Poll: Dzeko's Debut - marks out of 10

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I really liked the look of him, he looked at home, I really thing we have a gem here....

D.Z.E.K.O

He id D - devasating

He is Z - just like Zico

He is E - just Electric

He is K - with killer instinct

He is Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

OK I KNOW too many beers

haha - genius!

not sure about genius but I agree with the too many beers. A crate too many I would estimate but I agree we have a real player in Dzeko.

[Mark (Blue Army)]

for me it's a 9, since the guy hasn't played with the winter brake in Germany i thought he played extremely well,

[Trautmann]

Brings a physical presence and solidity to the front---an awesome acquisition. Gave him an 8, to accommodate higher marks in the future

[Pretty Boy Lee]

7 for me. Some lovely touches and a ton of potential, but also 2 or 3 mis controls off his chest and little impact 1st half.

I'm not being negative, but unless they score or rip a team apart how does a striker get a 9?

That said, obvious quality and he's gonna be a star, as long as he scores next game or it's jeko out. Fucking pansy.

[Blackadder]

7 for me
Delighted with his debut, but he will clearly take a few games to get up to speed with our league.
When he does, we will have the Prem's most feared striker (after Carlos) in our team.

[dazby]

BT, how can you say pace wasn't an issue? Every time he took on the defender he lost out.

A 7 for me. A fantastic presence. He's got great skill on the ball.

Wolves were a great introduction for him.

[carl_feedthegoat]

One thing that I thought showed so much promise was his link up play with Tevez........they seem to be on the same wave lengh.

[ryanmcfc]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footbal ... 362990.stm

Nice interview with him. Says the game is "more harder" than Germany. He also seems to have picked up Mancini's habit of using the word "important" in every sentence.

[Kladze]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/9362990.stm

Nice interview with him. Says the game is "more harder" than Germany. He also seems to have picked up Mancini's habit of using the word "important" in every sentence.

Cardinal error in that interview ..... calling the rags "Manchester".

"Manchester play tomorrow". ugh!

[paulmclaren]

You girls, sorry guys, would all give him a bj if you could.

[Ted Hughes]

I watched him like a hawk & I thought, considering it was his 1st game, he was almost perfect. The idea that he's going to win 90% of balls stupidly lumped down the middle of the park is daft; he won't. Not even Andy Carroll will do that. He competed well though & sometimes kept those useless balls down that end of the pitch. Everything else he did was absolutely top class.

From a neutral's perspective, Mickey Quinn, who never has a good word about City, said he watched him closely & he was 'magnificent' & is going to be a 'superstar'.

Just to add, I gave him a 9, if he hadn't fucked up that chance it would be 10.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

I thought he looked just fine. He's going to fit into the Prem. He's going to score a lot of goals. 8 maybe 9.

[CitizenYank]

Didn't have a chance to see him as I was at work today very early, but the assist to Yaya looked great.

Won't be able to use him in the FA replay. Which is shit. But look for some amazing goals!!

[mcfc1632]

I think he is exactly what we have been needing - some might not think that was a 'special' debut - but he showed enough for me to get very excited

[colonel_muck]

conisdering the wolves centre backs spent the first half trying to remove his shirt i think he did better and better as the game went on. his first touch in the first half was atrocious but this got better and there was a class bit of dribbling on the touchline when it looked like he lost it. i think him and tevez are the way forward. hope it's same starting eleven (bar toure for lescott) on tuesday!

I still think we miss a play maker type without Silva on the pitch. Tevez is great, bur he's not one to open up play or to hit that ingenious through ball. I would like to see all three on the pitch, but this will unfortunately mean leaving Johnson on the bench.

i wholeheardedly disagree with you there nool about tevez not opening up play he played two phenomenal through balls in the first half yesterday, one for johnson and the other for pabs. no he's not a playmaker per se but he has got great passing ability (if he decides to use it!!!). It is a dilemma with silva cos i love both him and johnson. does anyone think we'd be alright dropping barry, letting nige and yaya do the dirty work (and obv yaya can go forward too) and having silva and aj on the wings? i for one think nigel de jong is good enough to break up the play on his own and lay it off to the tremendously hard working yaya, who can certainly open up play.

[Slim]

conisdering the wolves centre backs spent the first half trying to remove his shirt i think he did better and better as the game went on. his first touch in the first half was atrocious but this got better and there was a class bit of dribbling on the touchline when it looked like he lost it. i think him and tevez are the way forward. hope it's same starting eleven (bar toure for lescott) on tuesday!

I still think we miss a play maker type without Silva on the pitch. Tevez is great, bur he's not one to open up play or to hit that ingenious through ball. I would like to see all three on the pitch, but this will unfortunately mean leaving Johnson on the bench.

i wholeheardedly disagree with you there nool about tevez not opening up play he played two phenomenal through balls in the first half yesterday, one for johnson and the other for pabs. no he's not a playmaker per se but he has got great passing ability (if he decides to use it!!!). It is a dilemma with silva cos i love both him and johnson. does anyone think we'd be alright dropping barry, letting nige and yaya do the dirty work (and obv yaya can go forward too) and having silva and aj on the wings? i for one think nigel de jong is good enough to break up the play on his own and lay it off to the tremendously hard working yaya, who can certainly open up play.

I would say that is where we are heading, but I get the sneaking feeling that even in a 4-4-2, Bobby will find a way to slot Balotelli in and we'll still see Johnson on the bench.

[Im_Spartacus]

conisdering the wolves centre backs spent the first half trying to remove his shirt i think he did better and better as the game went on. his first touch in the first half was atrocious but this got better and there was a class bit of dribbling on the touchline when it looked like he lost it. i think him and tevez are the way forward. hope it's same starting eleven (bar toure for lescott) on tuesday!

I still think we miss a play maker type without Silva on the pitch. Tevez is great, bur he's not one to open up play or to hit that ingenious through ball. I would like to see all three on the pitch, but this will unfortunately mean leaving Johnson on the bench.

i wholeheardedly disagree with you there nool about tevez not opening up play he played two phenomenal through balls in the first half yesterday, one for johnson and the other for pabs. no he's not a playmaker per se but he has got great passing ability (if he decides to use it!!!). It is a dilemma with silva cos i love both him and johnson. does anyone think we'd be alright dropping barry, letting nige and yaya do the dirty work (and obv yaya can go forward too) and having silva and aj on the wings? i for one think nigel de jong is good enough to break up the play on his own and lay it off to the tremendously hard working yaya, who can certainly open up play.

I had no sooner said that Tevez was not in Silva's class for unlocking a defence when he ran through 5 players and megged the keeper.

Aside from Tevez making me look silly, it also kinda proved my point - he had to do it all himself so I have to say that the point stands. Tevez is a different player and with Silva in the side, defences are gonna have a real hard time keeping tabs on Dzeko and Tevez' runs.

As for Dzeko, I voted 9 - on the basis that he played a superb game up there alone - although maybe my vote was given because I havent seen anyone play that type of game before in a long long time at city. He worked hard, won the ball, seemed to have quick feet and was always looking for a pass to play someone else in.

I said after Toure's goal that had it been my debut, i'd have probably gone through myself and tried to score rather than pass, so huge credit to him for the 3rd goal, and he dispelled the myth that he can't play counter attack

[Ted Hughes]

conisdering the wolves centre backs spent the first half trying to remove his shirt i think he did better and better as the game went on. his first touch in the first half was atrocious but this got better and there was a class bit of dribbling on the touchline when it looked like he lost it. i think him and tevez are the way forward. hope it's same starting eleven (bar toure for lescott) on tuesday!

I still think we miss a play maker type without Silva on the pitch. Tevez is great, bur he's not one to open up play or to hit that ingenious through ball. I would like to see all three on the pitch, but this will unfortunately mean leaving Johnson on the bench.

i wholeheardedly disagree with you there nool about tevez not opening up play he played two phenomenal through balls in the first half yesterday, one for johnson and the other for pabs. no he's not a playmaker per se but he has got great passing ability (if he decides to use it!!!). It is a dilemma with silva cos i love both him and johnson. does anyone think we'd be alright dropping barry, letting nige and yaya do the dirty work (and obv yaya can go forward too) and having silva and aj on the wings? i for one think nigel de jong is good enough to break up the play on his own and lay it off to the tremendously hard working yaya, who can certainly open up play.

I would say that is where we are heading, but I get the sneaking feeling that even in a 4-4-2, Bobby will find a way to slot Balotelli in and we'll still see Johnson on the bench.

i think if we rely on Yaya as a defensive midfielder against any kind of half decent team we will get royally fucked. Next season maybe but at the moment he's nowhere near fit enough to cover the midfield. He strolls, he sprints once, then he rests, then he strolls again, then he sprints once, etc.

Imo Johnson was utter garbage v Wolves btw & added absolutely nothing to our attacking play whatsoever. Did himself no favours.

[Tokyo Blue]

I gave him a 7 because although he was very good, I think he will get a lot better. Very happy indeed.

[MaineRoadMemories]

I watched him very closely yesterday and was delighted with what I saw:

• Physical Presence - He may not have won every header but he competed for every single one sent in his direction. This made the defenders job harder and they couldn't get a clean header away meaning we often picked up the second/loose ball. Barry and Tevez were very good at reading the second ball. Pleased that he's up to the physical challenge of the premier league.
  
• First Touch & Link Up Play - This was what I was most impressed with for a debut. High, low or at his midriff he controlled it well, got instant control and then laid it off quickly and most importantly of all moved into space to receive the next pass. Again, I noticed that him and Barry seemed to link up very well when we played the ball long.
  
• Passing - Some great short simple passes to keep the flowing football going, some very nice long cross-field passing and a sublime throughball with the perfect weight for a lovely assist.
  
• In the Box - AT LAST. We have a striker who loves to get in the box and inside the 6 yard box to boot. On 3 to 4 occasions he was there in the 6 yard box waiting for the ball to be played for a tap in. Unfortunately, Johnson cut the ball back, Yaya's pass nicked a defenders leg and Zabba's cross was too high but the signs are promising that he'll score a few tap ins this season.
  
• Engine - Seen as though this was his first game in 40 days (I think I heard) then he looks pretty fit to me and can easily last the 90mins