coming from Fernandinho. Three Brazilians were on show today and Ferna was the one that stood out, he never stopped running from front to back, he was getting stuck in and constantly cutting short Chelsea's momentum. He has been getting better and better lately and if he continues he will justify his price tag.
Then there is Sergio Aguero, apparently his weakness is his left foot, for him to play as a lone striker was a worry, what a load of rubbish! This lad is phenomenal, defence's cannot live with him, he has everything a world class striker needs and he is improving all the time, for me he is easily one of the best three strikers in the world. I would give him another new contract now because he is definitely an important part of our future.
To sum it up, we were solid today and for me we deserved at the very least a point from the game, the performance was encouraging and if we continue in this vein of form we will soon have made up the six point deficit, keep the games coming CTID.
Goals and Highlights.
I will start with the mess up that lost us the game, with the game at 1-1 a harmless ball over the top somehow ended with the ball in the back of the net. Nastasic was running on to the ball watching it come over his shoulder with Torres on his tail, as long as Hart was stood in his area the danger would be averted, for some reason Hart wasn't stood in his area. Instead Hart decided to charge out of his area towards the ball when all he had to do was stand still and wait for Nastasic to nod it back to him, Nastasic did indeed head the ball back but past the on rushing Hart, leaving Torres to run on and score.
I have heard many different opinions on who was at fault already, I am sticking the blame firmly with Hart. It was easy to see what was going to happen all he had to do is wait for Nastasic to head it back. I think the people blaming Nastasic are wrong to do so, it looks like he could of changed where he headed it when you watch it but it happens a lot quicker than that and he would of been more concerned about not missing the header whilst expecting his keeper to be waiting to receive it.
As well as that mistake I wasn't pleased with Chelsea's first goal, Clichy was beaten far too easily and it was too simple for Schurrle to trick Demichelis with his movement as well. Well I am talking about Clichy he hasn't been himself for some time now, he looks sluggish and easy to beat, he was integral when we won the title and I am a really big fan of his, I think he is a victim of rotation and I hope he returns to full form soon.
Back to the game, apart from the horrific mistake at the end, we were superb. We controlled large parts of the game and man for man we were the better team. Pellegrini made the right decision by putting extra men in midfield although he put one to many in there for me, because I think with two up top we would have had the game sewn up, that is by the by though because we did play well enough to win the game regardless of that.
We played really well as a unit today, everyone was playing for each other and out working the opposition, the midfield particularly were better than I have seen them for a long time, with the stand out performance in my opinion coming from Fernandinho. Three Brazilians were on show today and Ferna was the one that stood out, he never stopped running from front to back, he was getting stuck in and constantly cutting short Chelsea's momentum. He has been getting better and better lately and if he continues he will justify his price tag.
Then there is Sergio Aguero, apparently his weakness is his left foot, for him to play as a lone striker was a worry, what a load of rubbish! This lad is phenomenal, defence's cannot live with him, he has everything a world class striker needs and he is improving all the time, for me he is easily one of the best three strikers in the world. I would give him another new contract now because he is definitely an important part of our future.
To sum it up, we were solid today and for me we deserved at the very least a point from the game, the performance was encouraging and if we continue in this vein of form we will soon have made up the six point deficit, keep the games coming CTID.
Goals and Highlights.
Chelsea vs Man City - Sun 27th Oct 16:00 pm
Following a cold away day in Moscow, our next away trip sees us travel to London to take on fellow title contenders Chelsea at the bridge.
This is going to be a tough game for both sides tomorrow, both teams have very talented squads and both are in good form, it is going to be a testing game for us but a test that I think we can handle.
This is an important game tomorrow regardless of what Pellegrini and Mourinho have been saying, these are the games that can be the difference when it comes to winning the title. If we were to lose tomorrow then we would be 6 points off Arsenal at the top of the league, of course it wouldn't be the end of the world if that were to happen, but I also don't think that we should be allowing gaps that big to appear at any point in a season when we are challenging for the title.
I have kept a very close eye on Chelsea this season and they are a good team but I have never sat back and thought 'wow' after watching them, they are quite similar to us in the sense that I don't think they have consistently reached a top level of performance as yet.
I think where Chelsea have been better than us this season is in midfield, man for man I think we have the more gifted individuals, as a unit though Chelsea have the edge. Chelsea are a lot more organised and compact than us, usually playing with three in the middle of the park. Us on the other hand only have two in the middle, one of them (Toure) seems to have the license to roam, whilst the other (Fernandinho) is left with the task of doing the job of two players. Our midfield has been an issue for some time now and it is more recognisable when Kompany isn't playing behind them clearing things up, I think we will have to tighten things up to compete with Chelsea in this area of the pitch.
Where I think we can cause Chelsea trouble is the final third, they have big strong experienced defenders but I think they lack the pace to control our attackers. The beast that is Negredo will be able to compete in a physical battle against them, whilst Aguero and Silva buzz around causing them problems with pace and finesse.
We are on a decent run of form at the moment and confidence should be quite high, we have been playing some good football and we are steadily becoming more consistent, I still don't think that we have seen the best of us yet though. There have been times that we could of gone through the gears and hammered teams but instead we have been quite happy to win at a stroll, hopefully against Chelsea we will hit top speed and if we do, we will beat them as far as I am concerned.
Man City Team News:
Vincent Kompany was expected to return to the side according to reports last week, he has however been ruled out as he continues to recover from injury. Martin Demichelis is not expected to be risked either after recently overcoming a knee injury, however Jack Rodwell is fit again after suffering with a hamstring injury.
Chelsea Team News:
Ashley Cole is expected to return for Chelsea after being out with a rib injury, Marco van Ginkel has a long term knee injury.
Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Garcia, Nastasic, Clichy, Toure, Fernandinho, Milner, Silva, Aguero, Negredo.
Possible Chelsea Line Up: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Oscar, Ramires, Lampard, Hazard, Torres, Eto'o.
My Prediction: Chelsea 1 - 2 Man City.
Worth A Bet: David Silva scores the first goal in a 1 - 2 Man City win @ 75/1.
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
CSKA Moscow 1 - 2 Man City *Goals*
A poor match on a poor pitch against a poor team was matched by a poor performance from us, we did however secure the all important three points in Moscow.
Lets start with the pitch, it was terrible and it definitely effected our game, how UEFA passed it is beyond me. Now I am not someone who thinks that the players need the luxury of the perfect pitch, I do however believe the pitch in Moscow was unplayable, particularly for a professional match at this level. The fresh lick of paint that they gave it didn't cover up the fact that it was lacking grass and that the grass it did have wasn't sown. I have qualifications which I gained just a few years ago in regard to this area of expertise and my minimally experienced eye could see that it wasn't playable, so I would love to know who the guys are that carry out the inspections.
Whilst the pitch didn't compliment our fluent style of football, it couldn't be blamed for our all round poor performance. I will start with Pellegrini's decision to play Garcia at centre half again, the lad just isn't suited to that position, he is not quick enough and does not read the game well enough to be a centre half, Pellegrini needs to give Richards his chance there because he wants it and it makes sense.
The defending was bad all round tonight, the midfield was lacking again and left us exposed, it did improve in the second half with Yaya and Ferna getting more involved but it was by no means up to the level that we expect, I think Pellegrini needs to realise that sometimes we need that extra body in the middle to pick up some of the slack.
We weren't playing a good side tonight, they were poor and as bad as we were, we still looked very comfortable at times against them. I think all things considered, the bad pitch, cold temperatures and the makeshift defenders, this was a very good result away from home. Obviously we can play much much better than we did tonight but the most important thing was the points, which just to mention were kept safe by Joe Hart who made a brilliant save right at the death.
To round up, if we can play below par and win, it will do for me. Following the victory tonight I would think that a win at home against CSKA will see us through the group stages.
Goals.
Lets start with the pitch, it was terrible and it definitely effected our game, how UEFA passed it is beyond me. Now I am not someone who thinks that the players need the luxury of the perfect pitch, I do however believe the pitch in Moscow was unplayable, particularly for a professional match at this level. The fresh lick of paint that they gave it didn't cover up the fact that it was lacking grass and that the grass it did have wasn't sown. I have qualifications which I gained just a few years ago in regard to this area of expertise and my minimally experienced eye could see that it wasn't playable, so I would love to know who the guys are that carry out the inspections.
Whilst the pitch didn't compliment our fluent style of football, it couldn't be blamed for our all round poor performance. I will start with Pellegrini's decision to play Garcia at centre half again, the lad just isn't suited to that position, he is not quick enough and does not read the game well enough to be a centre half, Pellegrini needs to give Richards his chance there because he wants it and it makes sense.
The defending was bad all round tonight, the midfield was lacking again and left us exposed, it did improve in the second half with Yaya and Ferna getting more involved but it was by no means up to the level that we expect, I think Pellegrini needs to realise that sometimes we need that extra body in the middle to pick up some of the slack.
We weren't playing a good side tonight, they were poor and as bad as we were, we still looked very comfortable at times against them. I think all things considered, the bad pitch, cold temperatures and the makeshift defenders, this was a very good result away from home. Obviously we can play much much better than we did tonight but the most important thing was the points, which just to mention were kept safe by Joe Hart who made a brilliant save right at the death.
To round up, if we can play below par and win, it will do for me. Following the victory tonight I would think that a win at home against CSKA will see us through the group stages.
Goals.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
CSKA Moscow vs Man City - Wed 23rd Oct 17:00 pm
The trip to Moscow to play CSKA has been somewhat spoilt so far with news coming out suggesting that the pitch will not be playable, Pellegrini himself has made his thoughts known on the issue and his opinion is that it should be postponed.
Obviously I am hoping that the pitch is playable and we can get the game out of the way, if it isn't ready then we have made the journey to Russia ahead of a league game against Chelsea for nothing. There are various sources reporting that the pitch is in a terrible condition, so it baffles me how it passed a UEFA inspection in the first place, typical incompetence on UEFA'S part again and it just so happens that an English side is involved in their bad decision, enough said.
Right, to the game, CSKA are the current champions of Russia so they are clearly a decent team, if you were to ask me if I was at all worried about playing them though, the answer would be no!
They just don't match up to us in the slightest, if you were to pick out any danger men in their team then you would look to the over rated Keisuke Honda and their star striker (in mediocre leagues) Seydou Doumbia who has just returned from injury. They have not won a league game since the 14th of September and have drawn 1 and lost 4 since then, we should paste these regardless of what condition the pitch is in.
As far as we're concerned, we have been in good form of late and things are looking promising again, our performance against West Ham was somewhat blown up in the media as something really special, in reality it wasn't in terms of what we are capable of, we are just better than them and we shown it by strolling through the game, we have so much more to offer yet.
I am really angry at the uncertainty surrounding the game tomorrow, the fact that we are probably going to have to play in poor conditions is not good enough, both CSKA and UEFA have made this the case and I am just hoping that the players will also feel incensed and take it out on them on the pitch.
Man City Team News:
Vincent Kompany (thigh) has not travelled to Moscow, Martin Demichelis and Jack Rodwell have also stayed at home as they continue to build up their match fitness after returning from knee and hamstring injuries respectively.
CSKA Moscow Team News:
Seydou Doumbia returned from a hamstring injury for their last league game and is expected to be involved, Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev (knee) and Alan Dzagoev (hamstring) are doubts, while Latvian midfielder Aleksandrs Cauna (toe) is likely to miss out.
Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Garcia, Nastasic, Kolarov, Toure, Fernandinho, Nasri, Silva, Aguero, Negredo.
Possible CSKA Moscow Line Up: Akinfeev, Nababkin, A.Berezutski, Ignashevich, Schennikov, Elm, Wernbloom, Tosic, Honda, Zuber, Doumbia.
My Prediction: CSKA Moscow 0 - 4 Man City.
Worth A bet: Toure scores the first goal in a 0 - 4 Man City win @ 155/1.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
West Ham Utd 1 - 3 Man City *Highlights*
Two goals from Sergio Aguero and one from David Silva helped us to a comfortable victory away from home against the Hammers.
I was slightly mythed at the team selection before the game today, leaving Zabaleta out and playing Garcia at centre back instead of Richards seemed a little bit strange, of course I am guessing the CSKA Moscow game was in the back of his mind and fair play Pellegrini pulled it off.
It didn't take long for the team to rid me of any nerves I had after seeing the team selection, we were in control from the start. We were by no means playing at full throttle today but we were comfortable, passing well, working hard and organised, with Aguero's first goal after just 16 minutes well deserved.
Throughout the first half we were creating plenty of chances and should have gone into the break at least two or three goals ahead, it didn't worry me that we had wasted chances though, we looked so assured that you could see that we were likely to score again and that is what happened.
At two nil up West Ham equalised and went on to have a good ten minute period where they were pressing us at a fast pace, the game was end to end as both teams played with a high tempo and even after our dominance throughout the game, the sense of needing another goal started to creep in, with ten minutes to go Silva put our minds at rest with a well taken and well deserved third.
We played well today and in the end when I look back at the game, we ambled through it, something which could cause us problems in the future. It is great if you can win games without playing at your full potenital, but when West Ham pulled a goal back today all the chances we had wasted were running through my head, we just need to step up a gear at times and finish games off.
There were some good performances on show today, Aguero and Silva particularly stood out but I want to mention Fernandinho. I was someone who thought his signing had looked a mistake at times, he wasn't doing anything to suggest he was a good player, but credit where it is due because he is improving every week now it seems. His defensive awareness has really improved, he is working hard tracking back and plugging holes, his passing has improved and when he is venturing forward he is starting to look dangerous. Maybe he just needed time to settle and time to understand the role Pellegrini wanted him to play in, whatever the reason he needs to keep pushing on now and if he does I am sure he will start forcing his way into the Brazil side and more importantly than that, into the City faithful's hearts.
So, another good win chalked up against another decent premier league side, hopefully we can keep it going now and make up the three point deficit at the top of the league sooner rather than later.
Goals and Highlights.
I was slightly mythed at the team selection before the game today, leaving Zabaleta out and playing Garcia at centre back instead of Richards seemed a little bit strange, of course I am guessing the CSKA Moscow game was in the back of his mind and fair play Pellegrini pulled it off.
It didn't take long for the team to rid me of any nerves I had after seeing the team selection, we were in control from the start. We were by no means playing at full throttle today but we were comfortable, passing well, working hard and organised, with Aguero's first goal after just 16 minutes well deserved.
Throughout the first half we were creating plenty of chances and should have gone into the break at least two or three goals ahead, it didn't worry me that we had wasted chances though, we looked so assured that you could see that we were likely to score again and that is what happened.
At two nil up West Ham equalised and went on to have a good ten minute period where they were pressing us at a fast pace, the game was end to end as both teams played with a high tempo and even after our dominance throughout the game, the sense of needing another goal started to creep in, with ten minutes to go Silva put our minds at rest with a well taken and well deserved third.
We played well today and in the end when I look back at the game, we ambled through it, something which could cause us problems in the future. It is great if you can win games without playing at your full potenital, but when West Ham pulled a goal back today all the chances we had wasted were running through my head, we just need to step up a gear at times and finish games off.
There were some good performances on show today, Aguero and Silva particularly stood out but I want to mention Fernandinho. I was someone who thought his signing had looked a mistake at times, he wasn't doing anything to suggest he was a good player, but credit where it is due because he is improving every week now it seems. His defensive awareness has really improved, he is working hard tracking back and plugging holes, his passing has improved and when he is venturing forward he is starting to look dangerous. Maybe he just needed time to settle and time to understand the role Pellegrini wanted him to play in, whatever the reason he needs to keep pushing on now and if he does I am sure he will start forcing his way into the Brazil side and more importantly than that, into the City faithful's hearts.
So, another good win chalked up against another decent premier league side, hopefully we can keep it going now and make up the three point deficit at the top of the league sooner rather than later.
Goals and Highlights.
West Ham Utd vs Man City - Sat 19th Oct 17:30 pm
More travelling is on the agenda for our players after the International break, though this time it is just a short journey to London we have to make to face West Ham Utd.
The International break came at a bad time for us really, we had just recorded a good victory on the back of two defeats and then we got stopped in our tracks, as did West Ham to be fair, lets just hope we can keep some momentum going at Upton Park.
I can't really analyse West Ham or what they may be capable of properly because I simply have not seen enough of them this season, when I have seen bits of them here and there, I have always thought that they look a fairly decent side.
West Ham will surely be full of confidence after sticking three past Spurs away from home and if you couple that with our dodgy away form, the hammers will certainly believe that they can win this game. Do I believe that West Ham can beat us? Well it is possible of course, however I think that if we are organised and play reasonably well, we will win.
West Ham are short up front at the moment for starters and I just don't see how they can cause our defence any serious problems. Then there is their defence, in my opinion they do not have a particularly strong defence, they have a couple of decent defenders but I don't think they are good enough to keep out our world class players.
As for us, if we were consistent it would be easy to put us down for a win every week, unfortunately though, we just haven't managed to do that yet this season. The win against Everton was a very good one and we just have to hope we can continue in that vein, if we do then I can't see a problem in taking three points more often than we have been at times this season.
Man City Team News:
Vincent Kompany is expected to be out with a thigh injury, Martin Demichelis played for the development squad this week but he is expected to miss out due to a lack of match fitness, Jack Rodwell also played for the elite team this week and has declared himself as fit.
West Ham Team News:
James Collins (hamstring) is out after picking up the injury on International duty, Andy Carroll (heel) and Alou Diarra (knee) will also miss out, new signing Carlton Cole is lacking match fitness following his recent move to Upton Park.
Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Lescott, Kolarov, Toure, Fernandinho, Milner, Silva, Aguero, Negredo.
Possible West Ham Utd line up: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Tomkins, Reid, Rat, Morrison, Noble, Nolan, Diame, Downing, Vaz Te.
My Prediction: West Ham 0 - 3 Man City.
Worth A Bet: Alvaro Negredo scores the first goal in a 3 - 0 Man City win @ 45/1.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
Man City 3 - 1 Everton - Goals and highlights
We had to come from behind against a very good Everton team today, goals from Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero helped to secure all three points.
City and Everton both contributed to a good a game of football today, as I thought Everton came to win and were very positive in their style of play, we played well though and were just too strong for them in the end.
I just want to get something out of the way, I am seeing a lot of comments online about the referee handing us the game, whilst I do not dispute the ref was shocking, both teams were on the receiving end of his poor decisions. In the case of the penalty that was awarded, Zabaleta bought it there is no denying that but it was there to be bought and I don't think Everton fans would mind if their player were to do the same.
Six changes were made to the starting line up today and rightly so, the likes of Milner and Negredo add a much more hard working, competitive edge to the team. These are the kind of decisions I like to see from a manager, Pellegrini wasn't scared to drop certain big names and make a statement that if you don't play well then you don't play, I haven't quite warmed to Manuel yet but fair play to him on this one.
The first half of today's game was quite an even affair, we were playing reasonably well and so were Everton. The visitors took the lead when Lescott made a mistake to let Lukaku through on goal, we didn't deserve to be behind and fortunately for us it was only 90 seconds before Negredo equalised. As the half wore on we could of quite easily been out of sight, Aguero the main culprit for missing a host of chances, our little Argentine did put things right though and scored right before half time to send us in at the break 2 - 1 up.
The second half of the game was totally different to the first, we were playing very well and dominating the game, our third goal came on the 69th minute from a Sergio Aguero penalty and that was the game pretty much sown up. Throughout the second half we dominated the game for long periods and were running a very good, unbeaten Everton side ragged at times, we looked confident and well assured.
There were some good individual performances on show today and I just want to highlight a few of them. Kolarov who normally gets a lot of negative press was influential up until the point where he had to go off with an injury, Negredo was working very hard up top and was a handful for the Everton defence and Fernandinho had probably his best game for us, he was weighing in with tackles, his distribution was good, he was filling the gaps and tidying up in midfield.
On a constructive note, I did think that the midfield was still a little bit slack at times today and yet again it had to be put down to Yaya. He is to lazy and constantly frustrates me because with a bit more effort we all know what he is capable of. He doesn't work hard enough to get back and impose himself on the game, Fernandinho was mopping up for him all day today and made him look better than he was, it is almost like he is the senior player out of the two so he has the right to let Fernandinho do all the dirty work. He has been found out a lot recently and it is time he started pulling his weight more, of course it is great when he threads a quality pass like he did today for Negredo or bangs a free kick in but these are just bare minimum contributions from such a talented player who has a lot more to offer.
To sum up we were good today and had to be against a good Everton side, saying that I believe we can be much better. As a team and individually we can certainly improve, I think it is just a matter of Pellegrini working out his best team and helping certain players understand what he wants from them, if he can do that then we should have a good season, there isn't many teams better than Everton in the league, so if we can beat them with six changes then with some tweaks the possibilities are endless.
Goals and highlights.
City and Everton both contributed to a good a game of football today, as I thought Everton came to win and were very positive in their style of play, we played well though and were just too strong for them in the end.
I just want to get something out of the way, I am seeing a lot of comments online about the referee handing us the game, whilst I do not dispute the ref was shocking, both teams were on the receiving end of his poor decisions. In the case of the penalty that was awarded, Zabaleta bought it there is no denying that but it was there to be bought and I don't think Everton fans would mind if their player were to do the same.
Six changes were made to the starting line up today and rightly so, the likes of Milner and Negredo add a much more hard working, competitive edge to the team. These are the kind of decisions I like to see from a manager, Pellegrini wasn't scared to drop certain big names and make a statement that if you don't play well then you don't play, I haven't quite warmed to Manuel yet but fair play to him on this one.
The first half of today's game was quite an even affair, we were playing reasonably well and so were Everton. The visitors took the lead when Lescott made a mistake to let Lukaku through on goal, we didn't deserve to be behind and fortunately for us it was only 90 seconds before Negredo equalised. As the half wore on we could of quite easily been out of sight, Aguero the main culprit for missing a host of chances, our little Argentine did put things right though and scored right before half time to send us in at the break 2 - 1 up.
The second half of the game was totally different to the first, we were playing very well and dominating the game, our third goal came on the 69th minute from a Sergio Aguero penalty and that was the game pretty much sown up. Throughout the second half we dominated the game for long periods and were running a very good, unbeaten Everton side ragged at times, we looked confident and well assured.
There were some good individual performances on show today and I just want to highlight a few of them. Kolarov who normally gets a lot of negative press was influential up until the point where he had to go off with an injury, Negredo was working very hard up top and was a handful for the Everton defence and Fernandinho had probably his best game for us, he was weighing in with tackles, his distribution was good, he was filling the gaps and tidying up in midfield.
On a constructive note, I did think that the midfield was still a little bit slack at times today and yet again it had to be put down to Yaya. He is to lazy and constantly frustrates me because with a bit more effort we all know what he is capable of. He doesn't work hard enough to get back and impose himself on the game, Fernandinho was mopping up for him all day today and made him look better than he was, it is almost like he is the senior player out of the two so he has the right to let Fernandinho do all the dirty work. He has been found out a lot recently and it is time he started pulling his weight more, of course it is great when he threads a quality pass like he did today for Negredo or bangs a free kick in but these are just bare minimum contributions from such a talented player who has a lot more to offer.
To sum up we were good today and had to be against a good Everton side, saying that I believe we can be much better. As a team and individually we can certainly improve, I think it is just a matter of Pellegrini working out his best team and helping certain players understand what he wants from them, if he can do that then we should have a good season, there isn't many teams better than Everton in the league, so if we can beat them with six changes then with some tweaks the possibilities are endless.
Goals and highlights.
Don't miss 'The Minx' on City square today! *Video*
The face of Dr Martens 'The Minx' are playing live on City square after today's game against Everton.
'The Minx' are a top band and are currently lighting up the British music scene, I wouldn't normally plug a band and I haven't been asked to this time round either, but my mate (Andy Evans) is the drummer, so with him being an absolutely quality guy, a fellow City fan and part of a quality local band, it was only right that I did.
This is a good opportunity to get to see 'The Minx' for free tomorrow, these guys are way up the ladder on the music scene, so stick around after the final whistle and I am sure you will enjoy it.
Check them out on the video below for a little taster, if you like what you hear then 'The Minx' songs are also available to download on all leading music download sites.
'The Minx' are a top band and are currently lighting up the British music scene, I wouldn't normally plug a band and I haven't been asked to this time round either, but my mate (Andy Evans) is the drummer, so with him being an absolutely quality guy, a fellow City fan and part of a quality local band, it was only right that I did.
This is a good opportunity to get to see 'The Minx' for free tomorrow, these guys are way up the ladder on the music scene, so stick around after the final whistle and I am sure you will enjoy it.
Check them out on the video below for a little taster, if you like what you hear then 'The Minx' songs are also available to download on all leading music download sites.
Friday, 4 October 2013
Man City vs Everton - Sat 5th Oct 12:45 pm
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Our next premier league game sees Everton make the short trip to the Etihad, Everton have made a good start to the season under new boss Roberto Martinez and will surely prove to be a tough test.
Everton always like to put in a good performance against us and tomorrow will be no different, I can't really predict if I think we can beat them because we may play well and get beat, we may play poor and win or vice versa, we are just so unpredictable so far this season it is becoming impossible to say.
I have seen some mixed Everton performance's at our ground down the years, mostly I have seen them come and play very negatively but I think they will certainly come and have a go tomorrow, Martinez has them playing some good football and there is no reason why they shouldn't come to the Etihad with winning the game in their minds.
I am disappointed that Gareth Barry wont be eligible to play against us tomorrow, he should never of been allowed to leave City and he is proving that via his solid performances for Everton, in a way it would of been nice to see him show Pellegrini what he let go.
We are going into the game on the back of a defeat, a defeat that has been made to seem less negative because we were playing Bayern Munich and although we were indeed playing a very good Bayern Team, we were still poor.
Our midfield is lightweight and that was also the case when Roberto was here, so I don't really understand why it hasn't been spotted by the pros and sorted out. We have been getting out foxed in midfield all season, effectively we only have two players playing in the middle of the park, one of them very rarely plays to the peaks of his ability, whilst the other looks like he doesn't know what role he is supposed to be playing in. Pellegrini has got to address this problem, we either need an extra man putting in there or we need to replace the first choice's with hard working players like James Milner.
The other problem position is goalkeeper, I said after the Bayern game that Hart should be dropped and although I do believe this would be a valid decision, I am not so sure it would be the best thing to do long term. I know we can't wait to much longer for Hart to return to form but I do think that will happen sooner rather than later, I also think that he does deserve our support. Joe has saved us many more times than he has made mistakes, Joe Corrigan said that he must go back to basics, I agree that is exactly what he needs to do in terms of goalkeeping and his ego.
I hope we turn up tomorrow and win the game because otherwise we could end up 7 or 8 points off top spot, leaving a mountain to climb at such an early stage in the season.
Man City Team News:
Jack Rodwell will miss the game against his former employers because of a muscle strain, Martin Demichelis is still out with a knee injury.
Everton Team News:
Darron Gibson (knee) and Kevin Mirallas (ankle) are doubts for Everton and Gareth Barry is ineligible.
Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Kompany, Clichy, Toure, Fernandinho, Silva, Navas, Aguero, Negredo.
Possible Everton Line Up: Howard, Coleman, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, McCarthy, Naismith, Mirallas, Barkley, Osman, Lukaku.
My Prediction: Man City 3 - 0 Everton.
Worth A Bet: Alvaro Negredo scores the first goal in a
3 - 0 Man City win @ 45/1.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
Man City 1 - 3 Bayern Munich
All the headlines are about how good Bayern were tonight and rightly so, we didn't help ourselves though and made it easier for them than it should of been.
It is always a pleasure to get to watch great teams like Bayern and that was certainly the case tonight, they shown us why they are the champions of Europe, they totally outclassed us.
Whilst Bayern are obviously more than capable of beating the best teams regardless of their opponents form, we did help to make it look a lot easier to roll us over tonight, we didn't even try and compete at times and the tactics were all wrong.
The evening started with confusion as to why Micah Richards was playing ahead of Zabaleta, I am a Richards fan but he has been out far to long for him to return in a game against Bayern Munich, Pellegrini's first mistake.
Then the game started and it was immediately obvious that Bayern were far stronger than us in midfield, they always had an extra man and for some reason Pellegrini did not address this, his second mistake.
We went in at half time just one nil down and with the game still there for the taking it was time for Pellegrini to replace some of his under performing players, but for some unknown reason it did not happen, third mistake.
The second half started and considering no changes were made at half time it was the same scenario, badly lacking in midfield and a lot of below par players still on the pitch. It took Pellegrini 70 minutes before he brought on Milner, finally we had someone willing to work hard on the pitch but it was to little to late, this change could of easily been made after 20 minutes.
So basically from that brief run down of Pellegrini's mistakes you can see I am putting a lot of the blame on him and I think deservedly so. He should of counter acted Bayerns formation, everyone in the ground could see it apart from him, for me this guy is no better than Mancini. I am not calling for his head or anything and he does need time, but regardless what direction the team takes under his guidance, I don't think the powers that be should have got rid of Mancini.
Now to the players, things need to change, we cant keep flipping between being a great team to be being a mediocre team all the time just because certain players decide they can't be bothered, if it doesn't change then we can forget about any success this season.
Hart, Nasri, Toure, Fernandinho and Dzeko in particular were terrible. Hart needs dropping it is that simple, his mistakes tonight ultimately lost us the game, it is happening far to often now. He needs a reality check in a big way, he needs to forget about his shampoo adverts and worry about regaining the form that led him to being our countries number one.
Nasri reverted back to his effort lacking, tackle dodging, uninterested self again tonight and contributed absolutely nothing.
Toure as I have pointed out before is one of the most laziest players I have seen, he frustrates me like no other player ever has, he has proven he has quality but far to often he is missing in games and it is about time he started getting the finger pointed at him more often.
Fernandinho, admittedly I don't think this lad knows where he is supposed to be playing or what his role is in the team and that is the managers fault, saying that though nothing about him suggests he is worth close to 30 million.
Last to get picked out tonight is Dzeko, this lad does not care about wearing our shirt, he is a big lazy fairy. I really wanted to see Dzeko come good but it doesn't seem like it is ever going happen, he strolls around the pitch looking totally uninterested, he doesn't chase down defenders, he doesn't commit to tackles and in general just does not care, not to mention he has got a worse first touch than most 6 year olds. This lad needs a real dressing down and if he doesn't like it then he needs to be sold, we can't carry these prima donnas anymore.
It is unbelievable to me that the likes of Milner can't get in the team ahead of some of these guys, not to mention that Barry wasn't even deemed good enough to stay at the club, maybe Pellegrini doesn't like honest, hard working players or maybe they are just not big enough in terms of names for him.
All in all it was an all round bad night for us, everyone can take some blame, even us as fans because we were rubbish. At the moment it is not panic stations as far as the champions league is concerned, the big picture though would suggest that we need to get consistent immediately or we can forget all about any trophies.
It is always a pleasure to get to watch great teams like Bayern and that was certainly the case tonight, they shown us why they are the champions of Europe, they totally outclassed us.
Whilst Bayern are obviously more than capable of beating the best teams regardless of their opponents form, we did help to make it look a lot easier to roll us over tonight, we didn't even try and compete at times and the tactics were all wrong.
The evening started with confusion as to why Micah Richards was playing ahead of Zabaleta, I am a Richards fan but he has been out far to long for him to return in a game against Bayern Munich, Pellegrini's first mistake.
Then the game started and it was immediately obvious that Bayern were far stronger than us in midfield, they always had an extra man and for some reason Pellegrini did not address this, his second mistake.
We went in at half time just one nil down and with the game still there for the taking it was time for Pellegrini to replace some of his under performing players, but for some unknown reason it did not happen, third mistake.
The second half started and considering no changes were made at half time it was the same scenario, badly lacking in midfield and a lot of below par players still on the pitch. It took Pellegrini 70 minutes before he brought on Milner, finally we had someone willing to work hard on the pitch but it was to little to late, this change could of easily been made after 20 minutes.
So basically from that brief run down of Pellegrini's mistakes you can see I am putting a lot of the blame on him and I think deservedly so. He should of counter acted Bayerns formation, everyone in the ground could see it apart from him, for me this guy is no better than Mancini. I am not calling for his head or anything and he does need time, but regardless what direction the team takes under his guidance, I don't think the powers that be should have got rid of Mancini.
Now to the players, things need to change, we cant keep flipping between being a great team to be being a mediocre team all the time just because certain players decide they can't be bothered, if it doesn't change then we can forget about any success this season.
Hart, Nasri, Toure, Fernandinho and Dzeko in particular were terrible. Hart needs dropping it is that simple, his mistakes tonight ultimately lost us the game, it is happening far to often now. He needs a reality check in a big way, he needs to forget about his shampoo adverts and worry about regaining the form that led him to being our countries number one.
Nasri reverted back to his effort lacking, tackle dodging, uninterested self again tonight and contributed absolutely nothing.
Toure as I have pointed out before is one of the most laziest players I have seen, he frustrates me like no other player ever has, he has proven he has quality but far to often he is missing in games and it is about time he started getting the finger pointed at him more often.
Fernandinho, admittedly I don't think this lad knows where he is supposed to be playing or what his role is in the team and that is the managers fault, saying that though nothing about him suggests he is worth close to 30 million.
Last to get picked out tonight is Dzeko, this lad does not care about wearing our shirt, he is a big lazy fairy. I really wanted to see Dzeko come good but it doesn't seem like it is ever going happen, he strolls around the pitch looking totally uninterested, he doesn't chase down defenders, he doesn't commit to tackles and in general just does not care, not to mention he has got a worse first touch than most 6 year olds. This lad needs a real dressing down and if he doesn't like it then he needs to be sold, we can't carry these prima donnas anymore.
It is unbelievable to me that the likes of Milner can't get in the team ahead of some of these guys, not to mention that Barry wasn't even deemed good enough to stay at the club, maybe Pellegrini doesn't like honest, hard working players or maybe they are just not big enough in terms of names for him.
All in all it was an all round bad night for us, everyone can take some blame, even us as fans because we were rubbish. At the moment it is not panic stations as far as the champions league is concerned, the big picture though would suggest that we need to get consistent immediately or we can forget all about any trophies.
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Man City vs Bayern Munich - Wed 2nd Oct 19:45 pm
Time to take our minds of the league again and look forward to the challenge of the champions league, current holders Bayern Munich will surely be a tough test but also an exciting one.
My day at work tomorrow will be a total write off, I will be watching the clock until its time to set off to the Etihad. I get really excited when it is time for a champions league game, but then again who wouldn't?
I know most people wouldn't have wanted to draw a team like Bayern in the group stages but I am glad we did, I love the privilege of being able to watch City play Europe's finest, plus if you want to win these competitions you have to play the best teams at some point.
We had a good start to the group stages by winning away from home and if we can bag three points in our first home game against Bayern then I think we would already be well on our way to getting out of the group.
Bayern are a class team and are clearly tough opponents but so are we, I don't think we should be nervous about playing them, I have a lot of belief in the ability of our team and on our day I think we can beat anyone.
Man City Team News:
Sergio Aguero and David Silva both return to the squad after recovering from injury, Demichelis (knee) is still unavailable for selection.
Bayern Munich Team News:
Thiago Alancantra (ankle), Javi Martinez (groin) and Holger Badstuber (knee) are all missing for the visitors, Mario Gotze is expected to return to the squad after recovering from an ankle injury.
Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Kompany, Clichy, Toure, Fernandinho, Nasri, Navas, Aguero, Dzeko.
Possible Bayern Munich Line Up: Neuer, Rafinha, Boateng, Dante, Alaba, Lahm, Kroos, Robben, Ribery, Muller, Mandzukic.
My prediction: Man City 2 - 0 Bayern Munich.
Worth A Bet: Sergio Aguero scores the first goal in a 2 - 0 Man City win @ 85/1.
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