MAN CITY 0 – 1 Chelsea – MY THOUGHTS
4 Feb
No spark, no goals and no points: quite a change from what we have become accustomed to this season at the Etihad. What had been built up as a thunderous clash between the two principal title rivals turned into a relatively comfortable victory for Chelsea and a thoroughly deserved one at that. It was, of course, disappointing that we couldn’t find the elegance we have shown so often at home this campaign, but that had plenty to do with the visitors’ magnificence both in the dugout and on the pitch. It’s not that City performed badly. We were OK – nothing more, nothing less - but Chelsea were superior in every aspect.
They were, in simple terms, imposing: imposing physically when defending deep, imposing in midfield to force errors and imposing further forward with effervescent movement and lightning speed in attack. Many expected them to contain, soak up pressure and not pose much of a threat to our backline, but they were resolute and superbly organised, and combined those qualities with a desire to swarm towards our area at pace when they were in possession. Jose Mourinho may be a tiresome, narcissistic egotist but he’s a shrewd operator and out-thought Manuel Pellegrini. And his team out-fought and out-played City. It would have been unfair on them had we rescued a point.
Tactically, Pellegrini got it wrong. His insistence on playing with two strikers, two creative wide men and two central midfielders who prefer to bomb forward rather than offer protection in front of defence is admirable, but an element of pragmatism wouldn’t have gone amiss last night. Whether through stubbornness, naivety or arrogance, despite the injuries to a couple of vital cogs in the formation, he deployed the same attacking formation and was punished for it.
With Sergio Aguero missing, City were devoid of the services of the one striker we have with the pace to burst beyond the opposition defence. The Argentine is capable of dropping deep, drifting wide or sprinting over the top, and his constant movement and electric turn of pace scares defenders and provides City’s creative midfielders with an option of a forward pass. In his place, Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo had limited effect. The Spaniard was clearly not fully fit and couldn’t intimidate the likes of Gary Cahill and John Terry, whilst Dzeko’s wayward first touch meant the ball didn’t stick with him in attack. City found it hard enough to reclaim possession and make inroads, so when it was played up to the Bosnian, he needed to show the skill and awareness to bring others into play. Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t.
The greater loss, however, was that of Fernandinho and it’s a shame it took his absence to make people realise just how important he is to the side. Yaya Touré has many strengths but views his defensive duties with disdain. Fernandinho’s mobility, energy and composure have enabled him to do the work of two in that central area. Without him, it was always going to be tough. Javi Garcia was sidelined, James Milner had only featured in one full training session before the game and was deemed only fit enough for the bench and Jack Rodwell is clearly not trusted by the manager, so in came Martin Demichelis to operate at the base of midfield.
Naturally, because he’s an easy target to blame, the former Atletico Madrid man has received plenty of criticism. He’s old, he’s slow and he was a centre-back playing out of position so many observers enjoyed making him the scapegoat. That’s laughable. He did a solid enough job. Expecting him to be a direct replacement for Fernandinho was foolish; he wasn’t selected to be the engine of the side, driving up and down, covering every blade of grass and injecting purpose with his passing. He was included to sit deeper, guard against Chelsea’s counter-attacks and use the ball efficiently without being spectacular. And he did just that. Where Pellegrini erred, however, was in not altering his formation.
Missing the drive, touch and intelligence of Fernandinho, the manager should have bolstered the midfield area to match up with Chelsea’s three. Only one of Dzeko and Negredo should have started and an extra body should have been included in the middle. That could have been Rodwell – who was man of the match in the corresponding fixture last season – or if Pellegrini deemed Milner unfit, Gael Clichy could have come into the side with Aleks Kolarov operating on the left of midfield and David Silva moved into a more central role. That would have provided more stability throughout the side and not left us so vulnerable to Chelsea’s pace and trickery when they broke forward. As it was, Yaya and Demichelis lost the battle with Chelsea’s midfield three, Silva was shut down by the away side’s relentless pressing and tight marking, and with our strikers nowhere near their best, our main threat was down the right with the direct approach of Jesus Navas.
At the back, we were shapeless. Chelsea had the best player on the pitch, Eden Hazard, whose footwork, dribbling ability and skill in drifting past defenders with ease caused us problems throughout. Pablo Zabaleta, usually an imperious rock on the right, was a hesitant figure, whilst Vincent Kompany lacked his regular authority and dominance. And alongside him was the overawed, frightened Matija Nastasic. Such a star in his debut year with the Blues, he has regressed this season and was a petrified liability last night, unsure of his positioning and spreading havoc. Joleon Lescott may not be flashy but it may be time to give him another run in the side.
All that said, I’m not sure we should be overly deflated. Yes, we were fairly limp by our standards but we did fashion chances only for profligate finishing to waste those opportunities. Missing our best striker and our best central midfielder, Pellegrini could have, and probably should have, adopted a more pragmatic style but we have shown in the past how well we have bounced back and that has to be the target once again.
>> because he’s an easy target to blame
Demichelis has been a decent CB who has put some great performances as a central defender but he was truly horrible as DM esp filling for a role that requires fast legs and agility that Fernandinho does so well. It is not just because he is an easy target. He would be the last person that should fill that position. I love Pellegrini but he truly got this one wrong, esp with Rodwell on the bench.
We don’t have a great squad, that’s plain to see, look at the benches last night, OK city badly missed fern, that goes without saying’ nazri is a Huge loss with the way he’s been playing, there’s no room in this squad for boyata,Richards,Rodwell, nastasic is fast becoming a could of been, I feel the manager let his pride get in the way by sticking with the two up top,he didn’t want to be seen bending to Mr mourihno’ foolish particularly against the street wise midfield of Chelsea,the sums just didn’t add up in there, yaya won’t graft,he’s attack minded’ the same with Silva & navas,were way to open against savy slick teams’ we need to try & box a bit clever or else, Chelsea should have won by at least 3 which is worrying’out fought, out played & totally schooled by mourinho it kills me to say, be cold Manuel, a very cold eye you need when your up against a street punk, pride comes before a fall.
We were without our best striker and our best CM! Best striker in aguero I agree but best CM in fernandinho over yaya? Are u out of your mind? Imagine fernandinho playing with dimechellis in place of yaya yesterday,it could have been worse! Chelsea could have rattled our midfield like a rag. Thank goodness for the bar post cos it could have been a disgraceful scoreline were it to be 0-4 to the chels! Anyway,its jst one loose not the end of the league
Er – not the point Vic. We’re comparing Fernandinho with Demichelis; not Fernandinho & Demichelis with YaYa & Demichelis.
That said, Fernandinho is the most important player in midfield (given YaYa’s complete disregard for tracking back) and arguably the whole team. If I had to lose one of Silva; Augero; Fernandinho and YaYa, it would be YaYa every time.
It was so obvious a midfield two of Toure and MD was going to be overran, so painfully obvious.
Milner at CM ahead of Demichelis every time, even despite his lack if fitness. But it won’t happen.
‘there’s no room in this squad for boyata,Richards,Rodwell, nastasic is fast becoming a could of been’
I love that computer game, Football Manager.
Best striker in aguero I agree but best CM in fernandinho over yaya? Are u out of your mind? Imagine fernandinho playing with dimechellis in place of yaya yesterday,it could have been worse!’
No offence, but I’ll have to assume you started watching City quite recently, ie the last few days?
Yaya scores goals, creates.
Ferdy is THE engine in that midfield.
I think the consensus is Yaya and Ferdy, I doubt anyone on the planet was saying Ferdy and Dimechelis.
But again, Demechelis played well, just no-one around him did, especially Yaya.
Yes, Pellets should have played Rodwell. Told him to sit and let Yaya does his wandering about. Rodders could stifle their attacks and tackle them hard. Demi did that ok but he’s not got the young man’s engine. Everybody could clearly see Negredo isn’t quite right. He was awful. So why didn’t Jovetic get the nod to play in Aguero’s position. Pelle comes out with all this rubbish, he’s not quite fit yet. What rubbish. He’s a young lad who’s back fit and is eager for the ball. And the time he was on the pitch we looked more like a team. And I’d bet my mortgage if you asked Jovetic is he up for 90 minutes he’d tell you of course he is. Pelle has his favourites and regardless of how fit he was, I don’t think Jimbob Milner would have started. And we’ll end up losing him when he gets fed up with being snubbed by a manager who’d rather play Garcia or Demi ahead of him. Twice we’ve been totally outclassed this season by quality teams who flood the midfield and Pelle has got to grow some and realise he has to counter against that. If he doesn’t then in a couple of weeks Messi & co will rip us to shreds.
Completely agree with your point about Milner and also Barca.
I actually feel Milner needs to move on – he is being wasted. So much better than MD and JG in centre mid. Him and Fernandinho (if fit) anchoring with YaYa given licence to bomb on (instead of just doing it anyway) would be much more solid. Pick from Silva, Auguero, Negredo, Nasri, Navas as a front three.
It’s great being cavalier against anyone outside the top 4. But we need to be more pragmatic against the better quality teams. We got away with it against Liverpool but need to learn for the big teams – no problem against the likes of Norwich, Newcastle and Utd (couldn’t resist!).
The exception that proves the rule? Arsenal at home!
steady on we lost yer….. but are we not still second, in last 16 of CL a cup final and a
chance for revenge in a couple of weeks come on lets get a grip I, m loving being a blue at the moment
Too right! We’re all loving being blues right now. We’ve waited a long time for this. Just wish my dad was still alive to see it. And I do still believe we’ll win the league. We’ve had the kick up the ass we just might have needed to prevent us becoming as arrogant as the skunks from the other side of town!
COME ON CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m reading a lot of talk about formations and the fact Demi would probably be most peoples 8th choice DM and while I agree with much of what’s being said, for me we may as well played without strikers last night because they really didn’t turn up. Think Aguero would have made a huge difference and it was nothing more than a blip against a very good team
Lescott, Kompany, Clichy & Zab should be the back four of choice for the big occasion every time. Apparently Lescott has a better win percentage over the past 2 1/2 seasons than any other player in our entire squad, and by some distance! One up top, Jovetic on the left with Silva in the 10 (interchangeable)and Milner, YaYa holding. There done it – hindsight is a wonderful thing! CTID
I’m afraid Dzeko appalls me everytime he plays. Every game he plays he misses chance after chance and then all those missed chances seem to be forgotten when he scores, which inevitably he always will do with such great service. 5 shots and not one on target. If we are serious about joining the elite we aren’t going to do it with players of Dzekos standard. It’s going to be embarrassing watching him in action v Barcelona. Jovetic was looking bright last night. It would be nice if Pellegrini started him with Negredo v Norwich. I think Pellegrini is a huge upgrade on Mancini but his faith in Dzeko worries me.
Simply can’t play Dzeko and Negredo together with an immobile midfield like that. Jovetic was a must start, there just wasn’t enough dynamism or pace in the team. It becomes an over-reliance on Navas.
Can’t wait to see Aguero and Fernandinho back
Enjoy reading this blog most weeks! I feel up top pick from Silva, aguero,negredo, jovetic and nasri! Navas gives an outlet but not enough in defence, often being held off the ball easily by anybody. Silva needs to learn to finish, doesn’t score anywhere near enough. He should be belting them in at the same rate as yaya! Legs in midfield is a must with yaya playing. Dzeko needs to go, lacks everything his size and stature promise, can’t head, isn’t strong, awful touch, can’t pass, and finishes 1 in 8 shots he has! Don’t know why we didn’t spend the extra money on mangala and Fernando in the winter window! If they are expecting to save money by doing it their wrong, prices will only go up due to world cup and bidding wars! And it may even cost us revenue from winning cups by not having them in the long run! Silly IMO
This loss (like our previous loss at home against Bayern) was the outcome of Pelegrini’s defeat against the opposition manager. That is really disappointing and many of us understand now why Manuel has not won any titles before despite building some great teams. It is because he plays his own style and he does not adjust his team depending on the opponent. He was too easily tormented by Mourinho’s tactics we have to admit.
We are three points ahead of Chelsea, we play in our fortress and yet we play like this is a win or die match. CALM DOWN! Were we obliged to throw so many players on the attack? I can’t forget that highlight where Nastasic was all alone against four (!) players.
Demichelis’ deployment at the centre was a suicide move against such a light-feet-team like Chelsea.
Dzeko was again abysmal, no work rate, no good finishing, no first touch. He is good as a back up against easy opposition but against great sides? I would prefer Devante Cole from our youth team.
Well said GREEK. Pelle was totally to blame for this defeat. He has only one way he can play – sorry its just not good enough against the top teams. Dont think we can win league with Pelle as manager. I can now see why he has won nothing in Europe. Jose gave him a masterclass! The way Pelle attacked was stupid and arrogant and naive.