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

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

Sunderland v Manchester City

City kick off the new year travelling North East to Sunderland who it's fair to say haven't really been up to scratch so far this season. Hence the sacking of Steve Bruce and the hiring of Martin O'Neill.

Since taking charge of Sunderland on the 5th of December, the fortunes of the Club appear to be looking a little better. However the points they have picked up are against those around them in the table and they lost away to Spurs, which isn't all that bad given Spurs' current form.

Where they might be in the table had they held onto Darren Bent last January and Assamoah Gyan is anyone's guess, but the fact that Sebastian Larsson is their current top scorer tells a story itself. That's not a slur on Larsson at all, and he is definitely going to be a goal threat for the defence to watch out for. But the fact that Larsson is a midfielder tells you they haven't managed to replace the threat that Bent and Gyan posed in front of goal. In all honesty, Niklas Bendtner wasn't ever going to be the answer to the loss of those two players.

It will be interesting to see how O'Neill deploys his midfield as this is where a game against City is really won or lost. Playing a defensive 6-3-1 like Stoke certainly isn't the answer as this gives City's midfield far too much space and time to look for the right pass. West Brom on the other hand, although once again playing defensively, played with 2 close banks of 4 which limited the amount of space for players like Silva to thread that killer ball into.

That hasn't always worked for teams as we've seen, but it certainly makes it more difficult for City to break through, and I suspect that may be how O'Neill will look to thwart City's advances on Sunday.

As for City, I fully expect Mancini to field a very different team to the one that started against West Brom. Why? Because City play host to Liverpool just 2 days later. Liverpool will also have had an extra 48 hours rest so it will be up to Mancini to try and keep the '1st' 11 as fresh as possible.

The 2 main headaches will be the full-back and central midfield positions. At the time of writing this there is no news on the fitness of Micah Richards or Aleks Kolarov. If both are fit to play I suspect Aleks will play at left-back and Zaba will continue to play on the right. This being with the Liverpool game in mind of course where Richards and Clichy would start.

As regards to the midfield issue, does Gareth Barry start against Sunderland after only being used as a sub against West Brom? Or does he sit on the bench again and be fully fit to face Liverpool? I know this wont be popular with a lot of the newer City support, I'd rather him play against Liverpool as he has been one of, if no the most consistent performer in the entire squad since the start of last season. My thoughts on his contribution will have to wait for now though.

If I was pushed to make a decision on who will start in the centre I'd go for De Jong and possibly Abdul Razak. Mancini is going to want Barry and Yaya fit to face Liverpool, and I've simply no idea what is happening with Owen Hargreaves.

A recall to action is in order for Edin Dzeko, after missing out on his last chance through a late ankle injury. As mentioned in previous articles, he is due a few goals as he seems to score in fits and starts. Although he is getting less opportunity at the moment due to the ever increasing contributions of Mario Balotelli.

I suspect this will be quite a tough game, especially with the number of changes we might see to the starting 11. Even so, City have enough ability to win and keep another clean sheet. Whether that happens, we'll find out on Sunday.




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

Manchester City v Arsenal

Another big game ahead as Arsenal travel up from London to the Etihad Stadium. The media have taken delight in declaring City's season is crumbling after falling out of the Champions League and suffering their first domestic defeat against Chelsea. All I will say to that is "pffft, get a grip and find something interesting to write about".

Arsene Wenger's side haven't exactly got off to a flying start to the season after selling 3 very important players over the summer. Their defensive record is quite shocking overall, conceding more goals than anyone in the top 7 teams.

This poor record is partly down to their complete and utter capitulation to Manchester United earlier on in the season, but they have only conceded 2 in their last 5 Premier League games. However, their numbers at the back have taken a serious hit and are without a recognised full-back on either side of the pitch.

Unsurprisingly I would say their main threat is Robin van Persie. RVP has almost single handedly kept the Gunners in the top half of the table, scoring 15 or the team's 31 league goals. And they said City relied too much on Tevez last season! I've not heard much (anything) about how van Persie has been carrying the squad from the media, and you wont do either.

Given RVP's goal scoring form, it is a little concerning that City haven't kept a clean sheet for 8 consecutive league games. The absence of Nigel De Jong has certainly showed this season as Mancini has opted for the combination of Barry and Toure in the middle rather than Barry and De Jong with Toure further up the pitch.

On the plus side of this though it has obviously enabled City to be more adventurous despite using the exact same formation as last season as we now have more quality attacking players to choose from. There can be no denying that City's ability going forward has more than made up for less cover at the back.

Talking of cover at the back, Micah Richards is set to return at right-back which is a big boost to the squad. Pablo Zabaleta is likely to move over to the left of defence as Kolarov is still recovering from injury and Clichy is suspended. Other than that, there are no injury concerns at this time.

City are once again favourites with the bookies to come out on top, and despite Arsenal slowly getting themselves back into top form and City's little blip in the league I'd have to agree with them. Arsenal will come and play football, there will be no buses parked in front of their goal. This, coupled with their makeshift defence, could play right into City's strength on the break.

And FIFA 12 predicts...

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

The 'new' City mentality.

Since joining City from Shrewsbury, Joe Hart has worked his way up to be both club and country's 1st choice goalkeeper. This was no mean feat either, and I'd say it was even more of an achievement to do it at City as he had one of the best keepers to grace the Premier League fighting him for it.

Although other players generally stand out for their performances or attitude towards the club I do think Charles gets a little overlooked (more so this season than last and a little like his 1st name) but epitomises the desire within the squad.

He was interviewed by mcfc.co.uk after the derby, where City romped away as 6-1 winners, did I ment1-6n they won 6-1? 6-1 at the swamp, don't think I ment1-6ned it. Anyway... In the interview Joe describes how annoyed they won 6-1. Why? Because it was 6-ONE.

"I was annoyed. You can get carried away with the result and the three points, but we let in a goal. It kills me to let one in, it kills all of us.

"I'm so angry because we've hammered teams and then we've let a stupid goal in. It's frustrating, and we're trying for perfection at the moment."

That sums up the mentality Mancini is instilling within the squad. He's a perfectionist and we've all heard him talk about the players never resting on their laurels, always striving to do better and even after a good win there is always something to improve on. It's important you see. Bobby has also mentioned (on a number of occasions) after City have let in the odd goal that this is one thing that bugs him. It seems to bug all the players too.

Now I certainly can't speak for every team's attitude but I should imagine there are a few that don't mind conceding the odd goal if they score more than the opposition. For some teams and managers that may be fine, not City.

When Sheikh Mansour took over and installed Khaldoon Al Mubarak as Chairman they wanted to create a football dynasty. They wanted to take a club and make it the best in the world. Then they installed a manager who was absolutely driven and as demanding and focused as they were. Roberto Mancini.

That focus and drive has gradually permeated the squad and now looks weaved into the fabric of the players. Joe Hart is no exception there. Just look at his reaction to conceding a goal (or the next time he concedes), even at 3-0 up at the time, he absolutely hates it. 

"So he should, he's a goalkeeper" I hear you say, well yes, but I've not seen too many keepers look like that when they're already 3-0 up and just had a goal put past them. And the sheer look of disappointment can also be seen on many other players in the squad too. Although it will only be for a fleeting moment.

Hart also gives us a little insight into the dressing room in an interview after opening a new club house for AFC Urmston in mid-week after being asked about the derby.

"There was a lot of talk about the Charity Shield, when we were 2-0 up at the break... We were telling each other not to back off, to go for it. And we did."

We've read it a few times before that it's not just the Manager that gets a word in at half time, it seems the lads are encouraged to make their views known to each other and to encourage each other during the break. There are a number of very strong characters in the squad now and that seems to be paying dividends.

If there's one thing that City aren't short of, it's leaders. Joe Hart is a commanding and confident presence at the back. Vincent Kompany is a born leader and club captain. Nigel De Jong is another strong and influential character in the team. Gareth Barry has captained England at times, has a steady head and is a fantastic professional. Micah Richards, despite his age he is a big character and as determined as anyone at the club when he steps on that pitch. Kolo Toure can be added to that as he was club captain at one point. I should Imagine Kolo's brother Yaya, will also be one of those to get their say as he is one of the most experienced players in the squad.

Some teams struggle to find 1 good leader, City have at least 6 or 7 to choose from, and it shows. No longer are we seeing the team put their heads down after a goal, we're seeing them push from the first to the last whistle, we're also seeing them push even harder to finish the game in a strong manner.

A wonderful example of this new resolve and mental strength they seem to find themselves with is the  3-1 Premier League win against Wolves. From the moment the first whistle went City were playing against 14 men; The 11 Wolves players, the ref and the two linesmen. If you watched the game you will no doubt be of a similar opinion that it was undoubtedly one of the worst and most one sided performances from any set of officials I've ever witnessed.

Wolves, a team well known for their 'physical' approach to the game only had 5 fouls called against them all game. City on the other hand had 17. An example of one of these 'fouls' was a Wolves player leaping over and into the back of Mario Balotelli to head the ball, which caused Mario to double over (a little theatrically, but still...). What was the refs decision? Foul... to Wolves, because Stuart Attwell decided Mario had backed into the player. Ok then Stuart.

Another example would be the blatant penalty call that both the ref and linesman conveniently missed/flat-out ignored when Nasri lifted the ball into the box. Dzeko at this point was almost in a choke hold but nothing was called.

I could go on and on about the ref but the point of this piece isn't to describe how the ref was a grossly incompetent prick (just look at his record and you'll see) that couldn't referee an U10's game let alone a Premier League match.

Anyway, what affect did this have on the team? Very little in the grand scheme of things. The lads plugged away, toughed it out, gave Wolves very few chances to score and even when down to 10 men they managed an injury time goal to stretch their lead.

Mick McCarthy told the BBC the they "let [City] off the hook" in that game, but I'm not entirely sure which game he was watching. City were not at their best by any stretch of the imagination but as Alan Hansen correctly put it (yes you did read that right) at the moment even when City aren't at their best "they're still impressive".

Yes City were and are still impressive despite not being at their best, despite playing against a ref that simply refused to acknowledge any foul against a City player even if that left them on the floor clutching their ankle in pain, despite going down to 10 men (for what is increasingly looking like a 50/50 after watching it on several replays, but we'll not argue) City were still impressive. They locked out Wolves and still got themselves a goal. Maybe Fergie could learn something there.

The 'old' City would have crumbled after going down to 10 men and conceded 2 or 3 goals late on. But the team now has such a balance and mental strength that even though they hadn't been playing to their full potential it barely affected them in the end. Being able to win games when playing 'poor' is what Champions do, isn't that what Hansen said last week? I noticed there was no mention of it this week though. But City proved they can do it, and do it well under very difficult circumstance

Oh and just one more thing seeing as I've seen it in a few places this morning. The fans were NOT booing the players. Any moron with half a brain should be able to figure out that the booing was for the ref. That is all... 



@MikeWalsh1880

Blackburn Rovers v Manchester City

After a disappointing result in the mid-week Champions League game against Bayern Munich, and the other distractions that created, City will be looking to bounce straight back with a good performance against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Blackburn currently sit in 17th spot in the league with 4 points, 3 of those being gifted to them by 2 Arsenal own goals. Steve Kean has come in for a lot of criticism since taking over from Sam Allardyce and the result against Arsenal may have just give him a little reprieve from the demonstrations calling for him to be sacked. Last weekend's 3-1 loss to Newcastle wont have helped his case though.

The same fixture last season saw City run out 1-0 winners on the day with the solitary goal coming from Edin Dzeko. After his reaction to being subbed on Tuesday though he may find himself starting the game on the bench. This, along with the club's suspension of Carlos Tevez could mean Mario Balotelli gets his first Premiership start of the season.

Balotellit has scored twice in his last two appearances for the club, one against Birmingham in the Carling Cup and one coming off the bench against Everton in the Premier League. By all accounts Mario has been working hard in training to the point where Mancini has praised his attitude in recent club press conferences.  

One positive to come from mid-week was the return of Nigel De Jong and I for one can't wait for him to get back into the swing of things as he is part of the backbone of the squad. This will throw up another problem for Mancini though; Who does he drop from the holding midfield role, Gareth Barry or Yaya Toure? Opinions will be divided over that one I'm sure and it may partly depend on who Mancini decides to play in the left back slot.

There were a few disappointing overall performances on Tuesday and we may see a number of changes made to the squad of Saturday. Once again City came undone with a set piece (which incidentally was offside although you wont find that mentioned anywhere) and the formidable Chris Samba will be one of the players City will need to watch from dead ball situations around the 18 yard box.

Another player that may pose a problem is Ruben Rochina. The Spanish forward joined Blackburn on a 4 year deal from Barcelona last January and has scored 4 goals in his last 6 games in all competitions. Goodwillie and Yakubu make up the rest of Blackburn's striking options.

With teams immediately around City looking likely to win their games it's important that City continue their good Premier League form (tell me you didn't just re-read half of that sentence in Mancini's voice, and if you didn't I bet you have now!). Blackburn have conceded 13 goals in the league so far, 6 of them at home so City should be looking to press home their attacking abilities by hopefully getting a big decent goal difference out of the game at the end of the 90 minutes.

Player Review: Nigel De Jong

Nigel De Jong

D.O.B: 30/11/1984

Height: 5ft8

Position: Defensive Mid

Joined Club: January 2009 from Hamburg

Fee: £18m

Debut: 28th January 2009 v Newcastle United






After joining City for an estimated £18m in 2009 it took some time for a lot of City fans to warm to him, and those same fans felt that the transfer fee reportedly paid for the midfielder was far in excess of what he was actually worth. How times have changed.

The next season saw De Jong became a fan favourite, with his no nonsense approach and tenacity which had already earned him the nickname of 'the terrier'. He is rightly known for his uncompromising approach to tackling opponents and this has given him as many critics as fans.

Unfortunately for him he will forever be remembered for the wrong reasons after the 2010 World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain. Nigel inflicted what can only be described as a horrendous misjudgement, lifting his foot to catch Span's Xavi Alonso in the chest without any hope of getting the ball. It was a challenge that he should have seen red for but the officials never saw it.

Then in October 2010 Nigel went into a challenge with Newcastle United's on-loan player, Hatem Ben Arfa during a Premier League game. The tackle was judged to be fair by all involved and even drew applause from both sets of fans at the time. However, Ben Arfa had broken his leg and was out for the rest of the season. It was only 7 months earlier that a similar challenge resulted in Bolton Wanderer's Stuart Holden in an international friendly. Needless to say he was vilified by the press for each incident, only having justification for the challenge that didn't cause any injury.

The interesting thing is, despite the reputation he has with opposition fans for supposedly being a dirty player, he has only ever been given one red card in his entire career, and he is now approaching 27 years old. This was for a second bookable offence in the then named UEFA Cup during the 05-06 season whilst playing for Hamburg. This goes some way in justifying what his admirers have said all along, he simply is not a dirty player.

His time at Manchester City has certainly elevated his profile and he is now widely regarded as one of the very best holding midfielders in the world. He is part of the backbone on which the current City squad is built. His form has stayed very consistent, although his short passing and decision making have improved since moving to England. This was shown in his passing success rate which was still hovering around 90% even towards the end of the Premier League season.

Some of his critics will still say that he doesn't score enough goals, and will point to the act that he has only scored 1 since moving to City in 2009. But scoring goals is not what he is in the team for, for every goal the critics say he doesn't score he will prevent one from being conceded by City as he breaks up attacks and neatly passes the ball back out into space for City to build their own attack. And that is something just as important to the team.

In the last 2 seasons it is quite evident that Nigel holds the fans in as high regard as they hold him. Very recent evidence of this would be directly after the open training day at the Etihad Stadium before the start of the 2011-12 Premier League season. Nigel stayed out on the side of the pitch much longer than any other player to sign autographs for the eagerly awaiting fans. This was despite being asked four times by security that he was required to return to the dressing room. He is undoubtedly one of City's most important players and long may his relationship with the club continue.

Hated or adored but never ignored.

Yesterday was a big day for Manchester City, and as you would expect it produced a tremendous amount of bitter, jealous and hateful ramblings from certain journalists and opposition fans alike. It does seem that whenever City do something impressive there's someone else there to slate them or bring up some rumour in an attempt to put City back down a peg or two.


There's 3 in particular that have gone into print between yesterday and this morning that I'll pick out, and I don't normally do this but they need naming and shaming for the complete and utter tosh that they've produced. Araiz Baqi (SportPulse), Sami Mokbel (Mail Online) and Luke Edwards (The Telegraph), take a bow.

Lets start with the bitter nonce from SportPulse who went with "Manchester City sign Aguero - Football in desperate need of Financial fair play" as a headline. Now far be it from me to be the grammar police but you can figure the kind of intellect we're facing when someone starts to use random capitals in a sentence. You can also immediately feel the bitter hatred simply oozing from a headline like that.

Baqi kindly points out in bold letters that City have purchased Aguero for £38 million and is said to earn €225,000 per week. Thanks for that, I'm sure we wouldn't have been able to read those figures otherwise. And after the usual spiel about his scoring record and past clubs we get down to the good part.


The article goes on to mention the problem Mancini will have in choosing who plays as striker and then lists the players he believes to fill that role at City. "Mario Balotelli, Alex Nimely, Craig Bellamy, Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz, Adam Johnson, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Edin Dzeko are all players who will be competing" for the striker spot apparently.


Where do you start with that rubbish? Ah yes, I'm sure you've spotted one of the most glaring mistakes here, Adam Johnson is not a striker, never has been and never will be Baqi you fool. Next in line is Alex Nimely, yes he is a striker but the young lad is hardly a first team regular after making one appearance is he? Add to that RSC, Ade and Bellers who are all on their way out of the club and Tevez who is also heading for the exit and that leaves Edin and Mario left on the list to compete with and John Guidetti trying to break into the squad.


That's 3 'main' strikers with 2 young lads coming through the ranks once all the players have been sorted. Hardly excessive is it considering United had 4 'main' strikers in 1999 is it?


So where does he go now? The only natural progression is to list City's signings in bold print since Sheikh Mansour took over and jibe that this has only managed to 'buy' a solitary FA Cup. 


"All City could manage with these spendings was a single FA Cup" so gleefully stated before continuing "If such a huge amount of transfer budget was handed over to an intelligent mind, like that of Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho..."


By Christ what is this idiot dribbling on about? The money spent took a side from being relegation fodder to joint 2nd in the league and ended a 35 year trophy drought. And City still haven't spent what certain other teams have, the only thing people don't like is how fast they've been able to spend it. I can guarantee that he wouldn't be complaining if his club (probably the rags) were given an open cheque book like City have. And of course he's conveniently leaving out the ridiculous transfer sums other clubs spent on players over the years. It's total hypocrisy with a massive dose of jealousy on top.


After banging on a little more about City being the footballing equivalent of the Antichrist he then urges FIFA to get control of the amount clubs (he means City of course) are spending because, and wait for it, "Football is about how a Club can achieve glory by team work, not by spending power." And I agree a football team has to show team work to achieve glory, but how many leagues or trophies are won by teams that aren't in the top 3-4 biggest spending clubs in any given league? At the end of the day you can buy as many players as you like but if they can't play together you wont get anywhere. He's obviously not thought this through.


The idiot them witters on about how many 'targets' City have because Mancini has mentioned them in passing at some point over the last 12 months as though we're actually looking at buying them all. Clearly not the case and appallingly misleading.


To end his pathetic tirade the buffoon then calls upon Platini and Blatter to implement the FFP rules immediately "before more damage can be done." Damage done to what? The status-quo that has been in place since the wide commercialisation of football meaning the rich get richer and the poor just look on in despair?


The funny thing about this is that almost every top team in Europe wouldn't be able to get a European licence to play football because very few of them actually meet the criteria in the FFP rules at this moment in time. The person that wrote this article is a total cretin.


Click here http://sportpulse.net/content/manchester-city-sign-sergio-aguero-football-desperate-need-financial-fair-play-1330 to let him know what you think.

Now we get to another Aguero induced piece of diatribe. The Mail Online (the internet version of the Daily Mail) greets you with "City rebellion! Stars seething over new boy Aguero's mega-money deal" using the usual excitable and sensationalist terms.


"Nigel De Jong, Vincent Kompany and Micah Richards are unhappy with the new deals offered them, especially after learning that City a paying a club record signing Aguero £200,000 per week" ... apparently. I wonder how they know that seeing as his signing was only confirmed yesterday evening? Have they spoke to any of these players? Do we have any new quotes from them? Errr no.


At least Sami Mokbel uses quotes from thep layers themselves to back up this nonsense so a little credit is due. Oh hang on, sorry, scrap that last part. They use a single word from and old quote to back up this utter tosh.

De Jong mentioned that contract talks had stopped for now (this was whilst he was on the American tour and the fellows that deal with contracts were already in talks with Atletico and Aguero) and he used the word 'frustrated' once. This is the only bit that has any solid links with a player being supposedly unhappy with this story. Although De Jong said he wasn't worried about the negotiations and he was enjoying playing for the club.  

The writer even states that Richards has dismissed talks he is unhappy with contract negotiations (which he did on Twitter) but that hasn't stopped him being included in the article of players on the cusp of revolting against the Club. And god knows why Kompany is mentioned there's nothing even linking him with the article at all!


And it wouldn't be complete without the trusted old 'source' at the club spilling the beans would it? The good old Daily Fail doesn't disappoint us; "While efforts to bring the club's wage bill into line are commendable, it doesn't wash with the key members of the squad being offered less than half of what some of the top earners...will earn."


Honestly the guy who cleans the windows could have come out with a statement like that. There's nothing revealing, there's no exclusives, there's nothing of any note in what is said. They don't call it the Daily Fail for nothing you know.


Again, here's the link if you'd like to let them know what you think: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2020036/Sergio-Aguero-causes-Manchester-City-rebellion-wages.html

And finally we come to the third piece, and I'm not sure if this fellow has actually seen a game of football in his life and just got his information off a Liverpool fan.


"Adam Johnson's move to Manchester City has gone badly for him and England" says Luke Edwards in the Telegraph.


Right from the get go you just know this is going to be one ugly article and hopelessly anti-City when he mentions competition for places at "the Etihad Stadium. Or, as it is known elsewhere, the-most-ludicrously-generous-sponsorship-deal-anywhere-in-the-world-in-the-history-of-the-game-ever."

Dear oh dear, jealous much? This guy clearly has an agenda and is of the opinion that Johnson, "once considered a modern day Sir Stanley Matthews" but who's career "has not progressed at Manchester City."

How many England caps did "the new Stanley Matthews" have before moving to City at 22 years old? None. Hardly a glowing record is it? But since joining City in January 2010 he has featured 6 times for England's full international side and become an established Premier League player. He would have featured more for England had it not been for Capello's quite frankly worrying selection process. How is that not a progression for a player? 


Although Luke acknowledges that City fans (rightly) point out that AJ makes more of an impact from the bench he fails to acknowledge how much game time Johnson has actually had, instead making it sound like he is almost forgotten about.


Johnson was missing for a good portion of the latter stages in the season through injury and Mancini openly stated that City missed him. That's hardly anything like being forgotten about is it? In fact AJ featured 39 times last season, around half as a sub, scoring 8 goals in the process. It is no secret that Adam needed to work on his stamina to warrant a regular starting place and that was the only reason why he didn't start more games.


There is no doubt that Johnson has talent but it's hardly City's fault if he was more  interested in going clubbing in the first half of last season prompting Mancini to publicly address the young wingers behaviour (amongst others in the squad). It's blindingly obvious Mancini wants Johnson to become the best he can be, it's up to Johnson to work at it now.


Once again here's the link: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/lukeedwards/100018007/adam-johnsons-move-to-man-city-has-gone-badly-for-him-and-england/


It truly is astonishing the lengths some journalists are going to to discredit City at the moment, and it's not getting any better. The higher up the league City go, the more they seem to revel in taking wildly inaccurate swipes at the Club. All this is without mentioning people within the sport (usually other managers who either see City as a threat to their status or ones jealous they don't have the same transfer funds) who contribute to the ever mounting pile of turd-like objections to what City are doing.

Life after Tevez (when, not if, he leaves)

I think we all know by now that Carlos Tevez wants a route out of Manchester as fast as possible for whatever reason. But how could the sale of Tevez affect Manchester City?

Don't cry for me Argentina. Not sure about them, but I doubt City will be shedding any tears. 

Of course any answer given in response to this question is hypothetical and would vary from person to person depending on their allegiance to player or club. And someone has to stump up a reasonable offer for him first anyway, but here's my thoughts on it.

Who would be made captain?

The first thing to deal with would be the club's captaincy. This choice should be as natural as breathing for Mancini, give the armband to Kompany. Vinnie is a natural born leader and the vast majority of fans feel that he should have been given the armband last season from December onwards (at least).

City are in good Kompany with Vinnie

When you stop to consider the two you could not find a larger contrast between any other player at the club if you tried.

Tevez, despite coming from one of the worst places on the entire planet feels that Manchester is just not good enough for him. He says he just has to move away from the club because he just can't settle there with or without his family. Manchester only has two good restaurants according to the Argentinian who rarely leaves the house due to feeling like an outsider. Of course this is partly due to him barely being able to string 3 words together in English despite being in the country for 5 years.

Kompany on the other hand appears to have made Manchester his home and cemented his ties with the City by marrying a local girl last month after becoming parents in June 2010. He also speaks fluent English and did so before even moving to City in 2008. Manchester doesn't appear to be such a hell hole to the 25 year old Belgian.

On the pitch both players never give less than 100%, that can not be disputed. But even there there is a stark contrast in the way both go about their business on the pitch. Not once has Kompany spat his dummy out over a decision that the manager has made. Not once has he argued publicly with the manager. He had a brief spat with Yaya Toure during one game that lasted no longer than 5 seconds after a mix up between the two. Then they both just got on with playing like teammates should do. I don't need to go into any detail about Tevez's attitude towards manager Mancini do I?

I could go on all day about how Kompany is a better captain than Tevez, but the point remains that despite it just being an opinion, it's a ridiculously widely accepted opinion amongst the fans at City.

How would it affect team morale?

You would expect it would have some negative affect at first, but possibly not all that much is the answer to that one. We're not privy to what goes on in the changing room on a day to day basis but apart from Zabaleta and Silva who would converse with Tevez on a regular basis? Nigel De Jong knows a bit of Spanish as we saw at the FA Cup parade, and Yaya spent around 3 years in Spain with Barcelona but those are the only others I can think of.

Tevez has kept himself fairly isolated by the look of it. There was one very telling video of the squad warming up in a group and where was Tevez? About 10 feet behind the group training on his own. Not what you'd expect from club captain and talisman is it?

The one thing you can guarantee is that players wont have the annoyance of the "will he wont he" saga taking the shine off any of their performances like it has done since December. I don't care what anyone says, there must be at least a small amount of frustration or anger over the way in which Carlos has gone about dragging their Club through the mud and still remained as team captain.

What about performance on the pitch?

Although when Tevez was injured City went through a bit of a goal drought they actually won a higher percentage of games without Carlos. Tevez's ability is undoubted but when you have a team that is relatively young as a unit it's easy to focus on a player like Tevez and run everything through him. And that's exactly what happened.

At first City looked like a team without purpose without him, lacking any sort of urgency going forward. Even the magical David Silva looked lost as to who to thread a ball to without Tevez buzzing around in front of him. Never the less, City learned to play without him and other players began to shine.

The longer City played without Tevez the more of a team they became. Players gained confidence in their own ability to play without feeling as though they had to get the ball to Tevez for him to score. This was never more evident in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley against bitter rivals Manchester United.

Although that game was won by only one goal, it was a comprehensive victory none the less. After the first 25-30 minutes City pretty much controlled the game with some fantastic performances from players all over the pitch.

Who will step up to score the goals?

Nigel De Jong? Ok ok, seriously though, who cares who it is? I've already pointed out that City actually won a higher percentage of games without Carlos. Although fans want to see goals, the points on the board and the place in the table is all that really counts at the end of the day.

There were 19 players that scored for City last season, albeit only 8 of them scored 5 or more goals with 3 of those breaking into double figures. However when you factor in that 20 year old Balotelli spent a lot of his first season in the Prem injured or suspended, scoring 10 goals and appearing to mature on the pitch before our eyes you would hope for a great season ahead.

Dzeko is also another option, scoring 6 goals since January after a month's break from the German league, despite being played out wide, behind Tevez, or coming off the bench. You would also expect more from him in the coming season as the team learns about his abilities and strengths during a game.

The Bosnian diamond and the Italian winker. Sounds like a low budget comedy.

Yaya, Johnson, and Silva all chipped in with their share of goals. Johnson is still improving as a player, Silva could do with a little bit more selfishness in front of goal, and Yaya even with his share of critics seems to have grown into his attacking role.

So even if no single player replaces all the goals it's reasonable to assume that they will at least be spread around the team. Although the team may initially miss his input as they fully adjust to life after Tevez, the overall benefits should far outweigh the negatives.

Player of the season 2011-12?

Since Sheikh Mansour took over, Manchester City have embarked on an immense task of developing a mid table side into a team that can seriously contend not only domestically but also on the biggest stage in the Champions League.

There have been a lot of players brought into the club since the takeover. Some have survived the journey and are considered part of the backbone of the team, while others have fallen out of favour and are considered surplus to requirements.

Last season saw the fans truly spoilt for choice when it came to choose their player of the season which was eventually awarded to Vincent Kompany. But who will shine in the 2011-12 season? We’ll take a look at some of the likely candidates.

Joe Hart: The 2010-11 season saw the emergence of Hart as one of the best keepers in the Premiership, solidifying himself as City’s and England’s No.1, pushing several far more experienced keepers out of the running. Perhaps the most impressive was that he was chosen ahead of Shay Given for City’s No.1 spot, as Given has been widely regarded as one of the best keepers in the Premiership for some time. Hart also broke City’s clean sheet record and was awarded ‘Performance of the Season’ at the MCFC Player Awards in May for his outstanding display against Spurs. There is still room for improvement in his game and at 24 he has time on his side. Deeecent.

Vincent Kompany: Mr dependable, player of the season and considered by the vast majority of fans to be next in line for club captain. In fact many believe he should already be captain, such is his composure, consistency and attitude both on and off the pitch. After coming to City as a defensive midfielder under Mark Hughes’ reign he has shifted into the back four with ease and has become arguably the Premiership’s best defender. Kompany, just like Hart is still relatively young for his position and we have certainly not seen the best of him yet. And what thought that is.

Pablo Zabaleta: The ever ready utility player, Zabman has become somewhat of a cult hero amongst City fans for his sheer determination and willingness to put his body on the line for the cause (literally). Pablo was treated for cuts to his head more times than he would care to remember, having who knows how many stitches over the course of the season. Amongst his other injuries were a gash to his thigh as a result of a standard Paul Scholes tackle and breaking his nose multiple times during the season. Don’t believe me? Check this out...  http://mcfc.co.uk/Video/Features/Social-Media-Choice-9-Zaba-the-indestructible

Nigel De Jong: After being vilified the world over after his ‘kung fu’ style challenge on Spain’s Xabi Alonso during the 2010 World Cup, followed by the hounding he got after Breaking Hatem Ben Arfa’s leg in what was ultimately a fair challenge, you could have forgiven De Jong if he didn’t have the same drive in the rest of the season. But no, the midfield general continued with his no nonsense approach to tackling, breaking up the opposition’s attack before neatly passing the ball back out to someone to build an attack of their own. He even bagged a goal for himself, the first since joining the club in January 09.  

David Silva: Signing for City during the 2010 World Cup, many pundits and so called experts gave the diminutive Spaniard little chance of adapting to life in the rough and tumble of the Premiership. But after a relatively slow start the man described by former Spain Manager Luis Aragones as “small with big balls” quickly became a fan favourite claiming the Player of the Month award for three months running from October to December. He became instrumental to the team’s performance, possessing world class vision and ability to pick a pass, providing the vast majority of City’s creative midfield spark throughout the season. Although a little goal shy, always preferring to pick out a fellow player than take the glory for himself, David Silva is set to light up the Premier League again next season.

Adam Johnson: Bought for £6m from Middlesboro in January 2010 he has become a favourite with fans for his pace and dribbling ability causing full backs no end of troubles. Although due to the pace he likes to play the game he often makes less of an impact when starting games than he does when coming on as a sub. But he has provided his fair share of goals and also broke into the England squad since joining City. Considered to sometimes run himself into trouble and lacking end product, he certainly has room for improvement, but like most other players at City he is still young and still developing as a player. AJ certainly has the potential to be a formidable winger in the years to come.

Mario Balotelli: Perhaps the most controversial player on the face of the planet, Mario has divided audiences the world over with his antics both on and off the pitch. He has racked up a number of bookings and red cards, been derided for his lack of effort and his moody countenance even after scoring, been in trouble for throwing darts at youth players, crashed his Audi R8 and when asked by police why he had £5k in cash on him his reply was “Because I am rich.” It doesn’t stop there, he got into trouble after driving into the grounds of a women’s prison because he was curious as to what it was like, has an allergy to certain types of grass, and had bust ups with players and the manager. Oh yes, he can’t’ put on a training bib, heckled one of Wayne Rooney’s (ahem) escorts, has racked up £10k in parking fines, and uses San Carlo’s as you would use Domino’s Pizza, and swore live on TV saying “My whole season has been sh*t, can I say that?” Just for the record, no Mario, you can’t. Have I missed anything out? Oh of course, he’s been accused of having connections to the Mafia and wound up Rio Ferdinand by winking at him. But between these antics he has also sorted out a school bully after signing an autograph for a young boy outside the training ground, gave a homeless person £1k of his winnings outside a casino, regularly tips Big Issue sellers £20, affectionately calls Roberto Mancini ‘papa’ and has several charitable causes that he contributes regularly too. He is such an enigma with masses of potential which we were given a slight glimpse of at the end of the season. Just how will he get on in 2011-12? Time will tell.

Edin Dzeko: After signing from Wolfsburg in January for £27m the Bosnian diamond failed to make the impact that was expected by many. Although in his defence he arrived after the German winter break so lacked match fitness in the toughest league in the world, was played out of position at times, didn’t get the service he needed and appeared to have a distinct lack of confidence as the season progressed. Even so, it was a smart business move by Manchester City as Dzeko is a national hero in his home country and his inclusion in the squad instantly increased City’s fan-base by several million. The true test of his worth will be in next season when he has had time to settle in the squad and has a good pre season under his belt. Will the Bosnian diamond sparkle like his countrymen believe he will? Opinion is divided amongst many City fans.

Well there are eight players with the potential to be Player of the Season come next may, although there are others who could seriously contend for that crown. It certainly shows the kind of squad City have put together since the takeover and who knows, someone not on this list may outshine the rest, Carlos Tevez (if he’s still here), Yaya Toure, Micah Richards James Milner etc. Or could it be a player bought during the current transfer window? Whatever the outcome, the 2011-12 season is set to be on hell of a ride.