Balotelli, Boateng, Kolarov, Silva, Yaya Toure, Milner

[ChicagoBlue]

Milner's problem is that Yaya has not missed a string of games enabling him to "bed in" in the midfield. I have watched him very closely and find that he OFTEN does not get the service OR support that he is looking for when he gets down the line. At Villa, he alway had whippets hitting the 6 yard box for him. Here? Not so much! LOTS of checking back inside and a 6 yard pass. AND, he OFTEN does not get the assistance he needs down the line, while cleaning up LOTS of mess of others.

No, he has not lit up our lives, and NO he was NOT worth what we paid for him. However, he is an excellent investment in the future of Manchester City Football Club. He seems indestructible (hope that is NOT a jinx!) and that is pretty good in this league.

For me, Milner is a Steady Eddy 7, with the potential to be a regular 8.5

Silva - Early on, 6; Last month or so, 8.5
Boateng - 5
Kolarov - 6
Yaya - 7.5
Ballotelli - 6.5, with the potential to be whatever he wants to be. Sadly, I fear it will be realized elsewhere.

Player of the Season so far: Kompany, with Tevez a close second, and both of them by a country mile! Would like to see Boyata as Young Player of the Season.....and get a shot if Kolo does have a calf injury this weekend.

 

[leewill31]

i am glad somebody else noticed this!!

its looking like barry has competition for his most underrated player trophy :)

Assists are important, but they can be misleading. This is why stats are useful, but are no substitute for actually watching the game in its entirety. Going on stats alone, you might even conclude that Milner is a better player than Silva, which is as close to factually incorrect as you can get in football judgements.

Peter Crouch has 5 assists so far this season. I'm pretty sure he's been mediocre at best.

i was pointing out the odd assessments comment more than the assists,for his lack of goals and his skill not shinning though just yet he does a hell of a lot of work for the team,i am not saying he has been world class but comments like awful,disappointing,overrated,struggled??

i feel he has done whats asked of him so far within the squad and doing a decent job of it imho.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

All of 'em. I've seen enough from all of them to think that the future at MCFC with these players on board screams success. The wonderful thing is that they can all get better, even Silva. Once they have played together for the best part of a season, we are talking a complete defensive and offensive team.

 

[allan harper]

All of 'em. I've seen enough from all of them to think that the future at MCFC with these players on board screams success. The wonderful thing is that they can all get better, even Silva. Once they have played together for the best part of a season, we are talking a complete defensive and offensive team.

I agree, all young lads who are gonna be our backbone for many a season.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

I still have evry high hopes for every one of them. It's still very, very early days in their City careers. People should cut Boateng some slack because he's been injured and hasn't been fully fit for us yet. Against Salzburg he showed a bit mroe of what he's about but I think we might see more of him soon. Milner should also be cut some slack as he's not been playing in his favourite position and has done a solid job in almost every game. You need players like him in your team and his versatility and work rate is an asset to the squad. Give him time to settle and I'm sure people will see that he can bring a lot to the club. People say he won't fit in cos we don't play 4-4-2 but when we buy another striker in Jan we might well start playing 4-4-2 more often than outr current formation and there are few better central midfielders in the league than Milner for a 4-4-2.

David Silva - WOW. Still settling in but one hell of a talent. I think every other team in our league are looking at us with envy with this guy. A lot of people, myself included, thought that he might be too lightweight and not quick enough for the rpem, but he's got the heart and balls to go with his sublime skill and creativity. A joy to watch. We are going to see some very sepcial things from this boy in the coming eyars. Forget your Kinky's and your Ali's and your Berko's, this boy's gonna be the business

Yaya has done well but by his very high standards can do better. If he carries on like he did against bolton he's going to be immense for us.

Balo is the wildcard and cannot be relied upon yet but is one hell of a talent. As long as he's willing to learn there's no limit to how far this guy can go

Kolarov looks very promising and when he gets a run of games we'll see more of what he's about

As I said, still got high hopes for the lot of them and it's way, way too early to judge, but the early signs look promising for me

 

[Seosa]

Silva - 9.5 Little magician; we've been crying out for a player of Dave's quality since Eyal, Ali and Gio, although he's better than those 3 even IMO. Will settle in even more and will become a legend for us hopefully.

Balotelli - 8.5 Still undecided about his attitude but I believe thats improving and he'll hopefully score tons more goals and show commitment to the club, still can't get over his quality.

Kolarov - 8 Unlucky with the injury and now the red but he seems to have settled well and I'm impressed. Will only get better IMO.

Yaya - 7 Shown glimpes of his quality going forward and has been ok defensively when needed but has also been poor at times. Hopefully he can play like he did against Bolton more often.

Boateng - 7 Been unlucky with injuries but I like his battle with Zabba for the RB position, good to know we do have Boyata as back up should (god forbid) either of these get injured.

Milner - 7 He'll get better with time and he'll prove to be a good signing, support him for christs' sake.

 

[lionheart]

Silva 7.5
Milner 7.0
Boateng 6.5
Yaya 6.5
Kolarov 6.0
Balotelli 6.0

 

[tommo]

Silva - 9
Class act. Our most gifted player above Balotelli, Tevez and Johnson.
Will get better and better!

Kolarov - 7
He's not played lots yet, but has impressed in the games so far. Does seem to shoot slightly too often, but why not after watching us try and pass the ball into the net in recent games. Will be a top signing.

Balotelli - 7.5
Obviously a very gifted player, skillful and will score lots of goals. His attitude and diving has let him down though thus far! would have been 8.5. Hope he will sort himself out as he gets older, reminds me of drogba at tho mo, but we do need a player of that quality to partner carlos!

Boateng - 6
Looks a decent player, but nothing better than Micah and Zab as other posters have mentioned. I'm sure he will improve and become a top player though!

Milner - 5
Can tell he's trying his best. But he does not seem to produce enough, not even considering his massive transfer fee. I'd expect better that silva for that money! His passing has been awful since he came except for his debut, looked decent in the europa game v redbull slaz but that was a walk in the park, every player looked good. Yet to convince me james! on a plus side, can only get better from now on.

Yaya Toure - 8
Can tell he is class, just the odd game he is quiet. People saying he is a championship player know nothing! but this forum does have the odd nutter.
Will be amazing for us, just want to see some barca esque performances against the top teams from him

:)

Very apt statement

 

[M24-CRC]

Mancini's summer signings. Which player have you been most pleased with? Who has excited you? Who has surprised you? Who has angered you?

Give the players a mark out of 10, on whatever scale you want.You could factor in several variables if you wanted: performances to date, potential, their role as part of a team.....all, of course, contributing to the big question, 'was this a good signing?'

The season is still young. If you feel unable to give a mark, give a prediction. Who will be the Vincent Kompany of Mancini's signings, and who will be the Wayne Bridge?

My opinion (in rank order):

Silva - 10/10. Has been utterly superb. By far our most technically gifted player, Silva is at the centre of everything Mancini has been trying to do with the team - playing fluid, possession based football with blurred lines between midfield and attack. He's still young too - will be indispensable for many seasons to come.

Kolarov - 8/10. Again, absolutely crucial to the way we're trying to play football. He has a surprisingly good range of passing, in addition to the energy and delivery that we knew he could supply. He looks likely to be our Ashley Cole or Patrice Evra.

Yaya Toure - 8/10. I might be in the minority here, but I'm of the opinion that Yaya was a very astute signing. His touch is generally superb, as is his range of passing. He has the Xavi/Iniesta-esque ability to beat a player with his body position when he receives the ball, rather than a skill. He is a vital link between our defensive midfielders and the overlapping fullbacks.

Balotelli - 8/10. He will undoubtedly become a top top player, and thus on the basis of potential alone he is a 9 or a 10. However, his performances have thus far been inconsistent - he misplaces passes too often, often trying to pull off an outrageous ball where the simple pass would have been more effective. I don't really care about his attitude, though, as long as he continues to improve. Obviously, a bit too early to judge, but hey.

Milner - 6/10. I am yet to be convinced that James Milner can slot into this City side, playing in the style we have adopted. He looked very very good against Salzburg, but therein lies the problem - he seems to be a 4-4-2 man, who relishes space to drive into. We do not play this way when we have our full team out. In our usual style, Milner looks lost, his touch looks poor, his vision restricted. Is he destined to become simply a squad player, consigned to the bench for most of the season?

Boateng - 6/10. Where is the man who impressed playing full back for Germany at the World Cup this summer? He's shown glimpses of this form, but has fallen behind Richards and Zabaleta in the right-back pecking order. He seems to be more at ease at centre-back, but he is surely unlikely to be able to dislodge Kolo Toure or Kompany?

Your turn!

Again, I would like to stress that it is OBVIOUSLY way too early to do this properly, I know. But nevertheless it could churn up some interesting discussion and insight.

Thats because his natural position is centre back

 

[mancunial]

give it time milner will be our alan oakes, he will be so pivotal to city,s success when city become a team?