teddykgb said:
Thought Boyata had an atrocious first 5 minutes, with a couple of really bad giveaways in dangerous positions that just can't happen out of a player in that position, but he settled down a bit and was OK, even good at times. Wasn't the calm and composed always in control kind of good that VK or even Nastasic provides, more of a frenetic maximum effort living by the seat of his pants kind of good that I never find convincing but some players can just play that way.
Seriously?
Nastasic is better, but that is a ridiculous analysis of Boyata's overall game. And, he made the best tackle of the game and got a yellow card because Ribery rolled around! F'ing joke call from Stark!!
Boyata, with a few more games under his belt, will be the #1 back-up, and to think that he and Nasty are younger than me COMBINED blows my mind.
Sadly, Boyata was exposed by Zaba going missing multiple times. After Richards performance yesterday, Zaba will be very disappointed with his performance today......and how great is THAT?!!
The thing that the pre-season (so far) has shown me is that the "two in any position" mentality has helped UP the game of numerous players.
Nasri is a good example, where Pelle is playing him as a second striker when necessary.....and he looks great there....AND he has been fighting for the ball on the front line!!
Milner is another player who I have always admired, but who has upped his game. His LEFT FOOTED ball to Dzeko in the 89th minute was brilliant, as has his left foot crossing! That means that when he plays EITHER wing, he can get the ball over down the line or inside. Excellent add'l string to his bow.
I would like to see WHOEVER the "third choice" left back is play some games, because Kolarov has changed his game to the left midfielder he wants to be and is an insufficient LB replacement for Clichy. I thought Rekik was going to be bloodied there this season, but now he's at PSV, that kicks that in the head!! (BTW, he had a great debut @ PSV, with highlights already on YT!)
All in all, I am ecstatic to say "We were robbed!" Whodathunk that before the game and after seeing the starting line ups! When I saw them, I thought we were going to get a bit of a pasting....Essentially CIty Second XI vs Bayern's First XI!!