Edin Dzeko

[Džeko]

I'll stay, and score 30+ next season.

 

[Bigga]

Guess what - you can't have it both ways. Sooner you accept us internationals there is less chance you will develop ulcer ;) Today it's the Bosnians, tomorrow could be some new fanatics following "asian Neymar" as someone joked...

Kidding aside, please hear me out…

No more stats, opinions etc. Lets just try to agree on some things, identify where the gap is in our understanding of each other and try to see if we can bridge this gap and make this forum better place…

FACT: City no longer belongs only to you local supporters and expats who grew up with it proudly wearing blue throughout all these hard years. It now belongs to whoever identifies with what this club is all about - resilience, persistence, determination, loyalty, hope, even humility…. That's why I fell in love with this club, I caught the bug. It's about knowing where this club was, where it's now and where it wants to be and I want to be part of this journey. If that will pass your litmus test of what City fan should be-great; if not, I don't give a shit, I am still blue.

But always keep in mind that primary reason for recent success of this club are the new owners… Don't forget that and be grateful that you have chairman and owners who deeply care about the history of the club and what it means to locals and community. At the end of the day it's all about money..

FACT: When I recently took my brother to see MCFC team for the first time at the Yankee stadium, I think we were outnumbered 1:10. Believe me 95% of those Chelsea fans were not from London. How is that possible? Even Mou noted today when he took team to US first time for pre-season not many knew about Chelsea. Today there is no day that passes that I don't see someone in Chelsea, Arsenal or scum kit around NYC.

Forgive me but what's wrong with these nomadic City fans anyways? You believe that right now there are no Argentinian fanboys around the world rooting for Barca only because of Messi or City because of Tevez / Kun ? We don't hear them here cuz they may be unaware of Bluemoon or possibly cuz their english skills may not be good enough for written discussion. Unfortunately, fking Balkan war dispersed hundreds of thousands of us around world forcing us to learn new languages as @LookIfoundmyKnob eloquently explained. Edin (and others on our NT team) is the only bright spot in otherwise grim picture of our country and it means a LOT to us for them to succeed.

We became "fanatical" defenders of Edin only when we felt that over longer period of time he started to be unjustly and disproportionally singled out for failures/mistakes and labeled with names that no real City supporter should say about ANY player wearing Blue.

Here is what all of Bosnians on this forum would agree with:
- No, he will never suddenly slalom through defense like Messi does to score brilliant goal...
- Yes, he is sloppy sometimes with ball bouncing off of him.
- No, he will never run and be workhorse that Tevez/Milner/Zabaleta mostly are
- Yes, last few chances he was given he should've given better impression that he cared


All we tried (EagleFan, AntiUnited, noise and others even though I am not sure if they even identified themselves as Bosnians) to portray in this endless dissuasion is that he was not utilized properly playing to his strengths. In the end we even agreed that "he simply does not fit the system".

Yet, reality is that he was brought into team by Mancini who either somehow wasn't aware what kind of player he was getting and how to best utilize him or he was hoping Edin would suddenly start dribbling like Messi or Maradona.

HARD FACT: Overall, Edin did his job for the club with the opportunities manager gave him. I say that as a City fan, not as Bosnian.

I think it's important not to just count his time and contribution on the pitch, but to keep in mind formation and tactics that Mancini employed while playing him. There was nothing more frustrating to me to watch and wait eternity for midfield to pass that ball up front. I would rather see him play every 2nd or 3rd game but played to his strengths when he did. Just like the team played with Edin coming off the bench to bail Mancini out on more than few occasions.


So in the end, is it fair for me to generalize and paint a picture of typical 'true' City supporter simply based on image pominoz is portraying here? No, because I know he is the minority (and I wouldn't call him racist either) . Posters like CC1, Blue_Rossy, SilvaisSkyBlue here and thousands of others who went to Etihad and away games and sung Edin's name countless of times in support cuz I know they appreciate his contributions even though they have every right to be frustrated when the ball bounces off of him at times or when he is apparently not running around enough.

Excellent post, sir!

Mate, City fans have had sh*t opinions about players that play to the best of their ability, but are not world beaters, for decades! The closest resemblance to the modern day 'villain' Dzeko was one Shaun "The Goat" Goater. Balls bounced off him, left, right & centre! ut, you know hat? He had heart, like Edin & kept going. His partners were "world class" like Anelka and Fowler and STILL he matched them and outshone them on many an occasion.

Big Niall Quinn was another in the same mould. We loved those two cos they TRIED even if they weren't perfect! Edin is the better equivalent, but somehow, somewhere we've gotten a little 'fat', a little 'greedy' in wanting perfection.

There's something that I saw in Quinny, The Goat & now in Edin, that gives me an edge & raises expectation in me that they might and will pull something special out at moment's notice!

I really hope Edin stays.

 

[TueartsOHK]

[Excellent post, sir!
Mate, City fans have had sh*t opinions about players that play to the best of their ability, but are not world beaters, for decades! The closest resemblance to the modern day 'villain' Dzeko was one Shaun "The Goat" Goater. Balls bounced off him, left, right & centre! ut, you know hat? He had heart, like Edin & kept going. His partners were "world class" like Anelka and Fowler and STILL he matched them and outshone them on many an occasion.

Big Niall Quinn was another in the same mould. We loved those two cos they TRIED even if they weren't perfect! Edin is the better equivalent, but somehow, somewhere we've gotten a little 'fat', a little 'greedy' in wanting perfection.

There's something that I saw in Quinny, The Goat & now in Edin, that gives me an edge & raises expectation in me that they might and will pull something special out at moment's notice!

I really hope Edin stays.

I don't quite understand your point here. Are you saying that City fans are prepared to live with average players on the basis that they tried? Times change and with it so do expectations - is it unreasonable to expect a 27m striker to care and give 100% in every game he starts in?

 

[Bigga]

[Excellent post, sir!
Mate, City fans have had sh*t opinions about players that play to the best of their ability, but are not world beaters, for decades! The closest resemblance to the modern day 'villain' Dzeko was one Shaun "The Goat" Goater. Balls bounced off him, left, right & centre! ut, you know hat? He had heart, like Edin & kept going. His partners were "world class" like Anelka and Fowler and STILL he matched them and outshone them on many an occasion.

Big Niall Quinn was another in the same mould. We loved those two cos they TRIED even if they weren't perfect! Edin is the better equivalent, but somehow, somewhere we've gotten a little 'fat', a little 'greedy' in wanting perfection.

There's something that I saw in Quinny, The Goat & now in Edin, that gives me an edge & raises expectation in me that they might and will pull something special out at moment's notice!

I really hope Edin stays.

I don't quite understand your point here. Are you saying that City fans are prepared to live with average players on the basis that they tried? Times change and with it so do expectations - is it unreasonable to expect a 27m striker to care and give 100% in every game he starts in?

See that post makes me question how long you have actually been a 'fan'.

You don't connect the dots very well...

As for Edin, it's pretty hard to put 100% in if you felt your goal scoring contribution wasn't enough to stop you getting dropped, nor when you would start a game again.

Giving 100% for 3-10 mins at the end of a game isn't great motivation for anyone. This was my only critique of Roberto Mancini.

 

[SilvaisSkyBlue]

Guess what - you can't have it both ways. Sooner you accept us internationals there is less chance you will develop ulcer ;) Today it's the Bosnians, tomorrow could be some new fanatics following "asian Neymar" as someone joked...

Kidding aside, please hear me out…

No more stats, opinions etc. Lets just try to agree on some things, identify where the gap is in our understanding of each other and try to see if we can bridge this gap and make this forum better place…

FACT: City no longer belongs only to you local supporters and expats who grew up with it proudly wearing blue throughout all these hard years. It now belongs to whoever identifies with what this club is all about - resilience, persistence, determination, loyalty, hope, even humility…. That's why I fell in love with this club, I caught the bug. It's about knowing where this club was, where it's now and where it wants to be and I want to be part of this journey. If that will pass your litmus test of what City fan should be-great; if not, I don't give a shit, I am still blue.

But always keep in mind that primary reason for recent success of this club are the new owners… Don't forget that and be grateful that you have chairman and owners who deeply care about the history of the club and what it means to locals and community. At the end of the day it's all about money..

FACT: When I recently took my brother to see MCFC team for the first time at the Yankee stadium, I think we were outnumbered 1:10. Believe me 95% of those Chelsea fans were not from London. How is that possible? Even Mou noted today when he took team to US first time for pre-season not many knew about Chelsea. Today there is no day that passes that I don't see someone in Chelsea, Arsenal or scum kit around NYC.

Forgive me but what's wrong with these nomadic City fans anyways? You believe that right now there are no Argentinian fanboys around the world rooting for Barca only because of Messi or City because of Tevez / Kun ? We don't hear them here cuz they may be unaware of Bluemoon or possibly cuz their english skills may not be good enough for written discussion. Unfortunately, fking Balkan war dispersed hundreds of thousands of us around world forcing us to learn new languages as @LookIfoundmyKnob eloquently explained. Edin (and others on our NT team) is the only bright spot in otherwise grim picture of our country and it means a LOT to us for them to succeed.

We became "fanatical" defenders of Edin only when we felt that over longer period of time he started to be unjustly and disproportionally singled out for failures/mistakes and labeled with names that no real City supporter should say about ANY player wearing Blue.

Here is what all of Bosnians on this forum would agree with:
- No, he will never suddenly slalom through defense like Messi does to score brilliant goal...
- Yes, he is sloppy sometimes with ball bouncing off of him.
- No, he will never run and be workhorse that Tevez/Milner/Zabaleta mostly are
- Yes, last few chances he was given he should've given better impression that he cared


All we tried (EagleFan, AntiUnited, noise and others even though I am not sure if they even identified themselves as Bosnians) to portray in this endless dissuasion is that he was not utilized properly playing to his strengths. In the end we even agreed that "he simply does not fit the system".

Yet, reality is that he was brought into team by Mancini who either somehow wasn't aware what kind of player he was getting and how to best utilize him or he was hoping Edin would suddenly start dribbling like Messi or Maradona.

HARD FACT: Overall, Edin did his job for the club with the opportunities manager gave him. I say that as a City fan, not as Bosnian.

I think it's important not to just count his time and contribution on the pitch, but to keep in mind formation and tactics that Mancini employed while playing him. There was nothing more frustrating to me to watch and wait eternity for midfield to pass that ball up front. I would rather see him play every 2nd or 3rd game but played to his strengths when he did. Just like the team played with Edin coming off the bench to bail Mancini out on more than few occasions.


So in the end, is it fair for me to generalize and paint a picture of typical 'true' City supporter simply based on image pominoz is portraying here? No, because I know he is the minority (and I wouldn't call him racist either) . Posters like CC1, Blue_Rossy, SilvaisSkyBlue here and thousands of others who went to Etihad and away games and sung Edin's name countless of times in support cuz I know they appreciate his contributions even though they have every right to be frustrated when the ball bounces off of him at times or when he is apparently not running around enough.

Excellent post, sir!

Mate, City fans have had sh*t opinions about players that play to the best of their ability, but are not world beaters, for decades! The closest resemblance to the modern day 'villain' Dzeko was one Shaun "The Goat" Goater. Balls bounced off him, left, right & centre! ut, you know hat? He had heart, like Edin & kept going. His partners were "world class" like Anelka and Fowler and STILL he matched them and outshone them on many an occasion.

Big Niall Quinn was another in the same mould. We loved those two cos they TRIED even if they weren't perfect! Edin is the better equivalent, but somehow, somewhere we've gotten a little 'fat', a little 'greedy' in wanting perfection.

There's something that I saw in Quinny, The Goat & now in Edin, that gives me an edge & raises expectation in me that they might and will pull something special out at moment's notice!

I really hope Edin stays.

Excellent Posts...

 

[BosnianDiamond]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbqpBsNy3Eo[/youtube]

I still can't believe we lost this game. :(

 

[bluemurray]

Anyway... he's off to Chelski!

 

[Tourist since 1971]

What a brilliant post by mcfc_nyc. Well argued and humble - you, sir (or madam), deserve your membership of the greatest self-selecting club in the world - City fans.

There has always been a non-Mancunian element who have followed City, albeit in the pre-Mansour era it was still predominantly in the UK, and there is no surprise the blue web has grown following the recent success and profile of the club. That is something to celebrate in my opinion. What I think a few existing, life-long fans have a worry about is that supporting City has or will become a fashion to be discarded when the next glamorous football club becomes successful. They think (quite rightly) that the true test of a fan is remaining loyal to the team even when they are crap - and to be fair most of us have had a fair bit of practice in that regard. However, at the moment we aren't crap so the test can't be applied to those new fans yet. No one should be vilified for starting to support City, that should happen only if they disappear when the going gets tough - but of course by then there's no point criticising them on here because they will then be members of the PSG or Monaco forum.

Hopefully mcfc-nyc you will still be here to vote for player of the season in 2020 when we win the Champions League for second year running under Patrick Vieira's managership, whether or not there are any Bosnians in the side.

 

[BosnianDiamond]

Excellent post, let's not be quick to judge. I'm sure there will be some glory hunters who will jump ship when the weather gets rough, but others will stay. Keep in mind we all have different paths to how we start following City. It is not unusual for someone to become a fan of the club due to one player, especially if they were not fans of any other clubs in that league previously. They get bitten by the bug and so it goes.

I personally know a Bosnian who has been a supporter of Man City 10 years before Dzeko arrived. Think of all the 7 year old kids who started watching City when Dzeko arrived... I have no doubt many of them will remain City fans.

Bosnians are generally emotional people, a stark contrast to the English culture and that is one of the reasons why I think there is so much conflict on this forum.

 

[TueartsOHK]

See that post makes me question how long you have actually been a 'fan'.

You don't connect the dots very well...

As for Edin, it's pretty hard to put 100% in if you felt your goal scoring contribution wasn't enough to stop you getting dropped, nor when you would start a game again.

Giving 100% for 3-10 mins at the end of a game isn't great motivation for anyone. This was my only critique of Roberto Mancini.

Oh the old chestnut of how long have you been a fan - yawn! You'll be saying I'm a Rag next then? I don't connect the dots mate because you're not making your point well - I know the players you're talking about having watched them many times I just don't understand your comparisons to Dzeko.

As for Edin I agree that Mancini didn't treat him well. But I expect players to play for the shirt and for me Dzeko didn't look like he could give a shit. He played more than 3 minutes against Spurs and he was given a few starts during the season but in those games he might as well have not turned up.