Man City vs. Bolton [R]

[CityBlues]

Manchester City Foorball Club

vs

Bolton Wanderers


Where: COMS
When: Saturday December 15th
3:00 PM GMT
10:00 AM EST
7:00 AM PST
US Tele: FSC 10:00 AM Live

BBC City v Bolton Preview (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/7134139.stm)
Soccernet Match Page (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=219891&cc=5901)

[CityBlues]

Well, Elano is back and Didi back from suspension so we should be looking pretty strong. Looks like Geovanni in place for Ireland? Or will we see some sort of combo with Etuhu or Gelson in play? Hopefully Bianchi can get the start.

I believe we can win this game, we are at home, Elano is back, we will have a top lineup in this game.

[Manchester City]

Finally Sven has decided to play two men forward and we immediately receive fruits from the experiment. Our play is back to high form with the return of Elano and Hamann, and Petrov is playing well as usual.

[Manchester City]

Poor play of our back four sees another equalizer. I am beginning to worry about Richards; he seems to be distracted often these days.

[Hyuuga Neji]

Finally Sven has decided to play two men forward and we immediately receive fruits from the experiment. Our play is back to high form with the return of Elano and Hamann, and Petrov is playing well as usual.

What game are you watching. Elano's not playing, buddy.

[Manchester City]

Bolton are making more of their chances, simple as that. We have over three times theirs shots on goal and have still only managed one. Vassell is positioning well but finishing poorly, otherwise we would be up three.

Should have had a penalty before the Bolton second but Walton doesn't seem to see anything worthy of actual action, though there has seemingly been a few instances on both sides.

Bianchi is showing his worth, though we need to give him better service.

[Manchester City]

What game are you watching. Elano's not playing, buddy.

I meant only Hamann; I have no idea why I included Elano other than I was thinking about how much I wished he had returned. I still hold that our play, even without Elano, is back up to high form, or was for the first 20 minutes. Hamann is deft in midfield, despite some opinion, and is important to our success.

[Lynne_mcfc]

SGE will need to make a change and to get the back to tighten their play. Two goals that shouldn't have been, sloppy ball passing and marking.

We're really missing Elano and Superman Stevie. We don't want to lose our home record and we need the win.

Come on City!

[Manchester City]

SGE will need to make a change and to get the back to tighten their play. Two goals that shouldn't have been, sloppy ball passing and marking.

We're really missing Elano and Superman Stevie. We don't want to lose our home record and we need the win.

Come on City!

Well, we have to be honest, the first was well done. But I absolutely agree the second should have never been.

I just wish I was not sick so I did not have to watch the match through coughs and sneezes, I'm liable to miss our equalizer for a trip to the loo.

[Manchester City]

And Hamann makes my point for me. He just causes problems; really nothing Jaaske could do with that wild deflection. Very well done and I only missed a replay with a sneeze.

[Manchester City]

GOOOOAAAAL!

Beautiful control and creativity from Petrov and great finish from Vassell for once. The backheel was surreal.

[NER_MCFC]

Has Vassell not been playing a lot this season? I was pretty startled to learn that this was his 1st of the season.
Come on City!!!

[Lynne_mcfc]

78th minute - YEAH Darius 3-2

Come on you Blues:D

[Manchester City]

Garrido came off the bench and played like a man competing for a starting position (which he is, apparently), setting up a great chance for Mpenza, and then his assist on Etuhu's proving goal.

We are still 100%. Now if we could just pick up some points away.

[Lynne_mcfc]

94th minute Etuhu 4-2 :D

Garrido is an attacking mid-fielder and has made a whole lot of difference since coming on :p. Inspired sub by SGE.

Final whistle. Great game City, hard won battle.

[Lynne_mcfc]

Garrido came off the bench and played like a man competing for a starting position (which he is, apparently), setting up a great chance for Mpenza, and then his assist on Etuhu's proving goal.

We are still 100%. Now if we could just pick up some points away.

All our subs were inspirational on the pitch today and most of them got some 'real time' playing instead of the usual 10 or so minutes. SGE made attacking substitutions, which he rarely does when we're away (could be why we have a poor record?:rolleyes:), and 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating'. MCFC's MOTM is Darius Vassell - fabulous work rate and his goal (more please Darius).

Isaakson again 'saved our bacon' (pudding, now bacon - must be something to do with Christmas?) with some great saves. The back four need to pay more attention to their positioning and shore-up those holes that kept appearing.

Great to have Hamann back, a fantastic presence and influence on the match.

Our heads could so easily have dropped and settled for the draw (very risky, we're talking about City here!). It must have been a great team talk at half-time, we came out fighting and eventually, 'knocked the stuffing' out of Bolton. On all-round ab fab team effort - 'well done' lads.

[Manchester City]

All our subs were inspirational on the pitch today and most of them got some 'real time' playing instead of the usual 10 or so minutes. SGE made attacking substitutions, which he rarely does when we're away (could be why we have a poor record?:rolleyes:), and 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating'. MCFC's MOTM is Darius Vassell - fabulous work rate and his goal (more please Darius).

Isaakson again 'saved our bacon' (pudding, now bacon - must be something to do with Christmas?) with some great saves. The back four need to pay more attention to their positioning and shore-up those holes that kept appearing.

Great to have Hamann back, a fantastic presence and influence on the match.

Our heads could so easily have dropped and settled for the draw (very risky, we're talking about City here!). It must have been a great team talk at half-time, we came out fighting and eventually, 'knocked the stuffing' out of Bolton. On all-round ab fab team effort - 'well done' lads.

I agree for the most part, although I can say that a large part of the change in tactics actually came from him starting to strikers. I believe Sven has been apprehensive about steering away from the defend-to-attack style that City has been known for as of late (although not always favourably). He has toyed with such an approach a bit more than you give him credit in the past and it has not always worked well, thus the apprehension. Although it did have its negative moments in the first half, I think generally it was a beneficial decision and we should see him trying it a bit more in the future, given we do not suffer any key injuries. We will see if this strategy of two forward and balanced subs prevails in our Cup tie this Tuesday; we can only hope we don't "ham it up."

I have to say, though, that I still feel Garrido needs a singling out for praise this match, and not just because he is a brilliant Spaniard. He looked a man possessed when he came on and his pace saw a sharp upswing to past performances. Garrido showed great creativity many times in the relatively short time he was on the field, not least of which was his contribution to Etuhu's proving goal. Sven's decision to play him forward has been suggested quite a few times by myself and others on this forum for good reason, as he has an attacking spirit about him. He is no "turkey," despite the assessment of some City supporters, and as he develops he is like to help us "put gravy on the table."

[Lynne_mcfc]

I have to say, though, that I still feel Garrido needs a singling out for praise this match, and not just because he is a brilliant Spaniard. He looked a man possessed when he came on and his pace saw a sharp upswing to past performances. Garrido showed great creativity many times in the relatively short time he was on the field, not least of which was his contribution to Etuhu's proving goal. Sven's decision to play him forward has been suggested quite a few times by myself and others on this forum for good reason, as he has an attacking spirit about him. He is no "turkey," despite the assessment of some City supporters, and as he develops he is like to help us "put gravy on the table."

Both myself and Sebastian (aka Manchester City) mention the great contribution made by Garrido when he came on in the 2nd half (see previous posts). I've always rated him as a player and like a few of our other young stars, will benefit greatly from the senior players around him, SGE and team. I hope SGE notices how well Garrido played in this attacking position and will play him there whilst Superman Stevie is serving his ban. Who knows, Superman may have to fight to get a place! :D Who'd have thought it.

[J'can]

Dropping in to say well done. Well done. Watched the game and was thoroughly entertained. Wonderful performace. Garrido did exceptionally well coming on to put the game away. I think City has enough depth to come through December cluster of games in good stead and if you do, i think City could be challenging for a CL spot.