West Brom 0 – 0 MAN CITY – PLAYER RATINGS
28 Dec
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Hart - Was able to watch large parts of the game without being called into action. Saw one shot crash against his post but was involved in little else. Even managed a dismissive look when West Brom fans were singing ‘Thursday Night, Channel 5’! - 6
Zabaleta - Coped well defensively, winning his challenges and headers, though his lack of creativity and pace was evident in attack. With the home side sitting back, we were crying out for Richards’s pace down the right, but unfortunately Zabaleta doesn’t possess too much. Give him a man to mark and there are few better, but when we need to break down sides, he’s not too helpful - 6
K. Touré - Surprised he started in place of Lescott but was my man of the match. Was dominant in the air, matched the runs of Long superbly and was measured in possession. Mancini seems to rotate Kolo and Lescott depending on the opposition, but both seem to be coping well at the moment - 7.5
Kompany - Didn’t need to be the rock he has been in the past couple of matches, but coped with the simple things well. Strong aerially and used the ball in advanced situations - 7
Clichy - Was a useful attacking outlet down the left and received the ball frequently in crossing positions. More often than not, failed to beat the first man which was frustrating - 6
Milner - Probably his worst game in a City shirt for quite some time. Struggled to find his passing range and although he was full of energy as usual, didn’t seem to provide cover for the defence or incisiveness in attack. Could have been replaced earlier - 5.5
Y. Touré – With Barry rested, Yaya was forced to play deeper and he couldn’t impose himself on the game. Saw plenty of the ball as he picked it up off his brother and Kompany, but wasn’t able to provide the creativity we needed. Pushed further forward towards the end and looked exhausted - 6
Nasri - Another one who always looking to get involved but without a marauding presence down the right, was often forced into turning towards the already heavily congested centre. Replaced early a touch surprisingly - 6
Silva - Very guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net as opposed to shooting. Created a couple of openings for himself and should have had an effort but instead tried an impossible throughball for a teammate. Full of running and tracked back well, but missed our best chance of the game – 6.5
Balotelli - Struck the bar with a superb, dipping shot and looked bright when on the ball. However, his movement really disappointed me. Our attacking play is based around fluidity, speed and movement, yet he was static on many occasions. On the ball, he was a threat, but needs to do more off it - 6.5
Aguero - Wasted a glorious opportunity because he thought he was offside but was otherwise starved of chances. His running of the channels was good and he always looked busy, but it just didn’t click in the final third as a team - 6.5
Subs
Barry - Produced a couple of sublime passes to Aguero and managed to shore up the midfield – 6.5
A. Johnson - He’s usually so effective at coming off the bench with twenty minutes to go, but we failed to feed him the ball and thus he was totally ineffective – 6
Dzeko - Won some headers and linked up play nicely but shot wildly over in the last few minutes when he should have done better - 6
Again Johnson hardly touched the ball when he came on – barry calmed everyone down which was good. As for the west brom chant – we trumped it, “WATCHING US ON A THURSDAY NIGHT, WATCHING US ON A THURSDAY NIGHT!”
Poor game but sure we will bounce back. Disappointed with Balotelli’s lack of desire, when he got the ball he was on the left and then we crossed it in the box….and no-one was there?
That is not the first time that we miss an open shot from 10 to 12 Yards. I know of Aguero missing a few shots so far and Silva missed a brilliant one as well as being a bit selfish in passing the ball to Balotelli who had a better shot. Overall, it was poor showing on part of everyone.
With all said, 3 draw, 1 loss for all EPL games played so far is a fantastic return and I would take the same in a heart beat for the next half of the season.
MC have been on a long winning run.This draw is just a blip. I expect City’s reservers to make a difference despite the pundits saying the SOM from across the road is fine tuning his side and could pip city to the title.
Btw he is due a draw,a defeat is much better,at Newcastle. He has won 5 to 6 games in the eplon the trot. By the law of averages he has to be stopped.I read he is worried MC may poach some of his young players.Well it’s about time he is given a dose of his own medicne,.He has been stealing,sorry buying players,from other teams to weaken them,hopefullyplus others. Note Carrick and Berbi,I hope MC can buy some of his players to weaken him. That will make my day.