European springboard to some consistency?

If we can harness the power of that second half performance against Borussia Monchengladbach (God…even our game-halves are inconsistent at the moment!) then perhaps we can use that much-needed confidence to create a certain stability in our play and results, which reads W W W D L L W W L W over the last 10 games in all competitions. 

 

Starting with a visit from Wales then…

Just what’ll turn up at the Etihad?

Well if our fairly ‘up & down’ ‘last 10’ isn’t too pleasant-a-reading for Blues, then L L D L W L L D L L must look like a horror scene to Swans’ fans!

So, simply put, are we going to face a team uncertain about their manager’s future and who are low-on-confidence all round…or will we see a renewed sense of resolve and a ‘wounded animal’ approach?

Get the latter from Garry Monk’s men and, if we’re not up for the fight and continue to be erratic in our general play & organisation (particularly at the back); then we could be in for a tough time against a side who can be very well-drilled and hard to break down when ‘on blob’. Dare I suggest it - there could even be a shock on the cards if we’re not careful?

However, get the earlier suggestion of a visiting team who are feeling the strain of just one win in the last 10 in all competitions…and we’re up for the fight…then this could well be a high-scoring, home win & much-needed ‘league boost’ for us.

That’s what I WAS gonna say as I prepared some of this article last Wednesday morning…then Swansea City only flippin’-well decided that very afternoon to ‘part company’ with their team’s manager.

Same still applies really, though - it’s just that we now have the added ‘unknown reaction factor’ added to it, in terms of how their players will respond to-having a change in boss; similar to what we faced – and suffered for in my opinion – when we went to AstonVilla the other week.

v Swansea City

 

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome…

4-1-4-1 come 4-5-1 come 4-3-3:

_____________________Bony_____________________

____Sterling___________________________Silva____

_______________Toure__________________________

_________________________Fernandinho__________

____________________Delph_____________________

Kolarov__________________________________Sagna

____________Mangala_______Otamendi____________

_____________________Hart______________________

Subs: Caballero, Clichy, Maffeo, Demichelis, Navas, De Bruyne, Iheanacho.

Back 5 (Hart included) pretty much pick themselves; Kolarov at home for his more attacking qualities.

De Bruyne looks like he needs some resting a little and, so, will probably be on the bench; I’m guessing that following a very good second half in midweek, our manager will be hoping he can take that into this game.

Bony will be, I’m sure, looking forward to nailing his last club...whilst at the same time gaining some much-needed, continued confidence.

Notable absences: Vincent Kompany (injured), Pablo Zabaleta (injured), Fernando (injured), Samir Nasri (injured) and Sergio Aguero (injured).

Result? If we were playing at the Liberty Stadium then I might, managerial 'change factor' taken into account, be a little nervous about this one. However, in-keeping with my recent 8-game, mini-season prediction; I’m going for a fairly comfortable home win.

A quick apology to those who may have recently recevied an alert over a new article published by me, only to then find it to be an old piece from early November. I have contacted NewsNow over this; they have discovered the error, removed the article from their site and hope not to repeat the fault in the future.