The mancityfans.net football forum

Finally it's a training day for me to watch ( I still don't know if they did other sessions in the afternoon bu my guess is they did at least one)Nice calm weather to as I watched 6 keepers come out to start work. Maybe keeping their options seriously open for Sunday!Then is was 5 coaches before a 20 strong squad which excluded Micah of course but also Barry and the skipper.Included were Razak,Boyata and Lopes

2 of them clearly meant business as they were the ones in shorts and short sleeves. No prizes for guessing who they were.They went straight into a pass,move and pressing game which surprised me as there were no warm up exercises or jogging which usually start a session.Presumably a good warm up had been done inside.Not even a quick briefing from the boss which usually precedes the work.

I have to say it was a bright start from the players, good energy and intent and one player epitomised this as he often does,Gael Clichy chasing and harrying for fun.After one session of this Razak removed his tracksuit bottoms to join the other 2.I am surprised it was only him as it was quite warm compared to recent days.Mancini did now gather them all in for a word before they went straight into another similar session.Maybe he wanted more coordinated pressing as that is what I felt happened.Then a short break before a 3rd session which was one touch only and it all continued at a good pace.The challenge was to make 10 completed passes and of course for the other team to stop them which I think was achieved.

Time now for Mancini to take a team away fro some specific work but today it was all 20 I assumed for a practice game of sorts in preparation for Sunday's game.I couldn't see this today as I didn't bother taking steps so took the time to have a quick look at the EDS group who were out there and had started before the 1st team.I don't think Guidetti was out today but Suarez certainly was.The little bit I could see of the 1st team made me wonder if it was an attack v defence session as the ball seemed to be at one end most of the time.

Back after that for some 6 a side games on half sized pitches. 4 teams playing something like 6 minutes a game and fairly fast and furious stuff.I had a good view of one pitch so didn't try to watch both.Some highlights:
A brilliant right foot curler from a tight angle by Milner
a superb 2 touch goal from Tevez under real pressure
Nasri scoring well and calmly again under some pressure
Mancini having some words with them all after one of the games ended.Would love to know what about
2 players showing real intensity on their pressing.Carlos and Rodders
Edin showing some real life in a give ago but missing the chance but then scoring 2 just after
Yaya scoring with a miss hit shot after a clever Rodders pass
cool finish from Garcia
Injuries to Gael and Yaya which left them limping for a while but they kept playing so must be ok
Joe Hart was on the pitch I couldn't see but I sure as hell could hear him
some good tackling by Bossaerts ( hadn't noticed him at the start so maybe he replaced somebody without me seeing
Boyata popped up twice with 2 very good close in finishes
Milner missed a sitter than bemused him but made amends scoring immediately after
Carlos pounced on a loose ball to score
nice interplay between Milner and Silva saw DS score

And that was that. I think overall a livelier session than I have seen for a while.Different in that I didn't see them do one single pure warm up or stretching or jogging exercise which is a first.Late on Barry was out doing some running work with a physio so not fully fit but no issue of note I am sure.

Wheheey nice 1 Doug

They trained yesterday at some point apparently, according to Zabba, & it was a good one.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:
2 of them clearly meant business as they were the ones in shorts and short sleeves. No prizes for guessing who they were.

I'll go for Milner and ....er...Nasri perhaps ?

Good to see Carlos back. Cheers Doug.

Ted Hughes wrote:Wheheey nice 1 Doug

They trained yesterday at some point apparently, according to Zabba, & it was a good one.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:
2 of them clearly meant business as they were the ones in shorts and short sleeves. No prizes for guessing who they were.

I'll go for Milner and ....er...Nasri perhaps ?

Glad to hear it. Nasri, yeah right.

And of course no Rekik today as he is now Blackburn bound on a loan deal.

Good to hear Nasri actually does something .

Were any of them practicing og,s ?

Cheers DH ... have you loaned your steps to the missus as a valentines day present?

rekik went to blackburn? very interesting.

Great to see you've finally managed to find our team again. To whoever's controlling DH's account nowadays: thanks for the read. It was very enlightening.

Sideshow Bob wrote:rekik went to blackburn? very interesting.

Very. Hope it gets done.

I know you don't mention all the players, but there was no news on Kun or Nasti. Were they present? I know Nasti was injured, but wondered if he is back in full training.

Risby wrote:I know you don't mention all the players, but there was no news on Kun or Nasti. Were they present? I know Nasti was injured, but wondered if he is back in full training.

Both were there today and looking fine.Just that I didn't see either of them do anything special today.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:<null>

Glad sergio was involved, we'll need a good start from him Sunday.

Cheers Doug, great read as usual. I guess this means Vinnie will miss the game on Sunday?

Biamp wrote:Cheers Doug, great read as usual. I guess this means Vinnie will miss the game on Sunday?

Not necessarily. He may well have trained on Wednesday and then decided to play safe.The Friday session may tell us more.

Thanks Douglas

Damned afternoon training ! Yet another day I can't make the afternoon and it gets changed...c'est la vie

A question guys, do other teams also have videos/team reports like we do ? I was surprised by a inside city video few weeks ago, which showed the way Hart and Richards were being trained. Inside City videos/Training reports are a good way to keep us all interested by my only concern is do we give away information to rivals, which others are not doing.

I am a big fan of Doug, I have been reading his reports from a long time and in all his reports he never gives away which he feels will give other teams hints about our squad for the next week and such.