by Colin the King » Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:05 am
Very pleased with most aspects of the season so far, a couple are worrying me though.
I think Hughes has done remarkably well, and that's coming from a critic of his. Every time we've gone a goal down this season we've come back either immediately or shortly afterwards. The fight we showed at Old Trafford to come back three times would, on any other day have earned us a point and we'd be contemplating an unbeaten start now. At Villa, we were playing poorly in the first half. He got them into the dressing room and you could see as soon as the second kicked off they had extra motivation and determination to get the equaliser. It was exactly the same today. We were comfortable without dominating in the first half, and paid the price in conceding a sloppy goal. Second half starts, we threaten from the first whistle and have equalised within three minutes. That aspect is very, very pleasing and something we've improved on tenfold compared with last season. Obviously in an ideal world we wouldn't be going behind to begin with but the character of this squad is brilliant. I really feel we would have gone on to win today had Zabs not been sent off, and even when he did, away from home with ten men, in exactly the same scenario as Chelsea two weeks ago, we held on and played positively. What is also very pleasing is the Manchester City he presents to the media. Never loses his cool, defends our case but in a reasonable way and has upstaged Ferguson when it comes to composure and dignity.
The attack is still finding its feet. Adebayor has done well, the banning came at the worst possible time though because with 4 goals in 4 games he had a real momentum to carry through that was obviously disrupted. In the two games since returning he doesn't look quite as explosive but the class is still there. Tevez has been very good overall. His workrate doesn't need highlighting but what's impressed me is his passing range and vision. Listening to rags (silly thing to do) their view was that fans would be endeared to him for his never-say-die attitude but that there was a severe lack of quality. Against Wolves, West Ham and today he has shown some exquisite touches and intelligent running, rather than headless chicken stuff. Three goals is about what I'd have expected, he's not a clinical finisher but weighs in with a decent amount.
Bellamy's form has been incredible so far and had he been fit today I think we'd have beaten Wigan. Only in his absence can you appreciate what he gives to the team. For all of Petrov's close control and passing ability, he just doesn't work up and down the touchline and puts us under pressure when not in possession of the ball. His goals have been first class as well. I genuinely didn't expect much more than cameo appearances from Bellamy this season but he's shut me, and all of his doubters up this season. Long may it continue.
For Robinho and Santa Cruz, neither have had a chance to impose themselves so far this season so any comments would be unfair.
Overall, it's 16 goals scored from 8 games so no cause for concern with the attack. And when they click I've a feeling that average will increase.
The midfield is an interesting one because we have very good individuals, but as a unit they're not imposing themselves on the opposition enough for my liking. We've mostly had less possession than the opposition this season. We might have been playing away from home mostly but nonetheless, a side with aspirations of competing with the big guns needs to dictate from the middle and not always rely on counter-attacks. Barry's passing has generally been good, whereas de Jong has tackled exceptionally but well made some atrocious decisions on the ball- winning it only to give it straight back isn't much good, and he's been guilty of it more than once. Wright Phillips for me hasn't done enough, where quality is concerned. Yes, he works exceptionally hard but as a winger he has responsibilities beyond hard work. He needs to deliver quality balls into the box, which he's not doing and he needs to beat players with some degree of regularity, which he's not doing. If he could focus on those two we'd be a lot stronger because there'd be a genuine threat coming from both sides. What he is doing well is winning free kicks, we just need the others to step up and take advantage of that.
That leaves Ireland, who to my mind has only played well once so far. I had a thread recently about him and his form, we never came to any solid conclusion but I'm going to stick with my initial feeling that it's a transitional phase. The differences between a 'hole' player and a central midfielder are so vast that it will obviously take time to adjust. The worry for Stevie is whether he'll be afforded that time given the strength of our squad now. Still a hugely talented player of course and one with a big future- hopefully here at City, winning trophies.
Lastly, the defence- which is what's troubling me the most. This might be a controversial opinion but at the moment I think we're getting away with murder. Whether it's luck, a lack of quality opposition in most of the games, a gelling phase for the new defenders, or Given saving us, I don't know. But it seems like we invite an awful lot of pressure and deal with it quite poorly at times. Touré has been fantastic overall, as have Bridge and obviously Given but I'm concerned about Lescott. He's recovering reasonably well and looks decent aerially but he's been twisted and turned by quite average players. What happens when he comes up against Torres/Drogba/Anelka/Defoe and recovering isn't an option because the ball's in the back of the net? I do believe he's better than this and don't want it to come across as a slating but I am worried.
With Richards, the athleticism is there, so too is the desire but he's absolutely rubbish positionally and I wonder if that will ever develop. He doesn't look like a defender. In that couple of years when he broke through and in Sven's season, he was one of the quickest players in the league and so his appalling positional and tactical sense was covered up by his recovery pace. Now he doesn't seem to have the same degree of pace so the faults that were there all along are being cruelly exposed. At the moment, central defence isn't an option because of this- he's slightly more comfortable on the right but even so, lacks the composure to beat players, overlap intelligently and put the ball in dangerous areas. He did it against Arsenal but was that one-off? Or can he find some kind of consistency? I was disgusted with him at the Swamp for roaring at Touré, his own captain, and that lack of concentration played a part in us conceding so early.
Zabaleta is a better all round player to Richards but doesn't come without his frailties. As we saw today, he flies into tackles quite carelessly, actually he showed that at times last season as well, which can put the team under pressure. He does also lack pace which can be exposed- it hasn't really yet and defensively he's done well so credit to him for that.
Maybe I'm concentrating too closely on every little detail- I certainly feel that I've scrutinised performances a lot more this season than ever before. Maybe it's a winning mentality, maybe it's pedantic. But magnifying glass and all, things are very good- not just in the sense that we've racked up a very respectable amount of points but in all areas of the field, the players will become stronger and more unified as time goes on, which will hopefully enable us not only to rack up the points but do so in a more convincing fashion.
With Fulham, Scunthorpe and Burnley at home, and Birmingham away to come in the next couple of weeks we should be able to really take off. Four wins and we'll go to Anfield full of confidence.
It's only just begun.
