What's the difference?

[Soulboy]

What did we get right against Sunderland that transformed us in such a dramatic fashion?

For me?

* Playing Toure in a full midfield role rather than as a support striker

* Playing Balotelli as a striker rather than a winger

* Playing Silva in the midfield role rather than as one of the front three

* Playing Johnson to give us that width and pace that has been so lacking these past couple of months

* Playing round pegs in round holes

* Mancini looking like he has generated a team spirit as evidenced by the reaction to the goals

* Playing Sunderland at a time when they are plunging!

Great performance yesterday, the workrate was as it should be, we hunted the Mackems down in packs whenever they had the ball, and de Jong was world-class.

Let's just keep this momentum going for another couple of months...

 

[Mancio]

the most important :

*Playing Rested key Players

 

[Carver]

* Not expecting Silva to play midfield and cutting in from right wing at same time.

You 2 before me have really got this spot on. Our supporters knowing what's going on in our team......

'is importante'.

 

[forevermancity]

hopefully the penny has dropped with mancini that this is the best way to play.

hey mancio, i bet you hated watching us attack yesterday ;)

"But but but, we have GOT TO DEFEND, NO NO NO NO NOOOO"

 

[Greenjob]

1. Gareth Barry on the bench.
2. Yaya and Barry NOT in the same side.
3. Adam Johnson and Mad Mario on the flanks - 2nd half.
4. Took the shackles off.

If the penny hasn't dropped with Mancini after yesterday well, what can you say?

 

[Mancio]

hopefully the penny has dropped with mancini that this is the best way to play.

hey mancio, i bet you hated watching us attack yesterday ;)

"But but but, we have GOT TO DEFEND, NO NO NO NO NOOOO"

TBH it seem to me you look at the result and then if we won you say "is becouse we attack" and if we dont won you say "is becouse we dont attack" , unfortunally read a game its not so easy...

yesterday we did NOTHING different from other games a part from SCORE when we had the chances.

and scoring two in the first 20 mins force the opponents to leave their bus from the box so we can counter on the breack, a thing that we did well having some kay players like yaya and silva not tyred by a midweek game.

 

[Gelsons Dad]

We had two wingers available and fit.
We were playing a poor opposition.
We were less attacking than in other games we have failed to win.


People are saying Mancini let the team off the leash and allowed them to attack more but in fact that's not the case. The mentality of the play was the same as always. The major difference was having a balanced and fit attacking section and a disciplined defensive unit.

I noticed in defence we were much better at holding the compressed shape and playing 2/3 of the width which we did well at the beginning of the season but lost a bit lately.

We had more energy with NDJ back in good shape which allowed Mancini to play Yaya in the middle and let 2 wide midfielders play at the same time.

Balo was good as the target man and showed he has pace and strength and this allowed Teves to play second striker which he did, but not very well.

People are very quick to confuse result with some kind of change in style. Mostly it's just how well the tactic is implemented. How fit the players are (physically and mentally) and how good or bad the opposition is.

When all the planets are aligned we look fantastic because enough of the chances end in goals. When any one thing is amiss we look mediocre and fail to finish.

Lets hope that we follow this up with a good performance against the dippers which will strengthen the teams mental health along with their physical and put us in a good frame of mind for the semi.

Forza Man City

 

[forevermancity]

hopefully the penny has dropped with mancini that this is the best way to play.

hey mancio, i bet you hated watching us attack yesterday ;)

"But but but, we have GOT TO DEFEND, NO NO NO NO NOOOO"

TBH it seem to me you look at the result and then if we won you say "is becouse we attack" and if we dont won you say "is becouse we dont attack" , unfortunally read a game its not so easy...

yesterday we did NOTHING different from other games a part from SCORE when we had the chances.

and scoring two in the first 20 mins force the opponents to leave their bus from the box so we can counter on the breack, a thing that we did well having some kay players like yaya and silva not tyred by a midweek game.

i dont made judgements out of the results, quite the opposite, I always look at the performance.

if you think we did nothing different, then you really are watching a different stream. if/when you come to manchester to watch a match, you will realise you have been watching levante or somebody else on the internet by mistake, not manchester city.

now, finally, I can count on TWO hands how many games have been enjoyable this season. ive already given mancini kudos for yesterday, he's been hammered by everyone recently, and yesterday he stuck two fingers up at us. lets hope he learns from this and moves into a new gear as a manager.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

What did we get right against Sunderland that transformed us in such a dramatic fashion?

For me?

* Playing Toure in a full midfield role rather than as a support striker

* Playing Balotelli as a striker rather than a winger

* Playing Silva in the midfield role rather than as one of the front three

* Playing Johnson to give us that width and pace that has been so lacking these past couple of months

* Playing round pegs in round holes

* Mancini looking like he has generated a team spirit as evidenced by the reaction to the goals

* Playing Sunderland at a time when they are plunging!

Great performance yesterday, the workrate was as it should be, we hunted the Mackems down in packs whenever they had the ball, and de Jong was world-class.

Let's just keep this momentum going for another couple of months...

Thought before kick-off that this would be our undoing. Given that a team hasn't won since Trafalgar, their top striker hasn't scored since Waterloo, they generally come to CoMS and we kick start their season with at least a draw.

Yesterday was an emphatic performance - the quality will be in whether it is replicated in the remaining fixtures.

 

[Rammy Blue]

4-4-2.