Short but nice read! :)

[Lee_R]

http://football.fanhouse.co.uk/2010/04/ ... e-of-foot/


Although it is inevitable that Manchester City will force their way into the Champions League sooner rather than later, qualification this season could be the catalyst to a seismic power shift in English football.

Even though speculation continues to dog Roberto Mancini - he does not seem particularly bothered - City are getting it done on the pitch.

They have suffered one defeat in six games and, with Liverpool now way off the pace and despite the setback of the 2-0 loss to Everton a fortnight ago, City are hitting form at exactly the right time.

At times they have not looked cohesive, but in the 6-1 hammering of Burnley there was a real flow and relentlessness to their play and the front four of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Adam Johnson and Craig Bellamy will take some stopping.

A point clear of Tottenham, they face matches against Birmingham, Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Spurs and West Ham as they look to close the deal.

It is an intimidating proposition but they have only lost twice in eight matches against top-seven opposition so far this season and have also beaten Arsenal and Chelsea at Eastlands, where they play four of their final matches.

"We are all fighting to finish in the top four, and we have the spirit to achieve that," Adebayor told the club's official website. "We have to keep fighting now.

"We have got Birmingham next week, we still have to go to Arsenal, and Tottenham have to come to us - we needed these three points, and we have got to try and win all our games."

The effect of Sheikh Mansour's takeover certainly put a different slant on the transfer market with the Eastlands club paying over the odds to take players to City.

But, other than the £34m signing of Robinho, they have not been competing with Manchester United or Chelsea for players.

The next six games could change all that. Where they have been rejected in their pursuit of the likes of Kaka, John Terry, Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho in the past, they will now be able to offer the world's stars Europe's top competition as well as unlimited cash.

Even the likes of Real Madrid will be praying they slip up in the next few weeks as the effects of City pulling through would be felt throughout Europe.

Before it would have taken quite a leap for someone like Franck Ribery or Fernando Torres to move to City but if they close out Champions League qualification, whoever is the manager will supervise what could be the most pivotal transfer window since Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea in 2003.

If Liverpool ca not live with them now, they will have no chance of challenging them next season and Chelsea, United and Arsenal will also be pushed hard for the title.

They will be able to offer anyone in Europe what any other club can, plus a load more money and will be able to take on all comers in the transfer market.

All of that is potentially just 540 minutes of football away.

[Mark (Blue Army)]

Cheers for that Lee.

[SORTED]

... All of that is potentially just 540 minutes of football away.

That's the part where my cock started to twitch involuntarily.

[john@staustell]

I hope our ´front 4``can keep fit and play all six games, or at least until we get 4th if before. After them it gets a bit average!

[Mase]

I hope our ´front 4``can keep fit and play all six games, or at least until we get 4th if before. After them it gets a bit average!

I hope our manager will keep the front 4 as they are and not change players for the sake of it.

[john@staustell]

I hope our ´front 4``can keep fit and play all six games, or at least until we get 4th if before. After them it gets a bit average!

I hope our manager will keep the front 4 as they are and not change players for the sake of it.

I think he´s rested players fairly intelligently, but there comes a time, maybe with 6 games left, when you just have to go hell or bust!!

[Mase]

I hope our ´front 4``can keep fit and play all six games, or at least until we get 4th if before. After them it gets a bit average!

I hope our manager will keep the front 4 as they are and not change players for the sake of it.

I think he´s rested players fairly intelligently, but there comes a time, maybe with 6 games left, when you just have to go hell or bust!!

Exactly!

[ronk]

The effect of Sheikh Mansour's takeover certainly put a different slant on the transfer market with the Eastlands club paying over the odds to take players to City.

But, other than the £34m signing of Robinho, they have not been competing with Manchester U***d or Chelsea for players.

The next six games could change all that. Where they have been rejected in their pursuit of the likes of Kaka, John Terry, Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho in the past, they will now be able to offer the world's stars Europe's top competition as well as unlimited cash.

Even the likes of Real Madrid will be praying they slip up in the next few weeks as the effects of City pulling through would be felt throughout Europe.

Before it would have taken quite a leap for someone like Franck Ribery or Fernando Torres to move to City but if they close out Champions League qualification, whoever is the manager will supervise what could be the most pivotal transfer window since Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea in 2003.

I don't agree. We've signed Tevez and Adebayor. They're not 2nd choice players, they're stars. We've signed sought after players, we just had a more pressing need for reinforcement in those positions and more money.

Scum and Chelsea haven't really been competing with us in the transfer market. It's not that they weren't interested in those players, it's that they couldn't afford them (in addition to what they already have).

If we make the Champions League, I'm not expecting a spending spree from us. We might sign a few players, if they're the right ones, but we have most of the squad we need for the moment. What is much more likely to happen is for pursestrings elsewhere to open. Liverpool are going to be spending this summer, Arsenal are likely to spend more. Scum and Chelsea will probably also spend big.

[ant london]

another quite good one here

Seven minutes was all it took for Manchester City to leap above Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday as the Blues took advantage of not only Spurs’ defeat by Sunderland but also some of the worst defending imaginable courtesy of a doomed Burnley side. With six games to go, City saved their most devastating performance of the season for the best possible moment.

After going three goals up inside 10 minutes against the Clarets, City kept their foot on the accelerator to seriously press home their superiority over Brian Laws’ struggling side - any Tottenham fans watching, hoping for a let-off following their slip in the North East, will have been as disappointed as the City support was jubilant. With Liverpool dropping points away to Birmingham City on Sunday and Aston Villa falling off the pace in recent weeks, the struggle for the final Champions League place looks increasingly like a two-way slug-fest between Roberto Mancini and Harry Redknapp. Villa and Liverpool currently sit five and four points respectively off City, leaving both sides trailing in the Blues’ wake as Mancio’s men surge past the competition - but with only a single point cushion over Spurs.

The ferocity of City’s attack on Saturday may have been forgotten in the general incredulity over the result and the negligent Burnley defence - indeed, City’s front four of Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy and Adam Johnson were made to look like the Brazil side of 1970 by Burnley’s porous defensive unit - but the fact remains the quartet linked together with rare quality to exploit the gaping holes in the home side’s back-line. Johnson in particular has been a revelation since arriving from Middlesbrough in January, providing a threat from the right wing severely lacking in most of Shaun Wright-Phillips’ performances this season. Talk of an England call-up for the 22-year-old is not undeserved - if Aaron Lennon cannot regain his fitness in time for the World Cup, Johnson looks a better option than Wright-Phillips at the minute.

On the opposite flank to Johnson, Bellamy has had a quieter second half to the season after a barnstorming first - Mancini perhaps not having the same faith in the Welshman as his predecessor, and Bellamy’s compatriot - Mark Hughes. Even still, Bellamy showed on Saturday he is still a dangerous striker when given the chance, and the 10 goals in all competitions the No.39 has amassed this season is only the second time he has reached double figures since leaving Newcastle United in 2005. The pace and industry of Bellamy and Tevez - combined with the trickery of Johnson - has begun to provide the perfect foil of Adebayor, now returned from suspension. If the Togo captain can rediscover his early-season form - and avoid more disciplinary problems - City’s front line will be a match for any defence in the division.

Having Adebayor fit and available will be vital to City’s Champions League hopes, especially with Roque Santa Cruz’s season so disjointed through injuries. The Paraguayan has made just 17 appearances since joining from Blackburn Rovers - netting four times - robbing City of a target man for much of the season, with Adebayor suffering from injury himself, as well as suspension, international duty and compassionate leave following the tragic events at the Africa Cup of Nations. Despite the disorderly season Adebayor has endured, he still boasts 11 goals to his name - a decent return from 26 appearances but less than one would hope for from a £25m striker. Two goals against Burnley - Adebayor’s first goals since February - will be a timely boost for the forward hoping to fire City into Europe.

For much of the season, it seemed Spurs’ attacking options would be enough to take them into the Champions League - Jermain Defoe was in excellent form, Robbie Keane was still at White Hart Lane and Peter Crouch was as much of a handful as ever. Now, however, it is City with the firepower - Defoe has stumbled into a barren spell and Keane is scoring goals for Celtic, leaving Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko to shoulder the burden, just as City find their own scoring form. The Blues will not face a defence as fragile as Burnley’s every week but the confidence gained from smashing half a dozen goals in will be crucial with the end of the season drawing ever closer.


http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_1_ ... ourth.html?