****official - champions v southampton match thread****

[Slim]

I think mancini probably thought, hey ... we played all last season with plan A, it should be pretty well sunk in by now. I think he'll rectify the lapse this week and bust a few skulls. I expect rodwell to start again vs. liverpool as well

4-3-3 mostly last season, this is a fucking stupid point to defend and if you can't see the benefit of putting game time in for our standard formation in preseason then maybe you should go back to basketball and baseball and that fucked up game you pretend is football and then you can play a world series against yourselves.

[kinkylola]

I think mancini probably thought, hey ... we played all last season with plan A, it should be pretty well sunk in by now. I think he'll rectify the lapse this week and bust a few skulls. I expect rodwell to start again vs. liverpool as well

4-3-3 mostly last season, this is a fucking stupid point to defend and if you can't see the benefit of putting game time in for our standard formation in preseason then maybe you should go back to basketball and baseball and that fucked up game you pretend is football and then you can play a world series against yourselves.

I think you need to re-read my post mate ... not quite sure what you are on about.

[Ted Hughes]

Platt was interviewed before the game, broadcast in City square, and kind of said that he was 'surprised' we hadn't done much work on this system but that 'Bobby thought we didn't need to'.

Boby was wrong.

Entertaining attacking football though & whatever the tactical flaws, if players had finished properly, the game would have been well over before Southampton scored. What I liked in particular, which may have gone missing amongst all the defensive mess, is that we had a proper genuine plan B.

I've been moaning on here about getting balls into the box (like the rags do) & chucking in the kitchen sink when it's a must win situation. Well first half we tippy tappyd & dominated but created few chances, just relied on Tevez. 2nd half we continued, opened them up then missed. Then, when the shit hit the fan & we needed goals, we stormed it. Crosses, diagonals, early balls, quick stuff. All the stuff the rags do when at their best. One very encouraging moment was a diagonal from Yaya to Dzeko at the near post, which Dzeko almost scored with a quality header. We NEVER do shit like that, but we did yesterday & Dzeko will get goals (& miss a few too) if we play like that, as will Mario. Very very encouraging.

Rodwell is going to be a great signing btw & Nasri was world class in his alround contribution.

[kinkylola]

Platt was interviewed before the game, broadcast in City square, and kind of said that he was 'surprised' we hadn't done much work on this system but that 'Bobby thought we didn't need to'.

Boby was wrong.

Entertaining attacking football though & whatever the tactical flaws, if players had finished properly, the game would have been well over before Southampton scored. What I liked in particular, which may have gone missing amongst all the defensive mess, is that we had a proper genuine plan B.

I've been moaning on here about getting balls into the box (like the rags do) & chucking in the kitchen sink when it's a must win situation. Well first half we tippy tappyd & dominated but created few chances, just relied on Tevez. 2nd half we continued, opened them up then missed. Then, when the shit hit the fan & we needed goals, we stormed it. Crosses, diagonals, early balls, quick stuff. All the stuff the rags do when at their best. One very encouraging moment was a diagonal from Yaya to Dzeko at the near post, which Dzeko almost scored with a quality header. We NEVER do shit like that, but we did yesterday & Dzeko will get goals (& miss a few too) if we play like that, as will Mario. Very very encouraging.

Rodwell is going to be a great signing btw & Nasri was world class in his alround contribution.

good post, i agree totally.

[Slim]

I think mancini probably thought, hey ... we played all last season with plan A, it should be pretty well sunk in by now. I think he'll rectify the lapse this week and bust a few skulls. I expect rodwell to start again vs. liverpool as well

4-3-3 mostly last season, this is a fucking stupid point to defend and if you can't see the benefit of putting game time in for our standard formation in preseason then maybe you should go back to basketball and baseball and that fucked up game you pretend is football and then you can play a world series against yourselves.

I think you need to re-read my post mate ... not quite sure what you are on about.

Okay, now I think you're agreeing with me. Fuck I dunno, I have spent the last two weeks stoned off my nut on painkillers. We needed the cobwebs cleared out on this formation, Rodwell needed to start on the bench and de Jong would have stopped at least one of their goals before it began. BTW, what a beautiful assist from Lescott maybe I should have lashed out on Kompany and Tevez instead of Lescott and Aguero...silly silly me.

[Slim]

71 Mario Balotellu replaces Silva

Uh huh

[kinkylola]

I think mancini probably thought, hey ... we played all last season with plan A, it should be pretty well sunk in by now. I think he'll rectify the lapse this week and bust a few skulls. I expect rodwell to start again vs. liverpool as well

4-3-3 mostly last season, this is a fucking stupid point to defend and if you can't see the benefit of putting game time in for our standard formation in preseason then maybe you should go back to basketball and baseball and that fucked up game you pretend is football and then you can play a world series against yourselves.

I think you need to re-read my post mate ... not quite sure what you are on about.

Okay, now I think you're agreeing with me. Fuck I dunno, I have spent the last two weeks stoned off my nut on painkillers. We needed the cobwebs cleared out on this formation, Rodwell needed to start on the bench and de Jong would have stopped at least one of their goals before it began. BTW, what a beautiful assist from Lescott maybe I should have lashed out on Kompany and Tevez instead of Lescott and Aguero...silly silly me.

I was agreeing with you ... I was trying to say that Mancini's lapse was thinking that we played our 'plan A' formation all last season, so it should be second nature, and pre-season was for embedding a second formation. I meant that he would correct this lapse in the coming week by drilling the players hard, and probably using some harsh language to get it through their heads that it is not acceptable to 'forget' our main formation. Tacked on to that was the thought that Rodwell will start again vs. liverpool. Not that I think he's a stronger player than de jong at this point, but I think mancini sees him as more complete than de jong, and maybe able to slot in with yaya/etc better, I dunno. I was surprised he started the first game.

[Dunnylad]

I think that Rodwell's contribution over De Jong is backed up by his pass completion ratio that whoever updates the ManCityFans Twitter feed RT from Opta - for those who aren't on twitter Rodwell's pass completion percentage (95.7%) was only bettered by Arteta (95.8%) this weekend

[Slim]

I think mancini probably thought, hey ... we played all last season with plan A, it should be pretty well sunk in by now. I think he'll rectify the lapse this week and bust a few skulls. I expect rodwell to start again vs. liverpool as well

4-3-3 mostly last season, this is a fucking stupid point to defend and if you can't see the benefit of putting game time in for our standard formation in preseason then maybe you should go back to basketball and baseball and that fucked up game you pretend is football and then you can play a world series against yourselves.

I think you need to re-read my post mate ... not quite sure what you are on about.

Okay, now I think you're agreeing with me. Fuck I dunno, I have spent the last two weeks stoned off my nut on painkillers. We needed the cobwebs cleared out on this formation, Rodwell needed to start on the bench and de Jong would have stopped at least one of their goals before it began. BTW, what a beautiful assist from Lescott maybe I should have lashed out on Kompany and Tevez instead of Lescott and Aguero...silly silly me.

I was agreeing with you ... I was trying to say that Mancini's lapse was thinking that we played our 'plan A' formation all last season, so it should be second nature, and pre-season was for embedding a second formation. I meant that he would correct this lapse in the coming week by drilling the players hard, and probably using some harsh language to get it through their heads that it is not acceptable to 'forget' our main formation. Tacked on to that was the thought that Rodwell will start again vs. liverpool. Not that I think he's a stronger player than de jong at this point, but I think mancini sees him as more complete than de jong, and maybe able to slot in with yaya/etc better, I dunno. I was surprised he started the first game.

I think he will be, but that's a long ways off. If the three(de Jong, Rodwell and Barry) are fit, I would choose Barry every single time, but de Jong knows the system and does the simple things well, breaks up play, flows into gaps with such natural ease. Rodwell may well do the job equal or even better than him eventually but not now, and certainly not when he has less than a week with the team. The amount of times he was defending the same 6 square feet of grass as Yaya was his immaturity showing through, or possibly something instilled in him at Everton. Should have given him 60 minutes to watch the formation, watch Wrinkles and see what he does in a proper competitive match, then bring him on when everyone is tiring and ease him into the role.

Oh, and no amount of drilling and yelling can ever make up for game time. I am sure you've played some competitive sport(honestly doesn't matter which sport) in your life and surely you know this.

[Slim]

....and STILL fuming about that penalty.

Weak as piss take, Tevez, Yaya, Nasri, Hart(ty Doug) would have been a better option.

[kinkylola]

obviously there is nothing that makes up for game time ... but there is no way to go back and fix that now. So it will have to be done as best as possible at training.

I agree with you about rodwell, I still think mancini will start him against liverpool though.

[Yffi_88]

....and STILL fuming about that penalty.

Weak as piss take, Tevez, Yaya, Nasri, Hart(ty Doug) would have been a better option.

Tell me about it!!!

The game would have been so much different if that had gone in. He ran over begging for it too. Strange one.

[Nigels Tackle]

....and STILL fuming about that penalty.

Weak as piss take, Tevez, Yaya, Nasri, Hart(ty Doug) would have been a better option.

same here. wonder how many of us knew he was going to miss it?

[Slim]

....and STILL fuming about that penalty.

Weak as piss take, Tevez, Yaya, Nasri, Hart(ty Doug) would have been a better option.

same here. wonder how many of us knew he was going to miss it?

I had it in my head "Why the fuck is Silva taking a penalty?" Never saw that coming though.

[Beefymcfc]

I'm beginning to see why we struggled yesterday, 4 *s is never a good sign; not offically.

[Chinners]

I'm beginning to see why we struggled yesterday, 4 *s is never a good sign; not offically.

Agreed, it should only be 3 in future.

Rodwell's pass rate was indeed impressive, mind most of them were under 5 yards to Yaya (playing hot potato). His most effective pass was unfortunately to a Southampton player ....

[alexkeble]

It was a game of three thirds: Southampton's zonal pressing system was efficient and confident, stunting City's fluidity. I thought they worked incredibly well as a unit, pressing all over the pitch, until the Nasri goal. After that they began to retreat, as Toure and co started dominating possession. The subs completely opened the game up, and the goals forced Mancini into a weird 2-5-3 – hence the carnage in the last 15. Great game, and Southampton look organised and confident, which is a really positive sign. You can read the full tactical analysis of the game if you like, here: http://www.thechalkboard.org.uk/#!mancitysaints/cfdf

[Slim]

It was a game of three thirds: Southampton's zonal pressing system was efficient and confident, stunting City's fluidity. I thought they worked incredibly well as a unit, pressing all over the pitch, until the Nasri goal. After that they began to retreat, as Toure and co started dominating possession. The subs completely opened the game up, and the goals forced Mancini into a weird 2-5-3 – hence the carnage in the last 15. Great game, and Southampton look organised and confident, which is a really positive sign. You can read the full tactical analysis of the game if you like, here: http://www.thechalkboard.org.uk/#!mancitysaints/cfdf

It would be odd to have a game of 2 thirds, we'd still be playing.

[Ted Hughes]

I think that Rodwell's contribution over De Jong is backed up by his pass completion ratio that whoever updates the ManCityFans Twitter feed RT from Opta - for those who aren't on twitter Rodwell's pass completion percentage (95.7%) was only bettered by Arteta (95.8%) this weekend

Amazing really, when you consider both had 0.5 % at Everton.

[KippaxBlue]

Pics and comments on the first game of the season against Southampton are now online at
http://www.rtfract.com/citaug12.htm
Some shots of the press launch of Garry James new book can be seen at
http://www.rtfract.com/city0213.htm

Best wishes to all for the new season