Once again I have waited until the last minute, checked all the threads, and there just isn’t much to post. I think you will quickly get the idea about what the aways fans are thinking this week. Most of the score predictions have a 4 or a 5 in them, and not for the visitors. This makes me nervous. Looking forward to seeing which team The Count puts out tomorrow, it could be a really entertaining afternoon.
Now …COME ON CITY !!!
Team Selection
Rudd
Wisdom Bennett Bassong Olsson
Mulumbu Tettey
Jarvis Ofoe Brady
Jerome
Referee: Robert Madley
My favourite
Given the attacking array of talent Man city have and the goals they are scoring, just as well our defence is so well organised and rock solid this season….oh….no, wait a minute…oops!
And the rest…
I have literally no idea how we should approach this game
nine across the back with a sweeper!
Anything less than total humiliation would be a bonus
All we will get from this game is a thrashing. morale is low and we now must all realise we have a championship squad in the premier league.
Two holding midfielders at a minimum with Ruddy to start. Ruddy does a lot more for us than people give him credit for, and even if there were an argument to drop him, it certainly isn’t against a free-scoring team away from home with a porous defense in front of him – imagine if Rudd let in four or five, then we’ve got two keepers with fragile confidence and a manager who’s made a stupid gamble. Aside from Ruddy, who (if he’s being managed properly) should view this as a chance to prove he’s top bin, the rest of the team in my opinion should view this as a free hit/training exercise. We’re not expected to win, and if we’re honest we’re not expected to lose by less than 2 goals. With that in mind, therefore, I’d expect AN to keep it simple. Stay compact, concentrate on shape off the ball and attempt to counter when there’s an opportunity, probably thrpugh the wings. There’s no way we’ll play a high line as they’ll just pick us off. I agree with AJ, in that I think we won’t start with either Hoolahan or Redmond. I’d play Howson – confidence is a big thing and don’t forget he’s had a happy time at the Etihad in the past, and he provides a more solid alternative to Wes/Redmond. As an aside, I don’t think anyone ever ‘plays’ for 0-0; you always want to go and win the game, but you may sacrifice the amount of ‘attacking’ players to weight towards the defence. I think Mbokani up front with Jarvis Howson and Dorrans trying to feed him provides a decent attacking threat, but it is obviously limited.
If we “go for it” we could easily end up losing 7-0 again – which would be a real blow to any confidence left in the group.
3 goalies, 7 defenders and one striker who can sit on the half way line in hope that we get some possession.
No Silva or Aguero, extra day’s rest (ignore travelling!), expectant home crowd – you never know – could take points off them – or could be another 7-0 hockeying – this is sport!
I would like us to go all out to win this match and play with the style and committment we saw against Everton. There is a good chance we could lose it however we play, but what do people think? Go to defend – in other words go for a 0-0, or attack them and at least hope to score a couple of goals in the hope that even if we don’t draw or win, we would keep the goal difference down?
they could put out their u21 team and still beat us…
