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City 2 - 1 Fulham
- I didn't see the game so I don't have too much to say. But that we cannot allow ourselves to get so sucked in by the prospects of a top four finish that we ignore the importance of the domestic cups. For many obvious reasons, domestic cup success is crucial this year and so the further we get the better.
- And it's testament to the newfound mental strength of City this season that we came from behind to win this game in extra time. Of course, we are good enough to beat Fulham reserves at home, but it's not always that easy.
- Given that it was an otherwise first choice team it was interesting to see Pablo Zabaleta in at right-back ahead of Micah Richards. It's not like this was a much changed side of the type that big four teams put out in the League Cup. It will be interesting to see if he starts on Monday.
6 comments:
Lucky you to have not seen it!!!
A lot of tired players, although the cups are important I would have thought this would have been a chance to play some of the regular subs (Petrov / Weiss) for 90 mins and rest Bellamy and SWP as due to injuries and suspensions they are so important at the moment. No wholesale changes but that would have helped I think.
Great to Pablo get a start; I hope he keeps the RB berth as I believe he is a superior defender to Richards.
Pablo Sacramento
yep, paul said it with the 1st line, lucky you, I was dreading the game going beyond 90 mins, and it did.
I thought it odd also with the team Hughes picked. I thought petrov would of been a dead cert! Zab was pretty good, did enough to warrant a start at west ham. De jong was mighty and we lost the plot in the middle when he went off.
a very odd game, we didnt seem to have any tempo, tired legs possibly, but why did it take beyond 70 mins for hughes to make a sub!
Ireland went to hospital last night i heard, it's been confirmed by the club..he;s got the all clear
There was a huge mental hurdle for the players to get over and they came through. I think it was important to get a game under their belt so soon to 'flush' the disappointment of Sunday's result out of their collective systems. Apart from the desire to progress in the cup I wouldn't be surprised if this was in Hughes' thoughts also. The alternative was for it to fester and prey on their minds for over a week.
God points:
* We beat Fulham a home! About time - they have adpoted the mantle of 'bogey team'
* Zabaletta replacing Richards - better option defensively and going forward
* We are scoing from corners - we have rarely been a threat at set pieces over the past few years and it is an important part of a top team's repertoire
That should read 'Good points'.
I need a new keyboard.
Aside from everyone looking tired (when Stevie was going off he actually looked very unsteady on his feet), we just didn't have the height up front. Adebayor was sorely missed.
Petrov showed enough to earn a start in the next game, Zabaleta the same. Lescott looked more comfortable as the game went on.
De Jong was our best player.
A win is a win...this performance was very reminiscent of the UEFA cup games of last season; A less then convincing performance against a poor side (although I really admired the way Fulham defended and set themselves up but going forward other than Gera's sublime effort they offered very little)...a few things stood out for me:
- The players looked tired (especially SWP and Ireland)
- I don't think SWP is having a good season at all - he keeps seem to running in deadends and his end product was pretty poor - this was massively noticeable when Petrov came on and instantly delivered 3-4 balls of quality
- Like last season why oh why does Hughes persist playing 4-5-1/4-3-3 without a target man it's useless, absolutely when Adebayor or RSC is back but Tevez and Belleny where on a hiding to nothing
- Still a win by narrow margin sees us through and hopefully progress with a stronger side, I don't think we are yet to play well but we are still winning games - someone is going to get a hiding sooner or later
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