Norwich 3 – 4 MAN CITY – MY THOUGHTS
30 Dec
A pulsating, dramatic and tense match which produced an result greeted with relief and delight. It was the type of match neutrals would have relished, but for a passionate supporter, it was a game which provided numerous emotions, of which the prevailing one was fortunately happiness. There was plenty of enthralling attacking football from the Blues but combined with a defensive vulnerability at set-pieces, it meant the game was in the balance until Mike Jones blew his full-time whistle to signal a deserved, if fraught, victory.
The first few minutes, thanks to a brace from Edin Dzeko, saw a clinical touch that had been missing in previous games. Whereas erstwhile matches had been characterised by a profligacy and subsequent insipidness, the Bosnian’s early strikes were superbly taken, proving once again his adeptness at finishing chances. Ask him to get involved in the build-up and he’ll struggle, but give him chances in the box and he’ll more than likely take them.
To their credit, Norwich fought back well and took excellent advantage of our susceptibility at corners. In open play, we looked relatively untroubled but from set-pieces, the home side were a constant menace. How much of that is down to their dangerous delivery into the box – something we lack as corners routinely fail to beat the first man – and how much can be blamed on our own defence is tough to know, but it’s an area upon which we must improve. Joe Hart has lacked that authoritative presence this season, whilst our defenders don’t seem to be attacking the ball with enough purpose and are not reacting quickly enough to a bouncing ball in the box. We cannot continue to concede so many goals to set-pieces.
Fortunately at Carrow Road, we had an effervescence about our attacking play in the first half. There was a sense of intent about the way in which we fizzed the ball around, a spark that has been lacking for large parts of the campaign. And then, after Samir Nasri’s sending off – which I feel was deserved but should also have seen Seb Bassong given red – we had to display different traits in the second half. We needed to show resilience, togetherness and spirit and we did just that, led by the likes of Sergio Aguero, Gareth Barry and Pablo Zabaleta.
Down to ten men, we continued to show an attacking adventure, but it was in defensive areas where we impressed in open play. Barry was the leader after the break, his pressing of Norwich’s midfielders excellent and his cover in front of our backline, his reading of the game and his reassuring presence all vital ingredients in keeping the Canaries at bay. Aguero produced an utterly selfless display, taking his goal superbly but spending much of the second half filling in on the left hand side to support Gael Clichy. He showed a positional awareness defensively that many forwards wouldn’t, yet still was a threat as we broke forward.
Opposition View: Norwich recovered well from going two goals down early, showing a battling spirit and enough strength at set-pieces to claw their way back into the game. Wes Hoolahan in midfield impressed with his touch and vision, whilst the centre-back pairing of Bassong and Turner, although troubled by the movement of Dzeko and Aguero, were a serious threat in City’s box, causing problems with their aerial prowess. As opposed to many sides who sit back and attempt to stifle the Blues by placing ten men behind the ball, Norwich attempted to take the game to City, attacking them out wide but that left themselves open, especially in the second half as they pushed forward. They didn’t deserve anything from the game but their spirit was impressive and they can take credit for fighting back every time we scored.
As for the Blues, it was an impressive performance, both for the attacking style before the break and then defensive character in the second half. A different proposition awaits on Tuesday with Stoke the visitors to the Etihad Stadium. Another victory is necessary although preferably without such tension and drama!
On so many occasions Dezko has found himself on the end of the stick and I assume he still does to some extent even after a display that would definitely make him entitled for a reprieve at least for one week.
If folks are looking for trickery footwork, “Aguery” movement inside the box and “one-to-many-touch” football style, then Dezko is not your man and he would be nothing short of a failure in City shirt. However; if you look for direct football with NOT one too many touches, then he is as good as any world class striker.
If City can consistently produce this sort of direct football [with a bit more added wing play] combined with its one-too-many touch trademark, I do not think City would have any issues in coming games
With all said, There are players like Yaya and Dezko that far too many times find themselves at the end of stick one way or the other no matter how they perform which I have find personally disappointing.
Not a criticism or a response to the prior post – just my thoughts generally about City going forward:
When Micah is back, I would play him at RB. This will add some aerial assistance to our defensive set pieces as well as maintaining the attacking threat. I would play Zab as my defensive midfielder – much better at distributing the ball than Garcia et al and a bit more tenacious than Barry. He also can slot in the full back positions when Micah and Clichy surge forward. Vinnie and Nastasic would obviously be the center halves.
In terms of up front, I would play Aguero and Dzeko. We must force opposition defences to defend more than one style of play – the aerial threat is necessary to help open up the ground game. I think Nasri has been poor, and I am being polite. I would play Silva and Tevez as my two attacking/creative midfielders. Tevez brings a lot of energy which can be used tracking back and harrying the opposition midfielders rather than harrying their defenders – I think he would be much better with Silva behind the front two. This leaves one open slot for a so-called box-to-box midfielder. Yaya is immense at times, but those times are becoming all too infrequent. Energy wise, I would go for Milner or Barry, probably Barry at the end of the day.
Discuss…..
Why on this planet would you move our player of the season form a position he has near mastered, to a holding midfield role? Also, not that Silva specifically plays there but not for a second do I consider Tevez to be better than Silva at creating things behind the strikers. Overall I disagree with almost all of it apart from the choice of centre backs, and when it comes to picking the front 2 then i think its horses for courses at the moment
I agree with playing tevez aguero dzeko and silva as the front 4. I don’t think zaba should be play next to yaya in that role.. My preference would be Milner. And when Richards gets back He has to be in the 11. Regardless of how consistent zab is I think Richards is just an entirely different beast and makes life very difficult for the opposition. I think he’ll really help us offensively again
Zabaleta has been inspirational and outstanding as RB, under no circumstances he has to be moved from that position. No one should take the place of Silva unless he is injured / rested or for some unknown reason under-performs [like Yaya recently] and some bench time may freshen things up.
As for forwards, it depends on context and tactics. I truely like Dezko but unless City plays direct football much like Norwich game, I prefer Augero and Tevez combination.
Dzeko or some one good in the air is a must to give us options going forward, behind him its not a problem if we play wings or offensive midfielders if we have full backs coming forward cos they will provide the crosses. What worries me are two things, firstly our holding midfielders are way to slow to close the gaps and give cover to our fullbacks and secondly our keeper has to stop shouting ‘away’ at crosses in the box relying on his defenders only and him not doning his part coming out, after all his 6ft 3 or so and has the advantage at using his hands. I cannot understand how the coaching staff hasn’t done anything with this regard.
Rarely have we scored 4 from open play this season. the first 2 goals were very good but also a bit lucky that Norwich were not awake to the threat yet. After those 2, the home side settled the game very well and started to contain City who had reverted to tippy tappy around the box, it was beginning to look all too familiar and we no longer looked the threat. Cue the Norwich Goal and the sending off. I feel that although Nasri’s dismissal was harsh and probably should not have happened, it gave the Norwich team belief and they started to press and keep the ball with the man advantage. By Norwich attacking as they smelt the city blood, it allowed City to counter and find space to go forward quickly when they won the ball. We scored 2 goals with 10 men from open play as a result, good goals at that! the ball was moved quickly and the play was direct. 2 key elements that we lacked at Sunderland. Conclusion is that when teams attack us and we allow them to have the ball a bit, we open up the game when we win it back and move quickly up the pitch. United’s success this season has come from exactly that kind of play and the 6 points gifted at Chelsea and Liverpool from the Ref of course. But they allow other teams to have some of the ball and then they attack quickly when in possession. City have a better back line than United and a better midfield, by letting the opposition play into our own half and have the ball a bit, I think is gives us a better chance of scoring goals, winning games and playing exciting football.
Thoughts?