Given The man who kept the tie alive. Some fantastic saves in the first half stopped the game from rushing away from us; he made some good ones in the second half too. Harsh to say he could have done more with the first, certainly faultless for the second and third. 8
Richards Has improved recently but this evening he was poor. Had few answers for Jarolím and Trochowski, as most of HSV's attacks came down our right hand side. Directly at fault for the second and third goals. 3
Dunne A shaky opening period but improved as the game went on. Made a few crucial interceptions in important positions, did almost as much as Given to keep the score down in the second half. 6
Onuoha Looked ruffled by HSV's pace and movement. Had a difficult job dealing with Petrić's strength, as well as the energy of Pitroipa down the left. 5
Bridge For the second game in five days, he was rushed back and had to be taken off early on. In his forty five minutes he was defensively competent and even made some good passes going forward. 6
Zabaleta As with the first half of the season, we were back to one holding midfielder and so Zabaleta had a huge job to do. It was probably too much for him - asking him to resist the swarming HSV attacks was like holding the world on his shoulders. Made some crucial interceptions and tackles, but ultimately, not enough. 5
Ireland A credit to him that he shook off an ankle knock to play ninety high enery minutes. Made and scored one of our goals of the season (his eleventh of the season in all competitions) - a fantastic achievement. Lively for the rest of the game (his fortieth of the season in all competitions), but not as influential as he often is. Hamburger were just too good in midfield. 5
Wright-Phillips Our best outfield player. Asked to play centre midfield for the first time since 2008, he worked hard and passed the ball very well. Up against some players twice his size and not ashamed to kick him, he never shirked a challenge and could well have got some more protection from the referee. 7
Bellamy Asked to play on both wings (and briefly through the middle) but he ran and ran and ran. Got in a few very good positions (from which he could possibly have done better) but showed good understanding with the other forward players. Tracked back and put in tackles as well. A certain Brazilian could learn from him. 6
Sturridge His first start since January 17 and he did well. Playing across the front three, he impressed with his touch and his feet - which are as quick and delicate as those of anyone else at the club. Not the biggest but did try to hold the ball admirably. We need him to be here next year. 6
Robinho Another poor performance in an away game. Did very well for Ireland's goal but after that there was hardly anything from him. He drifted out of the game, and was wholly shut down by the HSV defence. Surely a matter of time before he makes way for Martin Petrov on the road. 5
Subs
Garrido Pretty solid. Hughes clearly doesn't like him much but he didn't do too much wrong today. 6
Benjani Worked hard but went off injured with ten minutes remaining, leaving us with only ten men. 5
Gelson Ran around a lot. Standard. n/a
4 comments:
Given: by far the man of the match for city,did all he could possibly could have done given the defence in front of him,9,
Richards was better than a 3, i give him 5, why? because he did go forward, a little late going back (no man marking instructions for olic),and he does not know what to do when nearing the final third (needed support).
Dunne,probably a 6 or 7, no defensive midfielder available.
Onouoha, same again as for dunne 5.
Bridge:agreed.Zabaleta, headless chicken,4.Ireland,outstanding 8.Wright-Phil,6,misplaced passes.
Bellamy,6 out of position(no real threat).Sturridge,4 not worth 40k tonight.
Robhino,7 only as good as the players around him (he is not a miracle worker!).Garrido 6,did well enough to put off attacks.
Benjani 4,outclassed.Gelson 'nuff said 2. We are not strong enough yet for these competitions,but the intention is there,too many (key)injured players again.We need Petrov and johnno back now!!. Conclusion:Hamburg wanted it more,and we should have snuffed out attacks in our final third much better as hamburg were very astute.Closing down attacks has not been our best thing all season (naive!),things will improve if we can push Robbie up front and Petrov on the left if he is fit.Still got a chance to turn things around next leg at home, but we must get tackles in early instead of letting hamburg dictate the game.Bottom line we need quality players to replace 'like for like' come the summer.Fair play to Hamburg though.
"Sturridge - His first start since January 17 and he did well."
I can't see where that's come from?To be fair to him, he didn't get much assistance, but he really did look like the proverbial little boy lost.
Anyway, this is Man City; our Man City and I'd be a lot more nervous if we were 2-0 up rather than chasing 2 goals at home. Adversity....pah! we spit in your face!!
PS- and why do we get sandwiched between a minute long advert featuring C*$ntana and a film about football hooliganism?
Maybe I'm missing something, but
down 3-1 with 15 or so minutes left
to play, MH brings on (wait for it)
Gelson Fernandes? Oohhh, Jol was
shaking in his sweats... Why not
give Petrov a run? Or Elano?
MH made that substitution just to make
a substitution. He's given 3x, so
he needs to use 'em,
since they don't roll over like cell
phone minutes, right?
As much as I'm praying we shut all the knockers up and win 2-0 at Eastlands next Thursday, the realist in me says we are simply not good enough - yet.
Robinho really has the world class skills to set the Premiership and the Europe alight, but again, at the moment he is a luxury we cannot afford.
If he had better players around him he would flourish, but his head goes down far to easily; either he wants to be at City or he doesn't. If he does he is going to have to adapt to the way we play in the Premiership, or move on. At times he is too much like One Trick Pony, in that if he doesn't get his way the toys are firmly jettisoned from his custom-made Silver Cross and he trips up over his bottom lip. I don't want to see his go, so may be it is time to sit him out, particularly away from home, injuries permitting, although they depleting us quicker than MPs' expenses are emptying the national coffers.
The absence of Kompany and De Jong, along with Zabaleta missing from the rightback berth, exposed our defence for the brittle, confidence-deprived entity it is, apart from Given.
Along with the Villas and Kakas of this world we need three top rate defenders, as Dunne, Onuoha and a fit Bridge are not quite good enough as starters. Richards continues to improve but his positional sense is stil far short of what it needs to be.
SWP and Ireland continue to play above their weight, quite literally, especially Ireland who, from a confused and overawed boy from the sticks, is developing into a true superstar.
I think we need to accept that this has been a season of change and turmoil, a campaign in which we have developed only moderately and that with a full pre-season under his belt and with HIS players taking over from the Pearce/Eriksson signings HUGHES will be in a position to really have a go next season home and away, and make countless people not only eat theiur words but choke on them into the bargain.
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