Blue chews-daze

Saturday, 6 April 2024

Rest & rotation is likely to be the theme…

…for this game, I would guess. We saw some of that in our last outing last Wednesday night; despite the fact that our manager said he simply put the best side out that he thought could win the fixture…and it worked. 👍

However, with some guys being left out of our midweek game; with Tuesday’s away trip to Spain looming large and with some players having to ‘go again’, it’s definitely a tricky one to guage with regards to who might start and who might be protected / rested.

v Crystal Palace

Selhurst Park

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / / 4-2-3-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (perhaps an occasional 3-6-1):

____________________Haaland____________________

__Doku__________________________________Bobb__

____________________________De Bruyne__________

__________Kovacic______________________________

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Gvardiol___________________________________Lewis

_____________Dias______________Akanji___________

_____________________Ortega____________________

Subs: Carson, Ederson, Gomez, Stones, Nunes, Silva, Foden, Grealish & Alvarez.

Stefan definitely starts again and has been nothing less than impressive.

Despite some considerable doubts about personnel, I think we’ll see the same back-4 of improving Josko, Ruben, Manuel & Rico.

He could do with a rest but I recon we’ll see Rodders in front of those.

Midfield / wings? I think this is where we might see some changes from midweek, with Jeremy, Mateo, Kevin & Oscar all starting.

I believe we might also see a return of Erling up front but I could be wrong.

Two stoppers on the bench, with our manager giving us a fitness update yesterday afternoon; so that’s both Scott & Ederson. Sergio & John are the only defenders on the side, while Matheus, Bernardo, Phil & Jack make up the midfielders & wingers in ‘the 9’. Julian to step back as reserve striker for this one.

Notable absences:

- Kyle Walker – Still out injured and there was no update as to a possible return date.

- Nathan Ake – For Nathan, read Kyle.

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

Yep.

Result? I have absolutely no clue whatsoever about their manager’s style, a boss they brought in last mid-February, and little about how The Eagles have been playing since his arrival, generally speaking.

However, our host’s last 5 league results look like this, W L D D L, which suggests that they are struggling a little and are most-certainly still circling around the Premier League ‘sink hole’; in danger of getting sucked into a relegation battle if they don’t pick up some points in their last 8 games. Beware the animal fighting for possible survival, is advice that should be heeded this afternoon, for sure, and this is often a tough place to visit for most sides...not least us.

It's another difficult one but I’m going for us to come home with all-3 points.

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

Prediction: Win

Result: Won

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: WOW! A massive, warm hairdryer would seem to be the best way to describe it. 66F (19C in new money) with a big dose of southerly wind from “Storm Kathleen”, which’ll be right in the faces of the City fans due to the stadium alignment.

Solidarity

Wednesday, 3 April 2024

Another tough test.

Liverpool away, Arsenal at home and now Aston Villa at home. It doesn’t get much tougher than facing all of our top-4 league neighbours in back-to-back games…well, apart from having to-soon-face Real Madrid twice and a yet-to-be-arranged Spurs away fixture.

But APART from that, ~~what did the Romans ever do for us?~~ our league run-in doesn’t look too bad…just whisper it and whatever you do, don’t DARE suggest it to Pep.

v Aston Villa

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).

A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (perhaps an occasional 3-6-1):

____________________Haaland____________________

Doku______________________________________Silva

__________De Bruyne__________Foden_____________

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Gvardiol___________________________________Lewis

_____________Dias______________Akanji___________

_____________________Ortega____________________

Subs: Carson, Gomez, Alleyne, Stones, Kovacic, Nunes, Bobb, Grealish & Alvarez.

Stefan continues his league outings in-between ‘the sticks’.

Under the circumstances, I can’t envisage anything other than a back-4 of Josko, Ruben, Manuel & Rico.

Rodders just in front of those and then an attacking / creative 4 of Jeremy, Kevin, Phil & Bernardo would be my guess.

Erling ‘up top’.

Scott is the reserve keeper; Sergio, Max & John (the latter considered as improving but slowly-slowly does it) are the defenders on the side. Mateo, Matheus, Oscar & Jack are the midfielders / wingers in reserve, while Julian is remains back-up striker at the moment.

Notable absences:

- Ederson – Injured. Thigh issue and no update on a possible return date as yet.

- Kyle Walker – Injured. It’s a hamstring problem, I think, and it doesn’t sound too good. Pep was asked on Tuesday afternoon if the England man would be ready to face Real Madrid [on 9^th April] and his response was that the Doctor said, “No”. Guardiola, of course, appeared very hopeful that this was a pessimistic, worse-case-scenario prognosis from the medical staff.

- Nathan Ake – Out injured with what looked like a calf issue he received in our last fixture and it sounds like he will be missing for a few games also.

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

Yep. I think I’d like to see Oscar given a go on one of the flanks but there’s time in ‘the 90+’ for that to happen.

Result? In some ways, today’s visitors remind me a little of Newcastle United and what I said about the North East side recently. They’ve turned out to be an unpredictable side after the fairly strong-steady outfit they appeared to be earlier in the season.

In fact, their March results sum them up perfectly:

- Slugged it out away at Luton, a side renowned for being highly spirited with a never-say-die attitude, to come away from Kenilworth Road with a 2-3 win.

- They then went to Ajax and kept a clean sheet in a 0-0, first-leg draw.

- Came home and got slammed 0-4 at Villa Park by Spurs.

- Battered Ajax at home 4-0 in the second leg of their European fixture.

- Only managed a 1-1 away draw at all-over-the-place West Ham; a side with the 5^th-worse defensive record in the division, despite somehow sitting 7^th (all written before Tuesday night’s games, I will add).

- Finally rounded March off with a 2-0 home win against Wolves.

Yep, as I say, unpredictable to say the least…

As for us, cutting through all of the increased high expectations & over-reacting from some City fans, as well as all the rest of the chaff from other fans and some pundits; I think some of our top players DO need to find an extra gear in our final 9-league games plus 2 cup competitions. As a team generally, I think we also need to improve our final pass / end product, as well as find our ‘killer touch’ which has, fair enough, been missing for large parts of the season.

However, that’s as far as I can “criticise”, if you can call what I’ve just written criticism, a side who are 23 games unbeaten, with 20 wins and 3 draws; who lie just 3 points off the top of the table, are in the semi-final of the F.A.Cup and quarter final of the Champions League. Yes, some of the time, we might not look as ‘easy on the eye’ as Pep’s City sides of seasons gone by but, for me at least, they are still a joy to watch most of the time; it’s the high number of stifling opponents who I think are colouring the perception of our gameplay and current season.

So…cutting through it all, as I say; I’m going for a City win tonight.