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Given - 6: Was playing as a sweeper in the second half. Couldn't do much about any of the goals.
Richards: Not on long enough. Felt sorry for him cos he had shown good form recently.
Toure - 4: Looked VERY nervous on the ball.
Onuoha - 7: Solid. Shame we conceded 3, cos I thought he played well.
Sylvinho - 6: Didn't do anything wrong, he's just too slow.
Barry - 5: Great assist. What the fucl he was doing strolling about like a cut for their first goal I don't know.
Ireland - 6: Can't shine in this role but put in a decent shit once again.
SWP - 7: Did well to set up Bellamy, unlucky to pick up yet another injury.
Tevez - 7: Great in the first half, shite in the second constantly making wrong decisions.
Bellamy - 9: Was involved with just about everything positive.
RSC - 8: 2 goals and looked a lot more skillful and quicker than he was at Blackburn.
Zabba - 7: Gave nothing away and got forward.
Kompany - 6: At fault for their 3rd but otherwise he bossed the midfield. Can't shoot to save his life.

Given - 6: A couple of good saves but I have to question some of the marshalling of the defence in front of him and being stuck on the line at times
Richards: Not on for long enough. Hope that he's ok.
Toure - 3: Pretty terrible display, out of position, second to the ball, ballwatching rubbish
Onuoha - 7: Pretty decent display, much much better. Agreed the other week when someone said that Nedum needs to play in order to find form.
Sylvinho - 6: Nice use of the ball but one of the few that were culpable for absolutely shambolic defending.
Barry - 6: Actually thought that was his best game for some time. The one touch pass he played out to the left wing second half was touch of the match for me.
Ireland - 6: Again, Stevie was pretty good IMO. Why has he become so shot shy this season....he's the worst culprit (this season) for overelaboration when in and around the 18 yard box rather than going for goal
SWP - 7.5: Decent performance from Shaun, worked really hard and got booted a lot but excellent on the ball.
Tevez -7.5 : Some amazing touches, movement and lay-offs. Agree that things didn't run for him in the second half. Not exactly Elano standard of penalty but hilarious celebration!
Bellamy - 9: Outstanding performance, just amazing the energy he has and the work he puts in but the quality of his play this season is breathtaking.
RSC - 8.5: Some lovely play from Roque. Great to see him get a couple, he could have easily ended up with a match ball. Great movement, interplay, heading and Goater-esque being on the spot for a tap in.
Zabba - 6: This season he just seems like a red card waiting to happen. Not much came past him but the challenge he was booked for was truly horrid
Kompany - 7: Can't shoot to save his life but he was excellent today. Really dynamic on the ball, lovely driving runs carrying the ball through midfield

Mark Hughes: Dignity and class at the end. Choked at how gutted he looked as he left the field. He was a better City manager than Sven and his final match in charge evidenced this as much as anything. See you back soon Mark

ant london wrote:Given - 6: A couple of good saves but I have to question some of the marshalling of the defence in front of him and

being stuck on the line at times

Kompany - 7:

Can't shoot to save his life

but he was excellent today. Really dynamic on the ball, lovely driving runs carrying the ball through midfield

Pretty much agree with you Ant, I thought Given should have come out for the first goal. It was close to him and took ages to reach
Mensah so Shay could have done better. He's a great keeper but does have this weak point IMO.

A clause has to be added to Komp's contract that under no circumstances he is allowed to shoot at goal even if he facing an empty goal with the GK stranded at the centre circle (LOL).

No major problem with any of the marks but a couple of question marks against players. Given probably nothing he could have done with the goals but when the team is displaying a real weakness against crosses maybe he should look harder at getting off his line to cut some out. Not easy when it isn't part of his naturla game.

Now I love Nedum but on 2 occasions I felt he got it wrong big time yesterday. For the first goal he was the man marking Mensah for the corner but when it went across to the far side Nedum lost his man completely and went walk about. Then for the 3rd goal it was a catalogue of errors. 3 players trying to stop a cross but they failed miserably and then Jones got the wrong side of VInnie to score but what was Ned doing? As a centre back I felt that his positioning was poor and he should have taken up the slot just inside the 6 yard line maybe 4 yards from the by line which is the classic line centre backs take to block the killer cross ball. Ned was just in no position at all.

And before anyone suggests or thinks that's bad coaching I can assure you that aspect of marking was often part of training to cut off the simple obvious ball.

Sadly it's that ball watching that seems to have crept into the defending and has cost us so dear this year.

Agree on most except I think both center halves were crap, Ned not much better than Toure imo.

Second is Zab, who I think played really well and we looked so much more comfortable with the ball in defence after he came on. His passing and understanding of the game is way better than Micah. Mistimed tackle, yes, but I actually think he was booked because they were about to break, not because the tackle was that bad. Imo, It's quite normal that full-backs receive a caution or two

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:And before anyone suggests or thinks that's bad coaching I can assure you that aspect of marking was often part of training to cut off the simple obvious ball.

I don't normally disagree with you fella but if we have concentrated on this and are still this awful then it does point to bad coaching

irblinx wrote:

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:And before anyone suggests or thinks that's bad coaching I can assure you that aspect of marking was often part of training to cut off the simple obvious ball.

I don't normally disagree with you fella but if we have concentrated on this and are still this awful then it does point to bad coaching

If you are told what to do and shown how to do it how can it be bad coaching? Bad team selection if they keep doing it wrong maybe.

Given - 6
Zabaleta - 6
Toure - 4
Ned - 5
Sylvinho - 5
Barry - 6
Ireland - 7
SWP - 6
Bellamy - 9
Tevez - 8
RSC - 8
----
Kompany - 6
Ricards, Petrov - n/a

Given 6- He must wonder when he's going to get a chance to play behind a settled, well organised defence. At Newcastle it was calamitous, and in truth it's not much better here at City. All three goals were needless and the result of shoddy defending, there wasn't nothing Shay could have done, but his distribution in the last couple of games has been disappointing. I'd like to see the ball kept on the ground a little more often.

Zabaleta 7- A couple of needless lunges that might have proved costly, but he was mostly excellent. He's more conservative than Richards positionally, but he picks his moments well to go forward and yesterday, delivered three or four outstanding balls, two of which led to goals. If he could iron out the recklessness (which is only a result of him wanting to give 100%) we'd have one of the best full backs in the league here.

Touré 4- Once again, he was sloppy and disorganised, the little mistakes culminating in that dreadful miskick for their 2nd goal. As a captain, he needs to be vocal and take responsibility- to give the ten others absolute confidence that they have a leader of men around them. I hate to be overly critical of any of our players but the last few weeks have been very worrying. It's as though you can reasonably expect at least three lapses in concentration from him in every game. Let's hope Mancini can do something about this.

Onuoha 5- Better than Touré, marginally, in the sense that he at least got his head on and foot through the ball when necessary- it was no nonsense defending as always from Ned, but his positional sense and, like Touré, concentration are issues that need resolving. Ned has a bright future ahead of him because the natural talent is there in abundance- he just needs someone to fine tune that now.

Sylvinho 4- Exceptionally poor for the second time in a week. I thought he was better than Bridge? Sloppy in possession, slower than a turtle and generally all over the place. I don't see what he offers this team but hopefully Bridge will be back before long because this guy is going to get torn to shreds every week otherwise- managers will circle him as our weak link and bloody well exploit it.

SWP 6- A quieter game than usual from Shaun, but he showed his quality in the turn and cross for our third goal. I've noticed that one aspect of his play that's improved since coming back from Chelsea is his ability to look up and find others with through balls on the ground- his crossing in the air still leaves a lot to be desired but on the ground it's more often than not concise. He didn't look completely up to scratch and there weren't too many mazy runs but hopefully he'll be fighting fit for Saturday. Always capable of changing a game.

Ireland 7- A little bit more composure in front of goal and he'd have had a hat-trick, or maybe more. He got on the end of passes very well and his own passing was sensational at times. He wasn't quite as gritty as usual but still effective, and kept our attack ticking over with neat interchanges and was always an option.

Barry 6- An improvement on midweek without a doubt. He was poor in the first half, giving away possession needlessly a few times and generally not at the races, but picked up after the break and did some really inventive stuff. He showed his eye for a pass and creative aspect with brilliant exchanges with Bellamy and Tevez.

Bellamy 9- Absolutely sensational- again. His pace is terrifying but it's not only that- it's his desire, quality of passing and finishing ability that make him who he is. The first goal was delightful stuff, the second was mostly his doing, chasing down a ball that many wouldn't have bothered with, and his own finish was superb. When he plays, he seems to have a hand in EVERYTHING we do.

Tevez 8- The through ball to Bellamy for the opener was sublime, his penalty was well taken and he might have had a couple more on another day. Always looking for the ball, always chasing down lost causes and always a menace. His vision and awareness are a different class, which I'm pleasantly surprised about.

Santa Cruz 9- On any other day, he would've been man of the match but Bellamy was in a league of his own. Nonetheless, Roque really showed us what he's capable of today. His two goals might have been 'easy' finishes but you have to be there, and I don't think Ade would have been. His willingness to win, hold and distribute the ball was superb and his close control was wonderful. I hope this is the real Santa Cruz!

Kompany 6- Poor on their third goal in truth but he nullified their attacking threat for most of his time on the pitch. Excellent in possession and very forward thinking at times. It was nice to see a different dimension to his play.

Richards 7- Was doing fine until he broke down injured, I hope he's alright.

Given - 6
Ricards - 5 injurd.
Toure - 4
Ned - 6
Sylvinho - 5
Barry - 7
Ireland - 7
SWP - 6
Bellamy - 9
Tevez - 8
RSC - 8
----
Zabaleta - 6
Kompany - 6
Petrov - n/a

MH - 3 fore the entertainment value... Sackt :-).