Wake up call part II

[Ted Hughes]

Btw, it's not the end of the world that we didn't win at WBA but those of you who just brush it off need to wake up. You are all so used to losing & competing for fuck all, that you don't realise the potential importance of it. It's time as a club when we have to take this kind of thing on board & deal with it rather than sticking our heads under the bedclothes & pretending it didn't happen.

'Oh it's ok, well played WBA' is absolutely the wrong attitude to take. The correct attitude is ' this is not good enough, lets win the next ten & make sure it doesn't happen again'.

I agree. With the long run of what look like very hard games coming up (barring , maybe, Wigan away, though after WBA who can tell?) points dropped at West Brom wasn't a luxury we could really afford. As you say, an away point at a decent Premier League team isn't the end of the world, though the manner of it and the lack of sharpness gave grounds for concern. And sharpness is key, as we are anything but a methodical side, even though we do grind teams down with our possession and movement. We rely a lot of burst of creativity and sparks of individual brilliance, so tiredness and dullness are things we need to avoid as best we can, and in the next five weeks that will mean relying on the depth of our options. The games with Liverpool and United are likely to be especially grinding. With what lies ahead in the immediate future, West Brom wasn't the time or place to have an off day. That's where the anxiety stems from.

Also, congratulating opposition teams on playing well is folly, unless we've beaten them. After all, it's their job (even duty) to play well which many PL sides seem to forget. They are clubs taking part in one of the best league divisions in the world, they should be good.

If they should be good, what's the problem when they get a draw against us? If these teams are so good why should we have the automatic right to beat them on their own manner, are they not allowed to play on the same park?

I find yours and Ted's view quite disconcerting, somehow believing we have a divine right to win home or away against 11 other players that are set out to do a job. Yes, we should've won with the chances we had but I just don't believe we are at a point where 'We'll do what we want', if you get my drift.

Unlike you and Ted, I have no anxiety issues, this is football. There'll be many twists and turns to come and I for one am loving what's happened so far. Rags on their best points total ever, we're still top of the league. Work that one out.

It's nothing to do with a 'divine right' of anything. I saw a City side playing well below par, not an invincible WBA defence. I would have expected most of the top 6 to beat West Brom on that peformance as they were stood in their own penalty box offering us the opportunity to shoot, cross dribble, basically do almost all of the things you do whe you score a goal. It was not the same City team we have been watching recently, who would have scored.

In a normal season, when we expect to win fuck all, this performance doesn't matter. When you are top of the league & intend to be sure of staying there, it means you have to get the points back from somewhere at a later date or expect the rags to also give us a gift back & fuck up there. A lot of people on here are expecting the likes of chelsea & Arsenal to do it for us by beating them, rather than us taking responsibility & getting the points on the board ourselves. If we all want to just go 'ooh isn't it wonderful' then fine, we can come 2nd & talk about how well we played at the end of the season. If we want to win the league, expecting to score a couple of goals v West Brom, in a game where we have 72% of posession in not arrogant or unrealistic, it's perfectly reasonable.

We fucked up yesterday. Why on earth people refuse to accept that is beyond me.

[Beefymcfc]

Cheers Guv/Ted, your comments on the game are realistic and analysing the game is more than relevent, these are the posts that keep me going on a quiet day. But as Ted says, we had the majority of possession and when you look at the stats you have to say it was a frustrating day.


[center]West Bromwich Albion Team Statistics Manchester City

0 Goals 0

0 1st Half Goals 0

1 Shots on Target 4

5 Shots off Target 8

2 Blocked Shots 5

5 Corners 9

8 Fouls 11

2 Offsides 2

0 Yellow Cards 1

0 Red Cards 0

72.8 Passing Success 90.4

21 Tackles 11

85.7 Tackles Success 90.9

27.5 Possession 72.5

40.8 Territorial Advantage 59.2

239 Total Passes 670

16 Total Crosses 35 [/center]

When you look at those stats and consider that we had 73% possession with 59% of it in their half you'd have to say we murdered them apart from actually scoring a goal. 17 shots away from home compared to their 8 confirms that we indeed had the better game and the viewing of the game really does back-up them stats. From what I saw, West Brom set out to frustrate us and close down the space in behind, forcing us to play the ball in front of them. They had 2 very well organised banks of 4 that were rigid in their formation, the midfield usually always dropping closer but leaving a least 10 yards allowing their defenders to move out and cover the movement inbetween. They kept this up for the whole game and used the ball that they had to full effect, giving themselves a couple of chances to take all 3 points. If we can't praise a team for that then I don't know when we can.

We on the other hand played our usual game and it could be considered that we needed to get the ball down the wings with pace and have soomeone like Edin making the runs through the defence. But we did have chances, chances that on another day would have been put away and if I was Roy Hodgson, and decided to set the team up in that manner, I'd be very happy that those 11 players went out and prevented us from scoring.

I seem to remember Manncini's interview praising Hodgson as one of Europes best coaches so it shouldn't come as any surprise that he set his team out to do a job on us. Roll on the BlackCat game, at least we'll get a feel for how we'll combat tese sort of tactics, especially now O'Niell's in charge.

[dazby]

Alright Ted, I'll try it your way. I was prepared to write the day off as a bad day at the office and move on to Sunderland. Let's see where we fucked up. First half, we didn't get the ball to the feet of Balo and Kun. We went wide when I thought we could have tried more through the middle and had some success. Yaya was......ineffective in attack despite being tidy everywhere else around the pitch. Nasri was good but it didn't come off in the final third. Dzeko put his shot into row Z instead of on target. Balo was unlucky with his shot. AJ didn't have an impact on goal. Clichy and PabZabs were unable to penetrate effectively with their crosses. We didn't take enough long shots. Dave Silva was having an off day. We didn't score.

We were solid in defence despite them having some tasty chances.

If there was something glaringly wrong I'd be posting vociferously putting my point across and hoping someone at the club would read my post and put things to right. But apart from us being unable to unlock a deep defence and a bit of bad luck, we were unable. If it happens next game there'll be cause for concern. For now, just a blip.

[CityFanFromRome]

There have been so many games where "it's just a matter of time before we score" and of course we usually do in the 30th or 40th minute or whatever. Of course we do create the odd chance in the early minutes but there just seems a lack of any sense of urgency early on. Don't get me wrong I am not after a cavalry charge and hoofing the ball up immediately or anything like that but some sense that it's important to score an early goal.

All teams will set up the same way from now as it's clear it causes us problems so it will be interesting to see how we work through it and for me especially in the first 1/4 of games.

I see your point Doug; just to give an example, here I report my recent experience watching AS Roma; after a bad patch with two back to back losses Roma had to face Juventus and Napoli (away) in a row; in both games the players were attacking early on and in both games Roma scored within the first five minutes, going on to draw a game (missing a pen) and winning the other one. Then in the next game they carried on with this urgency and while they didn't score so early, they bossed the game from start to end.

So I see what you're saying and I can see how it could benefit us especially because, as time goes on and we are still stuck on 0-0, the other team will feel energised because their tactic is working, and we will become frustrated at not being able to score and it will make scoring even harder.

[PALUS]

Think Manchini have with this alot one striker two strikers , late changes , some strange subs but it must be a fall of form, rags have one only they are so lucky like always, they manage to go with wins 5 or is it 6 wins 1 0. hope we will not drop more points becose if they slip away its finish referes will finish the job.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Yesterday after about 60 minutes you could tell we were looking less likely to score. Game was crying out for Dzeko and Johnson, they should have been brought on with 30 minutes to go. What does he expect Dzeko to do in 8 minutes?

I still think we badly miss an out and out winger. Someone like the Shauny of old, with pace, pace and more pace.

[Beefymcfc]

Yesterday after about 60 minutes you could tell we were looking less likely to score. Game was crying out for Dzeko and Johnson, they should have been brought on with 30 minutes to go. What does he expect Dzeko to do in 8 minutes?

I still think we badly miss an out and out winger. Someone like the Shauny of old, with pace, pace and more pace.

Bale then.

[PALUS]

Yesterday after about 60 minutes you could tell we were looking less likely to score. Game was crying out for Dzeko and Johnson, they should have been brought on with 30 minutes to go. What does he expect Dzeko to do in 8 minutes?

I still think we badly miss an out and out winger. Someone like the Shauny of old, with pace, pace and more pace.

agree i just dont know wath is waithing and this is not first game on chelsea game we wait to get a goal take out silva only man who can create problems and defend and 5 min from end dzeko is in that is to late for maradona to do somthing

[DoomMerchant]

Yesterday after about 60 minutes you could tell we were looking less likely to score. Game was crying out for Dzeko and Johnson, they should have been brought on with 30 minutes to go. What does he expect Dzeko to do in 8 minutes?

I still think we badly miss an out and out winger. Someone like the Shauny of old, with pace, pace and more pace.

agree i just dont know wath is waithing and this is not first game on chelsea game we wait to get a goal take out silva only man who can create problems and defend and 5 min from end dzeko is in that is to late for maradona to do somthing

seriously? i thought you decided we were a bunch of racists yesterday and fucked off?

[PALUS]

Yesterday after about 60 minutes you could tell we were looking less likely to score. Game was crying out for Dzeko and Johnson, they should have been brought on with 30 minutes to go. What does he expect Dzeko to do in 8 minutes?

I still think we badly miss an out and out winger. Someone like the Shauny of old, with pace, pace and more pace.

agree i just dont know wath is waithing and this is not first game on chelsea game we wait to get a goal take out silva only man who can create problems and defend and 5 min from end dzeko is in that is to late for maradona to do somthing

seriously? i thought you decided we were a bunch of racists yesterday and fucked off?

man can i have one day of peace on this page leave me alone i decided the was one racist statment so leave me alone u are boring me

[CityGer]

man can i have one day of peace on this page leave me alone i decided the was one racist statment so leave me alone u are boring me

Must say, I was more keen on the you fucking off option.

[PALUS]

man can i have one day of peace on this page leave me alone i decided the was one racist statment so leave me alone u are boring me

Must say, I was more keen on the you fucking off option.

i get it u hate me i dont care ok so only if admin decide that i somhow provoke u and u are all inocent then i be out until then i dont fuckin care wath u say to me ok mahatma

[Ted Hughes]

Even if we'd had Bale playing, we had nobody who you would guarantee to get on the end of his crosses. If we're going to play this way, we have to be lining people up to shoot from the edge of the box rather than always looking to pass through a wall of players who's job is purely to stop us from doing exactly that.

If we want to be a top team in the world we have to be able to do something about situations like this. How many teams could play like that v Ronaldo or David Villa without them having ten shots each ? How many would bet against at least one of those going in ? How many attempts did Balo have from outside the box ? What percentage of those hit the bar ? Imagine if we'd been playing to get him space to shoot (like the rags used to do with Scholes) rather than lokking for a short pass through every time ? Imagine if we'd been doing the same with Aguero & Milner ? How would WBA's defenders be able to stand in a line if we had three or four options peppering the goal from 25 yards ? They would have to come out to stop it; ball in behind. 1-0.

We just weren't smart enough at all & DS was the biggest culprit on the day.

[DoomMerchant]

man can i have one day of peace on this page leave me alone i decided the was one racist statment so leave me alone u are boring me

Must say, I was more keen on the you fucking off option.

i get it u hate me i dont care ok so only if admin decide that i somhow provoke u and u are all inocent then i be out until then i dont fuckin care wath u say to me ok mahatma

post on here all you want mate, but why not try and climbdown from the "Dzeko Done Wrong" slant of every post? And also stop calling posters like me and others "racists" for calling you out for only wearing Dzeko flavoured glasses...it has nothing to do with your nationality, but the content of your posts.

Dzeko is our 3rd best striker at the moment, and if it infuriates you or other posters to the point of not being able to converse without mentioned him being, allegedly, hard done by our manager, then fuck off to some Dzeko forum where you gentleman can have a circle jerk discussing your poster boy Edin Dzeko, and drown your tears together there.

cheers

[DoomMerchant]

Even if we'd had Bale playing, we had nobody who you would guarantee to get on the end of his crosses. If we're going to play this way, we have to be lining people up to shoot from the edge of the box rather than always looking to pass through a wall of players who's job is purely to stop us from doing exactly that.

If we want to be a top team in the world we have to be able to do something about situations like this. How many teams could play like that v Ronaldo or David Villa without them having ten shots each ? How many would bet against at least one of those going in ? How many attempts did Balo have from outside the box ? What percentage of those hit the bar ? Imagine if we'd been playing to get him space to shoot (like the rags used to do with Scholes) rather than lokking for a short pass through every time ? Imagine if we'd been doing the same with Aguero & Milner ? How would WBA's defenders be able to stand in a line if we had three or four options peppering the goal from 25 yards ? They would have to come out to stop it; ball in behind. 1-0.

We just weren't smart enough at all & DS was the biggest culprit on the day.

perfect. sums up my feelings exactly.

[phips]

Yesterday we were not good enough and a draw was about all we deserved ,despite having over 70% of the possession but the one thing I would like to from us that hasnt been happening is a real sense of urgency in the first 20 minutes.

There have been so many games where "it's just a matter of time before we score" and of course we usually do in the 30th or 40th minute or whatever. Of course we do create the odd chance in the early minutes but there just seems a lack of any sense of urgency early on. Don't get me wrong I am not after a cavalry charge and hoofing the ball up immediately or anything like that but some sense that it's important to score an early goal.

All teams will set up the same way from now as it's clear it causes us problems so it will be interesting to see how we work through it and for me especially in the first 1/4 of games.

Balotelli, Aguero, Silva, Milner can all smack a ball in from 20 yards yet as a team we hardly ever even thought about setting each other to do just that & Silva must have ignored ten opportunities to do it.

If WBA line up the same way v the rags, they will just have Rooney or Nani etc slot one in from the edge of the box & we will be saying how shit West Brom were for standing back & leaving him the space to do it; which they did for us many many times.

Around the beginning of the season wasnt there some stat that had City scoring the most goals from the furthest distance and/or attempting the most long range shots? I remember something like that.
I wonder what happened to that...it looks like we're trying to pass the ball into the net much like Arsenal tries, which doesnt always work out well.

[Ted Hughes]

Yesterday we were not good enough and a draw was about all we deserved ,despite having over 70% of the possession but the one thing I would like to from us that hasnt been happening is a real sense of urgency in the first 20 minutes.

There have been so many games where "it's just a matter of time before we score" and of course we usually do in the 30th or 40th minute or whatever. Of course we do create the odd chance in the early minutes but there just seems a lack of any sense of urgency early on. Don't get me wrong I am not after a cavalry charge and hoofing the ball up immediately or anything like that but some sense that it's important to score an early goal.

All teams will set up the same way from now as it's clear it causes us problems so it will be interesting to see how we work through it and for me especially in the first 1/4 of games.

Balotelli, Aguero, Silva, Milner can all smack a ball in from 20 yards yet as a team we hardly ever even thought about setting each other to do just that & Silva must have ignored ten opportunities to do it.

If WBA line up the same way v the rags, they will just have Rooney or Nani etc slot one in from the edge of the box & we will be saying how shit West Brom were for standing back & leaving him the space to do it; which they did for us many many times.

Around the beginning of the season wasnt there some stat that had City scoring the most goals from the furthest distance and/or attempting the most long range shots? I remember something like that.
I wonder what happened to that...it looks like we're trying to pass the ball into the net much like Arsenal tries, which doesnt always work out well.

Good point, we scored quite a few like that. Mind you AJ hit the bar & scored v Stoke from similar positions so it should have been in the mind of our players. Nasri brings a lot of Arsenal pussyfooting to the team & needs to be told to stop pissing about. Bob will sort him out though.

[Beefymcfc]

Just a quick one. Is this the 1st time we've had cause to complain this season regarding our attacking threat as I can't seem to remember too many complaints up until now?

[Ted Hughes]

Just a quick one. Is this the 1st time we've had cause to complain this season regarding our attacking threat as I can't seem to remember too many complaints up until now?

We struggled with lack of width & shots v Napoli & Villareal too.

[Beefymcfc]

Just a quick one. Is this the 1st time we've had cause to complain this season regarding our attacking threat as I can't seem to remember too many complaints up until now?

We struggled with lack of width & shots v Napoli & Villareal too.

Oh, I don't know about that. Against Villareal I'm sure we outgunned them in both games where we had twice as many shots as them, home and away. I think the same could've been said for the Napoli game, and they frustrated us similar to what Brom did. And, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't it Kolarov supplying the width and even scored our equaliser?