City 3-0 Aris (24/02/2011)

I turned up at the game yesterday not quite knowing what to expect (mainly because I booked to late to keep my season ticket seats and didn't have much of an idea where block 119 was) but also because Roberto Mancini's team selections are becoming more and more unpredictable as the season progresses.

Mancini's team selection showed exactly what this competition means to him. Fielding Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko and David Silva all in the same team initially seemed a little gung ho. Behind the front four were Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure protecting an unfamiliar back four of Boateng, Kompany, Zabaleta and Kolarov. Before the game began, I thought (the thoughts I could barely hear myself as it turns out 119 is 10 around seats away from the away fans) that the shape of the team would be piling a lot of pressure on Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure to provide some protection in front of the back four. With Kolorov getting forward so effectively from left back there is often a vulnerable area left behind in his wake, a void that Gareth Barry more than obliges to fill. With Barry dropping wide this presumably would have left Yaya Toure with a lot of work to get through in his solitary central role and therefore (again presumably) leaving us susceptible to counter attack.

This wasn't so, somehow in the first half everything clicked into place. The front four were playing quick incisive passes, David Silva orchestrating the pace of the game and delightfully finding space where I believe not many others can. Mario Balotelli started out in a more left sided position but the fluency and apparent understanding with Dzeko and Tevez saw all three of them effortlessly switching positions.
Gareth Barry had one of his best games for City. The importance of his role in the team is often overlooked but tonight he stood out and really looked to lead the team. He was first to every ball. We had a lot of possession which meant there were a lot of balls turned away by the Aris back four, Barry was always there, hungrier than anyone else and time after time he controlled the ball and re-started our attacks.


Vincent Kompany's injury could possibly be a huge blow depending on the extent of the injury. On the night, the effect on the team was minor due to the strength and depth within our squad. Kompany's injury saw him replaced by Pablo Zabaleta who slotted in at right-back and Jerome Boateng moved inside to partner Joleon Lescott. At any time in any game, when your best defender goes off it makes the game slightly less comfortable. Today again was an exception to the rule. Lescott played perhaps his best game for City, he was strong in the tackle and very composed on the ball. I haven't been his biggest fan since he joined us but a few more performances like that would certainly change my mind. Boateng also stepped up to the challenge, at centre back he looks much more comfortable and suited to the position. He has a tendancy to time interceptions perfectly and step infront of his man to emerge with the ball. This could possibly change the way out back 4 lines up with Richards and Zabaleta fighting for the right back position (I think they are the most effective both going forward and at the back) leaving Kolo Toure, Lescott and Boateng all fighting to partner Kompany at CB. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'm a big fan of Kolarov and he would be first choice left-back for me every time.


Edin Dzeko looks sharper now every game, took his goals very well with both feet which is refreshing to see.


The second half slightly dimmed in comparison but with a 2-0 lead it is understandable that some of the urgency departed. Overall I think our first half performance against Aris was enough to show that we really can win this competition.

West Brom Preview

Todays game see's the end of a disappointing 6 game run against clubs from the Midlands, with one league win, a draw and a disappointing loss all outlining our laboured efforts to the fifth round of the FA cup.West Brom also come into today's game on the back of a disappointing run of form with only one win in their last nine games, which came in a  3-2 home win against Blackpool.

Roberto Di Matteo has vowed to come to Eastlands and attack and stick to his footballing principles which saw them race to automatic promotion last year.

City will be without Micah Richards who is still recovering from concussion after his knockout clash with Nigel De Jong, who is struggling himself after coming off with a reported ankle injury against Birmingham.
For me this poses a few problems in midfield. without the anchor of De Jong, Mancini may put his over-estimated faith once again in Patrick Vieira. This potentially takes a lot of authority out of our midfield, whilst still mentally sharp, it has become apparent that his legs have not followed suit. I fully believe that if Nigel would have stayed fit then we would have seen the Birmingham game out for a win - regardless of the fact it was Vieira who gave the penalty away (his second this season). Another possibility is to drop Gareth Barry into the holding role, a role he is acustomed to after being consistently deployed as Fabio Capello's anchor at international level. This would see Milner come into the midfield and take over Barry's distribution role. Yaya Toure has been passed fit which should make up the three man midfield, this again links back to Vieira's inclusion, the work-rate of Yaya and Vieira in the same midfield is somewhat frightening.

The front three has virtually picked itself, with the injury's to Balotelli and now Adam Johnson, the omen will be on Dzeko, Silva and birthday boy Carlos Tevez to provide the attacking flair. I expect Dzeko to start centrally and lead the line with Silva and Tevez playing just off him. The forward line have not quite gelled yet and has seemed to lack a little fluency, this obviously will come with time and hopefully we will see glimpses of what to expect today.The width again will be provided by the full backs, predominantly by Kolorov down the left. Boateng should start at right back after Kolo Toure's return to fitness to line up along side Vincent Kompany. The defence has been under scrutiny over the last few weeks after falling from the best defence in the league to a leaky, unstable unit with an over-dependence on Kompany.

West Brom will set out true to Di Matteo's word and play attacking football, the game should be open and suit our style allowing us to play our expansive fluent game.I think if we get an early goal then we should comfortably win the game.

Prediction - City 2 - 0  West Brom  We certainly have the squad to be able to cope with injury's, sadly I think the result could depend on the inclusion of Patrick Vieira, but the more dynamic James Milner's inclusion should add an aggressive work-rate to our obvious superiority. Kolarov and Dzeko to score.

Aston Villa Preview

A game that epitomizes our recent fast track to success. Two years ago it was a three horse race for the European spots, Spurs, Villa and ourselves, playing at a similar level with very little separating each. Two seasons on and the progress and stature of the clubs has become discrepant. The long term plans devised by the ADUG have seen substantial investment in our club and the acquisition of so many quality players have seen us excel above today's opposition.

Villa, on the other hand, have taken a few steps backwards. From a team that looked so strong and dominant, with a great mix of pace and skill, have deteriorated into a dysfunctional unit with a squad predominantly made up of young talent yet to fulfill their potential. I believe City's recent ventures have directly effected this with the acquisition (and therefore Villa's loss) of James Milner. Milner was the glue in the Villa team that seemed to bring everything together and since his departure there his been a distinct lack of leadership and drive.

Villa however, will be rejuvenated by the recent statement signing of Darren Bent who is set to make his debut today. By any standards, even at £18m; Bent is a great signing for Villa and a proven goalscorer wherever he has played. Having already scored one against us this season, in the away defeat at Sunderland, the City defence will certainly have to be aware of his potent mix of power, pace and acute finishing.

We go into tonight's game looking to continue our impressive away from which has seen us lose only two away games this season (one courtesy of Darren Bent's late goal away at Sunderland). the home fixture against Villa was our biggest win of the season, scoring four without conceding.

Roberto Mancini's team selection will be interesting and with most of our senior players not fit (bar Balotelli) could provide an insight of who he considers his strongest team. After recently finding his feet and starting to settle in the league, Kolarov should start at left-back. Despite Micah Richards return to fitness, Zabaleta's recent form should be enough to guarantee him a start at right-back. Vincent Kompany as always will be the first name on the team sheet and should be partnered by Kolo Toure in a bid to capture their early season solidity. Kolo Toure's availability was a huge relief as the heavy footed clumsiness of Joleon Lescott playing against the nimble Albrighton and Young had an inevitability of a penalty.

We should stick with the usual spine of Yaya, De Jong and the un-sung Gareth Barry. Returning to his former club today I see Gareth Barry's role in our sophisticated system as one of the most crucial. With the absence of  a true left winger, there is an expectancy surrounding Kolarov to get forward from the left-back position and supply the width. With Barry sitting in midfield, primarily to the left of De-Jong he is constantly asked to sit in for Kolorav and provide the cover, which he does so more than adequately. Another key part to Barry's game is his quick distribution. Always providing on option in midfield he is constantly available for the pass and by the standards of the premiership he rarely gives the ball away.

A big call for Mancini is which one of the four attackers he drops to the bench. With Tevez a certain starter and Mancini implying that Dzeko will start, it is down to one of either Johnson or Silva. My prediction is that Johnson will drop to the bench. With David Silva on the pitch we look a much more functional, fluent team. His interchange of positions with the midfield and the other two acking players seems to create more space than ever seemed possible.  If we stick to our usual tactic of dominating posession then Silva is the obvious choice. This also provides the option of introducing Johnson later on to provide the extra direct threat, given the torrid time he gave Stephen Warnock in the home tie I can see this being an effective late tactic if neccessary.

With Tevez dropping slightly deeper and linking up with Silva I think we will create quite a few chances today. We will be looking to keep hold of the ball and see some early signs of the link up play and the relationships to be established amongst our front three. With Aston villa playing two very attacking wingers in downing and Albrighton, our full backs will be looking to get forward and exploit the space left by them. Zabaleta's attacking play has improved a lot during his latest run in the team and his link up play with Tevez has provided an extra threat.

A lot of the build up to this game has surrounded 'Dzeko v Bent', I am looking forward to seeing Dzeko more and more and i think as he finds his fitness he will be a delight to watch.

Prediction - Aston Villa 1 - 2 City - The last few games I have predicted clean sheets to no avail, until our defence find the sort of form we did early in the season we will always be susceptible to balls into the box and especially set pieces. Despite the big 'Dzeko v Bent' ordeal, I think it will be the old guard who seal the win. Tevez for two.

City 4 - 3 Wolves (15/01/2011)

A 7 goal thriller without ever really being thrilling. In a game in which nothing less than three points was acceptable we certainly made it hard for ourselves. Our approach to the game was contradictory of everything implemented under Mancini's reign and was more reminiscent of the 'we'll score more than you' approach we saw under Keegan and Sven.

The City line up was pretty much as I predicted with what I see as our strongest back four and our usual spine. One surprise in the team was a debut for Edin Dzeko who spearheaded the attack with Adam Johnson on the right and Carlos Tevez initially pushed out to the left.

We started surprisingly slow with the early pressure from Wolves hurrying our play and causing a lot of errors. The wolves front three of Doyle, Jarvis and Hunt were pressing high up the pitch and not allowing our centre backs any time on the ball. We initially looked short of options with the continued absence of David Silva we failed to utilise the space between the opposition back four and midfield. There was a lack of dominance from either team but the Wolves pressure told when Kolo failed to clear a cross and Milias scrambled home from close range. This provoked a reaction from Mancini which proved to be an inspired one. Tevez was pushed further inside and Yaya further up the pitch, this saw Carlos have a lot more of the ball, picking out some inch perfect passes and spreading play with great effectiveness. Another change was the positioning of Alex Kolarov, moving into a more advanced position and providing the width which allowed Tevez so much time and space inside.

I personally think this was Kolarov's best game for City. It has been established that he is not the best defender in the league world, but I think he is very important to the system Mancini enforces. Against wolves he looked competent defensively (including two crucial goal saving tackles) and going forward provided the width we so often lack. On Saturday in particular he looked very comfortable on the ball, his passing was incisive and  for the majority of the first half he looked like our biggest threat going forward.

It was Kolarov's corner that was eventually turned in by Kolo Toure giving us a vital lift just before half time. (It would be a shame to avoid cliche here...) This really was a game of two halves. We came out after the break looking more positive and a lot livelier both with and without the ball. Two magical moments from our captain and an impressive goal from Yaya Toure looked to have put the game beyond doubt. The first goal was some fine skill and close control from Tevez which saw him beat 4 defenders before calmly finishing underneath Wayne Hennessey. His second goal was a contrast but showed the range of his telents, a chipped ball in from his Argentinian team-mate Zabaleta which Tevez met and superbly guided in off the bar. Tevez skills are undoubted, not just amongst City fans but the footballing world, therefore to most blues, the goal scored by Yaya Toure was equally, if not more encouraging to watch. Gareth barry cleared on the edge of our box out to Dzeko on the left, a swift pass and move with Tevez then a perfectly weighted pass finding Yaya's powerful run who finished deftly. This is the kind of goal any football fan loves to see, a real team goal involving 6 incisive touches from box to box and a neat finish.

His pivotal role in the goal was just one of the many encouraging signs from our £27m Bosnian. He looked strong, had a good first touch and looks surprisingly mobile given his build. Dzeko's link up play with Tevez was impressive especially given this was their first game together. Dzeko certainly has a lot of confidence in his own ability which was typified as he out muscled a centre back before delightfully nutmegging another Wolves defender then playing an easy ball and taking up a position in the box. He is a Different option in our attack and as Mancini said he offers something that our other forwards can't. All that was missing from a very impressive debut was a goal, which could have came was it not for a heavy first touch (which I put down to his recent lack of match practice).

In true City fashion we made things difficult for ourselves in the last ten minutes, first Lescott's clumsy challenge resulting in his former club converting a penalty. A very frustrating moment from a frustrating player. Doyle was heading away from our goal, posing no real threat when Lescott saw fit to bundle him over from behind. Concentration and irrational decisions like this are the source of many peoples doubts about him and he certainly did himself no favours here. Lescott was only on the pitch because of an earlier injury to Kolo Toure. At 4-2 we still looked to be cruising with Tevez and Dzeko linking up well in the right areas. That was until Ronald Zuubar was unchallenged from a corner and his free header was adjudged to have crossed the line despite Nigel De Jong's best efforts. The last 10 minutes did look nervy, the pressure was increased as the 4th official somehow found five minutes to add on despite the lack of any real stoppages.

Back to the positives from the game, it was nice to see David Silva back on the pitch, he didn't have much to do in the ten minutes he played but his return to fitness is a huge boost ahead of the replay with Leicester and next week's trip to Villa.

I think a lot of credit should go to Mancini for being pro-active and changing the game when he did, the flexibility of our system and the slight positional changes that we find so easy to adapt to, can really change a game and this win was a perfect example of his cute tactical awareness.

Wolves Preview

A crucial game which is certain to put the draws against United and Arsenal into context. My previous theories about our approach to big games have been dependant on results against the so called smaller clubs in the league. This is more relevant than ever this week with Wolves sitting one place above the relegation zone.

Mick McCarthy's men have been very unpredictable this season losing 10 of their last 17 games but pulling of surprise victories against Chelsea and Liverpool. This indicates we must have our wits about us and approach the game with the right attitude. I think Mancini's famous 'negative approach' will change this week even with the absence of Mario Balotelli and fitness doubts over David Silva.

Our main fitness worries surround the Spaniard, who is in a race to shake off the knee injury which ruled him out of the last 3 games.Micah Richards will miss out with a back injury.

As far as the starting line up goes, I can see returns for Nigel De Jong,Vincent Kompany and Gareth Barry. Alexander Kolarov should start at left back with no worries of him being exposed in a game where we are rightfully expected to dominate possession. In the absence of Richards he right-back slot will be occupied by either Jerome Boateng or Pablo Zabaleta, I would much prefer Pablo to start as I think he offers so much more in attack (although not quite the pace and power of Richards) whilst simultaneously looking more solid at the back. It will be a relief to see Vincent Kompany back in the heart of our defence to eliminate any worries and reinforce any chinks in our armor.

Given our inferior opposition, our forward play should be more expansive, I expect Carlos Tevez to lead the line, playing just in front of Yaya Toure, being flanked by Adam Johnson and hopefully possibly David Silva depending on his fitness. If Silva does not pass his fitness test I expect James Milner to come in with his recent good form. This should see Johnson on the right keeping the width with Milner cutting inside, putting the onus on Kolorav to provide the wide threat down the left hand side.

A big talking point before this game has been the introduction of Edin Dzeko. Whilst many of the City fans can't wait to set eyes on their new hero, I believe Mancini will wait and introduce the Bosnian in the second half. Dzeko had not played competitively for 8 weeks due to the Bundesliga winter break and Mancini knows this will have effected his fitness. It was good to see him on the OS however saying how much he wants to start the game and show the fans what he can do. He certainly seems like a confident young man.

My team predictions could be far fetched judging from Mancini's recent team selections and no-one can rule out the inclusion of Jo. I'm going to the game tomorrow and watching the Brazilian in real life is on a whole new level of terrible then watching him on TV. From his prayers when coming on to his ironic applauding of the fans when he goes off, it's one thing I definitely don't want to see tomorrow.

Prediction - City 3-0 Wolves I think we have far too much quality for them to be able to cope with our attacking prowess. My predictions Haven't been the best so far so I'm going to take a big risk to reputation and go for a Nigel De Jong goal, added to by Tevez and a debut goal for Edin Dzeko.