Edin Dzeko, Barclays Player of the Month for August

Discussion in 'Manchester City' started by StuMCFC, Sep 2, 2011.

  1. StuMCFC

    StuMCFC Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 1, 2008
    Manchester
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    First time a City player has won the award since Tevez in December, 2009.

    All he needed it seems was a proper preseason and now he is flourishing in a beautiful system with Aguero, Silva, and Nasri wreaking havok on defences with him.

    6 goals in three games and he also scored against Inter and United in preseason. Is he now the world's best target man?

    BTW, Mancini didn't win Manager of the Month, which would have been the first time we pulled that off since Sven and Micah Richards in 2007, but maybe he deserved to. Baconface won it but our league record is the same, yet we won 2 away games, 1 home, while they won 2 home games, 1 away.
     
  2. NER_MCFC

    NER_MCFC Member

    May 23, 2001
    Cambridge, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That can't have been a tough decision. :)
     
  3. Zeljo Fanatico

    Zeljo Fanatico Member+

    Aug 8, 2011
    How did Mancini not win the manager of the month? He managed to successfully integrate. Nasri, Aguero and Dzeko into the starting lineup.. and even since he first joined City, his main job was always finding a way to accommodate all the new players coming every transfer season.. and he's always been successful. Kompany, Barry, De Jong, Silva, Dzeko, Aguero, Nasri, etc etc.. he's bringing the best out of all these guys.
     
  4. Handsome Pete

    Handsome Pete Member+

    May 16, 2011
    Minneapolis
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm surprised it wasn't Rooney since all we heard about last week was his three rather than Dzeko's four.

    That being said I think we're in for a great season with the Dzeko/Kun pairing.

    Tevez who?
     
  5. Hadzjia Sven Susic

    Aug 7, 2011
    Club:
    Cardiff City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Bosnia-Herzegovina
    You forgot the part where Dzeko had a golden hat trick, left, right and header.

    Rooney, not so much golden.
     
  6. AMBreakers

    AMBreakers Member

    Boston Breakers, Boston Univ. Women's Soccer, Norwich City, Charleston Battery
    Jun 21, 2010
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Boston Breakers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    First time posting on the EPL boards but i wanted to respond to this. Man City on paper is an all star team that should be right up there with Real and Barcelona when talking about the best teams in Europe. In terms of England, United is close but City's roster is better this year. City should be not just beating but blowing out the likes of Swansea City and Bolton. Mancini's defensive tactics are the only reason they are not.

    Sorry but any manager of an all star team who selects a defensive lineup with a lone striker against newly promoted Swansea City at home should be in the conversation for WORST manager of the month.

    I am neutral and want to see City do well given how much they've invested in the side. If they win the league though, which I think they will, it will be in spite of Mancini not because of him. I know...winning 1-0 is "his style." But just imagine the possibilities if Jurgen Klinsmann was coaching Man City... You don't spend that kind of money to play defensive against mid to lower table EPL teams.

    The Tottenham game- now that was more like it!
     
  7. StuMCFC

    StuMCFC Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 1, 2008
    Manchester
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Sorry, can't agree with this at all. I was at the game and also watched the TV version when I got home and must make these points.

    1. We only had one fully match fit striker and that was Dzeko. Aguero was recovering from Copa America and blisters so only had a 30 minute cameo, while Balotelli had a knee problem and was left on the bench. Tevez hadn't reported back yet.
    2. We scored four goals! Not only that, we battered Swansea after the opening 15 minutes. It could have been 6 or more, we hit the woodwork twice in the first half.
    3. Despite having only one out-and-out striker most of our team was camped in Swansea's half and piling on the pressure. We had 26 goal attempts and 19 on target in this match, the most of any team in the league on the opening weekend, and there was nothing negative about our performance once we shook off the opening day cobwebs within 20 minutes and got things together.

    With Aguero more fit for the Bolton game that came next, we started him along with Dzeko.

    In the opening three games of the season, City have:

    Goals scored: 12
    Goal attempts: 67
    On target: 40
    Possession: 57% per game

    Mancini is a fantastic manager and the "negative" billing he gets is unfair. Last season he was truly negative for maybe 3 or 4 games where he knew we had only a small chance of winning so grinded results. For example, the infamous 0-0 against Arsenal at the Emirates where we had to play Jo as both Silva and Balotelli were injured so rather than throw ourselves to the lions, we parked the bus and got ourselves 1pt (and at the end of the season we finished 3pts above Arsenal so not losing that match turned out to be vital). Otherwise we scored more goals than the so-called "free attacking Spurs" and had some fantastic attacking performances that the "Sky 4" worshipping media conveniently ignored when discussing our so-called negativity.
     
  8. AMBreakers

    AMBreakers Member

    Boston Breakers, Boston Univ. Women's Soccer, Norwich City, Charleston Battery
    Jun 21, 2010
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Boston Breakers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I didn't know that Balotelli was injured so thanks for pointing that out. Still there is no excuse for not playing two up top at home against a newly promoted team. Aguero could have started- why not score four right away, sub him out after 30 and then take it from there? If Tevez is in the team, he should at least be on the bench no matter the transfer rumors. Silva could even play up top. Put on Adam Johnson instead of Barry. Anything but sitting back and defending.

    We can agree to disagree but for me buying creative attacking players when the team is built around a defensive, grind-it-out manager simply doesn't mix. Sure, City statistically is right up there as one of the best in EPL, but that is expected with such a talented and deep squad. I think they could do even better... i'm talking Barcelona type numbers, against teams from the bottom half of the table.

    Mancini may be a great manager, his style just does not fit with the squad Man city has, in my opinion. Same with Fabio Capello and England. notice a trend here.

    And when talking about last year's games, don't forget the 3-0 loss away to Liverpool.
    That was the worst of Mancini's tactics.

    A dream scenario for City- believe it or not- would be playing Barcelona in a UCL knockout round, so Mancini can park the bus in the first leg and then be forced to go for it in the second. Perhaps he has that matchup in mind long term, let's hope so, because he seems to be building the team around starting from the back and counterattacking.
     
  9. Handsome Pete

    Handsome Pete Member+

    May 16, 2011
    Minneapolis
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not scoring ten a match. Inexcusable.
     
  10. StuMCFC

    StuMCFC Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 1, 2008
    Manchester
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    This is really unfair. Concerning the first point, Mancini is now playing as attacking a formation as is possible in the Premier League without being naive and leaving your defence vulnerable. Dzeko, Aguero, Silva, Nasri, with Barry pushing forward and even Yaya despite being deployed in the holding role - how much more attacking can we play? Should we sacrifice our one player protecting the defence lately (Yaya)? We're already letting goals slip in that we wouldn't have last season as we push forward. Mancini is playing some of the best attacking football in the league at the moment, with the addition of Nasri - a second creative midfielder we lacked last season - he has sacrificed one of the NDJ/Barry/Yaya trio that helped make us the best defensive force in the league last season.

    Look at our goals scored: http://www.premierleague.com/page/Statistics/0,,12306,00.html

    Far ahead of everyone except United, so what exactly is Mancini doing wrong tactically? He's played two forwards in the last two games, he played one against Swansea when one is all he really had fully match fit - and his team scored 4 goals with that one forward, showing that we have goalscoring support in other positions which means we can be tactically flexible.

    As for the Liverpool comment, that was one loss right before we went on a winning streak that won us the FA Cup, sealed us Champions League football, then allowed us to pip Arsenal for 4th, thus avoiding a Champions League playoff game. In said Liverpool match, De Jong and Silva were rested (because of the huge game a few days later, FA Cup semi against United) and Tevez did his hamstring about 15 minutes in, leaving us without much of our team's backbone for a game where Liverpool were playing like it was a cup final. After that game, we won 7 of our 8 remaining fixtures including the FA Cup semi, final, and Spurs. So you can point out a blip on the radar last season but isn't it unfair to acknowledge what came after that? Every team has to lose, did Liverpool not trounce United at Anfield last season (Kuyt hattrick) also?
     
  11. deadendnights

    deadendnights Member

    Jul 15, 2010
    Philadelphia
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have to ask, have you watched the full 90 minutes of all three games, or did you just look at the lineups and read match reports and say "too defensive"? As Stu previously stated he played the best side he had fit. Zabaleta, Aguero, Balotelli all made the bench and couldn't play more than 30 minutes for the Argentines and Balotelli in an emergency. NDJ is the only city midfielder that played against Swansea who doesn't press forward, but Barry and Toure often do and did in this game. Also 4-0 is the same as 5-1 and you applaud the Spurs lineup and condemn the Swansea one, but they both produced the same margin.
     
  12. AMBreakers

    AMBreakers Member

    Boston Breakers, Boston Univ. Women's Soccer, Norwich City, Charleston Battery
    Jun 21, 2010
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Boston Breakers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Barcelona does not score ten a match, but they go into a match believing that they can, against the smaller teams anyway. With the players City have they should use a similar mentality. Score early and often! If you're not playing a United, Chelsea or Liverpool then attack is the best form of defense.
     
  13. AMBreakers

    AMBreakers Member

    Boston Breakers, Boston Univ. Women's Soccer, Norwich City, Charleston Battery
    Jun 21, 2010
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Boston Breakers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I watched the full 90 of the Swansea and Spurs games, did not see the Bolton game only read the match report.

    5-1 against Spurs is equivalent to 8-0 against Swansea.

    I'm not saying they need to score eight- there are games where a team dominates chances and only scores one or two- but Swansea didn't exactly park the bus and City scored at will when they played two up top in the second half. So if Aguero had started and then was subbed out, they COULD have scored eight.
     
  14. James178

    James178 New Member

    Sep 7, 2011
    Had a great start to the season. Looking like the player he was in the Bundesliga.
     
  15. deadendnights

    deadendnights Member

    Jul 15, 2010
    Philadelphia
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And had Nasri been available and Aguero fit to start i'm sure it would have been 8-0. When and where has any manager(outside of preseason friendlies) ever started a player who he knew could only play 30 minutes? That is a ludicrous statement. You seem to keep missing the point that they could only play the team they had available to them.
     
  16. AMBreakers

    AMBreakers Member

    Boston Breakers, Boston Univ. Women's Soccer, Norwich City, Charleston Battery
    Jun 21, 2010
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Boston Breakers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Mancini got it right in the Spurs game no question, and I'm sure he will again, but the talent was there to win games by that margin before Nasri came.

    A team with the likes of Craig Bellamy leading the way beat Chelsea 4-2 away in 2009, so why not just throw some of those players out there if resting players like Silva? They would give Liverpool a game- for a team as deep as City has there is no excuse for not fielding a starting lineup with at least some attacking intent.

    I think City will win the league and get to semifinals of UCL this year. The question is, why is there still the feeling of a building process every year when the club has spent so much money? Just go for it!

    Anyway, Dzeko fully deserved his award. :)
     
  17. AMBreakers

    AMBreakers Member

    Boston Breakers, Boston Univ. Women's Soccer, Norwich City, Charleston Battery
    Jun 21, 2010
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Boston Breakers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And the team they had available to them is perhaps the deepest in the world. There are teams with better starting XI (Barca), but in terms of depth City tops the list... Man City's bench players- even looking beyond the likes of Tevez, Balotelli and Aguero who could not play the full 90- are better than Swansea's best player.

    Well actually, Scott Sinclair is pretty good...
     
  18. deadendnights

    deadendnights Member

    Jul 15, 2010
    Philadelphia
    Club:
    Manchester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Of the available squad only Milner was the only player who could start and be somewhat more attacking that didn't start. Played the team that was available and fit.

    12 Taylor, 05 Zabaleta, 13 Kolarov, 15 Savic, 07 Milner, 16 Aguero, 45 Balotelli
     

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