by Colin the King » Sun Jan 17, 2010 5:23 am
Given 6- A few brilliant saves, the most noticeable being the tip onto the bar from Fellaini's header. I think he was poor on their first though, he was too far from the near post to begin with and even at that should probably have got a stronger hand to it. Not entirely his fault as de Jong stupidly moved as the ball was being hit, nonetheless he has to take a certain degree of blame. It's been an iffy few weeks for Shay but I'm sure his consistent class will prevail again very soon.
Zabaleta 3- Diabolical is the only fitting word. I've always rated Zabs but everything he touched turned to shit today. Clumsy, dreadful in possession, running all over the place at times and reckless in giving away the free kick that lead to their first goal. You simply don't run into someone like that in such a key positional- it's schoolboy stuff. His head for some reason didn't look right at all.
Richards 5- Thought he was doing reasonably well but points off for the shirt pulling, it was ridiculous and he must've known it would lead to a penalty. It wasn't just an instinctive thing, he had him grabbed for a good five seconds. Needs to eradicate mistakes like that to truly push on. Not the worst out there today though.
Kompany 6- Not great but better than most, made some important clearances and very good in the air defending set pieces. A bit touch and go positionally though, there seemed to be a lot of space in the middle for Everton to exploit.
Garrido 7- Slim pickings in trying to find a man of the match, but Garrido gets my vote. He was the only player who looked completely tuned in- countless number of important blocks, tackles, kept Donovan relatively quiet apart from one positional error. Also tried to create opportunities going forward but with no support whatsoever.
Petrov 5- A bright start in which he played a couple of excellent balls into the box but faded after that and became a passenger. No willingness to win the ball back which, away from home, can be a problem. His corners were dreadful too. Saying that, hopefully the injury isn't too serious as he's a useful player to have around.
de Jong 4- His poorest City performance I reckon. Just completely anonymous. Can't remember any tackles or efforts to win the ball back and he was hardly on the ball. I was concerned by the HUGE amounts of space through the centre, neither he or Barry seemed particularly sure about what to do and that resulted in Everton having the freedom of the pitch to do whatever they wanted. No dominance, tenacity, anything really- which is not the Nigel we're used to.
Barry 5- Positionally and from a defensive point of view, he was as poor as de Jong but an extra point for at least getting on the ball from time to time and even in the last few minutes trying to create something. End product was poor in anything he did look to create but at least the willingness was there. He was coming back into form recently, I hope this is just a blip.
Bellamy 6- Had the right attitude and kept running but the service to him was shocking. Balls over the top are no use at all to him and he seemed to be trying to communicate that, to no avail. Must have been awkward as well looking into the box and seeing nothing to aim for. His touch was a bit disappointing though, too many times he was dispossessed, although you have to be on the ball to lose it which is more than can be said for the Brazilian.
Tevez 5- A few fantastic through and long balls but nothing significant or really threatening. He didn't look as fired up as usual and never looked like scoring, again though it's difficult to do so without any kind of service. Hopefully he was saving it all for Tuesday!
Robinho 2- Lazy, uninterested, weak. Looked like a man who wished he was anywhere but on that pitch and for those of us in the stands who paid £30 odd quid and gave up our day to come to watch him play, that's really disappointing. All we ask for is a bit of pride in the shirt and this guy has none whatsoever. You can be as talented as you want, if it's only utilised a few times a year then you're of no use to any team, never mind one that's trying to win things. At this stage, in the frame of mind he's in, a liability. Tried his hardest not to receive the ball and when he did it was given back within seconds. Credit to Mancini for having the balls to fuck him off.
SWP 6- Ran with the ball with some kind of purpose and tried his best to fire us up but the rest weren't having it. I'd like to see him from the start on Tuesday night, whatever about final ball you can't match Shaun for passion and determination, which is crucial in a derby.
Benjani 6- Showed more interest in getting on the ball than Robinho, worked hard to win it back when he lost it, made some decent runs. One of our better players, I would've played him from the start but then I don't have coaching badges.
