Ratings- Portsmouth

[Colin the King]

Given 7: Relatively comfortable. He did make a couple of excellent saves though when needed, collected the ball well mid-air throughout and his kicking/distribution was MUCH better. It was great to see him opt for the simple ball to feet more often than not. Flapped at a cross early on which might have proved costly- that's the only downside to an otherwise fine performance.

Zabaleta 7: Was one of the only players who looked hungry to get stuck in and create. He did well defensively in terms of winning the ball, but he really looked up for it going forward today. Countless forays forward, sadly when he got to the byeline there was nothing to aim for most of the time. Personally, with everyone fit and available I'd opt for Micah at right-back but it's great to have competition for the shirt. Zabs, Micah and Ned are all very good players in different ways. Bodes well.

Touré 9: As close to a flawless performance as you'll see from a defender. His reading of play and anticipation was almost supernatural. He knew where everything was going and how to deal with it. A really calm, composed head throughout and he was fazed by nothing. Good to see him communicating with the others. He looked very confident on his forward ventures too.

Kompany 8: Another solid display and a great header to win us the game. He and Touré seem to enjoy playing together and have struck up a good partnership. We look capable of dealing with all kinds of threats. Vince is a really intelligent player and one of the best at distributing the ball. Like Touré, he looked calm and composed today until he went off injured. Really hope he's not out for too long.

Garrido 7- Made a string of impressive tackles and did his very best to create chances going forward. He does seem to read situations well and has most of the tools required to be a success long term. The one thing he doesn't have, and it's glaringly obvious, is pace. That can be cruelly exposed unfortunately more than anything else. If he had it, he'd probably be our best left full. As it is, he's a very useful squad player with some top attributes.

de Jong 5- Didn't do anything wrong, didn't do anything right. He was largely anonymous and I don't think he was ever really needed in this game. He's starred in games where we've been pressed by top quality players- Chelsea and the filth at home spring to mind immediately. In a game like today's, where the onus is on us to attack, I'm not sure how useful he is to the side. He certainly didn't look as focussed as he has done.

Barry 4- Criminally poor in possession today for the most part. He does the elaborate ones well, the 50 yard crossfield stuff. But at the heart of our midfield, he needs to do the simple things with ease and today he just didn't. He have the ball away needlessly again and again. When he did lose the ball his efforts to win it back left a lot to be desired I felt. In fairness, his spell on the left wing was tactically baffling as he has none of the attributes for that job. Sit him in front of the back four, screening and distributing- an 'Alonso' role, and he'll do better.

Ireland 6- The ball to Adebayor for our first was inch-perfect. Unfortunately he offered little else all game. He looks much quieter and less enthusiastic than last season for whatever reason and much like Barry, when he concedes possession, doesn't look particularly interested in winning it back. To his credit he made a couple of good tackles but for each of them there were five giveaways. He's obviously a very intelligent player and maybe sometimes suffers from being too clever, or too intricate. He just looked a bit lost today.

Tevez 7- It didn't really happen for Carlos in front of goal but credit to him for trying. He was his usual tenacious self for the full 90 minutes, pressing hard to retrieve possession, showed some sensational skill and I'm amazed by his upper body strength given his size. He never, ever gets pushed off the ball! Probably should have tucked that chance away late on, but given he's bagged 18 so far I think we'll let him away with it.

Adebayor 7- The goal was first class. Sublime first touch, outstanding finish. That's Ade at his best. Unfortunately he showed us glimpses of his worst on occasions as well which brings his mark down. It's strange, he can be so aggressive and up for it one minute, sprinting the length of the pitch to spark something, and the next he's stood looking like he's no interest whatsoever in the game. If Mancini can somehow extract more of the positive energy, we'll have every bit a £25million striker. Welcome back Ade anyway.

Petrov 6- Being played out of position can't help. He seemed to start centrally, then onto the right wing and then interchanged but was never given a decent spell on his favourite left hand side. I can understand the thinking behind utilising him from the right because he can cut inside and curl the ball into the box, ala Henry, but I think he's more dangerous when he's charging forward on his left peg and fizz the ball in at pace. He was involved in our few moments of class today and looked lively enough. Not vintage Petrov, but good enough. And the delivery for Kompany's goal was superb.

Boyata 7- Looked a little nervous and gave possession away carelessly once or twice but he was excellent otherwise- intercepted well, strong in the air and the tackle. Hasn't let us down since coming into the squad.

Onuoha 8- Looked fantastic today on the right hand side. When we were playing so narrowly, we needed some kind of an outlet out wide and he offered it. He's got much pace and he demonstrated that today. Just lacks the bit of quality in his final ball when he gets into the box. If he could work on that we'd have an outstanding right full on our hands. Until then, he's still a very good centre half. Great to have around the place.

Bellamy 7- Gave us a creative spark that we so lacked in the second half and his endeavours would have given us a couple more goals on another day. We look much more menacing with him on the pitch, that's for sure. He's a nightmare to deal with.

[Martinez]

Agree with the above apart from

Garrido- We were exposed on our left side on numerous occasions by Pompey players I don't even know the names of, and it was not all Barrys fault. When they hit the bar Garrido didn't really look interested in picking up his man, that he couldn't keep up with Utaka I can understand but at least try to pick up the next guy who comes running into the box. How they didn't score I can't understand. Garrido could also have conceded a penalty early on with clumsy marking. He gets a shaky 5 from me

Ireland- He looked a little bit restrained, like he had very specific instructions about his positioning, and didn't want to mess up but he was the only one with creativity in the center of the park. Every time when we upped the tempo of our passing it was due to Stevie playing it one touch instead of taking one to control it and passing it sideways. This is what You have to do to undo a relegation-battle-team like Pompey are atm, even if some of those passes will go astray. He set up the first goal, he also sent Tevez through on one occasion but their Cb brought him down which gave us a good FK posititon and a yellow to the opposition. He gets a 7 from me, I think we might have struggled to get the goals without him.

[Ted Hughes]

Given 5: Made a quite dreadful mistake in the 1st half which should have resulted in a goal & palmed a routine save back into play 2nd half which could have resulted in a goal. His worst City game.

Zabba 6: Did ok, nothing special.

Toure 8: Did nothing wrong but was up against nothing.

Kompany 7: Same as Toure.

Garrido 6: Same as Zabba

Barry 4: Hopeless but ridiculously was often being asked to provide the width down the left where his lack of pace obviously stood out. Played like Ged Brannan but not 100% his fault.

De Jong 5: Negative player being asked to create more. Largely failed. Mid table bog standard nothing performance.

Ireland 4: Apart from the one pass for the goal, a truly awful performance. Arm waving, head shaking, casually giving the ball away, looked like a player who didn't want to be there & the worst, half hearted job of filling in at RB when Zabba was injured that you could ever see, even worse than Elano. In fact Elano would have outclassed him in that game. Will he have impressed Mancini?

Petrov 6: Tried his best to create but was wasted on the right.

Tevez 7: Not inspired but still a level above the midfield.

Adebayor 7: Good comeback. Recon he would have been impressive if the rest of the team had turned up.

Ned 7: Some good work down the right.

Bellamy 8: Created more when he came on than our whole midfield put together.

[Wonderwall]

I have got to give portsmouth and avram grant a bit of credit for the dismal display of our midfield, they outplayed us and out thought us in the middle of the park.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

It makes me smile when I see the differences in marks out of 10 that people give at times. Some might be down to personal favouritism I am sure and sometiems it's down to whether a person is a half full or half empty kind of guy but the difference in marks for an agreed ok but nothing special performance can be significant. Today I expected low marks generally as it was for sure an abject City team performance overall against a poor Pompey side so I got a surprise.

Given 7 or a 5. Has to be a 5 for me.I agree with Ted that he made 2 poor efforts which could have given goals away. Yes his kicking was a little better but that's really insignificant when you think we could have let two goals in from nothing based on his mistakes.
Zabba nothing good or bad that I can remember , just a 6
Toure Good to see him play more like his best showing a good reading of the game I agree but I wouldnt go OTT as the oppos were so poor.City's best player but still only maybe an 8
Kompany Interesting that CtK says Toure and Vinnie seem to like playing together and struck up a good partnership. I sort of agree but I thought the same about Micah and Dedryk playing with Vinnie as well which must say a lot for Vinnie.Close to Toure for MotM and obviously a great header and maybe worth 8 as well.
Garrido A worrying game for me. Without Bellamy in front of him who does all the attacking there he seemed to try to get forward more and work with Barry and it was all wrong. His timing of movement was generally poor and I thought his whole game actually was poor yesterday.Maybe a 6 but closer to a 5
NDJ agree with CtK here. Did ok in his normal role but as we needed more on the ball he was a waste of time, Just a 5.
Barry agree with CtK again! Not quite as bad as a 4 but he needs to be given more freedom than purely a wide left role which he isnt good at.When he does make bad passes they are really bad aren't they?
Ireland On a roll here and agree with CtK again. He simply looked lost most of the time.There will always be a flash or 2 of real quality because he has lots of quality in him but unless he is free to attack and express himself he struggles.
Tevez getting boring now as I agree again with Ctk comments if not the mark. Probably not fully fit as he hasnt trained all week but put in a good shift. Clearly doesnt know how to work with Ade yet.
Ade CtK knows what he is talking about but I would just be slightly less generous than a 7.Needs to show much better for passes and be prepared to stay central more for others to work of him rather than go wide.
Petrov shouldnt be wide right and it looks like he is trying to show that to the manager for me.A waste of a great left foot but I suspect , because he doesnt help out much defensively Mancini doesnt want to pair him with Garrido on that side.5 maybe 6 if was generous.

The 3 subs all did ok today. Boyata looking good and quite composed and maybe a 7 , Nedum looking quite strong and confident ( if only he could cross) 7 as well and Bellers as ever injected some life into a game.He certainly knows how to play with Ade. A real threat immediately he came on and 7 to 8 for him.

Strange in a way to give such decent marks to the individuals for such a bad team perfromance.For the result I would give 8 or 9 ( how can you give marks for a result!!) but for the teams performance I wouldnt get past a 5. I really cannot remember a less entertaining City home performance

[Geo123]

Clearly from the ratings yesterday all three midfielders failed to impress, not that i need anybody elses ratings to decide this but does anyone think there could be a little unrest in midfield due to Mancinis public search to replace some if not all of them (Paddy V, Macdonald, Gago, Johnson).

I for one do not think this is our weakest postion at the mo and am hoping after today some more stability may come to the squad when we know what we have for the remainder of the season.