Whisper it…but we may be about to pick up some
momentum. Two very different but difficult teams in the last week; two very
different circumstances and two wins. Everything crossed for that to continue
on the South coast on Sunday afternoon.
A few words on the Bayern game
Firstly, apologies for not posting a post-Bayern Munich
- It was good to see the UEFA Champions League theme being roundly booed by both sets of fans; good to see the Bayern “Respect the fans” banners go up and good to see those who, like me, turned their backs to the pitch during the anthem.
- The
- As
is usual against European opposition our fans were a shadow of theirs -
quiet for the most part and then boring, predictable and uninventive in
whatever song we managed to squeak
out on the rare occasions we could be bothered. As Crystal Palace,
- What a team Bayern are! And…WOW…Pep doesn’t half get ‘em organised and fit. I look at their performance against us last Tuesday and heap even MORE praise on them when I look at the players they had out and, of course, in that they went down to 10 men quite early on…and then went from 0-1 to 2-1 before half time. Just phenomenal and, so…
- …we
have to give ourselves a huge amount of credit for overcoming a side that,
let’s face it, didn’t LOOK like they were a man down for the most part. Of
course Sergio was immense; a 10/10 showing
if ever there was one. But I have to also note a marked improvement in Mangala and good displays also from Clichy & Sagna
at the back. Fernando too looked a little
more settled than of late and I thought Lampard
and Navas had good games too. That’s why I
was utterly aghast at the Manchester Evening News’ player ratings! What
the hell?! Bayern were - and ARE - the better side but the
amount of 5/10s from the
Back to ‘bread & butter’
The very same paper
picked up on this fact just yesterday – it’s red & white stripe week for City. Rarely do we come away from Southampton,
Stoke City or Sunderland with anything
and we have two of those sides in just 3 days!
And to add to the bizarre
case of red & white stripe phobia; before we travel to the North East to
face a Sunderland side who have ‘stopped the rot’ with a win and two draws (Update: Now a win a 3 draws thanks to a 0-0'er against Chelsea); we
face a Southampton team who are drawing some well-deserved, positive attention
with a league record in the last 10 games that reads:
Won: 8
Drawn: 1
Lost: 1
Ronald Koeman was forced to sell in
the summer and sell big. However, he forged ahead with haste and brought in
players he knew well and they hit the ground running that’s for sure. They sit
second…but a City win at St Mary’s (1:30pm KO
GMT) and we swap places.
This is a key,
psychological game for us.
v Southampton
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome…
4-5-1 (4-2-3-1):
_______________Aguero_______________
__________________Fernandinho________
__________Fernando___________________
_________________Hart________________
Subs: Caballero, Sagna, Demichelis, Lampard, Nasri,
Pozo, Jovetic
Consistency in selection is, for me, the key
here…
Despite some
press-suggested criticism after the midweek ‘goals against’ in the Champions
League – something Manuel Pellegrini quite rightly deflected and said he wouldn’t discuss in public – Joe to start
again on the South coast.
It may well be “forced”,
this one, but despite some awful displays; Gael Clichy’s forced run in the side
[due to Aleks Kolarov’s continued injury] appears to be paying dividends. He’s
settling down a little and making improvements, which is all you can ask.
Another go in the defensive ‘unit’ can only, surely, continue this improvement.
I was SO tempted to suggest that our manager might
go with the rested Demichelis for this one…and I might well be wrong in not
going with that feeling. However, I also believe that our manager might look at
the improvement against the Germans as a turning point for Mangala…and also
agree with me that the powerful French defender has to have a run of Premier
League games at SOME point. He needs to bond with his defensive colleagues – particularly Clichy to his left – and so
with regulars Hart, Kompany and Zabaleta also likely to be starting against The
Saints; for me Eliaquim ‘gets the nod’.
Similarly with
Fernando & Fernandinho. Where possible - and on occasions that warrant it -
I believe our manager always had intentions of using these two together. Like
his ex-Porto colleague behind him, Fernando
also needs ‘game time’…and I see him as an extension to the defence and,
therefore, also needs to ‘bed in’ with his colleagues ASAP. Fernandinho rested
[through European suspension] and so starts.
Yaya managed a rest
for the very same reason in midweek and, so too, starts on Sunday.
I initially stuck
Nasri on the left…and then swapped him. I think Milner will be chomping at the
bit for this one (isn’t he always?) and that this game will suit him. The steadily
improving (again) Navas to add HIS energy and pace to the right and, of course,
‘the battleship’ up front.
It’s a strong bench
considering we’re without 3 regulars; not least David Silva.
Good defensive
options in Martin and Bacary and Frank ‘in there’ in case needed for a 20 to
25-minute, game-changing role.
Dropping Nasri on
the bench also gives us that creative change of tack (and leaves him fresher
for Sunderland ) and Pozo continues to get a
role on the side-line.
I’ve gone for our
manager to choose a 4-5-1 / 4-2-3-1 not only because we’re away from home to a
dangerous side but, also, with Jovetic our only other main forward available (no
disrespect intended to the EDS player); I think he’ll want that ‘change of
option’ rather than starting with both (only)
aces from the start.
Result? This could well be just pre-game, built-up optimism from me…but I’ve
gone ‘n’ changed my thinking from a draw to a City win in
the last couple of days. I just feel that we have our ‘tails up’ now and
that the players are starting to get back their belief & confidence once
again.
They appeared, in
recent weeks, to be suffering from a lack of conviction both in their own abilities
and that of their teammates; we’re starting to look like a team again and a
continuation of that on Sunday – despite the
tough opposition – will see us come out on top.
In other news…
EDS Midfielder Seko Fofana
has joined Fulham on a short loan to 31st
January 2015. He has not been named in the squad for their trip to Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend. Update correction: Came on as a sub on 63 minutes. Oooops...
Jordi Hiwula, however, has
returned from a rather unsuccessful short spell with Yeovil Town.
The EDS striker played 8 times scoring only once (in the F.A. Cup) and had a couple of unflattering reports
whilst with The Glovers.
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