MAN CITY 3 – 0 Liverpool – PLAYER RATINGS
4 Jan
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Hart - Superb early save to deny Downing and the way in which he narrows the angle so quickly is a real strength. Opted to punch, rather than catch, on a number of occasions but dealt well with the aerial onslaught - 7
Richards - Downing’s trickery caused him the occasional problem, but Micah’s pace and strength made sure he was back to cover. Strong in the air and advanced as much as possible. Troubled by Bellamy when the Welshman came on - 7
K. Touré - Mancini possibly selected him to deal with the movement and pace of Suarez, but Kolo coped impressively against Carroll. Read the game well and competed in the air - 7.5
Kompany - Another commanding performance from our inspirational captain who was magnificent both aerially and on the ground. Stunning block to deny Kuyt on the goalline and was a true leader - 8.5
Clichy - Dealt brilliantly with Glen Johnson whenever the fullback bombed forward. Solid in the tackle and committed, he also managed to provide an option down our left - 8
Barry - Having put so much effort in against Sunderland, Barry looked fatigued yesterday and produced his poorest display of the season. His passing was astray, tackling was left and although both bookings were very petty, I think they were just about justified. Will miss the FA Cup tie against Manchester United - 5
Y. Touré - His marauding run resulted in the penalty and that secured the three points for us. Struggled at times to gain a foothold in the centre as Liverpool outnumbered us, but when in possession, he was far more incisive than in recent matches. Scored one and had a hand in another - 8
Milner - Started on the left so as to track Glen Johnson and put in his usual all energy shift. Moved to the centre once Barry was dismissed and was impressive in possession. Took his penalty superbly - 7.5
Silva - Still hasn’t quite recovered his early season form but some of his passing was exquisite at times. Denied space by Liverpool’s hard-working midfield, he still managed to provide the assist for Aguero’s goal and tracked back to help Richards down the right - 7
Aguero - Looked sharp in the early stages and will have been delighted to open the scoring with a dipping effort. Link up play with Silva was first class and I was a touch surprised he was the man replaced for Adam Johnson - 7
Džeko - Worked hard for the team against two tough centre-backs but he was often isolated as Liverpool controlled possession. Inch-perfect pass to Yaya in the build up to penalty although his confidence does look low at the moment - 6
Subs
A. Johnson – Hit the post with a curling shot but otherwise barely touched the ball – 6
Lescott - Shored up the defence in the final few minutes and won his fair share of headers - 6
Joe Hart was worth more than the 7 you gave him. My score would have been 8. That first save was so important. If City had gone 1 down it would have been a completely different game!! I thought he was close to being man of the match.
Agree – he’s been on top of his game recently
Dzeko was truly awful, his touch has gone completely. As for Kolo, he played well but he always makes at least 1 mistake everytime he plays which could cost us
Truly awful? Were you not watching us 10 years ago? Top of the league, just beat liverpool 3-0, but lets mention the fact that someone who did ok and made a key contribution was ‘truly awful’
Thats the point – its not ten years ago now, its 2012 and we have to expect so much more from individuals than we did ten years ago. Just because Sun Jihai came onto the pitch at half time it doesnt mean we have to compare everything to the era he played in? Dzeko’s performances in the last two matches do not merit him getting in the side. His touch is frankly worse than Jo’s and his lack of confidence means he never takes the defender on…when he tries to he leaves the ball behind? Not a good enough performance and we are all entitled to our own opinion. he is an asset on his day but has not been good enough of late
Ze mancs ar an absolute disgrace, bunch of money grabbing mercenaries lead by an Arab with more money than sense. City will fall just like Chelsea have
It seems you still do not get it and that is no wonder as you would not be an Arsenal fan otherwise! Professional is more about money than sense! You do not need to go far to see that, just consider the price tag Arsenal put on Fabregas when Barcelona knocked on your door.
As much as I like super Mario, but he seems to be Mancini’s pet and that has cost Dzeko. He was benched when he was in top form. With all said, He won the corner that resulted in the second goal as well as his almost perfect pass to Yaya that resulted in 3rd goal.
He is a very talented player and it is up to the manager and staff to get the best out of him
The second poster needs to take a reality check. Dzeko is a real asset, the criticism from him and a few others s unwarranted and unfair. He was benched when in great form scoring for a past time, to accomodate Aguero and Balotelli, and needs to get back in the goals. to do this he needs a run of games. Yesterday he was strong and committed and stood toe to toe with that uglopus Skrtl who would be more at home in WWF. He laid on the blissful pass that led to the YYT penalty too, give the guy a break will you please
Great, he was benched when he was on top form…still couldnt control a ball in top form, look at the two misses in the derby…yes he scored two but tried to smash abother one which was a clear goal scoring opportunity. He was not strong at all! He won all of two headers, and neither of them found the man! On form he would control on his chest first time, but now he takes it with his feet, has a heavy touch then loses it. Agger and Skrtel got under his skin and he cut a dispondant figure on the pitch, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else but on the pitch. He works hard but lacks end product. We’d have beaten Sunderland if he’d stay behind with Johnson for shooting practice at the end of training! His throughball to Yaya was superb, I agree but just because of that you cant ignore the other faults in his game.
There is no such a thing a perfection. Aguero has missed many balls from 10 Yards and not to mention his frequent losing of the ball during the his run-ins but that does not make him a bad player. A player’s worth is measured in terms of his contribution to winning of the game. It does not matter he can not control the ball or only does belly dancing in the middle of field. As long as they can put the ball in or provide assists, they are doing a great job.
And Dzeko provided one assist….thats all he did? Does that mean he’s brilliant? No. Yes Aguero loses it but he makes a far bigger and more influential contribution that Dzeko. He runs with the ball and creates so many more chances. You wouldnt see Dzeko shoot from that far out like Aguero did at 0-0. At least Aguero gives everything a go. Dzeko tries to offload the ball and give the responsibility to someone else as he doesnt have the confidence.
He also got the corner that resulted in the second goal. Saying that someone is not as awful as you described in your posting is not synonymous to brilliant. He worked hard for the team and despite the fact that he has not got many games recently, he did a good job.
I consider Jo awful.
People. We must enjoy the fact that we put Liverpool to the sword with incision and quality. I agree that Dzeko hasn’t recovered from being rotated when he was scoring and terrifying defenders at the start of the season, but he is not afraid against bully boys like Skrtl, who is essentially a thug in a football shirt.
Dzeko is a confidence player and at the moment his confidence is shot. Soon as he gets a goal he be back where he was. Thought he made a great contribution vs Lpool. He got constantly and repeatedly fouled by Skrtel and got nothing no wonder he looked fed up towards the end of the game, but never gave up trying. Patience he’ll be back…….
Dzeko big problem here he does work for the team and has done great in some games, however he does get isolated and has to hold onto the ball longer which is really not his game. At Arsenal he produced the ball that won the game and again agains Liverpool he created a pass that won the Penalty. Fan near where I sit in the North stand have little patience and this does not help him. We should get behind our players as they are so far giving us a season to remember. Players do not want to play bad, sometimes the way we play does not suit them