MAN CITY 1 – 0 Swansea – MY THOUGHTS
28 Oct
Yesterday, it was the result, as opposed to the performance, which was key. After the bitter disappointment during the week of losing so abjectly to Ajax, the Blues needed to respond with a win and thanks to one moment of individual brilliance from Carlos Tévez, the three points were secured despite a sluggish display.
Except for a fifteen minute spell at the start of the second half, there was a lack of fluency or incisiveness, but following the exertions of two demanding games earlier in the week, this encounter was never likely to see City at their best. Instead, it was a gritty display, one characterised by attrition rather than the free-flowing, enthralling football of which we are capable, but when you have the quality of the likes of Tévez on the pitch, matches can be settled in a moment.
After the chaos and utter confusion which was manifest in Wednesday’s defeat, Roberto Mancini opted to revert back to the 4-2-2-2 formation which served the Blues so well in the final few games of last season. Aleks Kolarov was deployed in a more advanced role on the left but was then switched to the opposite side midway through the half in a confusing move. With Scott Sinclair, a pacy, hard-working winger sat on the bench, it seemed baffling to play the Serbian, whose right foot rivals that of Wayne Bridge, in that position, but Mancini ought to take credit for the tactical chance he made at the break.
The Italian introduced Mario Balotelli at half-time in place of Kolarov and the change immediately gave the Blues a boost. Whilst it may have been expected that Balotelli would play on the wing, he was actually given the responsibility of leading the line. His pace and ability to make runs in behind forced Swansea’s defence to retreat and that, crucially, enabled Samir Nasri and Tévez to drop deeper towards City’s midfield, find more space and time on the ball, and influence the game.
Having been criticised, correctly, for his decisions during the Ajax game, it is only right that the manager receives some praise for his tactics on Saturday. That switch, combined with an added verve and purpose about our play, overwhelmed the visitors for fifteen minutes and we managed to score. The pace of the game then dropped and we saw out the win with relative comfort. It wasn’t particularly pretty but it is this sort of grit which is so vital when a side isn’t playing too well.
Opposition View: Swansea struggled with their normally effective passing games in the early stages, but they recovered strongly and started to play some decent football. Wayne Routledge worked tirelessly down their left, displaying some tricky footwork if not always having an end product. Michu offered a physical threat up front and should have done better with his two opportunities, but Swansea were made to pay for their lack of clinical touch. They didn’t control midfield as they did last season against City, but they seem a touch more purposeful in possession this time around.
As for the Blues, there is a much needed rest now with no game in midweek, before a visit to London to face West Ham at the weekend. We’re the only unbeaten side in the Premier League and lie third in the table despite not having reached anywhere near our scintillating best. Performances will improve shortly. For now, it’s about grinding out results and we’re doing just that.
Personally, I thought Man C should be ashamed of themselves – how can you say about how Swansea struggled with their normal game. Man C with all that talent and money on the pitch should have absolutely bossed Swansea around, which I dont think they did – such as they did when Swansea put a good fight last year at the Etihad, but the quality showed in end with a 4- 0 win for the home team.. Scraping a 1 nil win over Swans, is 1 of two things, either how far Swansea have come or how poor Man C are at the moment… You choose…
I choose to dismiss the nonesense you say about us ‘bossing’ a team because of the players we have acquired. If football was that simple then the opposition wouldnt bother turning up. It was a one off game where we were well below par and still won to go within a point of the top
What a foolish comment! A sign of a great team is to get results both when they play well or badly. And we have been just doing it.
Didn’t we beat Swansea 4-1 last season, not 4-0?
And have you ever seen a game in which the team that was supposed to “boss” actually ended up “bossing”? Football is an unpredictable game, and better for it.
Tevez was great and Mancini should consider him as an attacking mid-fielder or even a winger. Considering the injury list and the fact that it was the third game played within a week by almost the same players , fatigue was oozing out. I can not be happier that we crashed out the Curling Cup. Hopefully we get the much deserved rest and have a few players back.
The only thing I found annoying about City regardless of fact they play well or not is that they tend to drop deep for defending and lose the plot completely whenever they are leading a game. They did it against West Brom, Saints, QPR, Swanse and …. I , myself, have been going through extremely nervy moments in the last 10 minutes of games we have won!
Personally I believe we (City) have been poor all season so far, and have up to now survived on “get out of jail” results. If we continue to put in displays like this we will be found out. It will be interesting to see how we perform against better opposition. Personally, I think we will struggle and likely end up on the end of a severe battering. Heres hoping I’m wrong and Mancini figures it out.
We were showing real signs of improvement till the Ajax game last wedneday, United have been doing what we did on Saturday for years so i am not too worried about that. In regards to when we play the big teams, I think the quality we have will come through and dont see us getting battered by anyone, but nothing is guaranteed. King David will be back soon and he is the maestro for a reason.
Actually, United have not been doing it all on their own and referees share quite some credit in that regard.
I see some fans are mentioning City being tired now. If Mancini keeps telling us the players are tired they will eventually believe it themselves and continue to underperform as they did on Saturday. No tempo, no urgency, too many Yaya back and sideways game slowing passes. Not many players of Everton, Liverpool, Chelsea or United looked tired on Sunday…all of those teams would have stuffed us playing as we did.
why did we buy Sinclair? Makes no sense at all if Kolarov is ahead of him for that position
We missed Silver on Saturday and I agree bring back kola rob. Television was good and put lots of effort into the game. We just need to be a bit more creative when 10 men are blocking the goal. Some good runs up the wings and good crosses.
Have u guys realized that kolarov has delivered each game he participated in. Hes ridicolously good and we have worse record without him.