by Colin the King » Tue Dec 29, 2009 2:38 am
Given 7- Not thoroughly tested but dealt comfortably with what was thrown at him. Distribution reasonably good. I'm sure he's delighted to have a confident defence in front of him now, makes his job so much easier.
Richards 7- Very impressive overall, points docked for being dispossessed cheaply when we were only winning 1-0. That could have proved costly. That's the one blip, otherwise he was sensible positionally, coming back when he surged forward, good in the air and comfortable on the ball.
Touré 8- Another excellent display. I can only think of one mishap, where he was outpaced by Doyle- the rest of the game he was superb. He and Kompany seem to work well together, having kept three clean sheets now as a partnership. Tonight he made some excellent interceptions and marked their forwards well.
Kompany 8- Two cracking performances on the bounce now, which is obviously very pleasing. I was concerned when we lost Lescott but Vinnie has come in and done brilliantly over the last few weeks. He looks immense in the air, like a monster, and so much better positionally than I remember him being- fewer needless fouls in key areas is one major improvement. He's a great footballer technically too which is always a bonus for a defender.
Zabaleta 7- I think he's trying to win a 'most yellow cards' competition! Apart from the reckless challenges, he's been great for us. Comfortable in possession, intelligent and an excellent tackler (most of the time). He slotted into midfield seamlessly when we switched things around and showed off his creative ability too. His versatility makes him a crucial part of our squad.
de Jong 9- Yet another outstanding performance. When he came to us I was impressed without being astounded- but this season he's made it very clear why he's one of the first names on Holland's teamsheet. Tonight he played a huge part in our win in my opinion- anchoring the defence and collecting loose balls time and time again. Perfect positionally, sensible on the ball, some excellent tackles. Love him.
Ireland 5- Easily our poorest player on the night. He made a few clever runs off the ball that weren't picked up on but in truth, he looked disinterested for large parts of the game. A fantastic talent and I hope Mancini can manage to bring the best out him, but he needs to put in a bigger effort than he did tonight. Rightly substituted.
Barry 7- Not quite the man-of-the-match performance we saw on Saturday, but he was effective nonetheless. Stayed close to de Jong and assisted him with keeping us tight in the middle, closed down spaces excellently and was reasonably good on the ball. Certainly the last three games have been much better than what we saw over the last few months. Hopefully he can keep it up and live up to the 'Mr. Consistent' reputation again.
Petrov 8- Made probably two of the most exquisite passes you'll see this season. On the ball he's just out of this world, and again, his delivery from the wide areas was pinpoint. What lets him down is that's he a bit lackadaisical- but I suppose when he's playing you have to expect that, workrate isn't his forté and all you can do is hope that the quality in attack outweighs the lack of presence in defence- it did tonight.
Bellamy 8- Another fantastic effort. I don't know where he gets the energy from. From a defensive perspective, he won the ball back and rushed their players so often and then, going forward, produced some moments of brilliance too. His runs were timed perfectly for the most part, and the dummy to get us going for the opening goal was first class. He just lacked the cutting edge in front of goal- on another night he could have had three all for himself.
Tevez 9- If you took the workrate and tenacity of Dickov, and the vision and sheer genius of Kinkladze, and stuck them in the oven for 45 minutes I reckon Carlos Tevez would come out. He's such a rarity in the modern game to have the best of both. He was menacing all night, running into channels, chasing endlessly off the ball, and then stepped up with the quality when needed too. His first goal was fortunate, but he had to be there, and the second was beautiful. Inch perfect into the bottom corner. Twelve goals now- worth every fucking penny this lad.
Garrido 8- I've rated Gaz since he came to City. Thought he was generally excellent under Sven until the whole team dipped around Christmas- he was, I think, unfairly targeted and made a scapegoat when really it was the whole club collapsing- but that's a different argument. He does lack pace but is a superb tackler, excellent on the ball and as we've seen twice now, is a free kick specialist to boot! His delivery from wide areas is as good as anyone, too. His introduction made all the difference because it enabled Zabs to move into a more natural role and we stormed on from there. Solid and confident when tested at the back tonight as well as everything else.
Robinho 7- Excellent spotting of Tevez for our third and some lovely touches, but let's not get carried away- we were 2-0 up with a few minutes to go when he came on.
