Villa Vs City Post Match Thread

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

Stu Brennan's verdict.
--------------------------------

The brilliance of Yaya Toure’s match-winning goal is beyond doubt. But take a moment to consider the boldness of it.

In a week when his credentials have been questioned, his City performances dissected, his motivation questioned and his future queried, lesser men than Toure might have quailed.

He could have taken the coward’s way out, and played the simple game he does so well, short, easy passes.

He had David Silva in mercurial form, he had Frank Lampard coming on to threaten more havoc in the over-worked Villa defence and he had James Milner adding his blend of industry and invention to the mix.

He could have left it to one of them to fashion an opening and joined the ranks of Premier League players who stack up impressive stats by never playing a difficult pass.

But Toure is made of sterner stuff and he continued to try to create, which meant taking risks – when they don’t come off, you get groans rather than cheers.

There are players in the Premier League who have impeccable passing stats and even some who have landed big-money moves on the back of it, in an age when performance analysis carries as much weight as a discerning eye for talent.

Toure has consistently been one of the best and most prolific passers in the game – this season, when he is supposedly on a slippery slope towards football oblivion, he has made more than 100 passes more than his nearest rival, Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas. He still makes those passes with a success rate of more than 90 per cent.

And yet that only tells half of the story. Of course, many of those passes are simple midfield efforts, keeping play moving, making the opposition work and waiting for the right moment to step things up.

But Toure also has a bravery in his game, he is prepared to try things that can ruin your statistics – or can win you a match.

His basic game appeared to have suffered after all the criticism, not to mention the personal grief of losing his brother in the summer. He uncharacteristically misplaced ordinary passes in this game, and the poison pens were poised again.

It is a hideous reflection on human nature that, when considering Yaya’s indifferent form going into this game, people focussed intently on the summer shenanigans over his birthday grumpiness, and yet virtually neglected the fact he had suffered a shattering family bereavement.

The Premier League can be a cruel place, with footballers expected to perform regardless of personal circumstance. Throwing out the old criticism that a player has to perform when he is paid more than £200,000 a week carries some weight, but makes no allowance for human frailty.

The easy way out would have been to hide, but Toure kept trying to make things happen, endeavouring to come up with something that would change the game.

The Villa players were aware of it. That is why, in the 82nd minute, when they saw Toure with the ball at his feet, 25 yards out, they shimmied across to ensure he could not shoot with a right foot that created carnage last season.

It was the right thing to do, but the beauty of Yaya is that he is one of those rare players who can punish defenders who are doing their job correctly.

Few expected him to simply pass the ball into the corner with his left foot, with virtually no back-lift. It was not the kind of goal that gets included in Goal of the Month competitions, but technically it was stunning, and in terms of importance to City it was immeasurable.

Once it went in, the tension was released, and a few minutes later James Milner released Sergio Aguero for the second time – his first effort hit the post – and this time he thumped home the second goal.




We then had the curious contradiction of Manuel Pellegrini and his players declaring it to be City’s best performance of the season, while Alan Shearer on Match of the Day declared the Blues had been poor, focussing on a number of misplaced passes and poor control.

The truth lay between those two extremes. There were times when City looked sloppy and distracted, but they also played some lovely football, hit the post twice, and created a dozen chances.

They were again susceptible to the counter-attack - until Pellegrini brought on Fernando and switched to a five-man midfield - but Joe Hart had just one save to make all afternoon.

Shearer might have been pernickety in his criticism, but there were plenty of positives for City on the day.

Eliaquim Mangala eased back into the team without alarm after his blow-up at Hull a week earlier, Silva was imperious at times, Aguero kept up his goalscoring run and Milner gave further evidence that he deserves a place in this team.

The Blues even found the solution to their alarming vulnerability to counter-attacking teams, when Fernando stepped into the team.

He offers a far more solid presence in midfield than Fernandinho, who limped off with a hamstring problem.

Depending on the extent of Fernandinho’s problem, it could mean Fernando will get a run of games after the international break.

It will also be interesting to see how the two Brazilians pair up when Yaya is away at the African Nations Cup – that could also be a dynamic partnership with Fernandinho freed from the defensive responsibilities that do not come naturally to him.

City were excellent at times at Villa Park, were worthy winners, and clinched it with a world-class moment from a world-class player.

If Shearer thinks that is a bad performance, rather than a huge plus, it is a daunting prospect for the rest of the Premier League

That's a bit more erudite than, Shearer's a wanker ;-). Although he is.

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

There appears to be a view in the papers today, and expressed in the papers this morning, the the result was harsh on Villa, who deserved a point. This is nonsense. Only City deserved to get anything ie the full three points out of this game; the game was played almost exclusively in the Villa half, and more precisely in and around their box. It would have been a travesty had City not won. Yet this was not a good City performance, though it got better after half-time and more so as the second half wore on. Unfortunately, as the game wore on, my lads and I were using words such as "sloppy" and "careless" to describe the way City were accomplishing routine tasks (hopefully, I think we must be wrong because I heard Shearer use the same words when I watched MotD this morning). Our defence rarely came under too much pressure, but at times it did, as the media say, "to the counter". I'm not sure this is true. It seems to me that we are actually vulnerable to what the pundits call "a very open game". This appears to be a series of thrusts - attack/counter/counter. The pattern seems to be they attack, we halt their attack and launch a counter, which takes our midfield upfield but then we lose the ball and they play it forward, Vinni or his partner halt this attack but we tend to be all over the shop, stretched out and ripe for the counter. Villa never managed this because our players are better than theirs and they didn't have the pace, but Roma did, and this seems to be our difficulty in Europe. Ya Ya is not lazy, he isn't lacking motivation and he is a world class player - but he doesn't get back into position in defensive shape anything like quick enough. This is what Fernando was bought for, this is what he did yesterday and Villa never got in our half after he came on. This is what we must do in the CL.

We really weren't that sloppy or careless in performing routine tasks because our pass completion as a team was better than any team's average for the season so far ( Arsenal are just ahead of us in those stakes). Plenty of the passes that did not find their man were the more difficult ones, the long balls and attempts to thread a final ball through the massed ranks of the Vile.

There were some mistakes that had me shouting at the TV and some of them featured in the Shearer special but my biggest complaint was our finishing.

You can say that again about our finishing! The game should have been wrapped up, posted and delivered by half time.

 

[East Level 2]

Can anyone who was there yesterday remember if there were any songs about Kean wanking his dog off? If not, shame on you all.

Don't remember any but if you wanted to sing it so much why didn't you, erm, buy a ticket, go along and sing the bloody thing? "Keano, Keano, what's the score?" got a run out late in the game.

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

Correct SHB, he had a poor game.Not his fault played in the wrong position away from home as Carragher pointed out.

I dont mind any player having a bad game but the lack of effort is what gets me..

TBF SHB, Yaya is 32 next birthday, 6ft 4", 14+ stone and plays near enough every game for us and all the internationals for the Ivorians which must have amounted to 50+ matches last season where he was rarely a substitute or substituted. Hauling his huge carcass up and down a pitch during a frantic Premier League match is not what such a frame is built for so most of us can be forgiven for seeing this as him being lazy. He is a rare, but ageing resource and should be treated as such because a James Milner he is not, has never been and never will be. I'm not saying he's never had frustratingly lazy days, but I think when taken into the context of what he's being asked to do, consideration of who and what he is needs to be afforded to him IMHO.

After last weeks matches against Hull and Roma including the Villa match, all the TV pundits agree with many on BM and fans in general that Yaya isn't best suited to a 2 man midfield. Last night both Shearer and Carragher said that playing Yaya as one of a two puts extra defensive strain on his midfield partner and Shearer showed how time and again we were left exposed when the opposition counter-attacked and Yaya was seen to be jogging back into his defensive position. They both went on to mention that whilst we mainly get away with it in the Prem, we always seem to get found out in Europe against skilful tactically astute opponents.

It was quite telling that when Yaya was interviewed he was asked if he preferred playing further forward and he replied yes he did, but went on to say that ultimately he'll just carry out the boss's wishes whatever they may be. I still think we should have got rid during the summer after 'Cake Gate' and gone for Fabregas or Pogba, but he's still here and remains one of us. At this stage of his career he needs our protection and I don't think we're doing him or ourselves any favours by flogging him to death in a two man midfield at his age when as part of a 3 he's shown how devastating he can be and yesterday's match perfectly illustrated this.

been thinking about this post all day and yes you have made me think of him im a different way.
Shows why Im not a football manager.

 

[cleavers]

"Keano, Keano, what's the score?" got a run out late in the game.

Its similar to what I sang, but not quite the same.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

"Keano, Keano, what's the score?" got a run out late in the game.

Its similar to what I sang, but not quite the same.

With that beard I'm surprised it wasn't

Shit Father Christmas, you're just a shit Father Christmas.

 

[Dribble]

I dont mind any player having a bad game but the lack of effort is what gets me..

TBF SHB, Yaya is 32 next birthday, 6ft 4", 14+ stone and plays near enough every game for us and all the internationals for the Ivorians which must have amounted to 50+ matches last season where he was rarely a substitute or substituted. Hauling his huge carcass up and down a pitch during a frantic Premier League match is not what such a frame is built for so most of us can be forgiven for seeing this as him being lazy. He is a rare, but ageing resource and should be treated as such because a James Milner he is not, has never been and never will be. I'm not saying he's never had frustratingly lazy days, but I think when taken into the context of what he's being asked to do, consideration of who and what he is needs to be afforded to him IMHO.

After last weeks matches against Hull and Roma including the Villa match, all the TV pundits agree with many on BM and fans in general that Yaya isn't best suited to a 2 man midfield. Last night both Shearer and Carragher said that playing Yaya as one of a two puts extra defensive strain on his midfield partner and Shearer showed how time and again we were left exposed when the opposition counter-attacked and Yaya was seen to be jogging back into his defensive position. They both went on to mention that whilst we mainly get away with it in the Prem, we always seem to get found out in Europe against skilful tactically astute opponents.

It was quite telling that when Yaya was interviewed he was asked if he preferred playing further forward and he replied yes he did, but went on to say that ultimately he'll just carry out the boss's wishes whatever they may be. I still think we should have got rid during the summer after 'Cake Gate' and gone for Fabregas or Pogba, but he's still here and remains one of us. At this stage of his career he needs our protection and I don't think we're doing him or ourselves any favours by flogging him to death in a two man midfield at his age when as part of a 3 he's shown how devastating he can be and yesterday's match perfectly illustrated this.

been thinking about this post all day and yes you have made me think of him im a different way.
Shows why Im not a football manager.

Don't worry about it fella performances like Bayern away can skew most people's opinions of him including mine. I had to think long and hard about when Yaya is at his most effective and its when we adopt our Plan B of taking off a forward, bringing on an extra midfielder and playing Yaya behind the main striker. If we take care and manage him properly we could probably get another top class season or 2 out of him, but IMHO that isn't going to happen if we continue to flog him to death every three days in a 2 man midfield.

It's even more baffling when you take into consideration that we have other international class options ready and waiting to turn our Plan B into our Plan A. But just like you, I'm not the manager and it's not my decision to make, so we just have to trust that he can see something that we can't.

 

[Danamy]

TBF SHB, Yaya is 32 next birthday, 6ft 4", 14+ stone and plays near enough every game for us and all the internationals for the Ivorians which must have amounted to 50+ matches last season where he was rarely a substitute or substituted. Hauling his huge carcass up and down a pitch during a frantic Premier League match is not what such a frame is built for so most of us can be forgiven for seeing this as him being lazy. He is a rare, but ageing resource and should be treated as such because a James Milner he is not, has never been and never will be. I'm not saying he's never had frustratingly lazy days, but I think when taken into the context of what he's being asked to do, consideration of who and what he is needs to be afforded to him IMHO.

After last weeks matches against Hull and Roma including the Villa match, all the TV pundits agree with many on BM and fans in general that Yaya isn't best suited to a 2 man midfield. Last night both Shearer and Carragher said that playing Yaya as one of a two puts extra defensive strain on his midfield partner and Shearer showed how time and again we were left exposed when the opposition counter-attacked and Yaya was seen to be jogging back into his defensive position. They both went on to mention that whilst we mainly get away with it in the Prem, we always seem to get found out in Europe against skilful tactically astute opponents.

It was quite telling that when Yaya was interviewed he was asked if he preferred playing further forward and he replied yes he did, but went on to say that ultimately he'll just carry out the boss's wishes whatever they may be. I still think we should have got rid during the summer after 'Cake Gate' and gone for Fabregas or Pogba, but he's still here and remains one of us. At this stage of his career he needs our protection and I don't think we're doing him or ourselves any favours by flogging him to death in a two man midfield at his age when as part of a 3 he's shown how devastating he can be and yesterday's match perfectly illustrated this.

been thinking about this post all day and yes you have made me think of him im a different way.
Shows why Im not a football manager.

Don't worry about it fella performances like Bayern away can skew most people's opinions of him including mine. I had to think long and hard about when Yaya is at his most effective and its when we adopt our Plan B of taking off a forward, bringing on an extra midfielder and playing Yaya behind the main striker. If we take care and manage him properly we could probably get another top class season or 2 out of him, but IMHO that isn't going to happen if we continue to flog him to death every three days in a 2 man midfield.

It's even more baffling when you take into consideration that we have other international class options ready and waiting to turn our Plan B into our Plan A. But just like you, I'm not the manager and it's not my decision to make, so we just have to trust that he can see something that we can't.

I've always said that I would prefer us to play 4-2-3-1 with the squad of players we've got but you can't hide the fact that Dzeko has certainly improved immensely this season with the run of games he's had.

One players loss is another players gain

 

[Dribble]

been thinking about this post all day and yes you have made me think of him im a different way.
Shows why Im not a football manager.

Don't worry about it fella performances like Bayern away can skew most people's opinions of him including mine. I had to think long and hard about when Yaya is at his most effective and its when we adopt our Plan B of taking off a forward, bringing on an extra midfielder and playing Yaya behind the main striker. If we take care and manage him properly we could probably get another top class season or 2 out of him, but IMHO that isn't going to happen if we continue to flog him to death every three days in a 2 man midfield.

It's even more baffling when you take into consideration that we have other international class options ready and waiting to turn our Plan B into our Plan A. But just like you, I'm not the manager and it's not my decision to make, so we just have to trust that he can see something that we can't.

I've always said that I would prefer us to play 4-2-3-1 with the squad of players we've got but you can't hide the fact that Dzeko has certainly improved immensely this season with the run of games he's had.

One players loss is another players gain

TBF, Dzeko didn't have to do a lot to improve, but I agree with you that I would prefer a 4-2-3-1 or an even more attacking 4-1-2-3. Even with Dzeko improving and Jovetic showing glimpses of the player we all hoped we signed, I still think the team is stronger with 3 in the midfield.

If that put's a forward's nose out of joint then so be it. I'd rather deal with an unhappy player as long as we're winning things than have a team of player's who are happy because they're all getting game time at the expense of the club winning trophies.

Its trying to find the perfect balance where I don't envy the manager's job at all.

 

[OB1]

TBF SHB, Yaya is 32 next birthday, 6ft 4", 14+ stone and plays near enough every game for us and all the internationals for the Ivorians which must have amounted to 50+ matches last season where he was rarely a substitute or substituted. Hauling his huge carcass up and down a pitch during a frantic Premier League match is not what such a frame is built for so most of us can be forgiven for seeing this as him being lazy. He is a rare, but ageing resource and should be treated as such because a James Milner he is not, has never been and never will be. I'm not saying he's never had frustratingly lazy days, but I think when taken into the context of what he's being asked to do, consideration of who and what he is needs to be afforded to him IMHO.

After last weeks matches against Hull and Roma including the Villa match, all the TV pundits agree with many on BM and fans in general that Yaya isn't best suited to a 2 man midfield. Last night both Shearer and Carragher said that playing Yaya as one of a two puts extra defensive strain on his midfield partner and Shearer showed how time and again we were left exposed when the opposition counter-attacked and Yaya was seen to be jogging back into his defensive position. They both went on to mention that whilst we mainly get away with it in the Prem, we always seem to get found out in Europe against skilful tactically astute opponents.

It was quite telling that when Yaya was interviewed he was asked if he preferred playing further forward and he replied yes he did, but went on to say that ultimately he'll just carry out the boss's wishes whatever they may be. I still think we should have got rid during the summer after 'Cake Gate' and gone for Fabregas or Pogba, but he's still here and remains one of us. At this stage of his career he needs our protection and I don't think we're doing him or ourselves any favours by flogging him to death in a two man midfield at his age when as part of a 3 he's shown how devastating he can be and yesterday's match perfectly illustrated this.

been thinking about this post all day and yes you have made me think of him im a different way.
Shows why Im not a football manager.

Don't worry about it fella performances like Bayern away can skew most people's opinions of him including mine. I had to think long and hard about when Yaya is at his most effective and its when we adopt our Plan B of taking off a forward, bringing on an extra midfielder and playing Yaya behind the main striker. If we take care and manage him properly we could probably get another top class season or 2 out of him, but IMHO that isn't going to happen if we continue to flog him to death every three days in a 2 man midfield.

It's even more baffling when you take into consideration that we have other international class options ready and waiting to turn our Plan B into our Plan A. But just like you, I'm not the manager and it's not my decision to make, so we just have to trust that he can see something that we can't.

Yaya isn't most effective when we play plan B. Yaya needs to play in the middle of the park most of the time. He is the hub of the team, the link between defence and the rest of the team. That's why he is the league's leading passmaker. He needs to be on the ball running the game: that is his greatest asset.

Pushing him forward late in games when opponents tire is a useful tactic because Yaya paces himself well and has the fitness to use his power to good effect when others are starting to wilt.