…let’s just hope, then, that we can get back to basics
and back to winning ways against an in-form Welsh side.
Advantage
In desperation,
perhaps admittedly, I’ll take anything at the moment.
And so with 2nd placed Southampton
having to wait until Monday night for an away trip to Aston Villa, 4th placed West Ham United
with a potentially tricky trip to Goodison Park
and Arsenal being forced to slug it out with Manyoo at the Emirates
and on TV after our game at 5:30pm; I’m looking for our players to quietly
apply themselves in a professional manner and dispose of 5th place Swansea City efficiently, in order to ‘kick start’
our season. We can only HOPE that West Bromwich Albion do us some kind of favour at Stamford Bridge
Many, myself included, saw the 1-0 win against Manyoo – our ONLY win in the last 6 games in all
competitions – as the game to ‘set a marker’ and move on in a positive manner.
But not only wasn’t that to be the case…it wasn’t to be the case by a long
stretch of anyone’s vivid imagination.
An absolute appalling display and defeat at home to CSKA Moscow, 2 red
cards and followed-up by a fortunate, it
has to be said, away point and general poor display against relegation-zone
QPR; it was hardly the ‘lift off’ we were desperately (there’s that word again) hoping for.
In fact, chuck a few (more) injuries into the mix and it all
feels a little flat and glum to say the very least at the moment.
Lift
Of course it’s Manuel Pellegrini’s job to reorganise the
team and lift the players following the international break and poor run of
form beforehand but I’m hoping other factors may have some positive influence.
Perhaps just having Messi
& Co. hanging around the club might ‘rub
off’ on us and I’m hoping that a rest for those players not joining their
international team, in between intense training of course, will do them the
world of good too. As for those who did travel; a change is as good as a rest
is the phrase I’m clinging to.
Whatever the ‘tonic of choice’ over the last fortnight has
been for our individual players; I’m keen to see whether it’s worked tomorrow.
v Swansea City
4-5-1 (4-2-3-1):
_______________Aguero_______________
___________________Fernandinho_______
________Fernando_____________________
Clichy____Mangala__Demichelis__Zabaleta
_________________Hart_________________
I’m typing this Blog posting
before any team announcement and, therefore, I’m assuming with this predicted
line-up that Kolarov, Kompany, Silva and Dzeko are all still unavailable
through injury.
Hart to start.
Although, following ANOTHER poor
display against QPR, I personally would be tempted to try Sagna at left back
for this one…I doubt our manager will; as Clichy keeps his place with the
absence of Kolarov (have things got that bad that I’m actually saying that?)
Mangala to get another shot at
settling down to life in England
Zaba on the right of defence.
Similar to both Clichy
Aguero to ‘carry on’ up front with
the support of those midfield 5.
Bench pretty much as we can expect
with the injuries we have; notable sideliners include Lampard and, perhaps I do
suggest, Jose Angel Pozo – although there’s been a timely ‘banging of the drum’ from Scott Sinclair this week…
I’ve gone for our manager to go
4-5-1 and leave Jovetic on the bench simple BECAUSE of the lack of strikers
available to us (although I have gone for
him including the young Pozo). This, I feel, is simply so that he then has
the option of bringing on a different menace up front if needed; a change of
threat rather than starting with both in a 4-4-2.
Result? I’m going for
us to have regrouped enough to overcome Swansea
at home – City v City ends in a Manchester
It's good to have proper footy back...
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