Well, Mind Games?

Just rereading the last blog.  Definitely wrong about Nasri and Hart, eh!

But the games with Yaya continue.  And what a game he had this weekend!  After not playing a match in almost three months, he STARTS (I was in shock just on that) and scores both City goals for the win.  The Premier League scriptwriters can't make up stories this good.  It's two days later and I still can't believe it.

What I wish I could find are his stats.  At half time, they pointed out that he had run about 5.5 KM.  But his overall stats last year showed he was covering the ground.  What he wasn't doing was sprints.  I don't have a feel for how he fared in that stat this week, but I'm sure Pep's coaching staff will have an eye on it.  His weight is clearly way down, and the fans and the other players still love him.  One story ran that the players gave him a standing ovation in the dressing room.

It seems to me that 'long' term the situation with his manager is not viable.  But what is 'long' term when the player is 33 and his contract is up?  At his age, playing every match is not possible.  I had him tagged as leading the club in the League Cup.  But Pep's words and the early exit in that competition put an end to that.

In other news, our summer signings don't seem to be holding up on the whole.  Nolito seems to want to head butt everyone, Sane has looked great on the pitch, but apparently the boss sees something different as he is not making the team sheet.  And Bravo seems to be not communicating well with the defense.  In the first match vs. United it was perhaps understandable that he could not communicate with Stones, but last week with Vinny and the concussion was not.

Even more than the great start, the highlight of the season was beating Barcelona.  It was truly deserved and a great step in the club's development.  But since then, the intensity has come down a notch. Or perhaps two. The aggressive, attacking display that we saw early and against Barcelona hasn't been seen since.  I don't know if that is on purpose or if players are just tired.  Maybe this is a tactic by Pep?  Perhaps we will see mid week?

Tell us what you think is on Pep's mind in the comments!

Who's in, who's out, and mind games...

Yes, yes, we know.  We've taken a LONG break from blogging.  Too long.  But last year there was so much coverage with the fast start, the strong run, and then the news that Pep was coming.  More than anything else, busy lives prevented.... WAIT  good god.  Did it really happen?!  Leicester City?!  Pep Guardiola is managing City?! No SHOCK prevented us from blogging last season.  We'll be better prepared for surprises this season.  We have the number for the cardiologist at hand.

So, as this is written, "everyone" knows that Nasri is gone, Bony is on his way somewhere, Yaya is toast and Joe Hart is no longer our keeper.  Our pursuit of Claudio Bravo is as epic of that of the Holy Grail. 

The question is: will all this stuff really happen?  IMHO, no.

Bony truly does not fit Pep's system.  Hell, he didn't fit Manuel's system.  He's a hold up attacker on a team built for speed and passing.  I would not be surprised to see him leave for a lot less than the millions we paid for him.  But the other players...

Nasri is one of the most creative players on a team that was clearly missing it in the final third last season. Apparently showed up overweight and out of shape.  A huge 'no-no' with the new boss.  But Yaya was apparently in the best shape in years.  He ran really hard in the preseason matches.  Hart has been City's keeper for a while.  Everyone said that having Willie made Hart better as there was some potential competition for the job.  But Willie is too old to be our long term keeper.  So it seems that there was no  'real' competition.  Hart had a terrible Euro, but made some of the best saves ever seen last season.

So, why is this huge stock of talent not making it into the team sheet?  My best guess: Mind Games.

These players have played regularly for years.  Pep thinks that they are acting as if they are given their starting positions by birthright, not talent and effort.  By not even putting them in the team sheet, he's giving notice that there is a new sheriff in town and that no one's job is 'safe'.  This message is not just to the players above, but to everyone in the squad.  And you have seen a level of effort in these first two matches that you haven't seen in a while.  And anyone who jogs around the pitch is going to find their way to the bench. Quickly.  And they will worry about not getting off the bench, too.

Now, to the question of these players leaving.  I don't think Yaya goes because the economics don't work.  Expect to see him given chances in Cup matches to earn his way back into the first squad.  Same with Nasri.  Given our fragile David Silva and KDB's injury last season, we'll want to have another creative on hand just in case.  Hart is a more difficult call.  Obviously, he has a lot of fan backing.  The news this AM is that we'll get Claudio Bravo once FCB complete a deal with Valencia.  But that makes no sense.  If I was Valencia, why would I send a decent keeper to Barcelona?  And the sporting director says Bravo is starting for FCB this weekend.

Well, we'll never know the 'truth'.  But we will see what time brings us.

What does Noel know that the rest of us don't?

I've meant to write about this all summer, but life got in the way.   Sigh.....

In the spring, when things were looking grim, Noel Gallagher gave an extended interview to the Men in Blazers crew.  You can watch it here:

http://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/premier-league/men-blazers-noel-gallaghers-unabashed-love-man-city

What I find amazing happens between 27:12 and 30:15, when Noel talks about Manuel Pellegrini's future with City.

At 28:00, he compares him negatively to Jose, at 29:00 he starts discussing that he'd have Klop or Angelotti.  But what's really amazing is that Noel predicts that if we don't sign Klop or Angelotti, it means that Pep Guardiola has been "tapped up" to replace Manuel.

I realize that at the time Noel predicts this, a lot of people were saying it was time for a change.  But Gallagher's takes it to another level.  There is a twinkle in his eye, sort of telling us that City would be stupid to do leave Pellegrini at the helm with Klop or Angelotti available.

While there are probably only 2 people who know if Guardiola has been "tapped up", the situation is a lot more complicated.  Suppose we win a trophy or two?  Suppose we make good progress in the Champions League?  Do we still replace Pellegrini?  It doesn't make sense to me.

We're riding high after a great win at West Brom.  But it's a long season.  We won't look that sharp for the length of the season.  That's when the talk will start.

Since the interview, we know that Pellegrini did get a contract extension, which Gallagher said would not happen.

Only time will tell......

Baggies v City 10th August, 2015

Nice sunny day in San Francisco as City kicked off at the Hawthorns.  Patrick, Maggie’s beloved barkeep, was uncharacteristically sullen probably due to being reminded that Arsenal were bottom of the league. He soon brightened though up to inform all 16-plus of the attending  SF Blues that we should be careful lest we bring worse things onto ourselves. Personally, I kept my trap shut.  Dr. Adrian Rawlinson offered to write us all sick notes as we had skived off work to watch which showed ultimate compassion from one who has uttered the Hippocratic Oath . Dave Brogan was off like a rocket towards the moan zone as the game began, complaining about the fullback pairing of Saghna and Kolorav but really!! why begin the season like this when we have 37 more glorious opportunities to vent our spleens?  What’s this? City started brightly, bossing the game as Silva buzzed around, playing through Yaya as West Brom watched like stand-ins from ‘Dawn of the Dead’. George A. Romero aka Tony Pulis stood impassively on the sidelines projecting his thought-waves, ‘4-4-2 wtf was I thinking? and these West Brom boxers are very tight around the nether regions’. Nine minutes in Silva shot across the face of goal, Navas retrieved and brought it back for Toure to scuff a shot through Dawson’s  lanky legs into the side of the net, a lucky dribbler –WE LOVE SCABBY GOALS! Cue a loud  Rob, Kyle (and bro) and  Jeffrey-led chorus of Yaya, Yaya Yaya…  It got better, 25 minutes on the clock a languid one-two with Bony for Toure to curl one in to the Myhill’s left top corner. City continued in similar fashion as the half ran out, Sterling should have scored but no matter; his 6 out of 10 performance,  though bright,  was  below the rest of the rampant City players. West Brom improved in the second half (it was hard not to) and had a few chances to score but not even Gino Fortunato,  who has a morbid fear of 2-0 score lines, looked not the slightest bit worried. The killer blow came as Silva whipped in a corner to Vinnie in similar fashion to his (almost) league winning goal against Man Utd in 2012,  glanced powerfully past the goalkeeper. Jose and Jacq Ferreira, Zack, Ajay, Simon P,  were up and Mick Graham started to enjoy the game. Kudos to Mike and Sue from Oz who attended and we didn’t mention the cricket once.  Great result! bring on Chelski and the ‘Cheating One’.

SF Blues Man of the Match: Kyle Cook for his rousing rendition of Manuel Pellegrini’s Lamborghini.

West Bromwich Albion

    13 Myhill

    04 Chester Booked

    25 Dawson

    06 Lescott

    11 Brunt

    08 Gardner Booked

    24 Fletcher Booked

    07 Morrison

    14 McClean (Yacob - 45' Booked )

    17 Lambert (Anichebe - 74' )

    18 Berahino (McManaman - 80' )

Substitutes

    03 Olsson

    05 Yacob

    09 Ideye

    10 Anichebe

    19 McManaman

    29 Sessegnon

    38 Rose

City

    01 Hart

    03 Sagna

    04 Kompany

    20 Mangala

    11 Kolarov

    42 Y Touré (Demichelis - 80' )

    25 Fernandinho Booked

    15 Jesús Navas

    21 Silva

    07 Sterling (Nasri - 74' )

    14 Bony (Agüero - 63' )

Substitutes

    05 Zabaleta

    08 Nasri

    10 Agüero

Making the home field advantage

City lost a few home games this season.  Well, you might say, every one loses sometimes.  This is true.  So why should we pay attention?

Did you know that City's away form was exactly the same this year and last?  EXACTLY.  So that means the difference between our potential 79 points this season and the 86 we won the league with last year was the difference in our home points.  The max Chelsea can finish with is 87, so our 86 might have won this year, and certainly would have made the last day more exciting.

What caused this difference?  Who knows.  Whats' clear is that after surviving a stretch with no strikers and playing well during it, City lost and drew against some teams that we would have crushed last season.

Last season, we started the season with a poor run away, and then became terrors on the road and at home.  This season, we started well and went on a mid season slump both home and away.  But in the last 8 games, only Leicester City has more points.  We've found our form and are playing well again.  Unfortunately, it cost us the league, although did assure us a second place finish.

It's a long season and every team will have it's ups and downs.  Let's see if we can even out the lows next season.

Well, it's official. We are crap.

On new years day, City were tied with Chelsea on points.  Now, the Blues are a distant second, and Arsenal are tied with City on points, with a game at hand.  We lost to United, to Burnley for gods sake.  We've been eliminated from all the Cup competitions, by the likes of Middlesbrough and Barcelona.  Hell, we even drew with Hull.

We're crap!  Everyone says so, everyone knows it.  Pelligrini is on his way out the door, as are a number of top players such as Yaya and Nasri.  And of course Milner is leaving too.

In particular, Yaya is crap.  He doesn't run, he doesn't defend.  He wants too many birthday cakes.  And his agent is moaning that he's getting too much heat for City's poor performance in the second half of the season.

We're crap.  Crap, crap, crap.

Or are we?  Pablo Zabaletta is quoted in the papers today, saying that Pelligrini deserves more respect. He points out that City had a number of players in the World Cup, and that there was not a lot of rest over the summer.  Further, you can't always fire a manager just because he didn't win a trophy this season.  Several players have not had great seasons, and it's not clear that you should be blaming the manager for the poor performance of key players.

Further, we're in the top couple of places in what many consider to be the most competitive league in the world.  If we are crap, and we're second, what does that say about the rest of the league?  Is the entire league crap?  If so, why are we wasting our time watching it?

There are a number of players having seasons that they probably want to forget.  No, Yaya has not played great.  He's also on a World Cup and Africa's Cup hangover, never mind the birthday cake incident or the fact that his brother passed away.  Silva's assists are down, although he has scored more this year.  Navas is down in the goals department, and given the time he spends with the ball, you could easily expect more.  We went over 300 corners without scoring!  The flowing, attacking, push it forward football that served us so well last season is gone and the large gobs of possession the statistics show City have are spent knocking the ball back and forth between the half way line and the 18 yard box, looking for an opening that never seems to come.

Will we see changes over the summer?  I expect so.  There are changes every summer.  But if we can play this poorly, and still finish in a champions league spot, perhaps we're not the crap we think we are.

We are City!

What a difference a half makes....

Well, what a tale of two halfs?!

The first half was more of the Hull match: slow, pathetic, without a trace of effort or loveliness.  The defense was in complete disarray, and we were lucky to not be down 3 nil.  Our goal was a one man effort from Kun, who really made a go of it, being brought down at the half way line but got up and kept going.  I don't often criticize David Silva, but the worst defensive spot we were in was caused by him being stripped of the ball, and then STOPPING INSTEAD OF GOING AFTER THE ATTACKER.  Play the whistle, men.

I suspect that there was a bit of a 'team meeting' at the half, because the team that came out looked full of fire.  Not every effort was spot on, but they were working on it, and the rewards were there.  That was the most goals in a City match since Sunderland on December 3.

Someone posted a skills video featuring the match at Old Trafford that City won 6-1.  It was a thing of beauty.  Where are those guys?  Where is the fire?  If we are going to catch Chelsea, or look respectable against Barcelona, that team is going to have to show up.

Adjustments

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

Epictetus

I want to start with three good things about the last performance:

1) Wasn't that a cracker of a goal by Milner?  No keeper in the world was going to get that!
2) Nasri was back.
3) Joe Hart had a great save on the play before Hull scored.

Ok.  That's out of the way.

Another PATHETIC performance.

I'm just going to come out and say it. I'm going to tell the ENTIRE WORLD how to beat City.  Here it is:  Play at least six in the box.  Intercept our passes when we try to make pretty passes within the box, and beat us on the counter.

There.  It's out.  No longer a secret.  But it appears our squad is the only one who don't know the formula.  I like the 'flowing football' we are trying to play.  But like any other team, we should be making ADJUSTMENTS.  And we're not.

Our possession against Hull was 75%!  But to show for it we have one goal on a free kick?  Our tactics are exactly the same every match:  Wait for the defenders to set up.  Make sure they have all 10 behind the ball.  Try to pass it between them.

I have a couple of suggestions:  MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT.  Maybe we don't have to wait for ALL 10 to get behind the ball.  Maybe we attack, even if we are outnumbered and catch the defense in motion, instead of built up like a brick wall.

Here is another:  Let's have a cross (or, heaven forbid: a CORNER) that makes it more than half way past the goal.  And have someone waiting for it at the far post.

This one is a doozy: How about if our TALL striker plays in the box instead of 25 yards out trying to set up a play like a midfielder.

Since Aguero always draws 3 defenders, but him on one side and attack on the other, where we might outnumber the defenders.

I'm a TACTICAL GENIUS!!!  This is rocket science, I know.  No one on the planet could think of it beside the writer of this blog, right?

Please, please, please.  Let's have an adjustment.  :-)

out of the FA Cup

Wow.  Two home losses in a row.

Not a goal scored in either.

Even with Kun on the pitch.

Next game away at Stamford Bridge

Do you feel the pressure mounting?  Today's competition played us well.  We were very unlucky on the first goal, even though a defensive mistake led to the play.  But we had luck other times in the day.  I can't say we were officiated fairly, because we were not.  Two clear penalties were waved away.

But against competition like that, we should not have to worry about the officiating.  We should have put the ball in the back of the net 6 times early, but didn't.  If we had, I would not even have to mention Mr. Doud's performance.  But so it goes.  We were worried before the match about the trip to the middle east.  Change of weather, change of time zones.  Flying back the day before was not a good idea.

It's a long season, and its a long season for a reason.  As fans, we like it that way.  The ups and downs of particular weeks are what keep us interested in the game.  It's not just being a glory hunter.

I hope that management still has faith in Manuel.  I hope the players do, too.  Official pronouncements about his predecessor leaving had to do with lack of progress in the Champions League.  If we don't look respectable against Barcelona, we'll be in that same spot.

It's a long season.  Lets see what time brings us.

goal difference

Last year at this time, we had were closing in on 100 BPL goals, this year, we are at 45. 

Some might say that this is due to our strikers being injured.  While it's true we went a few games without a recognized striker on the pitch, we managed to win those games and score quite a few goals in the process.

What I find different between this year and last year was the ability to break up the pitch, even when outnumbered and get a good chance.  This season, we are more likely than not to stop and wait for reinforcements, which gives the defense a chance to set up.

Breaking down a well drilled defense can be done, and we're generally pretty good at it.  But it's a lot harder, takes a lot more time and will lead to lower goal totals.

While we've complained a lot about the defense, we've let in 3 fewer goals than this point last season.  But the defensive issues become more obvious when you are not scoring 4 and 5 goals a match.

Taking advantage of our speed on the break would bring us a lot of good.  Hopefully, we start doing it.

The 'festive' holiday period

Indeed!

On Saturday, November 29th, City was 9 points behind Chelsea.  Today, we are even.  You can't ask for too much more than that.  The manager had laid down the law and told the team they needed to win the next 10 games.  And City would have except for 45 sub par minutes and a poor offside call against Burnley, they would have, too.

It's minor, but I'm not sure why Chelsea are listed as first place and City second.  Same points, same goal differential, same goals scored and conceded.  It does not get closer than that!  I think both teams should be listed as first place and no team listed as second place.  But they don't seem to do that.

Eighteen matches to go including away games at Arsenal (the next Maggie McGarry's derby!) and Chelsea.  City and Chelsea will both drop points between now and the end of the season.  The question is: who will drop fewer?  We will know in May, just the way Pellegrini has been telling us since September.

Stay tuned!

How did we make that happen?

Yes, it's true.  After playing some shockingly poor football for 5 games, getting lucky in the last 10 minutes of the 5th game to pull out a win, City put on a fine performance in Rome to qualify for the next round of the Champions League.

I really can't believe it and am sure that many of the readers of this blog feel the same way.  This match against Rome was the first one where we looked like we even belonged on the pitch in this competition.  Not that we didn't have a rough start.

AS Roma had two chances within the first five minutes, one requiring a fine save from Hart, the other a last second clear by the defense.  Surely, falling behind early AGAIN would have been fatal.  Again in the 71st and 73rd minute, it looked like Roma could have equalized, getting as close as the woodwork, but it was not to be.

And we did it without Aguero.  Nasri's goal was a stunner, finding the one place where it could have gone in.  And the play between Jovetic, Nasri and Zabaletta for the second goal was beautiful.

It's true that this was a great team effort.  And that's what it's going to take until we can get someone who can regularly put the ball in the net in the absence of Kun.

For me, the best part is watching Hart really step up his game, and getting our first CL clean sheet.  Hopefully, its the face of things to come.

Now, about the draw.  It's been very, very unlucky to us.  Let's see if we can get some luck swinging back the other way.

Great TEAM performance

Today's win against Southampton was the best performance by City this season.  Everything from

• the key save by Hart in the 20th minute
• the clean sheet
• holding their opponents to four shots on target
• scoring three goals on a team that had only allowed one at home
• Clichy's first goal in a City shirt
• Goals by Yaya and Lampard
• Overcoming some questionable officiating
• Scoring two goals down to 10 men
• Aguero with two great assists

I could go on and on and on.  City played great foot ball, usually doing an excellent job of keeping possession and keeping the Saints away from goal.

But the best part?  the very best part?  the VERY best part?  The complete joy shown by the entire team after Yaya's goal.  They knew how important it was,  and they knew they had to get it done.  And the did.

Completely awesome.

City vs. Bayern

Kun Aguero is my shepherd and I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pitches: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Europe, I will fear no opponent : for thou art with me; thy foot and thy head they comfort me.
 Thou score a goal for me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my City scarf with oil; my beer runneth over.
 Surely goals and trophies shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Aguero for ever.

With apologies to the religious, Psalm 23 is about how it feels right now. Once again, the little one has saved our bacon.  Where would we be without him?  Not that we deserved it mind you.  The two late goals in particular came on mistakes by Bayern, not because City was going something good and creative.

In fact, we looked terrible against a team with 10 men.  We did not win balls in the open field.  When we did deflect or intercept a pass, it went right back to Bayern.  When we were in the box, we allowed ourselves to be surrounded by multiple defenders and instead of passing to an open man, we allowed the defenders to take the ball from us.  And when we did have the ball, we had no one in the box to pass it to.  Absolutely woeful.

Can we expect that kind of luck in Rome?  I doubt it, I very seriously doubt it.  But, who knows?  As Mick was saying for the entire match today, it's not over yet.  And he was completely right.  Remember: that's why they play the games.

Luck and Quality

On Feb 23, 2014 I shared a post called 'Edin Dzeko'.  In it, I compared him to Yaya, Kun, and Alvaro and made the argument that he came up lacking because while 42% of his shots were on target, only 37% of those went in, which was not very good compared to others who were scoring goals for us.

I've run some numbers this year.  Not for individuals, but for the entire team (so far).  First, we are dominating play.  Our average possession is 60%.

But our quality is way, way down.  The numbers in that other post were for our strikers plus Yaya, so you would expect them to be better than the team as a whole, but not too many player shoot besides those up front.

So far this season, only a third of our shots are on target, and only a third of those go in.  As argued in the 'luck' posts, we were having a lot of luck go our way.  Right now, it is not.  We don't have any problems that 10 more goals wouldn't have solved, and we've been a cumulative 2 yards from 10 more goals.  My advice: stay the course, the luck will turn.

But I do miss Negredo....

Too Many Brazilians?

Elano, Geovanni, Glauber, Jo, Robinho, Sylvinho

According to Wikipedia, these players all played for Manchester City from approximately 2008-2010.  While I don't remember all the names, individually, there is a lot of talent in that list.  Together, they were frightful.

The theory was that by themselves, they would focus on football.  But bringing them together made them reminisce about Brazil, Samba, Sun, Fun, Rum, etc and that the football fell to the wayside.

Last year, we made a great acquisition of a Brazilian: Fernandinho.  He had played in the Ukraine with told us at least two things: the physical play of the Premier League would not bother him.  Neither would the cold weather.

This year, we acquired another: Fernandinho.  While NOT from the Ukraine or some other frozen land, he gives us two Brazilians.  Are they plotting in Portuguese to slip out late at night for Caipirinha?  

We'll probably never know.  But one thing can not be denied:  Neither of these Brazilians is

having the season he had last year.  Why?  Perhaps the national disgrace of the World Cup defeat to 

Germany is weighing on their souls.  Perhaps it's just bad luck.  Perhaps it's not even true.  Or perhaps its the Caipirinha's....

What luck? or What does RAG stand for?

I've written about luck before in this blog.  Here for example.  But at the moment, the luck seems to be going against us.  Yaya's shots are curling just wide of the corner instead of into the corner.  Silva is hurt.  We can't buy a penalty against United, the referee books the wrong man against CSKA Moscow and a penalty (Kolorov) and second yellow (Fernandino) against CSKA Moscow for our guys pretty much just standing there.

Regardless of the bad luck, our overall form is not that good.  The loss to Newcastle in the League Cup was embarrassing.  But there are bright spots.  As Pellegrini keeps saying, we are ahead of last year in points.  Joe Hart is playing quite well, and Aguero is playing out of his mind, scoring along against first two then three defenders against QPR.  

When I became a Citizen, someone had to explain to me what RAG meant.  The 'A' was for Arrogant for those that don't know.  If Chelsea was not playing out of their minds right now, we wouldn't look so far off the pace.  If Chelsea falter, we'll catch them.  And if they repeat the Arsenal 'invincibles' of 2003-2004 we won't.  But we have to go out and PLAY each game.  No one, particularly in the Premier League is going to 'give' us a win.  So, we should not arrogantly expect the team to win every match, or even to play well every match.  I do guarantee that if we stop believing in the players, and allow them to succumb to the attacks from the press, they will stop believing in themselves.  And then we'll be in REAL trouble.  Don't go there.  It won't do us any good.

Personally, I think our poor form is due to our lack of pressing in transition.  Even last year with all the goals scored, many of them were in transition.  This year, we seem willing to wait for the defense to set up and try to shove the ball down their throat.  Our advantage is speed and we're not using it.  Another problem is our one person attack.  As I write this, Sergio has 14 goals, 12 in the Premier League.  No one else has more than 4.  Total.  The rest of the team has 19 goal in total.  It's only a matter of time before someone figures out how to stop him.  Or he gets injured.

Let's not get Arrogant.  Let's get lucky.  

Halloween Special

For the Manchester Derby, we got a Halloween treat!

Howard Web has taken possession of Michael Oliver's whistle!  It was spooooooky.......!

Obviously, it was not as if we didn't get ANY calls.  Certainly, Smalling getting sent off was huge.  But even if United had all eleven, you could argue that if we had scored on the AT LEAST three penalties.......

And while Sergio Aguero again got man of the match, for this commentator, Joe Hart was again what it was all about.

First: he forced the issue with Smalling to get him the first yellow.  Another keeper would have held the ball and waited for Smalling to walk away.  By forcing the issue with Smalling, he got him the first card.

Second, while United only had a couple of shots, they were quality, particularly the effort from DiMaria.  Not only did Hart deflect that shot wide, but he did so out of the way of a waiting Wayne Rooney.  BTW, thank Rooney for being the cheating footballer you are.  Watch the extended highlights at the MCFC.CO.UK web site.  At 9:37, Wayne RUNS INTO Demichelis and simply flops to the ground.  What a cheating piece of crap.  As usual, he spent the entire match with his arm in the air calling for penalties.  Perhaps he should spend more time regretting the fact that his team is crap and less complaining.

This season vs. Last Season: Part II

Well, this time I will be 'analytical'.  The following applies to the Premier League:

Last season after nine games, we has scored 21 goals and conceded 10.  We had 5 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw.

This season after nine games, we have scored we have scored 19 goals and conceded 9.  We have 5 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses.

That puts us one point ahead of last year with one less goal conceded.  Our inconsistent form going forward mimics last season.

Looking at it this way, we're not that different than last year.  And, to be honest, I think at this point last year my opinion was there was no way we were going to win the league.  Particularly since that loss in the 9th game was that horrible loss to Chelsea where Hart made that inexcusable error.

On the bright side, Hart has been brilliant making a number of fine saves this season.

On the downside, Chelsea is playing out of their minds this season.  As was Arsenal last season.

The Premier League season is a long one.  Remember that before you start to panic.

This season vs. last season

Ok, I'll be honest.  I'm not going to get analytical on this on.  Just impressions.  Impressions that could be wrong.  But...

1) Where is the defense?  Captain Vinny continues to bail out the back left and right.  No problem there.  But the fullbacks seem to have gone missing, at least as far as defensive duty goes.  We seem to be alright if everyone is back, but on the defensive break, we are terrible.  Yes, only two teams have let in fewer goals.  They happen to be ahead of us in the table.
2) Joe Hart has played really well.  He's made a lot of great stops.  I can't think of one goal that's gone in where he's made a mistake.
3) Last season, we scored a lot on the break, taking advantage of players out of position on the defense and the creativity of our midfield and attackers.  This season, we seam to purposely be slowing down, as if this is the desired tactic.  The terrible pace is leaving us to try to ram the ball down the throat of 10 defenders, something we are not quite built to do.
4) Last season, Pelligrini was always focused on the next game, meaning the game at hand.  We don't appear to be doing that this year.  I'm not sure if its an overall lack of focus or if we are just starting to peek ahead at the calendar.  Either way, it's a disaster.
5) The midfield last year was making great passes and taking the ball from attackers.  This year, we seems to be making the bad pass and giving the ball away. Stats might prove me wrong, but that's what it 'feels' like.

Technically, you could say we are a better team this year with upgrades in midfield and the back line.  Just not seeing it.  Yet.