Chelsea 2 – 0 MAN CITY – MY THOUGHTS
21 Mar
Disappointing. That would be the word I’d choose to describe this defeat. It’s a tough one to surmise, as I would have gladly accepted a point before kick-off, and our performance, for the most part, was deserving of a share of the spoils. But towards the end, in the last twenty or so minutes, we conveyed the impression of a side clinging on desperately. Unfortunately, we couldn’t quite cling on for long enough.
David Luiz, someone so heavily linked with City, scored the opening goal, a header from a set-piece. That in itself is deflating, as a side with our aerial ability should be coping better from such situations. It resulted from a needless, reckless Micah Richards tackle near the touchline, a rare lapse of concentration from our otherwise excellent defence. As we pushed forward in injury time, Ramires added a sweetly taken second, giving the scoreline a rather flattering look. We played well overall, but not quite well enough.
Here are my main reflections on the game:
Edin Džeko
I’m slightly bemused and, at the same time, angered, by the criticism that our January arrival is receiving. The Bosnian striker is someone who has scored goals wherever he has been, whether for club or country, in a domestic league or the Champions League. And yet it seems that many City fans are judging him to be a total flop based on just eight Premier League performances, some of them from the bench.
Just as with any player arriving partway through a season, it takes time to adapt, notwithstanding the fact that we are not set up to play to Džeko’s strengths. He is a striker who scores a large percentage of his goals from crosses, his heading being his forté. However, the way we play at the moment, with Tévez leading the line upfront, is quite narrow, relying on our fullbacks to provide the width. So I urge my fellow fans to give Edin some breathing space. By next year, with experience of English football, he will be fine and we will see the striker whom every major club was linked with.
Player of the Season
It’s now got to the stage of the season where thoughts turn towards who will be crowned as the outstanding performer. Our captain for the day, and hopefully for next season, Vincent Kompany, produced yet another sterling performance yesterday, and is surely in the running. It is likely to come down to a choice of Kompany, David Silva and Tévez for the top prize, with all three having been instrumental for us this season. Who would you vote for? Let me know below.
The International Break
I’m not going to harp on about fatigue here. It’s clearly played a role in some below-par recent performances, but I think the main positive from the international break is that the players can get away from each other for a couple of weeks. That’s not to suggest there is rampant in-fighting every day: rather, the change of scenery could work well, allowing the players to relax for a short while and then come back refreshed for the end of season push.
The Champions League Decider
It looks like it’s all coming down to that match again. At Eastlands, near the end of the season, Spurs the visitors. Call it fate, destiny or whatever you like, but the stage looks set for a repeat of last year’s crunch match. A Peter Crouch goal in that game secured Champions League football for Tottenham. A repeat this year would be crushing. But surely not even City could suffer the same fate.. Surely?
I was at Stamford Bridge on Sunday and happened to be in the West Stand directors box (not normally)3 rows behind Gary Cook. At the end of the game feeling dissappointed I spoke to Mr Cook, one blue (me) to another (hopefully) and just said “I think we are too cautious” to which he said “pardon” and I repeated, to which he looked at me with a face like thunder and stormed off?? Am i missing something here? I didnt ask for anybody to get sacked or criticise a player, I certainly wasnt rude,we were just supposedly 2 blues 200 miles from home..Tosser!!
I can not help to notice a stark difference between City and Spurs. One to deliver a sucker punch in last 15 minutes and One to get a sucker punch in that last 15 minutes.
Kolarov seem to be more of a liability more than ever. Slow on turn, slow on acceleration, mixed crosses/passes and no sense of position. Indeed, the first goal was due his poor marking of David Luiz. I do hope for City’s sake he will turn out to be another Vidic or Ivonovic because at this moment words fail to describe him.
Lescott has been very solid for the past few games. However; at this moment his only shortcoming is lack of pace. For the second goal, Ramires breezed through Lescott and then Kolarov. In center half we need two Kompanys and I personally believe Boateng posses all those qualities as CB, Strong, tall and fast. And before some other fellows jump the gun, I do agree Lescott has had a very good games recently and my hat is off to him but when you play a world class team all it takes to get punished it one or two errors.
Our mid-field has its “MOJO” missing. David Silva seems the only one who can change the game anytime. Barry suffers from chronic lack of pace and it is more evident now at 30. Yaya seems like person strolling in park, he seem to be waiting for the ball to find him as opposed going for the ball. And poor Milner has to huff and puff back an forth to cover liabilities like Kolarov.
All this takes its toll on offense with no proper service and makes Džeko look bad.
I do believe the majority of city’s goals has been due to Tevez playing with some sort of magic hat to pull a rabit out.
I do hope City would snap out of hibernation after international break and secures its position in top 4 before it comes to Spurs game
Agree wiv u 100% Lescott made 2 errors in that game the 1st when Chelsea shud hav had a penalty the 2nd letting Ramires go past him so easily i would play Boateng after all the other 2 players weve bought from Hamburg have been FANTASTIC (Kompany and De Jong)
…just look at this page and you will see why Dzeko is not scoring goals. lets put some balls into opponent’s third…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thefootballtacticsblog/Percentage_Passes.jpg
silva is great but have to learn one-touch football and how to lift the ball off the ground (cross).
We actually played very well! I felt we surpassed Chelsea in the first half and took the game to them. However fatigue set in as well as our tendancy to be overly defensive which allows teams to come at us in waves of attacks. This is obviously from Mancini’s strct tutelage and serves us greatly but also leads to our downfall when we rely on defensive play to simply get us a draw. I know this is a tired isssue at this point but it is obvious that these tactics in the premiership are dubious at best.
I believe the team tired greatly in the last twenty minutes due to recent stresses. There were certainly some excellent performance’s , Silva obviously but Milner impressed too. He just needs to learn his limitations cause when he finally got into the box he hasn’t got Johnson’s legs to do anything with the ball.
What ultimately cost us besides the fatigue was Mancini’s hesitation to bring on Johnson and Mario. We all wanted the draw as soon as the tide began to turn against us and he simply did not want to tire our reinforcements. The goal was the catalyst to bring them on anyway thus defeating the point of his trepidation. As soon as they came on we looked for more potent in the attack and Dzecko was no longer isolated and came much more into the game. Its tragic i suppose.
Oh and Cook is a clown.
Fatigue definitely played a part. I believe [I can be wrong], we have played so far 9 games more than Chelsea. They had one more day of rest and not to mention that we had to play almost 60 minutes with 10 men two days ago.
But a sign of good manager is to manage risks. Just take a look at Man United last 2 games against Bolton and Arsenal and you get the picture of what I mean.
We may end up in the same situation next year if we play in Champions league next year and the years to follow. Unfortunately Mancini has failed to leverage our team properly esp our good players in Youth Academy to minimize the fatigue factor.
That is absoltely spot on. Althogh we cannot accuse Mancini of being completely complacent in this area as he has handed the like’s of Cunningham and weiss start’s previously. But just look at toure’s performance on Sunday. No doubt he has ceratian abilites. But he was seriously misplaced and practically jogging at points in the game. He was expecting the service that the likes of Xavi and Iniesta could only give.
His position links the defensive midfield to the attack. When palying in a game like this you have to be industrious, creative and be quick on the ball. He fulfilled none of these obligations. But Mancini persist’s with him in this postiton for games like this. But we have alternative options here. Play Silva through the middle or even Milner (who is more suited to this role anyway). Then we could start playing A Johnson and perhaps Phillip’s in the wide positions. There is also the Micheal johnson/ Gai Assulin option but with the stakes now so high it seems unlikely he would hand start to novice’s at this point.
I don’t understand the desire to blood young players now. If they’re good enough, then they will play. Remember that Mancini gave Boyata his debut last season and played him against Arsenal/Chelsea/United. He’s got faith in the lad, but with Kompany and Lescott playing so well, now is the not the time to reintroduce Boyata.
And what other youngsters are ready to play at the moment? Guidetti is the only one I can possibly think of who is in form and could be an option. But with Tévez, Balotelli and Džeko ahead of him, he won’t be risked. Who else do you want to see?
Lescott is not playing that well thats the whole point!!!
Lescott is under radar because
1- Wigan failed to score the last minute goal when the player got passed Lescott much like the way Ramires did and he did manage to put the ball inside
2- we were lucky or referee was kind enough not call a penalty.
These are the mistakes that are game changer. Do not get me wrong, I do like the Lad but I believe he only makes a great sub.
Reece Wabara – Abdul Razak are two other great potentials. I am not saying they are ready for a game as massive as Chelsea’s. But I am sure they could have put a decent display against Dynamo Kyiv. This would have allowed a few key players to get some needed rest to put up a better fight against Chelsea.
I dont get Mancinis way of thinkin ther was plenty of interest for Boyata in Jan on loan at prem teams y not send him to a team like Blackpool were they play nice free flowing football so he can learn the trade of defending
I thought we looked fairly comfortable for most of the match but clearly started to tire badly towards the end of the game and that led to the defeat. Re: Lescott, he has improved massively in recent weeks but is still inclined to have 1 catastrophic moment per game. As has been said, he has got away with a few recently but he is just too clumsy for my liking and will cost us at some stage. Shame we didn’t sign Luiz, with him and Vinnie at the back we could have kicked on instead of scrapping to stay in the top 4. Anyhow, I agree the international break should do us good and now we’re out of Europe, I expect our league form to start picking up.
Very good blog, and I agree with all your points.
Dzeko will be a world beater next season and will et 20 goals minimum.
As for blooding youngsters?! Are you barmy?! At this stage of the season that is mad? Playing Razak against Kiev when he had 1 minute or less in the premier league and didnt touch the ball?! Are you joking me? As for Wabara, he hasn’t even got 1 minutes experience!! View From A Blue, you are correct, not the time to introduce them. Like you say the only one to possibly bring through is my hero, but even still there is no way he should get the chance if we have Dzeko, Tevez ans Balotelli
>> he hasn’t even got 1 minutes experience.
If that is your logic for not playing, then he would never play as he never has a 1 minute experience.
Putting all into prespective, I do understand the first rule of a blog is to agree to disagree.
However, I do agree with you on one point that it is a very good blog.
No, we cant throw him into a last 16 European tie for experience….give him a chance playing for the first team pre-season or in the earlier rounds of a cup, not the last 16. No way would Razzak have done a better job?!
Great entry , all your points were spot on. As for the man of the season, i would pick Tevez. Now , i know that in the last few weeks Tevez has not been his usual self, he has not been scoring goal after goal. However , we must look at it from Carlitos’ point of view: For the past 3 Argentina Friendlies , he has not been called up. I dont know how it is in England and Europe as a whole in terms of friendlies, but not getting called up to int. friendlies being so close to the biggest tourny of South America is a huge deal.
Tevez has been called the ” player of the people”, he gives his all for the national team , sometimes more that he gives for his own club. The Argentinian people as whole think he is a bigger asset to the team than Messi is.
The reason why he has not been called up is because ,according to the Batista ( argentinian coach), he wants to try new players. The real reason however , according to many different sources , is because Tevez said he was “injured” and couldnt play against Brazil a couple of months ago , but then went on and played for City on sunday.
Tevez gambled, and he lost. We must understand the level of nationalism that Tevez has and then understand that Tevez MUST be distressed over the fact that he did not called up and that he will , most likely , NOT get called up for Copa America.
For a man that almost quit his club to go back to Argentina, no playing for Argentina is probably the worst thing that can happened to him in his career as a footballer ( excluding a very bad injury , of course).
This is why i believe Tevez has been like this for the past few matches.
We must not forget all the magnificent and genius goals that he made at the beginning and middle of the season , we must not forget that City was , for a while , a one man team ( Tevez). Silva is a great player , but without Tevez we would not be in the Top 4 right now , believe me. Silva gets close second.
dont c any mention of VK who has probably played better then Tevez and Silva all season he has been Consistant unlike Carlos of late and thats y for me hes dropped out of the running for player of the season yeh hes been dropped but playing S*** aint gonna help u get back into the team show argentina wot there missing out on.
Silva was awful at Chelsea he was for me r worst player nothing he tried came off but we can let him off cos that happens very rarely wiv him.
I think you are deluded JoshMCFC if you think Silva wa our worst player, at least he tried to conjur up new things unlike the lazy Yaya who does not merit being in this team.
Are you for real! Silva is a class player and one of the only two players going forward who played with any inventive intention (The other being Dzecko who ingenuis header could have worked) whp worked tirelessly. Kompany would certainly be in running for player of the season as he is world class, consistent and headstrong. But it has to go to Tevez as he has been the difference all season no matter how we delude ourselves otherwise.
how was Yaya r worst player wen he was r only player who had a shot on target Silva was awful he gave the ball away to much.
Dont c how Tevez has been r best player take VK and Silva out the team and all i c is a mid table team a little bit better then Villa.
Take Tevez out and i think were looking at a team who r still up there so i think the top 2 players r VK and Silva by a HUGE distance with VK edging it atm
Could I just indicate at this juncture that I now officially go on record as hoping Manchester City do NOT finish in the Top Four of the Barclay’s Premiership? That way, Roberto Mancini is sure to lose his job, a boon for the club which cannot come soon enough, in my opinion. If I have to sit through one more turgid, boring, lethargic, lifeless, workaday, workmanlike under-performance from the Sky Blues this season, I may have no option but to put my own eyes out. And then to have to listen to more excuses about tiredness and fatigue, and too many matches, from someone with a huge squad, huge funds at his disposal, and an array of talented players sold or on loan (and certifiable loopers still getting a game). Did Bobbi Manc imagine that a repeat show of the nil-all bus-parking bore-fest against Arsenal at the Emirates would also be a good result against Chelsea at The Bridge last Sunday? Hardly, if it had been achieved in a similar fashion. Which it would have been, had it even been achieved. But, of course, it wasn’t achieved at all. The overly cautious and ultra careful Italian is obsessed with not conceding, his philosophy being that if the opposition don’t score, and you manage to sneak even one, hey presto, you’ve won the game. What he has so far failed to realise is that there is always the possibility of conceding, no matter how tight your defence is, especially against the big clubs who provide strong attacking opposition. A total of three shots on goal on Sunday, one on target, everything breaking down in midfield, because there is no one further up the pitch: is this any way to play football, much less challenge for a title? Especially when you consider the number of talented AND HONEST players in the squad. I wouldn’t mind if Citeh finished tenth, if they played like they believed they could finish first. More risk-taking is required for a title win. Such timid and blatant lack of ambition, and lack of demonstration of the flair we know is there, this wilful shackling and under-use of resources, cannot go unpunished. The sooner the manager fucks off back to Italy, where he can play catenaccio to his heart’s content like it’s 1972, the better for all concerned with the club.
Jose Mourhino for Manchester – the blue part.
DT
Second thoughts:
Does anyone other life-long City fan feel the same as me? On second thoughts, the best possible scenario for us is that City finish in the top four but still sack Mancini!
But it’s not just Mancini that is the problem. City’s problems also stem from the selection of a poor management team. Of course it is the Head Coach’s ultimate responsibility, but look at this:
Brian Kidd – has been know to have too much influence on the training ground. Noted for his sterile, defensive tactical approach. At Leeds and Blackburn, the styles went markedly defensive when Kidd came on board.
David Platt – just ask Nottingham Forest fans how successful he was! Has a good knowledge of the game but little proven experience.
Attilio Lombardo – a disaster as player manager at Crystal Palace. Some experience in Italy but little of value in the Premier League.
In spite of these obtsacles, City will probably still finish in the top four but the owners are no mugs. They will want a better brand. We played some good football last year, particularly at home to Arsenal and away to Chelsea, possibly the residue of Hughes’ reign.
But we probably need more creativity from the centre of midfield and a better defensive unit to win the title.
Of course, if we beat Man United in the FA Cup semi-finals, however, all will be forgiven.
Y sack Mancini the guy has done a great job the only reason we hav been so defensive is because of the quality we have in defence we have 1 good defender (Richards) and 1 great defender (Kompany) and believe we need a new CB and LB not manager. Jose Mourinho isnt as special as everyone thinks earlier in the season his Real Madrid got hammered by Barca 5-0. At Inter Milan he took over a team that were winning the title every season. At Real he has done no more then Pellegrini did. and at Chelsea he did a good job so no not Jose
Zabby? Kolorov? Kolo Toure? C’mon…. Even Boateng looks a player, although admittedly Lescott can be suspect. Jose did a GREAT job at Chelsea, the chief reason for his recommendation. He has limited funds at Real, and will probably leave if they don’t loosen the purse strings.He made Inter Champions League winners, which no one thought possible. Most importantly, he knows how to get the best out of players, unlike Mr. Manc, who holds grudges (viz, Adebayor) and openly criticises his own players (e.g. what’s the point in saying Dzeko must improve, when you play him as an isolated lone striker and don’t give him any ball?)
At Real he bought Ozil Canales Khedira and loaned Ade theres no excuse hes done no more then Pellegrini did. Mancini is the future for City hes a good young manager and under him i feel wiv a new cb and lb we can win the premiership. as for Toure, Boateng and Kolarov Kolo is just as bad as Jolean.