*** Leicester v City Official match thread ***

[Mikhail Chigorin]

And people here criticised the decision to buy a central defender. Vinny's hamstring lets him down again. Problem is we needed a striker too.

Guilty as charged.

In spite of Kompany's current, ongoing injury problems, I still wish that, last summer with the limited funds we had available at that time, we'd bought a striker instead.

It's goals that win matches and we've left ourselves too short up front.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

That's the liveliest I've seen Yaya look all season from a workrate point of view. I really think he should be played once a week now.

I would hope MP has the same kind of thought but that's the 2nd game in a row now where I felt Yaya has taken his team responsibilities very seriously and we won both battling games 1 nil

[Green & Blue]

That's the liveliest I've seen Yaya look all season from a workrate point of view. I really think he should be played once a week now.

Thought he looked full of energy today, good to see him trying to drive at defenses again and doing his bit at the other end of the pitch.Going to need him on top form though to compensate for all the injuries.

[nottsblue]

A wins a win and its another one chalked up. Another game for Pozo under his belt. Injuries to Dzeko and Kompany and Jovetic worrying, but hey ho, that is why we have a squad. Defensively we now look pretty good and we've always got a goal from somewhere. If we have to win games 1-0 for a bit like the rags used to and chavs do, then so be it. As long as we track Chelsea and are on their shoulder in April we have as good a chance as them for the title imo. We KNOW we have the balls to see it through. Jose thinks he has

[Dubaimancityfan]

That's the liveliest I've seen Yaya look all season from a workrate point of view. I really think he should be played once a week now.

Thought he looked full of energy today, good to see him trying to drive at defenses again and doing his bit at the other end of the pitch.Going to need him on top form though to compensate for all the injuries.

With our current strikers problem I wonder if MP would ever think of sticking Yaya up front as a lone striker ?? It would be worth a try next week against Crystal Palace. Should be an easy home match and the best time to try something new. The 2 Ferns can more than do the job in midfield.
Today we virtually played with no striker for the whole match but even though we had a strong midfield, we still struggled to control the match. Hangover from Rome ? Maybe ? Tough match to sit through but we managed to get the 3 points thankfully !

[Ted Hughes]

Palace are likely to block everything in the centre & if they get that right, we will really struggle to break them down unless we have a cf.

[Slim]

If we play Pozo again he needs a friend up front, he is in no way a lone striker.

[Sister of fu]

Henry hasn't got a club at the moment. We can't go into the Xmas period with Pozo and an injury prone Jovetic. It's a real worry.

[Ted Hughes]

If he does play, they could actually try passing to his feet & running for a return ball, or in behind.

Would have been better with Demichelis or Mangala cf the way they played today.

(Or David James).

[nottsblue]

Henry hasn't got a club at the moment. We can't go into the Xmas period with Pozo and an injury prone Jovetic. It's a real worry.

Could do a lot worse. Doubt he'd come though. Paddy V would have to call in a million favours.

In terms of short term answers, could Torres be loaned out again? He's been crap for Chelsea and hasn't set world on fire at Milan, but he always seems to score for Spain and you get the impression if he was at a club where he felt love, he would do better. Not talking about anything other than a loan here, but if we can't get our primary targets in January, rather than panic buying someone like Bony or Sakho, is he worth a punt? Really unsure myself, but just Pozo would be a concern

[Ted Hughes]

It would actually be worth signing Henry for NYC, then loaning him, just to piss Wenger off.

But, we have mentioned it before; David Villa is likely to be kicking his heels in Manchester in a few weeks time.

[DoomMerchant]

Cracking day with Piccs and his crew. Barely had to talk about petrov or Noolies criminally inciteful drunken behaviour tho both did come up in passing.

3 pts playing without an actual striker. Boom. No complaints about that. Stuff champions do.

Best part of the match was seeing Nasri rush to the corner flag at the whistle and applaud the away fans. Top little lesbian. Says a lot about our actual footballing performance but it meant a lot to me as a fan.

Mangala looking strong and active. MDM should have started instead of Vinnie but what can you say. Didn't look very serious in real time but who knows with him.

Cheers

[blues2win]

Great. Pellegrini says Dzeko has a calf injury and will be out for a few weeks. So that's December and much of January gone. Kompany has the same injury as he had before when he was out for two weeks. Since he aggravated it so quickly they'll have to be careful so he's out for this month as well. The good news is that Pellegrini wants Frank to stay for the season and Frank wants to stay so it looks like a deal is nailed on.

In the short term we have to pray that MDM and Mangala stay fit till Vinny gets back although Boyata did ok when given the chance. Much more pressing is what system to play to get the best out of Jovetic, assuming his very minor muscle problem is quickly resolved, and Pozo. That's all we've got till January it seems and if we get it wrong we could be as good as out of the title race within a month.

[Beefymcfc]

3 points in the bag and we move on. Nothing more to say really apart from Leicester had a game plan and they played it well.

[Green & Blue]

It would actually be worth signing Henry for NYC, then loaning him, just to piss Wenger off.

But, we have mentioned it before; David Villa is likely to be kicking his heels in Manchester in a few weeks time.

Villa would be a welcome addition if only for a short period.

[Goaters 103]

Win. Ugly.

The ugly ones count the same too. Mangala superb, Sagna and Fernando also good and Lampard did his party trick to clinch it.

Kompany and Dzeko breaking down again with the exact same injuries they had before reflects badly on someone - either the players for kidding themselves they were fit, or the physio's for giving them the green light. Came back too early and now will be out longer. Notably Pellegrini, on Kompany, pointedly stated that the player said he was fit.

Good job we invested in Magala, but to ask Demichelis to play 5 games between Dec 20th and Jan 4th is asking a hell of a lot. Up top we are bearer than a baboons balls. Can we recall Devante Cole in the short term, and on Jan 1st we need a new striker which we should be working on right now.

[zuricity]

If we play Pozo again he needs a friend up front, he is in no way a lone striker.

It might help if experienced players like Yaya actually pass to him when in a good position.Instead of trying a no-chance shot himself.

Being an unselfish player is very hard for many of the modern day Prima Donnas like Yaya.

[Ted Hughes]

Cracking day with Piccs and his crew. Barely had to talk about petrov or Noolies criminally inciteful drunken behaviour tho both did come up in passing.

3 pts playing without an actual striker. Boom. No complaints about that. Stuff champions do.

Best part of the match was seeing Nasri rush to the corner flag at the whistle and applaud the away fans. Top little lesbian. Says a lot about our actual footballing performance but it meant a lot to me as a fan.

Mangala looking strong and active. MDM should have started instead of Vinnie but what can you say. Didn't look very serious in real time but who knows with him.

Cheers

Fans sounded great today on the Joan I was on.

Well done everybody.

[sheblue]

If we play Pozo again he needs a friend up front, he is in no way a lone striker.

It might help if experienced players like Yaya actually pass to him when in a good position.Instead of trying a no-chance shot himself.

Being an unselfish player is very hard for many of the modern day Prima Donnas like Yaya.

It certainly looks like they are reluctant to give him the ball, maybe they feel he is not up to it yet.

[City64]

Another priceless 3 pts , great win in the circumstances .