Birmingham City v Manchester City - Player Ratings

[bluemoon]

Given - 9
Zabaletta - 6
Kompany - 6
Lescott - 6
Bridge - 6
De Jong - 6
Barry - 4
SWP - 5
Bellamy - 6
Tevez - 6
Santa Cruz - 5

[Geo123]

Given - 9 Didnt put a foot wrong all game, two outstanding saves
Zabaletta - 5 Very average, didnt get outside SWP enough, looks a yard off the pace
Kompany - 6 Positioning was terrible, as was his distribution, misjudged numerous headers
Lescott - 6 22m?????????
Bridge - 6 would of liked to see him cut in more and push on, defensively sound but not amazing
De Jong - 7 Did his job, unlucky for penalty, pretty sure he only misplaced 2/3 passes all day, gave mcfadden a little too much space if anything
Barry - 4 Maybe a bit generous, ran around like a headless chicken, ment to be the more attacking of 2 in midfield, created nothing, didnt break up play, passing poor, boo boys really seem to get to him.
SWP - 4 looks very low in confidence, not beating players, poooor crosses, taking too much outta the ball
Bellamy - 5.5 looked lost in left wing today but tried hard
Tevez - 5, too great passes behind the defense, besides this lost the ball too much, didnt ever get far enough forward,, shooting??
Santa Cruz - 3 What was his job? he didnt even win headers and limped for the whole game,

Ireland 5.5 Never got involved, didnt show for ball like he did at villa when he came on
Petrov 5 couldnt get involved and 2 awful corners and that volley.......

[Citylee]

Given - 9
Zabaletta - 6
Kompany - 7
Lescott - 6
Bridge - 7
De Jong - 6
Barry - 6
SWP - 4
Bellamy - 6
Tevez - 6
Santa Cruz - 4

Subs
Ireland - 5
Petrov - 5

[The Original Special One]

I think our two full backs were the best of the back four; I've been critical of both, Zaba for his rashness but he was well-measured today,...and Bridge for not putting in the tackles but, for the most part he was solid defensively, and very impressive going forward.
Enough signs from Kompany, once he gets more game time, that he'll adequately fill in for Toure.

Possibly Lescott's best performance to date although there was one shockingly stupid decision by him which I referred to in my match thread.

Beller's poorest performance to date, methinks; too many bad choices/passes/dead balls
Effort isn't enough

[Colin the King]

Given 9- Absolutely brilliant, again. Much as I like Joe Hart, if he'd been in goal today things could be looking a lot bleaker tonight. Everything about Shay fills me with confidence. Even when the defenders put him under pressure with back passes at pace or poor positioning, he picks up the pieces with ease. The penalty save will have been his highlight but there were so many occasions today in which a poorer keeper would have slipped up. World class.

Zabaleta 7- Not entirely convincing when attackers are running at him I feel but a solid display overall. Showed a real willingness to get forward, urging the others on and trying to help us win the game, which is a great quality for any player to have. Much better in possession and chance creation than Richards.

Kompany 6- Still getting up to speed after a long lay off and it showed a little bit. While he's strong in the tackle and like Zabs, has no shortage of drive and willingness to win, he was poor positionally in some of their attacks and needed others, like SWP a couple of times, to recover. Nonetheless a good option to have, and he should be back to 100% by the time Touré heads off in January.

Lescott 7- Arguably his best game in a City shirt so far. His lack of pace is a concern but every other aspect of his play was impressive today. He was tighter on his forwards than previously, made some brilliant tackles and was a lot more composed in possession. Hopefully he can keep this level of performance together.

Bridge 8- Our best outfield player today. Continues to impress going forward, but he's fine tuned his defensive side over the Summer too. I never realised he was such a classy on-the-ball type of player but the ease with which he carries the ball and looks to maneuver attacks is pleasing. He still tends to stand off and not put a tackle in- if he could improve this he'd be one of the best left back's in the country. Today he actually looked our most threatening player going forward.

de Jong 6- Relatively good during the first half, a couple of poor passes but made up for them with plenty of tenacity and strong tackling. Personally I'd have kept him on the pitch and brought Ireland on for Barry. That way Ireland could have bombed forward confident in the knowledge that de Jong would be holding the fort. Anyway, on the penalty I thought he was unlucky. It didn't look an intentional hand ball.

Barry 4- His poorest game for City so far- it seems like he's getting progressively worse over the last few weeks. Dreadful in possession, knocked off the ball easily and didn't look to create attacks or orchestrate at all. He needs to improve.

SWP 7- Still nowhere near as good as we all know he can be but this was a vast improvement on recent weeks. He showed a greater willingness to attack and score goals, he got himself into some wonderful positions and better deliveries might have got us a couple of goals. The defensive effort as per usual was there and he kept plugging away. Hopefully he can build on this game and improve further.

Bellamy 6- Not one of his better days. He was good positionally and covered Bridge very well but he didn't threaten as often as I'd like. He could have destroyed Stephen Carr this afternoon and it feels like a missed opportunity. He wasn't given the ball as much as usual and consequently couldn't get into the game. His delivery and set pieces were poor today.

Tevez 6- Some flashes of brilliance, some flashes of rubbish. It's so frustrating that in the space of a few minutes Tevez can have an outstanding first touch and then that of a rapist. Nonetheless he worked very hard, closing down their players and had some decent efforts on goal which nobody else seemed willing to do. He'll have better days.

Santa Cruz 5- A poor display but I understand he's still finding his fitness. He made one brilliant pass to Bellamy in the first half and held it reasonably well at others but overall he didn't have the urgency or desire you'd expect. A shame Ade couldn't be involved.

Ireland 5- Didn't get a foothold in the game. A couple of decent cross field balls but nothing penetrating. I think he should have started having impressed during the week and I think we'd have benefited from his style of play. He can launch counter attacks like very few others, the way Birmingham were attacking us in the early stages it could have been a very fruitful tactic.

Petrov 6- Showed a willingness to score and get involved and intelligent positioning late on for that chance. Not great on crosses, although he didn't have much to aim at.

[The Original Special One]

Given 9- Absolutely brilliant, again. Much as I like Joe Hart, if he'd been in goal today things could be looking a lot bleaker tonight. Everything about Shay fills me with confidence. Even when the defenders put him under pressure with back passes at pace or poor positioning, he picks up the pieces with ease. The penalty save will have been his highlight but there were so many occasions today in which a poorer keeper would have slipped up. World class.

Zabaleta 7- Not entirely convincing when attackers are running at him I feel but a solid display overall. Showed a real willingness to get forward, urging the others on and trying to help us win the game, which is a great quality for any player to have. Much better in possession and chance creation than Richards.

Kompany 6- Still getting up to speed after a long lay off and it showed a little bit. While he's strong in the tackle and like Zabs, has no shortage of drive and willingness to win, he was poor positionally in some of their attacks and needed others, like SWP a couple of times, to recover. Nonetheless a good option to have, and he should be back to 100% by the time Touré heads off in January.

Lescott 7- Arguably his best game in a City shirt so far. His lack of pace is a concern but every other aspect of his play was impressive today. He was tighter on his forwards than previously, made some brilliant tackles and was a lot more composed in possession. Hopefully he can keep this level of performance together.

Bridge 8- Our best outfield player today. Continues to impress going forward, but he's fine tuned his defensive side over the Summer too. I never realised he was such a classy on-the-ball type of player but the ease with which he carries the ball and looks to maneuver attacks is pleasing. He still tends to stand off and not put a tackle in- if he could improve this he'd be one of the best left back's in the country. Today he actually looked our most threatening player going forward.

de Jong 6- Relatively good during the first half, a couple of poor passes but made up for them with plenty of tenacity and strong tackling. Personally I'd have kept him on the pitch and brought Ireland on for Barry. That way Ireland could have bombed forward confident in the knowledge that de Jong would be holding the fort. Anyway, on the penalty I thought he was unlucky. It didn't look an intentional hand ball.

Barry 4- His poorest game for City so far- it seems like he's getting progressively worse over the last few weeks. Dreadful in possession, knocked off the ball easily and didn't look to create attacks or orchestrate at all. He needs to improve.

SWP 7- Still nowhere near as good as we all know he can be but this was a vast improvement on recent weeks. He showed a greater willingness to attack and score goals, he got himself into some wonderful positions and better deliveries might have got us a couple of goals. The defensive effort as per usual was there and he kept plugging away. Hopefully he can build on this game and improve further.

Bellamy 6- Not one of his better days. He was good positionally and covered Bridge very well but he didn't threaten as often as I'd like. He could have destroyed Stephen Carr this afternoon and it feels like a missed opportunity. He wasn't given the ball as much as usual and consequently couldn't get into the game. His delivery and set pieces were poor today.

Tevez 6- Some flashes of brilliance, some flashes of rubbish. It's so frustrating that in the space of a few minutes Tevez can have an outstanding first touch and then that of a rapist. Nonetheless he worked very hard, closing down their players and had some decent efforts on goal which nobody else seemed willing to do. He'll have better days.

Santa Cruz 5- A poor display but I understand he's still finding his fitness. He made one brilliant pass to Bellamy in the first half and held it reasonably well at others but overall he didn't have the urgency or desire you'd expect. A shame Ade couldn't be involved.

Ireland 5- Didn't get a foothold in the game. A couple of decent cross field balls but nothing penetrating. I think he should have started having impressed during the week and I think we'd have benefited from his style of play. He can launch counter attacks like very few others, the way Birmingham were attacking us in the early stages it could have been a very fruitful tactic.

Petrov 6- Showed a willingness to score and get involved and intelligent positioning late on for that chance. Not great on crosses, although he didn't have much to aim at.

I think your rating of SWP is a tad on the generous side but otherwise can't argue too much with the above

[fangsanalsatan]

Bridge 8- Our best outfield player today. Continues to impress going forward, but he's fine tuned his defensive side over the Summer too. I never realised he was such a classy on-the-ball type of player but the ease with which he carries the ball and looks to maneuver attacks is pleasing. He still tends to stand off and not put a tackle in- if he could improve this he'd be one of the best left back's in the country. Today he actually looked our most threatening player going forward.

Disagree. To me he always looks under pressure, because he isn't even able to touch the ball with his right foot, let alone control and pass it. I startle every time he has to twist and turn to get rid of it when hassled. He gave away the ball like that twice in the first half, if my memory serves me right.

I appreciate that he tries to initiate attacks, though.

[Original Dub]

Given - 10
Zabaletta - 4
Kompany - 5
Lescott - 6
Bridge - 8
De Jong - 5
Barry - 4
SWP - 5
Bellamy - 7
Tevez - 6
Santa Cruz - 3

That's what I reckons!

[MaineRoadMemories]

GIVEN 8 - A great performance and did very well, however apart from the deflected shot in the first half I would have expected him to save all the others. The penalty was very poor. Still you have to be in the right place at the right time. I've knocked a point off for his terrible kicking, gifting Birmingham with the ball on every occasion.

ZABALETA 6 - Put in a steady eddy type performance in which he did not sell himself short or dive in. Was pleasantly surprised. Made a couple of decent headers for a shorty but never really got going in attack like we know he can. He never clicked with SWP to offer 2 on 1 situations.

KOMPANY 5 - Looked rusty, slow and in danger of losing the ball at any given opportunity. Pumped the ball long most times which was annoying. Did not take responsibility for his defensive area resulting in numerous mis-communications with Zabaleta and De Jong. Headed the ball very well though.

LESCOTT 6 - Did well with the aerial bombardment but shockingly easy to turn and he doesn't deal with balls over his head very well at all. Indecisive is the perfect word for Lescott. Just like Kompany and Given he pumped it long too many times. Did his usual heart in mouth moment where you think he's won the ball with a good sliding challenge only to kick it about 2 foot to another attacker.

BRIDGE 7 - Looked uncomfortable for the first part of the first half as all around him were giving the ball away. He rose above this in the second to give an excellent performance. Was our main attacking threat and took responsibility for trying to win us the match in the last 15. Needlessly booked.

DE JONG 5 - Made captain for the day but failed to lead and take any responsibility for the centre of the park. Is willing to bust a gut to make a crunching sliding tackle but is unwilling to move into space to receive the ball when we have possession. Made silly errors, should not have had his hand that high in the box but more damning than anything was the huge holes that appeared in the centre of the park whilst he was chasing the ball elsewhere.

BARRY 5 - Does not seem to be able to take the booing. It affects his game badly. Had little spatial awareness and was chased off the ball on countless occasions. Horribly one footed and it narrowed down the passing that could be done. Worst performance of the season for him.

WRIGHT-PHILLIPS 5 - Despite being the only outlet that was getting any joy against a well organised team SWP flattered to deceive. Ran straight into the left back on many occasions, turned into his man rather than putting his body between ball. When the chances did come and was set free he failed to cross the ball to Santa Cruz in the 6 yard box or cut it back to the D for Tevez/Bellamy. His lack of quality with the final ball cost us 3 points.

BELLAMY 5 - Was one of his quietist performances this season and surprisingly did not show himself for the ball throughout the game. Instead he stayed tight to the right back and effectively marked himself out of the game for large proportions. Very unusual which leads me to think his knees were not 100%

TEVEZ 5 - Failed in his role to link midfield and attack in the second half. After a bright opening Tevez disappeared from the game for 30mins. Came back to life for the final 10 but his awful shooting skills from outside of the box and his head down run around approach cost the team an undeserved winner in the 90th minute. (side note: I've watched Tevez in the warm up at both Villa and Brum now and he hasn't scored from outside of the box once yet in the warm-up routine)

SANTA CRUZ 5 - Started the game brightly and won headers from long balls forward albeit to nobody. Got himself into the six yard box often but no cross came. Started to fade very quickly and by half time was a spent force. Looked slow, tired and gave the centrebacks an easy day at the office.

SUBS:

Ireland 5 - everything bypassed him in the middle. One very good sliding tackle.
Petrov 5 - decided that he was going to leather the ball at every given opportunity. Swapped wings and provided nothing for the attackers.

[Grob]

Given - 9 - Mint

Zabaletta - 5 - Dwelled on the ball repeatedly, gave its away repeatedly, looked the weak link repeatedly. As bad as ive seen him play.

Kompany - 7 - Kept their forwards pretty quiet after the initial rush. Always looks like an accident waiting to happen to me.

Lescott - 7 - Has been much better recently sans the Dempsey goal last week. Still needs to get more thrifty with his mistakes.

Bridge - 8 - I thought he played really well. Laarson barely had a kick in anger and he was effectove going forward.

De Jong - 5 - Did nothing of note in the first half, then did a silly handball, gave away a pen and was subbed. Why is this fella, who give us absolutly nothing going forward playing in matches we should be trying to win??

Barry - 4 - Hopeless. Crap in all areas of the game of football. Would rather have him in the side than de jong though. At least he has proven he can defend and help attacks.

SWP - 6 - Ran at players from deep but provided nothing when put into good positions. To be fair, he was closed down with some excellent tackles.

Tevez - 6 - Threaded through some great balls but his shooting was abysmal. Was the best for the 6 midfielders/strikers which shows how crap we were.

Bellemy - 5 - Produced nothing. Should have been withdrawn with RSC.

RSC - 4 - Terrible. I know hes on his way back from injury but surely he ust be able to do better than that.

Subs

Ireland - 6 - Did little of note but at least we know he has the ability to attack.

Petrov - 6 - Should have come on much earlier for Bellemy IMO but in Mark we trust

[Nick]

zabaleta was gash for some reason, then again most of our players were.