West ham Vs City Post Match Thread

[BertTrautmann'sParachute]

Wanker, sounds more appropriate.

Well, let's dissect what's been said here.
'Done nothing to convince that he's cut out for management at this level.'
This, about a manager who won the hardest league in the world at his first attempt, plus another major domestic trophy, lists of similar achievers on a postage stamp please.
'It was handed to us.' Only the most rabid of the red dippers come out with this shite, not realising that City had to win all their remaining 6 matches, a formidable task for any team.
'Champions league laughable.' We have been shafted on each occassion with ties against the best teams on the planet, if we had the Gunners group, would this be the case? Anyway, we're not out of it yet.
'They will walk the league.' Chelsea didn't fucking walk it last year, they didn't even come second, this, with 'The special one,' or whatever the fuck he calls himself; compare the fixtures they have had to ours so far. Plus it's not even the end of October.
Games like yesterday happen. The stats show a City dominance, unfortunately stats don't always equate to results, but there's no need to replace the manager yet.

Excellent post, mate.

 

[blueincy]

Yesterday for some on this thread...

 

[richards30]

It is a squad that has sadly started to peak together IMO.

Much as I now detest Mourinho, his comments earlier this week were spot on.

How many of our present players have room for improvement over the next two or three years?

Outside of Silva, Aguero, Jovetic, Hart and Mangala, not that many.

The team lacks the zest and ambition of youth.

I do not envy Pellegrini or the next man in terms of the surgery required to take us forward for the next five years.

I agree the squad needs freshening up a bit, but I don't believe we need major surgery. Barkley Pogba and Reus in with Yaya Navas and Dzeko allowed to seek pastures new would do the trick.

I like that operation, but that's still major surgery to the tune of £120m in just three players;)

And that's without a proper left back and forthcoming replacements for Vinny and Zab in next few years.

Not as easy as some may think.

So what do we do then tolm?? Surely if we want to be the best then we have to spend big at certain times on the right players? Also pogba, barkley, reus and rodriguez would indeed cost £130m odd million but over the length off time they could be with us then surely worth the investment? Real madrid, bayern etc all spend £80-£100m every season so why shouldnt we if we want to be the best? We are WAY short of the major teams in the champions league and are the owners in it for sporting and commercial rewards or was the plan always to splash heavy, win a title or so for exposure and to get investors and sponsorship into the commercial pot? PSG have built a far superior squad to ours and it shows and u can be sure without restrictions they will keep splashing to be the best!!

 

[MeatHunterrr]

I agree the squad needs freshening up a bit, but I don't believe we need major surgery. Barkley Pogba and Reus in with Yaya Navas and Dzeko allowed to seek pastures new would do the trick.

I like that operation, but that's still major surgery to the tune of £120m in just three players;)

And that's without a proper left back and forthcoming replacements for Vinny and Zab in next few years.

Not as easy as some may think.

So what do we do then tolm?? Surely if we want to be the best then we have to spend big at certain times on the right players? Also pogba, barkley, reus and rodriguez would indeed cost £130m odd million but over the length off time they could be with us then surely worth the investment? Real madrid, bayern etc all spend £80-£100m every season so why shouldnt we if we want to be the best? We are WAY short of the major teams in the champions league and are the owners in it for sporting and commercial rewards or was the plan always to splash heavy, win a title or so for exposure and to get investors and sponsorship into the commercial pot? PSG have built a far superior squad to ours and it shows and u can be sure without restrictions they will keep splashing to be the best!!

Not sure that PSG have far superior to be honest. Pretty equal to us IMO. Also im pretty sure that owners' ultimate plan is to make us self-sufficient, meaning that we don't need Sheikh Mansour's money to buy players. So we will never see again those spending sprees we saw in 2009 and 2010 very likely. But then again we don't need to spend £200m per summer.

But yes we need shake up next summer. We need LB, CM (Yaya replacement) and LW. ATLEAST in those position we need top class reinforcements. It also gives the rest of the squad a small "lift" when signing a big name player.

Rodriguez (LB)
Barkley (CM)
Reus (LW)
CM X (Lampard replacement)

 

[richards30]

The thing is if di maria was available for even £40m last year its likely we wouldnt have bought him as we under the barca boys wouldn't go that high on one player! Mangala cost alot but was helped by fernando being cheaper in the first part of the deal. Say next summer bale was available for £65m would you think we would be in there at that price? I think highly unlikely yet no doubt he would be a sensational signing!

 

[MeatHunterrr]

The thing is if di maria was available for even £40m last year its likely we wouldnt have bought him as we under the barca boys wouldn't go that high on one player! Mangala cost alot but was helped by fernando being cheaper in the first part of the deal. Say next summer bale was available for £65m would you think we would be in there at that price? I think highly unlikely yet no doubt he would be a sensational signing!

I think we would be in for Bale for that price, to be honest. Because I think shirt sales would get a major boost. Would pay himself back over time. Seems that Soriano and Txiki calculates every possible transfer extremely carefully. Sometimes its a bad thing as Isco slipped away with not paying agent 10m. But on most cases it is good thing, wage bill doesn't get out of control etc.

 

[richards30]

The thing is if di maria was available for even £40m last year its likely we wouldnt have bought him as we under the barca boys wouldn't go that high on one player! Mangala cost alot but was helped by fernando being cheaper in the first part of the deal. Say next summer bale was available for £65m would you think we would be in there at that price? I think highly unlikely yet no doubt he would be a sensational signing!

I think we would be in for Bale for that price, to be honest. Because I think shirt sales would get a major boost. Would pay himself back over time. Seems that Soriano and Txiki calculates every possible transfer extremely carefully. Sometimes its a bad thing as Isco slipped away with not paying agent 10m. But on most cases it is good thing, wage bill doesn't get out of control etc.

Principles are all well and good but we also lost out on hazard over a £6m agents fee! Hazard would have been our bale and isco would have worked brilliantly with merlin. Imagine this would have been our lineup:

Hart
Zab
Vinny
Mangala
Kolarov
Fernandihno
Yaya
Silva
Isco
Hazard
Sergio

 

[MeatHunterrr]

The thing is if di maria was available for even £40m last year its likely we wouldnt have bought him as we under the barca boys wouldn't go that high on one player! Mangala cost alot but was helped by fernando being cheaper in the first part of the deal. Say next summer bale was available for £65m would you think we would be in there at that price? I think highly unlikely yet no doubt he would be a sensational signing!

I think we would be in for Bale for that price, to be honest. Because I think shirt sales would get a major boost. Would pay himself back over time. Seems that Soriano and Txiki calculates every possible transfer extremely carefully. Sometimes its a bad thing as Isco slipped away with not paying agent 10m. But on most cases it is good thing, wage bill doesn't get out of control etc.

Principles are all well and good but we also lost out on hazard over a £6m agents fee! Hazard would have been our bale and isco would have worked brilliantly with merlin. Imagine this would have been our lineup:

Hart
Zab
Vinny
Mangala
Kolarov
Fernandihno
Yaya
Silva
Isco
Hazard
Sergio

Yes, but barca boys weren't in the house yet when that Hazard fiasco happened. Then we spent that Hazard agent fee on Sinclair... That 2012 window would have been good with just that Hazard signing... oh well its in the past and nothing can do about it, sadly.

 

[FantasyIreland]

S Brennan
-----------------------------

For an hour, Manchester City put on one of the worst East End horror shows since Jack the Ripper stalked nearby streets.

And if they can bear to watch the video nasty of this damaging defeat by peeking through their fingers, they should not concentrate on their own shortcomings.

They would do better watching, admiring, and even copying, some of the attributes of their opponents.

That would not have been conceivable a few months ago, as City had staged a bloody League Cup semi-final massacre that even the murderous Jack would have admired, beating Sam Allardyce’s side 9-0 on aggregate.

But the team that the Blues faced this time, with some fresh new faces, bore little resemblance to the weak, unconfident outfit that had been put to the sword by Alvaro Negredo and Co.

And it would not go amiss if Yaya Toure and his midfield partner were to study the contribution of Alex Song, who appeared to cover every inch of the Upton Park pitch – and showed greater quality than his Blue counterparts.

Song is on loan from Barcelona, where he has failed to nail down a first-team place after a £15m move from Arsenal two years ago.

And yet he possessed the drive, determination and defensive acumen that put Toure to shame, and made City’s own £12m summer signing Fernando look awkward and rough-edged.

The Hammers’ unheralded strike-force of Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho were bright, muscular and ultimately more deadly than their counterparts Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko.

Aguero hit the bar and had another great chance well saved by keeper Adrian, but you would expect a goalscorer of his class to have scored both opportunities.

And Dzeko put in a weak-willed, floppy, lazy display which reminded everyone that, when he is not in goalscoring mode, he is a long way from the world-class front man a team of City’s status and ambition needs.

By contrast, the pace of the West Ham front two unsettled Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala all afternoon – sometimes it is about quantity of work rather than quality, and it is always about attitude.

You can look for excuses if you want – the long, frozen trip to Moscow culminating in a morale-sapping draw, shots from Toure and Aguero that hit the bar, West Ham keeper Adrian proving inspired at key times – but there should be none.

Of course, there is no need to panic, despite the fact Chelsea already have a sizeable lead at the top of the league.

For the last two seasons City have been off the pace at this stage of the season.

Two years ago - when they made a disprited, fractured attempt to defend their first Premier League title - they were actually four points better off after nine games than they are now. It ended badly.

Last year, they were a point worse off than now after developing a nasty habit of blowing up away from home. We know how that one ended.

Whether Manuel Pellegrini goes down the same route as Roberto Mancini and sees the glory of a title-winning season evaporate into the dark cloud of defeat and bitter recriminations remains to be seen.

But his team are at a crossroads. They continue their defence of the League Cup at home to Newcastle on Wednesday, standing one win away from the quarter-finals.

Then they take on United at the Etihad in what could be the most challenging derby for some time.

Victories in those games will quieten the dissenters, reassure the doubters and have the Blues back on the hunt for Chelsea with a vengeance.

A sense of perspective is required. City did not look like potential champions on Saturday – after a bright start they lost impetus and struggled to adapt to West Ham’s tactical tweak.

City were on top for the opening 20 minutes, with Aguero picking the ball up deep and running at the Hammers defence, causing all kinds of panic.

He had a deflected shot well saved by Adrian, just failed to control a Jesus Navas cross with the goal at his mercy, and was fouled to give David Silva a free-kick chance which the Spaniard dipped onto the roof of the net.

Allardyce responded by dropping Mark Noble and Song a tad deeper, constricting the space, and with Toure in listless mood, City were in no position to react.

Suddenly it was West Ham who were on top, and they took the lead when Song’s defence-splitting pass caught Gael Clichy napping and saw Mangala underestimate the pace of Valencia.

The striker flashed past him and pulled the ball back, as a scrambling Pablo Zabaleta collided with Joe Hart – still shaking off the effects of a hefty blow – and left Morgan Amalfitano with a tap-in.

City’s response was inadequate, and Stewart Downing almost doubled the lead with a header.

It was only when Stevan Jovetic replaced the plodding Dzeko that City stepped up a gear.

Jovetic injected some vim and vigour, but it was the Hammers who scored again, on the break, as Sakho rose at the far post to head in a cross.

City finally roused themselves, and with Silva operating more in central areas, they began to create. Aguero hit the bar fand Toure volleyed the rebound too close to Adrian, before the big Ivorian also hit the bar with a clever curling attempt.

Aguero saw Adrian save one shot, and James Collins hurl himself in the way of his second attempt from the rebound.

Silva took it upon himself to give his team hope, floating in from the right flank, ghosting past three defenders before curling a beauty into the far corner.

Jovetic almost exploded an equaliser past the startled Adrian as well, but the Hammers held on for a deserved win. Now City know what they have to do to restore their equilibrium – win the derby, and win it well

 

[waspish]

West Ham are fresh confidant and are on a high with the start come February that will be gone just because of the quality of there squad size.. Saturday for me was always going to be very tough game, I don't think chelsea will give us a harder game when we go there...