Bobby's problem

[bluemoon27]

Get Barry back in the side,helps out the back 4 and allows yaya to do his thing further up the pitch

 

[Jordie]

collected insights from the gentlemen of the press

Man City 1 – Dortmund 1

Manchester City have to step up or the Champions League dream is over (Martin Samuel, Mail) Even as it is – and bookmakers still have them odds-on to qualify, inexplicably – they face a tough task. City must play Ajax home and away next but even if they were to win both matches, which is far from guaranteed, it does not make a whole lot of difference. Dortmund have already beaten Ajax at home, Real Madrid pulverised them away, so qualification in this group is likely to come down to the results of matches between the big beasts: the title winners from England, Spain and Germany. A real Champions League. And City look the weakest of the three.

Hart heroics save the day after Rodwell error (Matt Lawton, Mail) Inside the mind of Jack Rodwell it was still acceptable to deliver a blind pass across the City defence in the vain hope that nobody representing the Germans would be quick enough to exploit his stupidity.

Roberto Mancini hails ‘incredible’ Joe Hart after stunning display (Mark Odgen, Telegraph) Two weeks after urging Joe Hart to “stay in goal and make some saves” following Manchester City’s dramatic loss against Real Madrid, Roberto Mancini was left thanking the goalkeeper for saving his team from an “incredible defeat” at home to Borussia Dortmund.

Manchester City 1 Borussia Dortmund 1: match report (Henry Winter, Telegraph) City’s manager, Roberto Mancini, was furious with his players after this painfully laboured performance; he hinted darkly at an unspecified deep-seated problem which he would deal with. Barring the particular lethargy seizing Samir Nasri, and a lack of concentration from Jack Rodwell, City’s main malaise appears defensively where they have yet to manage a clean sheet this term. Yet it is Mancini who has broken up the Vincent Kompany-Joleon Lescott axis that was so successful last season. It was Mancini who experimented with three at the back in pre-season, using up valuable preparation time.

Composed Balotelli keeps City’s European dream alive (Ian Herbert, Independent) Jack Rodwell has only played 311 minutes since his £15m transfer from Everton but has already been directly responsible for City conceding three goals. On his City debut, on 19 August, the 21-year-old gave the ball away allowing Southampton to counter attack sharply and for Steven Davis to score. A week later, Rodwell handled the ball to concede a free-kick which Liverpool’s Luis Suarez put in. And last night Rodwell passed the ball straight to Marco Reus to give Borussia Dortmund the lead.

Joe Hart’s brilliance saves Manchester City from embarrassment (Paul Wilson, Guardian) If City barely merited a draw, their outstanding goalkeeper most certainly did. A point is better than nothing, and given their outrageous luck in this game it is still possible City might salvage something from the group, but to do that they must learn to live up to their promises. Not to mention pacify Balotelli and keep an eye on an unused and mutinous-[b]looking Carlos Tevez[/b].

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101greatgoals.com/comment-analysis-round-up/hart-praised-rodwell-slammed-as-man-citys-cl-hopes-fade-arsenals-defence-gets-dissected-should-man-united-have-replaced-evra/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101greatgoals.com/comment-an ... aced-evra/</a>?

All spot on.

Spot on?????????????

 

[Sir peace frog]

yaya cannot play in a midfield two,simple,he was at his best when de jong came off the bench and pushed yaya forward,having yaya in the middle in a two is like playing with ten men,he is a passegner,i would prefer milner/barry next to garcia with yaya further up.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

collected insights from the gentlemen of the press

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101greatgoals.com/comment-analysis-round-up/hart-praised-rodwell-slammed-as-man-citys-cl-hopes-fade-arsenals-defence-gets-dissected-should-man-united-have-replaced-evra/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101greatgoals.com/comment-an ... aced-evra/</a>?

All spot on.

Spot on?????????????

Not a single point in there I disagree with.

 

[Pigeonho]

collected insights from the gentlemen of the press

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101greatgoals.com/comment-analysis-round-up/hart-praised-rodwell-slammed-as-man-citys-cl-hopes-fade-arsenals-defence-gets-dissected-should-man-united-have-replaced-evra/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101greatgoals.com/comment-an ... aced-evra/</a>?

All spot on.

Spot on?????????????

Yep, that's what I said, though i'm guessing the 13 question marks suggest you don't agree?????????????

 

[Nelly's Left Foot]

All spot on.

Spot on?????????????

Not a single point in there I disagree with.

Impossible to disagree with them.We were lost last night against a better team. Mancini says he knows what the problem is and will sort it.I hope it's as simple as that but as the problem has been showing for a while now I would ask why he hasn't sorted it already.

Yaya is only half the player when he plays from a deep position with key defensive responsibilities.And if we play with 5 attacking players in the team like Yaya,Aguero,Dzeko,Nasri and Silva we are wide open to good attacking teams.

We can try to think positively about that bunch of players and of course at their best they are magnificent but when we haven't got the ball they don't do that much defensively and we can be cut open if a team is bold enough.

 

[The Flash]

yaya cannot play in a midfield two,simple,he was at his best when de jong came off the bench and pushed yaya forward,having yaya in the middle in a two is like playing with ten men,he is a passegner,i would prefer milner/barry next to garcia with yaya further up.

Erm...how can he be in the middle of a two?

Just askin'....

 

[Nelly's Left Foot]

Mancini is a very strong character and it has shown with issues with a number of players already.Bellamy,Adebayor,Tevez to name 3 and overall I think it's a positive.But can it also be a negative.

Currently he seems to be at odds with Lescott and Milner and possibly Micah who went to number two right back last year and then he bought Maicon as well.It's like he feels he has to play some players and that ends with Yaya in a deep position that he simply isn't suited to.

Is it upsetting the team spirit and togetherness with this and the changes he keeps making?

 

[SlightlyDangerous]

i blame Platt and Kidd.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Mancini is a very strong character and it has shown with issues with a number of players already.Bellamy,Adebayor,Tevez to name 3 and overall I think it's a positive.But can it also be a negative.

Currently he seems to be at odds with Lescott and Milner and possibly Micah who went to number two right back last year and then he bought Maicon as well.It's like he feels he has to play some players and that ends with Yaya in a deep position that he simply isn't suited to.

Is it upsetting the team spirit and togetherness with this and the changes he keeps making?

Good post.

He is blind to the ineffectiveness of Samir Nasri, wants to play him every week and that renders Yaya wasted in a holding role.

And yes, the players look seriously fucked off with it to me. The body language on the pitch is wrong. You can see them looking over to the bench regularly as we mess around with formations, as if to say "What am I doing?". Yet they know full well that if they say a word out of line they could be out in the cold forever. I worry Micah is in that position after a tactless interview last season. We miss him like mad.