Ratings v Reading.

[paulmclaren]

Hart-6-solid, nowt to do.
Richards-8-was going to be a 7 but scored a cracked, played well.
Komps-6-nervous but grew in stature.
Lesscott-8-won everything looks the part at the min.
Kolorov-6-was going to be a 5 but played better near the end, still not good enough.
Swp-6-fits n spurts as usual.
De Jong-6-we've missed his defensive skills for sure.
Viera-6-decent game, leggy.
Silva-8-motm imo, him n tevez play together,fook the rest.
Yaya-6-in and out aS useual, not sure where his best position is?
He's either near the front of in front of the cb?,looked tired.
Tevez-6- more like tevez, no goals again though.
Balla-6-no moaning?fucking hell,decent play at times.
Others no time.
Mancini-5-negative tactics, onbe upfront against reading?

[The Original Special One]

I think you've got the two best right, and comments generally.
Silva deserved better support from his teammates and hopefully they'll all step up to that level of performance for our next two games.
Lescott has really stepped up to the plate, big-time, and he's currently our most consistent defender.
I never worried once when they flung anything into the box because I was confident he'd handle it.
And he's compensated for Vinny being a bit off his usual performance levels these days.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Hart-6-solid, nowt to do.
Richards-8-was going to be a 7 but scored a cracked, played well.
Komps-6-nervous but grew in stature.
Lesscott-8-won everything looks the part at the min.
Kolorov-6-was going to be a 5 but played better near the end, still not good enough.
Swp-6-fits n spurts as usual.
De Jong-6-we've missed his defensive skills for sure.
Viera-6-decent game, leggy.
Silva-8-motm imo, him n tevez play together,fook the rest.
Yaya-6-in and out aS useual, not sure where his best position is?
He's either near the front of in front of the cb?,looked tired.
Tevez-6- more like tevez, no goals again though.
Balla-6-no moaning?fucking hell,decent play at times.
Others no time.
Mancini-5-negative tactics, onbe upfront against reading?

Mostly agree. Exceptions:
De Jong 7 after a shaky start I thought he was very good in the defensive ball winning part of the game
Vieira I think 5 would be generous.Just terrible start to finish
Silva 7 although the only creative one in the team he did plenty wrong and disappeared in the 2nd half


I will leave Balo at 6 but I still wonder which way he will go.Should have been booked again for his Rooney like challenge
Mancini 7 I accept we were cautious and crappy but we won.I hate all the tiredness crap but after a long trip like Ukraine it has more substance.It simply isn't easy after a game like that and I reckon his decision to play Tevez up front might well have been important.

[avoidconfusion]

Might be imagining things but I think I saw signs of Balo improving. He got wedged up by two Reading players at one point, went down and immediately jumped up again.... apologizing when he misplaced a pass etc...

[blues2win]

To be honest I thought SWP was pretty poor. He loses possession far too often and there's just not enough quality delivery from a wide position which is why he's playing. I remember one ball for Tevez which Carlos fluffed. He tries hard but that's not enough. He's too predictable even against mediocre opposition. Can anyone see him giving Ashley Cole a tough time?

I know others will disagree but I thought Tevez was poor too. I know the crowd like it when he's back at the half way line tackling back but I wish he'd stay up front. By all means press the opposition in the final third but if he's playing up front on his own he must play there. He also missed a couple of chances and nothing really seemed to come off for him.

[Dubaimancityfan]

Might be imagining things but I think I saw signs of Balo improving. He got wedged up by two Reading players at one point, went down and immediately jumped up again.... apologizing when he misplaced a pass etc...

Yeah I saw some good signs today. Mind you he did get the corner from which we got the goal so his introduction did work. Well done Mancio !!

[paulmclaren]

To be honest I thought SWP was pretty poor. He loses possession far too often and there's just not enough quality delivery from a wide position which is why he's playing. I remember one ball for Tevez which Carlos fluffed. He tries hard but that's not enough. He's too predictable even against mediocre opposition. Can anyone see him giving Ashley Cole a tough time?

I know others will disagree but I thought Tevez was poor too. I know the crowd like it when he's back at the half way line tackling back but I wish he'd stay up front. By all means press the opposition in the final third but if he's playing up front on his own he must play there. He also missed a couple of chances and nothing really seemed to come off for him.

swp has always been a player when he's back from injury, he's pants.
He needs 3 or 4 games on the trott to get back to best.
He simply hasn't been given that chance.

[ant london]

Hart - 7 Not much to do but when called on to come out and calm things by gathering confidently and taking the odd shit backpass and using it intelligently he did so. So justifies himself as more than a 6.

Richards - 7 Actually I thought he was pretty anonymous all match. Did nothing wrong but offered not a lot going forward and certainly not a great deal of trouble caused overall to Reading. However, almost scored with one and did score with the other so up from 6 to 7.

Kompany - 7 Booked early doors and you wouldn't have known. Strong, accurate, dominant and great with the ball at feet coming out of defence a couple of times.

Lescott - 8 Haha the first time I've ever agreed with PM. He is so much of a confidence player. He was (since getting his place in the side) always good at cutting out the initial danger with a block, header or tackle but weak in how he used the ball; often putting us straight back under pressure. He was fucking class tonight in every dept.

Kolarov - 6 Much much better with the ball defensively and carrying it out. Good outlet and good shield. However, fucking abysmal corners yet again. He would've been a 6.5 otherwise.

SWP - 6.5 I'm not a big Shaunie fan. I thought he should've been away last couple of tsfr windows but he was good generally tonight. Again he is 100% a confidence player and needs minutes on the pitch to get that. Unfortunately we are not in a position these days to afford him that luxury. That said, he did well tonight and posed the questions of Reading in terms of positioning, awkwardness, pace and trickery. It was nice to watch mostly and a bit frustrating in parts.

Vieira - 6 Rolled back the years in parts, was more mobile against a non-Prem midfield but good use of his body, brain and distribution. Not world changing but solid and not a liability at all.

Yaya - 6 Not his best game and he really is a bloody enigma to me. Can vascillate between marauding & terrifying and slow and impotent. Don't get him and still don't feel that we can rely on him but he is such an unpredictable player that his brilliance on occasion is worth carrying his head-scratchyness much of the time.

De Jong - 7.5 I thought his breaking up of the play was the usual high quality but his distribution tonight was first class. Intelligent and progressive whilst not reckless. He was bloody great.

Tevez - 7.5 The last 1/4 of the pitch magic and luck eluded him but he fought his arse off and he was generally top class yet again. If anyone doubted his desire to win for City just see his run back from the penalty area in the last 10 mins or so when he then clattered (legally) their lad on the left flank bringing the ball out. Class.

Silva - 8.5 Total Rolls Royce of a player. He was immense yet again tonight. How such a little guy can be so strong on the ball and off and so so deft of touch really does beggar belief. His workrate and his guile. Well, I've never seen anything like it for City. I think he is magnificent and showed almost the full suite of his skills today.

Barry - (6.5 but really.....) Too late to mark but better than I expected. Was shaking my head at Mancio for pulling off Nigel rather than Patrick but GB played better than I expected.

Balo - 6.5 Fought for the corner that got the corner that won the game. Apart from that he was utter class on the ball. Slowed the game (ie. timewasted in possession) when we needed to run the clock down and was generally fucking good. Keep hating all you fools!

[london blue 2]

Hart-6-solid, nowt to do.
Richards-8-was going to be a 7 but scored a cracked, played well.
Komps-6-nervous but grew in stature.
Lesscott-8-won everything looks the part at the min.
Kolorov-6-was going to be a 5 but played better near the end, still not good enough.
Swp-6-fits n spurts as usual.
De Jong-6-we've missed his defensive skills for sure.
Viera-6-decent game, leggy.
Silva-8-motm imo, him n tevez play together,fook the rest.
Yaya-6-in and out aS useual, not sure where his best position is?
He's either near the front of in front of the cb?,looked tired.
Tevez-6- more like tevez, no goals again though.
Balla-6-no moaning?fucking hell,decent play at times.
Others no time.
Mancini-5-negative tactics, onbe upfront against reading?

agree apart from

dejong 8- come back. done f all wrong

[The Original Special One]

Silva - 8.5 Total Rolls Royce of a player. He was immense yet again tonight. How such a little guy can be so strong on the ball and off and so so deft of touch really does beggar belief. His workrate and his guile. Well, I've never seen anything like it for City. I think he is magnificent and showed almost the full suite of his skills today.


Balo - 6.5 Fought for the corner that got the corner that won the game. Apart from that he was utter class on the ball. Slowed the game (ie. timewasted in possession) when we needed to run the clock down and was generally fucking good. Keep hating all you fools!

Love these two comments
I'll be badgering the poor postman until I get my Silva shirt in the post!
(and the Super Mario away shirt that I thought for a minute there on Thursday night I might be regretting)

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Silva - 8.5 Total Rolls Royce of a player. He was immense yet again tonight. How such a little guy can be so strong on the ball and off and so so deft of touch really does beggar belief. His workrate and his guile. Well, I've never seen anything like it for City. I think he is magnificent and showed almost the full suite of his skills today.


Balo - 6.5 Fought for the corner that got the corner that won the game. Apart from that he was utter class on the ball. Slowed the game (ie. timewasted in possession) when we needed to run the clock down and was generally fucking good. Keep hating all you fools!

Love these two comments
I'll be badgering the poor postman until I get my Silva shirt in the post!
(and the Super Mario away shirt that I thought for a minute there on Thursday night I might be regretting)

I just wish I could see the same as some of you guys. I know mario has real talent and I am desperate for him to succeed but that's not what I saw today.(this bit"Apart from that he was utter class on the ball")

[carl_feedthegoat]

Silva - 8.5 Total Rolls Royce of a player. He was immense yet again tonight. How such a little guy can be so strong on the ball and off and so so deft of touch really does beggar belief. His workrate and his guile. Well, I've never seen anything like it for City. I think he is magnificent and showed almost the full suite of his skills today.


Balo - 6.5 Fought for the corner that got the corner that won the game. Apart from that he was utter class on the ball. Slowed the game (ie. timewasted in possession) when we needed to run the clock down and was generally fucking good. Keep hating all you fools!

Love these two comments
I'll be badgering the poor postman until I get my Silva shirt in the post!
(and the Super Mario away shirt that I thought for a minute there on Thursday night I might be regretting)

I just wish I could see the same as some of you guys. I know mario has real talent and I am desperate for him to succeed but that's not what I saw today.(this bit"Apart from that he was utter class on the ball")

I dont see what they seem to see either....for me Balo is an expensive ornament that we really do not need.

[TonyM]

I thought NDJ was the difference today. Without him Vieira and Yaya would have been lost and our defense over run.

I've never been his greatest fan - but that's because I blamed our ponderous play on him in the past .... yet in his absense we've been ever more slow (shudder) and today as strange as it sounds he was the one looking to get the ball forward in a constructive manner more often than not.

Of course results matter buut I'd almost give up the cups or 4th if we could just learn to play some enterprising entertaining exciting football. I really really want to be excited about our football.....not just results. (Like today and versus Wigan. Sorry for being such a misery guts)

[bigblue]

I thought NDJ was the difference today. Without him Vieira and Yaya would have been lost and our defense over run.

I've never been his greatest fan - but that's because I blamed our ponderous play on him in the past .... yet in his absense we've been ever more slow (shudder) and today as strange as it sounds he was the one looking to get the ball forward in a constructive manner more often than not.

Of course results matter buut I'd almost give up the cups or 4th if we could just learn to play some enterprising entertaining exciting football. I really really want to be excited about our football.....not just results. (Like today and versus Wigan. Sorry for being such a misery guts)

Ndj also let's yaya and Vieira drift further up field without worrying so much about a counter. When de Jong was out, we would have 3 center mids sitting in front of the defense just taking up each others space.

Also it's great to see Lescott start to play like the person we signed. He still has a few years on him and I can see 1/2 the England defense being city quite soon

[ant london]

Silva - 8.5 Total Rolls Royce of a player. He was immense yet again tonight. How such a little guy can be so strong on the ball and off and so so deft of touch really does beggar belief. His workrate and his guile. Well, I've never seen anything like it for City. I think he is magnificent and showed almost the full suite of his skills today.


Balo - 6.5 Fought for the corner that got the corner that won the game. Apart from that he was utter class on the ball. Slowed the game (ie. timewasted in possession) when we needed to run the clock down and was generally fucking good. Keep hating all you fools!

Love these two comments
I'll be badgering the poor postman until I get my Silva shirt in the post!
(and the Super Mario away shirt that I thought for a minute there on Thursday night I might be regretting)

I just wish I could see the same as some of you guys. I know mario has real talent and I am desperate for him to succeed but that's not what I saw today.(this bit"Apart from that he was utter class on the ball")

I dont see what they seem to see either....for me Balo is an expensive ornament that we really do not need.

Fair enough fellas.

I'm not asking you to agree tho am I. I wasn't putting down ratings and views on behalf of everyone was I.

My ratings, my opinions. Disagree away!

[Slim]

I would say you were on the mark with most ant.

Tevez down a bit(7.0) cause he was static for long periods and just off his game, good workrate late on though.
Vieira was much better(7.0), thought he held up really well(as you say it was only reading)
Kolarov can only be considered a defender when he finally stops a cross coming in, hasn't happened yet.(5.0)

[kinkylola]

for me tevez was wasteful on the ball ... shooting and passing just off totally. Of course he put in a shift, If we got points for the amount of running we did, whatever team had tevez would conquer the world ... unfortunately there needs to be an end product.

tevez = 6.5

balotelli not afraid to try the creative pass and a danger on the dribble and shot. Showed good work rate today, made several appearances at our 18 when bodies were needed in the back and broke out of defense several times with decent distribution. slowed play at the end and won the corner that got us a goal. Thought he looked more likely to score/create than tevez did the whole game. Don't think it was a great performance by any means. Unfortunately for him, if he puts in a decent shift (today) and doesn't score, he'll get criticized ... if he scores and shows a bit of attitude he'll get criticized. I can't imagine what it's like being hated to the level he is by his own fans while having done fuck all wrong.

balo = 6.5

other than that, same as ant.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I nearly forgot that Balo volley at the back post which went just over.Could have gone in on another day