What's the difference?

[Anonymous]

It's all about playing players in their favourite positions , where they feel most comfortable playing , and where they can show their 'strengths' off ...... that's the only way to consistently get the best out of them ..... you start playing them out of position and it will eventually rebound on you!

Yaya Toure is a' free spirit' , as is David Silva ...... both players 'prompt' , pass , and run all day ..... we've got to let them do it , it's their game!

 

[blue wang]

It's all about playing players in their favourite positions , where they feel most comfortable playing , and where they can show their 'strengths' off ...... that's the only way to consistently get the best out of them ..... you start playing them out of position and it will eventually rebound on you!

Yaya Toure is a' free spirit' , as is David Silva ...... both players 'prompt' , pass , and run all day ..... we've got to let them do it , it's their game!

very true,every thing looked very natural.
He is going to have to get used to being a team player<br /><br />-- Tue Apr 05, 2011 11:09 am --<br /><br />

It's all about playing players in their favourite positions , where they feel most comfortable playing , and where they can show their 'strengths' off ...... that's the only way to consistently get the best out of them ..... you start playing them out of position and it will eventually rebound on you!

Yaya Toure is a' free spirit' , as is David Silva ...... both players 'prompt' , pass , and run all day ..... we've got to let them do it , it's their game!

 

[MrsB]

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.

This. taking our chances was the only difference.

our early goals at fulham,west ham,newcastle,at home to villa, and our very early MISSED chances against scum away,arsenal at home( both silva) and at chelsea(yaya) indicate that we are not defensive as some folk think-how can you be defensive when you go for a teams jugular straight from the kick-off..? Mario shaved the post at both westham and wolves away within minutes of the kick-off.

As Mancio says-you take your chances, the other team has to change the way they are playing..thats when city kill teams-no other team has the ability to do what we do when we have the bit between our teeth. defensive football my arse.

THIS

 

[Nerazzurri]

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

* Playing Sunderland at a time when they are plunging!

This one for me. I've rewatched the game again and Sunderland never seemed to even attempt to press us on the ball, they were completely out of ideas up front and their defending was shocking at times.

Our midfield gave away too much space in front of our defence and if we play this way against a team not in turmoil, or somebody who has a bit of creativity, we'll get stuffed. The amount of times that Sunderland were overloading us on the edge of our own box was horrible, and De Jong can't hold off a whole team of onrushing attackers on his own.

Their defence made sloppy mistakes in both position and passing, causing them unnecessary troubles and a couple of goals.

I don't know, after rewatching the game, I'm more down on it than I was yesterday. The scoreline was fantastic, but emotion aside, over the course of 90 minutes, we didn't actually pay that well.

Agree with most of these points.

Still would like to know how you would set up our team against Liverpool?

 

[WNRH]

We were also a fresh team, makes all the difference not playing every 3 days.

 

[EaglesFan]

After last game no doubt in my mind that:

Barry is a backup to NDJ - and that is the ONLY position suitable for him.
Milner is a backup to Yaya - same as above.

Enough experimenting (like playing Milner on the wing or Barry as central midfielder), just play players at their natural positions.

----------------
On another note, in the realm of reality, bare reserve creative midfielder -this is the CLOSEST TO A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM that City has had, and will have in a loooong time IMO. Talking about DEPTH (starters/backups):

Hart (Given)
Richards/Kolarov (Zabaleta/Boyata/Boateng)
Kompany/Lescott (Toure/Boateng)
NDJ (Barry/Vieira)
Yaya (Milner)
AJ (SWP)
Silva (?)
Balotelli (Dzeko)
Tevez (Dzeko)

Injuries aside - you do realize that those backups put together = top half team in PL?

I believe with addition of another creative midfielder to backup Silva, and potentially a goalkeeper Given the situation :-) - and City is due for a championship. And IMO next year is the year (unless MAJOR player fluctuations occur).

City = best team in PL in a year or two, and given age of players will be there for quite a while.

 

[Eastlands90]

After last game no doubt in my mind that:

Barry is a backup to NDJ - and that is the ONLY position suitable for him.
Milner is a backup to Yaya - same as above.

Enough experimenting (like playing Milner on the wing or Barry as central midfielder), just play players at their natural positions.

----------------
On another note, in the realm of reality, bare reserve creative midfielder -this is the CLOSEST TO A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM that City has had, and will have in a loooong time IMO. Talking about DEPTH (starters/backups):

Hart (Given)
Richards/Kolarov (Zabaleta/Boyata/Boateng)
Kompany/Lescott (Toure/Boateng)
NDJ (Barry/Vieira)
Yaya (Milner)
AJ (SWP)
Silva (?)
Balotelli (Dzeko)
Tevez (Dzeko)

Injuries aside - you do realize that those backups put together = top half team in PL?

I believe with addition of another creative midfielder to backup Silva, and potentially a goalkeeper Given the situation :-) - and City is due for a championship. And IMO next year is the year (unless MAJOR player fluctuations occur).

City = best team in PL in a year or two, and given age of players will be there for quite a while.

Agree with everything here except Lescott/Boateng. Should be Boateng/Lescott to me, even though Lescott has been impressive so far.

 

[Any1aBlue]

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...

At last Mancini listened to those of us complaining about his negative tactics and team selections:
Barry & Milner aren't good enough.
NDJ & YAYA are our best players and compliment each other brilliantly. These two were the fulcrum of the side.
AJ should play every game he is fit.
Kolorov is still a weak link which Utd will try to expose. AND he musnt be allowed to take any more freekicks!

Balotelli is a centre forward and not a winger.

 

[Dax777]

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

THIS^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Nelly's Left Foot]

I would say let's not get too excited about one game against a team who on the day were garbage. We played well in basically all departments but it was just a game that turned out easy. Let's see how the games v Liverpool,Everton,Blackburn go.