City vs West Ham (Again) [R]

[CityBlues]

Manchester City Football Club

vs

West Ham United Football Club

Where: COMS
When: Sunday, January 20th 2008
Kickoff: 3:00 PM GMT 10:00 AM EST
Televised: US FSC


Looks like we lost Nery for five to six weeks with his fractured shoulder bone. Hoping for a good result, we need to win here to try and preserve a top 7 spot. Villa goes to Anfield on Monday, hopefully they will drop points there. And Everton travels to Wigan, which could go either way. Wigan has definitely surprised a few folks this year so far and we can hope for Everton to drop points there as well. So a win could be vital.

Thoughts? Predictions?

[norwaytips]

Close one this, but I think the 'ammers might nick it.
Whichever way it goes there won't be a lot of goals. Both sides have defences that are in form. I just hope that it's more entertaining than the cup game. :p

[Fevernova99]

2-0 City... gotta go with the flow.. first game 0-0, second game 1-0, third game 2-0 ;)

[Lynne_mcfc]

We need to win this one! Hope SGE's had the team training hard.

Come on you Blues

[ForzaGrifo]

I'd say 1 nil again to City.

[MVF]

2-0 City... gotta go with the flow.. first game 0-0, second game 1-0, third game 2-0 ;)
Didn't we win our first encounter against WH this year 3-0 or 2-0 ?

Hopefully Bianchi can come back and start and dominate. Is easily our best forward player at the moment.

[Manchester City]

I am going to predict 1 all before the break, with Petrov (it is his time to shine) scoring the winner in the second half.

City 2 - 1 Hammers

Elano 33' - Ashton 41'
Petrov 67'

I am probably wrong, as it is my medicated stupor talking, and I am being incredibly specific, but who knows.

[Lynne_mcfc]

Didn't we win our first encounter against WH this year 3-0 or 2-0 ?

Hopefully Bianchi can come back and start and dominate. Is easily our best forward player at the moment.

We need his height in the box - the game changed when he came on as a sub in the Cup match. If nothing else, he'll have defender(s) marking him, giving someone else the chance to score. I too would like to see Petrov get a goal, a reward for his hard work in recent matches. If our forwards don't make themselves available to him, then he should go it alone.

[thejuggernaut]

Bianchi is really startin to settle in.

[Manchester City]

We are giving away far too many balls; seven so far by my count, with three leading to serious West Ham attacks. If we continue to play so sloppily it is only a matter of time before they capitalise. Elano is having a very quiet match, with few touches, but I believe we will see more of him in the second forty-five, along with Petrov, as he seem to be finding the holes in the Hammers' line.

Vassell was offside when Petrov played the ball in on our goal, but it took three touches before finally reaching so the judge let it go. He and Bianchi almost put it through again later in the half, but Bianchi just does not have the acceleration to take those clever balls. This is why Nery is an important loss for us, as he is the only striker we really have that has the quick pace that would match well with Elano and Ireland's creativity. I hope we are working on bringing in another quick striker and a creative right winger to strengthen our midfield attack.

[Konspiracy]

Boooooring game - very disappointed. Best game Ive seen today was Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0 Rangers 1. Expected a lot more attacking-wise especially from City playing at home, but very Sven-like efficient, competent but when Petrov doesnt have a very good game neither do City. They seem to rely on him so much to deliver the goods and he's been brilliant this season but an off day today - very dull.:(

[thejuggernaut]

Boooooring game - very disappointed. Best game Ive seen today was Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0 Rangers 1. They seem to rely on him so much to deliver the goods and he's been brilliant this season but an off day today - very dull.:(
I'm fairly sure that no Man City fan gives a flying f#ck if you were entertained or not... read a f*ckin book if your bored.

[norwaytips]

City were a bit lucky today. Dodgey equalizer that, but win some, lose some and draw some. You won't get many points from games like todays. Whichever God SGE prays to, he listens to him.:rolleyes:

[Lynne_mcfc]

We are giving away far too many balls; seven so far by my count, with three leading to serious West Ham attacks. If we continue to play so sloppily it is only a matter of time before they capitalise.

That's been a continued comment in my postings. Hart rolled the ball out more during this match, but again, we're not keeping possession long enough, it came back to us too quickly. Petrov again with his darting runs was inspirational, but not many passing options (yet again) - you could see that he was getting frustrated. He was tightly marked and we should have been making the most of those runs. I hope to see him charge into the box more in the next few matches and SGE should be encouraging him to go for goal.

We seemed very 2nd rate today, sometimes lethargic, giving them too much space and time on the ball.

The Hammers goal shouldn't have stood, it was a high foot and Richards nearly had a boot in his face. But I didn't see any urgent appeals for the goal to be disallowed - I think everyone was in shock.

Pleased that Vassell got another goal. Although he was in front of the defenders, he wasn't off-side as he wasn't interfering with play when the ball came into the box. He was on-side when he pushed it into the net.

Hart definitely kept us in the match, a few reflex saves and looking more comfortable when crosses come into the box (mcfc MOTM).

My MOTM, Petrov. Despite his team mates not making themselves available or keeping up with him, his work ethic and rate were tremendous.

This was a match that we would've lost in previous seasons - is 1 point good enough? Not to me, there are a number of teams that are hovering around us in the league (we're currently 5th, Liverpool has two games in hand and Aston Villa 1), and they're playing better football. We could've, should've won this one, we had the chances and should've put the ball in the net on at least one other occasion. We need to pick our game up.

Next up:The Blades (FA Cup) on the 27th, away. They'll certainly fancy their chances given our recent performances. Come SGE get the team on the winning track again.

Not sure if Johnson will be fit for this match, I hope so, we've certainly missed him.

[Alan D]

We were lucky to get one point today, a very disappointing performance and a clear indication we're in a bad run of form. We're not losing games, we're still hard to beat but we're drawing the games that we were winning previously on in the season. We definitely need a couple of new players and I just hope that we manage to get them, because if we dont and we continue to perform as we did today then we will struggle to qualify for Europe. Ideally we'd win the FA cup and qualify in the league places anyway ;) but lets be realistic, its unlikely both will happen.

We're lacking a cutting edge, we're playing way too defensively at times and if Petrov or Elano arent performing we really do struggle. Johnson is a massive loss, we dont have an all-round midfielder like him. He can defend and is an attacking threat so he can roam forward, and Hamann is perfect alongside him in that he protects the back four and breaks up play. I dont know when hes due back from injury but the sooner the better. Without being too picky, in an ideal world we'd have cover and I'd love us to sign Tiago or a similar styled player. Its a different matter if he'd want to join us but he was unhappy at his first-team opportunities at Juve. More importantly we need a right-winger, we're too reliant on Petrov and Elano. Vassell, Ireland, Elano, Etuhu and Geovanni have all played on right-midfield in the last few games just to show how its a stop-gap situation there until we sign a winger. Theres little contribution from whoever plays there, tho Vassell played a big part today in getting the goal and defending well. We're crying out for a new forward as well, there are rumours Bianchi may be off and even though he played badly today hes really our only major threat as a striker while Boj is out injured. Vassell tries hard but hes not a natural finisher. Anelka would of been perfect as he has all the qualities to fit into our team perfectly - he can score, has pace and can play as a lone striker. But he went to Chelsea, so personally I would do my best to get either Defoe, Darren Bent, Vagner Love (used to a more lone role when playing for Brazil) or Baptista. Or anyone who can scores goals for that matter!

Although we've not signed anyone other than Castillo so far, theres not any reason to panic. Its hard to get the right players in January as teams are reluctant to sell their best players, or they put a stupid fee on them. At the end of the month, particularly in the last few days, teams are more likely to accept offers if they need the money. Most business is done in the last few days so theres still time but it sounds like we're being frustrated in our attempts to sign players. If we dont get someone else in and we continue to play like we have been for the last few games, I think we'll finish 8th. Get at least another player in and we can start to think about staying in the top 6 perhaps. We're 5th and in a fantastic position still. But the teams below us are gaining ground and we have to get back on form. The next game away to Derby is a absolute must-win, all due respect but anything other than a win would be horrific.

Hart would get MOTM for me, saved us from defeat again with some great saves. Dunne was unusually poor but a point was a good result considering the performance. The signing of a right-wing equivalent of Petrov would work wonders in our team.

[Lynne_mcfc]

Hi Alan

Another great post. Glad you feel the same as moi about the match today and our future league position. We need the FA Cup games, we need the time on the pitch to get our old form back.

Shame that SWP is featuring in Chelsea's line-up, he'd been keen to move back to us if he was still on the bench! :D

[chinesefootballfan]

Boooooring game - very disappointed. Best game Ive seen today was Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0 Rangers 1. Expected a lot more attacking-wise especially from City playing at home, but very Sven-like efficient, competent but when Petrov doesnt have a very good game neither do City. They seem to rely on him so much to deliver the goods and he's been brilliant this season but an off day today - very dull.:(

We kind of played the same boring way vs Man Utd earlier this season and managed to beat them 1-0. It's amazing how we don't have to play very hard and still beat our rivals.

[Manchester City]

That's been a continued comment in my postings.

I am glad that I could support your opinion.

I would have written my own assessment of the match but I realised awhile ago that it really is not needed given you always submit a detailed and accurate analysis of the outcome. My posts were addled and juvenile, and had really become unnecessary.

So, please, keep them coming--it is much easier to read them than to write my own, as that would require me to form an opinion of my own, and I would much rather adopt your's instead.

[MVF]

I finally got Pay TV and just watched the replay of the game (first time i have seen a full manchester city match for 4 years)

Seems to me that we have a definate weakness on the left side of defence and the right side of attack.

Elano was exceptionally quiet.

[ForzaGrifo]

I'm very disappointed with Ireland. He kept giving the ball away. What's his passing completion percentage? Must be less than 60%. He's the weakest link we have right now. I'd rather see Geo start instead of him.

And Petrov, what's he smoking before the game? Wasted one freekicks after another, and those cheeky backheel flicks didn't help either.

The only bright points are Hamann, who was as reliable and smart as ever, and Gelson, a gem in the making.

Better smarten up or we'll lose the Euro place.