I’ve actually not really been looking forward to writing this for one reason or another…
1. The Palace game. A result I got wrong, as I put us down for a win, but one that didn’t exactly come as much of a surprise as the final whistle blew. Why? Firstly, I predicted a tough home side to break down and secondly; we continue to look a little ‘off colour’ at the moment and all it takes is for us to have one of those ‘slightly off’ games to give the opposition a decent chance of grabbing something from the match. As it turns out, in addition to a packed & organised Eagles’ defence & midfield, we spurned at least two very good chances and our final pass / passing was, once again, just not good enough by our current standards.
2. Whilst I would say that Ederson, John Stones & Kevin De Bruyne are three players I would consider to be in good, consistent form – chucking into the mix also Bernardo Silva & Riyad Mahrez who have had largely very good performances blighted only by a couple of half-off-games - too many players look a little out of sorts and / or tired and it concerns me that so many of the lads appear that way as we go into ‘the business end’ of the season, as it’s often referred to. And so…
3. …that having just been said, I don’t know what to make of this up & coming international break. Having had a very quick look at the international fixtures ahead, I assume most, if not all, of our key players will be ‘jetting off’ to various parts of the world. Putting aside the usual risk of picking up an injury whilst representing your country; I just wonder how many of our players will come back feeling refreshed by a change of environment…but equally, just how many seemingly-under-the-weather players will come back feeling even more jaded.
4. Pep peeing me off again. It doesn’t happen often but I know, having both listened and spoken to other Blues, that I’m not the only one to think that he was wrong not to make changes against Crystal Palace last Monday. It doesn’t happen often at all [him annoying me] and I think he is both a genius of a manager and a Manchester City legend, for sure. However, he’s had these moments before when we’re seemingly running into brick walls without making a dent – it’s a kind of stubbornness that sets in as he stares intently at the pitch; seemingly in his own world, at times, and utterly convinced that the 11 players he chose to start will ‘do the job’. Well…they didn’t and I, for one, was urging him to take one of our under-performing players off, Jack Grealish, around about 60 minutes; move Phil Foden over to the left wing, who was having a very quiet game where he was until the last 15 minutes or so, and introduce the craft of Ilkay Gundogan at the very least. 0-0; over to Liverpool and…
5. …they flippin’ well got the result, didn’t they? I really had high hopes that in-form Arsenal could, at the very least, share the points. ‘Breathing down our neck’ doesn’t seem to quite say it for me at the moment – I can feel their collective breath like a strong breeze 35.7 miles away! Panicked by the possibility that the team from L4 might overtake us and win the league? No. A little twitchy that they have the momentum whilst we seemingly have one squeaky wheel that occasionally wobbles? Definitely – you’d have to be blinkered or lying to yourself if you’d say otherwise, in my book at least. Therefore…
6. …as we go into a quarter final F.A. Cup tie, I’m finding it somewhat difficult to focus on anything other than the league; despite knowing that nothing can change, in that respect, until the frustrating, seemingly-far-future date of 2nd April.
7. And my final mixed feeling, for now at least, comes in the form of…what personnel choices does our manager make for our trip to the south coast? Does he refresh, ‘change it up’ and give some other players ‘a crack’, despite knowing that first choice players don’t have to feature for their club again for another 13 days? Well, dropping 4 points from the last 15 in the league certainly suggests that players nearer the fringe might deserve their chance. However, does anyone remember the last time we visited St. Mary’s? Does anyone remember how, despite our 74% possession, the home side showed so much spirit, defended so very well and deserved a share of the points in most people’s opinion? Does anyone remember how they had just 7 shots but that 3 of those were on target and one of ‘em went in, whilst at the same time we had 20 shots but only managed to get 5 on target; taking a 65th minute equalising goal from a defender, Laporte, to salvage a point? Does anyone remember how poorly Jack Grealish played…and what an absolute STINKER Raheem Sterling had? Even Phil Foden looked ‘out of sorts’ as he appeared to struggle to link up with Jack on the left that night; something, which, was largely repeated last Monday in my opinion. And how did we fair against The Saints at home back in September? It ended 0-0 in a game where the BBC described Southampton as, resolute; whist at the same time the stats show 16 shots in anger from us…with only 1 on target.
Put another way, this is going to be yet-another tough game where we’ll need our very best players on the pitch and performing if we want to progress to the semi-finals.
8. OH SORRY! I forgot one more…“mixed feeling”. I really want to watch this one – I’m desperate to see ‘a reaction’ from us. I want to witness a proper City performance. However, because of our progression in the domestic cup competition; because of our postponed league fixture and subsequent schedule change from Saturday to Sunday afternoon; there’s some chance that I won’t even get to watch the whole of the flippin’ encounter at St. Mary’s; having pre-arranged birthday celebration plans a 40-minute drive away that starts at 5:00pm. How peed off do I sound at the moment… ☹ C’mon City, please change my mood.
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| St. Mary's Stadium |
There must be some temptation for our manager to make some changes for this one and it is very difficult to get inside his head most of the time. However, having thought long & hard about this fixture, I believe that, like me, Pep sees this one as another, really tough nut to crack and, therefore, he’ll need most of his ‘big guns’ out form the start. Therefore…
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 10/11).
Fluid 4-1-5-0 / 4-6-0 / 4-3-3:
______________________________________________
Foden___________________________________Mahrez
____________________De Bruyne_________________
________Gundogan_________________Silva________
___________________Fernandinho_________________
Cancelo__________________________________Walker
___________Laporte_____________Stones__________
_____________________Steffen____________________
Subs: Ederson, Zinchenko, Ake, Rodri, Grealish, Sterling, Palmer, McAtee, Jesus.
Surely a fit Zack gets the F.A. Cup games. That’s what I’m guessing.
I nearly did it – I nearly predicted Pep starting Oleksandr from the start but having tried to mindread the Spanish manager; I’m going with a back 4 of Joao, Aymeric, John & Kyle.
One change I can see is often-dependable Fernandinho getting a start and, of course, captaining the side.
Ahead of the Brazilian veteran is a fluid, attacking, interchangeable 5 consisting of Phil, Ilkay (another change), Kevin, Bernardo & Riyad.
Ederson takes a step back to act as reserve stopper; Oleksandr & Nathan are the defensive replacement options on the side. Rodders, Jack, Raheem, Cole, James & Gabriel are the midfield / wing / attacking personnel waiting to ‘get the nod’.
5 subs from 9 are allowed in the F.A. Cup.
Notable absences:
- Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.
- Ruben Dias – Good news! The club have recently released pictures of Ruben back in training on Thursday. Although that’s a good 2 to 4 weeks ahead of their initial assessment of his hamstring injury, I would imagine that this fixture will come way too soon to risk the Portuguese international. However, unless he has a setback whilst most of his colleagues are away; I can see the 24-year-old being in contention straight after the international break. Apparently, some Liverpool fans have accused our manager of playing ‘mind games’ when the club released the news…
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result? Our host, who are generally respected by fans of other sides and pundits alike for their work rate and organisation under their current manager, have ‘hit the buffers’ in recent weeks. Some terrific results in the league in February may even have seen some Saint’s fans glancing ever-so-briefly up at 7th at one point. However, a 4-0 defeat away at Aston Villa followed by two 1-2 home defeats to both Newcastle and, lastly, struggling Watford ‘put paid to that’.
They’ll want make amends for sure as they line us up in their sights.
As for us, in all competitions since (and including) our last trip to Southampton, our form has been: D W W W W L W W W D D, with the underlined results being a non-Premier League fixture (F.A. Cup & Champions League). A little bit patchy, I’m sure you’d agree; an occasional ‘wobbly wheel’ as I’ve already said.
I can’t recall the last time we failed to win 3 games in a row under our current boss – to be honest, I’m not 100% sure we ever have.
Aside from the recent Derby fixture, we might have been 8 or 10% off our ‘top game’ in some of our matches in recent weeks but I have a feeling that the group will have had their heads together most of this week trying to get to the route of the problem.
We WILL need everything in our locker to break these down as well as to match, at the very least, their collective determination. The kit staff also need to remember to pack the player’s shooting boots before boarding their transport. I’m gonna have faith that the players will put in a top performance - for me, it’s another sky-blue trip to Wembley for the semis.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A
Expected weather conditions during the game: Brilliant, sky-blue skies and glorious sunshine before, during and after the game. It’ll be a bit fresh, for sure; 9 or 10C is the official temperature, which isn’t too bad, but they’ll be a breeze blowing in off The Solent to remind everyone that it’s still mid-March in England. An adequate coat and a good pair of shades for the fans, I’d advise; perfect conditions for the players, I would suggest.
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| Solidarity |
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