last season at carrington
Celebrating the final goal in a 3-0 victory over Arsenal
Action from Uefa cup night Vs Paris St-Germain
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Match day photo's
I just wanted to bring to light this website i often use for good snaps of home games. I dont know the person running it but, they do a good job, plenty of photo's from seasons past to the present. Bit of non article, but an interesting site. Feel free to check some of my other links, i will be re-organising them soon, but there are some good blogs out there( far better than mine).
last season at carrington
Celebrating the final goal in a 3-0 victory over Arsenal
Action from Uefa cup night Vs Paris St-Germain
last season at carrington
Celebrating the final goal in a 3-0 victory over Arsenal
Action from Uefa cup night Vs Paris St-Germain
Who do YOU want Manchester City to Sign?
Rather than listing the many players linked in the tabloids, which seems to be the only focus in city related news. Who do you think city should be signing this January window? Obviously the likes of Kaka would be wonderful additions, but the likeliness of signing him in January isn't very high, despite what you may read on tribal football.
What are we looking for?
: Another striker to add to list of many, but one of proven quality and perhaps a bit older than 21. City have been keen to gamble on young stars, emerging talents, why not go for a proven top class talent who has proved himself at a top level. Looking at La Liga from Villa, Luis fabiano, henry...even forlan. Or look to Italy milito still rampant in front of the goal. Obviously you can't really rely on early season form, after all Corradi has scored the same amount as Ronaldinho.
: Battling Midfielder is an obvious one. Vincent Kompany has done a great job, but has been isolated at times, and if we lose him through injury or suspension, we are left with poor options, a tiring Hamann or an incompetent Gelson. I personally would love to see Cambiasso at the club, he is an extremely classy player, a definite replacement for Hamann, his positional sense and tackling ability is world class, he's not bad going forward either, he would be an excellent choice along side Kompany. Others i would like in similar moulds, toulalan from Lyon, he runs that team, effective and great going forward. Or we could go for the likes of Lassana Diarra, who is formed in the Makalele type role, he's better than Claude going forward, but is certainly in a similar mould of the psg man. There are plenty of players to look out for in this role, Blaise Matuidi form St Ettiene for me is another star rising in France; he could be a great coup.
: A left back, Garrido has been in great form recently, he could complain about lack of cover from Robinho, but i find he still gets skinned far to easily. He is also a young player and certainly worth keeping. Taye Taiwo is a name heavily mentioned with city and i know why! He is a very gifted player, strong, pacey left back, certainly can get forward, and can certainly shoot if any one saw him playing against Liverpool a couple of weeks back. Other names mentioned, Wayne bridge, who doesn’t get regular football, I’ve never rated him, decent player but on garrido's current form i would say he isn't much of an improvement. The bigger names coming to mind would be Grosso, Lahm... Real Madrid has two youngsters in Drenthe and Marcelo. There are allot of quality left backs, robinho mentioned Kleber at his and elano's former club Santos, he is a highly gifted player and isn’t a kid either at 28.
: Centre back, we haven’t been great at the back this season and our back two haven’t made their positions safe, Dunne has been awful, whilst Micah Richards has struggled to get any decent form. Robinho, who has had unsuccessful times at Porto and dynamo Moscow, has recommended Thiago Silva. He would be a great option, and will be snapped up by a big European team regardless. Kolo Toure from Arsenal has been linked; he is certainly a good player.
: Goalkeeper, Joe Hart isn't the finished article yet, he is very talented but young and naive, he has allot to learn, he has shown at times that he is really quite inexperienced. Again there are allot of really good keepers out there, from the likes of Buffon to the Mandanda's, akinfeevs to the relatively unknowns such as Enyeama, Ochoa.
Who do you think we need to buy this January?
What are we looking for?
: Another striker to add to list of many, but one of proven quality and perhaps a bit older than 21. City have been keen to gamble on young stars, emerging talents, why not go for a proven top class talent who has proved himself at a top level. Looking at La Liga from Villa, Luis fabiano, henry...even forlan. Or look to Italy milito still rampant in front of the goal. Obviously you can't really rely on early season form, after all Corradi has scored the same amount as Ronaldinho.
: Battling Midfielder is an obvious one. Vincent Kompany has done a great job, but has been isolated at times, and if we lose him through injury or suspension, we are left with poor options, a tiring Hamann or an incompetent Gelson. I personally would love to see Cambiasso at the club, he is an extremely classy player, a definite replacement for Hamann, his positional sense and tackling ability is world class, he's not bad going forward either, he would be an excellent choice along side Kompany. Others i would like in similar moulds, toulalan from Lyon, he runs that team, effective and great going forward. Or we could go for the likes of Lassana Diarra, who is formed in the Makalele type role, he's better than Claude going forward, but is certainly in a similar mould of the psg man. There are plenty of players to look out for in this role, Blaise Matuidi form St Ettiene for me is another star rising in France; he could be a great coup.
: A left back, Garrido has been in great form recently, he could complain about lack of cover from Robinho, but i find he still gets skinned far to easily. He is also a young player and certainly worth keeping. Taye Taiwo is a name heavily mentioned with city and i know why! He is a very gifted player, strong, pacey left back, certainly can get forward, and can certainly shoot if any one saw him playing against Liverpool a couple of weeks back. Other names mentioned, Wayne bridge, who doesn’t get regular football, I’ve never rated him, decent player but on garrido's current form i would say he isn't much of an improvement. The bigger names coming to mind would be Grosso, Lahm... Real Madrid has two youngsters in Drenthe and Marcelo. There are allot of quality left backs, robinho mentioned Kleber at his and elano's former club Santos, he is a highly gifted player and isn’t a kid either at 28.
: Centre back, we haven’t been great at the back this season and our back two haven’t made their positions safe, Dunne has been awful, whilst Micah Richards has struggled to get any decent form. Robinho, who has had unsuccessful times at Porto and dynamo Moscow, has recommended Thiago Silva. He would be a great option, and will be snapped up by a big European team regardless. Kolo Toure from Arsenal has been linked; he is certainly a good player.
: Goalkeeper, Joe Hart isn't the finished article yet, he is very talented but young and naive, he has allot to learn, he has shown at times that he is really quite inexperienced. Again there are allot of really good keepers out there, from the likes of Buffon to the Mandanda's, akinfeevs to the relatively unknowns such as Enyeama, Ochoa.
Who do you think we need to buy this January?
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Fulham 1:1 Manchester City: Average sides, boring football.
We truly are an average side. The defending from the city side is pathetic at best, considering we have some highly rated stars in our side we look like a side that should be drawing 1-1 with Fulham.
Once again Hughes doesn't pick Jo and persists with the inept Vassell and the rather basic Benjani. Once again Hughes decides to utilise Ched Evans, who can only get a game because of his nationality and nothing else. He is a young player who clearly isn't good enough, i wonder what the likes of Jo and Caicedo must think, both vastly more experienced and better players.
This will certainly dismiss any false confidence gained from beating a miss firing schalke and demoralised and heavily weakened Arsenal. We haven’t improved from last season, despite adding several players at high prices, there are still too many weak links in our side, Richard Dunne is one of them. Tal Ben-Haim may not be everyone’s favourite defender but his past few performances have already shown his quality compared to the calamitous Dunne, who couldn't handle second rate striker Zamora.
The midfield is far too weak, for all of Hamann ability and class, he is simply too old and doesn't have the ability to keep up with the game, Kompany works far too hard, he had a mixed game today, but we would be far worse without him. Ireland shouldn't be out on the left, he was pretty woeful today, he may be out of position but that doesn't excuse his poor passing. Wright-phillips didn't look fit and I’m not a fan of him in that position, he is far more effective down the right, as he was against united, he gave a left goo left back a torrid time. Vassell for all his effort and forest gump like running adds nothing to the side, he remains the thorn, and the sooner he is rid of the better.
Benjani is a poacher, but he sure has a poor 1st touch, it amazes me, how often his 1st touch means he has to do something completely different, sometimes it works in his favour. I like Benjani, but he shouldn’t be leading the line for city.
Ratings:
Hart: some decent saves, difficult sun light, difficult to stop bullard shot. 7
Ball: Poor player, he won't last long, Garrido has really made that position his (until January) 5
Dunne: allowed Zamora too much freedom, caught out for the goal, some really poor clearances. Not good enough. 5
Ben Haim: Decent effort, one glaring error, allowing Zamora space, but otherwise covered for Dunne. 7
Zabaleta: His tackle our well times, but today his attacking ability was great, it's a shame when your right back is more threatening than your right midfield, but that was the case today. MOM 8
Hamann: Reliable, class act, but too slow, caught out.. 6
Kompany: some good tackles but got caught in possession a couple of times, good effort.6
Ireland: not in the game, bad passing did very little.5
Vassell: did very little, when he has the ball, turns back to goal, often loses possession, waste of space.4
Wright-Phillips: great effort, not on the ball today, hadn't trained in the week, looked tired. 6
Benjani: Good finish, poor 1st touch, didn't improve anything taking him off. 6
Subs:
Ched Evans: poor. 2
Once again Hughes doesn't pick Jo and persists with the inept Vassell and the rather basic Benjani. Once again Hughes decides to utilise Ched Evans, who can only get a game because of his nationality and nothing else. He is a young player who clearly isn't good enough, i wonder what the likes of Jo and Caicedo must think, both vastly more experienced and better players.
This will certainly dismiss any false confidence gained from beating a miss firing schalke and demoralised and heavily weakened Arsenal. We haven’t improved from last season, despite adding several players at high prices, there are still too many weak links in our side, Richard Dunne is one of them. Tal Ben-Haim may not be everyone’s favourite defender but his past few performances have already shown his quality compared to the calamitous Dunne, who couldn't handle second rate striker Zamora.
The midfield is far too weak, for all of Hamann ability and class, he is simply too old and doesn't have the ability to keep up with the game, Kompany works far too hard, he had a mixed game today, but we would be far worse without him. Ireland shouldn't be out on the left, he was pretty woeful today, he may be out of position but that doesn't excuse his poor passing. Wright-phillips didn't look fit and I’m not a fan of him in that position, he is far more effective down the right, as he was against united, he gave a left goo left back a torrid time. Vassell for all his effort and forest gump like running adds nothing to the side, he remains the thorn, and the sooner he is rid of the better.
Benjani is a poacher, but he sure has a poor 1st touch, it amazes me, how often his 1st touch means he has to do something completely different, sometimes it works in his favour. I like Benjani, but he shouldn’t be leading the line for city.
Ratings:
Hart: some decent saves, difficult sun light, difficult to stop bullard shot. 7
Ball: Poor player, he won't last long, Garrido has really made that position his (until January) 5
Dunne: allowed Zamora too much freedom, caught out for the goal, some really poor clearances. Not good enough. 5
Ben Haim: Decent effort, one glaring error, allowing Zamora space, but otherwise covered for Dunne. 7
Zabaleta: His tackle our well times, but today his attacking ability was great, it's a shame when your right back is more threatening than your right midfield, but that was the case today. MOM 8
Hamann: Reliable, class act, but too slow, caught out.. 6
Kompany: some good tackles but got caught in possession a couple of times, good effort.6
Ireland: not in the game, bad passing did very little.5
Vassell: did very little, when he has the ball, turns back to goal, often loses possession, waste of space.4
Wright-Phillips: great effort, not on the ball today, hadn't trained in the week, looked tired. 6
Benjani: Good finish, poor 1st touch, didn't improve anything taking him off. 6
Subs:
Ched Evans: poor. 2
Friday, 5 December 2008
Manchester City Vs Fulham: Preview
Last premier league result was a 0-1 loss, this is our chance to bounce back. Fulham are not the best of sides, nor the worst. We should be beating them. Hopefully Robinho will come through fit, as he is simply a brilliant player. SWP is also much needed, his drive and ability to drive through defenders is much needed. Micah is also doubtfull. Who is mark hughes going to pick, probably benjani and vassell, despite severall inept performance from the players, hughes seems to want to persist with them and leave out the better players.
worryingly Jo has been linked with a loan move back too russia, crazy, he needs to play football, he's talented and needs a chance, i'm losing my patience with Hughes, he is more than ready to give ched evans more than enough chances, he wont give Jo a far better young star more than 60 mins, how are you meant to get a confident striker if you pick himfor 60 mins and drop him.
Better play well tomorrow, as we are on tv.
worryingly Jo has been linked with a loan move back too russia, crazy, he needs to play football, he's talented and needs a chance, i'm losing my patience with Hughes, he is more than ready to give ched evans more than enough chances, he wont give Jo a far better young star more than 60 mins, how are you meant to get a confident striker if you pick himfor 60 mins and drop him.
Better play well tomorrow, as we are on tv.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Manchester City 0:0 Paris St. Germain: mental fans, rubbish football.
Not much to report on the game, bitterly cold night was made worse by an abject performance from both teams. Robinho accusations of not wanting to win were to clear to see with the efforts from some of the players. Hughes still wont give Jo 90 mins, GREAT man managment mark!!! I thought Elano was quite poor on the night, but re-watching the game on tv, i felt we were much worse without him, his passing wasnt the best, but he is always looking to get the ball moving. Ireland once again dissapointed, a dip in his form should hopefully run out against fulham. Kompany was the star man, brilliant in every aspect, strong, full of effort, great passing and tackling. Once again vassell porved he is a donkey, forest gump style running comes to no avail, as he simply loses the ball at the end of it. Last 20 mins saw some decent effort from psg, guily and talented Reunion man Hoarau caused us some trouble, especially for dunne who was neatly nutmegged. Our saving grace was Tal ben-haim, he gave a cracking performance in defence and was decent going foward.
...bring on fulham, we still need results.
...bring on fulham, we still need results.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Manchester City vs Paris St. Germain: Uefa cup preview.
Back to the UEFA cup again after a decent result Vs Schalke last week. Robinho yet again may be a doubt for the match, he probably wasn't that fit in the Derby and is still suffering with the same ankle problem. Shaun Wright-Phillips is also a doubt after he has taken out several times last match and was lucky not to be more severely injured. Micah was taken off Sunday due to injury so he isn't likely to feature either. Hughes also says Kelvin Etuhu and Michael Johnson are two weeks away from fitness.
So changes are afoot. We have qualified for the next stage already, our aim now should be to win the group and avoid the better opposition in the knock out rounds.
Paris haven’t been in the greatest form at the moment, I would site them as the perennial under-achievers in the French league. In Europe, they lost to Schalke with a largely weakened side and only drew with Racing Santander. They are set to field another weakened side tomorrow, due to their congested fixture schedule. Most of the big guns will feature, i.e. kezman ( the ex Chelsea flop), luyindula, Rothen. But Le Guen will rest ex-barca star Ludovic Guily and Makelele. The pressure is on psg to get a result.
Hopefully the team will show a bit more grit and desire than they did on Sunday, we need to get a result to keep on top of our European campaign. We can win this trophy and we need to start thinking we can win it.
So changes are afoot. We have qualified for the next stage already, our aim now should be to win the group and avoid the better opposition in the knock out rounds.
Paris haven’t been in the greatest form at the moment, I would site them as the perennial under-achievers in the French league. In Europe, they lost to Schalke with a largely weakened side and only drew with Racing Santander. They are set to field another weakened side tomorrow, due to their congested fixture schedule. Most of the big guns will feature, i.e. kezman ( the ex Chelsea flop), luyindula, Rothen. But Le Guen will rest ex-barca star Ludovic Guily and Makelele. The pressure is on psg to get a result.
Hopefully the team will show a bit more grit and desire than they did on Sunday, we need to get a result to keep on top of our European campaign. We can win this trophy and we need to start thinking we can win it.
Monday, 1 December 2008
Manchester City Vs Manchester United:Ronaldo vs Robinho - never happened.
Crap result in the end, pretty gutless response from city. United are obviously the better side, but that didn't excuse their Bolton style of play. Ironically taggart calls for protection on his prancing wimp cristiano, when the player who really needed protection was Shaun wright-phillips who he Scythed down by the petulant Portuguese winger, and rightfully got booked for it.
Basically Hughes got the side wrong, a false sense of confidence in a side that beat a demoralised and heavily weakened Arsenal and a win against a poor out of form schalke side, having real trouble in their own league. Vassell hasn't done anything in a city shirt worthwhile. I dont understand why he gets picked. Hamann is too slow and old. The defence looked far better with Kompany at the back and Zabaleta on the pitch. Dunne isn't the answer to anything, he may leave in January, i for one would be happy with that. I dont know why Chris bailey in the MEN sticks up for him. Garrido 1st half performance was troubled, but he was isolated. Diego Capel has said he is open to a move into the premier league, i would see that as a good player to sign. Wright-phillips is better out far right, he causes more problems for the defence, evra couldn’t handle him and resulted in fouling him. Elano should be playing; he is always looking for players moving, unfortunately yesterday, robinho and Steven Ireland didn't perform. Jo is a really good player; we took him from a side who regularly plays in the champion’s league, why does Hughes persist with Benjani.
Robinho was crap yesterday, he along with cristiano ronaldo, decided they didnt want to do much. Ronaldo's sending off meant little to united because he had done sod all. Apart from wimp out from a corner after the ball boy threw the ball in his face.
Ratings.
Hart: very poor. Distribution more often than not went to the opposition. His spill led to rooney's tap in. 5
Garrido: better in the second half, but too isolated on the left, we need a stronger defender. 6
Dunne: poor distribution failed to deal with a number of attacks. 5
Kompany: by far the best city player on the day. 8
Richards: spent most of the time watching the ball, crouching, but rarely actually tackled, one rash challenge could have got him sent off, if he connected. 5
Hamann: was he on? 4
Vassell: rubbish player. 4
SWP: cracking effort, fouled all game, tried and tried. 8
Robinho: not much work from him, spent allots of time really deep, often found know one moving for him.6
Ireland: couldn't handle it against the big boys. 6
Benjani: Had chances, hit them wide, not good enough, offside allot again.
Subs.
Elano: tried to get into the game, not great movement, not all his passes work, the again Benjani running speed is abysmal.
Zabaleta: much needed bite and purpose driving forward.
Sturridge: too little too late from Hughes.
Ref Howard Red: awful ref, in bed with taggart in this game, right to send ronaldo off. Taggart is an idiot. Ronaldo was jumping to win a header in the box, why would he use his hand to stop it hitting his head?
Basically Hughes got the side wrong, a false sense of confidence in a side that beat a demoralised and heavily weakened Arsenal and a win against a poor out of form schalke side, having real trouble in their own league. Vassell hasn't done anything in a city shirt worthwhile. I dont understand why he gets picked. Hamann is too slow and old. The defence looked far better with Kompany at the back and Zabaleta on the pitch. Dunne isn't the answer to anything, he may leave in January, i for one would be happy with that. I dont know why Chris bailey in the MEN sticks up for him. Garrido 1st half performance was troubled, but he was isolated. Diego Capel has said he is open to a move into the premier league, i would see that as a good player to sign. Wright-phillips is better out far right, he causes more problems for the defence, evra couldn’t handle him and resulted in fouling him. Elano should be playing; he is always looking for players moving, unfortunately yesterday, robinho and Steven Ireland didn't perform. Jo is a really good player; we took him from a side who regularly plays in the champion’s league, why does Hughes persist with Benjani.
Robinho was crap yesterday, he along with cristiano ronaldo, decided they didnt want to do much. Ronaldo's sending off meant little to united because he had done sod all. Apart from wimp out from a corner after the ball boy threw the ball in his face.
Ratings.
Hart: very poor. Distribution more often than not went to the opposition. His spill led to rooney's tap in. 5
Garrido: better in the second half, but too isolated on the left, we need a stronger defender. 6
Dunne: poor distribution failed to deal with a number of attacks. 5
Kompany: by far the best city player on the day. 8
Richards: spent most of the time watching the ball, crouching, but rarely actually tackled, one rash challenge could have got him sent off, if he connected. 5
Hamann: was he on? 4
Vassell: rubbish player. 4
SWP: cracking effort, fouled all game, tried and tried. 8
Robinho: not much work from him, spent allots of time really deep, often found know one moving for him.6
Ireland: couldn't handle it against the big boys. 6
Benjani: Had chances, hit them wide, not good enough, offside allot again.
Subs.
Elano: tried to get into the game, not great movement, not all his passes work, the again Benjani running speed is abysmal.
Zabaleta: much needed bite and purpose driving forward.
Sturridge: too little too late from Hughes.
Ref Howard Red: awful ref, in bed with taggart in this game, right to send ronaldo off. Taggart is an idiot. Ronaldo was jumping to win a header in the box, why would he use his hand to stop it hitting his head?
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