Manchester Derby Post-Match Thread [R]

[Motterman]

Manchester City hold on for an improbable win in the Manchester Derby.

Discuss here.

[prymetyme]

sigh. :(

[MtP07]

I can't believe people are doubting Tevez so much.

[prymetyme]

he has nobody to work with. We should put someone up there, they don't have to be as good as him, just to feed balls off of and not leave him stranded. Is it really that difficult to understand that?

[Amdrag]

Its overrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!! Its OVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God just start Eagles so we have a chance to score.

[three lions]

Hargreaves and Scholes looked good together.

[StiltonFC]

well, think of the positives. your next two matches are at Auld Trafford, and barring the improbable, you lot should win at least one.

[doug1500]

I can't believe people are doubting Tevez so much.

Bingo

[lynne]

By the way, what concerned me more about Tevez - and what no one seems to be talking about - is his speed. Or lack thereof. Not once all game long did he win a single ball which he had to run towards to against a City defender. He was routinely outrun by any opposing defender, and 80% of the time received a ball while standing up with a back toward the goal. I dunno, he seemed to be a lot faster last year, especially at the end, and it sure looks like he can lose a few pounds to gain some speed.

Actually I did mention it.....I can live with him shooting 6 feet wide of the goal, because that can get better with practice. He can't do anything about being short, and, if he's slow and can be outrun by everyone on the field, he can't do anything about that either.

One impression from the first half is of Nani with the ball at the end line with nothing to do (but lose it) while he waited for the rest of the team to catch up. That was Tevez and Scholes and Giggs and Carrick.

I can't believe people are doubting Tevez so much.

Well, hopefully he'll get better, but so far he's slow, short, can't head the ball and can't shoot straight. Other than that he's a fine player.

[Quaresma]

I just wanto say I've almost never seen a team being so unlucky over a stretch of games in my life.

Why does fergie insist with evra at left wing?

Nani...wow.

He was your biggest threat and was senseational...i honestly expected him to be average at best, but hes smashing everyones expectations..why the sub?

Some of your missed chances...i cant explain, i really cant, the ball just doesnt want to go in the ********ing net, theres not much else you can do..you get in the positions etc, do all the hard work, and u miss the easy/fun part( or not so easy:D)

remember though...

your starting a completly new team from last season, with injuries some new signings had to play right away, and arnt fully integrated yet etc.

[MtP07]

By the way, what concerned me more about Tevez - and what no one seems to be talking about - is his speed. Or lack thereof. Not once all game long did he win a single ball which he had to run towards to against a City defender. He was routinely outrun by any opposing defender, and 80% of the time received a ball while standing up with a back toward the goal. I dunno, he seemed to be a lot faster last year, especially at the end, and it sure looks like he can lose a few pounds to gain some speed.

I think its a combination of Tevez not being match fit and him being up against Richards who is a beast and is probably one of the fastest CB's in the league.

[Motterman]

Also, regarding Hargreaves' "injury", was he in the England squad for Germany?

Rio and Carrick also probably picked up slight knocks...

:cool:

[doug1500]

I think its a combination of Tevez not being match fit and him being up against Richards who is a beast and is probably one of the fastest CB's in the league.

Not to mention him playing alone up top.

[tscboys]

Arg I had my longest post to date written out, I click to send it in "Thread Closed"..post gone, oh well. I'm going to watch the chelstinki match in my sovereign dispair. Later

[three lions]

Also, regarding Hargreaves' "injury", was he in the England squad for Germany?

Rio and Carrick also probably picked up slight knocks...

:cool:

Hargreaves, Rio, and Carrick are all in the squad..

[nathevan]

i think we need good leadership neville needs to come back an lift the team well start winning then

[Stud83]

Not to mention him playing alone up top.

I didn't know your position on the field could actulaly make you slow. :eek:

[Sir3y]

Disappointing outcome but generally impressed with the squad. I was very happy with the energy and protection Hargreaves gave. He was an enforcer in front of the back four and liked his physical play. The defense IMO was solid, just unlucky with the deflected goal. I feel we won both the midfield and defensive battles, but the attacking was lacking. This is to be expected with our 2 leading scorers Rooney and Ronaldo out. What was last year’s record? 28-5-5 (38). At the moment its stands at 0-2-1 (3). That means that we have 3 ties and 4 losses left until I would actually start to worry. So in the worse scenario that’s 7 weeks. However, by then Rooney and most of our injured players would be recovered and back in the starting line-up. After that it'll be a breeze ;); we'll just have to win every game from then on out and we'd be fine :D. It's expected to hear other teams writing us off, but its disheartening hearing it from fellow fans. They all seem to forget that this is a marathon and not a sprint.

[Numquam Moribimur]

:mad::(:mad:

[Sapphire]

Doom! Relegation! Ferguson and Glazer out. We want Anelka. Sniper for Rossi. :mad:Erm, I agree with the Anelka thing. :o

Asalama aleko there. Is there a problem? I almost neg repped you for that, but I decided to start chain-eating Oreos instead. Lucky you.

paraphrase: I don't get our subs (Sorry, my multiquote didn't work properly) Oshea for Brown because Oshea does better going forward, and we were shifting heavily to an attacking game. Campbell for Carrick because we needed another finisher out there, and Carrick was the weakest midfielder in the second half (compared to Scholed and Hargreaves). The one substitution which I really disagree with is Eagles for Nani. Nani was a huge offensive force on the pitch, despite the fact that many of his crosses were failing to connect, and we couldn't afford to lose him. I would have subbed Eagles for Giggs. Perhaps Fergie favored Giggs staying on over Nani due to his experience and "leadership" on the pitch. (More on that below).

I feel sick after this game. Again, we didn't play a stinker, we just can't convert our chances. I'm really not sure WHAT the problem is. A couple of people mentioned during the game that we looked apathetic and lethargic. I do agree with that -- although people were coming down on Nani for that, and I think that's really missing the point in a way which ignores what may just be our biggest problem. First of all, Nani didn't look apathetic to me. At all. However, if he did look apathetic to you, please remember that this is his 2nd Premier League game, and he's a young player. It is just not his job to motivate and inspire the team. Leadership is the job of the older and established players and it has been absent in this 3 game run and was SHOCKINGLY absent today. Giggs, Scholes, Ferdinand, even Brown: you guys are the leaders! There is no Keane, there's not even Gary Neville, it's you. And you weren't doing your job motivating and inspiring your team today in the face of a stellar defensive performance by Citai (you have to admire what Richards did today. wow.) I think the lack of leadership might be the missing piece of the puzzle right now, especially considering that we have a slew of new/young/foreign players coming into the team. I'm not sure, but that's my best guess at the problem. That, and, you know, putting the ball in the damn net.