MAN CITY 6 – 0 Tottenham Hotspur – PLAYER RATINGS
25 Nov
Pantilimon - Retained his place ahead of Hart, and although the England ‘keeper will feature in the midweek Champions League encounter, it will be tough for Pellegrini to replace Pantilimon when Swansea visit. Again, this was a solid display, making a couple of low stops and generally commanding his area well - 7
Zabaleta - One of his best performances this campaign. He was impenetrable at the back, decisive in the challenge and was the perfect option when he bombed forward. Overlapped willingly throughout but also, crucially, knew when to just hold his position and allow Navas more space in which to attack the fullback. This was the Zabaleta of last season - 8
Demichelis - It’s clear he’s not blessed with pace but his anticipation of danger and reading of the game is excellent. Composed in possession, occasionally taking that a step too far, but he’s settled in without many problems - 7
Nastasic - A fairly comfortable first half for him before he was taken off at the break - 6
Clichy - Given a tough few moments early on by the pace and trickery of Lennon but recovered strongly and was a bright figure as we looked to press at every opportunity. There are signs, after some early-season uncertainty, that he’s finding his form once again - 7
Y. Touré - There can’t have been many occasions in which he has been such a peripheral - verging on absent – figure as he was in the first half. His passing was poor and he let Spurs’ midfield runners wander where they liked as he completely failed to impose himself on proceedings. Fortunately, there was a marked improvement in the second half and he was the forceful presence he can be when in the mood. Superbly created Aguero’s second - 6
Fernandinho - Another impressive showing. Outshone the pair of Brazilians in the visitors’ midfield and although he was shrugged off the ball far too easily a few times in the second half, he provided the energy and dynamism, as well as culture in possession, to complement our scintillating attackers - 7.5
Navas - This was an important match for him after an underwhelming first couple of months, and he didn’t disappoint, producing a captivating display full of pace, directness and quality. His first goal was sublime and his burst of speed and composed finishing meant he was rewarded with a second. Also sent over a stream of inviting crosses – this was the Navas we want to see more often - 9
Nasri - Continued his dramatic resurgence this season with yet another performance of purpose and creativity. He tormented Walker throughout with his turn of pace, fleet of foot and trickery, and he judged when to release the ball and when to hold on to it perfectly - 9
Aguero - I’m running out of superlatives to describe him. In simple terms, he’s a joy to watch. Everything he does is mesmerising, whether it be his first touch under pressure, his ability to dribble through impossible spaces, his delicate link-up play or any other facet he has to his game. He’s breathtaking - 9
Negredo - It’s quite tempting to write the same as for Aguero. They’re both sensational and in magnificent form. Negredo has the full package: he’s a physical brute who bullies defenders and has immense strength, yet he combines those elements with intricate touches, delightful vision and a work ethic that is inspirational. He’s involved in everything we do well - 9
Subs
Lescott – An impressive second half showing. Anticipated danger well, completed his primary defensive duties with sharpness and displayed physical strength in tackles - 7.5
Garcia - It was baffling why Pellegrini opted to bring him on and the game completely passed him and his lack of mobility by - 5
Milner – A splendid, raking pass to create Navas’s second goal was the highlight of his enterprising cameo - 7
Fernandinho is an absolute gem. He is as complete a DMF as I have seen in many a year. He has pace, tackles only when essential and does it very effectively and does it cleanly, he can pass, cover acres of ground and covers box to box as well across the back four.
It was a great day for City fans and a shame to feel the need to make an adverse response but your comment regarding Garcia is gratuitous ball*cks.
The guy wasn’t there long enough to make any significant contribution at a time City were much in the ascendancy. He did absolutely nothing wrong, he just did his job and you find the need to be disparaging?
It used to be Kolarov, now it’s Garcia.
Grow up!
Garcia offers nothing to the team. No pace, no passing ability. How he gets picked in front of Milner and even Rodwell is a mystery. On Sunday Pelegrini should have taken the opportunity to see what Guidetti offers.
If you want to see how poor a player Garcia is then get along to the Etihad instead of watching on tv.
Hard on Garcia. In truth he didn’t have much to do as we were totally on top by the time he came on. Lent support to the midfield, made neat short passes and didn’t give the ball away. I’m not keen on him myself but I suspect you are letting your prejudices overwhelm your rationality. A 6/10 for me.
I would have had no grumbles if you had given Fernie and Kun a 10/10 apiece. Hard to see what either could have done more.
The truth of the matter is that Garcia doesn’t cut it in ANY position in which he plays, and is simply not good enough to be in this City team.
Milner should come on before Garcia every time,as Garcia is simply not off the pace whenever he plays.
Hopefully Garcia and Kolorov will be sold in January, as they are both poor players who bring nothing to the squad.
‘The truth of the matter…’ and ‘…simply not good enough…’ and ‘…simply [not] off the pace…’ and ‘…who bring nothing…’ all clearly demonstrate the evidently self-evident FACTS which you reference. Why bother to make a well-reasoned and nicely explicated argument when you can simply spout one FACT after another? Brilliant stuff, Colin Barton. Please continue to enlighten us with more FACTS so that we may all strive to emulate your infallibility!
Negredo is phenomenal. There is nothing not to like about him. I don’t think anyone had any idea of the gem this guy would be. The powerful part of his game is fantastic, but the subtelty and skill he has, puts him in the absolute top bracket.
Complete package and some.
Fernandinho is a joy to watch.
I thought Lescott deserves praise for trying so hard to make a telling contribution in his 45 minute opportunity. He was really forceful, and stood out.
YaYa was a complete passenger in the first half. I think tbe author summed it up best with the quote “when he wants to. ” Aside from his assist to Aguero I felt it was a subpar performance for a player of his immense ability. I think it’s becoming clear that YaYa is considered untouchable by Soriano and Mansour. This is a player who should dominate matches but too often can’t be bothered and too often completely shirks his defensive responsibilities. That he has the captain’s armband defies all logic. He is neither a leader of men, nor does he lead by example. Say what you will about Garcia but at least he tries, which is more than can be said for YaYa. An underperforming, lazy player. Rant over
Agree totally Garcia is just the new whipping boy, he has never had the game time to settle into the team, don’t get me wrong I’m not his biggest fan or anything and I don’t actually think the premier league suits him because of the pace the game is played at, I do believe he has ability though and would serve us well in Europe because of the way the game is played.
It was clear that Pellegrini brought him on to sit in the midfield and slow things down again because we had the game wrapped up and it became important not to concede after scoring five goals and he could do that while also resting Aguero, Garcia didn’t do anything that makes him deserving of being accused of letting the game pass him by and that was not the case, in the end we didn’t concede and he did his job.
City fans are not happy unless there is someone there to have a dig at, the amount of sheep amongst City fans is amazing at times and if half of them were as vocal at the Etihad in supporting the team as they are at slagging players off, then we would have some atmosphere again.
That last paragraph Gary was one of the best and most accurate posts ive seen in a long time
The game perception varies among City fans. Some may deem themselves as pundits blessed by higher power, intelligence, genetics, seniority, age, etc while others may consider themselves as “lay folks” when it comes to a game. Regardless of where you are in this spectrum, you have every right to dig at a player whom you perceive is holding the team back consistently. Not that it matters, as only one man’s opinion (Pellegrini) counts in the end. Do keep in mind that is what a blog is intended for much the same way you just took a dig at some fans due to their behavior. I am not only referring to Garcia in this game, as I believe when you get such result against a team like Spurs, none one should be singled out, but I do believe Garcia offers nothing special to warrant his price tag.
Do keep in mind that Gary was simply expressing his opinion, just as you are, and I have, and many others have and will continue to.
Touche
Excellent comments and marks, hard to see how our forward play could be bettered. ‘pjdemers’ is also spot on about Yaya – a man nearby in the East Stand said the first half was the best performance he had ever seen by ten men! Why is it Yaya has to play every minute of every game, he is rapidly climbing his way into my list of players to go. And Gary, yes I understand but there is nothing wrong with constructive criticism, for instance at 5 – nil up with half an hour to go everyone I know was desperate for Guidetti to be given a run out. Why on earth wasn’t he? And yes, sorry and I know its not Garcia’s fault, but Rodwell and Milner should be well ahead of him in any midfield or we’ll run the risk of losing good young players as opposed to an older, worse one.
No need to be negative about anyone yesterday. It becomes mere nit-picking. I couldn’t split Fernandinho and Nasri for MOTM yesterday. I thought both were superb for different reasons. That isn’t to diminish the contributions of Negredo or Aguero. Fact is we are currently witnessing City tearing apart teams at home with clinical excellence on a goal-scoring pace that exceeds any in living memory. Only disappointment ? The fact the team don’t have a full stadium to applaud every one of them as they leave the field. It is more than deserved.
I said it a few months ago on this amazing site! When everyone was saying how Fernandinho wasn’t worth the money and I said give him time to settle, pure quality just what we needed, should of kept Barry. For home games Fernandinho for away Barry.
Fantastic performance from the forwards – I think even better than Norwich! Brilliant football! I have to admit, Skizzle, I was not a fan of Fern. at the start of the season but I have changed my mind, as he is really showing some excellent form. Personally I would have liked to have seen him playing alongside Barry in all games. But I have not changed my mind about Garcia. He was not good enough for Real and is definitely not good enough for the premiership. I am worried about a manager who sees Garcia as both a good defender and midfielder when he cannot tackle and is so slow.(I wonder if Spurs would like to buy him??). I cannot believe he is put ahead of Milner and Rodwell. So I think we will struggle in more away games with a midfield of Garcia (can’t tackle) and YaYa (can’t be bothered) in there.
No silva and no kompany.. frightening
Can’t find any reason to criticise anything from that game
City’s biggest ever win against Spurs (tightest defence in Premier league!)
Still can’t believe I’m, watching a City team as good as that we are very lucky fans
Lets hope we see Rodwell and Guidetti play on Wednesday
Totally support u in this,blame at city is being dished off to players who have absolutely no faults first was hart who received blame n punishment 4 mistakes done by the back 4,kolarov whose current form is way beyond that of clichy ,en by tha way whts happenning to yy toure sometimes he is up to the task n other times totally down
The GREEK is back !
It was indeed a great performance.
Each and every player performed fantastic!
Or maybe not?
View from a blue last year if you remember i told you that Clichy is a mediocre player (at best).
Yesterday he was our worst player on the pitch. No good going forward , offered nothing and abysmal defending.
I thought the day i would prefer kolarov would never come but clichy this season especially is awful
Clichy was a very very very important player and contributed a lot when we won the title and has not turned into a bad player over night, against Spurs he performed nothing like what you said. If you read his rating in the article that is 100% accurate of the way his game went, all spurs attacking threat and pace in Walker and Lennon was on his side and he managed well.
Fernandinho was excellent, and has been all season for me, the perfect foil for toure..
Garcia is getting pelters, yes he’s not a top four player, Im still dumbfounded they let Barry go out on loan, id have James Milner in my side every day…Zabaleta was back to his best and agueredo were a class apart….
Barry has been one of the most under-rated players who has been great for the team and he is still doing a great job in Everton. You are not the only one left dumbfounded by his loan. On any day, I would prefer Barry over Garcia hands-down.