Joleon

[dazby]

I've only seen the game up until the 80 minute mark, but in those 80 minutes Joleon had the hottest striker in the world in his pocket.

Truly an outstanding display of defending.

(I hope the final 10 minutes are just as good.)

[blue wine]

He was shit!! Very clumsy...

[Herb]

I thought that he had a good game against possibly the best attack we've had to deal with this season - he didn't look 'fuckin brilliant' but just keeping your composure against a front line with an on-fire Suarez in it is something special in itself.
I like the bloke but I've never been a massive fan of his and I can honestly say that I've appreciated him more this season than I ever have done because he does the strong-arm stuff with panache and it was his work finding space and often wrestling off the ball that I took a note of today - perhaps he is average on the ball but he's top class off it and that's often the most important area.

[South Stand Balti]

Joleon instead of Demichelis may have been a blessing today.

[freshie]

I've only seen the game up until the 80 minute mark, but in those 80 minutes Joleon had the hottest striker in the world in his pocket. Truly an outstanding display of defending. (I hope the final 10 minutes are just as good.)

You must have been watching a different game to me cos I thought Lescott had a nightmare against Suarez

[aaron bond]

He had a few nervy moments which is to be expected considering he doesn't get to start too often these days, but thought he did very well overall.

Suarez moves so quickly and is a constant threat, but I thought Lescott generally was in control at the back.

I was massively concerned before the game about Demichelis playing against Liverpool, so I'm glad Lescott was able to play (obviously I hope Demichelis isn't seriously injured!).

Lescott does look awkward on the ball, but his actual defensive ability is far superior to either Demichelis or Nastasic.

The way we can maintain a strong centre-back partnership with our current options is with Kompany and Lescott together. Pellegrini should give them a run of games together.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

He had a few nervy moments which is to be expected considering he doesn't get to start too often these days, but thought he did very well overall.

Suarez moves so quickly and is a constant threat, but I thought Lescott generally was in control at the back.

I was massively concerned before the game about Demichelis playing against Liverpool, so I'm glad Lescott was able to play (obviously I hope Demichelis isn't seriously injured!).

Lescott does look awkward on the ball, but his actual defensive ability is far superior to either Demichelis or Nastasic.

The way we can maintain a strong centre-back partnership with our current options is with Kompany and Lescott together. Pellegrini should give them a run of games together.

About how I saw it.You can never be fully in control against a player as good as Suarez but all his best work today wasn't in situations where he could score a goal.When he was he was dealt with but he did get wider and outside the box and create quite a lot.

Lescott was far from brilliant but he did ok and arguably better than Vinnie who had a different role where he was trying to intercept balls.HE also did ok but did mess up a few times leaving them free to attack with us a man or more short.

[dazby]

How many goals did Suarez score today compared to his previous games? Who was the player we were shitting our pants about scoring against us?

Stop confusing clumsy with effective. He dealt with everything he had to, against the hottest player in the world right now. Any other defender would look clumsy against him too.

All Lescott had to do tonight was stop Suarez. Mission accomplished.

[kennyboy]

Hart was passing the ball to him two times, both times Joleon was clueless what to do with it and wanted to pass it straight back.
It´s all to painful to see. Demichelis reads the game better, more comfortable on the ball and passes quicker, i think thats what Pellegrini wants to see. Apart from Lescott´s all known flaws, he did a good job today.

Fantastic match.

[freshie]

How many goals did Suarez score today compared to his previous games? Who was the player we were shitting our pants about scoring against us? Stop confusing clumsy with effective. He dealt with everything he had to, against the hottest player in the world right now. Any other defender would look clumsy against him too. All Lescott had to do tonight was stop Suarez. Mission accomplished.

It's not his clumsiness I am referring to (that happened when he had the ball at his feet under little pressure from any dipper). I was more concerned with his lack of pace that often allowed Suarez to get the better of him in one on ones

[Florida Blue]

How many goals did Suarez score today compared to his previous games? Who was the player we were shitting our pants about scoring against us?

Stop confusing clumsy with effective. He dealt with everything he had to, against the hottest player in the world right now. Any other defender would look clumsy against him too.

All Lescott had to do tonight was stop Suarez. Mission accomplished.

Daz, just accept it, people are going to slag him no matter what he does. He is what he is, and today he did his job against a top striker without having a lot of match time this season. He is not a top defender, but outside of Kompany, none of our defenders are. He was responsible, and while his touch is not great, let's be real here. While most people say he could have conceded a penalty (or was it outside the box), the only reason that happened is Suarez stopped dead in his tracks and played for the foul. Mason, for once made a rational call (unless you are that tool in Liverpool's technical box, who is due for a hefty fine).

I am happy he played, I am happy he won. Was it deserved? Who knows, but a win is a win.

[Ted Hughes]

He made one mistake where he hung onto the ball in our box & could have cost us a goal.

Other than that, he defended on the whole better than Vinny, better than De M or Nasty have ever done for City in any game v anyone, & did it all whilst being woefully short of match practice, against the most in form striker in the world, who had his least effective game of the season.

Nobody cares though, because when some stupid twat passed the ball to him, 10 yards from his own box, with 3 scousers running at him, rather than trying to be Franz Fucking Beckenbauer & giving the ball to the nearest oppo player, ala Demichelis, he occasionally passed it to Joe Hart or cleared it. And we all know that's what's important; fuck the defending.

[Slim]

He made one mistake where he hung onto the ball in our box & could have cost us a goal.

Other than that, he defended on the whole better than Vinny, better than De M or Nasty have ever done for City in any game v anyone, & did it all whilst being woefully short of match practice, against the most in form striker in the world, who had his least effective game of the season.

Nobody cares though, because when some stupid twat passed the ball to him, 10 yards from his own box, with 3 scousers running at him, rather than trying to be Franz Fucking Beckenbauer & giving the ball to the nearest oppo player, ala Demichelis, he occasionally passed it to Joe Hart or cleared it. And we all know that's what's important; fuck the defending.

I think that was Kolarov.

[Florida Blue]

He made one mistake where he hung onto the ball in our box & could have cost us a goal.

Other than that, he defended on the whole better than Vinny, better than De M or Nasty have ever done for City in any game v anyone, & did it all whilst being woefully short of match practice, against the most in form striker in the world, who had his least effective game of the season.

Nobody cares though, because when some stupid twat passed the ball to him, 10 yards from his own box, with 3 scousers running at him, rather than trying to be Franz Fucking Beckenbauer & giving the ball to the nearest oppo player, ala Demichelis, he occasionally passed it to Joe Hart or cleared it. And we all know that's what's important; fuck the defending.

I think that was Kolarov.

You are correct.

[Twobob]

Apart from a bit of rustiness at the start of the game i thought he played well, one key thing here is that himself and Vinnie have an understanding and work very well together - its that partnership that kept Suarez out and it worked very well. We don't have that with DM.

I felt more relaxed with Lescott in the back four at 2-1 than i have felt with DM jn there at 3-0.

[Tesl]

He made one mistake where he hung onto the ball in our box & could have cost us a goal.

Other than that, he defended on the whole better than Vinny, better than De M or Nasty have ever done for City in any game v anyone, & did it all whilst being woefully short of match practice, against the most in form striker in the world, who had his least effective game of the season.

Nobody cares though, because when some stupid twat passed the ball to him, 10 yards from his own box, with 3 scousers running at him, rather than trying to be Franz Fucking Beckenbauer & giving the ball to the nearest oppo player, ala Demichelis, he occasionally passed it to Joe Hart or cleared it. And we all know that's what's important; fuck the defending.

Completely agree. Even more so when considering it was actually Kolarov that made the above mentioned mistake :)

Lescott should always start alongside Kompany and anyone who complains about his on the ball skills should frankly shut up. That isn't what hes there for.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Don't think it was his best game, but I was bloody glad to see him. I want defenders that can pass, but I want that slightly less than ones who can defend. Lescott defends!

[xavi6]

He was decent, a 6 or 7 out of ten which is perfectly acceptable in a 2-1 win against a side that has scored a lot of goals. He certainly didn't have Suarez in his pocket, and was turned inside out a couple of times, but that'll happen against such class strikers. Overall I'm glad he played and probably deserves to keep his place on Saturday.

The back four were left exposed quite a lot with no one tracking the runs of Coutinho, Sterling and Henderson and that gave Pool more opportunities than they should have had.

[john@staustell]

This thread really makes me worry about forums.

He was truly, truly awful. No balance on th ball and when 'passing', and I use the term loosely.

Slower than Demichelis at best and enough clumsy challenges to lose 3 matches.

And what his fans dont seem to see is how his inability to pass and hold the ball safely nullifies a lot of our forward movement.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

This thread really makes me worry about forums. He was truly, truly awful. No balance on th ball and when 'passing', and I use the term loosely. Slower than Demichelis at best and enough clumsy challenges to lose 3 matches. And what his fans dont seem to see is how his inability to pass and hold the ball safely nullifies a lot of our forward movement.

How many times did he play the ball straight to them? A lot less than Demi and without the kamikaze defending that requires him to be 10 years younger than he is.

Did he look great? No, nor does he usually. Did it Cost us points? No, not does it usually.