*****Official****** Dortmund game

[Crossie]

Richards and Koralov, were they just good going forward? Or good at doing what their on the pitch to do, stop their wingers breaking through us and help out the centre backs?

[irblinx]

Yawn, the majority of them obviously just couldn't be arsed. I suppose considering what's at stake in terms of getting a place in the 25 you can almost understand them being wary of getting injured especially if they've already been given the nod as to who's in and who's out, almost! I hope a home crowd persuades them to pull their collective fingers out on Saturday.

Kolorov looked decent but otherwise it was almost pointless

[BlueMoonAwoken]

Thought Kolarov's delivery and burst of pace were first class all night, he didn't deliver one poor set piece. Ireland sprayed some nice passes around when he came on and Shaun looked menacing at times in the first half. Bellamy did too when he came on, and Jo showed determination that he never did first time round.

Otherwise, we were a bit of a shambles. Richards and Zabaleta after him were lackadaisical in key positions, neither Kolo nor Yaya looked particularly strong, Yaya's pass to set out SWP off for our goal was top class but otherwise no contribution of note, Kompany got the run-around a good few times. Barry was totally anonymous most of the time, and when he did get a foot on the ball, seemed determined to make as complicated a pass as possible when there were three or four easier options. Can't remember Santa Cruz doing anything, literally.

Wouldn't be getting too wound up just yet, but defensively there's cause for concern. The only thing is, we played brilliant football in short bursts of 5 minutes at a time here and there, I'm hoping that's a glimpse of what's to come and that with more application and focus they'll play in that manner all the way through games.

Hopefully we'll get as close to a strongest XI as possible on Saturday, can't wait to see Silva in particular. But just like it'd be crazy to think we're heading for a title charge after winning 3-1, it's crazy to think it's the end of the world because we lost. Poor performance, yes, but we'll know on the 14th of August whether they're real concerns or not.

Thanks colin.

[gillie]

Lescott looks like he is running in Captain Nemo's diving boots ffs.Our defence we have not got one Lionel Messi is spot on.

[lets all have a disco]

Games like tonight make you think,what was the point?

Surely the squad staying in Manchester and doing an 11 v 11 on the training ground for 90 minutes would have been just as much use plus helped the squad get together a bit more.

[CITYSTEVEDON]

so we might see tevez, silva and others on saturday, hey its only 10 days to start of season and some of our new signing and tevez havnt had a game yet. bollox

[Dingus McDouchey]

we are sloppy as fuck, pretty much everywhere.
i don't know who this gareth barry is, but he is not the one from villa.
i know we are not this shit. but it is well annoying having to watch it.
they could have at least put one of the new kits on. :)

[BlueMoonAwoken]

Games like tonight make you think,what was the point?

Surely the squad staying in Manchester and doing an 11 v 11 on the training ground for 90 minutes would have been just as much use plus helped the squad get together a bit more.

Yeah i feel the same mate!

Getting your ass beat aint gonna win fans it just makes all the media who take the piss look correct. So then its harder to defend city when we are losing games. If we attacked alot and was creating chances and looked very decent but lose i would say it was a good workout. But not being able to keep possesion in a friendly is stupid.

[Ted Hughes]

Thought Kolarov's delivery and burst of pace were first class all night, he didn't deliver one poor set piece. Ireland sprayed some nice passes around when he came on and Shaun looked menacing at times in the first half. Bellamy did too when he came on, and Jo showed determination that he never did first time round.

Otherwise, we were a bit of a shambles. Richards and Zabaleta after him were lackadaisical in key positions, neither Kolo nor Yaya looked particularly strong, Yaya's pass to set out SWP off for our goal was top class but otherwise no contribution of note, Kompany got the run-around a good few times. Barry was totally anonymous most of the time, and when he did get a foot on the ball, seemed determined to make as complicated a pass as possible when there were three or four easier options. Can't remember Santa Cruz doing anything, literally.

Wouldn't be getting too wound up just yet, but defensively there's cause for concern. The only thing is, we played brilliant football in short bursts of 5 minutes at a time here and there, I'm hoping that's a glimpse of what's to come and that with more application and focus they'll play in that manner all the way through games.

Hopefully we'll get as close to a strongest XI as possible on Saturday, can't wait to see Silva in particular. But just like it'd be crazy to think we're heading for a title charge after winning 3-1, it's crazy to think it's the end of the world because we lost. Poor performance, yes, but we'll know on the 14th of August whether they're real concerns or not.

I'm absolutely buzzing about Kolarov. I can't remember the last time we had a player who can deliver the ball like that. If he keeps that up, the players will get used to where he's going to put it it & we'll score loads of goals from it. It could give us 10 more points at least. To me he looked better out wide than Johnson too, which is a worry for Johnson. Ade looks a waste of space so far to me; offside & wasteful in posession but by far the biggest problem is the defence. They got Hughes sacked by playing EXACTLY like they're doing now; seem to be having no problems at all then just fall apart. Lescott looks finished. Unless they suss it very fast, we'll have to put up a DeJong inspired barrier in front of them v Spurs. You wouldn't believe those blokes did all that defensive shape training. Hopeless.

[gillie]

we are sloppy as fuck, pretty much everywhere.
i don't know who this gareth barry is, but he is not the one from villa.
i know we are not this shit. but it is well annoying having to watch it.
they could have at least put one of the new kits on. :)

don't know who this gareth barry is, but he is not the one from villa

I know what you mean mate and i said the same to my missuss during the game tonight.He has turned to dogshite since signing for us but yet he was the star man at Villa.

[CityGer]

Don't recall seeing a left peg like Kolarov's for a while - sweet as a nut. He'll be a massive threat for us.

Poor defensively, same old, no improvement. SWP was the stand out going forward. Thought he looked very sharp and hungry and I liked the fact that he was going outside the fullback and not trying to cut inside too often.

Agree with SOF, fuck knows what Lescott has been tucking in to but he's got some work to do to get in shape. Shouldn't be carrying that much excess 10 days before the season starts. Not acceptable. I'd have thought he'd have spent the summer getting trim after such a long absence.

[dikdik]

Have to agree about the kryptonite transformation in Barry since coming to City.

[Sister of fu]

Have to agree about the kryptonite transformation in Barry since coming to City.

He was never the quickest but he looks like he is stood in quick drying cement at times. At fault for two goals. Maybe it's the big fish in little pond syndrome with him and he is now a big fish in a sea of big fishes.

[Ted Hughes]

Don't recall seeing a left peg like Kolarov's for a while - sweet as a nut. He'll be a massive threat for us.

Poor defensively, same old, no improvement. SWP was the stand out going forward. Thought he looked very sharp and hungry and I liked the fact that he was going outside the fullback and not trying to cut inside too often.

Agree with SOF, fuck knows what Lescott has been tucking in to but he's got some work to do to get in shape. Shouldn't be carrying that much excess 10 days before the season starts. Not acceptable. I'd have thought he'd have spent the summer getting trim after such a long absence.

Tbf SWP did do well & got 2 great crosses in, I didn't mention him. Will Mancini allow him to play in his correct position though or make him play on the wrong side?

Lescott just looks stiff legged to me rather than fat. Similar to RSC coming back from his last injury. Doesn't bode well. If he plays v Spurs in that condition we're fucked imo.

[ronk]

That's alright. Disappointing result but some promise.

Kompany and Toure were mostly okay in the first half. Their goal was a penalty through a Barry brainfart. Another penno through a daft ref's call. Big changes and the unsettled defence weren't as solid.

Hart read the situation well with the 2nd penalty.

Richards was Richards, strong going forward and some decent defending. Got forward well.
Kolorov looks the real deal. Didn't appear to link up that well with Bridge in the 2nd half (at all) but I'd put much of that down to Bridge. Midfield played in patches, Yaya impressive, Barry not so much. Ireland had his moments, needs to start turning some of the time when he takes it with his back to goal. Too often he was just tapping it back where there was space to look for a pass. There were a few times Hamburg passed through our midfield with total ease but we adapted. Passing the ball out of defence, it looked at times like we were out of our comfort zone, Hamburg pressed well and ganged up. But we did try to do more than just fire the ball upfield some of the time (we were inconsistent on that front).

Jo was doing well, aside from the fact that his shooting can be shocking I'd be happy enough to see him stay with the squad. We all know there's plenty of talent there somewhere, it's just a matter of bringing it out. In the different role he seems to be more comfortable. There's something nagging about him though. RSC didn't impress me at all, I totally failed to see what his contribution to the team was. He didn't cover enough ground, he didn't hassle/harry, he wasn't moving to tie-in the defence, he wasn't getting on the ball and even in situations where we needed a fox in the box he wasn't particularly excelling in that role either. Adebayor is 10 times the player he is. His form needs to improve drastically.

Lescott was rusty, I hope, otherwise we have a problem. Zabaleta was okay but I had been more inclined to favour Richards. Some decent performances on the wings, but there really is a way to go before we settle, we're still inconsistent and we're still struggling at times to pass around teams that pressure us.

[avoidconfusion]

I am not looking forward to playing Spurs to be honest....

[Abu Dhabi]

I think its safe to assume we are fucked without Mancini.
Come back Bobby!

[Lee_Kinda]

I am not looking forward to playing Spurs to be honest....

NEWS JUST IN - CITY SIGN AVOIDCONFUSION - £652 MILLION!

Sky bet have him at 3/1 for top scorer in the premierleague
Kalou says he is rubbish
Messi says he is the best ever

[Ted Hughes]

I think its safe to assume we are fucked without Mancini.
Come back Bobby!

We were worse the other day when he was there tbf, but seeing as Kidd & Platt are proven 100% failures as managers, I think we can safely say we have severe problems if Mancini isn't back very soon indeed.

[BobKowalski]

Well lets look on the bright side. One thing Mancini can definitely do is organise a decent defence...