Player ratings: Manchester City v Birmingham City
Hart – Cut a frustrated figure when he wasn’t able to initiate attacks quickly. Needs to stay calm and ensure possession is retained. 6
Boateng – Looking a lot more assured on the right hand side of defence. Defended well but we could have done with some of the long range passing, which can be his forte, to initiate attacks. 7
K Toure – Faced with a pair of big physical strikers, this could have been a difficult afternoon for Kolo. His excellent form ensured it wasn’t. 7
Kompany – Zigic, the Premier League’s tallest striker, is a particularly awkward opponent yet Vincent kept the danger to a minimum. Also displayed a good range of passing in an attempt to force a breakthrough. 7
Kolarov (Zabaleta 81mins) – Great to see the Serb start a match. Displayed a good touch, appreciation of the game, and looked to get forward whenever possible. The shooting was woeful mind, and he wasn’t tested defensively. 7
De Jong – Another dominant midfield performance. Birmingham didn’t show a great deal of adventure and Nigel put a stop to any sign of it. Even managed to get a shot on target. 7
Y Toure – Interesting to see him partnering de Jong as a midfield anchor. Looked a lot more comfortable and was able to display some cultured passing to instigate moves. 7
A Johnson – Got the 90 minutes he wanted, and did ok without being at his best. Linked up well with his team-mates and showed a willingness to shoot. Unfortunately the accuracy was no better than that of everyone else. 6
Silva – Good to see his involvement grow as the game wore on. Not so good was the absence of any final ball to create the clear chances we craved. 6
Milner (Santa Cruz 67mins) – Came closest to scoring immediately after half-time when Carr blocked his shot on the line. That summed up the way it’s going for James at the moment. In fairness he was having a better game than of late, but couldn’t have too many complaints at being taken off. 6
Tevez (Barry 83mins) – Showed a good level of industry for someone who wasn’t supposed to be fully fit. Instead the lack of sharpness was apparent in his finishing. On another day he might have bagged a hat-trick. We just needed one here, but Carlos couldn’t provide it. 6
Subs:
Santa Cruz – Ran around to show that at least he’s fit. Not surprisingly there was no sign of him being in any form and Roque didn’t have any significant impact. 6
Zabaleta – Provided a little more energy than the tiring Kolarov, but less quality with his delivery. 6
Barry – Actually saw him sprinting as he sought to create a winner. Managed to get a shot away in his brief appearance. 6
Man of the match: The back six were strong throughout. Vincent Kompany wins the award as he had the toughest task in subduing Zigic.
longsightcity
15 November 2010 - 11:48 am
Milner was having a better game than of late…ffs what game was you watching..he was dire and has been since we bought him..26 milion for the biggest turkey ever..santa cruz looks a steal compared to him..
Blue Days
15 November 2010 - 12:00 pm
longsightcity, I didn’t think he was great, just a bit better than in his last couple of games. He still needs to show a lot more. Whether he can without us playing him in the role O’Neill did is the question.
robbo
15 November 2010 - 12:17 pm
Unfortunately there are too many idiots like this that think only superstar tricks and piledrivers are worthy of a place in our team. Milner does the donkey work so Silva et al can play. However, that does him a disservice as he can also play. Okay – his form hasnt been great but there isnt much else to replace him at the moment.
We were crap and still should have won by at least two.
The biggest issue is that this supposed great squad we have is littered with players who know they have no future with us (Santa, SWP, Bridge, Ade etc). Therefore they have no motivation to come and change the game. Would be happy to see those four leave and another two to come in and replace them.
pjdemers
15 November 2010 - 11:52 pm
I mean no disrespect but I disagree with Robbo that we don’t have a great squad because the fact is we do, and the fact that talented players like SWP, RSC, and Ade are unmotivated is because Mancini does not give them a fair shake.
How can we expect any player to be motivated when they are aware that no matter how hard they work, how hard they run, how well they play, or even how many goals they score (Adebayor) Mancini gives them the cold shoulder. It must be infuriating for someone like SWP, (who loves this club) and RSC (who has stated he would like to stay) especially when talented players like Yaya (whose second half performance in the Derby was the most lazy, selfish, performance I’ve seen in quite sometime) can underperform and still be rewarded. This speaks poorly of Mancini’s man managements skill which look to be non-existent.
Let’s be clear here, I’m not asking Mancini to tuck them in to bed every night, but he needs to develop good relationships with his players and earn their respect and not just simply demand it.
I also don’t understand the constant talk about how we need to go into the transfer market and buy a target man like Dzeko. We have two talented forwards in RSC and Adebayor with proven goal scoring records in the EPL who are more than capable of playing in the Dzeko target man role. Let’s remember that Dzeko comes with an enormous price tag and there’s no guarantee he’ll settle into the EPL and we also have to consider the financial fair play regulations that are going to come into the play. Again it speaks poorly of
Mancini and the club that the first solution is to dip into the transfer kitty. That he can’t get the most out of a squad that on paper is one of the best in the EPL suggest to me its has more to with Mancini’s short-comings than it does with any of the players at his disposal.
Despite my ever growing concerns and deep reservations about the man, I don’t won’t to him to get the sack simply because the managerial merry-go-round will destabilize the club and I do think their is plenty of time for Roberto to prove me wrong and if he does I’ll raise my hand and gladly admit I was wrong but I just can’t see it at the moment.