Mixed feelings ahead of Saints clash

I’ve actually not really been looking forward to writing this for one reason or another…

Mixed feelings:

1.    The Palace game. A result I got wrong, as I put us down for a win, but one that didn’t exactly come as much of a surprise as the final whistle blew. Why? Firstly, I predicted a tough home side to break down and secondly; we continue to look a little ‘off colour’ at the moment and all it takes is for us to have one of those ‘slightly off’ games to give the opposition a decent chance of grabbing something from the match. As it turns out, in addition to a packed & organised Eagles’ defence & midfield, we spurned at least two very good chances and our final pass / passing was, once again, just not good enough by our current standards.

2.    Whilst I would say that Ederson, John Stones & Kevin De Bruyne are three players I would consider to be in good, consistent form – chucking into the mix also Bernardo Silva & Riyad Mahrez who have had largely very good performances blighted only by a couple of half-off-games - too many players look a little out of sorts and / or tired and it concerns me that so many of the lads appear that way as we go into ‘the business end’ of the season, as it’s often referred to. And so…

3.    …that having just been said, I don’t know what to make of this up & coming international break. Having had a very quick look at the international fixtures ahead, I assume most, if not all, of our key players will be ‘jetting off’ to various parts of the world. Putting aside the usual risk of picking up an injury whilst representing your country; I just wonder how many of our players will come back feeling refreshed by a change of environment…but equally, just how many seemingly-under-the-weather players will come back feeling even more jaded.

4.    Pep peeing me off again. It doesn’t happen often but I know, having both listened and spoken to other Blues, that I’m not the only one to think that he was wrong not to make changes against Crystal Palace last Monday. It doesn’t happen often at all [him annoying me] and I think he is both a genius of a manager and a Manchester City legend, for sure. However, he’s had these moments before when we’re seemingly running into brick walls without making a dent – it’s a kind of stubbornness that sets in as he stares intently at the pitch; seemingly in his own world, at times, and utterly convinced that the 11 players he chose to start will ‘do the job’. Well…they didn’t and I, for one, was urging him to take one of our under-performing players off, Jack Grealish, around about 60 minutes; move Phil Foden over to the left wing, who was having a very quiet game where he was until the last 15 minutes or so, and introduce the craft of Ilkay Gundogan at the very least. 0-0; over to Liverpool and…

5.    …they flippin’ well got the result, didn’t they? I really had high hopes that in-form Arsenal could, at the very least, share the points. ‘Breathing down our neck’ doesn’t seem to quite say it for me at the moment – I can feel their collective breath like a strong breeze 35.7 miles away! Panicked by the possibility that the team from L4 might overtake us and win the league? No. A little twitchy that they have the momentum whilst we seemingly have one squeaky wheel that occasionally wobbles? Definitely – you’d have to be blinkered or lying to yourself if you’d say otherwise, in my book at least. Therefore…

6.    …as we go into a quarter final F.A. Cup tie, I’m finding it somewhat difficult to focus on anything other than the league; despite knowing that nothing can change, in that respect, until the frustrating, seemingly-far-future date of 2^nd April.

7.    And my final mixed feeling, for now at least, comes in the form of…what personnel choices does our manager make for our trip to the south coast? Does he refresh, ‘change it up’ and give some other players ‘a crack’, despite knowing that first choice players don’t have to feature for their club again for another 13 days? Well, dropping 4 points from the last 15 in the league certainly suggests that players nearer the fringe might deserve their chance. However, does anyone remember the last time we visited St. Mary’s? Does anyone remember how, despite our 74% possession, the home side showed so much spirit, defended so very well and deserved a share of the points in most people’s opinion? Does anyone remember how they had just 7 shots but that 3 of those were on target and one of ‘em went in, whilst at the same time we had 20 shots but only managed to get 5 on target; taking a 65^th minute equalising goal from a defender, Laporte, to salvage a point? Does anyone remember how poorly Jack Grealish played…and what an absolute STINKER Raheem Sterling had? Even Phil Foden looked ‘out of sorts’ as he appeared to struggle to link up with Jack on the left that night; something, which, was largely repeated last Monday in my opinion. And how did we fair against The Saints at home back in September? It ended 0-0 in a game where the BBC described Southampton as, resolute; whist at the same time the stats show 16 shots in anger from us…with only 1 on target.

 

Put another way, this is going to be yet-another tough game where we’ll need our very best players on the pitch and performing if we want to progress to the semi-finals.

 

8.    OH SORRY! I forgot one more…“mixed feeling”. I really want to watch this one – I’m desperate to see ‘a reaction’ from us. I want to witness a proper City performance. However, because of our progression in the domestic cup competition; because of our postponed league fixture and subsequent schedule change from Saturday to Sunday afternoon; there’s some chance that I won’t even get to watch the whole of the flippin’ encounter at St. Mary’s; having pre-arranged birthday celebration plans a 40-minute drive away that starts at 5:00pm. How peed off do I sound at the moment… ☹  C’mon City, please change my mood.

v Southampton

St. Mary's Stadium

There must be some temptation for our manager to make some changes for this one and it is very difficult to get inside his head most of the time. However, having thought long & hard about this fixture, I believe that, like me, Pep sees this one as another, really tough nut to crack and, therefore, he’ll need most of his ‘big guns’ out form the start. Therefore…

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11).

Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:

______________________________________________

 

Foden___________________________________Mahrez

____________________De Bruyne_________________

________Gundogan_________________Silva________

 

___________________Fernandinho_________________

Cancelo__________________________________Walker

 

___________Laporte_____________Stones__________

 

 

_____________________Steffen____________________

Subs: Ederson, Zinchenko, Ake, Rodri, Grealish, Sterling, Palmer, McAtee, Jesus.

Surely a fit Zack gets the F.A. Cup games. That’s what I’m guessing.

I nearly did it – I nearly predicted Pep starting Oleksandr from the start but having tried to mindread the Spanish manager; I’m going with a back 4 of Joao, Aymeric, John & Kyle.

One change I can see is often-dependable Fernandinho getting a start and, of course, captaining the side.

Ahead of the Brazilian veteran is a fluid, attacking, interchangeable 5 consisting of Phil, Ilkay (another change), Kevin, Bernardo & Riyad.

Ederson takes a step back to act as reserve stopper; Oleksandr & Nathan are the defensive replacement options on the side. Rodders, Jack, Raheem, Cole, James & Gabriel are the midfield / wing / attacking personnel waiting to ‘get the nod’.

5 subs from 9 are allowed in the F.A. Cup.

Notable absences:

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Ruben Dias – Good news! The club have recently released pictures of Ruben back in training on Thursday. Although that’s a good 2 to 4 weeks ahead of their initial assessment of his hamstring injury, I would imagine that this fixture will come way too soon to risk the Portuguese international. However, unless he has a setback whilst most of his colleagues are away; I can see the 24-year-old being in contention straight after the international break. Apparently, some Liverpool fans have accused our manager of playing ‘mind games’ when the club released the news…

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Yes…but I’d like to add that I would like to see Cole Palmer (assumed fully recovered from a foot injury and fit enough) and / or James McAtee get a go tomorrow afternoon at some point. With everything that I've mentioned about the condition & form of some of our players, I think these two, attacking youngsters could prove vital in the coming weeks & months...

Result? Our host, who are generally respected by fans of other sides and pundits alike for their work rate and organisation under their current manager, have ‘hit the buffers’ in recent weeks. Some terrific results in the league in February may even have seen some Saint’s fans glancing ever-so-briefly up at 7^th at one point. However, a 4-0 defeat away at Aston Villa followed by two 1-2 home defeats to both Newcastle and, lastly, struggling Watford ‘put paid to that’.

They’ll want make amends for sure as they line us up in their sights.

As for us, in all competitions since (and including) our last trip to Southampton, our form has been: D W W W W L W W W D D, with the underlined results being a non-Premier League fixture (F.A. Cup & Champions League). A little bit patchy, I’m sure you’d agree; an occasional ‘wobbly wheel’ as I’ve already said.

I can’t recall the last time we failed to win 3 games in a row under our current boss – to be honest, I’m not 100% sure we ever have.

Aside from the recent Derby fixture, we might have been 8 or 10% off our ‘top game’ in some of our matches in recent weeks but I have a feeling that the group will have had their heads together most of this week trying to get to the route of the problem.

We WILL need everything in our locker to break these down as well as to match, at the very least, their collective determination. The kit staff also need to remember to pack the player’s shooting boots before boarding their transport. I’m gonna have faith that the players will put in a top performance - for me, it’s another sky-blue trip to Wembley for the semis.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Brilliant, sky-blue skies and glorious sunshine before, during and after the game. It’ll be a bit fresh, for sure; 9 or 10C is the official temperature, which isn’t too bad, but they’ll be a breeze blowing in off The Solent to remind everyone that it’s still mid-March in England. An adequate coat and a good pair of shades for the fans, I’d advise; perfect conditions for the players, I would suggest.

Solidarity

Predictions v Crystal Palace

v Crystal Palace

Selhurst Park

Having gone unusually early (Thursday afternoon) with his pre-match press conference, especially for a Monday night kick off; our manager couldn’t give updates on recently injured and illness-hit players ahead of this one, which makes it even more difficult to forecast.

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).

Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:

______________________________________________

 

Grealish_________________________________Mahrez

____________________De Bruyne_________________

__________Foden_________________Silva__________

 

______________________Rodri____________________

Zinchenko________________________________Walker

 

___________Laporte_____________Stones__________

 

 

_____________________Ederson__________________

Subs: Carson, Slicker, Wilson-Esbrand, Mbete, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Sterling, McAtee, Jesus.

Ederson is net.

Unless Joao Cancelo recovers enough to be considered for a start, I think we’ll see Oleksandr start in the left-wing back position and will be joined by Aymeric, John & Kyle in the back 4.

Rodders just in front of those and ahead of the Spanish defensive midfield is a likely fluid, interchangeable, ‘attacking’ 5 of Jack, Phil, Kevin, Bernardo & Riyad.

Once again, unless Zack Steffen is deemed to have got over whatever it is that’s been keeping him out recently, then I can see our manager fielding 2 reserve stoppers on the bench in the form of Scott & Cieran. Josh & Luke are the only 2, young defenders on the side; Fernandinho, Ilkay, Raheem, James & Gabriel are the midfield / wing / attacking options in ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Zack Steffen – No update, so I’ve assumed that the American keeper has not recovered from his (back? shoulder?) niggle. He wasn’t seen in training on Thursday, at least…

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Joao Cancelo – No update on whether he has recovered from a recent illness / sickness. He too wasn’t seen in training on Thursday, at least…

-       Nathan Ake – Once again, no update about whether the Dutch international defender has recovered from his bad landing the other week. I suspect that he might, at least, make the bench but like both Zack & Joao; he wasn’t seen in training on Thursday…

-       Ruben Dias – Out for 3 to 5 weeks with a hamstring injury.

-       Cole Palmer – No update at all on the young, attacking midfielder since we were last told about a week ago that he was close to returning to training, which he didn’t on Thursday…unless it was behind closed doors and away from the rest of the squad.

UPDATE - 13.03.2022, 9:45am: Reports from yesterday state that Zack Steffen, Joao Cancelo, Nathan Ake & Cole Palmer all trained on Saturday. Whether that means they are deemed ready to step into the match-day squad for tomrrow night remains to be seen but that is very possitive news indeed.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Yep.

Result? Just one defeat in their last eight in all competitions should tell you a little bit about where are hosts are at the moment and what task lies ahead of us; the fact that The Eagles have either held us to a draw or deservedly taken all-3 points off us in recent seasons should tell you also that we have a game on our hands on Monday night (8:00pm KO GMT) and we most-certainly have to be ‘on it’ in South London.

Quick Palace fact: Since 8^th January 2022, only Liverpool & Chelsea have inflicted defeat on the side from Croydon in 11 games played in all competitions.

They don’t score too many in the league, with “just” 39 from 28 played, but only 4 sides outside of the ‘top 7’ have a better defensive record – when they want to ‘dig in’, they’re a terribly difficult outfit to break down. Blues fans will most likely have to hold their nerve and show some patience; whilst at the same time our players have to maintain belief that if we keep ‘doing our thing’, we will breach their defences eventually.

However, whilst we’re constantly trying to pick our way through the forest of red & blue shirts, we will have to be sharp at the back too; as they will, no doubt, try to ‘hit us on the counter’ and at pace. What has concerned me a little in recent weeks in particular is that our wing-backs are pushing themselves SO far up in support of our attacking midfielders & wingers that we’re exposing ourselves a little too much, for my liking at least.

Before Manyoo got their equaliser last Sunday, I’d already spotted 3 occasions where we looked vulnerable on both defensive flanks and, sure enough, former Blue, Jadon Sancho, ran into clear space where our right-wing back should have been to give the reds some hope. I think it’s incredible how our flanking defenders give additional attacking assistance to our more-forward players but I do, sometimes, think that they - and perhaps our manager - forget that they are wing-backs…and perhaps Rodri needs to drop back more to ‘fill out’ our defence whenever Walker & Cancelo, or whoever, go marauding forward.

All that being said, I think we have ‘our swagger’ back and there’s never doubting the endeavour that Pep instils in his players.

That work rate – along with craft – will be needed aplenty and I think we’ll see that on Monday. It’s a much-needed away win for me.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Prediction: Win

Result: Won

Expected weather conditions during the game: A fine, nothing-much-doin’ evening. No rain, little in the way of a breeze and some broken cloud, which will see the temperature during the game registering at 8C. Perfect for the players; warm coats and perhaps hat & gloves for the watching fans, I would suggest.

Solidarity

 

Blood & bones

With so many first-teamers out along with players who need resting / protecting, which leaves us with a fairly threadbare defence in particular; I wonder if our visitors will ‘smell blood’ and fancy turning around a 5-0 deficit tonight (8:00pm KO GMT)?

v Sporting CP

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11).

Down to the ‘bare bones’ in some ways…

Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-2-3-1 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:

______________________________________________

_____________________Jesus____________________

Grealish________________________________Sterling

_____________________________McAtee___________

_________Gundogan____________________________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Zinchenko________________________________Stones

 

___________Laporte____________Fernandinho______

 

 

_____________________Ederson__________________

Subs: Carson, Slicker, Wilson-Esbrand, Egan-Riley, Mbete, Lavia, Silva, De Bruyne, Bobb, Kayky, Delap.

Ederson has the gloves.

I think the only two defenders I would have down as “certainties”, for now at least, are Oleksandr & Aymeric - I believe that unless Pep trusts in a youth player to run the other flanking defensive position then it’ll be John who will be asked to cover that role once more. That’s what I’m going for and if I’m correct, I can see our club captain being asked to-also cover a position he’s played in before; leaving us with just one player in the back 4, Aymeric, who will be playing in his natural position.

Rodders, therefore, is surely needed tonight…and needed more than ever to keep an extra eye over his shoulder. Additionally, I can see Ilkay being asked to help with defensive midfield duties and we might even see the Spaniard & German internationals ‘sit in as a 2’.

Either way, ahead of all of those I can see an attacking 4 of Jack, James, Raheem & Gabriel.

12 allowed on the subs bench in this competition but I can only find 11 to ‘stick in there’…and I get the feeling that Pep won’t even bother putting 11 on the side for this one. However…

2 reserve keepers, I would have thought, in the form of Scott & Cieran; Josh, Conrad & Luke are the 3, very-young defenders amongst the subs. Romeo, Bernardo, Kevin, Oscar, Kayky & Liam are the midfield / wing / attacking options waiting to receive ‘the call’.

Notable absences:

-       Zack Steffen – Despite a fairly detailed report from our manager regarding who is injured, there was no mention of the American stopper…and neither did any of the journalists ask in the pre-match press conference. Initially – and following Zack missing out on his country’s last outing – it was due to a back injury; then he came back briefly, then he was out with a shoulder issue and now one site has him out until mid-March…with a back problem, although I don’t know what their source is. Therefore – and regardless - I’m just assuming that he’s out for this match. 🙄

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Joao Cancelo – Out of action with an illness. If it’s Covid – and I’m not suggesting for one second that it is – it could be more than just this fixture that the versatile wing-back misses…

-       Kyle Walker – Suspended. And it seems I was right when I posted recently about a ‘gut feeling’ that Pep might [still] be annoyed with the England man following is reckless action towards the end of a ‘dead rubber’ Champions League game back in December. When the subject was brought up in the pre-match press conference yesterday, our manager admitted that he was still so angry with him…and he looked it.

-       Nathan Ake – Still not recovered from a recent injury in time for this fixture. Pep went into more detail about the Dutch defender in that Nathan is close to a return but the club’s doctors have advised not to rush him back; it would be too risky to do so, by all accounts, and with other defenders missing for a variety of reasons also, it would be silly to bring him back too soon. My feeling is that the Palace league game on Monday night could be 50/50 too…

-       Ruben Dias – Out for 3-½ to 5-½ weeks with a hamstring injury.

-       Cole Palmer – Similar to Zack Steffen – Guardiola neither mentioned the young, attacking midfielder and neither did anyone ask about him. Last we heard ahead of the derby last weekend is that Cole was close to resuming training…but that same website has him missing until around mid-March with the same foot injury he picked up over 2 months ago. I’ve assumed that he’s not ready for tonight.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Under the circumstances, yeah.

Result? Who on earth could predict this one?! I’ve had every result in my head over the last couple of days from a narrow defeat, a well-earned draw to a narrow victory; where Pep plays a number of kids and they go on do themselves proud against a side who are vastly more experienced but who had half given up on the tie before the ball was even kicked.

Flip a coin…

I suppose all things considered; I’m going for the draw.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Dry, windy and mild for the time of year in the UK and for a night game in early-to-mid March in particular (10C).

Solidarity

 

The Manchester v Trafford Derby

v Manyoo

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).

Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:

______________________________________________

 

Sterling_________________________________Mahrez

____________________De Bruyne_________________

__________Foden_________________Silva__________

 

______________________Rodri____________________

Cancelo__________________________________Walker

 

___________Laporte_____________Stones__________

 

 

_____________________Ederson__________________

Subs: Carson, Steffen, Zinchenko, Mbete, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Grealish, McAtee, Jesus.

Ederson in net is a ‘no brainer’.

Our back 4 is highly likely to consist of Joao, Aymeric, John & Kyle.

Rodders, who I’m hoping rediscovers his near-season-long good form, ‘sits in’ / shields and then ahead of the Spaniard is a fluid, interchangeable, 'attacking 5' of Raheem, Phil, Kevin, Bernardo & Riyad. Jeeeze…if all those are on their ‘A game’ on the day, God help Maguire & Co!

2 keepers in the form of Scott & Zack on the bench, I would say and in case recently-recovered Zack ‘feels a niggle’ and a change of goalie is required. Oleksandr & Luke are the only defenders on the side, while Fernandinho, Ilkay, Jack, James & Gabriel provide midfield / wing / attacking options in ‘the 9’.

Notable absences:

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Nathan Ake – Having landed awkwardly / flat on his back in our last outing following an aerial challenge, the Dutch international defender will be missing for a short time with an…“undisclosed injury”. It looked flippin’ painful at the time, I recall quite clearly…

-       Ruben Dias – Picked up a hamstring injury in our last match and will be out for 4 to 6 weeks. Worst case scenario [6 weeks], we could lose the Portuguese central defender for 7 games; the 7^th game being 50/50 / about the end of that recovery estimate and, which, would be the Liverpool clash.

-       Cole Palmer – The good news is that the 19-year-old attacking midfielder has now been deemed fit enough to resume training in the coming days, following a foot injury that he received a full 2 months ago.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Sure do.

Result? I regularly speak to a red who, in fairness to him, has always been so-very honest about his own team’s performances; even if they somehow achieve an underserved win or manage to scrape a draw, he very often tells me how poorly they defended / defend generally; how terrible they were / are at passing and how wasteful they were / are in front of goal. Personally - not that I pay too much attention to that side, of course - I think it’s a largely unhappy and disjointed camp; full of ‘big egos’ vying to be ‘top dog’ in the dressing room and players who, otherwise, just don’t appear to care enough for the club that pays their wages.

As for us, generally speaking I think we’ve lost about 10% of our powers in recent games; I think our passing has been a little off and some key, previously in-form players have looked a slightly ‘off colour’; as well as, perhaps, a little jaded. We've slowed are attacking play a little too, I would sauggest. That being said, I still think we’re playing well and we just need to both tighten & ‘sharpen up’ a tad.

All things considered? I’m putting this down as a home win…and that’s despite our visitors achieving some positive results on ‘our patch’ in recent seasons.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Prediction: Win

Result: Lost

Expected weather conditions during the game: Although low in the sky, the start of the game (4:30pm GMT on Sunday afternoon) should see a bit of sunshine. Dry throughout the match but as daylight turns into night, it starts to get a little chilly; with a finishing temperature of 6C perhaps feeling a little colder as a light, easterly breeze wafts over the ground.

Solidarity