Next: Scum of the Earth, the Rag Bastards (Home)

[blues2win]

I think Pellegrini said that he didn't expect Clichy to be ready and isn't Micah injured as well?

[Goaters 103]

Was funny listening to Sky last night as it took them inside 20 mins for the magical "what Citys squad cost compared to Plzen" statement. Apparently ours was £200m last night.

By way of comparison, here's Man United's "the youth system" starting 11 from last night - I wonder if their cost was ever mentioned for this "homegrown" line-up? Of course it wasn't, because the Utd myth dictates that the truth cant be uttered, ie that they've bought their own way to the top over the past 25 years.

De Gea £17m
Smalling £12m
Ferdinand £30m
Vidic £8m
Evra £6m
Valencia £16m
Carrick £18m
Kagawa £17m
Fellaini £27m
Rooney £26m
Van Persie £25m

Total - £202m

[Beefymcfc]

I notice that every Rag and his dog have been bringing the diving issue into question and are calling for retro-punishment. How good of them to highlight this issue and bring it into the public domain. It' not as if we can't all see it.

Even though they have the worst rep for it, they now seem to be the bastions of fair play and sportsmanship. Hopefully they'll do it on Sunday and someone like Vinnie accidentally stamps on Daleys pee sized head.

[sheblue]

a little bit more positive after the second half last night, although we made some silly errors at the back and got away with them, make those errors again sunday and we wont get away with it.
i think i would settle for a draw at this stage....

[Wonderwall]

a little bit more positive after the second half last night, although we made some silly errors at the back and got away with them, make those errors again sunday and we wont get away with it.
i think i would settle for a draw at this stage....

Spoken like a true city fan pre derby :-D

[london blue 2]

a little bit more positive after the second half last night, although we made some silly errors at the back and got away with them, make those errors again sunday and we wont get away with it.
i think i would settle for a draw at this stage....

Never settle for a draw with Utd, we beat them with Benjani and Darius leading the line, I'm sure we can more than compete with Dzeko and Aguero and Negredo. :)

[gmercer1]

Aguero in the same mood will run rings round Vidic and Lippy. Push Toure forward and Fuzz ball Fellani won't be able to cope. Kompany on Van Pussy....sorted.
My only worry is left back. But of they have Valencia on the right just stop him from going down the outside and he is stuffed.

But 2-0 win either way.

[AG7]

[tweet]380344437101981696[/tweet]

How well do United and City do after European games?
Teams supposedly do worse in the Premier League if they have played in Europe during the week. Is that the case for City and United?

Does European success limit teams domestically?Does European success limit teams domestically?
It is often heard on terraces and in studios that teams do worse domestically after playing in Europe.

Be it playing two games in a week, travelling across the continent, disrupted training patterns or the change of style required from playing in different competitions, excuses are trotted out for poor performances in European weeks.

City and United have won the Premier League in the last two years having played in the Champions League and Europa League though, so are they immune to slips? MEN Sport takes a look.

2011/12

City may have gone out of the Champions League at the group stage but it didn't appear to affect Roberto Mancini's men too much domestically. Three wins - including the 6-1 derby demolition of United at Old Trafford - and two draws saw City pick up 14 points from their eight games following European games. The points per game ratio was slightly down on the season average though. City picked up 1.89 points on average after Champions League games and 1.75 including Europa League games, as opposed to 2.34 points across the season. Intriguingly though, all their games after Champions League games were away from home - in stark contrast to United.

Sep 18: Fulham 2 Man City 2 - 1 pt
Oct 1: Blackburn 0 Man City 4 - 3 pts
Oct 23: Man Utd 1 Man City 6 - 3pts
Nov 5: QPR 2 Man City 3 - 3 pts
Nov 27: Liverpool 1 Man City 1 - 1pt
Dec 12: Chelsea 2 Man City 1 - 0pts

Feb 16: Man City 3 Blackburn 0 - 3pts
Mar 11: Swansea 1 Man City 0 - 0pts
Mar 21: Man City 2 Chelsea 1 - 3pts

TOTAL: P9 W5 D2 L2

United did better than their city rivals even with their derby defeat, picking up 13 out of 18 possible points. This was still a worse performance than their average across the season though; they picked up an average of 2.16 points per game after the Champions League, slightly lower than the 2.34 for the whole season. However, if you include the Europa League the figure was actually higher at 2.44, so United actually did better after European games. As coincidental as it was that all of City's games after the Champions League were away, all of United's games came at home.

Sep 18: Man Utd 3 Chelsea 1 - 3pts
Oct 1: Man Utd 2 Norwich 0 - 3pts
Oct 23: Man Utd 1 Man City 6 - 0pts
Nov 5: Man Utd 1 Sunderland 0 - 3pts
Nov 26: Man Utd 1 Newcastle 1 - 1pts
Dec 10: Man Utd 4 Wolves 1 - 3pts

Feb 26: Norwich 1 Man Utd 2 - 3pts
Mar 11: Man Utd 2 West Brom 0 - 3pts
Mar 18: Wolves 0 Man Utd 5 - 3pts

TOTAL: P9 W7 D1 L1

2012/13

City managed to exactly mirror their results the next season, with ten points from their first four fixtures followed by just one from their last two games. Once again there were some impressive results - a win against Spurs and a creditable draw with Chelsea - although their only loss was more significant this year, a defeat to rivals United. The average of 1.83pts per game following Champions League games was once again lower than the 2.05 they averaged across the season, although the gap was smaller.

Sep 23: Man City 1 Arsenal 1 - 1pt
Oct 6: Man City 3 Sunderland 0 - 3 pts
Oct 27: Man City 1 Swansea 0 - 3pts
Nov 11: Man City 2 Tottenham 1 - 3pts
Nov 25: Chelsea 0 Man City 0 - 1pt
Dec 9: Man City 2 Man Utd 3 - 0pts

TOTAL: P6 W3 D2 L1

United looked invincible in the league at times last year but they were definitely on form after Champions league football. The Reds matched their 2.34 average of points per game across the season from the previous year, but they won every one of their Premier league games after Champions League games, notching a perfect 18 points out of 18. Sir Alex Ferguson's men only recorded two draws - against Reading and Chelsea - after their clashes with Real Madrid in the last-16 but these were both in the FA Cup so did not affect their league campaign.

Sep 23: Liverpool 1 Man Utd 2 - 3pts
Oct 7: Newcastle 0 Man Utd 3 - 3pts
Oct 28: Chelsea 2 Man Utd 3 - 3pts
Nov 10: Aston Villa 2 Man Utd 3 - 3pts
Nov 24: Man Utd 3 QPR 1 - 3pts
Dec 9: Man City 2 Man Utd 3 - 3pts

TOTAL: P6 W6 D0 L0

So while European competition caused City to stumble slightly, it pushes United to be better in the league. The form of the Blues domestically was worse in each of the last two years after playing in the Champions and Europa Leagues than it was across the whole campaign, but the opposite was true for Ferguson's team.

There was also a derby game in each season. City won the 2011 game and claimed the title that season; United took revenge both in the game and across the season in the 2012/13 campaign.

At least one of the Manchester teams is guaranteed to drop points on Sunday - will the winner of the match determine who walks away with the title?

[AG7]

Pellegrini and Moyes' first Manchester Derby ... but they have faced off each other before ...
Manuel's Villarreal beat David's Everton twice in 2005!

[Tokyo Blue]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Give me Webb over Dowd, Atkinson, Foy or Clattenburg any day.

Mike Dean's the best ref but I reckon Webb is second. The purported Stretford bias thing is funny to wind up darksiders with but I don't actually believe it myself. I reckon Dowd is the worst one for it if you watch him closely. Think back to the 2011 Charity Shield (when we got nothing given) and the 2010 League Cup final.

I agree with this. Fatboy dowd is the lowest of the low as far as refs go. A complete shitbag. I'd like to add the penalty against Micah at anfield as further evidence against him as well. Shades of alf gray there.

Perhaps a World Cup finals referee will get more decisions right than anyone else. I hope so.

[Tony P]

I notice that every Rag and his dog have been bringing the diving issue into question and are calling for retro-punishment. How good of them to highlight this issue and bring it into the public domain. It' not as if we can't all see it.

Even though they have the worst rep for it, they now seem to be the bastions of fair play and sportsmanship. Hopefully they'll do it on Sunday and someone like Vinnie accidentally stamps on Daleys pee sized head.

Hiding in plain sight.

[Tony P]

Was funny listening to Sky last night as it took them inside 20 mins for the magical "what Citys squad cost compared to Plzen" statement. Apparently ours was £200m last night.

By way of comparison, here's Man United's "the youth system" starting 11 from last night - I wonder if their cost was ever mentioned for this "homegrown" line-up? Of course it wasn't, because the Utd myth dictates that the truth cant be uttered, ie that they've bought their own way to the top over the past 25 years.

De Gea £17m
Smalling £12m
Ferdinand £30m
Vidic £8m
Evra £6m
Valencia £16m
Carrick £18m
Kagawa £17m
Fellaini £27m
Rooney £26m
Van Persie £25m

Total - £202m

You need to factor in inflation, i.e. our spending has been recent but Ronney's 26 million was 8 years ago, not to mention Ferdinand's 30.

[Wonderwall]

Perhaps a World Cup finals referee will get more decisions right than anyone else. I hope so.

Apart from screwing up with nige in the world cup final lol.

However, I do miss Graham Poll, purely for the abuse and the song.

OH GRAHAM POLL.....

[freshie]

Apart from screwing up with nige in the world cup final lol.

However, I do miss Graham Poll, purely for the abuse and the song.

OH GRAHAM POLL.....

What's the rest of the song?

[ruralblue]

Bring em on! We'll be fired up for it as a team and will shine on the day. Don't think we will see another 6 - 1 scoreline but a lesson in class and exploit them with no fear. Yup am fairly confident!

Of course come Friday I will start with the nervous toilet visits, mild but nice feeling if anxiety! When I wake Saturday I wi be giddy as fuck, bouncing and as the day moves on I'll be all over the shop with mixed emotions.

Lets turn the bastards over! !!!

[Beefymcfc]

*Quietly confident*

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

Scum team for Sunday:

[AG7]

Scum team for Sunday:

LOL ... that even got a chuckle out of my wife ...

[AG7]

This is brilliant ...

[youtube]jVclLj3FSH4[/youtube]

[mr_nool]

I though it was quite silly, to be honest.