MAN CITY 2 – 3 Manchester United – PLAYER RATINGS
10 Dec
Hart - Flat-footed for Rooney’s opening strike as the striker scuffed his shot across goal. Helpless with the second and not aided at all by Nasri’s shocking effort for the third. Distribution was good - 6
Zabaleta – Typified the spirit and heart needed on derby day. Given a tough time on occasions by the tricky Young but coped well and managed to drive home to equalise - 7.5
Kompany - Clearly carrying an injury into the game as Kolo Toure was on the bench and young centre-half Karim Rekik had been withdrawn from City Square duty and drafted into the squad. The risk didn’t pay off - 6
Nastasic – Another big game and another impressive performance from the young Serbian. Handled the considerable threat of Van Persie relatively well, looking composed in possession and brought the ball forward with elegance – 7
Clichy – His passion was admirable, collecting the ball from midway inside United’s half when they went 2-0 up and chasing to retrieve the ball quickly to take throw-ins, but he was at fault in the lead-up to the third goal. Dillied and dallied when he should have cleared the ball and that lead a few seconds later to the free-kick - 7
Barry – Occasionally overrun in the centre of midfield as Yaya ambled back from forward positions, but he produced a solid enough performance. Neat in possession and one of the few in the first half to play with a decent tempo - 7
Y. Touré - Scored a goal and went on one terrific burst down the left hand side which was curtailed by Martin Atkinson not playing advantage, but he was otherwise awful. So slow and laboured in possession and he was utterly selfish in not tracking back at all. Helps attacks but then ambles back without a care in the world - 5
Nasri - As has been the case far too often in his City career, he was on the fringes, not making any real impact on the game save for his helping hand in Van Persie’s winner. That was a case of inexcusable cowardice, hiding behind Dzeko in the wall - 5
Silva – We looked so much better in the second half when he was more involved, drifting into some excellent central positions and teasing United’s defence with his trickery and control - 7
Balotelli - As ever, he has completely split opinion, but the vibe at the ground toward him was awful. There was such a negative feel towards him, it gave the impression some fans are judging him on who he is rather than what he produces. I actually felt he was our best player in the first half, the most lively outlet, causing problems with his pace and direct running. A couple of flicks early in the second half saw him replaced but just because we improved when Tevez was introduced doesn’t mean Balotelli was bad - 7
Aguero - Worked his socks off and was absolutely drained at the end but his low centre of gravity and hold-up play created havoc at times. Couldn’t quite find the net but he gave us a focal point in the second half - 7
Subs
K. Toure – Introduced instead of Lescott to continue a right-foot and left-foot central defensive partnership and he played very well. Some excellent challenges, strong in the air and looked to be positive in possession - 7
Tevez – Had 40 minutes in which to make an impression and he did just that. Gave us an added spark and seemed to boost those around him. Closed down defenders well and showed a purpose about his play that spread to the other players. My man of the match - 8
Dzeko – His first touch could have been a goal but Smalling made a terrific last-ditch challenge, and he didn’t really have any more chances after that - No time to mark
View From A Blue is delighted to offer an exclusive promotion for readers! Banc De Binary, the global leader in binary options trading, is offering a 100% sign-up bonus for us Blues. No fees, no commissions, and up to 500% profit in 1 trade. Start trading today or try a free $50,000 demo account. Claim your 100% sign-up bonus here!
I think the Yaya marking is really harsh if im honest, to score 5 you have to be really quite bad in my opinion. While i agree with what you say about him ambling back, he was at least a 6 overall, he scored and had a couple of good runs plus didnt really give the ball away, so cant see why u have scored him so low.
I agree.
As usual, pretty much spot on. Nice to read and hear that even the most biased fans are agreeing that its time Yaya was sidelined, roll on the African Cup. What about marks for the manager though. Everyone seemed to think (beforekick off) that Tevez should start, along with Lescott, bad enough not to, but why oh why does he still persist in playing two wonderfully creative CENTRAL midfielders in fairly wide positions where they are relatively inefective. We are crying out for some width and pace in the side. Whose fault is it that with much better players at his disposal Stretford look a better TEAM?
We dont have width and pace anywhere in the squad apart from sinclair who probably isnt good enough. Mancini cant magically make these players appear,so i dont see how he can be blamed for that. Not convinced stretford look a better team either if im honest, it will take more than a one off scoreline in a knife edge game to make me think that.
i doubt kolo is 7,whenever hes on the ball it was always seems not comforting..i dont trust this guy anymore.as for nasri should have been 4,hes completely useless in the game.i prefer if mancini start dzeko tevez aguero together with tevez play the nasri role.you could have seen when dzeko on the ball more chances were created even by him passing the ball.however i do agree with you on balotelli because it seemed like he played better than aguero yesterday minus the aguero dribling pass tru defender i cant see him creating chances more than balotteli did.silva should have stop shooting when hes inside the box and more passing inside the box,other than that hes brilliant yesterday.kompany dont deserve a 6 since he was at fault for the first goal..what was he doing going at the midfield at the first place..this is just my opinion,there might be some facts that are wrong~
Agree with your point about playing Dzeko and both Argentines together, been saying that all year. We could be too far back by the time Mancini sees it tho
Completely agree with YaYa comment – he just ambled back. An irritating habit of “limping” back to defend then appearing fine when on the attack. Last season we conced a number of goals due to his lack of tracking back.
That said; Nasri is surely a 3 due to his cowardice. YaYa was bad butat least he scored whereas Nasri assisted….for their winner!
Really like nastasic but was partly at fault for the first (along with Kompany).
How was nasty at fault for the 1st? Kompany pushed way to far up and left nasty trying to mark 2 players and I don’t care how wrong footed hart was with the pace on that ball he should save it don’t c how anybody rates kescott better then nastasic he was r mom for me had to cover for kolo a couple of times and how hansen has the nerve to say he was awful yet rvp was great wen the only 2 things rvp did was keep nice and warm tucked up in nastys pocket before scoring from a dead ball dno what clichy was doing and y did tevez bring rafael down he was running onto his weaker foot into a sea of blue I agree with most marks
From where I was sat (half way line) Nastasic should have come out to meet Young once he had out ran Kompany (I have said Kompany was also to blame). Nastasic didn’t appear to have anyone to mark as someone else had Rooney although orrect me if I’m wrong. Easy to say sat in the stands but that’s how I saw it.
All that said I think Nastasic is great and far more composed on the ball than Lescott and Kolo ever will be, particularly given his young age.
I thought RVP – while or long periods was quiet – lays had us nervous; plus he had a great chested lay off to Young in their first goal (at the same time leaving Kompany in no man’s land); turned and hit the post for the (incorrectly) offside goal and of course scored the winner. I wish our centre forwards were kept “nice and warm” if that is the result!!
If Utd win the title over City it will be because of RVP – it is that simple.
Yeah you’re right, Young’s touch was heavy and Nastasic could have attacked the ball and ended the counter. But in the heat of the moment like that it’s hard to blame him for thinking to get back first
Nastasic was trying to slow the attack down to allow players to get back like they did if he had gone for the ball and young had beaten him to it and gone through and scored his inecperience would have cost him? Kompany pushed to high up left nasty with the ask of rooney and young and hart gifted them a goal
I have to say, I think Yaya was utterly pedestrian for much of last season. Essentially, when asked to play in the DM role, he is pretty awful. Tidy with his possession and passing, but his game never comes to life til he’s allowed to go forward. In the position we find ourselves now, where we don’t have a true DM, he is forced to play in a role that doesn’t really work for him.
I agree that he is lazy tracking back, and that he should not be immune from criticism for this, but this is not a new thing. Fact is, with the formation we are playing this year, getting the most out of Silva and Nasri in wide positions, we need Yaya bursting forwards but no-one affords us cover. Nigel De Jong is not the sole reason for our stuttering play, but the lack of a replacement for the destructive force that allows Yaya to forget his defensive responsibilities is a big factor.
Spot on.
Macini should only and only play Yaya in advanced role, otherwise; he should be benched. Pairing him with Barry as DMs is a recipe for disaster. Barry is great in distribution and has great positional awareness but lacks pace and Yaya is not a DM whatsoever [at least that is how I see it]. I prefer Milner and the Rodwell as alternatives to pair up with Barry. I do hope that we can get DeRossi this window [now that he is 30, the price tag should not be that high and he has a couple of years of gas left in the tank].
How did Hart get a 6? 4 shots 4 goals (cos that was no offside)Anyone seen him win a ball in the air? not even when the ball was way high up in the 6 yard box did he he have the guts to go for it. keepers should dominate the box and not just the 6 yard box. If he’s to be considered one of the best keepers he should sort this issue out otherwise he’ll be replaced.