David Silva's Left Foot

Abdul Razak

2012-08-08T12:14:00.002+01:00

It's great to see players from your club play their part in their national sides, and these days City have more than they used to. But however good it is to see Balotelli ripping apart a German defence or Silva picking up another winner's medal I would assume we're all thinking something along a similar lines while they're on international duty; "Please don't get injured".

Unfortunately that's just what happened to Barry and Richards, and although Balotelli and Silva are unscathed, they're highly likely to miss the season opener against Chelsea in the Community Shield and maybe even the first game against Southampton.

As City have had so many returning late to pre-season it has forced the club to basically have 2 training camps, those that didn't go to the Euros and those that did.

But what could have been seen as a negative by some, is undoubtedly a huge positive for others. Because there have been 2 camps, it has given a large number of young players to train and play alongside the players they one day hope to oust from the 1st team.

As you would expect, some players featured more than others. Denis Suarez (17), George Evans (17), and Marco Lopes (16) were amongst the most used but none more so than Abdul Razak (19) who was a key feature in the majority of games.

Razak has featured for City 5 times in the past with 2 Premier League appearances as a substitute and 3 in the League Cup (2 starts). The 19 year old Ivorian came to City as a technically gifted and strong attacking midfielder. However, since gaining his City debut against West Brom early in 2011 when he came on as a late substitute he has been used deeper in midfield.

Of all the positions at City, the average age of players in the heart of midfield (29 y/o) is significantly more than those in other positions (GK 25 - RB 25.5 - LB 26.5 - CB 26 - AM 25.5 - FW 24.75) and with Gareth Barry being only the 2nd player in the squad who is actually over 30 years old (Kolo Toure being the other), it is obviously him, or more correctly his position, that will need to be filled first should all players remain at the club due to the physical exertion needed to play in this position.

We've seen that Mancini isn't shy on playing players in new positions if he feels that they have the right attributes to do so, the prime example being Yaya Toure who came as a defensive midfielder but is now really known as a driving force in attack as well as a linchpin in the centre of the park.

In many ways, barring the physical stature, Razak is very much like a young Toure (who was an attacking midfielder/striker in his youth) and he has often been described as 'the new Yaya' because of this and his nationality. Although he has got a long way to go, it isn't outside the realm of possibility as Toure was described as being "completely average" during his trial with Arsene Wenger at the same age Razak is now.

That's not to say Razak is 'completely average' of course, but as with every young player there are areas of his game that need improvement. His overall fitness needed to improve from last season, if you recall his starts for City he had cramp in both games while playing in a holding midfield role. It's difficult to judge whether he's managed this because the games during pre-season aren't any where near as physically demanding as they are during competitive tournaments.

The other area was his close range passing, which was often just a little lackadaisical, leaving the receiving player more work to do than they should have to get the ball as an opposing player threatened to pounce on a poorly-hit ball. This has quite noticeably improved as pre-season has progressed no doubt due to the strict and high standards Mancini sets his players during training. Work still needs to be done though.

Due to Barry's recent operation it is likely we will see Razak during the early weeks of the season. Although he will still have De Jong in front of him in the pecking order, he is unlikely to get a better opportunity to prove his worth as a member of the squad and he needs to grab it with both hands.

I would usually suggest he goes out on loan to gain that first team experience, but not this season. The 'Barclays U21 Premier League' starts this season which (fingers crossed) will provide a higher level of competition than the old reserve league and will give Razak and others the chance to impress amongst players of the same or similar age at Clubs with the best academies in the country.

The Premier U21 League also gives a player the opportunity to be included in the 1st team match-day squad and the U21 squad, fitness permitted, in the same weekend. I would like to see much more of that kind of thing this coming season even if it's just one young player on the bench at a time and with Lombardo's close relationship with Mancini I have my fingers crossed that there will be an increase collaboration between the EDS and 1st team.

Is Lombardo the right man for the EDS?

2012-07-30T12:24:00.001+01:00

For those that like to follow the reserve and academy set up at City, you'll probably be aware that Andy Welsh is no longer in charge of the EDS set up. The news was greeted with approval, even from a player who has recently left the club, such was the standard of coaching during Welsh's tenure at the club.

Although the confirmation of a permanent post hasn't come from the club, Attilio Lombardo has taken over the reins in the EDS. This hasn't been met with jubilant approval but more of a cautious anticipation at best from the majority of City fans I've spoken with about it.

But what could the appointment of Lombardo to head of the EDS mean for City?

Well, I think it's widely agreed that the standard level of coaching will have improved, but judging from the things I've heard in the last few weeks I don't think it could have got much lower. Lombardo does have experience in coaching young players too, as he spent 4 years at the end of his playing career as a youth coach at Sampdoria.

His official coaching credentials have been questioned, and I'll admit, I have no idea what, if any, coaching badges he has. But as we know, qualifications aren't everything and they don't always make you better at the job. If you're a bad coach, you're a bad coach regardless of how many coaching badges you've taken.

What does concern some is that he doesn't have tried and tested pedigree of strong player development like some ex-coaches at City have had, namely Jim Cassell and Steve Eyre.

The connection Attilio has to Sampdoria also has other positive implications. Lombardo played alongside Mancini for 6 years at La Samp and once again for a brief period at Lazio. He again joined up with Mancini in 2010, this time as part of the coaching staff at City.

What I'm saying is that the two men are close friends and know each other very well. Mancini is known to be a relatively closed book when it comes to players and staff alike if they're not perceived to be pulling in Mancini's very specific direction.

What I think we will see is a greater flow of information and collaboration between the EDS and first team, one which wasn't there before. Although Andy Welsh could often be seen on match days but at no point did it look like their was any sort of relationship between him and Mancini. With Lombardo however, we know there is a personal friendship and trust there.

Although Mancini has given a number of players a chance, the vast majority only got the one chance as City pushed towards Champions League qualification and Premier League success. Would that have been different had Mancini had a trusted adviser in the EDS camp? It's a question that will remain unanswered.

Mancini's position within the club is also strengthened by Lombardo's presence in the EDS, and could be a sign of him exerting his greater influence within the club since winning the Premier League and penning a new 5 year contract. Bobby has a clear vision for the club and is clearly comfortable with Lombardo's credentials, so who am I to argue?

2-3 years ago, several players in this crop of players now in the EDS had the potential to push on to play in the first team. One of the major criticisms levelled at Welsh was that the vast majority of these players did not progress at the level expected of them and several have stagnated completely. While I admit it would be increasingly difficult for young players to break through, an indication of where a player is can sometimes be their national sides, and some have been overlooked completely for a couple of years at the 18-21 levels while Welsh has been at the helm.

What Attilio has to do now is drive these players back towards their potential, they need to be pushed and tested so they can make the next steps in their career at City. Undoubtedly for some it may now be (and probably is) too late while others may be caught just in time. But is Lombardo the man for the job? That's a question that will be answered soon enough.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Near Brighton.

2012-07-17T12:16:00.001+01:00

Waiting for the new season to start is like waiting for Christmas or birthdays at 5 years old, it just can't come soon enough. And after the sublime end to last season coupled with the stunning football we witnessed for the most part, it would be fair to say that City fans are probably looking forward to the new season more than most.

From the outside looking in, it appears the squad is pretty settled despite the massive egos that need constant attention according to Petr Cech. We might just stand a chance of winning the Premier League if they can be kept under control, he added. Oh if only that were possible Petr...

Thankfully City's interactive media team are providing us with some fantastic videos on a daily basis so we can get at least a small City fix until the season starts. For those who have been watching, one of the few changes to the squad that looks to be almost nailed on (pending a successful work permit application) is Nir Biton.

The Isreali midfielder had a trial at City in January but there were problems with attaining a work permit at that time, obviously he impressed Mancini enough for the Club to try again, and according to his agent, the deal looks set to successfully conclude before long.

Biton did feature in City's first friendly of pre-season against Al Hilal, and for those that managed to watch it you will have probably guessed where this blog was going from the title. The commentator was dreadful and was struggling with simple names, never mind Elabdellaoui (pronounced Elabdabooboo at one point).

But I digress. Nir has a similar physique to a young Yaya Toure and plays a very similar game to the Ivorian. With Yaya hitting the big 3 0 this coming season, Biton is likely seen as a potential long-term replacement in the next couple of seasons.

One thing is for sure, he doesn't look out of place on the training ground during high-intensity practise matches. We know they're at a higher intensity to a few Premier League clubs through Gael Clichy who stated that he was very surprised when he came to City at just how physical the training games are compared to that of Arsenal's.

Will he have the ability to make the massive leap from the Israeli Premier League to the English one? Who knows, but the initial signs are promising and at only 20 years old he has already impressed the manager enough to include him in this summer's pre-season tour despite not properly signing yet.

Hopefully we will be able to get to see more of him tonight, along with several other promising young players, when City take on Dynamo Dresden in the 2nd friendly of the Austrian tour.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Pre-Season Prep Begins.

2012-07-05T10:00:00.001+01:00

Pre-season training begins up and down the country, save those who went to Poland and Ukraine for Euro 2012 and the players who will be competing in the Olympics. The media start to crank up the rumours even more than before, fans look eagerly towards the ones circling their own Club despite knowing full well that the vast majority of them are nothing but half arsed passages to fill a gap in a tabloid newspaper.

City, especially since Sheikh Mansour took over, has been no different. Dozens of players are supposedly being lined up "according to reports" or "we understand" or "(insert paper here) has learned".

Naturally, since Van Persie has said he won't be renewing his contract the reports of his arrival have tripled. This despite even more rumours of City losing interest just 7 days ago.

A quick look online and you'll see many Arsenal fans have already turned against him. One particularly vociferous, piece of human pond scum has declared that if RVP moves to City then he "will be dead" to him. Other have dubbed him Van P€r$i€, which is really witty, don't you think?

Have you ever known a set of fans that get quite so irate at the thought of losing a player to a club that isn't even one of their local rivals? It's not as though City have paid a pittance for the players we've bought from them either.

Another persistent rumour has been the interest in our little magician from Real Madrid. Silva has said he's staying, has spoke of winning more trophies with City and even more reports suggest that City are in talks with him over extending his contract which currently runs until the end of 2014-15 season.

Only today the oracle of insider knowledge, Goal.com, has described Silva as being "tight-lipped" over their interest. I assume what he's said in the last few weeks doesn't matter then?

He's got 2 years on his contract, City don't need the money, are current champions of England and he has cemented his place in the Spanish starting 11 since moving here. I think we can safely say that David will be turning out in the sky blue of Manchester City next season.

In just over 7 days City step up their pre-season training with 3 friendlies in Austria. Hart, Lescott, Richards, Clichy, Milner, De Jong, Silva, Nasri and Balotelli returning to training at different times it would be a good way of having a look at some of the younger players at City.

Rekik, Suarez and Guidetti (if fit enough) are nailed on to be travelling with the first team. Others such as Wabara, Rusnak, and Razak are also likely candidates to travel. On the fringes of that there may be Bunn, Helan, Cole and Henshall. All would greatly benefit from a little time in the first team even if it is just in friendlies.

Whether any of them get a decent look in this season is another matter. Hopefully they will, but the odd game here and there is no good for a young player striving to improve his own standard. And it's no good for a Club to have a player's progress stunted because they can't get sufficient game time to do so. So season-long loans for the older or more talented ones is on the cards.

If only there was a way of allowing the 18-21 year old players play regular competitive football whilst still under the umbrella of their parent club. Never mind, we have always got tradition, eh?

On that note though, the FA are piloting an U21 league this season and the had best make sure it takes off and doesn't become just another glorified reserve league. Otherwise their horrendously overdue efforts at reforming are for nothing. The potential of this idea is great, but it has to be done right, the FA and Premier League have to generate interest in it and make sure their is something substantial to play for.

So here's to the new season, and hopefully we can celebrate at the end of this as we did the last.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

An early look at 2012-13

2012-06-07T12:18:00.001+01:00

After taking a a few weeks off from writing anything, I thought I had better do something, so I've decided to take a look at what City might, and in some cases what I hope they do between now and next season with regards to transfers in and out.

Transfers - Out

The first thing City needs to do, and this almost goes without saying now, is find permanent homes for a number of players. Ade, RSC, and Bridge are the most important players to get rid of as they are the ones earning ridiculous money that is eating into City's wage budget. Depending on where you look their combined wages are an estimated £300k a week. That's £15.6m a year wasted on these 3 alone.

I know City are reluctant to accept a pittance for these players but it may well be worth it just to get shot of them as I can't see anyone paying much for either of them. Seriously, what are we going to get for Bridge, a player who has barely kicked a ball for the last 2 years and is going to be 32 by the time the next season starts? Mind you, it's not for the lack of trying, City accepted an offer for him last season and he opted to sit on his arse and collect his wages.

I'm guessing RSC is worth between £3m-£4m at the moment taking everything into consideration. And after the season he has just had, if (and this is a big if) he would lower his wage demands, Ade could fetch a decent price.

Then we come to Michael Johnson, once the most exciting prospect of the last 20 years, his career has been dogged with injury and persistent rumours and stories of him just not having the right attitude to change potential into actual ability. The Championship, at best, beckons for him now.

Several players have been linked with moves away from the club, Zabaleta, Kolarov, and Džeko, but unless a handsome offer is made, I can't see City parting with them.

Oddly, after all the fuss in January, there haven't been many more rumours about the potential departure of Tevez. With Carlos again saying he is happy at the club, it's a mystery as to what will happen with him in the coming months, if anything at all.

Kolo Toure isn't likely to get back into the starting 11 very often, but is a decent back up to Lescott or Kompany so depending on whether he wants to stay or not, we could see him in Paris or Makhachkala if reports are to be believed.

Last of all, Adam Johnson. Despite arriving full of promise, it just hasn't happened for AJ. He does have a good scoring record, but the goals are generally against weaker opposition and aren't usually important goals. Although saying that is a slight contradiction considering the league was won on goal difference.

He just isn't what you'd call a 'Mancini player', he doesn't offer enough in his all-round game, and I strongly believe he wasn't a player Mancini would have signed had he not have to make a choice between AJ and Victor Moses at the time.

If a good enough offer comes in from the likes of Sunderland or Newcastle, both who are rumoured to be interested, then I don't expect him to be turning out for us next season.

Loans - Out

Weiss will once again return from another season out on loan, this time from Espanyol. A recent interview from him suggests that he still believes he is potentially in Mancini's long-term plans and I would guess another pre-season assessment will be made before any decisions to loan, sell, or integrate him into the 1st team. There are several rumours of potential bids coming in for him before then, and Mancini may well be tempted to let him go if the right offer comes in.

If Mancini does decide Weiss has improved enough, it could mean City save a tidy sum on purchasing a player with the ability to play out wide as well as having a home-grown player in the squad who has come through the ranks of our Academy.

I know he's been a bit of a tit in the past, especially whilst at Rangers, but if it's for the good of the squad and he applies himself then these 'minor' past transgressions can be overlooked.

There are a number of other young players whose future is uncertain at this moment in time. Nimely, Cunningham, McGivern, Bunn, Wabara, and Ibrahim (currently on loan in Norway) all being close to the top of the list. Each of these players has talent, but can either of them make the transition to the first team this season? I doubt it, and with the current squad as it stands, some or all of them may have to move on in the next season or two, which is a real shame, and I hope to be proved wrong on at least some of them.

I do think there will be plenty of other loans out next season, Scapuzzi, Razak, Rekik, Suarez, Savic, Boyata and Roman amongst them. All are at different stages of their development but all in need of regular time on the pitch throughout a whole season to test them. It's a shame the Premier U21 League plans aren't being rolled out fully until 2013-14, because all of the above would have benefited from it next season, regardless of their ages in the case of those still under 20.

As for players with a somewhat uncertain immediate future. Guidetti has to be top of that list. I know that sounds stupid after the season he's just had, but let me explain.

At this moment in time Mancini has said he is happy to keep all 4 strikers from last season and doesn't need another. So if all 4 stay, who is Guidetti going to push in front of right now? As much as I would like to see him given a chance, my gut feeling is that he will be loaned out to a Premier League club to see if he can recreate the kind of form he showed last season for Feyenoord where he got 20 goals and 8 assists in just 22 games. That is impressive for a young player regardless of the league.

There are already a number of clubs reportedly interested in loan deals for the striker, several from the Premier League such as Sunderland and Swansea. However now Swansea are without Brendan Rogers I doubt he will be going there. We shall just have to sit tight on this one.

Transfers - In

Now to the exciting, sometimes tedious, and most difficult to predict part, transfers in. Already the much talked about move for Eden Hazard came to and end with the Belgian agreeing a move to Chelsea but in the months after the close of the January transfer window, City have been linked with another 46 players. Obviously, unless you're an idiot, you will know that the vast majority of the rumours are just rubbish to fill column inches. I'll take a look at some of the high profile ones as well as some that may have slipped under your radar.

There have been a plethora of strikers linked with moves to the Etihad this summer; Van Persie, Cavani, Falcao, Ibrahimovic, Llorente, Sturridge, Lavezzi, and Hulk all included.

At this moment in time I actually think Sturridge is the player most likely of these to join for various reasons. Mancini has publicly stated that the decision to let Sturridge go was a big mistake, although I'm not sure he is fully aware of what went on at the time and just how much money we didn't have. Daniel is also a fast, very direct player and offers the option to play out wide or in the centre as a striker, the kind of player City are lacking.

Ironically, Sturridge will probably be asking for less wages than the majority of the other players on that list too. And with the players that Chelsea have brought in and are looking to bring in added to the rumours that he was already unhappy, I wouldn't be surprised if he was playing in another shade of blue next season.

Whether he would be welcome back is another matter, although I would suggest before making judgement on Sturridge, each fan takes a look at how their feelings have changed towards Tevez since December. A lot appear to have totally forgiven him, others have grudgingly decided just to trust the manager's judgement on it and continue to support the squad as a whole, regardless of their personal feelings. Does a player's acceptance depend solely on his ability? I would hope not.

With regards to the others, RVP and Lavezzi have definitely been enquired about in the past. Although with regards El Pocho, City have refused to pay his release clause of €30m in the past. And as for RVP, I doubt City will want to pay upwards of £30m for a player who is entering the last year of his contract, will be 29 at the start of the season, with a definite negative resale value and has only averaged 9 just over 9 goals a season if you take 2011-12 out of the equation (12.5 including it).

Don't get me wrong, RVP was outstanding last season, but you wont get that from him again if he moves to another team. Some players just click with a certain team around them. RVP and Arsenal are one of those examples in my own insignificant opinion.

I think I would be right in saying that there are a lot of fans who think the club needs another player who is capable of playing out wide. Although Mancini generally doesn't play with traditional wingers, he did start to play Adam Johnson on the left a couple of times towards the end of the season. The well documented pursuit of Eden Hazard is a clear indication that Mancini was looking at adding a player who could provide width and versatility to the squad for next season.

As already stated, Sturridge may be that player, but he's a striker at heart and I know I've kind of contradicted myself with this one with Mancini saying he's happy with the strikers he has, but as I said, he does offer an option out wide, especially if AJ ends up leaving.

Talking of wingers, Bale and Ronaldo have been touted as potential targets, again. But the ridiculous money needed to bring either one of them to City puts them out of the question for me. Coupled with the fact I can't stand the sight of Ronaldo of course.

There is a report of a possible swap deal for Bale though. Adebayor, who is so desperate to stay at Spurs, and AJ who is becoming more a bit part player each season, are the players rumoured to be used. Although I don't think Bale is quite as good as the media and saggy chops have made out, he is still a very good player. This wouldn't be a bad bit of business should the report be accurate, but I doubt it is.

There have also been plenty of attacking midfielders linked with moves to Manchester, but I honestly can't see any more players in the Silva/Nasri positions being brought into the club at this moment in time. So that rules out the likes of Sneijder, Sessegnon, Ander Herrera and several others unless they have the ability to offer something on the wings as well. Just my opinion though.

An area that Mancini felt needed backup at the start of last season was in the centre of midfield. The signing of Hargreaves on a free was a a long shot at best and only done because City are conscious of what they're spending at the moment, and Pizarro on loan added a temporary string to City's bow with his range of passing.

Hargreaves' contract was not renewed and Pizarro has expressed a desire to remain at Roma leaving a space to be filled in the squad. Javi Garcia and Javi Martinez are two players who have been mentioned. If I had the choice of either two, Martinez would be my choice as he has the ability to play as a holding midfielder and a centre-back.

That kind of versatility is something of which Mancini is a great admirer and would set City back around £25m for the 23 year old Spaniard. It's certainly one of the more credible transfer rumours with City potentially looking for players to cover either role. This kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

With a couple of players in each position already at or reaching a certain age, he could well be a good long-term replacement for someone in the future. He shouldn't have trouble fitting in either due to the number of other native Spanish and Spanish speaking players already at City.

As already mentioned, centre-back is a position many feel needs strengthening at least as far as cover is concerned.

Chiellini, Coloccini, Radu, Sakho, Ranocchia and Thiago Silva have all had their names thrown in the hat by the papers. Silva appears to be staying at Milan, Radu is a left-back and unless Kolarov goes City don't need another one.

Coloccini would undoubtedly be a great player to have in the squad, but Newcastle have got a good thing going on there at the moment and he is an integral part of that squad. I'm not sure he would want to move and be a bit-part player, even at the Premier League Champions.

It's a similar situation with Chiellini at Juve, only they have been crowned champions of Italy. Him being left-footed and ability to cover left-back may tempt Mancini to offer good money for him, although I actually hope he sticks with the Kompany-Lescott pairing. At 27 he isn't going to improve that much more and will no doubt take a season to adapt. Would he be worth the £25m (minimum) it would take to get him here? I'm not so sure.

Ranocchia and Sakho are the more likely options then, both young, tall, good in the air and both likely to chip in with the odd goal from a set piece. Ranocchia isn't a first team regular and would probably be the cheaper option, but Sakho is younger and with him being left footed it would provide more balance in the centre should Lescott be out and Kolo is still around.

Despite being the PSG captain, he may be available for around £15m so wouldn't break the bank when considering the FFP rules. Whether he could make the change from Ligue 1 to the Premier League is another question, but it is one every overseas transfer has to answer anyway.

There are plenty of other names to go at, including a handful of youngsters such as Nabay (13) from Birmingham, Powell (18) from Crewe, Magallan (18) from La Plata, Jules Ntcham (16) from Le Havre and Hughes (16) from Derby.

City usually play things close to their chest though and I would think the Euros will no doubt fire out some more names for the papers to link City with, but there's my general thoughts on what may occur during the summer. Do you agree or disagree with any of that? Leave a comment and have your say.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC

Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

A crazy end to a crazy season

2012-05-15T11:47:00.001+01:00

Those are the words that have been used by all and sundry to describe what happened on Sunday 13th May 2012 and it's taken me 2 days to be able to even sit down and compose anything that resembles a coherent series of words to describe it.

I had to watch the game in the pub, and I sat there just wishing I could be there at the Etihad Stadium to share this momentous occasion with 47,000 other Blues. But in a way, it didn't matter where you were on that day as we were all there in spirit, willing the comeback of all comebacks to come to fruition, #Together.

In the room adjacent to mine was another screen showing the United game, obviously full of United fans. I could see through to where they were all sat, all looking as nervous as we were. That's something you don't see very often on a United fan's face.

One woman shouted through "Come on QPR!" before kick off, obviously sharing the sentiments of the other Reds that she was sat with. Not a single City fan asked for favours from Sunderland, we knew we had to do this on our own.

Kick off came and City totally dominated, the mood lifted as we saw that although this was going to be a game almost entirely of one their defence against our attack that very few teams had stopped us before and City were in fine scoring form added to their incredible home record since Mancini took over.

Despite this growing confidence there were a few nervous glances as the cheers game from the other room. Rooney had been gifted a goal by some Sunday league defending by Sunderland. But we still had the belief.

Then 6 minutes before half time, the only outfield player not to have scored in any competition this season popped up. Pablo Zabaleta. Silva knocked the ball into the box to Toure who instantly moved it on to Zabaleta as he stormed past him. Bang, straight at Paddy Kenny. But he didn't catch it. The ball looped into the air for what seemed an eternity, we held our breath, almost expecting the ball to loop over the bar, but it didn't.

Ecstasy, an eruption of joy exploded through the room, a mirror of the scenes at the Etihad. If there was one player who deserved a goal for his hard work and attitude, it was Zaba, and he got it.

Half time came, another drink was bought and a conversation with my uncle about how Lescott had improved under the tutelage of Mancini and playing alongside Kompany. I said "He's always been a good tackler, but his reading of the game and composure have improved a lot in the last 2 years."

I'm not superstitious but I wish we hadn't had that conversation as it was an error of judgement by Joleon that gave Cisse a clear run on goal to make it 1-1. I sat, stunned as my heart sank. The screen showing just what that meant to Lescott, he looked devastated.

7 minutes later though, City were given a boost as Joey Barton, well, was Joey Barton. Elbowing Tevez in the face in retaliation for Tevez climbing over his back to try and force his way fast him and catching him in the face.

I didn't even see it the first time round but the linesman did and the replays were clear. Then one of the most unsporting things I've seen in a long while happens. Bobby Zamora walks over to Bart, they have a little conversation and Barton points towards Aguero and walks back over to him and Tevez to have words of his own now. We later find out that Barton was told by a team mate to take a City player with him as it was clear he was going to be sent off himself. Looking at the replays, it would appear it was Zamora who said it.

The ref then returns, shows the red card, Barton walks behind one of the smallest guys on the pitch and knees him in the back of the leg, Kompany barges in to move him away and Barton, now being pulled away, tries to headbutt him. Words don't adequately describe this moron.

He doesn't deserve to be in the privileged position he is in. He's a bully, a thug, and claims to be a pacifist! A man who has been charged and convicted several times for assault claims to be a pacifist. What an absolute bell end.

The last thing I will mention about this little episode is how Micah Richards ran onto the pitch from the sidelines to pull Barton away. Possibly the only player who could have done so without escalating the situation even further. He showed outstanding maturity and composure and I for one am proud of the way he reacted to that situation.

Now QPR were down to 10 men, surely it was only a matter of time before City broke through.

But then it got worse. For all the huffing and puffing City were doing, nothing was coming off. Shots were wild, or Kenny was stopping them, crosses were inaccurate, and then out of nothing Traore breaks down the left for QPR and fires a ball to the back post, bypassing every City player and lands square to Jamie Mackie who duly obliges to break every single City heart with a well taken header.

I didn't even react, it was a surreal moment as those next door celebrated the news while I was in my own little bubble of complete despair. I think I even forgot to breath for a few minutes as I couldn't quite understand what was going on.

I said last season that the 'typical City' tag should have been consigned to history along with the '35 years' banner. But here I was trying to banish the thoughts of "is this club really cursed" from my head. City, who had topped the table for so long, and had worked so hard to get back into contention after falling behind were now going to fall at the final hurdle.

In the next 10 minutes Mancini went for broke, Tevez came off and Dzeko came on, Barry went off a few minutes later and Balotelli strode onto the pitch.

Mario looked to be in the zone, his work rate and desire was there for all to see and he seemed to act as a catalyst as City attacked with renewed vigour.

QPR were totally pinned inside their own 18 yard box, never mind just their own half. Wave after wave of attacks, crosses, and corners were fired in. Mancini looked apoplectic on the sidelines as he screamed out in a mixture of Italian and English every time an attack was stopped.

89 minutes gone. Yet another corner fired in by Nasri, tipped behind for another corner, Silva fires in the next. Balotelli! No! Saved again!!! My head dropped into my arms folded onto the table in front of me. Heart pounding in my chest, barely able to breathe properly.

The board was held up, 5 minutes of time added on. Largely thanks to Barton's antics. Those 5 minutes will go down in football history as the most extraordinary end to a season.

Another City corner, Silva once again swings it in. Dzeko!! GOAL!! "YES! YES! YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH" went my reaction, scaring my son half to death.

Is it possible? Can it be done? Aguero grabs the ball and the whole team just runs back to their own half. A signal that these players will not give up on this title.

Shortly after, I hear the final whistle go in the other room, United fans start to filter into our room to watch the end of the game, or more likely to gloat at the final whistle. The woman who shouted before, shouted again, this time with a slightly more desperate tone of voice. "Come on QPR!"

"F**k off" I thought to myself in a mental reply to her as QPR took their time in restarting, now with only 2 minutes or so of extra time left. This is absolute agony.

City easily repel a rare and half hearted attack from a QPR throw in and De Jong collects the ball and carries it just past the half way line. Aguero drops off and receives it 30 yards from goal, turns, knocks it to Balotelli on the edge of the area and keeps on running. Balotelli is nearly knocked off the ball but manages to knock it back into the path of Aguero.

Everyone stopped around me, time slowed, Aguero took one touch to take it past 2 defenders and shoots...

It's a GOAL! An explosion of elation, euphoria, a rhapsody of sheer triumphant exultation. The table nearly flew across the room as I jumped out of my seat. The room that got rather cramped with United fans suddenly felt empty as they evacuated.

Blue Moon began to ring out from the jukebox. I tried to breath, note tried. I couldn't. 44 years (27 of my life) of being 2nd best to United was booted into nothingness by the right foot of Sergio Aguero in the last minute of time added on of the final game of the season with City's 44th shot of the game.

The boldest of script-writers wouldn't have dared write that for fear of ridicule that no one would believe it. But here it was, Manchester City doing the unexpected once again leaving thousands with tears, but this time it was tears of joy.

The Sunderland fans celebrated City's goal as United were preparing to celebrate at the Stadium of Light. The QPR fans celebrated City's goal as they knew they were now safe regardless of the result. City fans celebrated, and boy did they celebrate.

I was totally dumbfounded, left speechless as it dawned on me that City were Premier League champions. After all the flack the club and the fans have taken, this was it thrown back in the faces of those who mocked and scoffed at the project that Sheikh Mansour started.

My son, Oliver (4), climbed up onto my knee a few minutes later with me still sat in total shock at what had just happened, and hugged me. He said "They did it Dad, they won." with an innocence only a child could have, totally oblivious to just how enormous that victory was. It is up to us to teach the next generation of City fans just what it means to be a City fan and the years of torment we went through so they learn to respect what the club has now.

It is only a shame that some were not there to witness it, whose time stopped short of this magnificent championship. They will be forever remembered. But others from the class of 68 were there and it fell to Mike Summerbee and Tony Book to walk out of the player's tunnel with Premier League trophy. It was a changing of the guards, a handing on of one legacy to another, and a sign that City's past hasn't been forgotten despite what some may think.

Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak stated in his end of season interview that the tag of typical City has been consigned to the history books. And it well and truly has. This is a squad that has shown time and time again this season that they will fight to the very end, typified by the very final game of the season.

In many ways history repeated itself this season as well as history being made with a number of league and club records broken by City and this squad will go down in history as one of the greatest ever squads City have been blessed with.

There is one quote from our history that fits perfectly right now. The late City legend Malcolm Allison once said; "Four years ago... if I mentioned Man City, they laughed at me. Who's laughing now?"

I'll tell you who, Big Mal. Manchester City, the Premier League champions 2011-12, and all who support them.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

One more game...

2012-05-07T10:19:00.002+01:00

Just one more game. Forget the biggest ever and most watched Premier League game that was the Manchester derby, forget the FA Cup final, THIS is the biggest game of my lifetime, and no doubt many other fans' too.

If you thought Newcastle was a big game, and believe me it was, then the last game of the season against QPR is of gigantic importance for the Club.

We've been told that City would never be favourites in a certain manager's lifetime.

We've been told we have no team spirit.

We've been told our players just play for themselves.

We've been told we blew the title when we lost to Arsenal and Bet Fred paid out on United being league champions.

We've even been called glory hunters and been asked where were we when we were sh*t. Oh how we laugh at that one.

We've been told United have all the experience when it comes to the end of the season and our players don't have any. Although the excuses were coming out last night against Swansea about 'all the young players' at United who don't have the experience we have been told they have for the last 4 months.

Now we're being told we're only winning games because we influence the ref! Are you sure about that Alex? How stupid you look when you come out with things as hypocritical as that.

Well all of this can be thrown firmly into the faces of every single doubter we've ever had and make Alex Ferguson's nightmares of him losing the league on goal difference true. We could end 44 years of hurt and ridicule. We could make history by winning just one more game.

City have done most of the hard work, sprinting off into an early lead that was maintained for most of the season. Then losing pace and falling behind only to muster up an extra burst of strength and speed by exceptional courage and focus. Now the two front runners are neck and neck with City edging it, just.

One more push, one more cheer from the crowd to spur on one more lung-busting drive to the end. One more, just one more, we dare to dream, together we believe.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

This is how it feels to be City...

2012-05-01T08:51:00.000+01:00

650 million people across the world tuned in to see United made to look ordinary by City once again this season.

In recent weeks we've seen current United players claim they would wrap up the title at the Etihad, while ex-players have banged on about Fergie and his mind games and how Mancini simply couldn't match him if he went toe-to-toe with him.

While Ferguson has tried to heap the pressure on City in the follow up to last night's game, Mancini has brushed it off with consummate ease and refocused the players into producing some fine performances. Last night was no different.

United started the better side but after an early shot was blocked by Vincent Kompany I can't remember a meaningful shot on goal and United were left without a single shot on target throughout the whole 97 minutes of game time. They only managed a total of 5 shots shots all together and 2 of those came from corners.

Apart from one very soft booking, and one needless booking for dissent (again), I'm struggling to find anything to complain about. Sod it, why try? It was a fantastic performance from the whole squad. Not a single one of them let us down last night. Each and every player put a shift in; Silva getting stuck into tackles as well as plaguing United's defence with Nasri, Aguero and Tevez, Zabaletta totally bossing the right flank with Clichy doing the same on the left, Barry grafting as hard as ever and so on and so on.

But of course, how could I not mention one of the best club captain's City has ever had. After being wrongly sent off in the FA Cup the last time the two teams faced off, he was the one who exacted some revenge by powering a header past De Gea, leaving him flailing around like he'd just dropped a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

As for signs of cracking under pressure, you just had to look at the sidelines after De Jong got entangled with Welbeck. Cut to scenes of Fergie totally losing it and United's kit man pulling him away as Mancini gestured to him that he talks too much. That in itself was one of the highlights of the match. Go on, I'm waiting for it, yes I'm a bitter blue, of course...

You had to laugh at the post-match interviews too. Mancini was calm and collected, still playing down the pressure on City and tactfully dealing with questions about the touchline spat with Ferguson without making a big deal of it. Ferguson on the other hand, face as red as ever, complaining that Mancini was pestering the officials throughout the game.

Ferguson moaning about another manager doing that is like Katie Price declaring the glamour modelling industry is cheap and degrading to women, or Rooney whinging about another player getting him sent off.

I didn't think the win could get any more pleasing but this morning, after seeing what Gary Neville had to say last night about losing the league on goal difference being Ferguson's nightmare did just that. What better way for City to win the league than doing it in a way that Ferguson feared the most? I'm not sure my nerves could take that though, but despite a couple of tricky games for both clubs yet to come, that's how it could end up.

We have the squad who have the desire. We have the manager who is beginning to best Fergie at his own game despite what United fans and the media say. We have everything in place when United set up to disrupt your game instead of imposing theirs, you know the tide is turning.

Come on City, finish the job and become Premier League champions.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

As tensions rise...

2012-04-26T16:15:00.000+01:00

The build up to derby day is in full flow. Despite Roberto Mancini playing it down, Alex Ferguson has described it as the biggest derby of his career. Sky Sports are obviously promoting the hell out of it and to be fair this game has turned out to be potentially one of the crowning jewels of the 2011-12 Premier League season.

Right from the get go this fixture was singled out as a potential title decider, and that's how it has almost panned out. It's not an actual title decider at this point because of the two tricky games both teams have to play after it, but it is as close to one as you will ever get.

Recent derbies, despite the official police stances, have been marred somewhat by off-pitch incidents either in the stands or on the approach and around the grounds. Flairs being set off, fights outside the stadiums, graffiti referring to dead players and so on and so on.

With the tensions rising the closer we get to Monday I'm half expecting some moron (either red or blue) to do something to fan the flames of animosity between sets of fans. As a Blue I am fully aware that there is a section of our own support that are total idiots, every club has them. Hopefully they will keep themselves in check outside of the stands and likewise with the United support.

Let us all hope that this will be the spectacle it should be, no City fans chanting Munich songs, no United fans trying to goad them into doing so or singing about the death of Marc Vivien Foe. Both clubs have enough songs about each other without having to resort to such debase chants.

Sure there will be banter, that is all part of the fun, but it should be done in the right spirit.

This is a hugely important game for both clubs, let the football be the only thing the media is talking about after the final whistle.

They thought it was all over...

2012-04-23T08:56:00.001+01:00

Every pundit from Sky Sports to Match of the Day had United walking away with the title once City had surrendered the leaded and fallen behind them. Just to peg back a few points from the raging juggernaut that is United was a seemingly insurmountable task for City.

Fergie was once again lauded as some kind of mystical genius for his mind games and that Mancini had totally lost the plot under the weight of trickery emanating from the man with the bulbous red nose.

City were doomed, with no purpose, no direction, like a ship borne along by a stormy sea while United soared off into the sunset on tales of 'we always finish the season strong' in a cloud of Munich and #20 merchandise and ridiculous banners. "Why Always We"? Jeez...

The fat lady was up off her saggy arse with the resonance from her thundering voice already shattering the windows of the Etihad Stadium.

Rooney celebrated with gleeful abandonment at the local residential care home, Nani and Valencia moon-walked a lap of honour around Salford, Young leapt for joy getting another player, any player, sent off, and Ferguson drank himself into a stupor after cracking open yet another bottle of bourbon.

But all those pundits and so-called experts were so wrong. So, so wrong. Thanks to a pasting from Wigan and a little fighting spirit from Everton coupled with 12 goals in 3 games from City and the title race has been blown as wide open as the gap in United's defence during the 6-1 demolition.

Ferguson, despite saying the City would never challenge for the title in his lifetime, has admitted that April 30th will host the biggest Manchester derby of his career. Mancini on the other hand continues to remove all pressure from his own players whilst systematically baffling each and every journalist that comes across him.

What happened to Ferguson and his mind games destroying the morale of entire clubs, or City crumbling under the pressure and being lucky to finish 2nd? What a difference a couple of weeks can make. The rather rotund lady has had a chicken balti pie shoved down her cake-hole and told to pipe down because this aint over yet.

April 30th, bring the pride, bring the Poznan, bring the noise.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Player of the Year 2011-12

2012-04-16T12:53:00.001+01:00

So the voting for City's Player of the Year award is now open and we have not 5, but 6 players to choose from, such has been the level of performance this season.

Who gets your vote? I've no idea at the time of writing this who will get mine but here are the nominees in full to start with.

Joe Hart, Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Sergio Aguero

6 players, 6 different positions, 6 different ways to measure their worth to the team. For someone who has a tendency to second-guess himself and who likes to analyse a player's individual performances you can see why this could be, and is, such a difficult thing for me to decide.

We will take a look at each of the nominees and believe me, if you haven't already cast your vote, this is as much a benefit to myself than it is to anyone in deciding who to vote for. Of course any statistical input can only be to the time of writing this. For example when I mention appearances, I'm no psychic so they are the number of appearances up to the point of publication.

Joe HART

Age: 24

Position: Goalkeeper

Season Apps: 46 (34 league)

Total minutes: 4230

Still a baby in goalkeeping terms and already a nailed on first choice pick for club and country, and has been for the last 2 seasons.

For the most part of this season, Joe freely admits that he hasn't had much to do. When you look at the number of saves he's had to make compared to other keepers, you'll see that he isn't anywhere near the top because City have conceded so few chances to start with. Only Arsenal have conceded fewer shots on goal.

But here's the thing, when he does have to make a save he's ready. For a player who's concentration levels were being questioned only 2 years ago, it is one of the strongest parts of his game. It's easy to concentrate when you're having shots fired at you from all angles and right in the thick of it. It's when you're only called upon a few times per match that you really have to be alert and he hasn't disappointed, pulling off world class save after world class save.

Joe has got to be the best £600k (or so) that City have ever spent, quite possibly the best bit of business full stop. Now ranked among the best in the world by pundits and even neutral fans. There are still areas of his game that need a bit of work, his distribution being the main one, but at just 24 he has a long time to learn.

Micah RICHARDS

Age: 23

Position: Right-back

Season Apps: 32(4) (23(4) league)

Total minutes: 2750

Micah upped his game last season which drew cries of disbelief whenever he wasn't included in the England squad. Those cries turned to deafening roars until Capello finally left the post and Stuart Pearce recalled him.

He has improved greatly since Mancini arrived and has once again become a regular feature of the first team and almost integral to the way City play. His pace and power to exploit the space out wide created by others has been a big part of his game this season.

His contribution early in the season saw him quickly rack up 5 assists, which he unfortunately hasn't added to. Even so, he still the 2nd highest number of assists for a full-back in the league, behind Ashley Cole (6). A little more composure in front of goal could have also seen him bag a couple more than his 1 goal.

Of course as a defender you would expect him to have to do at least a little defending, and he has done this superbly too. Micah's 53 tackles, 35 interceptions, 90 clearances, 12 shots blocked and 53/72 aerial duels won aren't figure to be sniffed at.

Vincent KOMPANY

Age: 26

Position: Centre-back

Season Apps: 37 (27 league)

Total minutes: 3247

Last year saw VK walk away with the fan's and players' player of the year awards. He instantly got my vote, such was his attitude and contribution both on and off the pitch and many others quite clearly agreed with me.

He didn't get off to a flying start this season though, a hugely mistimed tackle lead to a goal in the Charity Shield and there were a number of slightly below par performances to follow. I say below par, when in reality he was still playing better than about 90% of players in the same position.

But those are the standards he sets, a model professional who isn't happy with anything but the best from himself and his teammates. That is part of what makes Vinny, well, Vinny and quite possibly the best club captain I've witnessed in my lifetime.

He worked his way back to his imperious best after the first couple of months of the season and has stayed there, proving himself to be one of the very best centre-backs, not just in the league, but the world. Not bad considering that we wont see the best of him for nearly another 4 years.

Yaya TOURE

Age: 28

Position: Midfiled

Season Apps: 37 (1) (27(1) league)

Tota minutes: 3202

Although there are parts of his game that annoy me to high heaven, not least the amount of complaining he does, he is an integral part of the squad Mancini has assembled.

Playing ahead Gareth Barry or Nigel De Jong, Yaya can cause havoc in opposition defences with his strength and bursting runs. He has also become the fulcrum of the team, with the majority of the passing in midfield played to and through him.

Even after missing a month due to international duty he has still notched up the 3rd most attempted passes in the league behind Mikel Arteta and Ashley Williams, with a success rate of 90.2%. Yaya also has 7 goals and 10 assists in all competitions this season. Incidentally he scored 10 and assisted 7 in all competitions last season.

His contribution in defence is questioned and the number of needless goals City were conceding earlier in the season were partly down to a lack of defensive cover compared to last season when both Barry and De Jong played in the centre. But that's the price you pay if you want a more attacking side.

David SILVA

Age: 26

Position: Attacking-midfield

Season Apps: 40 (3) (29 (3) league)

Total minutes: 3542

There's not much that I could say that hasn't already been said about David Silva. It's unfortunate it took an actual injury for him to be given the rest he needed to gather himself and rest his ankle.

Even with a large dip in form in the last 2-3 months he was hardly useless, and created almost as many chances as he was when he was playing at his best.

Silva has had more game time than any other City outfield player and that was beginning to take its toll on the diminutive Spaniard and the ankle that needs constant attention. But having had a week off, he has come back reinvigorated and looks to be back to the form he showed before January, scoring 1 assisting 1 and instrumental in several of the 10 goals in the last 2 games.

He has created 90 scoring chances for teammates, 2nd only to Juan Mata, and considering such a dip in form you begin to see just how good he was when on song. He has 13 assists in the league and 4 in other competitions and 8 goals in total. Despite a difficult few months, Silva has been simply outstanding.

Sergio AGUERO

Age: 23

Position: Centre-forward/Attacking-midfield

Season Apps: 36 (9) (27 (3) league)

Total minutes: 3099

I think it's fair to say that Aguero has proved any doubters to be talking out of their backsides. Some areas of the media questioned whether Aguero was going to be worth the £35m City shelled out on him but 28 goals in all competitions with 4 games left to play suggests he was.

For his first season with the club and a brand new league, he didn't take long to settle in. In fact it took a few minutes after he walked onto the pitch against Swansea, and he hasn't looked back.

Consider that Tevez at his peak has averaged a goal every 132 minutes after having 3 seasons in England prior to coming to City. Aguero, at 5 years Carlos' junior, is currently scoring a goal every 110 minutes. That is quite simply staggering.

As well as the goals, he is also providing for others, having 11 assists so far and has created 50 chances in the league alone. This all adds up to one hell of a player having one hell of a debut season.

You know what? I'm not much closer to deciding. Who gets your vote?

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

The future is bright, the future is blue.

2012-04-13T15:20:00.003+01:00

As anyone who has followed this blog may know, I'm a big advocate of the work done in City's academy and the youngsters we have in the ranks at the moment are more promising than at any other time in it's 14 year history.

Today saw a City U17s side crowned champions of the Al Ain International Football Juniors Championship in Abu Dhabi. They also won all of their 4 games against the UAE, Al Ain U17, Valencia as well as NextGen champions, Inter Milan, scoring 10 and conceding just 4 in the competition.

What is particularly satisfying is after what may be considered a very poor NextGen series where City lost all of their games, they beat 2 of the top youth teams in Europe in this tournament.

In the NextGen series, City fielded a much younger side than most others having a lot of their U19s out on loan, meaning it was largely an U17 team playing 2 age levels above them. When the tables were evened up, City came out on top.

You might be thinking "yeah well it's just a poxy trophy no one cares about." Well try telling that to the lads that were out there. To these young lads, they have beat some of the best teams of their age group, and won a trophy. It breeds a winning mentality and that can not be valued enough.

City's U18s are also top of their respective Premier Academy League by 5 points, a league that also contains Liverpool, Everton and Manchester United academies. City's U18s have the best defensive and 2nd best scoring record in their group.

What is even more promising about the U18s performances is that they have a sprinkling of U16 players who play for them. Ashley Smith-Brown one of the first among them. A 16 year old defender who can play across the back and has several international appearances at youth level. There have been rumours that Barcelona are looking at signing him in the summer after impressing their scouts in the NextGen series.

Several of the players have been tipped for big futures in the game. Albert Rusnak, Devante Cole, Jordi Hiwula, Alex Henshall, this season's recruits Denis Suarez,and Karim Rekik, and latest additions Marco Lopes and Jose Pozo.

The strike combination of Devante Cole and Jordi Hiwula (both England youth internationals) have been lethal this season, scoring 24 goals in a combined 33 appearances with Hiwula bagging 15 of them.

Alex Henshall, as I have mentioned before, has been shortlisted for Team GB's Olympic football squad which is headed by Stuart Pearce and is another England youth international.

In fact all of the above-mentioned players feature in their respective age groups at international level. But perhaps the most promising player coming through the ranks, recently sent on loan and regularly featuring for Portsmouth, is Karim Rekik who arrived at City this season aged 16. He has already featured for City's first team during the 2-0 win against Birmingham in the Carling Cup and featured regularly in the EDS which is essentially 2 age groups above his current level.

The EDS, who weren't registered for the Premier Reserve League this season aren't exactly devoid of talent. Playing in the Manchester Senior Cup, Central League Cup and a host of friendlies have seen several of the young players emerge as potential first teamers in the coming seasons.

Joan Roman is, at the moment, really pushing for a first team place. He was recently named on the bench for the first team and in his last outing for the EDS he scored 4 and assisted 2 of City's 8 goals against Stockport County reserves.

Roman isn't exactly a lone talent in the squad either. Courtney Meppen-Walter, Luke Coulson, Reece Wabara, Gai Assulin, and Jeremy Helan are all capped at youth international level.

Then we have Abdul Razak who has featured several times for City this season as well as having a loan spells at Portsmouth and now Brighton where he received MotM award in his first appearance. Dubbed the 'next Yaya Toure' by some prior to his arrival at City he has a lot to live up to, but clearly has the potential.

One player who seems to have been overlooked constantly at international level is Harry Bunn. The striker who has just turned 19 was scoring in the EDS and making a name for himself last season and earlier on this season. He is now out on loan at Oldham Athletic after a couple of loan spells that didn't exactly work out the way the club had hoped initially.

And while we're talking about players out on loan, how could we forget John Guidetti? The young man has had a blinder at Feyenoord and the fans are petitioning the club to keep him on for another season. He has averaged a goal every 91 minutes, notching up 19 in 22 appearances as well as creating 8 goals for his teammates.

I know exactly what some are going to say when they read this, especially fans of a team down the road.

"Well you've bought half of those players too."

That is true, a number of them have been taken from academies of other teams, but they will all or have all been a part of the academy system at City, therefore can still be classed as academy graduates when they feature for the first team.

Certain fans might also want to look closer to home when mud slinging about how many players aren't 'true' academy products as there are several playing for their first team this season who were poached from other academies or similar before their 18th birthday.

Ryan Giggs (Manchester City)
Tom Cleverly (Bradford City)
Paul Pogba (Le Harve)

Wojciech Szczesny (Legia Warsaw)
Theo Walcott (Southampton)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Southampton)

And the list goes on. There are others from both those teams but you get the idea and you wont hear anyone complaining about how any of them aren't 'true' academy graduates. The same rule has to apply to City. Just thought I'd get that one in beforehand.

I'm not saying that every single one of them is going to break into City's first team and become a regular, but with the talent and scouting network at City's disposal you would be hard pushed to say that none of them will make it when several of them are already knocking on the door at or before they even turn 20.

Who would you like to see getting some game time in the first team next season?

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

To B or not to B, that is the question

2012-04-06T11:00:00.001+01:00

There has been much debate for some time now regarding the development of young talent in England, or the lack of it. At the latest Soccerex convention, Gerard Houllier and Patrick Vieira were two people who highlighted this problem within the English and Italian games. The issue was specifically with the lack of real 1st team chances for many young players between the ages of 18-20.

For years we've heard commentators mention the superior technical ability of certain 'lesser' footballing nations and using that as some sort of excuse as to why England have struggled. Lets get this straight, it's England's fault for not producing technically sound players in the first place.

England players leave the pitch after a 0-0 draw with Algeria

It's only now that the FA and Football League are starting to actually consider opting for a different model. Looking at and changing the way children are being coached from early ages to improve the general standard being brought through football academies across the country. This is a positive step in the right direction but not the whole answer to the problem.

City have already implemented significant changes that are a prelude to a similar system that will be put in place once the training complex on the Etihad Campus is built. An overhaul of how the academy is coached has already been done on several levels, including the partnership with St Bede's college allowing the 14-16s a better combined academic and football education.

Of course City already have a couple of very good young English players in Joe Hart, Micah Richards and to a lesser extent (age-wise) James Milner. But James never came through City's academy, and Joe and Micah are now over the age bracket that we're looking at.

Hiwula celebrates with Meppen-Walter (mcfc.co.uk)

I can't speak for every club, but City undoubtedly has talented young English players on their books. Players such as Wabara, Meppen-Walter, Benali, Henshall, Hiwula, Cole, Bunn and several others. Some of these are already between 18-20, others rapidly approaching and none currently getting regular, competitive game time.

When you look throughout the Premier League, there are very few English players between the ages of 18-20 who are playing week in week out, but as with City there are undoubtedly plenty of them on the books. Some have more than others but across the 20 teams in the top English league, there aren't that many. This is the same with young foreign talent too in reality but as we're looking at the potential to improve English players we'll keep to them.

And what happens when a player reaches this age where they need that competitive edge to progress further as a player? They're loaned out to a different club, with different coaches, with different teaching and training methods, with different and often inferior facilities, with a different style of football.

Of course the loan system helps to some degree, but it is in no way what's best for the player, the parent club, and in turn the national squad. What is the answer though?

In my view, implementing a similar structure to what you may find in Spain where they make use of B-Teams. This isn't a 'lets jump on the Spain do it the right way bandwagon', this is an idea that has been floating around with many for quite some time.

PROBLEMS

If this was ever even considered by the FA and the Football League, I can guarantee there would be a substantial amount of uproar from an even more substantial number of clubs in various leagues within the football pyramid.

For every B-Team in the football league, for argument sake lets say they're in one of the top 7 leagues (from Premier League to Conference North/South), one other team will be relegated out of it.

Clubs within the same leagues as them may also object to losing yet more ground on Premier League teams as their B-Team takes a cut of any TV revenue due to clubs in those leagues.

Then you have the problem of choosing who is actually eligible to create a B-Team and what kind of infrastructure was needed at a minimum to be able to register one.

Yet another consideration is where they would have to start in the rather ridiculously large pyramid of English football leagues. If they were just installed into one of the top 7 leagues there would undoubtedly be outrage as several clubs would have to be instantly relegated. It would cause them to lose out on vital income that could lead to complications of even keeping the club afloat.

If the B-Team had to be registered in one of the local leagues first, would it even be worth the club having the team in the first place due to such a large difference in standard of opposition? Surely it would take several years for it to then be even worth it?

For instance, if City or United had to be registered at local level first, it may have to start in the Bridgewater Office Supplies Manchester League: Division 4. It would take 10 years of year on year promotion for it to reach the Blue Square Bet Conference North Division, and 12 years of year on year promotion in total to reach the bottom of the Football League.

SOLUTIONS?

Where does the B-Team start?

To put it simply, wherever it has to. In reality, it couldn't just be installed into any of the top 5 domestic leagues due to the complications and opposition it would receive. If the team starts in a local league then there surely can be no complaints if/when it gets promoted to the football league by merit alone. By these same standards, any B-Team would have to adhere to the same rules and regulations that all other clubs do. Which leads me onto the next area.

Of course as it has already been mentioned, this would mean the B-Team would be facing opponents of significantly inferior ability for some time. But for long term benefits, it is sometimes necessary to endure short term negatives.

Requirements of the B-Team.

As mentioned, they would have to adhere to the same minimum standards of every team in the football pyramid, which change somewhat the further up you climb, found here.

Inside the planned 7k capacity stadium (mcfc.co.uk)

With the possible complications through ground sharing and the regulations that have to be taken into consideration regarding them, it would be advisable for the B-Team to have their own stadium once they reached Conference level within the pyramid. Something along the lines of the 10k capacity ground that City will be building adjacent to the Etihad Stadium.

Of course this would mean each club who implemented a B-Team structure would have to get rid of their reserves, withdrawing them from the Premier Reserve League that is the current competition they play in (except Spurs and City who have already withdrawn).

What about the staff?

The B-Team would still be affiliated with its parent club so as far as coaching staff are concerned, they would be the same as they are now. In City's case, it would continue to be Andy Welsh, if he was still managing the EDS by the time any of this was ever put into motion.

There's certainly no need to install new management and coaching staff as they would all be under the umbrella of the parent club.

Also, as with the Spanish model, the B-Team would not be able to compete in the same league or competitions as the parent club. So a B-Team would be ineligible for the FA Cup and League Cup. If City were ever to implement it, there would be nothing stopping them competing in the Central League and Manchester Senior Cup like the EDS do now.

The companies that run catering and stewarding would also get extra business due to the Club having more fixtures to fill.

Of course Policing would be an issue and the parent Club would no doubt have to subsidise or fork out the full expenses of extra policing of each event as they do now.

What about opposition to the idea?

I suppose that depends on what the reason for the opposition is. In today's climate and due to the influx of money throughout the game, the main opposition would be fears over either loss of revenue or the B-Teams basically filling the coffers of the already mega-rich Premier League clubs.

Even other Premier League clubs would likely object on those grounds as the financial gap between the now 'top 6' would widen ever more with the income from the B-Team revenue.

After talking about this point to several people, one person suggested that the B-Team forgoes the TV rights for whatever league they're in. This would actually increase the revenue of every other Club for every B-Team there was in the same league as them as the total sum could be shared around between a smaller number of clubs.

That would hinder any potential revenue gained for the parent club, thus keeping the financial distance between clubs as 'natural' as they were before, as well as helping every other team in the same league.

Who would be eligible for a B-Team?

At a minimum requirement it would have to be clubs that have been in the Premiership of x number of years without the fear of relegation to avoid any unnecessary messing about with the leagues should a B-Team reach the Championship.

I know in the previous section I mentioned the 'top 6' and that might sound a little elitist, but with UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations coming into effect, in a few years time it may only be the teams in the top 6, or even regular top 4 who are able to afford such a luxury.

This would be even more likely should the suggestion of foregoing revenue from TV rights was implemented.

Would Premier League teams try and use the B-Team system to get around the 25-man squad rule?

It is a question that I have been asked personally. In Spain, players can be moved between the A and B squads throughout the season just like they would if it was the reserves or academy teams.

My answer to the question though is that it would be near damn impossible as even though players may move between the A and B squads. There is still a maximum of 25 players who can be registered to play for the parent club in the Premier League.

There would be additional benefits to the parent club in view of the 25 man squad rule, but I'll cover them a little later.

SO WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS?

Consistency and Continuity

They say consistency and continuity are the keys for many things in football and the B-Team structure would provide just that.

The current loan system just isn't adequate enough at all. Although it does provide young players a platform to showcase their talents in a truly competitive environment there is no consistency in their football education.

Harry Bunn on loan at Preston (Lancashire Evening Post)

Each player loaned out then learns under a new set of coaches and manager with different standards of football, with more than likely inferior training facilities. As with Harry Bunn's loan at Preston, there was even a change of manager who completely changed the way the team played.
All of this would instantly be negated with a B-Team as they would continue to work to the same standards expected of the 1st team.

The ability to monitor their progress throughout the season would be greatly increased and wouldn't require specific coaches or scouts to keep tabs on them. All the information would be first hand through the club, enabling said scouts, coaches or other employee to focus on their actual role without distraction.

The loan system wouldn't have to be totally scrapped and a lot of clubs rely heavily on Premier League clubs loaning out their younger players.

Revenue

In today's football climate, tickets prices are ever increasing and a number of fans have already been priced out of ever going to matches. I have spoke to a good few who would at least consider following a B-Team and I'm sure there are fans of other top clubs who would do the same if they had the opportunity.

The respective clubs would get revenue from the extra ticket, merchandise and confectionery sales from both sets of fans visiting the ground.

The revenue from these would be fairly limited should the parent club keep the ticket prices down, and with the suggestion of not receiving TV rights it is incentive for lower league clubs to approve the idea.

It would also help a number of businesses located nearer the ground. Pubs, takeaways, taxi services and other public transport would benefit from the influx of people into the area, helping the local economy.

Player Recovery and Match Fitness

The next two tie in with the question about the maximum squad rule and I will use City as an example.

Lets say you have a player who has recovered from long term injury but you don't want to rush them back to the first team. At the moment you can play them in the reserves or not at all. Although it will help aerobically, this doesn't provide the player with sufficient competitive game time to fully adjust back into the first team.

Once again it is the structure and opportunity of a B-Team structure that would speed up this process as they player would get the match fitness with a real competitive edge, speeding up his thinking time and reactions that will have dulled with a long lay off.

Late Bloomers

This section and the next one are closely linked together, although there are significant differences as to why they are separate. This one focuses on players who don't break through to the first team at all.

They say if you're good enough you're old enough, and if you have the talent you will make it. But for every player that breaks through at a 17-20 there are many another that need those extra couple of years before they see any potential really blossom.

What about those players who do need that little extra time? At the moment they're likely to be used in the loan system to teams that will help them get experience but not help develop technically at the same rate as they would with better coaches and facilities.

Then they're likely to be sold on to a lower league club where they will find it almost impossible to reach the levels they may have been able to had they been given that couple more years with top coaches. That extra couple of years they would receive in a B-Team.

What about players who aren't first team regulars?

City have not filled their maximum allocation of 25 players (neither have a number of other clubs) and have been caught short due to injuries, especially in defence. There were an awful lot of fans who questioned the sale of Nedum Onuoha, and even more when the injuries and suspensions and international duty took their toll on the squad.

If City had a B-Team it is likely that Onuoha would have been in it for the last couple of seasons. Not seen as a player who was in the manager's long term plans, but was wasted sat around in the stands and if he had to be called upon he wouldn't have been match fit. You see where the B-Team could have been beneficial to both Club and player in this situation.

In fact Onuoha is a prime example of England's failures in their structure. Instead of not being played, Onuoha could have been playing week-in-week-out with the B-Team in one of the football league divisions, staying match fit, improving as a player through competitive experience instead of playing either in the reserve league or not at all.

Now 25, he has missed out on a good deal of development over the last few years because he never had regular first team football until he was loaned out to Sunderland last season.

He made his debut at 17 during the 04-05 season and featured a number of times over the next few seasons and was a regular in England's U21 side, but never nailed down a place at City.

I'm not saying he would be a world class player, but I'm pretty sure that had he had the benefit of a B-Team type set up, he would be much better than he is now and would potentially be ahead of a number of current England defenders.

There is still time for him to revive his domestic and international career with QPR, but it didn't have to be this way. And how many other players have fallen to the same fate over the years I wonder? And how many others will continue to lose out until a change is made?

City currently have Halsall, Meppen-Walter, Wabara, Coulson, and Henshall who are 18-20 and are current England internationals at their respective age levels. Several other City players who are 16-17 and are also England youth internationals like Cole, Hiwula, and Smith-Brown to name just 3 of them.

Obviously City aren't the only club with young internationals, and if I'm totally honest, I'd like to see the B-Team system in place to help all of City's talneted young players, of which there are many right now that will not benefit from such a system. But the whole point of this still stands. The changes to the coaching system are only a step in the right direction but more needs to be done, much more.

Come on FA, pull your finger out.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Mike Calvin showing himself up a bit.

2012-03-30T14:21:00.000+01:00

I've not done a piece like this for a while, but I read something today that just made me think "what the actual f**k are you talking about?"

Step forward Mike Calvin, Sports Writer of the year and Sports Reporter of the year twice over. In other words, he's a respected sports journalist. However you would be hard pressed to see why after reading his article in 'Life's a Pitch'.

Now I have no problem with people airing their own opinions on anything as long as they're well thought out and balanced. When it comes to football, this rarely happens though and there have been a few articles in the past where I have felt the need to set the record straight in my own small and rather insignificant way on the blog.

City fans were extremely critical of the press last season as they almost continually printed articles that showed City in a negative light. At the start of this season it appeared that it had changed, but as the weeks and months have passed they have swung back into knocking City at almost every opportunity.

Mike Calvin's 'Man City are ill-equipped to cope with title race demands' is quite clearly laced with bias against City as it pretty much opens with this little beauty;

"What Manchester City need to cope with the unaccustomed demands of a Premier League title race is a copy of a toddler training book, a parents’ bible."

And why is this, Mike?

"It would offer an immediate insight into the tiny mind of Mario Balotelli, who has resumed his normal position on the diamond-encrusted naughty step at Manchester City’s training ground in Carrington."

The "tiny mind of Mario Balotelli" on the "diamond-encrusted naughty step". What is this guy on? The press report some sort of argument in training, show one picture of Mancini talking to Mario like he often does and that is supposed to mean he's in trouble? And I know Mario has done some stupid things but to imply he is actually stupid is a little harsh don't you think?

Or is Mr Calvin trying to imply something else? Personally, I don't believe that a human being, especially when at the young age of 16, who would willingly spend time in a foreign country with and is driven to help some of the less fortunate inhabitants of this world when they could be doing many more self gratifying things like the vast majority of others of their age, has a tiny mind.

The language used in describing both player and club here are simple but carefully chosen for sure, designed to invoke certain images of lavish, ostentatious surroundings inhabited by crass, uneducated simpletons, conjuring feelings of injustice and inequality against the club for any neutrals reading.

His next dig comes as thus;

"Patrick Vieira may be an exceptional football development executive for Manchester City, whatever that means."

Would you like a side order of flippancy with that t-bone dismissive, sir? You can almost literally hear him scoff at the position as you read those words. Mike clearly has no understanding of the role that City created specifically for such a highly experienced ex-pro who is admired and looked up to by players both young and old throughout the footballing world.

The information on what City's Football Development Executive actually does is readily available if you wish to look for it. Mike obviously couldn't be arsed though, which seems to be the case for most journalists. Although you'd expect a little more from someone who has twice been awarded Sports Writer and Sports Reporter of the year. Or is that just me being a little too hopeful about the standards of British journalism? I suspect it is.

Mr Calvin then turns his attention to Roberto Mancini and how he thinks the pressure is getting to him;

"Roberto Mancini has already withdrawn from interviews because he does not trust himself to say the right thing."

Really? He has dodged interviews in the past where he has not been well, but the only recent one is after the Stoke game where by all reports he was incredulous with anger at the ref's allowance to let the Stoke players' rather physical game continue without any real punitive measures.

And he was right to be angered at such. Although physical contact is part and parcel of the sport, Stoke are well known for being a little overzealous for the most part.

So Roberto refuses to talk in one post-match interview and that is now apparently him refusing to talk in any other interview for the rest of the season. Sounds to me like someone is talking out of their arse.

As for not trusting himself to say the right thing, perhaps that was a sign of good judgement of his own character, knowing how wound up he was and likely to openly criticise match officials if he got the opportunity. As my mother told me, and I assume your mother told you, "If you've nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."

See Mike, he's just taking the advice of his dear mother.

The actual message of the 500-or-so word piece is basically that he thinks Mancini will falter in the coming weeks. Which is fair enough, he is entitled to his own opinion about that. But try not to make it sound so bias that it was typed with one hand on the keyboard and the other caressing Fergie's member.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Equality in discipline?

2012-03-27T06:36:00.003+01:00

This season City fans have felt pretty aggrieved at a number of performances by match officials (particularly away from home) and that a certain other team not so far away gets an easier ride. Those feelings have been met with the usual "it averages out over the season" or "you're just paranoid". But what do the figures say?

Both teams have now played 15 home and away games each in the league and it is the disciplinary records in these games which I shall compare. Now I'm not saying there is a conspiracy to undermine City's season and to install United as league champions for the umpteenth time. However, I think after looking, you will agree that some of these figures just don't add up.

City's disciplinary record

Seeing as this is a City blog, we'll start with City's home and away record, and here it is.

You'll be able to quickly see there is a large difference to how City are being dealt with home and away.

City have a pretty good disciplinary record at home, ranking 4th fewest bookings, and the truth is that City have had a pretty good disciplinary record for quite some time, even qualifying for European football through the FIFA fair play rankings in the not so distant past. Although this takes into account several other factors, the club's disciplinary record is a major contributor to the overall standings.

Away from home this season, City have averaged one fewer tackle per game than at the Etihad yet apparently commit 4 more fouls and are punished twice as much which makes City the 9th most punished team in the league away from home.

Is it just me that finds this really strange? I sincerely hope not.

What about City's opponents?

I'd say those numbers were fairly even ish, although opposition fans could still say these show that refs still favour the teams further up the table and that smaller teams don't have a 'home advantage' when it comes to officials when they play the bigger teams.

What I would say to that though is that City are being punished equally away from home as their opponents as the numbers quite clearly show, which as I said is twice as harsh as they would be if they were at the ETIHAD stadium. Where's the advantage City are getting away from home against teams lower down the league? There isn't one. In fact it's quite a clear disadvantage.

United's disciplinary record

Unlike the figures produced for City so far this season, United appear to be treated rather the same both home and away and on the face of it that appears to be more lenient than the treatment of City.

United are on average making more tackles with the same number of fouls and the same number of yellow cards resulting from them. What is quite clearly different is that only 1 United player has been sent off, compared to the 3 red cards shown for City.

The biggest difference is actually the treatment of the opposition.

Despite averaging a similar number of fouls on United and City when taking both sets of figures into account, you've got an overall increased chance (17%) of being booked and 4 times the chance of being sent off if you're playing against United.

Basically the opposition are getting a pretty raw deal wherever they play United, but especially at Old Trafford. No surprises there then.

Disciplinary Comparisons

So how consistent do the number of fouls match up with the number of cards shown. You'd expect in general that the higher the number of fouls the higher the bookings. Even accounting for differences in tactics home and away you would still expect a measure of similarity considering we've been told several times by the FA that the referees are fair and consistent.

Unfortunately, that's just not the case with City and United. As you can see by the table to the right, away from home City are pulled up for more fouls compared to the number of tackles and even more of those are being booked. As mentioned earlier, even when you take into account any differing tactics, that doesn't strike me as very consistent.

There is an inconsistency with the way opponents are being judged too. At the Etihad the tackles to fouls ratio is similar to that of City's but there is a greater number of bookings.

Away from home though, more fouls are being called for per challenge but much fewer bookings, meaning that more fouls are going unpunished when City are away from home.

There is much more consistency when looking at how United are being judged. Slightly fewer challenges are being pulled up as fouls compared to City, and slightly fewer of those are being punished with a card.

The major difference is once again with how the opposition appear to be treated. More challenges are being called as fouls and more cards are being shown per foul.

Putting it in overall figures opponents against City are being judged to commit a foul every 1.9 tackles and it's taking 6.3 fouls before a card is produced. With United's opponents though, a foul is being called every 1.8 tackles and a card is being produced every 5.7 fouls.

Disciplinary Rankings

Just be sure you are aware that this is not the fair play table, that is something entirely different. This shows the disciplinary rankings. Basically the lower the rank, the fewer bookings that team has received, with reds obviously counting higher than a single yellow.

What I have done is taken the liberty of adding in the comparison between the home and away rankings. In essence, a negative difference meas that a team picks up more bookings away from home, and a positive means they pick up fewer.

Fully half of the sides have a + or - difference of 1-4 and this seems to be the 'norm'. A difference of 5 and 6 is pretty rare as there are 3 scores of each, and then there are a few total anomalies with Norwich, QPR, Newcastle and Wigan.

Interestingly, other than Arsenal who have a 'positive' difference of 1, United are the only team expected to challenge for the title to have a positive difference away from home with +6.

Just to reiterate, this means that United have picked up the fewest bookings away from home of any team in the Premier League, so much fewer that they are ranked 1st in the overall rankings despite being 7th best in their home ranking.

City's -6 means that although they are 4th at home, they actually come in at 7th overall.

Newcastle have one of the largest difference between home and away with a -9. Spurs also fall outside what may be deemed as a 'standard' difference with -5.

Could it just be a coincidence that the 3 teams that have been the largest threat to an established order this season are amongst the ones with the highest negative values, picking up many more bookings away from home? Is it also a coincidence that United, who many perceive to get an easy ride have a +6 difference which is outside what could a considered a standard difference of 1-4?

Now I'm not saying that there is a conscious effort being made by officials in favour of United or against City, or that there is a conspiracy within the FA to hinder the possibility of other teams breaking the once closed party of elite clubs, but there are the figures. All I have done is present you with the figures and asked the questions. It's up to you to decide the answers and what the figures mean, if anything at all.

Of course some teams are just dirtier than others and deserve to be picking up more bookings and there is room for interpretation in certain situations. You never know, United might just be the best disciplined team in the league after all...

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Stoke City v Manchester City: #CityStats

2012-03-25T23:21:00.000+01:00

Playing before United was a perfect opportunity to heap the pressure back on them before they take on Fulham. However, Stoke are never an easy team to play at home. Chelsea, Liverpool, United and Spurs had all failed to walk away from the Britannia with a win.

Match Stats

The possession and passing roughly follow the season-long trend, with the possession increased considerably and you can partly see why with Stoke's passing average. At 66% it is way below par on any level, let alone Premiership standard.

Unlike recent games where City were creating an abundance of chances, 'only' 16 shots were taken compared to the average of nearly 19 through the season and. It is also below the 18 City generally create away from home. This is still higher than any other team in the league but due to City's lack of incision they are often being taken in front or in the middle of a packed defence. Something that needs to change, and has been mentioned numerous times over the season.

Something that I find a little frustrating from watching the game and is shown in these figures is that very few players were willing to run with the ball. Even Stoke, who aren't exactly known for their incisive runs notched up more than double that of City.

Several opportunities to break away on a counter attack were once again dismissed and instead City worked the ball slowly up the pitch while Stoke got back in numbers.

Defensive

As with previous games, you can see just how involved the full-backs are. Zabaleta (6) and Clichy (5) put in more tackles than anyone else on the pitch. Neither one of them can be pulled up about their defensive duties. Zabaleta also pulled off a fantastic goal line clearance in the first half.

What is encouraging is that almost every outfield player were willing to stick a foot into a tackle and that is a large contributing factor in how much possession City ended up with. The only outfield player who was on the pitch any length of time who didn't make any tackles is Kolo Toure.

Richards, again filling in at centre-back had another good game and made more clearances (15) and effective clearances (11) than anyone else on the pitch, also winning 3 aerial duels during game. Only Crouch (5) won more 50/50s than him.

As far as the conceded goal is concerned I don't think any player can too upset about it. Fans on the other hand will point to yet another foul on Barry in the build up to the goal. It was a speculative shot that came off good and proper and I doubt he could recreate that too many times in training let alone in the middle of a match. I certainly don't think he will be scoring another like that again in his career.

Tckl = tackles won, Int = interceptions, Clr = total clearances, Eclr = effective clearances, Foul = fouls committed, BS = blocked shots, AD = aerial duels

Offensive

When Balotelli was left out of the Italy squad for their friendly against the USA, it looked as though he was going to storm the rest of the season in an effort to be included in the Euros in the summer. That seems to have evaporated after a couple of games as he was subbed at half time against Chelsea and didn't have a particularly good game against Stoke either. Compared to his 8 shots against Swansea and Bolton, he has only managed 4 shots in his last 135 minutes of play.

The majority of his close control during the 90 minutes against Stoke, apart from a little jink to the left to take it past 2 defenders, was pretty poor and can be seen by the number of turnovers (5).

The way Stoke were permitted to play didn't help though, and Balotelli seemed to get more than his fare share of knocks which can also be partially seen by the 4 times he was fouled, and was even pulled back by his face at one point. The number of fouls could have easily doubled had Howard Webb not had a stinker of a game for the most part.

Like the goal conceded, City's solitary goal came from a pretty tasty strike too. It did take a slight deflection that helped it but it was a great strike non the less. I'll admit though, with Yaya's shooting being rather wayward for most of the season the words "Oh ffs don't shoot from there" left my lips as he walloped it. I'll gladly be wrong on every occasion if it means the ball hits the back of the net like that.

Shot = total shots, SoT = shots on target, Drb = successful dribbles, Foul = times player was fouled, Dis = times player was dispossessed, Trn = turnovers committed, Tch = total touches of the ball

Passing

As you might expect when you face a team who defends narrowly and in numbers, through balls will have limited success. Out of the 8 attempted, only 2 were successful and neither resulted in a goal.

Nasri finally appears to be growing into the team as Silva appears to be succumbing to fatigue. Nasri has had a higher passing % all season but he is now creating more chances than he first was and created 4 during the game against Stoke with old Arsenal teammate next in line with 3.

Nasri also fired in more crosses (9) but only 1/3 of them were accurate. With James Milner

A notable feature is Hart's distribution. Hoofing the ball up field against a team as big as Stoke was never going to bring much measure of success and I don't think 43% is much measure of success.

Whilst on the subject of pass success rate, Dzeko once again comes bottom of the list for outfield players, although it is still better than 6 of Stoke's on the day. He is actually ranked 246th out of 284 players for his passing throughout the season. That's 102 places behind the next City player, Balotelli, and is comparable to forwards Grant Holt and Jay Bothroyd.

It's certainly something that many fans find frustrating about him despite the effort he undoubtedly puts in. It's a good job he's scored a few goals throughout the season.

Ass. = assists, Pass = total completed passes, KP = key passes, P% = pass success rate, C = crosses attempted, AC = accurate crosses, LB = long balls attempted, ALB = accurate long balls, TB = through balls attempted, ATB = accurate through balls

As I mentioned earlier, Chelsea, Liverpool, United and Spurs had all travelled to the Britannia and failed to pick up 3 points. There appears to be a general consensus, even from several neutrals, that Howard Webb was far too lenient towards Stoke and had a fairly poor game throughout, missing incidents on both sides.

Although it should be viewed as a point gained, it's still difficult to stomach when the team you saw tear apart sides with ease are now looking devoid of ideas. On the upside though, City still in the same position as they were before kick off; Win the remaining games and they win the Premier League.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Manchester City v Chelsea: #CityStats

2012-03-22T10:31:00.000+00:00

After falling behind United in the title race and seeing them go 4 points clear after Wolves capitulated with barely a whimper, let alone a growl, it was imperative that City continued their stunning home form. This was a game that didn't disappoint.

Match Stats

Chelsea came into this game after 4 straight wins in all competitions as Roberto Di Matteo and John Terry took over from Andre Villas Boas. Terry was absent from the touchline last night though but I don't think he could have helped the final outcome.

City rather dominated the game as they have always done at home this season. With 61% possession and 21 shots on goal compared to Chelsea's 7 it has certainly renewed some fans depleted hopes of a first Premier League title for the club come the end of May.

What is still a little annoying though is how wasteful City have become in front of goal. Only 5 of the 21 shots were on target, 4 if you take away Balotelli's shot in the first half that was 'saved' by Petr Cech.

It didn't matter in this game, but it has in previous games and could do again in the next 9.

Defensive

It's fair to say that on the whole it was a good defensive display from City. Both full-backs provided great cover, making 7 tackles and 6 interceptions between them.

Micah and Kolo were also solid in the centre with Toure making a number of clearances with only Cahill (10) and Luiz (9) making more, which is to be expected given how busy the were.

The number of players who made interceptions is a good sign of how hard they all worked to keep Chelsea from getting much of a foothold in the game. It's only surprising that Barry isn't one of the players who made one, but as City pressed Chelsea more and more in the 2nd half he was able to get further forward limiting the opportunity to cut out long passes which he is usually quite effective in doing.

Tckl = tackles won, Int = interceptions, Clr = total clearances, Eclr = effective clearances, Foul = fouls committed, BS = blocked shots, AD = aerial duels

Offensive

At one point it looked as though Nasri was destined to have another game where he didn't find the back of the net despite hitting the woodwork. His overall contribution deserved a goal, and he eventually go it with a skillful chip over the falling Cech.

It was possibly Nasri's best game in a City shirt and one that will hopefully be the start of a more consistent run of form.

Although Aguero can be happy with his contribution, he did lose the ball more than usual. However, I don't think this is anything to worry about though despite being the worst on the pitch for it in this game. Torres came 2nd after losing possession 8 times for Chelsea.

What is a little worrying though is the continued dip in form of David Silva. I don't think he actually had a bad game, but his contribution in the final third has dropped dramatically recently.

He has played more games than any other outfield player for City, and looks as though he could do with being rested for a week. His ongoing problem with his ankle could be what is affecting his game with a little fatigue.

Shot = total shots, SoT = shots on target, Drb = successful dribbles, Foul = times player was fouled, Dis = times player was dispossessed, Trn = turnovers committed, Tch = total touches of the ball

Passing

City's passing was clicking once again, and although it was a little laboured at times you can't argue with an 88% success rate.

As usual, Yaya comes out on the top of the pile with attempted, completed and pass %. He is also joint top of the list for key passes (4), with Zabaleta (3) the next in line out of all the players on the pitch.

Tevez (4) is the other player alongside Yaya with the number of key passes as he made his first appearance for the first team in over 6 months. He was by no means 100% match fit and still looks to be carrying quite a bit of weight compared to his peak form last season. But he did put in a good team performance and provided the assist for Nasri's goal with a perfectly times reverse pass, which incidentally was City's only successful through ball of the game.

Dzeko is the only player in the team to drop below 80% pass success, and only Petr Cech had a worse record during the 90 minutes. He continues to work hard though but appears to be the player who least fits into the system City utilise and rumours continue to circle about his future at the club.

After having a very impressive couple of months, Mario Balotelli seems to have taken a step backwards again despite the increasing faith shown in him of late. Mancini was not impressed with his contribution against Chelsea and was subbed at half time.

Ass. = assists, Pass = total completed passes, KP = key passes, P% = pass success rate, C = crosses attempted, AC = accurate crosses, LB = long balls attempted, ALB = accurate long balls, TB = through balls attempted, ATB = accurate through balls

The title is still within reach, and such a performance should serve as motivation for the players and fans. It should also remind United and several pundits who felt a capitulation was inevitable that City are not going to go away quite so easy.

It was the first time City had gone behind at the Etihadand seen again last night.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Do your talking on the pitch.

2012-03-19T08:28:00.000+00:00

With the events of the weekend shocking the football world, I felt the self promotion of the blog could wait a couple of days. And even now, lives hang in the balance as family and friends wait with bated breath for a shred of good news.

Certainly as fans, us Blues are no strangers to such tragic events and can empathise fully with how Bolton's fans must be feeling.

But however harrowing those images were, each club still has their own season to get on with. Although our thoughts and prayers go out to the each and every person affected by the events, City are still in with a chance of a Premier League title and it is to this we should respectfully turn as City take on Chelsea in 2 days time.

During the early part of the season you would have been hard pushed to find any interviews given by City players, and even fewer regarding the chances to clinch City's first Premier League title.

As the season has drawn on though, more and more players have taken the opportunity to give interviews regarding a few things, some on several occasions.

In fact it's been since January that I've seen a notable change. Hart, Richards, Lescott, Kolo, Kompany, Zabaleta, Clichy, Milner, Yaya, De Jong, Silva, Aguero have all been giving interviews about the title and Tevez.

City's form, especially away from home, has taken a nosedive and been knocked out of the Carling and FA Cup, gone out of Europe and been overtaken by United.

Right now I don't want to hear about how Tevez will be like a new signing, or how all the players are apparently pleased he's back in the squad, or how every game is like a Champions League final, and that the league is still in our own hands.

Why? Because since players and indeed Mancini have been saying this, they've played the worst football of their entire season. After saying they were going to give 100% for the full game in every game, they haven't.

Actions, they say, speak louder than words. The players should forget about trying to compete with the mind games, and get back to what they were doing at the start of the season and do their talking on the pitch. That is the only way City will win the league.

As always, if you have anything to say on this article, leave a comment underneath or post a reply on one of the following pages.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Message to Mancini: Please don't revert to last season's set up.

2012-03-14T14:36:00.000+00:00

I'll start off by saying that this is not me having a go at any players, not in the slightest. Neither is this me thinking I know better than Mancini. However, I do not believe Mancini should put Gareth Barry, Nigel De Jong and Yaya Toure in the starting 11 together in the final push for the Premier League title.

When Mancini first elegantly wafted into the hot-seat at City and during last season, we saw the team transform from one that leaked goals with its seive-like defence to one that was very hard to break down. In doing so, Mancini took a lot of criticism for fielding a 'negative' team as Barry, De Jong and Toure lined up on the pitch together.

As it happens and I'm sure you are aware, this so called negative team scored more goals than Harry Redknapp's wonderfully entertaining Spurs who played delightfully free flowing and attacking football. Not only did City score more, they conceded less, in fact they had the best defence in the league.

Despite scoring more goals though, City did find it difficult to break teams down if they decided to sit back and defend. Although Toure offers a moderate creative ability and can cause havoc with defences on the break, he is the kind of player who creates the foundation for an attack near the centre of the park and slowly works it forward.

When you then add 2 defensive players to the mix, Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong, what this does is slow the overall tempo down dramatically when you have extended periods of possession, and one of those players takes away a place from a more attack-minded player. Although it makes your team harder to break through, it hinders your own creative and attacking ability.

Teams approached City last season as though it was a cup final, the big spenders from the City taking on the working class man and they were not going to go down without a fight. City needed to be hard to beat, they needed a midfield and defence that felt like the other team were running into a solid brick wall every time they tried to go forward because of this attitude.

To be honest, Mancini didn't have too many viable options available to him in attack either. Santa Cruz and Adebayor simply didn't fit into his plans, or style he perceived for the future. Bellamy never saw eye to eye with Mancini and, along with RSC and Ade, had been sent out on loan with several other players who were brought to the club by managers past.

Balotelli was bought in the Summer but was (and still is in a few respects) a rough diamond. He was totally unused to the league and just a little bit too crazy on the pitch to be able to rely on for an extended period of time. Dzeko came to the club in January and took a long time to settle in also.

That left just Tevez as a viable and consistent focal point of attack while the squad was slowly moulded together by Mancini. And to be fair to him, he did the business for the most part.

But then the summer of 2011 came, qualification to Champions League football had been gained as well as a shiny new trophy in the form of the world's most respected domestic cup competition, the FA Cup. The transfer targets were identified, Savic and Clichy came in to bolster the ranks of defence, and Sergio Aguero and (eventually) Samir Nasri were also added to the squad.

By now Dzeko and Balotelli had settled into the squad and City had plenty of attacking options to choose from.

Despite this, the first game of the season arrived (albeit without Nasri at this stage) and Mancini opted for last season's set up to start off with. De Jong and Barry as holding mids and Yaya Toure pushing further up the pitch.

Swansea put in a good showing and City did create a lot of chances in the first half, none of which were put away. Swansea were largely caught on the counter as they began to commit forward, which fell straight into the game plan with De Jong and Barry breaking up play and Yaya ready to break forward into space working a treat.

In fact it was a slick counter attack which broke the deadlock on 57 minutes before Mancini was forced into making a substitution when De Jong picked up a knock.

Instead of swapping like for like, or near to it, he decided to bring on Sergio Aguero forcing Toure to drop a little deeper. This really was the spark of an astonishing run of games that saw City tear teams to shreds as their confidence soared.

Teams then slowly began to drop deeper and deeper, hoping to grind out a draw and maybe snatch a goal for a win, and in some cases forget about the draw altogether and just limit the number of goals they lost by. If they did attack there was more pace and vision in the side to quickly punish it.

For the most part, Toure was lining up with Barry while De Jong was injured and working his way back into contention, and this gave an extra place for attacking players. City were controlling possession, the tempo of the game, grinding down teams to the point of capitulation and then smashing them apart.

A combination of either 2 of Aguero, Balotelli and Dzeko (while Tevez was playing golf) was enough to keep teams guessing. But the point isn't the different qualities each of those brings, it's that City usually had 2 strikers on the pitch, because the 2 defensive midfielders had been ditched in favour of a more fluid 1 holding midfielder in Gaz Baz and a roaming/box-to-box player like Yaya.

Despite still being everyone's Cup final, teams are no longer looking to attack City, and if they do they make damn sure they also defend in numbers. A formation that requires 2 defensive midfielders is almost totally redundant in the Premiership.

It worked at the start of the season against Swansea because they tried to attack so much (although we only scored the 1 goal while Barry, De Jong and Toure were on the pitch and 3 when only 2 of them were on), and against Villa who were hopelessly pathetic that day, we simply don't need that kind of cover anymore. City have effectively become victims of their own attacking ability.

The last (and only other) 2 games those 3 players have been on the pitch together were Sunderland away and Swansea away. Each time Mancini realised that it was the wrong decision and duly took one of either Barry or De Jong off for an attacking player.

Combining those two games together, those 3 players were on the pitch for a total of 83 minutes. In those 83 minutes, City created a rather meager 11 chances compared to a season's average of 19 per every 90 minutes of play.

Don't get me wrong, City may well not have won either of those games had they started with a different 11, but the way in which Mancini changed the team early in the game suggests that he knows City would have had a better chance of winning had he not reverted to 2 defensive midfielders.

And why is this? Because sacrificing creativity for defensive solidarity when teams are simply sitting behind the ball with 8,9 or even 10 outfield players (even when they are the home side) is pointless and gives teams the opportunity to gain a foothold in the game.

City haven't needed that extra defensive player at any point during the season and still have the best defensive record in the league because other teams have hardly had a sniff at goal while City dominated the games with that extra attacking player.

I don't particularly want to see either of these 3 players left out, but in keeping them all in, you're then leaving out one of Aguero, Balotelli, Dzeko, Silva, Nasri, Milner, Johnson, and even Pizarro now he's getting up to speed and Tevez if he is to make an appearance. All of these players are players who have the ability to create and/or put away chances.

The vast majority of teams left to play aren't suddenly going to start attacking because they know how dangerous City are going forward. They will continue to sit deep, try and counter attack and snatch a goal.

So Mancini, change the starting 11 to keep players fit and to keep teams guessing if you wish, but please, please stick to the style you have so beautifully implemented for the majority of the campaign, home and away.

If we are to really push for this Premier League title, don't go out to play the opposition, make them play us.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Swansea City v Manchester City: #CityStats

2012-03-11T22:54:00.001+00:00

Certainly not the result that City wanted, the stats from several players are certainly not what we're used to either. Overall, it was a very disappointing performance which makes City's challenge for the title that little bit harder. So here they are;

Match Stats

Swansea set out their stall exactly how everyone thought they would do, and exactly how they have been doing the entire season. Lots of possession, mainly in their own half, frustrating other teams and denying them opportunity to create chances.

Well, that worked for the most part, except City actually had 22 shots on goal which is higher than usual. But as with the last #CityStats edition, City were very wasteful with only 27% of their shots even on target. Vorm made a couple of good saves but he was not tested enough at all.

City lost possession numerous times in the first half when they tried to loft the ball forward and almost every time Swansea came out with the ball, winning 67% of the total areal duels during the match.

When Swansea came to the Etihad Stadium they made more overall passes than City, and it was no different at the Liberty Stadium, with City making over 100 fewer passes.

Defensive

Richards is the standout performer when it comes to tackling, making more tackles than anyone else on the pitch, which in itself is a little odd as Swansea did most of their attacking down the right hand side.

When you look at the interceptions though, Clichy did a pretty good job of stifling their play with 3 tackles, 5 interceptions and 3 clearances. It only makes it a shame that he was way out of position when Savic gave the ball away on the half way line which directly lead to Swansea's goal.

Although Savic will no doubt get the brunt of criticism for the goal, he had actually done a fairly good job of keeping Swansea at bay with 6 of his 7 clearances being effective (more than anyone else on the pitch) and also blocking a shot.

There is one thing that might not initially stand out, but take a look at the fouls... 11 of the 14 players committed fouls. Now I'm not going to go into officials, but I'm not entirely convinced all of those were actual fouls.

Tckl = tackles won, Int = interceptions, Clr = total clearances, Eclr = effective clearances, Foul = fouls committed, BS = blocked shots, AD = aerial duels

Offensive

Balotelli makes up for nearly a 3rd of City's shots and sums up the team's lack of clinical ability in front of goal at the moment. Only a quarter of his shots were on target.

He also gave the ball away more than anyone else in the squad, party due to the type of pass that was coming his way in the 1st half and Swansea's determination to retrieve the ball.

The 2nd half saw City grow into a game they should have taken hold of much earlier and Yaya Toure acted as the starting point for attack which shows in his 109 touches of the ball. Most of this was inside Swansea's half of the pitch as City pressed for a goal.

As with the fouls committed, most of City's players had a shot on goal, only Barry and Hart didn't have a shot. This gives you an idea of how much pressure the Swansea defence was under in general from open play and set pieces. Sadly, as mentioned before, very few of these were on target.

Shot = total shots, SoT = shots on target, Drb = successful dribbles, Foul = times player was fouled, Dis = times player was dispossessed, Trn = turnovers committed, Tch = total touches of the ball

Passing

This is the area of the game that is really disappointing as it is usually City's strength. The statistics don't show it, but the passing in general was far too slow with opportunities to counter attack missed.

There is a higher number of attempted long balls than usual with several of the key players misplacing many if not all of them. Yaya, Silva and Clichy, who are all good passers of the ball were also all major culprits wayward passing at distance.

Silva had a mare all round really. At half time he had only completed 59% of his passes. Poor by anyone's standards, let alone someone as talented as him. By the end of the game it had risen to 73% but it is well short of what we have come to expect from him.

It has been picked up on before, and it is one thing that had improved a little this season compared to last, but Joe Hart's distribution was as poor as I've seen in a long time. Each and every time he hoofed the ball out it was picked up by Swansea, several times without a City player even near it.

Ass. = assists, Pass = total completed passes, KP = key passes, P% = pass success rate, C = crosses attempted, AC = accurate crosses, LB = long balls attempted, ALB = accurate long balls, TB = through balls attempted, ATB = accurate through balls

Mancini is left ruing City's lack of precision in front of goal once more, a recurring theme in recent weeks, something that Mancini and the players need to address quickly if they aren't to fall further behind United now they have gone top of the league.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Europa League: City still favourites despite defeat

2012-03-10T11:06:00.000+00:00

Ok it wasn't exactly a great performance, certainly nothing like we've become accustomed to this season. But lets face it, we've been spoiled rotten so far with very few disappointments compared to our Jekyll and Hyde existence in seasons past.

Sporting hadn't lost at home in Europe for the last 9 games. They'd won all 5 of their games there this season, scoring 9 and conceding just 2, so it was never going to be a walkover.

The final score was disappointing, but there are positives that can be taken with the negatives. Not least that Mario Balotelli seems to be quickly growing into the player many of us saw he could become when he signed last season.

Although he was only on for 20 minutes or so, he changed the entire game for City and very nearly pulled back a goal for a draw were it not for the crossbar. Sporting simply couldn't handle him and were drawn into fouling him several times around the area, conceding a number of bookings in the process.

Balotelli is quickly maturing and starting to repay the faith and time that Mancini has invested in the young Italian. Those who ever doubted his natural talent are being proved wrong one by one. For me, there was one thing during his stint on the pitch that summed up the brilliant unpredictability of Balotelli, his cross into Silva was something that would be spoke about for weeks had it been done by Ronaldo or Messi.

Bursting through the left side of the 18 yard box, does he take the easy and natural option of crossing it with his left foot? No, not our Mario. It was a short rabona cross as good as you'll ever see which was sadly prodded wide by Silva. Great tekkers.

Several key players were having off days though. Silva, Aguero, Barry, De Jong, Dzeko, and Milner were all below their usual standards overall, some more than others. But everyone is allowed an off day every now and then.

There were other key players missing from the side too. Both Richards and Zabaleta were missing due to injury which meant Clichy had to fill in at right-back and was clearly not as effective as he is on the left. Yaya Toure was suspended and his forceful movement through the centre was also a miss.

Then to compound problems, Kompany pulled up with a calf strain early in the first half and is likely to be out for up to 2 weeks. Lescott also played through a slight groin injury towards the end of the game which may keep him out of the game against Swansea.

What was a really telling though, is that this was by far the biggest game of the season for Sporting as they played out of their skins. The celebrations of players and fans when they scored and at the final whistle were comparable to if they had actually won the Europa League.

Despite this, I don't think Sporting showed anything to say that they are in the driving seat to walk away from the Etihad Stadium with a passage into the next round. That's not to say City will walk the 2nd leg as I expect Sporting to put in another resilient performance and try and hit City on the break.

Joe Hart: 'All I'm interested in is how we can win the league.

2012-03-08T12:48:00.000+00:00

Joe Hart has come a long way since his £600k transfer to City from Shrewsbury Town. From being largely unknown outside Manchester City 3 years ago, he is now England's number 1 keeper and regarded as one of the best in Europe if not the world. And at 24 years old, he isn't anywhere near the peak of his ability.

One thing that has helped him along the way is his that he has a steady head on his shoulders, knowing when to relax and have a joke and when to get his game-face on. Right now, as far as football is concerned, it's strictly game-face.

When asked about the possibility of City not winning the league this year because of either Mancini or a negative influence from Tevez, his reply is one of a person who is fully aware of the responsibilities he and his teammates possess.

"A lot of people will say that (with reference to blaming Mancini) but, personally, I won’. If we don’t win the league, it will be our own fault. That includes Carlos, myself – everyone.

“I’m not interested in what’s perceived outside of the club. All I’m interested in is what’s going on inside the club and how we can win the league."

As for the possibility of Tevez returning to first team action, it is a subject that has divided City fans but as most players, Joe takes a more pragmatic stance;

“If that means Carlos coming back, scoring a hat-trick and everyone saying he’s the greatest player in the world, so be it. I couldn’t care less.

“I just think you’ve got to look further than your personal feelings,”

“Maybe it would be different if we were sat in fifth place and didn’t know where we were going.

“But we know where we’re going, and we haven’t got time to get hung up on individuals. We’ve got to be focused on our goal."

Joe doesn't feel Tevez will be walking straight back into the starting 11 when he is fit though. With Aguero being the new main striker with Balotelli and Dzeko all still scoring goals, Carlos may find it difficult to get a place on the bench, let alone in the starting 11.

Not forgetting either that it has been these 3 players that have contributed to where City are now and to drop either of them for a player who may or may not fit back in would be terribly harsh on them;

“I’ve not trained with Carlos personally [since his return], because of games and recovery, but the lads assure me that he’s firing.

“I’m sure it’s difficult [for the manager] and I’m sure other people are way ahead of Carlos in the pecking order, and rightfully so.

“We’ve been working hard whilst he’s been away for whatever reasons and I’m sure he understands that and appreciates that.

“So he’ll have to earn his place back. But if Carlos can play anything like we know he can, he’ll be an asset to the team.”

He isn't resting on his laurels either, with the end of the season looming it is still all to play for, especially with only 2 points separating 1st and 2nd place;

“It’s gone great so far, but we’ll judge it by where we finish at the end of the season.

“It’s nice now, but we need to win the title for it to be a good season."

There has been much talk of the pressures of being involved in a title race, and Joe Hart is one of the players at City never to have gone through such an experience. But he doesn't believe this will have a negative impact on the squad.

“There’s been pressure on us for a long time. But the pressure is put on ourselves by ourselves, in the dressing-room, because we want to win things.

“There’s obviously a lot of talk and hype around what we do, but we put ourselves under positive pressure to win every game.

“The Premier League is the most competitive in the world. I don’t think anyone is ever going to romp it by the start of March.

“We’ve got the most successful club in England, especially in Premier League terms, snapping away at our heels.”

“We can’t look to next season or try to hold onto a title we haven’t even won yet,

“But I’d love it to happen. I see myself as a part of City and I want to keep winning, I don’t want it to be a one-off.

“First and foremost, though, we have to keep our eyes on the prize this season and not lose sight of that.”

Sustained success is certainly what Sheikh Mansour was looking to achieve when he bought the club, and it's certainly looking like a very strong possibility when you have the players of the calibre the we have now. Just as important though is their desire to stay at the club and Joe is one who openly admits that he wants to stick around for a while.

When finding out that Alex Ferguson and United were apparently interested in him before City came along, Joe had this to say;

"For someone who I respect greatly and who I grew up admiring in football to say that is a great honour. I'm not quite sure what he meant by it but he's got fantastic goalkeepers there with [Anders] Lindegaard and David de Gea. And I'm quite happy on the other side of the city.

"I love Manchester City, I love playing for them. I'm really proud to have signed a long-term contract last summer and hopefully that can continue for a long time to come."

Manchester City v Bolton Wanderers: #CityStats

2012-03-03T22:43:00.000+00:00

This is the return of a once popular feature of the blog (or at least I like to think so). City Stats has had a bit of a face lift and is a little more in depth this time round. This time focusing on City's record-matching 19th straight home league win, which came against Bolton Wanderers.

Match Stats

The Match Stats really do tell their own story here as City were rarely put under any real pressure from Bolton. City's possession and passing have followed a similar trend throughout the season, although these are all improved on the season's average (58% possession, 86% pass success).

The most impressive figure of all may well be the number of shots City had at Bolton's net, creating 5 more chances than their average of 19.

However only 8 of these shots were on target which is only marginally better than the 7 averaged usually, but statistically worse when looking at percentages (33% v Bolton - 37% for the season).

Maybe Balo's attention was divided between scoring the game and scoring in an altogether different way at the strip club, if rumours are to be believed.

Defensive

Although it was Bolton doing the majority of the defending, there are some fairly impressive defensive stats when you look at City's players.

Gareth Barry managed to stick his foot into 6 tackles, more than anyone else on the pitch. Sam Ricketts of Bolton is 2nd with 5 tackles to his name. Maybe a couple more would have earned his side a point, but he may have been too busy thinking about who will win the title.

Vincent Kompany leads the way for interceptions, and not for the first time this season, with 8. This figure is once again the best on the pitch and double the total achieved by Bolton's Zat Knight (4), who had the most for his side.

Tckl = tackles won, Int = interceptions, Clr = total clearances, Eclr = effective clearances, Foul = fouls committed, BS = blocked shots, AD = aerial duels

Attacking

As you would expect after a game like this, City's attacking stats look pretty good (unless you're looking at shots on target).

Mario Balotelli actually had as many shots on goal as the entire Bolton squad with 8 shots, but with only half of them on target, Papa Mancini will be wanting a little improvement from the young Italian. Balo is the only City player to score though as Clichy's attempt is likely to be given as an own goal once the dubious goals panel takes a look at it.

Something else which has been a less than impressive trend this season is Yaya Toure's shooting. Only 1 of his 5 shots was on target today and his lack of clinical finishing is why he is looking at falling short of his 6 league goals that he achieved last season, with 3 so far. But there's still time to amend that.

David Pizzaro's first start for City since his switch from Italy in January really did highlight his strengths. Due to his lack of match fitness I don't believe we have seen the best from him, but as far as his anticipation and vision he was as sharp as ever. The 3 fouls he drew were results of players attempting to tackle a ball that had already been moved on.

Shot = total shots, SoT = shots on target, Drb = successful dribbles, Foul = times player was fouled, Dis = times player was dispossessed, Trn = turnovers committed, Tch = total touches of the ball

Passing

With the higher than average possession comes higher than average passing statistics. Yaya Toure making the most passes in the squad as usual with 98 passes at a success rate of 91%.

In terms of total passes made, Gareth Barry is next in line with 83 in total with an 89% success rate.

Toure and Gaz Baz together made more passes than the top 5 passers for Bolton.

Yaya also leads the way with key passes with 4 in total, Adam Johnson a close 2nd with 3.

As we are seeing more and more, several players in the squad are hitting percentages of over 90% success for their passing. No fewer than 9 players achieved this, although only 7 of them were on the pitch for an extended period of time.

The only thing that is particularly disappointing is that there were no accurate crosses out of the 13 attempted.

Ass. = assists, Pass = total completed passes, KP = key passes, P% = pass success rate, C = crosses attempted, AC = accurate crosses, LB = long balls attempted, ALB = accurate long balls, TB = through balls attempted, ATB = accurate through balls

When he looks back at that game, Mancini should be quite satisfied. The team was missing Micah Richards, David Silva, and Sergio Aguero, 3 major players in the squad and City dominated very comfortably without being particularly spectacular for most parts, but did have a couple bouts of showboating in and around Bolton's 18 yard box.

On another day, with Nasri and Balotelli wearing their shooting boots, it really could have been 10.

If you have anything to add, or would like to have your say, feel free to leave a comment underneath.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Villas Boas: "I don't like their standards of football"

2012-02-29T08:47:00.002+00:00

Before this week started I thought latest Chelsea Manager Andre Villas Boas was a bit of a pleb, but after his most recent outburst regarding several matters, I know he is.

In fact he well and truly belongs in Plebville, or better still, the insanity wing of Plebville State Penitentiary where Sheriff Rodney Marsh and deputy Francis Lee can keep a close eye on him.

Boas spoke about a few things in his interview for Portuguese radio station TSF, but lets just focus on the part that is to do with City.

"I refuse to build a team like City, I don't like the standards of their football. City is a very organised, efficient, well-balanced team. All they want right now is to be champions. There's an exact formula to be successful in Premier League, and that's what City is doing right now: attacking efficiency above all.

"They are an Italian team, they follow the Italian standards. If I saw them playing in Italy, I would say that's where they actually belong."

Is this guy for real, or is he just trying to make as many waves as possible before being tossed over the side of the ailing ship Chelsea FC by Abramovich, making himself look even more ridiculous in the process?

I think I'd be hard pressed to even find a United fan who thinks City haven't played good football this season.

But what standards are being referred to here? Boas mentioned being organised, efficient and being having the exact formula for success.

Now call me crazy but how is being organised, efficient and having the perfect formula for success a negative thing? Well, Andre clearly feels that's the case, as we can see from his team's performances this season. This may come as a bit of a surprise too, as he was once one of Jose Mourinho's coaches whilst at Chelsea. The 'Special One' isn't exactly known for his exciting and expansive football. His teams have always been based on a solid structure and organisation.

Of all the managers Chelsea have had whilst Abramovic has been there, Villas Boas undoubtedly has the worst record at this moment in time having only won 49% of his games. Compare that to Hiddink (71%) who was also there for a short period of time and, you can see the difference in class.

If this was an attempt at diverting some attention from his own performance as manager at Chelsea, it hasn't worked. In fact, it's entirely the wrong team and manager to attack. Trying to belittle the team that's top of the league having scored more and conceded fewer goals than any other team, with a 100% home record probably wasn't the best move.

But one thing that hasn't been mentioned in the media is how this interview has also highlighted his poor man management skills.

When Balotelli ran over to hug Mancini in the technical area after scoring a goal, it was because of his affection for his manager. Then we hear reports of Chelsea players being ordered to celebrate with the manager if they score a goal to show how unified they all are.

You can't force that kind of celebration, you can't force someone to like you, it has to be earned. Mancini has earned it from both the players (well most of them) and the fans.

The situation Boas finds himself in isn't too dissimilar to the one Mancini faced when he first took over at City. A large squad, full of players on high wages, with some that didn't fit into the system that he wanted to play for whatever reason.

Several stories of discontent have emerged from more than one of Chelsea's old guard, just like the stories from the likes of Adebayor emanated from City because he was being left out.

Mancini had to make those tough decisions and weather a lot of criticism for it, but not once has it truly affected the performances on the pitch. City have continued to grow and improve due to Mancini's strength of character and ability to have players still perform well on the pitch. That constant improvement now sees them top of the Premier Leauge with 12 games to go.

What we have seen at Chelsea is a definite and drastic change in standards on the pitch and there is only one person who is to blame, Villas Boas. I've heard all the usual stuff about players under performing due to them not agreeing with the manager and that they have to take responsibility, and I do agree with that to a certain extent, but who has created that situation? Villas Boas. Who is failing to successfully manage that situation? Villa Boas.

Mancini managed that situation and despite several players not being happy, the team continued to move forward due to his man management ability and the 'standards of football' he has implemented.

City fans have witnessed several decades of a certain type of excitement, never knowing how the team was going to perform in each game, whether we'd get a decent cup run or just avoid relegation. Villas Boas can have that if he wants, and in a small way, he's got it. I, on the other hand, quite like this more organised and stable version of excitement at the top of the league.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Manchester City v Blackburn Rovers: Post-match thoughts

2012-02-26T09:35:00.001+00:00

Have you ever witnessed a more one sided game in all your life? I don't think I have in my reasonably short 27 years of it. For around 70 minutes of the game, City had about 86% of possession. It ended with 78% possession, 28 attempts on goal.

City barely had to get out of second gear as Blackburn came with the sole intention of limiting the number of goals City scored. Yakubu cut a lonely figure as the ball was often hoofed in his direction with either Kompany or Lescott waiting to take it back from him.

If there is one negative to take away from the game, it's that despite having 28 shots on goal, only 9 were actually on target. Mancini will no doubt be unhappy with this despite the overall performance. In tougher games, less than a 30% hit rate could cost City.

The shots that City did have on target (apart from the goals) generally brought pretty good saves out of Paul Robinson, who is said to be reconsidering his international retirement. I'm not entirely sure why though, as he still wont be playing ahead of Joe Hart.

Robinson had to make a fine save very early in the game with barely a minute gone. Silva put through Johnson making a run on the wing who then whipped in a low cross which found. Balotelli. Mario's first time shot towards the bottom corner was parried away though.

Silva was causing all sorts of problems on the edge of the box, keeping the ball close to him, waiting for a teammate to make a run, and almost always finding them.

Zabaleta and Kolarov were chosen as the full-backs for this game and they both played admirably, with Aleks getting man of the match. Both provided the width that was required to get behind the Blackburn defence out wide and each put in a number of good crosses.

It was once again Silva who played the ball into space for one of the full-backs in the 30th minute, this time Kolarov. The cross was driven into low into the box and once again found Balotelli who had drifted into space between defenders. Mario struck the ball across the keeper who could only watch it fly past him into the back of the net.

Balotelli unveiled another message on his under armour, declaring his love for his girlfriend, Raffaella Fico. He had learnt his lesson though and only lifted the shirt high enough to see the message instead of pulling it over his head, avoiding an unnecessary booking.

Kompany nearly made it 2-0 6 minutes later when a corner came towards the near post. Vinnie peeled away from his marker, and in a move not dissimilar to Mancini's famous back-heeled goal during his playing days, clipped the ball towards goal. Once again, Robinson was equal to it and Yaya put the rebound wide of the goal.

City came close again seconds before half time. Balotelli hit a 40 yard pass with the outside of his right boot which Aguero had to chase. And despite having 2 defenders around him and receiving a push in the back, Aguero's tenacity got him to the ball before either of them. It was unlucky that his shot across goal went wide of the target.

Sergio made it 2-0 just 6 minutes into the 2nd half after another City corner. Robinson parried away the initial ball into the box, but it fell right in front of Aguero who fired it into the net.

Dzeko came on for Balotelli on 79 minutes and managed to get himself on the score sheet after only 2 minutes on the pitch. Kolarov again the provider after collecting the ball from substitute Pizarro, crossed the ball into the box and into the path of an oncoming Dzeko. His header powered low to the ground and beat Robinson with ease.

Joe Hart was required just the once in time added on. Yakubu hit a tame shot from outside the 18 yard box to mark Blackburn's only shot on target in 94 minutes of football. Hart easily collected it down at his left.

It has to be mentioned that Yaya was magnificent. With Blackburn rarely attacking, Yaya was able to pass the ball almost at will, completing 101 of his 103 passes. He hit several long range passes that found the target with pin-point accuracy, one of his outstanding qualities as a player. And when he did stride forward, Blackburn simply didn't know what to do. It is hoped that the injury that saw him limp off the pitch 5 minutes from the end isn't serious.

Balotelli also has a great game, showing fantastic attitude throughout. Pizarro looks like he's been with City for years, such is his quality of passing and ability to read the game as though he's looking at it from above. I'm certainly wanting to see more of him before the season ends as he looks a quality signing.

With Tevez returning to training, many fans will no doubt be pleased that Aguero, Balotelli and Dzeko are all back in scoring form and looking likely to keep Tevez out of contention of even an appearance on the bench. It wouldn't surprise me if after all that has happened Mancini isn't happy for the same reasons, if only behind closed doors.

Twitter: @MikeWalshMCFC or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot