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What did you make of it?

I think it was very noticable in the first 20 minutes that we were lacking some invention but the lads seemed to warm to the occasion. I was very pleased we scored without them and am a lot more confident we can go without them in the future.

Yaya is such an enigma. He captivates and frustrates all within a minute.

We were quicker and more direct with Milner and Yaya driving us forward.

You aren't going to face Stilyan Petrov and Fabian Delph every week though. We'll need more ideas against a team that's not so flat.

I thought that Yaya looked much much better than he has done thus far when he was pushed up and had NdJ back behind him with GazBaz.

If we play that team but with Silva and Nasri in place of Johnson and Milner.....we'd tear most teams a new arsehole. Milner was excellent yesterday though....having Nigel back made us just look miles more robust.

On the subject of Silva though....whilst he normally is way too unselfish in passing when he could shoot, he was at fault yesterday near the end when he took that reverse pass from Johnson into the box and shot when he should have cut back to a wide open Mario unmarked on the penalty spot. That said, was a lovely move....Mario's lofted ball to AJ was class, as was Johnno's ball to Silva...and Silva's run....and his shot...almost!

When we play without Dave and Sam we become reliant on Yaya, and since he seems to be a hot/cold player we could potentially get caught out. Thankfully he works well with Mario and had a good game yesterday, plus there were a number of others taking their chance to play and putting in good performances.

We managed to keep good possession without David playing most of the game, for me watching the creativity they bring is a joy, but I think keeping the ball is paramount.Hearing the ole chants when we were passing for a while was great.That session of passing although did involve David I think we could have done without him.The fact we scored most of our goals without them says we can be creative without them.Milner and Yaya did some fantastic stuff yesterday.

don't get carried away by the scoreline. We look good only because of Nigel's hard work.

peg-6 wrote:don't get carried away by the scoreline. We look good only because of Nigel's hard work.

Did Nige notice the fans leaving early do you know?

Mase wrote:

peg-6 wrote:don't get carried away by the scoreline. We look good only because of Nigel's hard work.

Did Nige notice the fans leaving early do you know?

He was digusted as well. He was the last off the pitch and although he was clapping the fans who stayed you could physically see that he wasn't happy and strolled off with his head bowed.

On topic, I thought the midfield played well after the first 20, once they got into their stride. Saying that, we always seem to be pap in the 1st twenty.

I was not surprised that Silva was not playing - needs a rest (and cannot understand why he came on later) - but I was concerned about where the creativity was going to come from when the team was announced.

I understand that Nasri was rested because he had also been playing in the internaltional week - but the main reason I was so happy that we had signed him was because I saw him as the back up to Silva - the only player that I had previously worried that we had no backup for and without whom we look blunt. So I had expected Nasri to start in the Silva role - a good chance to prove he can play in that role.

As it was (just like at Blackburn) we made our breakthrough via a piece of individual brilliance and then we were always likely to score more - I just think that we will always need one of our players to be play that creative role with the vision and skill to lay in the subtle pass that splits a defence.

For me if Silva or Nasri are rested - the other plays -

My angle is that i just don't like to see us relying on any one player too much.. even Nige. So opportunities for the squad to get used to playing well in the 'City style' with different players playing their part is important imo and the Villa game was great to see for the midfield fluidity without Silva as much as any other reason.

I was delighted with the performances of Johnson, Milner and Mario. They were all very creative and caused Villa lots of trouble and the same can be said against Blackburn too. If we are to challenge on all fronts we need to rotate our squad leaving Nasri and Silva to be fresh for the crunch games. Rotating the squad also keeps everyone happy too, last year we were guilty of playing the same 11 too many times.

mcfc1632 wrote:I was not surprised that Silva was not playing - needs a rest (and cannot understand why he came on later) - but I was concerned about where the creativity was going to come from when the team was announced.

I understand that Nasri was rested because he had also been playing in the internaltional week - but the main reason I was so happy that we had signed him was because I saw him as the back up to Silva - the only player that I had previously worried that we had no backup for and without whom we look blunt. So I had expected Nasri to start in the Silva role - a good chance to prove he can play in that role.

For me if Silva or Nasri are rested - the other plays -

nice post. this for me too.

If we are too seriously compete for all trophies but especially the premier league it is essential that Mancini can do what he did yesterday. He needs to be almost play any 11 from the squad in the "routine" games and get results. Ok it might fail in a game somewhere but if he can't rely on that approach then we simply aren't good enough yet.

I think the Villa result was a great result for Mancini and that approach.He would have been slaughtered if we hadnt won ( as Slurthingy is from time to time)

I dont think it's a surprise that any team would miss Silva - he cant be replaced directly. Pleased with the performance. Milner is as on fire as he gets this season, and even AJ had a good match.

I didn't like it, it wasn't clever or intricate but with Milner, Yaya(who had a good game, wtf does he have to do for you people?), Barry and de Jong, we looked like school bullies pushing around the weaker kids.

Effective, brutal, but not attractive football like Silva/Nasri/Aguero play.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:If we are too seriously compete for all trophies but especially the premier league it is essential that Mancini can do what he did yesterday. He needs to be almost play any 11 from the squad in the "routine" games and get results. Ok it might fail in a game somewhere but if he can't rely on that approach then we simply aren't good enough yet.

I think the Villa result was a great result for Mancini and that approach.He would have been slaughtered if we hadnt won ( as Slurthingy is from time to time)

I agree, it's an area where we've needed to step up. We have a solid first XI but haven't really got the rotation thing right yet. I think there's still a way to go too, but it's a nice move in the right direction.

Slim wrote:I didn't like it, it wasn't clever or intricate but with Milner, Yaya(who had a good game, wtf does he have to do for you people?), Barry and de Jong, we looked like school bullies pushing around the weaker kids.

Effective, brutal, but not attractive football like Silva/Nasri/Aguero play.

Attractive or not, 3 points is 3 points...