Monday 28 January 2019

Time to let the handbrake off.

It might sound very odd to suggest that we’ve not been in full-flow-mode following our blip a few weeks back that put a dent in our season; where we have, since


 


-      Beat Southampton away 1-3


-      Beat our title rivals at home 2-1


-      Beat Championship side Rotherham United 7-0 at home


-      Beat League 1 side Burton Albion at home 9-0


-      Beat 10-man (after 19 minutes) Wolves at home 3-0


-      Beat Burton Albion in the return leg 0-1 and…


-      …lastly, progressed to the 5th round of the F.A. Cup with a 5-0 home win over Premier League side, Burnley.


Just yer...P7 W7 D0 L0F30 A2

However, anyone who’s been watching our lads throughout that terrific period of results might tell you, as I would, that…yeah, we’ve been ultra-professional against all of those sides and, of course, scoring 30 goals and only conceding twice against a very mixed bag of opponents is definitely something to be very pleased about.


So…what then?


Well, aside from the Southampton game where we had to try to put things right following 2, back-to-back league defeats – and where we looked a little nervy at one stage having gone 0-1 up and let the home side back into it – and despite that wonderful display & result against Liverpool; the players look like they’ve been simply ‘going through the motions’ somewhat since.

As I’ve said, I think we’ve remained very professional indeed and it does have to be taken into account that Pep has, very wisely, used the time to ‘chop ‘n’ change’ / rest first team players as well as introducing youth-team players when & where possible.

But, as I alluded to recently, the players don’t look like they’re playing anywhere near full throttle when-facing some of those Premier League sides.

Perhaps they’ve been TOLD by their boss to do just that; to do just enough to get the win but without expending too much energy or risk injury ahead of a tougher period of fixtures. If so – and despite that being a risky policy to some degree – it has worked and, so, well done Mr Guardiola!

But here comes that run now – a quick-to-arrive away trip to Newcastle who are fighting for their very Premier League lives; Arsenal at home, Chelsea at home, a Champions League away game and then just 4 days after that, we meet Chelsea again; this time at Wembley in the League Cup Final. Flippin’ eck!

We do appear to be getting our swagger back though, even if it looks like we shifting between 2nd & 3rd gears a lot of the time in games of late. That was certainly the case again last Saturday against Burnley until the second half; where we might have used 4th gear for a time to finish-off The Clarets. More of that is needed now as we face tougher tests.

I’ve got little doubt that we will be up for the challenges that we’re about to face in the coming weeks and perhaps those energy-saving displays will pay dividends. It was worth making note though, I think, as-have quite a number of Blues I’ve spoken to and have posted on-line in recent days & weeks.

v Newcastle United.


St. James' Park

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from starting line-up in the last game: A really poor 5/11).

Fluid 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

___________________Aguero____________________






Sane___________________________________Sterling

____________D. Silva_______De Bruyne____________


_________________Fernandinho__________________

Danilo___________________________________Walker


____________Laporte_________Stones_____________




____________________Ederson___________________


Subs: Muric, Mendy, Otamendi, Gundogan, B. Silva, Mahrez, Jesus.

Ederson retains his place in goal, of course.

Danilo is definitely doing enough at the moment to earn a regular place; whether asked to play on his preferred right-side of defence or in the left-wing-back role. I think we’ll see him on the left for this one. As for the right side, despite another below-par performance in his last outing and in a season where he just looks so off-colour a lot of the time; I think Pep will want to test Kyle again before we face the Gunners on Sunday. Aymeric & John the likely pairing in-between those.

Having had a fairly easy time of it as well as being withdrawn on 66 minutes last Saturday, that indicates to me that Fernandinho will be a strong contender for another starting place tonight. Therefore, could we finally see ‘the trinity’ in midfield for the first time this season? Well, with David only seeing 24 minutes of normal time at the weekend and with Kevin being withdrawn on 75 and looking in fine fettle; I would say there’s a flippin' good chance! I also think we’ll see Leroy & Raheem return either side of those.

Sergio, likewise, to get rotated with in-form Gabriel for this one.

Aro the reserve keeper. With Benjamin being described by Pep as “much better”, he may be fit enough, therefore, to provide cover / change-options on the flanks of our defence should it be needed. Nicholas, despite some flaky defending in the last game, also gets a spot on the bench as back-up to Laporte & Stones. The rest of the bench is all about creativity & attack in the form of Ilkay, Bernardo, Riyad & Gabriel.

Notable absences:

-       Claudio Bravo – Continues his rehab following serious injury.
-       Oleksandr Zinchenko – Not selected.
-       Vincent Kompany – When asked about Vinny yesterday our manager simply replied, “No. No, he’s not ready”.
-       Phil Foden – Not selected.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?


What City fan wouldn’t approve of that line-up?!

Result? Although more capable of a win than Huddersfield are, this club also looks dead on its feet. Yeah, they might provide a scrap with the battle at the bottom being so intense as it is…and they did record a 3-0 home win in their last game against fellow-strugglers, Cardiff City.

But if we play that predicted side and we are-indeed shifting-up the gears, then Lord help ‘em! It’s an away win for me.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: Win
Result: Win


Player hyperlinks are incomplete on this piece...

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