MAN CITY 5 – 0 Aston Villa – PLAYER RATINGS
18 Nov
Hart - Only forced into one save, when he acrobatically tipped a Bentéké header round the post. Handling was good but he can expect a far busier night against Real Madrid - 6.5
Maicon - A constant presence down the right, defending solidly and showing his experience well by covering for Kompany when our captain occasionally brought the ball forward. He brings an added quality in the final third and it won’t be long before we start benefiting from his dangerous deliveries. My man of the match - 7.5
Kompany - With City dominant, he was barely required to defend, but he was sharp to push up and press him man on any rare visiting forays forward - 6
Nastasic - Beaten in the air on one occasion by Bentéké but was otherwise untroubled. His usual relaxed self in possession - 6
Clichy – A very comfortable afternoon for him as he was able to push on frequently and not worry too much about defensive duties. Substituted in the second half with a slight injury, though hopefully that was more out of precaution than anything serious - 7
Barry - His usual mopping up job in midfield, linking the play from defence to our more technically gifted players. Won his tackles, read the game well and still managed to advance on occasions - 7
Y. Touré - Such was our absolute control of the game, he was able to coast by and save energy for the Real Madrid game during the week. Produced a couple of bursts forward but was largely content to sit in midfield and pass the ball around - 6.5
Nasri - As we probed and prodded in the first half, he seemed to lack the creativity to find the breakthrough but once one goal went in, he settled down and produced a lovely assist for the final goal of the game - 7
Silva - His passing in the first half wasn’t at its best, but as we saw against Tottenham last week, he only needs one moment to come off. Scored the all important first goal and then coasted by in the second half - 7
Tévez - Both goals should hopefully give him such much-needed confidence, as he looked strangely out of sorts before the break. I’m still not happy with him taking penalties but at least he’s back on the goalscoring trail - 7
Aguero - Took his penalty coolly and then profited from a piece of poor goalkeeping for his second strike. Struggled a touch in the first half but enjoyed himself once Villa started to crumble - 7
Subs
Dzeko – No need for his super-sub qualities yesterday and, in truth, he never looked like scoring - 6
Kolarov – With Villa penned back, he took up positions high on the left and fired over a couple of dangerous crosses - 6
Sinclair - Seemed intent on making an impression during his brief cameo and he looked sharp, if a little wasteful in front of goal - 6.5
Perhaps a touch harsh with the marks. I have to be honest and say that while I have seen potential in Nastasic, I have not rated him as highly as some other blues, but yesterday he deserved more than 6 either way
I like Maicon going forward but think he is unfit and slow. Ronaldo will tear him apart if he plays against Madrid ala Bale last year for Spurs. Just not sure about him at the moment
Id probably prefer Zabaletta, but could understand if he picked Maicon who seems to carry a little more attacking threat. Granted they have several quality players, but nullifying Ronaldo we know is key to any success against Madrid
The jury may still be out on the defensive qualities of Maicon [in a 'City' context] but if the Maicon I watched Saturday is unfit and slow I can’t wait to see the fit, fast version
The expression of ‘fears’ and ‘prejudices’ is valid in the context of a blog but I prefer to consider the evidence and your is a little thin and perhaps outdated?
Regarding Bale, go and have a look at his utter failure to trouble Maicon in the recent City Spuds match when he failed to replicate the excellent performance v RM which seems to have been a long time ago now!
Villa offered little threat to Maicon and so it isn’t possible to judge his defensive qualities based on this single 90 minutes. However, on the Ronaldo comment I would point out that Little Ronnie has torn most full backs apart in his time and is seldom ‘off form’ so I’d certainly start Zaba and probably finish with him too. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Maicon come on to play right side of midfield for the last 20 mintes or so, but at 31 years of age and miles of hard competitive football in his legs, I doubt Mancini will be looking to play him twice in a week. He’s more likely to be another ‘Paddy Vieira’ type signing, an icon and exemplar in the dressing room and training pitches, but not a first team fixture. He’ll cover RB, RWB and RMF and make important contributions when he’s needed and IMO, in Maicon we have a real asset.
Nastasic is the best 19 year old iv ever seen he has the potential to be better then kompany and vidic we have seen he can time a tackle but he’s also very intelligent on the ball and can read the game well but still has a lot to learn tbh its a shame vidic has retired from international football cause if he was playing with the worlds best 2 centre backs he would grow a lot quicker