Ajax 3 – 1 MAN CITY – PLAYER RATINGS
25 Oct
Hart - Kept City in with a fighting chance in the second half with a pair of excellent saves, but although he will be disappointed to concede three, he could not have done anything to prevent them - 6
Richards - Started brightly, using his pace and strength well at the back and then produced an excellent pass to Milner in the build-up to our goal. Wasted a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0 when he shot straight at the ‘keeper and then spent much of the second half occupying various positions in defence - 6
Kompany - Continued his uncertain start to the season with another display that was lacking in authority. His passing was a touch route one at times, but that was largely down to the lack of options in midfield. Looked all over the place in the second half - 5
Lescott – Culpable for Ajax’s second goal when he failed to attack the ball from the corner and was withdrawn shortly afterwards. Found it tough to match the movement of Ajax’s forward line - 5
Clichy – Left woefully exposed on the left as he had no supporting midfielder tracking back and we were made to pay for that by Ajax’s equalising goal. Occupied a role on the left of a back three and then finished the game on the right of the defence - 5
Barry - The victory away to West Brom and the effort he put in at the Hawthorns seemed to affect him last night. Struggled to provide his usual exemplary cover to the defence and was guilty of losing possession for Ajax’s third goal. Not his finest night by any means - 4
Milner - Our liveliest player in the first half and was instrumental in the goal, feeding Nasri with a perfectly weighted and timed pass. Tried to add some impetus to our play but needed to retain possession better - 6
Y. Touré - Suffered an early blow to the ankle and offered nothing after that. Usually the focal point of our play, but his movement was poor, his passing lacking in any incisiveness and his lethargy summed up the team’s performance - 4
Nasri - Took his goal clinically, giving us early hope but then drifted out of the game just when we needed him to show his ability on the ball. Failed to support Clichy, meaning we were constantly overrun down our left - 5
Aguero - One of his more frustrating nights. Presented with a couple of opportunities but couldn’t take them and seemed a yard off his normal sharpness - 4
Džeko - After impressing as a substitute, he was given the chance to start but once again did absolutely nothing. Wasted two excellent opportunities just after we had fallen 3-1 behind and struggled to offer us an out-ball throughout the match - 4
Subs
Kolarov – Got into plenty of threatening positions but his crosses were always cut out at the near post - 5
Tévez – Tried to inject some spark into our attacking endeavours but failed - 5
Balotelli - One decent run down the right but didn’t see too much of the ball - 5
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Dzecko simply has to start from the Bench from now on.
like you say bring bellamy back if its not broke dont fix it
To Dezko bashers that use the first opportunity to jump the gun, Dezko has no magic hat with a Rabbit in it. No person should be singled out or blamed when the whole team was abysmal. He has proven over and over that he can deliver when our midfield can provide some decent service that is played to his strengths.
I think the guy is a bit of a cult hero and have defended him from day 1. But that doesnt mean to say that its not a fair observationton to point out that he seems to shine when coming off the bench.
It is not only a fair observation but a fact proven by stats that he shines when coming off the bench. But the observation does not equate the bench warrant or the label that he is not good to start but as a sub-player. He is as good as anyone else in the team provided our team plays to his strength. Being benched due to tactical formation [which I totally understand] is way different than being benched because you are deemed below par.
football is more than stats because you can twist them to say what you want. The observation comes from the fact that he looks more confident and even his touch seems better as well as his goals. He can go missing when started and suggesting that he is only good enough when we play a certain way would basically make him not good enough, because players need to have it all when at the very top
ok really thats the most stupid thing iv heard all players dont fit into a particular system its very obvious Shevchenko never fit into Chelsea for this very reason
Dzeko can be a good starter but he needs good supply which is missing…and in order to utilize him upto his full capacity he must be played as a lone striker…he will definitely excel…considering yesterdays match manc must know how to play wid two strikers…they seem absolutely clueless in champion league matches…they just cant cope up wid the pace of the champions league…
Milner should be played day in day out…milner adds that impetus and much needed enthusiasm to the line up and milner is a much better centre midfielder than rodwell and garcia…yaya should be deployed higher up the pitch…
I thought Dzeko was quite good, could have easily had a few goals if it wasnt for some of Veermeers saves. People need to look through the performance of players and not just the scoreline.
its because Schevchenko was past it Jason, do u think Falcao or Cavani would suit either style of play? Because i do
If your 6ft 1 plus, and can only have a real influence in a style of play which is more direct or involves a team which looks to whip in a lot of crosses. Then it would suggest to me that at the very top, the player in question is technically not good enough.
This does not make sense at all. Based on what you say, then we can have Augero with 5.5 as striker and then whip a lot of crosses from the wings, he can have real influence. Players are not robots that you can program instructions. Each player is characterized by his physical attributes such as height, speed, stamina, etc as well as contextual awareness of the game. And style of play is directly proportional to those attributes. For example Spurs fast style of play is tuned to speed attributes Lennon and Bale, while City has a much lower tempo. You play Aaron Lennon in City, he may not perform well at all as we do not play high tempo game, that does not mean he is not technically good.
If your telling me that we have to play to Dzekos strengths to get regular goals out of him then that is effectively saying that he is pretty 1 dimensional. There are strikers around the world at the moment that are good in the air as well as on the floor, Cavani and Falcao for example. Alternatively though with the way most the top teams play at the moment being small, quick and skillful means you will fit in even if your not strong in the air. Its not enough to just be a target man if you wanna be the be the best anymore, look at the best teams around and the way they play
I guarantee you that if you play Augero as target man with long balls, you are not gonna get REGULAR goals. Comparing Cavani and Falcao with Dezko and Augero is like comparing apples and oranges, each have different characteristics with varying degrees in their weaknesses and strengths. Some polarized in their attributes and some more balanced. To get the best out of your players, you need to leverage their strengths to your end. And so far, whenever City has done it , at least when it comes to Dezko, they have reaped the benefits. And the same applies to Augero and the rest.
Lescott is not at fault for the second goal, it’s the tactics when we defend against set pieces, roberto is’nt good enough to realize that man marking is the way to defend otherwise the players just watch the ball and thats natural.. And this is’nt the first time this season that something like this happens. Zone defence have to get the boot aswell as Mancini, we need new thinking and a manager who can comunicate with the players, and who has the players respect…..
The first full season that Mancini was in charge, he won the FA cup, and a spot in Champions league. Second season he won the title and so far this season he has won the community Sheild. And all those cups came with zonal markings. And what is exactly your highness expectation a treble!
With those records, a true City fan stands behind the team and the manager unless you are a rag trying to play it smart. It took your beloved Sir Alex 5 years to win the first title with United and if I am not mistaken, it took the same number of years for his first qualification from Champions league qualification group.
I agree it’s way too early to think about a manager change. He has brought titles and he’s been great for City so far. The CL is worrisome though for me, as we just can’t keep the ball in these CL matches, and there’s just not much improvement that you can point to. Granted I hope Mancini will still be around next season (as long as there’s no disaster like finishing out of the top 4), where hopefully we will be in a normal CL group and not one with 2 of the top 4 clubs in Europe in it.
I am not comparing anyone of those strikers so i dont know where youve got that from. I am saying that with the way we play and the way football is now at the very top, you must be good on the floor and be very good technically, if Dzeko requires crosses and long balls to be his best then he will always play the role he is at the moment. I will make it simple, Dzeko needs to adapt to our style of play not the other way round, otherwise he will never start on a regular basis.
IT seems we both are saying the same thing, he will start on the bench as long as City plays the same style all the time. What I am saying is that it makes sense that at times play a good old fashioned English football by sending long balls as we have players that are their best when we do so.
u think we r arguing, and i think we r finally communicating