MAN CITY 1 – 2 West Ham – MY THOUGHTS
20 Sep
Often, it is all too easy to excuse a defeat or disappointing result by saying that these things happen and everything will be better next time. By avoiding genuine analysis in favour of tired clichés such as ‘it was one of those days’, mistakes can be overlooked and lessons to be learnt are ignored. Yet, without wishing to take the easy option, it felt like yesterday’s loss at home at West Ham was exactly the stereotype, one of those matches in which nothing quite went as hoped, but could have been so vastly different.
City didn’t play badly. There was no lack of effort or creativity. There was no absence of desire and spirit. It was just one of those games when a combination of resolute defending, goalkeeping strength and wayward finishing denied us at least a share of the spoils. Yes, we started a little sluggishly and the goals conceded were sloppy, but there will be plenty of times this season that we play far worse than that and get all three points.
The second half, especially, was an onslaught. Wave after wave of incessant City pressure tried to force the breakthrough and had we broken West Ham once, then it was hard to imagine another goal not forthcoming to clinch the victory. At times, it was reminiscent of that match with QPR, when defending became obsolete and the only item on the agenda was pouring more and more men forward in search of goals. That they didn’t materialise is clearly a source of frustration, but a personal view is that criticism should not go overboard.
True, certain players were nowhere near their best. Sergio Aguero looked a yard off the pace, perhaps having been rushed back from injury. Raheem Sterling has bundles of potential, but is understandably not the finished product at such a young age. And the less said about Jesus Navas’s delivery into the box, the better.
Navas would struggle to cross a road.
— View From A Blue (@viewfromablue) September 19, 2015
Yet for all that, there were positives, too: most strikingly Kevin De Bruyne on his full debut. His failure at Chelsea and his subsequent eye-catching form last season for Wolfsburg have been well-documented, and he seems to have started in Manchester where he left off in Germany. Impressive on his debut against Crystal Palace, he was surprisingly left out of the starting line-up in midweek in the Champions League. After this performance, that is unlikely to happen again.
His was a display of all-round excellence. Full of guile on the ball, he was in the thick of the action, always looking to make things happen and use his inventiveness around the edge of the box. His use of the ball was intelligent, knowing when to keep matters ticking over with a simple touch and then capable the next moment of switching the game with a raking pass. He popped up everywhere, desperate to make his mark and stamp his authority on the game. More than anyone else, he did not deserve to be on the losing side.
There was also a debut for Nicolas Otamendi at the heart of defence, and after a shaky opening few minutes he quickly settled down. Comfortable in possession, he was happy to bring the ball forward and fire passes into the feet of those ahead of him, similar in many ways to Martin Demichelis and his positivity from the back. With captain Vincent Kompany expected to return for the trip to White Hart Lane next weekend, Manuel Pellegrini has a selection dilemma ahead. City finally look to have strength in depth at centre-back, and that can only serve to help.
City will bounce back from this defeat. It was not a crushing blow, just a blip on an otherwise superb start to the season.
City should give up some possession and let opposition come forward to open up the game. With pacy wingers like Sterling and Navas, we can do quite some damage during counters. But by forcing all opposition in around their box, you waste a Sterling talents for one. Aguero,Silva, Navas all shine when there is space to explore. Pellers should play our team deeper and give up some of its attacking flair. Defense wins you games and yet again Pellers shows he does not have it in himself to sort the backline. We are not Arsenal
I thought Joe Hart was culpable for the first goal. It was a decent enough strike, but no more than that. The timing of the substitution – Bony for Sterling – also felt wrong. At that point City were in full flow, and never quite recovered their earlier momentum.
Otherwise, impressed with De Bruyne and Otamendi. And, yes, we were a bit unlucky.
I agree, Sergio is slightly off the pace but a few more games will sort it out. Navas’ crossing will frustrate us for ever. But all round the team was impressive. Joe was caught napping by the first goal. The corner goal was a symptom of lack of defense leadership with Ota being new. Toure was afire and the goals will surely come. DeBruyne is proving his worth in every game. Nasri was sorely missed. He may have unlocked that defense in place of Navas w/ Silva absent. We have to accept that Navas is an “away” player.
You’ll play worse than that and win comfortably in other games this season. Just one of those days.
Fingers crossed that you get back to winning ways and get the Premiership trophy back with a decent club.
Are you covering every second game now? If there was a bit of hair on it we’d find the target