MAN CITY 1 – 0 Stoke – PLAYER RATINGS
23 Feb
Hart - One excellent full-length stop to deny Charlie Adam in the first-half but after that, his biggest issue was keeping warm - 6
Zabaleta - Barely tested defensively and that meant his main impact came in trying to offer an element of width on the right as we searched for the breakthrough. Much of our play, however, was focused more centrally with Silva and Nasri pulling the strings and Zabaleta couldn’t quite influence matters - 6
Kompany - Some shaky moments early on when he received a booking and must have been close to a second, but settled into the pattern of the game after a while and was his usual sharp self - 6
Demichelis - Faced a tough aerial battle with Crouch and despite not always winning the initial header, he stayed tight enough to his man and didn’t let him turn. On the ball, comfortable in coming forward and starting moves - 6
Kolarov - Supplied the cross from which Yaya opened the scoring but that was a rare moment of impact in an otherwise quiet display. When he doesn’t have empty space in from him to burst into, he flounders as his touch and skill aren’t sufficient to beat a man - 6
Y. Touré - Struggled in the first half to inject any tempo or liveliness to our approach play but stepped up a couple of gears after the break. From one of the few occasions in which he broke into the box, showed a nimbleness to open up his body and squeeze the ball home - 7
Fernandinho - After being rushed back against Barcelona and the exhausting efforts of that encounter, it was a surprise to see him named in the line-up yesterday but he did a relatively efficient job in breaking up play and moving the ball along - 6
Nasri - Purposeful and driven, he was at the forefront of our creative endeavours. Flitted around the edge of the area searching for space and played a key role on the goal. This wasn’t a vintage City display but he was probably the pick of the bunch - 7
Silva - As with Nasri, constantly drifted around to find the ball and prompt attacks. The movement of our strikers was fairly static and that limited his ability to deliver his intricate assists but he persevered and helped guide us to the three points - 7
Džeko - An embarrassing miss will grab the headlines as he contrived to scoop the ball away from goal when one yard out, but that was fairly symptomatic of his performance. He’s not good enough to operate on the same one-touch wavelength as our other attack-minded players, meaning play often breaks down or, at best, is slowed down, when he’s involved - 4
Negredo - Clearly not fully fit and that has affected his physicality over the past few games. Hasn’t quite been able to impose himself on defences as he did in the first half of the season and although there was odd glimpse of his touch and ability, his impact was inconsistent - 5
Subs
Jovetic - One rasping shot before the substitute was substituted. Another hamstring injury was feared but Pellegrini stated after the game how the issue seemed to be cramp - No time to mark
Navas - Gave us a more direct, pacey option to stretch the visitors - 6
Garcia - Settled in quickly to the pace of the game, winning challenges and distributing cleanly - 6
When Dzeko is poor he is ridiculously crap. At times when you watch him and think he should be nowhere near the team, however we will need him for the run and he can score big goals.
Bit disappointed with Negredo recently; some may argue he needs Aguero but that doesn’t excuse a drop in work rate and physicality. Perhaps its a case of his shoulder still causing him problems and he’s been rushed back?
Nasri while not out of this world yesterday was always involved and always looking to make things happen. Its like he now believes so much more than he did, and he too can make the difference even when Silva is on the pitch. Very positive signs from him yesterday for this title run in
Hard game 3 more big points, looking forward to Wembley this weekend, would rather arsenal hadn’t of stuffed them, first goal next week an absolute must, there a strange team Sunderland as we well know, glad to see Garcia appear Happy, side issue- that neymar deal doesn’t make barca look very good does it??? very surprised by the lack of interest for such a big story,tut tut, where’s there high moral standing now?? does that mean they will be suspended from the champions league?? If not, why not?.I know its not the way to go but the fact is he was signed illegally & he played against us, i m interested to hear anyone with an opinion about this topic, Santos are going nuts over it, they got pittance for him, his father made about €40 million.
Farcelona are in big trouble. The club just entered a “not guilty” plea to tax fraud charges in a Spanish court this week. Santos will sue Barca and the Neymars, two of the three third-party part-owners of Neymar will sue Santos, Farca and the Neymars, etc. The judge in the Farca tax case is poring through the tax records of the club for the last three years, and there is widespread belief that he will find more irregularities.
Meanwhile, Rosell won’t be at the World Cup this summer, as there is a Brazilian arrest warrant for him. He, and maybe Bartomeu and Faus also, could well wind up in a Spanish prison. Maybe we can start a betting pool on who will enter prison first, Uli Hoeness or the Farcelona thugs?
FIFA indicated that it is ready to investigate the Neymar case if asked to do so. I think it is possible that the Neymar contract with Farca may be voided, which might leave Farca with an 86 million euro hole and no Neymar, which would be devastating news for a club already carrying a 330 million euro debt bur planning a 600 million euro stadium project. Compared to Farcelona, ManU(re) are actually in very good shape…!!
After a massive 2 games, this game was always going to be tough. We were visibly jaded against a side set up not to lose. I’m sure I read 1 stat claiming we had 73% possession.
It was a very good 3 points that could turn out to be crucial as we go forward.
I thought the save from Hart in the first half and his authority when dealing with balls in to the box merited a 7. Kompany should have been sent off for persistent fouling after he received his first yellow. For this he should get a 5. While edin had a mare ( as he’s prone to do ), there is no way he was any worse than negrado. Negrado has offered us nothing over the past few games, his touch has been woeful and worse than that, his work ethic has dropped. This may be down to his injury and the fact this is his first season without a winter break… He may be exhausted. The thing we must give dzeko credit for is he never hides, he’s always involved, he’s always there to miss from a yard due to his very clever movement. There were points during the game that I didn’t realise Alvaro was playing ( before he was subbed ). And is it a coincidence that it’s always negrado getting the curly finger.
The other positive was Garcia…he really looks like Manuel has found him a role that compliments his strengths.
Not an easy game to mark, the players looked generally lethargic and lacking the necessary urgency and pace to upset Stoke’s defensive set up. We seem to insist on starting every move with Yaya picking the ball up in the back four and waiting until the opposition are all back in position. Pellegrini still doesn’t learn anything either, it was obvious as far back as Fulham away that Dzecko and Negrado do not play together well, and on a day when we were crying out for width and pace, Navas on the bench! Least said about the love child the better, he did ok(ish) but should be nowhere near the squad – Lescott could sue for constructive dismissal. A boring day only saved when MP had no option left but to push Yaya forward, oh, and of course three points
Dzeko and Negredo were sensational together when we went on our recent scoring spree, but now they ‘do not play together well’ according to the “experts” here and elsewhere…Demichelis had a very decent game at his proper position, as the article’s author properly noted. Your ‘love child’ quip is pretty childish, but I’ve come to expect that from many of our fans, sadly.
Since you’re such a managerial genius, maybe the City brass will see the light, sack Pellegrini and hire you for the position. Wouldn’t that be a great day in the history of our club?!
Thanks for that blue forever, very well said – if that was city there be 247 coverage & there would be uproar, relegation, expulsion etc etc, there’s hardly a mention of it on sky, the papers etc’ I feel very sorry for Santos, they seemed to have been probably f***** over, I hope they get everything that’s coming to them, this crap has to be stamped out for the good of the game,the usual greed & arrogance- I know madrid are under the microscope over prime land they got off the council for dirt cheap, come on city at Wembley- I want to see navas blaze the pitch, its made for players like him O:-)
So you enjoyed the Stoke game did you Blue forever? 90 minutes plodding against a team of has beens, misfits and never will be’s
Here’s what I think, Goatman:
After spending the second half of the CL match chasing Farca around, a man down, the players were still feeling the physical effects of that. I thought we did rather well in that regard, although conceding at the end as we did was truly unfortunate.
Also, I’m less concerned with my enjoyment, or lack of, our efforts against Stoke City than I am with the critical three points we earned. The trick is to earn the maximum number of points on offer when you’re not in best form.
Couldn’t agree more blue forever, criticising for not scoring 4 and 5 every week is a nonsense beyond what words can justify