Blackburn 1 – 1 MAN CITY – PLAYER RATINGS
5 Jan
Pantilimon - Culpable for the goal when he opted to punch rather than catch the ball, and his fumble enabled Blackburn to level. His handling was otherwise impressive and his ability to rise above strikers to pluck the ball out the air relieves the pressure on our defence, but his distribution was sloppy after half-time - 5
Boyata - This may have been his last performance in a City shirt. On the attack, he offered nothing but that’s understandable for a centre-back out of position. However, where he should have been strong, defensively, he struggled. Beaten far too easily, slow to cover and an inexcusable, moment-of-madness sending off - 4
Lescott - Captain for the day but he couldn’t inspire those ahead of him. He was partly to blame for Blackburn’s equaliser but otherwise was solid enough at the back. On the ball, he made no mistakes but when we needed to inject some tempo, he was content to pass it sideways - 6
Nastasic - As with Lescott, he was competent in defence but we could have done with more attacking intent when he was in possesion - 6
Clichy - One of only a couple of players to show any energy or desire to make something happen. He tried to offer a threat out wide on the left but his crossing remains a weak point - 6
Garcia - It’s not that he did anything wrong, it’s just that he didn’t do anything. With Blackburn offering such a limited threat through the middle, his protection in front of the back four wasn’t needed, but he had to show more intent in midfield. He was painfully slow on the ball, taking an age to move it on and allowing the opposition to settle back into their shape. If he’s our third-choice central midfielder, our squad is not as good as often made out - 5
Fernandinho - City’s brightest spark in the first half as he looked to break forward from midfield and join in with those ahead of him. Substituted early after the break which was understandable as he has started more games than any other player so far this season, but we couldn’t replace his purpose - 6.5
Milner - On both wings, he worked hard but this was his least effective game for a while in terms of end product. Lost the ball frequently, his crosses didn’t cause problems and he was as sloppy as anyone - 5
Silva - Constantly searching for the ball, but he found little support from those around him. His final pass, usually so subtle and delicate, was heavy at times and he couldn’t influence the game as he would have liked - 6
Džeko - In the first half, he was a sprightly figure, moving well and showing a decent touch to spread the play. After the break, however, he couldn’t have been more static. Stopped working, stopped stretching Blackburn and any enthusiasm he had early on disappeared - 6
Negredo - Another hugely disappointing showing. Clearly missing the pace of, and partnership he has with, Aguero and he seemed distracted. Almost concentrated too much on the physical battle rather than contributing to the team - 5
Subs
Y. Touré - We needed him to show some intensity and incision but he coasted through the second half without adding anything to the side - 5
Navas - We could have done with his pace and threat from out wide in dangerous areas earlier - 6
Zabaleta - A late introduction after Boyata’s red card - No time to mark
Yours marks fit with my opinion of this dreadful affair.
I would also for the FIRST time lay some of the blame at the Managers door, we were playing Blackburn away NOT Mansfield AT HOME !
I agree with your marks 100%. Even in third gear we would have enough to see off Blackburn. The lack of quality from players like Negredo, Milner, Silva was very unexpected. The less said about Boyata and Garcia the better although Nastasic should also be looking at his current performance levels too. An unwelcome replay in a half empty stadium will hardly have anyone salivating at the prospect.
I wouldn’t argue with that assessment VfaB, although I felt that James Milner showed some real commitment in a very dead all round effort,(effort? Well you know what I mean!)
The most telling point score would be for Pellers, a manager and coach I have grown to respect and like. I would give him around 5 for that and consider it to be generous.
I shuddered at the team selection. Two full backs that offer little going forward in a side that has come to rely on the width provided by the FB’s.
Gael Clichy is a very good FB, his pace and defensive nous are fine attributes, but he is lacking a consistent final ball, he usually gets as far as he can and then passes it back. Dedryck Boyata signed his own death warrant. I almost wept for the boy! This is now the second time he has made a really rash and stupid move and let his team mates and manager down. He seems to me to be a really nice guy, the sort of clean cut lad that you’d like your daughter to bring home in preference to the Joey Barton’s and Wally Wilshire’s of this footballing world, but …oh dear…. Dedryck has always seemed just a bit short of what it takes at PL level and he’s blown one more chance than his talent really deserved….sad, but what can one say….
Les and Nasty in the CH positions, two lefties who have failed to make it work before, who were always likely to struggled again. I don’t blame Garcia for not being exciting, it isn’t what he’s employed to be, but he had a chance to impose himself and free up Fernie to make a more telling contribution upfront where team selection left us short of creativity. He reponded with a dismal level of the ordinary. He wasn’t bad, he was ……..
Oh heck, why bother?
Moving on.
Where was the creativity? Merlin looked out of sorts and he was it!
The two big lads huffed and puffed, Neggers was a shadow of his ‘up for it’ self to such an extent that the laid back Edin, scorer of many goals an iritator of fans who like to see a bit of effort and application,looked the one most likely to…
If I had been the Blackburn Manager, and I have managed football teams at FL level,(OK really low FL level and I was rubbish, but at least I tried
) ) I’d have said to my lads;
“These rich kids are taking the piss out of you – they think you are rubbish and they haven’t paid you a tad of respect.” I’d have explained player by player the ones they had left out, not the ones they picked, and I’d have said, “Kick their butts and show them how wrong they have been.”
Respect! Whenever you fail to respect your opponent you are in trouble. We showed Blackburn no respect and are fortunate to still be in the competition because the best team was not City and the best team didn’t win.
Rant over and apologies for boring you if you got this far. I love our club, I will accept honest effort and have accepted the best and worse that City could provide over half a century. I feel privileged to live in this era where our fans can enjoy untold footballing riches and I vow I will never become an arrogant, lousy loser like most of the Rags I know and I will endevour aways to give credit where it is due, unless that happens to be the Rags and they can get stuffed.
That doesn’t mean that I won’t feel the hurt when we fall massively short of what we can be.
Alph
Great post. Thought Negredo looked more threatening though (lovely Bergkampesque flick and lunge; blocked volley; half shout for penalty; goal; header off Dzeko shot).
Must be Boyata’s final appearance. You know when you see someone and think they haven’t got it (think Willo Flood; David Brightwell; Martin Phillips; Lee Croft) – my moment with him was league cup semi at old Trafford. He booted it clear on the edge of our box but vertically; then tried to head his own clearance. I always thought Nedum had better potential but then again he is stuck at QPR so maybe not.
Negredo’s form has dipped recently. Despite his sumptuous ball for Milner at Fulham he was poor for first 75…..when did Dzeko come off in that came??
Pantilimon for me is at best a 4. He gives me kittens every time he goes near the ball and how he was intending to punch the ball at waist height I will never know.
As for Dzeko 6 to Negredo 5, me Negredo was the better of the two. Dzeko’s style (at best languid) does not suit Negredo and its impacting on his effectiveness for the team.
As for the performance ok it wasn’t brilliant but we are on an excellent run. Get off the teams back and give Blackburn some credit. Some of you lot are starting to sound like rags. Expecting teams to roll over and give us the game.
Some people do not know when they are really well of. We have a brilliant team and club. Enjoy them and stop back biting.
Lets all try and keep our comments OBJECTIVE !
No point in ‘turning a blind eye’ to a very ,very poor performance.
ok Timothy but when we have a decent game are you going to come on here and eulogise about every individual because of 1 game. We need to be a little more pragmatic and rational in our thinking than to go way overboard because of 1 performance; good or bad.
Guess that sounds fair to me !
What a great life being a TRUE BLUE
They can’t play together and dropping one (pref Dzeko) leaves an attacking option to come on in the latter stages. Recently we haven’t had a forward on the bench!!
Thoughtful and insightful assessment of a below par performance. How could anybody prefer Garcia to Barry?
Yaya is a maestro and a world class player when surging forward but as a defender or covering player his contribution is less impressive.
‘ If he’s our third-choice central midfielder, our squad is not as good as often made out ’
Thoroughly agree with this re Garcia.
We put 6 past Spurs and Arsenal, 4 past United as well as some of the best football we have seen so far. And Yes a very dull performance in a stupid useless CUP game. So what? Quite frankly I consider having both Capital one and FA cup very stupid. Simply too many games. City should play Youth team in these cups and mainly focus on EPL title [that is in our reach] and Champions league.
Having spent the best part of the last three decades without gaining even a sniff of us winning anything at all I rather enjoyed the two days out to Wemburley actually Siamack.
Putting the Rags to the sword in the semi was the best feeling but coming all the way home to Argyll with my scarf out of the window on the Sunday, driving through Glasgow where Rangers were celebrating their cup win that afternoon and receiving their thumbs up and warm congratulations in the traffic jam – well, memories are made of this.
Put in context, our son spent the first 27 years of his life supporting a team that was the butt of the humour of the smug Liverpool and Manure supporting kids that he grew up with in Mid Wales and the FAC will always be a first love and have a space in his heart that can’t be taken away regardless of what the future may hold.
Izzett, I do really feel you and nothing makes me happier more than City winning every single trophy. I can be wrong but I see City’s situation esp in defense with no proper CB save Kompany and one recognized RB as a case of picking to win “good OR better” as opposed to “good AND better”. We have a great chance of winning EPL this season and I personally see no other trophy worth risking it [save Champion league's trophy which is a very distant possibility in all fairness]