This is how it feels to be City...

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...

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.

Equality in discipline?

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

Proud in defeat.

Another cold and wet afternoon in Manchester, just the type of weather that City's expensively assembled squad of mercenaries hate and would disappear without a trace in. If that was in the script then no one told City.

There were mixed feelings by both sets of fans before the kick off. A growing number of United fans thought they never had a chance, and as the first whistle went those initial feelings were looking justified. But as we have seen on many occasions in derbies throughout the years, the unexpected often happens, and it did.

Totally against the early run of play Rooney scores the first goal of the game 10 minutes in. The game as a spectacle of two top teams going toe to toe was effectively ended a minute later when referee Chris Foy sent Vincent Kompany off for a tackle on serial drama queen, Nani, that took 100% of the ball and 0% of the player.

Foy didn't even look as though he was going to blow the whistle until Wayne Rooney started flailing his arms in the air and screaming at him to be sent off. Quite ironic from a player that deliberately elbowed a player in the face earlier on in the season and got a hand shake. Or how about the time he blatantly and aggressively kicked a player who had the audacity to take the ball cleanly off him whilst playing for England and the FA decided the subsequent ban was too harsh.

The commentators at the time couldn't believe it, Kompany couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe it, no one in the ground could believe it. No one in blue could anyway. Mancini laughed in disbelief, and not for the first time this season. Every report I have read on the incident agrees that Foy  made a massive mistake, and again not the first one this season either. I hate having to mention the officials after a game but the standard of referees in this country is appalling. It's embarrassing watching the same ones game in game out make the same mistakes, making a mockery of the game without any punitive measures.

The next 40 minutes was a nightmare and I got that sick feeling as the 2nd and 3rd goals went in, fearing that this was going to turn into something embarrassing, all because of a ridiculous decision by the referee.

The second half was nothing short of exhilarating as Mancini came close to orchestrating a miraculous turn around. In the previous derby United spent 40 minutes with 10 men and got totally embarrassed by City. United fans all held up the "we only had 10 men" when they got hammered at home. So what was their excuse for almost shipping a 3 goal lead to a team that played for 80 minutes of the game with 10 men?

Some even had the audacity to gloat and say this was payback. I'm sorry, but that is utterly laughable. You spent almost the entire game against a 10 man City team without arguably the best defender in the league. Not only that, Joe Hart, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko, Gael Clichy, Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure, and Gareth Barry didn't take any part in the match and most weren't even on the bench. Add to that 2 attacking players, one who happens to be widely regarded as the player of the season by most pundits, David Silva and Adam Johnson were subbed off at the start of the second half. AND YOU STILL COULDN'T SECURE THE WIN UNTIL THE FINAL KICK OF THE GAME.

As for the influence and triumphant return of Paul Scholes, pah! He was at fault for the 2nd City goal, made a number of mistakes and United were clinging on to victory with him on the pitch. It's hardly anything to shout about is it? Having to bring back a 37 year old retired midfielder is not a sign of positive intent however you spin it.

If ever their was a time to be proud in defeat, this was it. At half time I felt totally deflated, but after the final whistle went I had nothing but pride and admiration for the squad and the manager  who very nearly pulled off one of the most astonishing come backs in FA Cup history. I urge the United fans to take their red tinted glasses off and seriously take a look at that game and the previous derby, and I mean a really good look;

Now tell me City are full of mercenaries only there for the money. Tell me that City will bottle it when things get tough. Tell me that you really believe City are just the noisy neighbours old whisky nose said we were. Forget about your tired old cliches and one liners, think for yourself just for a moment, I know it's difficult for some of you, and if you can honestly tell me any of those things I will show you a liar.

Judging from the player's reactions after the game, this result has only served to confirm to them that they have the required determination and desire to go on and win the league. And it should be a message to anyone with a reasonable and objective ear that not only do City really mean business but United are not the same team they were.

Rarely is the Club's motto so relevant, but 'Pride in Battle' sums it up perfectly. You can ask for nothing more.

One last thing, if you're a United fan reading this a) What are you doing reading this? Anyone would think you're obsessed. b) Do give up with the "you'll never" speeches. Not only does it not actually bother anyone, it makes you look stupid and you're also beginning to sound like Liverpool fans. You wouldn't want that with them being your biggest rivals would you?




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

City in crisis? Pah!

City are crumbling under the pressure after drawing to West Brom and losing to Sunderland. City wont win the league because they don't have the experience of a title challenge. United are still favourites because they win title after title. City being first means nothing as United come good in January, blah blah blah.

Yes they have all been in the papers or online at some point over the last few weeks and you'd have been stupid to take much notice of any of them. City now go 3 points clear at the top of the table after the current Premier League champions, self proclaimed biggest club in the world, and perennial title challengers lose two games on the bounce. a rather embarrassing 2-3 at home to then Bottom of the league Blackburn Rovers and 3-0 away to Newcastle United.

So who, pray tell, 'comes good' in the second half of the season? Who seems to be crumbling under the pressure of the title challenge?

How about instead of hearing about how City have choked at chances to go further ahead of United, why haven't I heard "United fail to take advantage of City's mistakes and go ahead of them in the league"? Because however you look at it, that is exactly what has happened.

The best bit of this is that Rio Ferdinand has said that the 1-6 mullering at Old Trash-yard to their insignificant 'noisy neighbours' has actually helped their season!

"I'll be honest, and it pains me to say it, but it was probably one of the best things to happen to us." Camel face is quoted as saying.

You know what Rio? I actually agree with you. It certainly was the best thing to happen to United in my lifetime at least. And if helping their season means they stay in 2nd place, as well as lose at home to the bottom of the league then by all means I think we should help their season again on Sunday. Maybe they would have a run of form that would see them drop out of the top 4 all together if we help them enough.

Of course I expect to see a little more effort put into the derby game, despite so many United fans telling City that the FA Cup means nothing, it's turned into a Mickey Mouse trophy. What more would we expect from a set of fans from a club that willingly dropped out of the FA Cup, the oldest and most famous domestic club cup competition in the world, to play half way across the world in a newly formed money spinning world tournament that still hasn't really taken off in the eyes of football fans.

Then again they also said the League Cup was a Noddy tournament too, but look at the effort they put into making sure City didn't win it 2 years ago! I guess the Premier League will be just another unimportant distraction if they don't win it this season.

Scrap that, I know exactly what their fans will say "Come back when you've won 19", "You'll never be bigger than United" etc. etc. Don't they know we don't actually care what is said? Statements like that don't demoralise the players or the fans. It just gives us something to throw back at them at some point in the future.

I wont go into the list of ridiculous one liners they come out with, but the majority of them centre around City "never" achieving a certain goal. Well the thing is, never is a long time, a very long time and several of their predictions have already been shown to be idiotic at best and several more are on the way to being dismissed.

I fully expect to hear "Losing like that to Newcastle was just Fergie playing mind games" at some point before kick off on Sunday. No seriously, that's the kind of level of delusion we're dealing with here.

I'm not stupid enough to say that City are going to hammer United, and I am not stupid enough to take heed of anything that a United fan says in general, never mind in a build up to a derby. What I will say though that if City show the same grit and determination they showed against Liverpool then United had best get ready for one of their toughest ever derbies.




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

Demolition Derby

The scene was set, Mancini's 100th game in charge at City, United had gone unbeaten at home in the league for just over a year. Nani had billed this as the biggest derby ever. Pundits and so called experts were saying although City were top of the league they had not played anyone of note (lets forget about hammering Spurs shall we?). While United had well beat a capitulating Arsenal reserves, drew against a Liverpool side failing to set the world alight and were fantastically lucky to beat Chelsea with 2 offside goals and with Torres unable to hit a cow's arse with a banjo.

Admittedly for the first 15-20 minutes United were the better side. City didn't press hard enough and gave them far too much time on the ball. Young looked to be the biggest threat early on as he drew a number of fouls (not all by honest means) down City's right flank. I'll concede that the ref wouldn't have had a good view of him doing a Tom Daley over Micah's and Milner's challenges otherwise we should have seen a yellow card for simulation.

But after setting his house on fire only 36 hours earlier through setting off fireworks from his bathroom window (yeah, why not? It's Mario), Mario Balotelli set the game alight by striking an exquisitely nonchalant side footed shot into the bottom corner of De Gea's net in the 22nd minute. And in true Balotelli style uncovered a tongue in cheek message underneath his City shirt which read "Why always me?". This also got him a yellow card, and I still don't understand why that rule hasn't been scrapped.  

From that point on, City were a better team, they were THE better team and went into half time with a deserved lead. And after Evans got a straight red (and rightly so) for impeding the ever more reliable Balotelli shortly after the break the City of old would still have made a meal of it. Not this time, we're made of tougher stuff nowadays.

I wont go into detail about the rest of the match as I don't think I could do it justice. Just watch the extended highlights for yourself on mcfc.co.uk, again, and again, and again.

Micah, one of the two survivors in the lineup that played in City's 2008 derby win at the swamp, received the Man of the Match award. He was absolutely immense going forward and at the back and kept the threat from United to a minimum.

Over half of United's shots, and the only ones on target, came from outside of the box, which is testament to the defensive work of the 4 at the back and indeed the work of the team as a whole, although I'm sure Mancini will have words regarding the goal City conceded as we all know how he hates conceding.

By the time that goal went in though, City had already scored 3, and although it saw United have a spell of pressure on City, it was fairly short-lived. All that goal really did was spur City on to really kill the game off. What happened next was any number of superlatives as City systematically tore United apart piece by piece. Even though United were a man down, there can simply be no excuses for how they were taught a real lesson in football to that extent.

What's really good about this is that each of City's strikers scored, as well as David Silva who once again made the opposition look ridiculous on a number of occasions. Dzeko 2, Balotelli 2 and Aguero 1. Does anyone remember what Paul Merson said at the beginning of the season? Apparently we were really going to miss Tevez. HA!

Another mention has to go to James Milner who has been in great form recently and really stepped up to the plate again today after being picked ahead of Samir Nasri. His work rate and awareness today were 2nd to none and he is really showing why he was brought to City in the first place.

I'm not sure we'd have seen a performance quite like that had we walked over Villareal in midweek. The tough test they provided coupled with the last gasp win looks to have given City an added belief that wasn't quite there before.

I mentioned the games against Everton and Liverpool at the end of last season and the results directly following them. We've seen a certain mental strength developing at City over the last 12 months coming off the back of difficult games or disappointing results. The game against Fulham and the result after that is another example of this mentality that Mancini is instilling within the club.

City have now scored a record number of goals in the Premier League after 9 games. A record that was previously held by Arsenal's invincibles. Now I'm not saying City will win the league but that was as big a statement of intent as you could possibly give. 

The rest of the season starts here. This was billed as the big test of how City really measured up to the title challenge and City past with flying colours. Next up is Mick MacCarthy Wolves (both Carling Cup and Premier League). And no disrespect to them, but these are now the games City are really expected to win. But in the past we've seen City go into games overconfident and been punished for it. Another factor in the new mentality is for this not to happen. A result such as this breeds overconfidence, but the players now have to make sure they go into the next game totally focussed.

One question will continue to give Mancini a massive headache though; who on earth gets a place in the starting 11 ahead of the others?  City haven't had it quite so good for a long time, and long may it continue!



You can check out the City Stats from this game by clicking HERE





@MikeWalsh1880

City Stats: Manchester United v Manchester City

Joe Hart

• Distribution: 13/25 - 52%
• Saves: 3/4 - 75%
• Minutes: 90

Micah Richards

• Shots: 0/2 - 0%
• Passes: 21/32 - 1 assist - 65%
• Intercetpions: 3
• Tackles: 8/13 - 61%
• Minutes: 90

Vincent Kompany

• Shots:  0/1 - 1 blocked - 0%
• Passes: 23/28 - 82%
• Interceptions: 3
• Tackles: 2/2 - 100%
• Minutes: 90

Joleon Lescott

• Shots: 0/0
• Passes: 27/33 - 1 assist - 81%
• Interceptions:
• Tackles: 3/5 - 60%
• Minutes: 90

Gael Clichy

• Shots: 0/0
• Passes: 42/50 - 84%
• Interceptions: 4
• Tackles: 3/7 - 42%
• Minutes: 90

Gareth Barry

• Shots: 0/0
• Passes: 48/51 - 94%
• Interceptions: 2
• Tackles: 2/3 - 66%
• Minutes: 90

Yaya Toure

• Shots: 0/3 - 1 blocked - 0%
• Passes: 66/72 - 91%
• Interceptions 3
• Tackles: 1/3 - 33%
• Minutes: 90

James Milner

• Shots: 0/1 - 1 blocked - 0%
• Passing: 44/53 - 2 assists - 83%
• Interceptions: 0
• Tackles: 2/3 - 66%
• Minutes: 89

David Silva

• Shots: 1/4 - 1 blocked - 1 goal - 25% - 25% goals/shots
• Passes: 63/71 - 1 assist - 88%
• Interceptions: 1
• Tackles: 4/6 - 66%
• Minutes: 90

Mario Balotelli

• Shots: 2/4 - 2 blocked - 2 goals - 50% - 50% goals/shots
• Passes: 23/28 - 82
• Interceptions: 0
• Tackles: 3/6 - 50%
• Minutes: 70

Sergio Aguero

• Shots: 1/2 - 1 blocked - 1 goal -  50% - 50% goals/shots
• Passes: 26/29 - 89%
• Interceptions: 1
• Tackles: 2/3 - 66%
• Minutes: 76

Edin Dzeko

• Shots: 3/5 - 2 goals - 60% - 40% goals/shots
• Passes: 6/7 - 1 assist - 85%
• Interceptions: 1
• Tackles: 1/2 - 50%
• Minutes: 20

Samir Nasri

• Shots: 0/0
• Passes: 13/16 - 81%
• Interceptions: 0
• Tackles: 1/1 - 100%
• Minutes: 4

Aleks Kolarov

• Shots: 0/0
• Passes: 0/0
• Interceptions: 0
• Tackles: 0/0
• Minutes: 1

Team Stats

• Shots: 7/22 - 7 blocked - 6 goals - 31% - 27% goals/shots
• Passes: 415/495 - 6 assists - 83%
• Interceptions: 18
• Tackles: 32/54 - 59%
• Possession: 55%
• Corners: 4
• Fouls: 11

Not a title decider, but important none the less.

I did say that the game last night was a potential banana skin, and it very nearly was. It wasn't pretty in any way shape or form, but I suspect no one is too bothered seeing as we secured the 3 points that we desperately needed in the dying seconds. Add to that Bayern and Napoli drawing, it means we really are back in the thick of it.

You have to wonder whether the players had one eye on this weekend's fixtures whilst playing Villareal. It certainly seemed like the lads were playing with one eye anyway with the number of stray passes throughout the game, even from David Silva. They certainly didn't make it easy for themselves to put it mildly.

The way the game went may just be what the team needed though for a number of reasons. One being that coming from behind to win a game in the dying seconds gives the team a boost in confidence, a feel good factor that can have a profound effect in the short term at least. The second is that because they were given a tough game they are more likely to be more focused for the next fixture. Look at the results against Everton and Liverpool at the back end of last season to understand what I'm talking about.

With that in mind, I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone that it's the first Manchester derby of the Premier League season on Sunday. I'm also pretty sure that none of the players need to be told how difficult the game is going to be, or what it means for the club and the fans, but the result against Villareal can only encourage and focus the team even more in the lead up to this game.

Is it the biggest derby in recent years? I don't think so, I believe the FA cup semi-final holds that as that actually had a direct impact on the chances of silverware. Despite this the media are likely to bill it as the all time most important greatest ever once in a life time clash of old vs new money due to the fact that that City and United occupy 1st and 2nd spot in the league. This game, although important is not going to be a title decider, but as I mentioned earlier the momentum a win in a fixture like this could give either team may make the difference when the points are counted come the end of the season.

This is a derby at the end of the day though and neither team will ever want to be on the losing side of one of these games. No derby is meaningless, they just vary in the degrees of importance. If the Community Shield was a 2 on a scale of 1-5 (due to the fact you did get a little piece of silverware despite it being a friendly), this one would be a 3.5 in degrees of importance over the course of the season. But however much the match counts it is always important to the club and fans to win a derby.

So who starts? Everyone will have their own thoughts on who should get the nod, we've got a great squad to choose from, and not everyone will be happy with Mancini's choice on the day. There are 7 who I think Mancini will definitely pick; Hart, Kompany, Clichy, Richards, Y. Toure, Silva and Aguero. The rest will depend on who's fit as much as who Bobby thinks will do the job on the day.

Will Yaya's rather poor defensive mid display on Tuesday night mean he plays further up field (like he did with better effect last season including the semi-final and a portion of Tuesday night) leaving the holding roles open for De Jong, Barry and Milner to fight it out? Or will he stay in that position like he has done in the Premier League (and performed pretty well) and leave only one place left in the centre? Either way, Mancini likes the big man and he isn't likely to be dropped.

You'll notice Lescott isn't in the 'certain to start list', not because I don't think he doesn't deserve it, but Mancini could decide to field Kolo who is more rested. However the partnership between Lescott and Kompany is a very good one and it probably wouldn't be a good idea to break that up against a side like United.

It may sound a little odd, but the team from midfield upwards really does depend on where Yaya ends up playing. Wherever that may be, another quality player will be left out of the starting lineup. If he plays further forward then You are likely to only see one of either Balotelli, Dzeko and Aguero, and it would most likely be Aguero in that situation.

If he plays further back then you looking at a more free flowing attacking line up with room for 2 of the 3 forwards available. Aguero would likely play just off the main striker with Silva and Nasri either side.

But who would then get the privilege of leading the line? At the start of the season I would have said Dzeko without much thought, but since the Spurs game his form has bombed. This of course doesn't make him a bad player, we've seen exactly what he's capable of. The mistake may have been taking him out of the starting lineup against Wigan as this appears to have set his confidence back to square one. Dzeko of all the players in the squad seems to run on confidence more than anyone, and he doesn't look like he has any right now but a start in a big occasion like a derby could be the spark he needs.

Balotelli on the other hand constantly oozes confidence, in fact he has a major surplus of it. If only it was as simple as sharing it around, no one in the squad would ever be short of it. To add to that, he's tapped into a fantastic vein of form, 4 goals in 4 appearances plus a man of the match performance in his last game. The current form of Mario and Edin couldn't be more different.

Decisions decisions. I suppose it beats having the option of Corradi or Samaras eh?

What would your starting 11 be?



@MikeWalsh1880