City v Arsenal post match discussion

[tolmie's hairdoo]

The only true barometer for me at the moment is I have yet to actually enjoy a performance from us this season, regardless of result.

Inevitable ring-rust, tiredness, players coming back from internationals, new signings, all legitimate reasons.

However, we do seem to have lost the momentum and intensity of last season.

There seems a lack of conviction and all this chopping and changing, experimenting, is making players unsure of themselves.

 

[robbieh]

I didn't think we were "poor" as some seem to be saying, but I wasn't overly impressed by Arsenal either, and in my opinion we should have beaten them.

First half for 35 minutes we conceded way too much possession, not for the first time this season, but for all their tippy tappy football in that period we had the better chances, and looked more direct. I wasn't surprised when we went in front.

Second half for 25 minutes we completely dominated possession, and pushed Arsenal back to the edge of their own box, in this period we should have scored at least twice but didn't. Once we lost Dzeko, who I thought was our best player, the game got stretched too far, and we struggled to keep possession again, and looked very vulnerable to their break aways. The only surprise when they scored was that it came from a corner, and not a break away.

Overall we were OK, but work needs doing on our defensive play. Garcia looks well off the pace at the moment, and both fullbacks yesterday were below par.

Hart 6, 1 good save but his distribution was awful
Zab 5, one the poorer games he's had for us
Lescott 7, good header for the goal, and probably our best defender
Kompany 6, better than at RM, but still off form
Clichy 5, his worst game so far for us for me
Garcia 5, hope he finds his feet soon
Yaya 8, a good game, though his shooting boots were on the wrong foot
Sinclair 7, not sure what he did wrong really, give the lad some time
Silva 6, not up to his normal standards, his passing was pretty woeful
Dzeko 8, held the ball up well, worked hard, needs a goal a game though to say in the side
Aguero 7, don't think he's fully fit yet, worked hard though, and with a bit of luck would have scored

Rodwell 5, I'm not sure where he was meant to be playing, don't think he knew either
Tevez 6, ran about a lot, to little avail
Balo, not on long enough, but did nothing of note

I thought mancini got the subs wrong, Tevez should have replaced Aguero or Silva, Balo should have been given longer, no idea why Sincalir was taken off really.

Very reasoned post. Are we playing worse than Chelsea or United? No. We are not taking chances however.

With Silva woefully out of form, I'd play more directly with Yaya in his position. Two strikers in front.

 

[1kinkladze]

whats Jimmy Milner got to do to get a game? baffles me....
why take Dzeko off ?
its unfair to think Sergio was gunna hit the ground running, why not give him a subs apperance, and 60mins vs villa?
where does Sinclair fit in? pace yes, but as soon as he reaches someone willing to stop him, he kicks the ball into them.
Silva?? last time i saw him have a good game was last season. he was read like a book yesterday AGAIN.

i dont want to seem like a defeatist, but were f**king CHAMPIONS, this start has reminded me like we were under Hughes.

i hope some home truths came out in that dressing room after the game,
because its a team performance, and mancini, and the players have got a lot to do to sort this.

now come Blues, lets get this sorted!

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

whats Jimmy Milner got to do to get a game? baffles me....
why take Dzeko off ?
its unfair to think Sergio was gunna hit the ground running, why not give him a subs apperance, and 60mins vs villa?
where does Sinclair fit in? pace yes, but as soon as he reaches someone willing to stop him, he kicks the ball into them.
Silva?? last time i saw him have a good game was last season. he was read like a book yesterday AGAIN.

i dont want to seem like a defeatist, but were f**king CHAMPIONS, this start has reminded me like we were under Hughes.

i hope some home truths came out in that dressing room after the game,
because its a team performance, and mancini, and the players have got a lot to do to sort this.

now come Blues, lets get this sorted!

Milner has been injured for a few days.

 

[Marvin]

I didn't think we were "poor" as some seem to be saying, but I wasn't overly impressed by Arsenal either, and in my opinion we should have beaten them.

First half for 35 minutes we conceded way too much possession, not for the first time this season, but for all their tippy tappy football in that period we had the better chances, and looked more direct. I wasn't surprised when we went in front.

Second half for 25 minutes we completely dominated possession, and pushed Arsenal back to the edge of their own box, in this period we should have scored at least twice but didn't. Once we lost Dzeko, who I thought was our best player, the game got stretched too far, and we struggled to keep possession again, and looked very vulnerable to their break aways. The only surprise when they scored was that it came from a corner, and not a break away.

Overall we were OK, but work needs doing on our defensive play. Garcia looks well off the pace at the moment, and both fullbacks yesterday were below par.

Hart 6, 1 good save but his distribution was awful
Zab 5, one the poorer games he's had for us
Lescott 7, good header for the goal, and probably our best defender
Kompany 6, better than at RM, but still off form
Clichy 5, his worst game so far for us for me
Garcia 5, hope he finds his feet soon
Yaya 8, a good game, though his shooting boots were on the wrong foot
Sinclair 7, not sure what he did wrong really, give the lad some time
Silva 6, not up to his normal standards, his passing was pretty woeful
Dzeko 8, held the ball up well, worked hard, needs a goal a game though to say in the side
Aguero 7, don't think he's fully fit yet, worked hard though, and with a bit of luck would have scored

Rodwell 5, I'm not sure where he was meant to be playing, don't think he knew either
Tevez 6, ran about a lot, to little avail
Balo, not on long enough, but did nothing of note

I thought mancini got the subs wrong, Tevez should have replaced Aguero or Silva, Balo should have been given longer, no idea why Sincalir was taken off really.

Sinclair did quite well, but I think Mancini made a good tactical move in bringing on a central midfielder as Arsenal had a lot of midfield possession in the first half. It worked as in the 2nd half we dominated the game

As you say Dzeko was playing really well, and for me tevez for Aguero was the obvious move although their weak link was Mertsesacker and possibly Mancini thought that we could get at him and so left Aguero on. Even with Silva and Toure slightly off their game we created enough chances which is encouraging.

 

[cleavers]

Milner has been injured for a few days.

What's up with him ? I must have missed it. Garcia is the one that worries me, he allows Yaya further forward, but so far he looks miles off the PL pace of play (didn't see Stoke so can't comment).

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Milner has been injured for a few days.

What's up with him ? I must have missed it. Garcia is the one that worries me, he allows Yaya further forward, but so far he looks miles off the PL pace of play (didn't see Stoke so can't comment).

The reports today are saying a toe injury and might be out for a while.

I have similar concerns about what I have seen so far from Garcia, a taller version of Nigel but with less pace.

Sure he will get up to speed with this league.

Shows you how we have missed the sight of serious pace in any City team since the early days of SWP.

There was a moment in the first half where the whole crowd were taken a little aback when Sinclair broke the line down the left hand side and was a show of serious pace.

 

[cleavers]

Sinclair did quite well, but I think Mancini made a good tactical move in bringing on a central midfielder as Arsenal had a lot of midfield possession in the first half. It worked as in the 2nd half we dominated the game

As you say Dzeko was playing really well, and for me tevez for Aguero was the obvious move although their weak link was Mertsesacker and possibly Mancini thought that we could get at him and so left Aguero on. Even with Silva and Toure slightly off their game we created enough chances which is encouraging.

The Rodwell change did improve us, I don't disagree, though where exactly he was meant to be playing escaped me. I thought we'd improved markedly before half time anyway, and would have liked to have seen at least 10 minutes after half time, especially as we were in front.

I'd have liked to have taken Garcia off personally as he wasn't with it, but the half time sub restricted what we could do, especially if (when) Arsenal equalised. I didn't understand Dzeko at all, and it left us with no outlet, and turned the game end to end, which we didn't need, until then we had them penned on the edge of their box.

Unlike most I think Mancini is worrying too much about up front, and not enough about the defensive side of the game, every goal we have conceded so far has been down to poor defending for me, and some really basic errors, Kompany ducking a miss hit that would have hit him in the chest, Garcia flicking on that corner. If we'd kept a clean sheet yesterday we'd have had three points not one.

Arsenal didn't deserve a win, and that seemingly (listening to their fans and the pundits) is them at the top of their game, it shows how far we have come in the last 2 years, because we were way off ours, and they still couldn't beat us.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

I have similar concerns about what I have seen so far from Garcia, a taller version of Nigel but with less pace.

Less pace then Nige? Not sure about that. Garcia seems to get about a lot more too

 

[cleavers]

I have similar concerns about what I have seen so far from Garcia, a taller version of Nigel but with less pace.

Less pace then Nige? Not sure about that. Garcia seems to get about a lot more too

I'm not sure on the pace issue, but he's slower in thought on the evidence I've seen. Can and will improve, but needs to bedded in, I thought his signing was a really good one, and hopefully given a few week it will be, but he was largely at fault with the first 35 minutes yesterday, and certainly at fault for the goal, no idea what he was doing there, in no mans land, and only managed a flick on.