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.

Man of the Match

Sergio Aguero was voted man of the match for his incredible four goal performance against Spurs.  And who can blame him?  Despite missing a penalty kick, Sergio showed why he is the danger in the Manchester City attack.  His ability to create space for himself with the ball left Spurs defenders gasping for air and swinging at shadows the entire match.

But to be honest, I don't think he was man of the match.  For me, it was Joe Hart.  Why?  Well, you would not know it from the outcome, but Spurs only had one less shot than City (19 vs. 20).  While they only had seven on target, each one of them required a fine save.  Even the goal was one that Joe got a piece of and almost kept the clean sheet.

But what really got my attention was the save on the penalty.  If that ball goes in, the score is 2-2 and it is an entirely different match.  I don't know if it was pure luck or a great read, but Hart was all over the ball and made a great save to a ball going into a bottom corner.  Pure class.

I'm sure that Spurs goal keeper Hugo Lloris will not be looking forward to the next City match.  Over the last three matches, City has completely lit up Spurs.  Despite the City tally, Lloris has accounted well for himself and has made a number of fine saves.  But the City goals have been well earned.

One person not in the running for the man of the match was Fernando.  His performance so far this year has been ok, but he's definitely the most disappointing signing City have made this season.  Particularly early in this match, Spurs were getting in front of Hart much too easily and most of it was his fault.  It was his turnover that allowed the goal.  Let's hope that he gets stronger as the season moves on.

City in Europe

As I write this, City have one point from six in their Champions League campaign.

After almost wining the group last year, one could rightfully hope that City would be treated more kindly in the group draw this time.  But lady luck seems to abandon the squad that day, as once again, City were matched in a group of death.

Due to some brilliant Joe Hart goal keeping we almost stole a point in Munich and despite a fast start by the Blues, many think that the draw against Roma was a fair result.

The mystifying piece seems to me that a squad that had won the premier league two of the past three years (and finished second the other year), should feel like it can do better.  Certainly, England has the most challenging league.

So, why are we not doing better?  Certainly, part of the problem is bad luck.  We end up in very difficult groups, and play teams that are recent winners of the tournament.  But I don't think that is an excuse.  Certainly, every team competing will have to find a way to beat a recent winner if they are to go far in the competition.

Instead, the problem looks like one of confidence.  Week in and week out, the team play quite well in the Premier League and show a fine attacking spirit.  This spirit is evidenced even when a man down.  However, in Europe, the play is much more tentative and it shows up in lower passing percentages.  This seems to deny the 'go forward' mentality of Pellegrini.

But all hope is not lost.  Six points from CSKA Moscow and draws between Roma and Bayern will put us right in the thick of things.  Perhaps one lucky goal is all we need to turn it around.