From a slightly different perspective, ive tried looking a little deeper at comparing results (not performances). I think even the most biased rag (that will be all of them, would struggle to claim , that they should have had any MORE points than they have actually got, they cant really argue about their 3 defeats, and even against Spurs (last kick equaliser) Spurs were well worth a point.
Given both sides have had very late winners, ( bearing in mind we had a few last year, and i lost count of the number of times they won very late) i would like to look more closely at the draws ..8 against 2. Rags , Spurs and Swansea both away, arguably lucky to get 2 points, but no way should they have got more.
Now lets look at City's 8 (costly) draws
Liverpool (a) very dodgy freekick for Liverpool's second, but 1 point about right
Stoke (a) Crappenburg "missed" Crouch playing basketball before scoring, failed to send off
(wilkinson??) last minute kicked off line, def robbed 2 points
Arsenal (h) Sergio too honest at 1- 0 stayed up, when def pen, would have been (hopefully)
2 - 0 and game over, concede late equaliser, should have had 2 more points
West Ham(a) missed a couple of very good chances, but 1 point about right
Chelsea (a) Benitez first game, ripe for taking, def pen not given robbed 2 points
Everton (h) not good performance 1 point about right
QPR (a) goal less Cesar man of match, couple of easy chances missed, should have been +2
Liverpool (h) Liverpool equaliser after def foul on Dzeko, game changing moment, but only
deserved 1 point.
Now before you accuse me of blue tinted specs, ive not commented on some possibly favourable contentious decisions or late goals, anymore than i have for Rags (Liverpool and Chelsea away spring to mind) Ive accepted basically, that when both teams have won (they simply have 3 points, end of matter) i've tried to look at the times when both teams have not won. Personally, i think from above , you can very easily make a good case, when with a more luck / better refereeing we would be 8 points better off. Could easily be only 4 behind them.
Stating the blindingly obvious, no way should we have lost at home to the Rags, having fought back brilliantly to draw level, we lose in the last seconds, because
i) Clichy fails to take safety first approach (row Z),
ii) ref awards very dubious foul to Rags,
iii) Nasri hides behind wall,
iv) despite iii) he sticks out foot and deflects ball away from Joe into corner of net
Dont get me wrong, i'm not trying to claim we should be ahead of them, i'm merely pointing out, that we were oh so close to being a hell of a lot nearer, and still having to play them at the Swamp..if only some of the above had gone our way.
I accept we are a lot of goals (19, i believe) down on last year, and have undeniably failed to push home an advantage in quite the same fashion that we did last year. Our defence, like last year, is the best in the league, we have simply not been so clinical in our finishing.Having said that, last year we were Champions, and this season, despite the failings above, we have already bettered the Champions' results at Fulham, West Brom, Chelsea and Arsenal (first win in 34 years) we really have not been getting bad results , its just that THEY have been getting better ones.
Realistically most teams now park the bus at the Etihad, and many of them do the same at home. We, the Champions, are their Cup Final, and they raise their game accordingly
More to the point, i think the above, clearly show, that despite most peoples' perception that we are not playing anything like last year, results wise, there has been very, very little between us and the Rags, and we could oh so easily have been breathing down their necks, within striking distance. As others have pointed out, we are 90 mins away from another Wembley appearance, and who is to say we cant't win it, (bookies have us as favourites for a reason).
Sure, Champions League was a disappointment, (so was last year) but i will NEVER forget 3 magical days in Madrid, overall, this season has not been bad (despite what the media would have you believe) and there is still plenty of time for it to get even better. So what if the Champions only finish second,and (hopefully) win the FA Cup, thats certainly something i NEVER thought i would be saying about about City back at Wembley in 1999 towards the end of that game against.....hmmm, who was it now, it seems so very long ago!!!!!!
Given both sides have had very late winners, ( bearing in mind we had a few last year, and i lost count of the number of times they won very late) i would like to look more closely at the draws ..8 against 2. Rags , Spurs and Swansea both away, arguably lucky to get 2 points, but no way should they have got more.
Now lets look at City's 8 (costly) draws
Liverpool (a) very dodgy freekick for Liverpool's second, but 1 point about right
Stoke (a) Crappenburg "missed" Crouch playing basketball before scoring, failed to send off
(wilkinson??) last minute kicked off line, def robbed 2 points
Arsenal (h) Sergio too honest at 1- 0 stayed up, when def pen, would have been (hopefully)
2 - 0 and game over, concede late equaliser, should have had 2 more points
West Ham(a) missed a couple of very good chances, but 1 point about right
Chelsea (a) Benitez first game, ripe for taking, def pen not given robbed 2 points
Everton (h) not good performance 1 point about right
QPR (a) goal less Cesar man of match, couple of easy chances missed, should have been +2
Liverpool (h) Liverpool equaliser after def foul on Dzeko, game changing moment, but only
deserved 1 point.
Now before you accuse me of blue tinted specs, ive not commented on some possibly favourable contentious decisions or late goals, anymore than i have for Rags (Liverpool and Chelsea away spring to mind) Ive accepted basically, that when both teams have won (they simply have 3 points, end of matter) i've tried to look at the times when both teams have not won. Personally, i think from above , you can very easily make a good case, when with a more luck / better refereeing we would be 8 points better off. Could easily be only 4 behind them.
Stating the blindingly obvious, no way should we have lost at home to the Rags, having fought back brilliantly to draw level, we lose in the last seconds, because
i) Clichy fails to take safety first approach (row Z),
ii) ref awards very dubious foul to Rags,
iii) Nasri hides behind wall,
iv) despite iii) he sticks out foot and deflects ball away from Joe into corner of net
Dont get me wrong, i'm not trying to claim we should be ahead of them, i'm merely pointing out, that we were oh so close to being a hell of a lot nearer, and still having to play them at the Swamp..if only some of the above had gone our way.
I accept we are a lot of goals (19, i believe) down on last year, and have undeniably failed to push home an advantage in quite the same fashion that we did last year. Our defence, like last year, is the best in the league, we have simply not been so clinical in our finishing.Having said that, last year we were Champions, and this season, despite the failings above, we have already bettered the Champions' results at Fulham, West Brom, Chelsea and Arsenal (first win in 34 years) we really have not been getting bad results , its just that THEY have been getting better ones.
Realistically most teams now park the bus at the Etihad, and many of them do the same at home. We, the Champions, are their Cup Final, and they raise their game accordingly
More to the point, i think the above, clearly show, that despite most peoples' perception that we are not playing anything like last year, results wise, there has been very, very little between us and the Rags, and we could oh so easily have been breathing down their necks, within striking distance. As others have pointed out, we are 90 mins away from another Wembley appearance, and who is to say we cant't win it, (bookies have us as favourites for a reason).
Sure, Champions League was a disappointment, (so was last year) but i will NEVER forget 3 magical days in Madrid, overall, this season has not been bad (despite what the media would have you believe) and there is still plenty of time for it to get even better. So what if the Champions only finish second,and (hopefully) win the FA Cup, thats certainly something i NEVER thought i would be saying about about City back at Wembley in 1999 towards the end of that game against.....hmmm, who was it now, it seems so very long ago!!!!!!