Southampton vs Manchester City
St. Marys Stadium
Saturday, 9th February Kick Off: 17.30
ESPN
B**tard in Black: Martin Atkinson
We are Man City we fight to the end! Or so the song goes, but it’s all a little doom and gloom around the Etihad at the moment. City haven’t really hit the heights of last year and those hopeful that the club would build on its fantastic season are understandably frustrated. Off the pitch transfer policies and decisions seem a little bit off the mark and to look at the personnel available it’s easy to argue that the squad has in fact been weakened since the end of last season. Added to this some of the biggest stars of the last campaign have failed to recapture the form that delivered the title. Players like Aguero, Silva and Toure have not consistently performed to the highest level. As a slightly mitigating factor the squad has been beset by injury problems (something which wasn’t seen much last season) and it has been difficult for Mancini to consistently turn out the same side.
Unfortunately as City have had something of a struggle at times this year the Rags have been able to turn out some dreadful performances and still escape with victories and they have built a healthy 9 point lead at the top of the table. Whilst 9 points at this stage of the season (bearing in mind what happened last year) is not insurmountable the manner of performances and the rub of the green do not seem to favour City recapturing the title. Still there’s no reason to go writing off the season just yet. A Champions League spot is safely in the bag and whilst it may not live up to winning the league a second time round an FA cup win would certainly ease the pain.
What is probably the most important thing right now for most fans woud be to see City show a bit of that fighting spirit and don’t feebly allow the title to slip away. Even if there are to be no additions to the trophy cabinet (we could always count the Community Shield as the Rags would) it would provide everyone a real lift if City could recapture the magic and turn in a few performances like the ones seen last season. However while there’s still points to play remember the 13th May.
Last week against Liverpool the performance was uninspiring to say the least. Save from a little bit of magic from Aguero there was little to warm the hearts of the blue faithful. It seems a little churlish to say it considering they both scored but Aguero and Dzeko perfectly reflected the one of the main problems this season, and seemed to offer very little real threat in the game. However the main problem in this game looked to be lack of pace in the midfield. Barry, Miner and Garcia are not naturally blessed with pace and against Liverpool they looked particularly sluggish, often being overwhelmed by Liverpool’s movement in the middle of the pitch. Particularly without Yaya’s presence it was easy for Liverpool to pull our midfield around and make space. This improved slightly with the change in system to 3 at the back with the extra body in midfield closing down the space Liverpool had to operate in.
Despite us turning in a poor performance we were again hindered by another hopelessly inept refereeing performance. I lost count of the number of times a Liverpool player would hit the deck and win a free kick and yet clubs seem to have a free reign to push and pull our centre forwards just because they refuse to go down so easily. The Dzeko incident can be debated all day, was he right to stay down when he wasn’t injured or should he have got back up? Whatever your opinion it was another case of a clear foul not given to us leading to a goal.
The way the game is going we seem to be getting left behind in the darker arts, countless times I watch us put the ball out for the opposition when they have a man down for them to kick it out for a throw-in right near the corner flag. It’s incredibly frustrating and happens week in week out. I noticed that when Aguero went down under a challenge, their centre half was under pressure and kicked the ball straight out of play and then Steven “the perfect role model when he’s not assaulting DJs in a bar” Gerrard had the audacity to whinge about us kicking it out for a throw. The only comfort I can take is that one of the most over-hyped English players in the last 10 years will retire without a league title. (Rant over, needed to get that off my chest.)
Is Maicon the man to add much needed width?
I’d like to see Mancini keep this formation against Southampton and give Maicon a run out on the right hand side with Zabaleta behind him in the back three with Nastasic and Lescott to do the defending. Maicon has his frailties when he’s got to defend but I like what he offers going forward. He always looks to get beyond the last man and put the ball into the box and if Dzeko is going to start then it makes sense to play with width. Sadly I don’t think he will. Mancini seems a reluctant to tinker with his starting XI and seems more likely to adapt the side during the game. Joe Hart will obviously start in net and the back four is unlikely to change with Zabaleta, Lescott, Nastasic and Clichy continuing. Ahead of them Barry and Garcia are likely to continue in the middle as Yaya will presumably be on the bench and not be rushed back in for Southampton. Silva will operate from the left and I think Mancini will again persist with Milner on the right. Upfront will be Aguero and one from Tevez and Dzeko. I’m Edin’s biggest fan but I’d like to see Tevez get the nod, if we’re not playing with width we’re not really playing to Dzeko’s strengths so I’d rather he was on the bench to come on if needed. The worry is Tevez seems to have fallen from favour again. It’s baffling that he didn’t make an appearance against Liverpool. That was a game made for Tevez and his work rate. With him harrying Liverpool’s back four and Lucas in the middle they wouldn’t have had such an easy time controlling the middle of the park.
Tevez or Dzeko?? The way things look to be going it’s not inconceivable that we will see both of them leave this summer.
Saints appear to have a few of their own injury concerns to deal with. Both fullbacks Nathaniel Clyne and Luke Shaw are rumoured to be struggling and Gaston Ramirez and Guly Do Prado (what a name!) are also said to be doubtful. Artur Boruc has established himself as No1 and the centre backs are usually Yoshida and Hooiveld and if Clyne and Shaw are unable to start Fox and Richardson are likely to come in with new signing Vegard Forren building up to full match fitness. In the midfield Morgan and Cork should continue in the middle of the park and Adam Lallana is tipped to return to the side. He should form part of an attacking three with Ramirez/Puncheon and Rodriguez and up top will be Rickie Lambert. I must confess to not knowing a great deal about Southampton, the new manager looks to be straight out of the Spanish textbook favouring a short passing style with plenty of movement and pressuring the other team at high tempo when they don’t have the ball. The attacking style should suit us, when they came to the Eithad the long ball up to Rickie Lambert in the box caused us a fair bit of trouble and I will certainly be happier if they want to play football.
Prediction
Southampton went to Old Trafford and made it difficult for the Rags for a time before eventually falling behind. I expect they’ll put up a stern display against City with the new manager looking to spring a surprise result. Overall though City should prove too strong and I’m backing them to get back on track with a 0-2 win.
huge thanks gone, once again, to barryconlonsbaldspot for writing this preview for ManCityFans.Net