Only one match, but did Monday night come as a huge shock to these so-called pundits/experts? Will it suddenly become fashionable to big up City so as not to look foolish? Sadly I am working all day Saturday out of TV range and so will miss Thommo's pain on Soccer Saturday, Merson's glee at his City win tip coming up and Jeff Stelling saying City have too many players (again). But await with interest the reports.
http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/ ... 75,00.html
It's obviously too early to make any judgements but I think Monday night's game told us a lot about both Liverpool and of course, Manchester City.
I am worried about my old club on that performance, I have to say. There was nothing in the way they played that gave me much encouragement; they looked short on firepower up front and as soon as I saw the 4-4-2 formation, I feared the worst.
To be fair to Roy Hodgson he has only been in the job five minutes and he is still getting to know his players, but I have to say they were out-fought and out-played in every department. It really was as comfortable a 3-0 win as I have seen for a while.
Yes, Joe Hart made some great saves at the right time, but Manchester City were by far the better side. Even at this stage of the season all eyes were on them and it was up to them to turn round and prove their strategy is going to work. It reminded me of last season when they beat Arsenal at a similar stage - when Emmanuel Adebayor was in inspired form - but they went on to draw seven of their next nine games.
People say that a winning dressing room is a happy dressing room. While that might be true to an extent, you are always going to get dissenting voices. Mancini has probably done well in getting rid of one of the more vociferous in Craig Bellamy, but will big players like Adebayor be satisfied on the sidelines, even if they are winning?
But what we saw on Monday is a side that does have match-winners and a side that is strong all over the park. Of course they have spent ridiculous amounts of money, but you could see that they have brought quality in.
James Milner immediately gave them a flexibility to that 4-3-3 that we hadn't really seen before, Yaya Toure looked a week fitter and a little more on his game and in Nigel de Jong, they might well have their own Claude Makelele. He will be the one that knits it all together and while a lot has been made about the so-called bigger names in their squad, a lot may well depend on him this season.
Brave
The same goes for Adam Johnson. He was the one that stood out and showed two things; why he was terribly unlucky not to go to the World Cup and also why a lot of Premier League managers would have loved to have signed him. He gets you on the edge of your seat and he is a brave player - not in terms of launching into tackles, but in taking the ball when he knows he's going to be under pressure and get the odd kick.
In fact he and Milner gave City a great balance and with Gareth Barry doing so well, and Micah Richards and Joe Hart playing their part, it was nice to see an English core to the side.
But seeing Mario Balotelli sat in the stands shows that there will also be an issue at City that won't go away. When you spend £24 million it is for a starting player and given that he likes to operate up front and out wide, you would have to think it will be him and Johnson in that front three with Carlos Tevez.
That leaves Toure, Milner, de Jong and Barry battling for those three midfield spots and the first two also cost too much to stick on the bench.
Someone has to give and as I have said before, it might well be Barry who finds himself dropping out, which is not going to please an England regular. We haven't even mentioned Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz or one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Shay Given, who were also sat on the bench.
Until they have Champions League football, Mancini is going to have to be very mindful of giving everyone enough games. I do think foreign players understand the rotation a bit better and accept they are not going to play every week, but will the English players - like Barry - be so happy? I don't think they will.
Dissenting
People say that the one way round this for a manager is to win games and that a winning dressing room is a happy dressing room.
While that might be true to an extent, you are always going to get dissenting voices. Mancini has probably done well in getting rid of one of the more vociferous in Craig Bellamy, but will big players like Adebayor be satisfied on the sidelines, even if they are winning?
What results like the Liverpool one do is buy the manager a bit more time. If a player wants to go to the papers and leak something to try and force the manager's hand, it won't work if the team is winning. It just isn't a story
But lose a couple of games and it will be a different story.
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