MAN CITY 2 – 4 Aston Villa – PLAYER RATINGS
26 Sep
Pantilimon - So City’s search for their first clean sheet of the season continues. No surprise to see him start in the cup, but his kicking was, at times, abysmal. Furtherstill, although he saves the shots, he always parries it out as opposed to push them out and away from the danger zone. All of his saves brought the ball back into play and cost us twice. Cannot be blamed for the other two goals though - 5
K. Touré - Stand in skipper for the night and not a shock inclusion as Mancini decided to change things around. I cannot actually remember him having any impact on the game whatsoever. As captain, I expected a lot more on the pitch from him, but he was extremely quiet and equally as rubbish. If you want the definition of useless defending, it is Kolo Toure. There was absolute chaos in the defence and he was like a deer in the headlights of a car for most of the game - 4
Lescott - After his mistake on Sunday, the pressure was on him tonight to react and deal with it after the late withdrawal of Jack Rodwell. Very strange decision to take him off because he was the best of a bad bunch at the back. Sometimes went missing in action but not half as much as Kolo - 5
Nastasic - After an impressive debut at the Bernabeu, he had a relatively easy ride against Wiemann, who was quite frankly shocking. However, for Agbonlahor’s goal, his defending was awful and not up to scratch. He let the attacker run straight down the middle which you cannot afford to do at this level. His positional play I have noticed is not fantastic either. He was on the right hand side of the two central defenders and he struggled at times due to the fact he is left-footed in the main. As a positive, with a man running at him, he stands tall and strong and looks confident. However, once again, ball watching for Villa’s third goal and stood still for their fourth goal. After such a good debut against Madrid, this was a very, very disappointing performance - 4
Milner - Surprise choice due to speculation he was out with a broken metatarsal, but what you see is what you get with Milner. Worked hard during the game but due to lack of match practice, over-hit many balls, or indeed, under-hit them. Must say it was a fantastic ball for Mario’s goal though. Looked a bit fearful at times. Milner was ball watching for N’Zogbia’s goal and again was another who late on in the game tired massively. He was needed to do the simple jobs, and that is all he really did - 6
Razak - Razak in my eyes was poor last night. He needed to show a bit more maturity. He unnecessarily tried to volley a ball in from a City corner and from that mistake a better side could have punished us. Looked vulnerable in possession, didn’t distribute the ball very well. His lunge also lead to Villa’s first goal, due to an extremely poor first touch. In parts he was tidy, but for me, he is not quite up to scratch and was off the pace. Took too long on the ball and caught in possession numerous times - 4
Barry - Missed fizz in the middle of the park which Barry could not provide. Didn’t press the ball enough at times and was chasing shadows at times. Was effective and tidy in possession, however, when compared to the rest of the team and played okay in the De Jong role. Took his own goal well but he will be disappointed in his performance - 5
Kolarov - Most people would say it would be ‘surprising’ if Kolarov held his position on a football pitch….and they would be right. So let’s start with what he did well. Some corners where delightfully whipped in, but the rest he failed to get them past the first man. This summarises Kolarov really. Terribly inconsistent. Scored a trademark freekick which was a fantastic strike, but other than that, perhaps fell victim to the 3-5-2 formation due to the fact that there was far too much space behind him which the likes of N’Zogbia could exploit. His shots late on epitomise our performance. Off balance, on the half-volley from 35 yards out. One word…ridiculous. And as much as people will blame him for the fourth Villa goal, he bust a gut to try and get us an equaliser and then bust a gut to get back, so no blame on him for that one. All in all, too many rash tackles and rash shots. Typical Kolarov - 4
Suarez - Given a start by Mancini after some glittering reviews in the EDS side, but perhaps the occasion got to him. He ran around for a good 60 minutes before being replaced by Scott Sinclair, but for most of the 60 minutes he was chasing shadows. Some bright flashes of brilliance to get others in around him early on, but overall had very little impact on the game - 4
Balotelli - Yes, he scored, but I am not entirely convinced that Mario wanted to be on the pitch to be honest. For most of the game he was walking around in the rain, and his body language was aptly described by Ian Cheeseman as “shocking”. There were none of his trademark runs in behind defenders and he just did not concentrate enough at all. Also, Villa’s second goal came from a Balotelli foul. He controlled the ball perfectly, then a bit of petulance meant he gave away a silly foul. This of course let them get back into the game. Other than that, had no impact on the game at all. Didnt contribute. Showed no interest - 4
Tévez - Cannot question his overall desire. Only one who seemed to want to win. Will feel let down by his team mates - 7
Subs
Sinclair - Sinclair added a little bit of vigour and flair into the side. Wasted a good chance when running in on goal, but seemed to get his foot stuck in the ground which wasted the opportunity. Did not really have enough chances to run at defenders - 5
Džeko - Introduction of Dzeko made us look a far better side. Was always a willing runner but in the end, didnt really have a chance to make a difference - 6
Hélan - Looked hungry for the opportunity - No time to mark
These ratings were compiled by part-time Denis Suarez look-a-like Matt Jones, a lifelong City fan who travels home and away. Matt has not yet been persuaded to join Twitter so you can give him your feedback in the comments section below.
normally a big fan of these ratings but these are quite a poor effort. aside of his well taken goal, mario (whilst i agree looked often lethargic) was our biggest threat, making chances for others and taking up good positions to be often ignored or not found by poor team mate passing. he also laid on the best chance of the match for dzeko (no chance to make a difference????) who proceeded to chest the ball to shay given when put in the clear by a great pass. milner, work rate aside, was terrible. his passing (barring the one to mario) was woeful, his crossing shocking and he was consistently beaten by agbonlahor, n’zogbia and the inexperienced bennett. also tevez was completely ineffective and looked too slow at times and the marks for nastasic are a tad harsh. toure and lescott should be leading the line as experienced internationals and this was often left to a 19 year old playing his 2nd game for the club.
How you can say Mario did well is a travesty! He did my watts he tere! As for Milner I do slate his missing and said he stood still at times too. I clearly say he tired quickly too, so i agree with everything you have said about him?! As for Nastastic, we can’t just “be nice” to him because it is his second game, he was my good enough tonight which was disappointing after such a good debut in Madrid. As for Tevez he was the only one with a bit of spark.
Sorry I meant to say Nastastic was not good enough*
Fair ratings. You can sum up the importance of this Cup game with the fact that there was no single live steaming on the net let alone a TV broadcast. These games are only good for youth to get some first team experience. I would have loved to see Helan from the start. Though City has failed to get the desired results with its so-so performance for the past few games, you should not read too much into this game. Over all, I am glad City is out of this silly competition as it means more rest and less chance of injury in coming months for players.
Generally agree apart from Razak – thought he was the best player on the pitch !?
Mancini said before the match that this competition was not a priority. Then the players went out and played as such. We need to develop a mentality that says we play to win every time we step on the pitch. This is what the top teams have.
That being said, Mancini is probably relieved to be out of the Capital One Cup. In a weeks time this result will be totally forgotten.