City in crisis? Don't be daft!
By Dave Walker
Manchester City should be ok today as long
as it’s made clear to Roberto Mancini and his first team squad that a team from
a ‘foreign’ country does NOT always represent insurmountable European
opposition!
Forgive the sardonic comment but it’s odds
on City will contrive to deliver a singularly underwhelming performance if
there’s even a hint of the continent about their opponents. Non-English
Swansea, thankfully, don’t qualify.
Michael Laudrup’s side are not
representative of the kind of team who have been causing Mancini and his
players Champion’s League nightmares this season.
That said, the mighty Manchester City
should not consider themselves immune to pain in their own back yard, albeit we
are fast approaching a tremendous two-year anniversary as to when City last
surrendered three Premier League points in the Etihad Stadium. 30 wins and
three draws is an incredible run of success – it just needs to run and keep on running.
Off the back of a humiliating defeat to
unfancied Ajax in the Champions League, City must be chomping at the bit and
will hopefully unload on their Welsh visitors. A repeat of the scoreline when
Swansea came to the Etihad on opening day 2011/12 would be most condusive, with
debut boy Sergio bagging two goals in a 4-0 win.
But before we let the anti-MCFC media pack
run away with the agenda of ‘City in
crisis’ and ‘Mutiny against Mancini’ and other cheap shots, let’s look at some
FACTS rather than what the City-hating hacks are serving up.
Last season City were scoring for fun at
this stage – 27 in the first eight games with only six conceded. This time out
the numbers read 17 for and nine against. City had 22 points from a possible 24
– this time around it’s just 18.
However in terms of like-for-like fixtures,
City are a healthy four points AHEAD of last season’s title winning campaign,
having bettered the team’s results against Fulham and WBA away and Sunderland
at home. The only downside has been the home draw with Arsenal.
It’s worth remembering that despite all the
media hype and hysteria about City’s wealth, the club operates to the same
25-man squad rules as everybody else. For today’s match Cityy have six men
unavailable – Milner suspended and Silva, Garcia, Zabaleta, Maicon and Rodwell
injured. Nearly a quarter of Mancini’s manpower sidelined.
The press bang on about other club’s woes
e.g. Fergie’s bunch, but never a mention of the constraints under which Mancini
has to operate.
As one who invested in travel and staying
in Amsterdam, I, like any City supporter was bitterly disappointed with
Wednesday’s non-performance, but it doesn’t happen often. As a fan base, the
City faithful have become somewhat spoilt in the past two seasons – blimey City
haven’t lost in the PL since Easter Sunday…and there’s how many shopping days
left until Christmas?
Mancini will be doubly determined to pick
up where his side left off in the Black Country last weekend with another win
today – a win that will take City above United and breathing down the neck of
Chelsea at the summit of the table.
Expect changes where Nastasic and Kolarov
may come into the defence. Scott Sinclair may get a start against his former
employers and Dzeko may go back to the bench and do what he has done best of
recent times…come on late and score.
It would be wrong – and downright daft – to
dismiss the threat from Swansea, they did after all inflict one of City’s rare
defeats last season. A change of manager and the dreaded ‘second season
syndrome’ means the Swans are among the relegation favourites.
New manager, Danish superstar, Laudrup was
a product of a certain Ajax football academy as a player, so he would have
taken an extra special interest in the events in Amsterdam.
The Champion’s League is the ultimate goal
for City and their owner Sheikh Mansour, BUT, and there’s often a ‘but’, if you
ask City fans if they would prefer to retain the PL title this season over CL
glory the answer would be a resounding yes.
Player watch
Michu vs Yaya Toure
 |
| Photo 1: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Europe Photo 2: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Europe |
Yaya is widely regarded as the ‘glue’
holding City together – THE major single influence in the club’s meteoric rise
to the top of the English game. However by his own exemplary standards, Toure
has not been at his best, especially in the Champions League.
Yaya will need to be back on his game to
help combat Swansea goal threat Michu, who has already scored six Premier
League goals since arriving from Rayo Vallecano in the summer. The 26-year old
who bagged 15 goals in La Liga last season is join top scorer in the PL and a
man to be nullified if City are to achieve a second clean sheet of the season.
(c) The Sky Blue View 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment