Middlesbrough v Manchester City [R]

Discussion in 'Manchester City' started by Lynne_mcfc, Oct 28, 2008.

  1. Lynne_mcfc

    Lynne_mcfc New Member

    Aug 19, 2007
    GTA, Canada
    Middlesbrough

    v

    Manchester City

    @ Riverside

    29th October 2008

    Kick-off 8pm (GMT)


    Setanta: delayed showing 29th October at 7:45pm - 9:30pm (EST)


    Julio Arca is set to make his return against us. Huth, Hoyte and Mido are out.

    Dunnie, Evans and Jo will probably not be fit for this match. Another change to our starting line-up. Have we had the same team start for more than two matches this season? Sturridge to make the starting line-up (my thoughts MVF!), oh and Robinho.

    I'm looking for a back-to-back win for the Blues. :eek:

    Come on City
     
  2. pazzmore

    pazzmore Member

    Jun 17, 2000
    Tucson, AZ
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    after Sunday's performance, Danny Sturridge would make the starting 11 even if Evans wasn't injured. that was fine form from the youngster.
     
  3. DetroitTFC

    DetroitTFC BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 14, 2007
    Detroit
    Club:
    Toronto FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Best to get some points now, the second half of Nov will be tough (Hull 11/16, Arsenal 11/22 and the Manchester derby on Nov 30).
     
  4. pazzmore

    pazzmore Member

    Jun 17, 2000
    Tucson, AZ
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    who would have ever thought we would be fearing a Hull City match up? I have been watching lots of their matches this season and supporting Geovanni... whom got the short end of the stick from our club last season.
     
  5. Lynne_mcfc

    Lynne_mcfc New Member

    Aug 19, 2007
    GTA, Canada
    I would've liked to have Geo play in more of our matches last season. SGE seemed to favour strikers that were struggling to score goals and didn't really look as though they wanted to play.

    I've checked the Setanta schedule. They're not showing the match in Canada.
    :( BigSoccer calendar shows that they are?

    Hull City - what can we say. I certainly hope they can keep their winning ways and maintain their top placing. Fab game against WBA.

    Come on City, we need three points.
     
  6. Lynne_mcfc

    Lynne_mcfc New Member

    Aug 19, 2007
    GTA, Canada
    Here, in the correct thread :eek: is the team:

    Hart, Onuoha, Dunne (c), Richards, Ben Haim, Kompany, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Elano, Robinho, Sturridge.

    unused subs: Schmeichel, Garrido, Berti, Fernandes, Hamann, Evans, Jo.

    0-0 at half time.

    Glad to see Dunnie is playing.

    Come on City
     
  7. Golasso

    Golasso New Member

    May 6, 2003
    Somewhere in Texas
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    City down 1-0 -- young Daniel fouled a Boro player in the box.
     
  8. Lynne_mcfc

    Lynne_mcfc New Member

    Aug 19, 2007
    GTA, Canada
    Middlesbrough 2 City 0

    Here's for those of you with a stronger heart than mine, the match report:

    http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?pagegid={DBD12D53-8346-431D-A04F-5D0F8664DE80}&newsid=6621449
     
  9. Lynne_mcfc

    Lynne_mcfc New Member

    Aug 19, 2007
    GTA, Canada
    If you're feeling a bit unhappy with our result, check out the Arsenal forum and their talk on the derby match with Spurs. :eek:

    It was a true derby, league positions and current form had nothing to do with it, just plain ole, football and goal scoring.

    And Hull City lose - I'll stop saying how well clubs are playing, and how I'd like us to have back-to-back wins, it's obviously bad karma.
     
  10. chinesefootballfan

    Oct 11, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    China PR
    I don't even know what to say anymore. We're worse than last year and more expensive than last year.

    ...................must not give up though, go City.
     
  11. MVF

    MVF Member

    Jan 23, 2006
    Victoria
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    Well .. i would say we are actually 5 goals better than last year .

    It wasn't as bad as some of you make out, a bad penalty call (another one) and then a nothing goal deep into extra time as we put men forward.

    We need to pick up points though .. excuses only run so far ..
     
  12. Alan D

    Alan D New Member

    Nov 5, 2005
    York
    Went to the match last night, bit of a spontaneous decision so I had to settle for being in the home end - didn't have anything to celebrate as we all know but I was slightly surprised by the formation that we used last night. My own view is that, although we shared a healthy figure of possession and created several chances, we played too much of a defensive formation and we generally struggled to create any clear-cut goalscoring opportunities. We still had the footballers on the pitch to win it, but opting to use Sturridge as a lone striker really had its limitations because even if he did latch onto the end of a cross/pass, he had to hold the ball up and wait for the likes of Ireland, Robinho and SWP to get forward. Richards at LB was very surprising move when Garrido was on the bench, but his adventurous nature as a full-back meant Elano was almost playing at LB for parts of the game and he was being played too defensively.

    Took this photo just after the second half had started and it resembles how the team was setup. The back four as they were and then Elano and Kompany almost as two holding midfielders, Ireland further up in the middle three with SWP on the right and Robinho on the left supporting Sturridge as the lone striker. Elano has taken on a completely different role than last season but I can't help but feel it is too deep - he has the distribution to cause problems but pushing him further up would have created more chances, simply as he usually does. Sturridge had an impossible job because Robinho was dropping deeper like he did at Newcastle and the gap between the forward and the offensive three was large. It isn't as simple as Football Manager, tactical decisions will always be made that turn a few heads and cause more questions than answers but we need to be more ruthless and thought Elano should have been closer to SWP and Ireland, and Robinho closer to Sturridge. I got the impression that there wasn't enough structure to the formation either, one too many 'free, wandering' roles. Substitutions were slightly puzzling, Fernandes is a DM so a better option there than Elano but we should have gone for it, put Evans upfront alongside Sturridge and seen if that would get us anywhere.

    An all-round midfielder was missing yesterday, an on-form Johnson would have been perfect to fit in alongside Kompany - extra bite in midfield, and if Garrido isn't considered by Hughes as a starting left-back then a new one should top the list in January.

    [​IMG]

    Oh, and Tal Ben Heim was our best player last night and it was easily his best performance. A monster in defence and won every ball in the air. Deserves to keep his place for Sunday's match against Bolton. Chin up, we've had worse days and inconsistency really is the killer (as it always is) but suggestions of removing Hughes are absurd because it will be just another year of testing and settling down.

    This isn't another Hughes bashing thread, credit to Middlesbrough because they played pretty well and a lot better than I expected but we need to grind more results out because we'll be lucky to finish in the top 10 based on this performance.

    More pictures and writeup tomorrow!
     
  13. Alan D

    Alan D New Member

    Nov 5, 2005
    York
    Didn't mean to include that bit, I copied some of it over from another forum so included that accidently.
     
  14. pazzmore

    pazzmore Member

    Jun 17, 2000
    Tucson, AZ
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    great stuff alan. thanks for your insights.
     
  15. Lynne_mcfc

    Lynne_mcfc New Member

    Aug 19, 2007
    GTA, Canada
    Thanks for your post Alan and insightful comments.

    The gist I've got from you is that we changed the winning formula we had for the Stoke game. If it's not broken, don't fix it. I don't want to see MH changing the team around, the team played a fantastic game against Stoke, so keep it basically the same whenever possible (let our opponents change their shape and game). And I agree, Elano needs to be further up the pitch, giving us another attacking option (or a strike on goal).

    On a positive note, TBH had a good game (he must of been sick in the dressing room before the start of the match:D)

    From the mcfc web-site, MH's comments on the match. He's looking for consistency and a winning mindset! He needs to be consistent with his selection (notwithstanding injuries) and putting the players in their best playing position. Here's the link:

    http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?pageid=115&pagegid={DBD12D53-8346-431D-A04F-5D0F8664DE80}&newsid=6621544&siteid=&pageno=&newscategory=&frommonth=8&fromyear=2008&tomonth=10&toyear=2008
     
  16. thecitizen

    thecitizen Member

    Sep 29, 2007
    Orlando, FL
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I personally think we have just been unlucky lately. We have switched to a much more attacking style since MH joined and our defenders are having to make much more risky challenges to keep the ball in our possession. A lot of these penalty decisions have been pretty poor lately and I think, like Tottenham, we are just having an unlucky slump. (Well maybe not like Tottenham, I'm pretty sure some of the fans contemplated revoking their allegance they were doing so abysmal.)
     
  17. Alan D

    Alan D New Member

    Nov 5, 2005
    York
    Match Images

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  18. Alan D

    Alan D New Member

    Nov 5, 2005
    York
  19. Alan D

    Alan D New Member

    Nov 5, 2005
    York
  20. Lynne_mcfc

    Lynne_mcfc New Member

    Aug 19, 2007
    GTA, Canada
    Great images Alan, thanks.
     

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