After a season that I have to label as one of the strangest I’ve ever known in the whole time that I've followed Manchester City and domestic football in general; it’s time to see how the players and manager fared.
2015/16 ratings out of 10
Just a very
small number of games in the Premier League with,
shall we say…varying degrees of success. From memory he was AWFUL at
White Hart Lane; had a very good game at Goodison Park and had average-to-okay league games
in others. However, and of course, he was tremendous at Wembley – he, in many ways, won the League Cup for us in that dramatic & heroic
penalty shootout.
So, overall, I have to give ‘Wembley Willy’
his best season-scoring for us at 7.5/10.
Simply put, in my book at least, our
‘player of the season’. Dare I say / joke…’Head & Shoulders’ above the rest? Marvellous season in which he has both saved
and made us so many points over the season which, worryingly, could have
seen us floating just above mid-table if it wasn’t for our England ‘number 1’
stopper. Any time I hear a rumour that Pep
might be looking to bring in a keeper to REPLACE Joe rather
than compete - and that Joe might be out of the door in the summer - absolutely
‘messes with my head’ and is beyond all my comprehension.
No qualms whatsoever giving him 9.5/10.
Plagued by injuries along with many of his
colleagues for a good chunk of the start of the season; he came back and
quickly grew back into his ‘Mr Steady’ role. With occasional very good games
and a couple of wobbly ones; our French left-back has had another season where
he can look back with a sense of achievement.
A solid 7/10.
One season too many for our aging Argentine
defender I think (and
to think also that Jason Denayer was
available but loaned out to Galatasaray!) ‘Plugged holes’ and had to
step in during our worse injury period(s) but it was so
obvious that his legs just aren’t Premier League any more.
Thanks for the assistance over the last few
season – it’s a 4.5/10 this season from
me.
Just to prove to regular readers that I’m not
just ‘anti Kolarov’; I will recall, for those who can’t remember, that he raised
his game towards the end of last season and put in 7, very good back-to-back
performances. Then, whilst Gael Clichy started the season in the treatment room
and we went on a 5-game unbeaten run (blimey…do you remember that?!), he continued
his fine form. I thought we had a changed
man on our hands!
But then the real Aleks Kolarov
stood up and as our solid start to the season quickly faded into flaky and
unpredictable performances; so too did our Serbian left-back’s form. He was
truly, truly awful most of the time and apart from a brief resurgence towards the end
of the season – most notably a substitute
appearance at Dean Court – he just looked like he was floundering in a
league that is clearly way above his ability. Please may he finally leave in
the summer – how HAS he lasted so long?!
A non-exaggerated 4/10
- mostly ‘made up of’ & ‘saved by’
that good, 5-game start...
What a difference in the league, at least,
having Vinny fit for most of the season might have made. I don’t flinch for one
moment when I suggest that we could have had an additional 10 points or more
had Vinny stayed fit for most of the 2015/16 campaign.
Worst injury season ever for
our Belgium skipper…and that’s saying something! Will now also miss the 2016 Euro finals after breaking down in Madrid very early on in the game; surely
has to retire from international duty if he wants to retain any hope of
prolonging his City and / or domestic future elsewhere and at just turned 29;
that’s a very sad prognosis indeed.
When he WAS fit, 8/10
overall from me.
At times looks like he has the ability and
potential…but most of the time scares the ****
out of me and, I’m sure, his manager / colleagues too. I still can’t decide on
this one; whether or not Pep will fire him out of the club ‘quick time’ or will
work with and improve the lad.
As for this season, 6/10.
There were times where I wondered if we had
signed a bit of a hot-headed duffer or, at least, a player who was struggling to adapt to ‘the English
way / league’. Flashes of calm, classy defending were broken-up by moments of
‘sliding in’ madness and, at times, he had a Mangala-like chaos about him.
However, these wobbles began to diminish as
he got more and more ‘game time’ and by the last quarter of the season he was
pulling off some really good performances. Over the whole season – and due to that late, consistently-good
form – he squeezes into an impressive 8/10.
Continues to be one of the best freebies
ever for me. Like Gael on the opposite flank of the defence, the French
right-back has been ‘Mr Consistent’. But even more-so for me – he’s not only
kept ‘our man Zaba’ out, when the Argentine was fit that is of course,
but has put in some really good performances time and time again.
I would be slightly surprised if he doesn’t
survive the managerial change for one season, at least, and he gets a solid and
well deserved 8/10 from me.
Pablo Zabaleta
Up there with the most unfortunate of our ‘injury
hit’ this season. And combined with the many, many miles on the clock his legs
have accumulated over the years; he was fairly slow to get going once he’d
returned from the treatment table…and
before he broke down again near the end of the season.
Still has class and he did put in some
really good, fully-Zaba-like performances. I would be delighted if he could
play a part for Pep’s team next season but I do fear he may have played his
last game for us.
Despite an injury-interrupted season, still
gets a solid 7/10 from me.
BURST onto the scene after he eventually
joined us…and then lost his way for a good chunk of games. His away
performances in particular were pretty awful I have to say
and remind myself.
He could, of course, have been suffering
with-playing in a time that was also struggling terribly for form and I have taken
that into account. Then his form picked up again before disaster struck! Badly
injured at the end of January in our tense, League Cup semi-final, 2nd
leg game against Everton; it looked, at one
stage, like he might have been missing for the rest of the season. Indeed, the initial estimate was “3 months”
and a return of about the end of April.
But he recovered far quicker than expected
and came back with a bang against Bournemouth with an
excellent display in a 4-0 win. From there on he produced largely excellent
performances, dotty only with a couple of ‘missing in action’ games; most
notably when played out on the left flank, I think.
Despite taking a mid-season dip in form
followed by an injury he still gets a solid 8/10
from me. As with Vinny, “If only” springs to mind…
Another one who fell foul of the ‘injury
plague’ this season. Fabian’s first happened very early on in the season and
then again towards the end. In-between the two injuries, however, he was
showing us all what Pellegrini saw in him and Aston Villa badly
missed and, for me, he was a younger, pacier version of James Milner. Good in his defensive midfield
duties but equally very mobile in-helping to support the attack left, right and
centre.
Faded in his performances after his second
injury and, by then, chosen behind Fernando
most of the time; a solid 6.5/10 in his
first season for Manchester City is no bad rating at all. Hope he survives the
managerial change – could be an
important player for us I think.
Regular readers might recall that I’ve often been a little unconvinced and unsure
about our signing from Shakhtar Donetsk; with
performances both inconsistent and as well as ones littered with
rash-challenging errors.
However, he redeemed himself no-end this
season; particularly in the first two-thirds of the season. Faded ever so slightly towards the end - as the whole
team began to look weary - but still gets a solid and much deserved 8/10.
Fernando
Started off injured and a little slow to
get going; he got better and better and better as the season progressed.
Became ‘a regular’ in fact and one, who, Pellegrini made a point of ‘protecting’
ahead of Champions League games.
A solid 7.5/10 would
have probably have looked more like 8.5/10 had it not-have been for that
unfortunate & slow start to his season.
Almost seems unfair to rate a player who
missed SO much of the season through injury. However, he did play at the start
and a few at the end and I saw enough of him to give him a 6/10.
At “just” 29 in June; he has so much potential left if he could keep that lower
lip of his tucked further into his often-sulking face.
It’s
gonna be one of those where he’s either going to be out of the door in the
summer before you can even blink OR a player that Pepe will improve greatly and
be part of his plans for the next 2 or 3 seasons.
“Mr Frustration” as most fans will think of
him as (if not
worse). He’ll be 31 in November but he still flies
around with amazing pace and energy. Sadly, most of the time, that’s about all
you get from the little Spaniard. In fairness he grafts hard and covers the right-back
area very well indeed…but he just cannot cross or
shoot!
There were games, however, where he played
really quite well I have to say and just as he was heading for 5/10 from me at
one stage; his occasional, decent displays eventually nudged him up to an above
average rating of 6/10.
Weirdly, this fella’s pace & energy might just suit
Mr Guardiola for one, ‘transitional season’…
Playing with ankle pain for most of the
season is so obvious to us now when you look at his performances and the way he
often trudged off the pitch at the end of games. Chuck in a couple of periods
where he was actually out injured and that tells its own story of a player who,
simply put, ‘makes us tick’ when not shackled by ‘problems of the body’.
Like Vinny & Kevin…if we’d have-had a fully
fit David Silva not only would we have seen a better season for our team but
I’m convinced also that he & Kevin De Bruyne would have done even more
damage had they have managed to play together more.
Still, despite all of that, I recall
several, truly remarkable displays from the little magician and, so, he still
gets a well-deserved 8/10
from me.
Similar to Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem’s
opening few games for his new club saw the England youngster off to a flyer!
Even though his form then dipped a little, he still managed a few moments of
magic to-both create and score in his new colours.
Then he just went flat…really flat!
He had no ‘zip’ about him and absolutely no
inventiveness as he ran down endlessly blind allies.
Then
his head seemed to drop too.
Severely waning confidence and some injures
in the last third of the season simply finished him off. Similar to Samir, however,
I still believe that Pep Guardiola has ‘the touch’ to yank this youngster’s
ability out of him; an ability that he clearly has but has yet to find a way of
applying a lot of the time.
I am, therefore, hopeful for him next
season and beyond in a Manchester City shirt. However, for this season he gets
and overall and very average 5/10.
The legs have gone, the ‘spark’ has
gone…and I think he’ll be gone in the summer too. Thanks for some AMAZING
performances and memories Yaya but, for this season, he just about gets a 6.5/10.
Please remember to take your agent
with you on your way out…
Another season where he gets a bad injury,
which is even more confusing as to why our manager didn’t ‘beef up’ this
department in the summer or, at least,
winter transfer window.
However, and despite that, he put in some
immense performances and scored a fair number of goals too. Had the team in
general performed better / been more creative, I’m sure he’d have scored 10
more…or more. Faded in the last few games / looked tired and slightly unfit at
times.
Despite everything, still gets a solid 7.5/10.
Another one plagued with illness and injury
and a player, who, I defended for a while and had hopes for. But it just wasn’t
to be - he just doesn’t suit / fit in to our team…and I don’t see Pep keeping
him either.
Still raw, at times, but an absolutely
livewire and very good finisher most of the time. Despite our manager stating,
on more than one occasion, that he sees Kelechi as an ‘off the striker’ kind of
forward; this youngster often runs the line really well.
I think the seasons ahead and under Pep are
very exciting ones for this 19-year old - as for this season, a solid 6.5/10 from me. Could
have been a better score had he been played more…
Manuel Pellegrini
Plus-points of the season:
·
Won the League Cup
·
Played it dead right, in my
opinion, when the English Football Association
refused to move our F.A. Cup game with Chelsea ahead of a Champions League game and…
·
…in general, continued to be the
ultimate professional and ‘charming man’ we’ve all come to know and love and, who, gets great respect from most in the
footballing community because of that.
·
Continued to progress the club
in the Champions League by not only getting us to the quarter final for the
first ever time; he then achieved semi-final status for Manchester City
for the first ever time too! A 0-0 result after the first leg meant that we came
so very close to the final after a narrow 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid (albeit
a very flat, low-key performance from us in the end).
Negative points of the season:
·
Woeful performances in the
Premier League that included 10 loses from 38 games, which is appallingly bad
and, which, lead to us crawling on our bellies over the Champions League
qualifier line on the final game of the season to 4th.
·
During our worst period of
injures – and there was a fair few of
those – underused or simply DIDN’T use the EDS players nearly enough (only when desperate enough or ‘making
a point’ at Stamford Bridge in the F.A.
Cup). And, similarly…
·
…massively underused Kelechi
Iheanacho; steadfast in selecting Wilfried Bony instead for FAR too
long.
·
Not bringing in a left-back at
the start of the season.
·
With Bony still to prove
himself from last season and showing signs of being a little injury
prone; with Aguero himself having a history of ‘breaking down’ once or twice a
season and with Iheanacho yet to show us what he could do; failure to bring in
a striker in the summer was a big error in my book. And to add to that…
·
…then failing to bring-in a
loan or purchase striker in January was similarly naïve / stubborn.
·
Baffling team selections and
formations at times, particularly in league games before Champions League
fixtures but also ‘in general’; where puzzling decisions by him proved to be
disastrous and simply lost us games.
·
Loaning out Patrick Roberts – again, and also, during an injury-ravaged part of the season.
·
Loaning out initially - and
then not recalling - Jason
Denayer when we could barely string a recognisable back-4 together at
one stage also appears very puzzling & naïve to me.
This
season’s rating:
6.5/10 (saved mainly by a League Cup win and progression in the Champions
League).
Overall
- achievements in 3 seasons:
-
2 League Cup wins
-
1 Premier League win
-
1 Premier League runners-up
-
1 4th-place finish
-
Progression in the Champions
League season on season
-
Highest points tally over any
other team in the Premier League during his tenure
-
Highest goal-scorers likewise
-
2nd best defensive
record in the Premier League during his time at Manchester City
-
Most charming man in football?
-
Coolest man in football?
Overall
rating:
7.5/10 – He’s been “very good” for us and will leave with a “thank you”
from most (and certainly me) but he’s not been “great”.
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