Following the M.E.N.’s article on the ten things Manchester City
1. GET KOMPANY FIT
THE latest news is that the skipper will be out for another three weeks, meaning he will
miss home games with Spurs and Swansea
That is not as big a blow as
it might be, especially as City have won three of their five home league games
without the big Belgian.
But they need him back for the
two following games, difficult trips to Southampton and West Brom , and need
to be able to count on him in the long-term.
The worrying thing is that he
is not just picking up unlucky collision injuries, but suffering from a variety
of soft-tissue strains and tears – both calves, groin and now thigh. He is a
tremendous athlete, but that might be the problem – he is just too
finely-tuned.
Well, of
course. And do it right; no rushing back no matter how much we miss him when
he’s out. Vinny seems to be breaking down more and more in the last 18 to 24
months; worrying for a footballer who is about to reach the supposed start of
his footballing prime (28 to 32 for an outfield player so ‘they’ say) in April
2014 when he reaches 28-years of age.
I agree
that Vinny pushes himself in every game and although straining every sinew for
‘the cause’ sounds like a great thing for any footy fan and perhaps even the
Manager; clearly literally straining so much is having a detrimental affect
on both him and the team in the long term.
Time for
him, his Physio and his Coaches to have a re-think on his style / technique
while he’s rehabilitating from his latest set-back.
2. GET THE
BEST FROM NAVAS
The flying Spain
Mancini wanted a pacy winger
with crossing ability, and pursued Alexi Sanchez for that reason, although he ended up with Adam Johnson and then Scott Sinclair.
Pellegrini appeared to have
cracked it, adding pace and width in one fell swoop, and Navas announced
himself with a fine debut in the 4-0 win over Newcastle
Since then, he has gone into
his shell, and Pellegrini has reverted to Mancini’s tactic of using his
full-backs for width. It flopped badly at Sunderland .
Yes! I’ve
mentioned this before; that a lot of us were drooling in anticipation of what we
were going to get from the speedy, Spanish winger. Not only do we like our wide
men at City; I think we’ve all felt somewhat starved for a really good, direct,
nippy one ever since Shaun Wright-Phillips departed.
Not sure
why he’s not been picked more than he has - even when David Silva was out
for the recent Sunderland clash he only came on after a should-have-done-better starting 11 [manager's personnel choice] and 1st
half. What does he have to do to get in the starting 11?
Of course
none of us see him in training and you have to trust the Manager. And, of
course, with all 4 competitions on the go the season is still a very long one indeed. Keep
it to yourself but I recon – with David
still out – we’ll see Jesus start at home against Spurs a week
tomorrow.
How often
we’ll see him after that may well depend on whether he takes advantage of that
rare start by, hopefully, showing a similar performance to the one he showed
against Newcastle on the opening game of the season. I do have to ask though,
having performed so well against the Geordie side why has he hardly featured
since?
3. A SETTLED
BACK FOUR
Obviously, the on-going absence
of Kompany means this is not possible right now, and the Blues have also
suffered injuries to Matija Nastasic, Martin Demichelis, Micah Richards and Gael Clichy.
But one problem with using
full-backs as auxiliary attackers is that they need rotating more often than
other positions, and leave space in behind during games.
City’s strongest back four is
debatable, but Pellegrini needs to work out his best unit and get them
defending, first and foremost.
Agreed.
And although this has mostly been taken out of our manager’s hands through
injuries (and lesser performances this season [compared to last] so far from
both Nastasic and Clichy it has to be said), I do have a few “whys” to chuck in
- yes, a little bit of criticism for our
new manager…
-
Why did it take him so long to realise that Garcia just
isn’t a centre-half replacement? Huh…he’s
barley a midfield stand-in!
-
Why is it taking him so long to realise that, for
the most part, Kolarov is an appalling defender?
-
Why, when short in that department, did he not
think earlier that Richards or Boyata would be able to provide
better, more natural cover?
-
And talking of a settled back 4; why, at Sunderland,
leave Zabaleta and Clichy
Pellegrini has to at least take
some of the blame under the
sub-heading of ‘settled back four’ here…
4. BRING
BACK HART ASAP
The point has been made, and
Hart has been taken out of the firing line for a few games, but he remains
City’s best keeper. It would be hard on Costel Pantilimon, who has done nothing wrong,
but you cannot afford to wait for your keeper to mess up before making a
change.
Extending Hart’s spell on the
side-lines could affect him in the long-term, and you can be sure he has been
working hard and examining his game during his enforced absence, and will come
back stronger.
Bit harsh
on Pantilimon (as the M.E.N. have admitted) and opinion is very split amongst
both professional / ex-professional footballers and non-pros / ex-pros as to
whether Hart should have been dropped. Friendly
or not, even Roy Hodgson chose not to play our Joe in last night’s 2-0
defeat to Chili; despite being fit and available for selection.
As much as
I’m sure we ALL agree that Joe is a far better keeper than Costel, I’m afraid
the “law” adage of ‘possession being 9/10 etc.’ should apply here to - it
should boil down to ‘Costel has the jersey and what has he done (so) wrong to
deserve dropping?’
Is it fair
that Joe was allowed half-a-dozen or more mistakes (over approximately 12
months) before the decision was finally made to bring down the axe on the
England number 1…and now some sit waiting for the Romanian to make just one ‘bad-un’
before panicking and wanting to snap Joe back in between the sticks in the
blink of an eye? Those same ‘some’ are
already saying that Costel should have done better with Sunderland ’s
goal…
Of course
Joe will be working harder than ever in training; trying hard to ‘get back to
basics’ and iron out whatever it is that needs ironing out. I’m not expert
enough to know whether leaving him out for a longer or lesser time will help or
hinder him further but I have seen enough of Joe’s character to know that
whenever he DOES return we will get our old Joe back…and possible even an
improved version too!
5. STRENGTHEN
IN DEFENCE
Joleon Lescott is clearly not
fancied by Pellegrini, even though he formed a strong partnership with Kompany
in the title-winning team.
Given that he is likely to
leave next summer, and possibly in the January window if the Blues decide to
try to get a fee for him, City need to identify a replacement now, and get him
in as soon as possible.
The problem with shopping in
January is the best players tend to be unavailable, but in the unlikely event
there is a good, quick, comfortable, quality central defender out there, the
Blues need to move for him.
Such is
the pace of news and sport that, already, the M.E.N. have produced another piece quoting that Joleon (and Micah) will get their
chance for both City and, therefore, England. And so perhaps Manuel isn’t so
anti-Lescott after all…
I like him
but unfortunately I also think that we are close to the end of the Brummie’s time at
City. I can’t see him being offered a new contract and so if he doesn’t go for
a small fee in January; it’ll be a very, very good freebie for someone
in the summer!
Who to go
for? The article hits the nail on the head when it suggests that the best of
the best of the best are rarely available in January and so do we stick or
twist?
We can’t
just HOPE that this is the last of Vinny’s injuries this season and, sadly, I
don’t think that it will be. That leaves us with 2 left-footed central
defenders (a ‘no-no’ combination in modern footballing management); a 32-year
old ‘cover’ purchase and other than an ex-EDS, bit-part player Boyata we
have a small selection of ‘can play there if desperate’ options.
That’s
scatty to say the least and it all screams at me, “YES! Go and get a top-quality
central defender in January”. Good luck;
over to you Manchester
City
6. DROP THE
POPPYCOCK
Pellegrini told the media he
has been ‘very happy’ with City’s away performances this season, pointing to
the dominance they have had – both in possession and numbers of shots – in the
games they have lost.
There are times when the
message to the dressing room has to be different to that he is giving to the
public, but this is not one of them.
Everyone who watched Sunday’s
game could see there were serious flaws in the display, not least that Sunderland keeper Vito Mannone was not truly forced to work.
The fans are not mugs, so
don’t treat them as such.
Totally
agree. I’m starting to cringe when I see his all-too obvious ‘toeing the party
line’ of being non-controversial. He has been clearly told to steer away from the
Mancini-style (fair enough) but I don’t think he was ever that sort of person
in the first place. Now, clearly with Khaldoon and the two afore mentioned
Executives’ voices ringing in his ears; he’s gone way over the top and sounds
ridiculous when trying to deflect or defend on (wrong) occasions.
7. GIVE RODWELL A CHANCE
The young England
With him standing in for Fernandinho, City
immediately lost pace and dynamism in midfield, without gaining the nous and
work rate Gareth Barry would have brought.
Rodwell is more of a natural
replacement for the Brazilian and, although he still has plenty to prove, he
would not have been worse than Garcia at the Stadium of Light.
Couldn’t
agree more. His only failing is that he’s more fragile that Vincent Kompany and
John Guidetti put together - only Scott Sinclair beats him to
the ‘time spent in the rehabilitation room’ trophy.
Whenever
he’s played Jack has fallen somewhere between a good, solid display to a rather
impressive one. I for one, in fact,
wasn’t aware of his thrusting-forward and finishing ability until last season.
Surely…SURELY
a better option than Garcia!
8. USE SILVA
WISELY
You wonder just how much of
Silva’s frequent injury problems relate to the fact that he is indispensable.
He finished last season in
July due to international commitments, but was straight back into action at the
beginning of this campaign.
That may have contributed to a
five-game absence – including the uninspired draw at Stoke and defeat at Villa.
Since that lay-off, he has
been involved in every game, including the League Cup, and maybe it
is no shock that he has another muscular injury.
I’m guilty
of not realising this (obvious now pointed out) fact and had I have been the Manchester City
They’re
right. Although, as we know all-too-well, there are no ‘should win games’
anymore; perhaps the occasional home game where we…a-hem, SHOULD win; we should drop him to the bench to rest those
little, magical legs of his. Huh…and then
cue Navas as a first-choice replacement of course!
9. PRIORITISE
THE LEAGUE
City could end up falling
between four stools this season, as Pellegrini desperately needs a trophy to keep
up with the quota set by his bosses.
But the Blues need to treat
the domestic cups with respect without risking important players too
much, and they perhaps need to realise the Champions League is something to
take seriously later in their evolution.
Focusing fire on the league,
and seeing the cups as a bonus, would be wise.
Absolutely!
Absolutely! ABSO-FLIPPIN’-LUTELY!
I reiterate their words, ”…realise
the Champions League is something to take seriously later in their evolution”.
10. WATCH
THOSE EX-REDS!
Former United players have been having a
field day against the Blues this season with Fraizer Campbell, Zoran Tosic and Phil Bardsley all
scoring against them, while Wes Brown and John O’Shea marshalled Sunderland ’s
defence well.
Start to treat ex-Reds in the
same manner as you treat the current Reds – and give them a good walloping!
Give them a good walloping, yes, but I can’t really take
'Point 10' too seriously or agree otherwise.
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