Keep calm and carry on

Well, what can I say about today? Disappointing if not predictable just about sums it up in a polite way. If you haven't heard yet, where have you been? The FA have upheld Vinnie's 4 match ban after an independent panel felt that the wholly inept Chris Foy was right in sending off Vincent Kompany in the Manchester derby.

Now for all the people saying "#twofoottackle = red card" and the line "by the letter of the law it was a red" you really should know better and check "the letter of the law". In fact you can do it right HERE. Also to quote Referee Development Officer, Peter Roberts with reference to two footed tackles; "If he takes the ball cleanly, it is a free kick and a caution." I rest my case your honour.

But anyway the damage is done, now City should use this as motivation to push harder to bring the Premier League title to the Etihad Stadium. Over the last few weeks there has been a growing siege mentality surrounding the squad with all the talk of City's season collapsing and some rather dubious red card decisions and officiating that has had a say on certain results.

We saw this mentality in full force in the FA Cup against United and much has been said about the performance that day. What City need to do now is continue that same determination right up to the end of the season, starting with Liverpool's visit to the Etihad in the Carling Cup.

I know for a fact there are fans of every team that don't feel the competition is worth winning. I beg to differ, silverware is silverware and although the big prize is ultimately the Premier League trophy, the Carling Cup is important for the players and the teams taking part regardless of what the fans think.

How Mancini will go about the starting 11 is anyone's guess as although Komapny's dismissal is a massive blow there are players waiting to step up to the challenge. Micah Richards and Stefan Savic are the 2 other players that can play at centre-back alongside Joleon lescott whilst Kolo Toure is away.

Savic put in a great performance when required to against United and even picked up a nasty blood injury that was quickly wrapped up for him to battle on. To be fair to the lad, he didn't put a foot wrong and will be itching to prove his worth to the team now he has a chance for a short run in the starting 11.

There is also a question surrounding the fitness of David Silva, although the Twitter rumours of a broken ankle a just a little wide of the mark.

One plus point to take note of is that Gareth Barry has served his ban which was picked up against Liverpool in the Premier League, and will no doubt return to action straight away to bolster the options in the centre of midfield and provide cover for the roaming full-backs. Barry has been the most consistent player so far in this campaign and will hopefully pick up where he left off.

Another positive is that both Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko took full part in training and will hopefully be in contention for a return tomorrow or against Wigan.

On the transfer front, Kompany's ban may mean Onuoha gets another 6 months at the club as he may well be needed for cover should the unthinkable happen to any more defenders before the transfer window closes. Although Mancini showed little intent on giving him another chance as he opted to name 16 year old Karim Rekik on the bench ahead of him on Sunday.

The fans certainly have their part to play. The 2nd half of Sunday's game showed what can be done when the crowd gets behind the team. Several of the players commented on it after the match and clearly respond to the noise levels in the stadium as we have seen several times this season. The louder the crowd, the bigger the performance has been. So you know what to do.




Twitter: @MikeWalsh1880 or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Manchester City v Liverpool: Post Match

I said it would be one of the toughest games of the season and despite the score I think it was. Playing a game against one of the top teams in the country only 2 days after playing another game was never going to be a walk in the park.

City never really got into any sort of rhythm at any point in the 90 minutes and the possession and passing stats show just that as Liverpool had around 2/3 of it with City completing only 77% of their passes. Going down to 10 men after 73 minutes didn't help but the pattern had already been set. It was never a 2nd yellow either.

Mike Jones is just another in a line of referees who don't appear to be up to the standard required of a Premier League official. Gareth Barry received 2 yellow cards and was given his marching orders, while Adam and Skrtel was free to do pretty much whatever they like for the majority of the game. Even Skrtel giving away a penalty straight after Barry got sent off couldn't get Mike Jones to dip his hand in his pocket to give Liverpool a card after Glenn Johnson's solitary 55th minute booking for quite clearly pulling back Aguero.

I have complained about City's poor finishing in their recent few games as a number of good chances have gone begging, but imagine how Liverpool fans feel? They've had to put up with it from the very start of the season and now Liverpool and Suarez have accepted the ban (if not his guilt) the task of converting the majority of chances falls to Andy Carroll.

Unfortunately for Liverpool, Carroll is almost totally one dimensional, simply asking for the ball to be whipped into the box for him to try and stick his head onto. That was the plan against City anyway. Unfortunately again for Liverpool is that they came up against a Vincent Kompany that has regained his best form in recent weeks and 10 of Kompany's 14 clearances came from crosses aimed at Carroll. In fact, Carroll may as well have not been on the pitch for all he offered. Kompany on the other hand was awarded man of the match.

Although not the kind of game people have come to expect from City, it was a great defensive display with everyone mucking in. Even the forwards stuck a few tackles in albeit with rather mixed results, they are forwards after all. A lot of players had to put a shift in, and although it was rarely spectacular it was full of grit and determination. Not exactly the performance you would expect from a group of over payed, uninterested mercenaries on a cold and wet Manchester evening.

City did concede more chances than they would have liked but Joe Hart rarely looked out of his comfort zone as he put in another commanding performance. The players in front of him handled themselves well, and Joe mopped up any mistakes they did make.

Yaya had possibly his best performance of the season as he gave City a driving force on the counter attack on a number of occasions, one surge won the penalty after going down to 10 men which James Milner converted His goal to make it 2-0 was my goal of the match. It was a fantastic header that went in off the bar, not only for how it went in, but because he was moving backwards at the times and managed to get decent power on it as well as direction.

Aguero's opportunistic shot from the edge of the box was also quite stunning as he hit the ball with enough top spin which made the ball dip very quickly in front of Pepe Reina. The Spanish keeper, who has had a very good season so far, couldn't get down quick enough and the ball shot underneath him into the ball of the net.

All in all it was a solid performance from the squad and full of the determination that was required to silence the growing number of critics all too ready to write off City's season. City proved they can grind out results despite not playing particularly well. I say 'grind out results' but 3-0 isn't really what I'd call a close result. So much for City's season falling apart eh?




Twitter: @MikeWalsh1880 or @mcfcDSLeftFoot
Facebook: David Silva's Left Foot

Liverpool v Manchester City

This weekend City fans will be looking for what's described in football as 'bounce-backability' when they travel to Anfield on Sunday. Although City's European form has been very hit and miss (mainly miss), they have been powerhouses in the Premiership.

Anfield is always a difficult place to go and pick up points, as City found out last season, however Liverpool's current form at home isn't exactly outstanding at this moment in time. Out of the 6 games played there in the league they've drawn 4 (Sunderland, Manchester United, Norwich and Swansea) and won 2 (Bolton and Wolves). Of course this means they're unbeaten at home so far but they have only picked up 10 of a possible 30 points.

'King' Kenny will be without Steven Gerrard once again but there are now other major injury concerns for him to worry about. Last season Liverpool's fortunes took a dramatic turn for the better when Dalglish took the reigns again, and they managed to reasonably recover what was potentially a disastrous campaign. The purchase of Luis Suarez turned out to be one of the buys of the season however Andy Carroll was possibly the most overpriced lump of uselessness other than Chelsea's splurge of £50m on Torres.  

This season has been somewhat mixed with them currently sat in 6th place having won 50% of their games so far. None of their strikers have made a fantastic start to the season either. Suarez has is their top scorer with only 4 goals to his name. Carroll and Adam share 2nd place with 2 goals each. In fact when it comes to home form, Liverpool have scored fewer than each of the top 8 teams in the league on home turf as well as Norwich and Fulham also hitting the back of the net more often.

In contrast, City's form home and away has been, well, awe inspiring. They've won 5 and drawing 1 away from home as well as scoring 23 goals in the process. 5 of those goals coming against Spurs and 6 against United. The only down side is that City have also conceded 8 goals on their travels, only keeping 1 clean sheet against Blackburn, and although the squad has raised its game when up against bigger teams in the league this will be something Mancini will be astutely aware of and looking to rectify.

Aguero was rested during the week, only making a 9 minute appearance from the subs bench so I would suspect he will be in the starting 11. Which one of Balotelli and Dzeko makes way for the Argentine is any one's guess, although with Mario suffering from some form of illness in the Champions League it could be him. Micah Richards, Gael Clichy, Gareth Barry and Samir Nasri are all also likely to find themselves back in the squad.

So from what I've said so far, it may look like an easy game but that is certainly not the case. I expect a tough game at Anfield and considering we lost there last season I will be willing to take a draw as an improved result.