The simple fact is that Yaya plays, runs, hustles when YAYA wants to, not necessarily when it is best for the team. If you watch the replay of their first goal, he tracks Meireles, but is NEVER goal side of him. As they enter the box, he simply ball watches and leaves Zabba at the back post to mark two players. Disgusting....as was him walking back from an attack when we were down to 10 men. Ballotelli ran back to try and cover for him, but to simply stroll back into midfield when we are being attacked with only 10 men on the field is simply not good enough.
I'll admit that he CAN BE a revelation. However, I can remember MULTIPLE times when he flicked a 10 yard pass only 5 yards and gave the ball away in our half of the the field, if not in the last 30. Bobbly Manc rates him an automatic when fit. My question is "IS he fit?" He is certainly not fit like Milner and Barry, who are both proving themselves to be INVALUABLE! Heck, Milner played left midfield, right midfield and right back during the game and was STILL going 100% flat out when the final whistle sounded....UFB!!
Tonight, Yaya should have been brought off, "with a niggle" to save face if necessary, and De Jong brought in to provide a stronger midfield. We ended up getting overrun in the second half because Chelsea were actually playing with midfield players!!
We NEED a "ENGLISH-STYLE" midfielder in the January transfer window, because against strong clubs, when the chips are down and we are under pressure.....as we are going to be multiple times this season, especially IF we do not score the THREE opportunities we make in the first 30 minutes...we LACK STEEL IN THE MIDDLE. De Jong is currently playing below par (don't know if he is still trying to recover from the ankle injury or what) and Barry and Milner are playing both ways ALL GAME, which is difficult under the best of conditions.
Sometimes, we simply need to put the flair on the shelf for half an hour and battle the other team into submission. if that means a hard four across the middle, with Silva as second striker, or having a rest, then so be it! With Silva AND Yaya on the field, we are exposing Barry and Milner against good midfields.
I know it is not the end of the world and that SIlva's non-penalty would have completely changed the game, but we can only compete against what is in front of us and tonight, after a BRILLIANT FIRST 30 MINUTES, we looked decidedly second best. When things breakdown, Balotelli is making runs for nothing, the midfield gets overrun while going forward and the defence starts to look a bit fragile. Vinny has not made a decent forward pass of more than 10 yards all season, Lescott looks uncomfortable with the ball at his feet and a player within 10 yards of him, Clichy looked like he thought he was playing against Messi, and it is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH if we have hopes of winning the Prem.
As Bobby Manc keeps saying, it is a long season.....and we are about to be tested harder than at any time so far. By Saturday night, we will be second, and will need to get at least a draw against a resurgent Arsenal team to go top on GD! Looking at early January, ONE BAD WEEK and we could drop 3 pts at home to 'Pool, be almost out of the CC SF, and out of the FA Cup to the Rags! OR, we could be showing signs of a resurgent invincibility........!!!
Exciting times at City, and we are STILL obviously in a position most of us have waited a generation or more to see AGAIN! We NEED players who have no real Premier League OR City history to realize what this means to us and to put in the 100% effort needed to put us over the top.
COME ON LADS!!!!
