Vincent Kompany

[Chris in London]

Everyone who is claiming he won't get back to his best next season must realise that that is wishful thinking as well. It's always about hindsight. Fact is Kompany has been great for us except for this season.

Actually Kompany hasn't been great for us since 11/12. He has been good for us in the seasons in between and average in the last two. Demichelis was great for us last season.

Vinny will be fine next season. He's too good not to be. World class players, and he is that, only become ordinary players if they lose their attributes through injury or age. He plays the game 'on the edge', rushing forward for 50-50s, turning players when on the ball and playing clever passes. When something's not right, like his confidence or fitness, it's magnified because he tries not to change his game but the gambles suddenly don't always come off, and this costs us dearly because he's so important to our bold, attacking- and open- style.

He will be the best centre half in the premier league again last season, and Mangela will be the perfect partner.

Great player, can't get over his mentality as a captain though.

Last year I mentioned a trend that City only ever seem to play well to put together a run of form when the pressure is off in the title race. Our best run of form this season came from when the title was gone with Chelsea, we went 15 games unbeaten last year when it looked like the title had gone and we sat 3rd/4th, our best run of form the season before was after United had won the title and the season before after United looked to have won the title.

It's a pattern that we shouldn't ignore. I don't see Kompany as the right leader for City because I think he gets too gee'ed up which causes him and others around him to make mistakes. My preference is towards cool heads under pressure rather than Ramboing types; I get the feeling that you prefer a bit of energy and aggression when behind so imagine your view on him is different.
Looking at the pattern and seeing the type of leader that Kompany is then I wonder if some of our players are getting too nervous and "trying too hard" to make things happen rather than just playing the game and letting things happen naturally. If I had to sum up the mental state of our team across those seasons then "frustration" would be a word high on the list.

He's a good representative for the club in general but have said a few times whilst you've been away that a Xavi type who just knows to keep passing and keep on moving is a better fit for this squad than a Keane type who leads by example. The system works and the players are excellent players, when we go a goal down the nervousness and frustration spreads from the crowd into the players - I'd rather we had a reliable and calm general in that situation who has belief in the football that they are playing rather than a man with urgency who wants to make change happen now, now, now.

I'm not sure I agree with that, or at least I think there is more to it than that.

In each of the last 4 seasons we have had a better first half of the season than second. During the first title winning season we went 5 points clear of the rags after the 6-1. The season between the two titles, we were on United's coat tails for the first 4 months or so of the season - if we had won the derby against them that they won when Nasri ducked away from a free kick, IIRC we'd have gone top. We were right up with Arsenal last season (without I think ever going top) and even this season, we came within one John Terry goal of being top of the table at the end of New Year's day. We had a fantastic run before Christmas that came to an end with Sergio's injury against Everton.

You are absolutely right that in the last 6-8 games of each of the last four seasons we have had fantastic run-ins, no matter who we have been playing. Last season I think we didn't drop a point after losing to the dippers, and we all remember being 8 points behind with 6 games to go in 11/12.

What concerns me is that we have tended to have a real dip in the post New-Year period - in other words, there has been a falling off in January - March in each of the last 4 seasons (whether we have won the league or not) which we have managed to turn around in the last couple of months of the season.

Some might say we came good this year when the pressure was off, winning our last 5 on the trot, but equally you could say the pressure was on even more than in a title race, because after losing to the rags at the swamp there was a chance we wouldnt even make the top 4. The coming good at the end of the season doesn't seem to me to be a question of relaxing when the pressure's off, because the pressure is on from day 1 and we cope with it without difficulty from August to December. It seems to me more a question of 'normal service has been resumed'.

The concern I have is why we keep falling off the pace every new year. There is enough of a pattern in the last four seasons for it to be worrying.

 

[Phil1]

Have to disagree. No matter how good you were, there are no guarantees you will get back to those levels following a dip. Ask Moanio about Torres.

Your thoughts on Kompany are well documented so I'd expect nothing less! :-)
I think he can get back to his best you don't, hopefully he'll get a chance to prove one of us right with an injury free season.

You have gone off on a tangent. Where ever have I said I don't think he will ever recover form. My thoughts are well documented, please share with the forum as I have never been derogatory.

I never mentioned anything about being derogatory, just that I've read Most posts in this thread and other Kompany related ones and your general tone suggests you think we've seen the best of him.

 

[mosssideblue]

Your thoughts on Kompany are well documented so I'd expect nothing less! :-)
I think he can get back to his best you don't, hopefully he'll get a chance to prove one of us right with an injury free season.

You have gone off on a tangent. Where ever have I said I don't think he will ever recover form. My thoughts are well documented, please share with the forum as I have never been derogatory.

I never mentioned anything about being derogatory, just that I've read Most posts in this thread and other Kompany related ones and your general tone suggests you think we've seen the best of him.

Not at all and I for one would love to see him back in his pomp. My challenge has been to those who automatically assume he will.

 

[NQCitizen]

Probably is that Kompany has never been the best reader of the game, and he has often relied on his physical attributes to get him out of trouble.

With his mounting injuries he hasn't been able to call upon that this year and when he has got caught out, and in his defence he hasn't had much of a midfield to protect him, he hasn't been able to recover.

Someone once called him the 'master of the last ditch' tackle and while it looks good and gets the crowd on their feet, I'd much rather he didn't get himself in that position in the first place.

I think you've got this spot on.

I actually sums up both arguments:

Kompany doesn't get enough protection.

But

Kompany needs a lot more protection than your average defender, down to his bull in a china shop attitude (dominant when it's good, disjointed and disordered when it's bad).

The only other question is - will he return to form? Truly none of us can answer that.

 

[scotty123]

Pull your finger out next season Vinny lad

 

[dennishasdoneit]

Kompany is 29......that's fuck all for a centre half.
Yes he's had injuries this season,and still he hasn't been anywhere near as poor as some would ludicrously claim.......regardless,he'll be back to his best next season given the fact he's had opportunity to recover and play a pre-season with his chosen partner.

As for Stones,excellent prospect.....but then so is Denayer.

Lets hope the club concentrate on our real weakness,left back.

Unfortunately 29 isn't fuck all for any player who has had 4 Hamstring tears and 2 Abductor tears in his career, those injuries can take years off your prime.

Good point.
my gut feeling is that our captain is so determined to stop a forward turning and having to chase/sprint to keep up with him, in case he pulls up, that he is desperate to the point of being reckless to get a challenge in the min the ball is played up to a forward.....I,m pretty sure that Vk in his prime didn,t really give a fuck if the forward had the ball at his feet or not, so sure was he in his own ability that no way would he be beaten for either pace or strength, and our captain would simply take the ball off the forward, whatever option he chose to try and get by...

The injuries outlined above are serious, and for any player whose game relies on speed, it is perhaps only natural to retain a mental reluctance to want to go flat out and risk putting himself out the game for a sustained period, hence the almost desperate and reckless challenges which have become a feature of his game over the past 18 months or so.

Hope i am wrong

 

[Damocles]

Interesting tweet from his missus:

Sienna all set for the last city game.. Today's gona be a sad one, still.. Hope we go out with a win today #MCFC

 

[citytill1die84]

Interesting tweet from his missus:

Sienna all set for the last city game.. Today's gona be a sad one, still.. Hope we go out with a win today #MCFC

Ye interesting.

 

[abu13]

Interesting tweet from his missus:

Sienna all set for the last city game.. Today's gona be a sad one, still.. Hope we go out with a win today #MCFC

Seems strange, more than likely nothing to it she was just hoping to see a youth player on the bench.

 

[waspish]

Interesting tweet from his missus:

Sienna all set for the last city game.. Today's gona be a sad one, still.. Hope we go out with a win today #MCFC

yeah you can interpret it in many ways might be that YAYA Lampard Dzeko will be leaving