Post Match comments Man City V Hull

[Spurge]

Ted - agree about the central midfield not covering the centre backs being an issue. It's a seriously good point and must be addressed.

On the Lescott incident when their lad stormed past him, despite the midfield leaving him and Nastasic exposed it was however still a situation Lescott should have dealt with much better.

He moved towards the ball when he never had a prayer of intercepting it and all it did was invite their striker to exploit the gap leaving him totally exposed.

Instead he should have read the situation and as soon as the ball fell into the path of the forward, stepped 2 paces back turning his body from right to left so he was square on and in the right position to challenge giving him a better chance of holding him up or out muscle him and slow him down.

[Ted Hughes]

Ted - agree about the central midfield not covering the centre backs being an issue. It's a seriously good point and must be addressed.

On the Lescott incident when their lad stormed past him, despite the midfield leaving him and Nastasic exposed it was however still a situation Lescott should have dealt with much better.

He moved towards the ball when he never had a prayer of intercepting it and all it did was invite their striker to exploit the gap leaving him totally exposed.

Instead he should have read the situation and as soon as the ball fell into the path of the forward, stepped 2 paces back turning his body from right to left so he was square on and in the right position to challenge giving him a better chance of holding him up or out muscle him and slow him down.

He did drop a bollock there but it wasn't as easy to rectify as you suggest. He had a problem either way, as that bloke is fucking quick & could go either side. His mistake imo was trying to be too 'clean'.

He probably should have lunged in & taken him & the ball out & taken a booking, as it would not have merited a red.

It wa a very nifty interception by the striker tbf. I was at the side of that & I was surprised how sharp he was (somehing which Nastasic discovered on quite a few occasions later). But JL should have nailed him.

[City64]

Was there as always at the Etihad today , We were dog shit 1st half !!!! a decent team would have battered us 2 or 3 before half time ! Interestingly we spoke to Gary Owen in EL Rincons after the match and he said the Rags have been doing that for years and years and picking up 3 points ....... Pellegrini will get it right , we miss Kompany like fuck and we have the best squad in the Premiership ! Early days and 3 points !

[Spurge]

Ted - agree about the central midfield not covering the centre backs being an issue. It's a seriously good point and must be addressed.

On the Lescott incident when their lad stormed past him, despite the midfield leaving him and Nastasic exposed it was however still a situation Lescott should have dealt with much better.

He moved towards the ball when he never had a prayer of intercepting it and all it did was invite their striker to exploit the gap leaving him totally exposed.

Instead he should have read the situation and as soon as the ball fell into the path of the forward, stepped 2 paces back turning his body from right to left so he was square on and in the right position to challenge giving him a better chance of holding him up or out muscle him and slow him down.

He did drop a bollock there but it wasn't as easy to rectify as you suggest. He had a problem either way, as that bloke is fucking quick & could go either side. His mistake imo was trying to be too 'clean'.

He probably should have lunged in & taken him & the ball out & taken a booking, as it would not have merited a red.

It wa a very nifty interception by the striker tbf. I was at the side of that & I was surprised how sharp he was (somehing which Nastasic discovered on quite a few occasions later). But JL should have nailed him.

The decision to make should have been as simple as I suggested. Whether he would have been able to effect the play having made the decision wasn't necessarily as easy.

But one thing for sure, he would have had a better chance of successfully defending the passage of play had he had made the decision I suggested. When you are a centre half the majority of the play is in front of you - therefore you should be able to read the game better than in most other positions on the pitch meaning that decision making should generally be easier.

[johnny crossan]

more grave disappointment at the show today - our boys didn't seem to know what to do

[Biamp]

Unconvincing performance that got the job done. The team is in a need for some time to adapt to MP tactics and ideas.

[Spurge]

Ted - agree about the central midfield not covering the centre backs being an issue. It's a seriously good point and must be addressed.

On the Lescott incident when their lad stormed past him, despite the midfield leaving him and Nastasic exposed it was however still a situation Lescott should have dealt with much better.

He moved towards the ball when he never had a prayer of intercepting it and all it did was invite their striker to exploit the gap leaving him totally exposed.

Instead he should have read the situation and as soon as the ball fell into the path of the forward, stepped 2 paces back turning his body from right to left so he was square on and in the right position to challenge giving him a better chance of holding him up or out muscle him and slow him down.

He did drop a bollock there but it wasn't as easy to rectify as you suggest. He had a problem either way, as that bloke is fucking quick & could go either side. His mistake imo was trying to be too 'clean'.

He probably should have lunged in & taken him & the ball out & taken a booking, as it would not have merited a red.

It wa a very nifty interception by the striker tbf. I was at the side of that & I was surprised how sharp he was (somehing which Nastasic discovered on quite a few occasions later). But JL should have nailed him.

The decision to make should have been as simple as I suggested. Whether he would have been able to effect the play having made the decision wasn't necessarily as easy.

But one thing for sure, he would have had a better chance of successfully defending the passage of play had he had made the decision I suggested. When you are a centre half the majority of the play is in front of you - therefore you should be able to read the game better than in most other positions on the pitch meaning that decision making should generally be easier.

Having watched motd and looked at this incident again, it's funny as in my mind I was convinced Lescott was on the right side of the ball when he moved forward but he was actually left side. Just when I actually began to feel my judgement may have been a little harsh, Robbie Savage then basically agreed wholeheartedly with my original viewpoint.

Oh well, I think because the ball arrived in front of Lescott via a deflection he may not have been as prepared as he could otherwise have been - it's true to say he had little time to ponder. But overall I think as a pro at the highest level he could have anticipated better and his initial action should have been to step backwards rather than move forward.

[judythehippy]

we won.....enjoy !
Hull, well it was their cup final.
get lost steve bruce, you are even fatter than me.

Judy
xx

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

we won.....enjoy !
Hull, well it was their cup final.
get lost steve bruce, you are even fatter than me.

Judy
xx

The only time in my life that I had any admiration for Bruce was today. But nice to see you back Judy, anyhow.

[avoidconfusion]

If we keep playing like we did today and against Cardiff we will win fuck all again this year, irrespective of the money spent. Because against better teams we will get taken apart.

And by the way.... why the FUCK did we spend €40m on Fernandinho again?

[Yaya Toure is a LAD]

When we get Komps back we'll pretend this never happened. Pelle's tactics will take time to sink in. Keep the faith!

[Yaya Toure is a LAD]

Yaya and Fernandinho don't work well together.

Their relationship will improve throughout the season, give them time

[MilnersJaw]

Their relationship will improve throughout the season, give them time

Possibly their relationship might improve, maybe they will go on a date to rosso. Meanwhile our midfield takes a beating cos they are both doin the same job.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Yes we were pretty poor today. And yes it was a struggle. And we did need a couple of moments of individual brilliance. However that is why we have the players we do. At some point over ninety minutes they will do the very thing needed. Ultimately the class we have has told.
But the result and performance at Cardiff is a concern, it suggests that winning on the road at places like that will remain a problem. They are a poor side and our title rivals won't lose there. The only positive I could take from it was that we did at least manage to break them down after dominating for the first hour. It just fell apart after that.
All in all an important win for us yesterday.
Oh and Silva could be dropped now as he is contributing nothing. I never thought I would say that as I'm huge fan of his. But it's just not happening for him.

[john@staustell]

Look how many times over the years Scum have been 'lucky' to scrape past crap teams. Or so we said. Well actually it's the added quality at the end that often comes through.

Second half I felt a lot better with Dzeko on the bench and also when Mlner was on the field.

[KippaxBlue]

Pics and comments on the Hull game are now online at
http://www.rtfract.com/citaug13a.htm

[dazby]

A very rag-like performance. Scrappy, dodgy, lucky. One or two moments of magic and it's 3 points in the bag.

The formation or personnel does need adjusting. There are too many occasions where players are isolated.

[Ted Hughes]

I think Yaya & Fernandinho play together absolutely fine.

Just neither of them is doing the job required to protect the defence.

I would like to see the pair of them let off the leash to just 'play' & someone else covering for them.

[twosips]

I would dearly love to see Barry sat behind Yaya and Fernandinho. Sadly that's not gonna happen.... that being the case i'll settle for Rodwell doing that job. Or even Milner. Just someone to patrol behind them.

[Ted Hughes]

I would dearly love to see Barry sat behind Yaya and Fernandinho. Sadly that's not gonna happen.... that being the case i'll settle for Rodwell doing that job. Or even Milner. Just someone to patrol behind them.

County seems to have written off Milner as a centre(ish) mid. He listed his 'important' players there as Yaya, Fernandiho, Rodwell, Barry & Garcia. Looks like Milner is to be played further forward.

Imagine if Rodwell could lean some of Barry's nouse ? The cover he could bring with his pace & height, but then the scope of Rodwell, Yaya & Fernandinho to break at pace. Potentially awesome.