***city v swans official match thread***

[Tru_Blu]

Great game today. Everyone put in a shift. Fernandinho is quality and I'm sure has won the doubters over.

[Dubaimancityfan]

Not a great performance, especially in the 1st half, (we've been spoiled lately by our home form) but 3 points, clean sheet and up to 3rd. Job well done. Negredo and Aguero rested early was a good move in view of the WBA match mid week. Kun should be on fire to compensate for today's lack of goals.

[PrezIke]

Silva doesn't have a good shot though. He lacks the ability to generate any power on the ball.

exactly. silva is certainly more slight in the legs than nasri.

to be fair, i think he has the technique and can pass it into the net, so he can shoot, but he just does not have the same level of strength.

[aaron bond]

Tough game today as Swansea came to play football and did their best to push for a goal, which made for an open game.

Lescott had a good game - hopefully Pellegrini soon realises how much of a better option he is at the back than Nastasic or Garcia and keeps him there. Demichelis was ok, but always looks error-prone. The sooner we can get Kompany back to partner Lescott the better.

Yaya and Fernandinho left a lot of open gaps in the centre of midfield which Swansea exploited. This has been a concern for a long time now and Pellegrini really needs to work on this with the squad otherwise better sides will take advantage.

Nasri was superb today - non-stop effort, topped with 2 well-taken goals.

Aguero wasn't too score today, but his partnership with Negredo continues to flourish. With those 2 on the pitch, we will always look threatening.

Also, notable mention to Milner who played very well when he came on.

All in all, a good 3 points, and it's nice (for a change) to take advantage of our competitors dropping points. Our home form is excellent and the rest of the Premier League will fear coming to play at our place.

Now we just need to take this home form into our away matches!

[PrezIke]

Silva doesn't have a good shot though. He lacks the ability to generate any power on the ball.

His accuracy tends to be good. Power isnt everything. Look at Lampard, most of his long rangers are not piledrivers but well placed

i agree with the first part, but clearly it limits his ability to put the ball in the back of the net when compared to nasri.

[PrezIke]

Great game today. Everyone put in a shift. Fernandinho is quality and I'm sure has won the doubters over.

the guy is all over the pitch causing havoc for the opposition. he's just what we needed.

and negredo...beastin!

great signings by the spaniards.

[PrezIke]

bottom line is the defence needs sorting...

duh

panti did well with those saves. distribution was not as good as i recall in other games, but we still look slow to get to some players hovering near our box.

more pace in defence from one player is needed and certainly more skill wouldn't hurt.

komps ability to stay healthy feels like it could make or break our season against quality teams.

[PrezIke]

Yaya and Fernandinho left a lot of open gaps in the centre of midfield which Swansea exploited. This has been a concern for a long time now and Pellegrini really needs to work on this with the squad otherwise better sides will take advantage.

i hate to say it, as i love yaya, but the critics about him sometimes looking a bit lacadasical getting back are beginning to look more apt. is he saving energy for attack given his age being against him?

fernandinho seemed to be better at getting back on a few occasions, but i think the coverage mics caught pellegrini yelling at yaya about something and yaya seemed to react to it. was it about that issue?

[Spurge]

Good game, I really hate using streams they are shit. Dunno why people were maoning on here I would have been Hally with 1-0, Swansea are a decent teams st times, can't win 4 nil every game.

I had an excellent stream.

I do agree with your other point about not understanding why people are moaning. I agree Swansea were a good test, they play open football with quick passing with good movement and loaded up in midfield They created some chances and missed a couple of easy ones.

But I did in the main feel our defence was as well organised as I've seen them all season, and going forwards we looked very good yet again, particularly in the second half. Another terrific performance from Nasri.

[Risby]

I don't think anyone can complain. The most important thing is getting those 3 points. We got them and as some have said, we beat a decent side in Swansea. They will cause problems to any team.

[Florida Blue]

I see Chelsea came back from 0-1. Too bad.

Boruc injured his hand and had to come off. All over at that point.

Was he keeping them at bay until that pt, or were Chelsea just mediocre as per?

He was solid, he got injured on the first Chelsea goal, and when the backup came on Chelsea scored almost immediately. The htird goal came late but was pretty soft.

[PrezIke]

shelvey did well for swansea creating some problems for our defence with his creativity, movement and passing. is he capable of living up to his early rep?

england surely hope so.

[nottsblue]

shelvey did well for swansea creating some problems for our defence with his creativity, movement and passing. is he capable of living up to his early rep?

england surely hope so.

This is exactly the sort of thing i hate from England. When Shelvey was at dippers barely playing he was called up. He has been in good form all season for a so called lesser club and barely gets a mention. He pisses all over Cleverly or Oxlade-Chamberlain or Jones yet these second raters have a better chance of Rio because if their club.

[blues2win]

Mancini played two defensive midfielders who really did a defensive job in De Jong and Barry. Now we're playing with one Fernadinho who isn't really a defensive midfielder at all. Please don't tell me Yaya is either. We look so much better going forward as a result but look vulnerable when we lose the ball. We need Negredo Nasri Aguero and Navas to press in packs so we turn the ball over quickly when we lose it. It's hard to do that for 90 minutes and stay fresh. We rely heavily on our centre backs when the opposition win the ball and come surging at us because the full backs are also pushing up. Unfortunately they just haven't got the pace to do the job. I'm not sure what the answer is. Does anyone really want to go back to last season's shape?

I think Dzeko should be sold in January to pay for a top class young centre back with some real pace. He'll never fit into our style because he's simply not prepared to put in a real shift in pressing high up the pitch when we haven't got the ball. He expects to get picked even when he plays badly on the grounds he needs games but Negredo played well straightaway and can't be dropped to stop Dzeko sulking. As long as Jovetic gets back really fit we can manage with three forwards given our huge attacking midfield strength.

[ruralblue]

Another three in the onion bag :-) nasri got two well earned goals, the beast is just that and thought lescott did well. Milner as always put in a shift but ferni performance seemed a little lax.
Edin did really well till he came off the bench.

Swansea prob best team to play at ours this season!

[Bleed_Blue]

Edin did really well till he came off the bench.

Fuck mate that was awesome, hahaha this had me splits

but is more appropriate for Garcia, hoping that he doesn't start wednesday :)

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

Enjoyed the game and thought Swansea played well. I understand Kompany is going to be considered for selection on Wednesday. Hope it's true and hope he's ready for it.

[Herb]

Nearly every player except our keeper has had an honourable mention in here so I feel morally obliged to say "hats off to Costel Pantilimon for yet another near faultless goalkeeping display - good shots were saved with panache, players through on goal were charged down with venom, no fear or concern was shown at any time (this man doesn't flap) and he kept up his notably good distribution as well." Well done that man on yet another clean sheet.

[Beefymcfc]

Good game, I really hate using streams they are shit. Dunno why people were maoning on here I would have been Hally with 1-0, Swansea are a decent teams st times, can't win 4 nil every game.

I had an excellent stream.

I do agree with your other point about not understanding why people are moaning. I agree Swansea were a good test, they play open football with quick passing with good movement and loaded up in midfield They created some chances and missed a couple of easy ones.

But I did in the main feel our defence was as well organised as I've seen them all season, and going forwards we looked very good yet again, particularly in the second half. Another terrific performance from Nasri.

Our defense seems to be coming on and we seem to be defending with more organisation, people getting back and putting in a shift. Looks like the break gave Pellers time to look at where we were going wrong and the last 2 games, against possession based teams, seem to be proving that he's got a handle on the PL.

Just got to prove on Wednesday now, let's hope the players don't get spooked again with the hostile atmosphere.

[PrezIke]

Mancini played two defensive midfielders who really did a defensive job in De Jong and Barry. Now we're playing with one Fernadinho who isn't really a defensive midfielder at all. Please don't tell me Yaya is either. We look so much better going forward as a result but look vulnerable when we lose the ball. We need Negredo Nasri Aguero and Navas to press in packs so we turn the ball over quickly when we lose it. It's hard to do that for 90 minutes and stay fresh. We rely heavily on our centre backs when the opposition win the ball and come surging at us because the full backs are also pushing up. Unfortunately they just haven't got the pace to do the job. I'm not sure what the answer is. Does anyone really want to go back to last season's shape?

I think Dzeko should be sold in January to pay for a top class young centre back with some real pace. He'll never fit into our style because he's simply not prepared to put in a real shift in pressing high up the pitch when we haven't got the ball. He expects to get picked even when he plays badly on the grounds he needs games but Negredo played well straightaway and can't be dropped to stop Dzeko sulking. As long as Jovetic gets back really fit we can manage with three forwards given our huge attacking midfield strength.

excellent post. spot on.