Suspensions

Pablo Zabaleta's season of bad tackles, late tackles, high tackles, cynical tackles and clumsy tackles has finally caught up with him: he has racked up ten yellow cards and therefore is banned from the Burnley and Birmingham City games.

It's not come at the best possible time, but I'd rather he missed these two games than the next two - Manchester United and Arsenal. The problem is that Nigel de Jong could well sit those out for the same reason. To avoid that, he needs to escape cautions in the next two games - at which point the giant reset button is pressed in Soho Square Wembley Stadium and de Jong can collect bookings with impunity.

But this means that it's probably wisest to rest de Jong for the Burnley and Birmingham games. Hence Gareth Barry's resting on Monday night. Expect to see Barry and Vieira in midfield on Saturday, with the possible addition of Stephen Ireland or even Sylvinho. I don't particularly worry about that game, but the prospect of Lee Bowyer and Barry Ferguson over-running Barry and Vieira on Sunday week is fairly worrying.

Understatement of the year

The prestigious award goes to Roberto Mancini for this:

"Patrick could improve."

Wigan reax

Ian Herbert, The Independent

There was little in their performance last night to send a shudder of apprehension down to Liverpool, whom they leapfrog into fifth in the Premier League, and Roberto Martinez justifiably pointed to the questionable dismissal of centre-back Gary Caldwell as the turning point. He also issued – and later retracted – a claim late last night that the referee, Stuart Attwell, had been dishonest is his explanation of that decision. Still, City are still yet to lose when Tevez scores and the manner of his second City hat-trick – completed in 13 short minutes – suggests more scoring to come.

Rory Smith, Daily Telegraph

The Argentine's 13-minute treble took his tally for his first campaign on the sky blue side of Manchester to 25 in all competitions, returned City to fifth in the Premier League table, two points behind Tottenham, and otherwise disguised what was a laboured and lacklustre display from a team bereft of invention until the dismissal of Gary Caldwell, the Wigan captain, with an hour gone. 

Chris Wheeler, Daily Mail

The Argentine was a thorn in Wigan's side from the off, teasing them down the flanks and driving his way into the penalty box at every opportunity.

Peter Lansley, The Times

He marked his 25th goal of a beguiling season with a yellow card after melding with the City crowd six minutes from time when beating Scharner and swerving a composed shot in at the near post. City are yet to lose a league game in which Tévez has scored. "I hope Carlos scores in the final seven games then," Mancini said. "We know we have a good chance to get fourth position."

Paul Wilson, The Guardian

Wigan grew bolder as half-time approached, so few problems were City causing. Scharner was miles over with the eventual shot from a sweeping move involving Rodallega and Marcelo Moreno, though there was a small but significant cheer from the visiting fans at the sight of Diame showing Vieira the ball in the middle then nonchalantly carrying it past him.

Wigan player ratings

Given A crucial save from Scharner in the first half, and a decent punch or too. Did not have as quiet a game as he might have hoped but was flawless - our first clean sheet in six games. 7

Zabaleta Pushed forward from early on, giving good support to our attacking play. Lost Hugo Rodallega once, from which we luckily escaped, but otherwise solid. A silly booking puts him out of our next two games, which is a fairly poor reflection on his on-field conduct. 6

Touré I still wince when he encounters certain situations but one sliced clearance aside he did ok today. 6

Kompany Rodallege and Moreno posed more problems than expected but Kompany was generally competent in his repulsion of them. Went on a run reminiscent of Sylvain Distin's high points but couldn't quite get a shot away. 7

Garrido Let Moreno get inside and behind him more than once, but surprised everyone with a lovely turn in the build up to our second goal. Booked for a cynical trip on Rodallega. 6

SWP His first start for a while but had a decent go: running at the left-back and getting past him the odd time. His delivery wasn't perfect but he very nearly set up a first half goal for Tévez. Unlucky not to get more than 45 minutes. 6

Vieira Upsettingly off the pace. His aged body just can't keep up with fighting a battle with a three man midfield. And when in possession he can't always move and turn quick enough to keep the ball. I want this to work but I don't think it is. 4

de Jong Effectively fighting a three on one battle in midfield, and while overrun much of the time he did pretty well. Enough tackles to stem most of the tide, and more confident and controlling when Wigan had to switch to 4-4-1. 6

Johnson Started wide on the left, which was interesting for us and presumably fascinating for Fabio Capello. Plays a similar game on his natural side: beating men with ease but crossing with some imprecision at time. Moved onto the right in the second half, he had the beating of Maynor Figueroa enough to cause problems. 7

Tévez Our indispensable man. He was our best player by a distance before his first goal, winning the ball, running at defenders and creating chances. His first was lucky but his second and third goals were well taken. That's 25 for the season, with 19 in the EPL. The best return for a City striker for years. 9

Adebayor His first game for some time, he looked rusty but enthusiastic. Good work rate off the ball, which isn't always the case, although his touch let him down more often than he would have liked. Dallied over a good one on one chance. 6

Subs:

Bellamy Played the second half from the left - had some impact but created our second goal and could have scored himself in stoppage time. Much more important in games like Saturday's at Turf Moor. 7

Onuoha Too late to mark n/a

Sylvinho Too late to mark n/a

City 3 - 0 Wigan

• It was a must win, and we won. But it was a strange game, and a microcosm of our season: a flat damp insipid performance that could have been punished but was not, and which was bailed out by the quality and tenacity of Carlos Tévez. Things were not exactly going to plan for the first hour, but the game hinged on the dismissal of Gary Caldwell and an error by Vladimir Stojković. Three nil looks good but the game was just as even as our 1-0 win last year. But all that matter are points now.

• The first hour was woeful. Mancini went for a Hughes-style 4-4-2, with two natural wingers in Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adam Johnson. Nigel de Jong and Patrick Vieira were abandoned to play against Wigan's midfield three. They would have been outnumbered even had Patrick Vieira not been doing a Christian Negouai impression. But he did, and Wigan controlled possession and silenced the crowd. We looked lively enough on the break but it was not exactly the patient methodical fare we've grown used to under Mancini.

• With fifty five minutes gone I wasn't confident of our winning the game. When Tévez jumped over the ball with two feet and Caldwell scissored him I winced. When Stuart Attwell produced red I was upset, presuming it was for Tévez. But it wasn't - it was for Caldwell's clumsy tackle which looked like a yellow but no more. A real slice of luck, as bad a decision as Michael Turner's red in Mark Hughes' final game in charge. But it forced Wigan to change shape as Paul Scharner dropped back into defence.

• We started to dominate possession, just an hour after we should have started doing so. But we still needed Stojković to duck out of a 50/50 challenge with Adebayor and Tévez to roll the ball into the empty net. Ahead at home against ten men and the game was as good as done: we grew in confidence, moved the ball quicker and Tévez scored another two. His ability to create chances through force of will has rescued us from too many difficult situations this season.
  

• But for as long as he continues to do so we're in contention. We didn't look like a decent candidate for fourth position tonight, but it's a results business. I've written before about how strange it is seeing Mancini's City play in a way so antithetical to our traditions. This sort of point is often meant critically, but it's also true that winning ugly is immensely valuable; when Chelsea or United do it it's called 'ruthless efficiency.' I still don't think we'll get fourth but we've stayed in the race longer than I ever thought we would. Another must-win on Saturday.
  

Wigan preview

I think I've abused the phrase 'must-win' a bit this season. It certainly feels like it. But Wigan Athletic at home on Monday is the biggest boldest must-win we've had for some time. It makes Hull at home in November look like a pre-season kickabout. If we win we're two points behind Spurs, with them still to come to Eastlands. Lose and we're five points off, as well as behind Liverpool - who today put in their performance of the season against Sunderland.

The whole season, never mind the Mancini era to date has been a frustrating alternation between forward and backward steps. Not since Mancini's first three games have we won two consecutive matches. The flicker of form we showed in recent weeks - two wins in west London and a draw in Sunderland - was put out by that acrimonious mid-week defeat to Everton. So we need to start again tomorrow night, and only a win will do.

Fortunately Wigan at home should be a nice momentum-generator. They have had a bizarre season, beating Chelsea and Liverpool at home and Aston Villa away. But they've certainly had more bad games than good ones, and don't even pose the problems of a well-organised, physical and worldly bottom-half side. This fixture has only produced three goals in the last four seasons - we've won 1-0 twice, drawn 0-0 and lost 1-0 in a very upsetting result under Stuart Pearce. I remember that I was playing football that afternoon and when I heard we'd lost I smashed my mobile and sat under a tree for an hour, convinced we were going down. I ought to have had more faith in Emile Mpenza.

Selection isn't obvious. We have two options: reintroduce Emmanuel Adebayor in a 4-4-2, with Craig Bellamy and Adam Johnson wide and Gareth Barry plus either Nigel de Jong or Patrick Vieira central, or bench Adebayor and stick with Stephen Ireland in that 4-2-3-1. My preference is for the latter, because Ireland is one of my favourite players and Adebayor is not. Wigan aren't particularly effective spoilers and so I like to think that Ireland will find enough space in front of their defence to influence the game. He almost looked good on Wednesday before he went off injured. I'm no good at reading Mancini's selection decisions so I won't make a prediction here.

But we should have enough. And despite the lack of goals in this fixture in recent years I'm predicting an exciting game, and a 3-1 win.

Kolo backs Mancini

The captain backs the manager:

“It's really difficult to beat us and what he (Mancini) brings is that every time we play, we feel really strong," he said.

"He's bringing experience and he knows what he wants to do for this club and he needs time.

“You can't keep changing managers. Every time the players have to adapt to a new strategy and the thinking of the new manager, which is really difficult and takes time.

"With Roberto we're starting to know what he really wants and he's working well.”

I think people underestimate the difficulties involved with managerial changes and associated teething issues. The prospect of going through it all again this summer - which is quite possible, is more wearying than exciting.

New deal for Dedryck

Dedryck Boyata, who must be favourite to win our Young Player of the Year, has signed a new deal at MCFC until 2014.

Roberto Mancini has said:

"I think he impressed a lot of people with his maturity, especially in the games against United."

“He is a young man learning how to be the best player he possibly can be and will continue to improve. I am a manager that puts a lot of faith in bringing players through the Academy system and have been pleased to give several City players their chance to play in the first team."

I've certainly been impressed too. Although I worry about the future of Nedum Onuoha.

More on 'outside-in' wingers

Forwards playing wide but on their unnatural side, as it were, is something we've seen a lot at City this year. And following on from Jacob Steinberg's article last week, there's a new offering from the master of writing about football tactics; Jonathan Wilson:

There are other advantages to a wide player coming inside. For one thing, given most full-backs still play on the traditional side, a winger taking him on on the inside is attacking his weaker foot. For another, a wide player drifting infield is opening space for an overlapping full-back, of whom there are an increasing number. The link-up of Pires and Ashley Cole at Arsenal was an early example of that; more recent examples include Ivan Rakitic and Danijel Pranjic for Croatia, Gerrard and Cole for England and, most obviously, Messi and Dani Alves for Barcelona.

And then there is the issue of acceleration room. A full-back pushed tight on a wide forward does not allow him to accelerate down the line, but by cutting inside on to his stronger foot, the forward opens up room on the diagonal. It is that, for instance, that allowed Messi to score his first against Stuttgart last week. It was rapidly obvious what he was going to do as he turned inside but the best efforts of four defenders couldn't stop him because of the pace he was going at by the time he got within shooting range.

Mancini charged

Charged with improper conduct.

No surprise, really.

Players back Mancini

Well, two of them have - former Hughes loyalists Nigel de Jong and Vincent Kompany have defended Mancini after Wednesday's evening's unpleasantness:

"Everyone at this club is passionate and wants to bring success so there will be times when emotion takes over," said Kompany.

"The boss showed how much he cares and I don't see a problem with what he did.

"We were losing and he wanted to get the ball back in play - that was all there was to it. I think too much has been made of it already."

Nigel de Jong, as usual, agreed with his former HSV teammate:

"It was a very emotional game, you could see that at the end with the gaffer," he said.

"Everybody knows I am not the easiest player in these kind of games.

"You have to set a tone - you are 1-0 behind and if the referee continues making disappointing decisions you know it is going to be an emotional game."

It seems that not all Hughes loyalists were singing from exactly the same hymn-sheet though.

Boji helps Inter towards Scudetto

After a mixed season on loan at Parma, Valeri Bozhinov made the headlines last night. His last minute goal determined Parma's 1-0 defeat of Milan, a result which allowed José Mourinho's Inter to extend their lead back to four points, as they beat Livorno 3-0. Here is Boji's goal:



Interestingly enough, Bozhinov chose to dedicate the goal to Mourinho himself, saying:

"I dedicate this goal to [Jose] Mourinho, because I like him as a coach," the 24-year-old told Sky. "Wherever he has gone, he has always won.

"I like Inter as a side, and I have a soft spot for them."

It sounds to me like someone's angling for a move. Fair enough, playing for Mourinho must be most players' dream. And it's not exactly clear yet where Boji will be playing in 2010/11. But just three months ago Mourinho went out and signed a fiery fiesty Balkan forward. And I'm afraid, Valeri, it wasn't you.

Everton reax

Ian Herbert, The Independent

For all their spending, City already rely heavily on Adam Johnson and when he didn't fire either, the options ran out. This was nothing new. The statistic which said Mancini was on his longest unbeaten run at City – six games – did not explain the good fortune at Sunderland and edginess at Fulham. Mancini talked away his spat with Moyes last night but the first sense of lost control from him compounds the feeling that he has much work to do.

James Ducker, The Times

In many respects, they [Everton] are a lowbudget version of the Chelsea team that José Mourinho built. Organised, disciplined and dogged but not without flair, City never seemed like breaking their resistance, despite playing much of the second half in a 4-2-4 formation. For all that money can buy, the kind of unity and team spirit Moyes has forged at Everton only comes with time.

Andy Hunter, The Guardian

Of greater concern for Mancini was his side's inability to turn several sustained bouts of pressure into clear openings. Jagielka was fortunate the officials missed his handball when he slipped under pressure from Tevez, but for all their possession City lacked the ingenuity to open a solid Everton defence. Indeed it was the visitors, though encamped inside their own half almost throughout the second period, who came closer to adding a season, with Leon Osman almost capitalising on a poor clearance by Vincent Kompany and Cahill chipping Given from 20 yards only to see the effort sail narrowly wide.

Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail

From then on, it was uphill work for City. They are not a team that bounces back well from setbacks. Certainly referee Walton didn't enjoy his best night and City got the rough end of a few decisions.

But Mancini's team seem mentally weak at times and though they pushed hard for parity in the second half, they never really forced Howard in to doing anything remarkable.

Mark Ogden, Daily Telegraph

City, unbeaten at Eastlands since last April, now faced a true test of their Champions League credentials with Everton determined to resolutely defend their lead.

But while they subjected Everton to intense pressure, City repeatedly crashed against the Merseysiders’ impenetrable rearguard.

City 0 - 2 Everton

• When the annals of 'typical City' are drawn up, hundreds of years from now, this will certainly get a paragraph or two. We'd just taken seven points from three straight away games, and we had a home game against a team eight points below us. Three points would send us into fourth place. But we blew it, as only we can: a good start was left un-converted, we conceded from a set-piece and could never quite get back into the game. Our first home defeat of the season, at the worst possible time.

• After the win on Sunday, Mancini returned to his preferred 4-3-3 system. Carlos Tévez moved back up front, and Stephen Ireland was restored after a lengthy absence into his favoured attacking midfield role. And it started well enough: we dominated the first half hour, passing the ball smartly and smoothly. Tévez managed to engineer himself two or three half-opportunities, but was always denied by Tim Howard and Phil Jagielka.
  

• But there's nothing worse than wasted pressure. Because it was Everton who struck first; Tim Cahill turning in a well-worked free-kick. Conceding from set plays to teams who specialise at them is just infuriating: unlearnt lessons like that make you wonder what the coaching staff do with their time. Conceding from a Tim Cahill header from a set-piece is almost as bad as conceding from a Rory Delap long throw - something we did twice last month.

• From then on, Everton were the better side. With Ireland off injured we went 4-4-2 and lost our extra man in midfield. Pienaar and Mikel Arteta began to find more space and Everton could have scored a second. We had spells of pressure but had no better ideas than propelling the ball up towards Santa Cruz. It worked on Sunday, yes, but Phil Jagielka is no Chris Smalling. Again, Tévez almost worked himself some opportunities, but nothing came of them. Wright-Phillips, Santa Cruz and Pablo Zabaleta shot over from distance.

• It was no real surprise when Arteta scored their second, after a sharp break led by Cahill and Jack Rodwell. It's Everton's third consecutive win at Eastlands but it hurts more than the other two combined. David Moyes loves to suggest that City are a club lacking in spirit, but what better example that the traditional soul of Manchester City is alive and well than tonight? When we needed it most, we blew it. Advantage Tottenham.
  

Everton player ratings

Given Faultless for both goals. Distribution mixed. 6

Richards A few decent forays forward although he was let down by his touch and decision-making at times. Forced a save from Howard early on when the ball hit his back. Allowed too much space for Steven Pienaar and Leighton Baines at the back. 6

Touré I need to see it again (though I won't because I don't want to), but I think he was at fault for the first goal. That aside had a decent game, threw himself into most challenges and made quite a few breaks forward. 6

Kompany Good enough for the most part, even if he gave away a few sloppy free-kicks. Schooled by Jack Rodwell for Everton's second. 5

Zabaleta Played left back and right back yet again. Had a good go at left-back in the first half, even firing in a few decent left-footed crosses. No defensive horrors either. 6

De Jong A very good first half as he helped us dictate the tempo. But retreated in the second half, never really imposing himself (ie intimidating through foul play) on Arteta and Pienaar. 5

Ireland Started in his preferred role, and had a few nice touches without ever quite geting into gear. But took a knock from Heitinga and went off for SWP before half time. A real shame. 6

Barry Possibly unlikely to concede the free-kick from which Cahill scored. Before that he was excellent, moving the ball around quickly and purposefully. We needed a big second half from him, though, and we just didn't get it. 5

A. Johnson Cutting in fromt the right at first, he was mildly threatening when he got inside Leighton Baines. Moved to the left when Ireland came off but he struggled to have any real impact and came off for Santa Cruz early in the second half. 5

Tévez By far our best player on the night. His hard work was the only way we were likely to dig out a goalscoring opportunity, and he very nearly made two or three through force of will alone. But Jagielka was his equal, and none of his half-chances came to completion. Hold up play remarkable as ever, given his height. 7

Bellamy Is Bellamy's game just more suited to playing on the break away from home? I don't know - we aren't swamped with alternatives. But he just doesn't have the space in this sort of match. A half chance here and there, some average crosses, and that was it. 6

Subs:

SWP Got more than a half out on the right wing. He was willing to try things but his touch was poor and delivery much worse. Admittedly he was crossing to two short strikers most of the time, but nothing was coming off. Fired over probably our best chance of the second half. 5

RSC Used as an excuse to fire balls into the box from deep and wide. But was much less successful in winning them than he was at Craven Cottage on Sunday. Not sure to play on Monday, with Adebayor back. 5

Vieira Little of note. n/a

In the programme

There is an interview with me in the matchday programme this evening. You should really buy the programme anyway because it's excellent, but if in doubt maybe the prospect of some insights into TLDORC and a boyish photo of me in the Camp Nou should tip you over the edge.

Plea, repeated

I know I put this up a few weeks ago but if you happen to have a spare for Arsenal away, or know anyone who does, could you possibly drop me an e-mail.

Everton preview

After a run of three consecutive tricky away fixtures - from which we took a very impressive seven points - we're back at Eastlands tonight for the first time since the soporific draw with Liverpool thirty-one days ago. And we're about to start on a run of four fixtures from which we can realistically hope to take twelve points. Tonight will probably be the hardest, but Wigan at home, Burnley away and Birmingham at home are all games where a draw would hurt as much as a defeat.

That's almost true of tonight. But not quite. Everton have been playing excellently since Christmas - they would be third in a 2010 Premier League table. They schooled us at Goodison Park. This fixture clearly means quite a bit to them now after the Joleon Lescott saga. And they have a good record at CoMS - winning this game both last season and the season before. It's going to be harder than when Liverpool came to park the bus last month, probably our hardest home game since United came in January.

I'm sure Mancini will be tempted to keep the same team and system from Sunday. It was a surprise to see us go into an away game playing 4-4-2 but it worked well. Nigel de Jong will probably replace Patrick Vieira. The defence will stay the same. Craig Bellamy may be rested for Shaun Wright-Phillips, but it's unlikely. Then there's Stephen Ireland, whom I love and treasure but whose future I increasingly fear for: I'd be thrilled to see him play tonight but I can't see it.

Will we have enough to beat a spirited and in-form Everton side? It's very tight. We're narrow favourites but I'm going to predict another frustrating score draw at home. Two points dropped.

Lescott out for 4-5 weeks

Roberto Mancini has confirmed that Lescott's hamstring injury will put him out for between four and five weeks:

He said: "I think there is a good chance that Joleon could play in the last two weeks of the season. Javi played well at Fulham but we may need a few players to come into the side.

This is a real blow. After a difficult start he's probably been our best defender this season - certainly since he came back from his knee injury in January. We now face our run-in, including games with Manchester United and Arsenal, without him. So it's Kolo Touré and Vincent Kompany at centre back and Javi Garrido at left back for the forseeable future.

It's also going to jeapordise Lescott's place on the plane to South Africa, which is itself a real shame.

Focal point

One of the best things about Sunday was the success of Roque Santa Cruz as a target man. He gave us an easy ball to relieve pressure, and with Brede Hangeland missing Roque managed to win the majority of aerial challenges he was involved in. His awareness was excellent too - by being available for the long ball, winning it and keeping it he managed to create space in front of the back four for Carlos Tévez, in much the same way Emile Heskey does for Wayne Rooney for England.

This chalkboard demonstrates RSC's success on Sunday, in contrast with Emmanuel Adebayor's performance at Anfield earlier in the season. Adebayor's positioning is much less disciplined, as he drifts across the pitch at will, and when City defenders do try to hit him he rarely wins those headers.


 by Guardian Chalkboards

Lescott injured

Our in-form defender has picked up an injury at the worst possible time. No one seems to know how long he'll be out for, but he certainly won't play against Everton tomorrow evening.

Joleon was set to play left-back on Sunday before his injury, which betrays a surprising willingness from Mancini to break up the Lescott/Kompany pairing which has done so well recently. But I'm sure it will be Kompany and Kolo Touré again tomorrow, with Javi Garrido again at left back.

Fulham reax

Dominic Fifield, The Guardian

"This could prove an important win, and it was deserved," said Mancini, even if it still felt unconvincing. There had been aspects to admire. Chances had been passed up but City's pace on the counter-attack was irrepressible, Craig Bellamy scuttling down the left flank as a striker-turned-winger and supplying Carlos Tevez, a constant blur of energy, while Adam Johnson cut inside at will on the other flank. The Englishman's emergence since his January move from Middlesbrough bodes well for England's future, even if he is surely staking his claim too late for the summer's World Cup.

Tom Dart, The Times

City employed a Patrick Vieira impersonator in midfield. The 33-year-old’s physical decline from his Arsenal heyday is dramatic: not so much box to box as box to centre circle these days, alas. But there is perpetual dynamism from Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tévez, the team’s greatest assets.

Conrad Leach, The Independent

Manchester United's win over Liverpool earlier had cleared up the picture concerning fourth place, with it now seeming to boil down to a fight between City and Tottenham, who are currently fourth. Should City win their game in hand, then Mancini's men, who owed this victory largely to the sweat and energy of Carlos Tevez, will leapfrog Harry Redknapp's side. Mancini realised three points were vital. He said: "This was important for fourth place. It will be a fight to the end of the season. We are not favourites, Liverpool are a fantastic team, and we will fight with Spurs, Villa and Liverpool to the end."

John Ley, Daily Telegraph

Roque Santa Cruz scored only his fourth City goal before Carlos Tévez claimed a stunning second - and the club’s 600th in Premier League football. Fulham struck back late on when Danny Murphy converted a penalty and had the chance to level, but City held on and look well placed to challenge for the coveted Champions League place.

Fulham player ratings

Given A good save just before the first goal, and little else to do after that. Wrong footed on the penalty. 7

Zabaleta Had a difficult time dealing with Damien Duff's intelligent movement early on, so it was a surprise when Duff was moved from the left to the right. He had a better second half, never getting forward too much but error-free. 6

Touré The captain's first game for a while, and his best game for months. He had a quiet start to the game - goal-line clearance aside, but came to the fore when we were under siege in the second half. 7

Kompany Given the job of shackling Bobby Zamora, which he did excellently: Zamora was withdrawn after 52 minutes. After that it was Clint Dempsey and Stefano Okaka, who eventually presented a tougher challege. Possibly could have conceded a late penaltyfor handball, lucky to escape. 7

Garrido Drafted in late on to replace Joleon Lescott. He was surprisingly competent: never really caught out by Duff or Simon Davies, he even won headers, and not just headers but tackles too. A few crucial hurried clearances too, which is a change from his old habit of dallying on the ball. 6

Johnson Quiet for most of the first half but very lively in the second. Seems established cutting in from the right, tried to replicate his famous goal at Sunderland and went close two or three times. A much more exciting option than Wright-Phillips on current form. 7

Vieira Played instead of Nigel de Jong. Did well at imposing his physique on the game, although he lost the ball to Dickson Etuhu more than any World Cup winner really ought to. Used the ball intelligently enough - could well play on Wednesday. 7

Barry Quiet, aside from a few important interventions and well-placed passes. But 4-4-2 was asking quite a bit of him and Vieira and they did well to form an effective shield even if they could never quite dominate the game. 6

Bellamy As ever, a devastating weapon on the break, creating both goals. First his shot was deflected onto the post before Santa Cruz tapped it in, then he put in his fellow-talisman Carlos for our second. Had another chance himself and kept Chris Bair pinned back throughout. 7

Tévez Our best player, again. Playing off Roque Santa Cruz he had a lot of space between Fulham's defence and midfield, and he was always on the ball, creating spaces and chances for him and his teammates. Involved in the opener, and then scored a brilliant second, after schooling Chris Smalling. Tireless work rate of course. 8

Santa Cruz A much more natural partner for Carlos than Adebayor is. Without Brede Hangeland on the pitch he could hold the ball up with real freedom, allowing him to link well with Tévez and Bellamy. Took his goal well. Injured again. 7

Subs:

de Jong Almost scored his first goal in blue, but missed a very easy chance. Could well start in a five man midfield against Everton. 6

SWP Missed a great chance to kill the game. n/a

Onuoha Too late to mark. n/a

Fulham 1 - 2 City

• In September 2007 we were 3-2 up against Fulham. But Vedran Ćorluka missed a high ball, Danny Murphy pounced and we drew 3-3. In April 2008 we were 2-0 up against Fulham, but Ćorluka slipped, Jihai Sun gave away a penalty, Kamara scored a second and we lost 3-2. In December 2008 we went 1-0 up against Fulham but we lost Jimmy Bullard and drew 1-1. In April 2009 we went 1-0 up against Fulham but goals from Clint Dempsey and Dickson Etuhu put hem ahead and we lost 3-1. And in October 2009 we went 2-0 up against Fulham but they pulled back two quick goals and we drew 2-2.

• So to go 2-0 up and hold on is a huge, precedent-breaking achievement. Roberto Mancini was brought in to impose some efficiency, some ruthlesness to what was becoming a typically hectic and chaotic season. And based on results like this, he's succeeding. Another stat: Mancini has now won three away league games from seven - Hughes won four from 28. It was more believable a game than the one at Stamford Bridge, but it felt even better for it. The 4-2 was so astonishing, it could never really be used as a template. But today was a lesson in how to play away.

• We never had to play too well to succeed. Fulham's players and fans were clearly drained from Thursday night. Their front two, Bobby Zamora and Zoltan Gera both came off within an hour. Their initial game plan was releasing Zamora into the right channel, with little else beside. Recognising this, we were quite willing to sit back, cede them enough possession, and hit them on the break. Both of our first two goals came through breaks from our two thrilling counter-attackers, Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tévez. With every game this season, the importance of Bellamy and Tévez glares brighter and brighter. We're nothing without them, but with them we can do anything.
  

• Bellamy is Tévez's fellow talisman, but not his strike partner. Today that was Roque Santa Cruz, who was excellent. As well as Adebayor has performed at times, he does not look like a natural partner for Tévez, such is his lack of focus. But Santa Cruz looked ideal. He held the ball up, creating space for Tévez, as well as giving us a perfect option to relieve pressure. We were helped in this regard by the absence of Brede Hangeland. Chris Smalling won almost nothing; with Hangeland up against Santa Cruz we would have achieved much less. An interesting lesson given Adebayor's return against Everton.

• This result was only as good as Tottenham's was yesterday. All we have done is keep pace with them. But that is an achievement. The important point from now is to maintain the position whereby wins over Villa and Spurs at Eastlands win us fourth. That means allowing Spurs no more than a point or two lead over us between now and then. It won't be easy, but it's accessible. And it all starts again with Everton on Wednesday - a team we have as bad a recent record against as we did against Fulham.
  

Fulham preview

Well I'm less relaxed about this than I was this morning. I was presuming that Spurs, traditionally almost as soft-centred as we are, would fail to win at Stoke City. Had they drawn or lost, a point at the Cottage tomorrow would have been acceptable. But goals from Eiður Guðjohnsen and Niko Kranjčar won them the game. And now I think we need to win too. Which will be tough, if precedent and form are reliable guides.

Our recent record against Fulham is atrocious: three points from our last five league meetings. Hilariously, we led in all five of those games. There was the thrilling 3-3 at the Cottage in that dreamy autumn of 2007, the stomach-punch 2-3 defeat which cost Sven his job while saving Fulham from the drop, a dry 1-1, an upsetting reversal from 1-0 to 1-3 and then another blown lead this autumn - 2-0 up and 2-2 at full-time. Three points from five winning positions is pretty funny when you think about it. What's more, Fulham are coming off the back of one of the best results in their history - a 4-1 thumping of Juventus at home, turning a 1-4 aggregate into 5-4. Yes, they will be tired from that game. But they'll also be buoyed. So I'm sure it will be a net positive factor for them.

We go into the game with four points from our last two away games, the famous win at Chelsea and then last week's dramatic 1-1 in Sunderland. I'm starting to think that we're turning into an effective on the road unit. We can keep it tight in defence, put up a robust midfield shield and still have enough pace on the break to create our own opportunities. I'm sure we'll stick with the 4-3-3, with Adam Johnson just edging out SWP to partner Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tévez. Patrick Vieira may well replace Pablo Zabaleta in midfield, and Javi Garrido should come in at left back.

Will it be enough? I'm not sure. It's not clear to me that counter-attacking will be half as effective as it was on our last trip to SW6 three weeks ago. If there's one thing Fulham can do it's organisation, and so I don't imagine they will be complacent enough to leave us the cavernous spaces to attack into we got at Chelsea. We will have to show Athertonian patience for our chance to come, while the defence will have a difficult afternoon courtesy of Bobby Zamora. If we can eliminate basic errors we will have a chance, but I can't predict anything better than another even 1-1.

'Outside-in'

There's a good article by Jacob Steinberg on WSC.co.uk about the growth of the 'inside-out' winger, exemplified by Mancini's deployment of Adam Johnson from the right hand side:

Wingers operating on the opposite side of the pitch to their favoured foot may not be a new phenomenon, but it is one that managers in England are increasingly embracing. Last Sunday, Adam Johnson provided a stunning vignette of what the inside-out winger offers. With Manchester City trailing Sunderland by a goal in the last minute, a corner was cleared to the right side of the penalty area where Johnson was waiting. Attacking on the outside would have been futile as he would have led himself on to his right foot. Instead he rolled inside before curling the ball into the top corner with his left.

The thinking behind the tactic is not complicated. By attacking on the inside, a winger is able to target a full-back’s weaker foot, leaving them in a position in which they are less likely to risk a tackle, for fear of committing a clumsy foul. On his first start for City, Johnson won a penalty after a teasing run induced enough panic in Bolton’s Paul Robinson that he eventually tripped the winger.

It's certainly been a notable feature of our play this season. Shaun Wright-Phillips is the only one of our wide players who has consistently featured on his natural side. Craig Bellamy and Robinho have both played from the right, understandably given that they are converted centre and inside forwards respectively, both more comfortable and more damaging with a shot than a cross. This has been the case under both managers this season.

But there has been a development under Mancini: the use of conventional wingers Martin Petrov and Adam Johnson from their weaker sides. Petrov is a very traditional outside left; before the rise of Luis Antonio Valencia he was arguably the division's best old-fashioned winger. And so to play him inside-out (although I think 'outside-in' is a better term) doesn't always work so well. Johnson is different, though, as Steinberg points out. As Robben and Messi show, the key to effective outside-in play is audacity - the willingness to drive inside the full-back, to take the shot on, to worry the defence and push them back. And while I'm not claiming AJ is anywhere near those two, he does noticeably have a touch of magic about him, in a way that, say, Stewart Downing or even Ashley Young does not. Which is why he might just be an effective left footed right-winger himself.

A further point on Ireland

A caveat to what I wrote last night:

Part of the problem with Ireland this season was Mark Hughes' use of Carlos Tévez as a second striker, behind Emmanuel Adebayor. The waspish Tévez would drift across the space between the opposition lines - in much the same way as Wayne Rooney does for England. This was the space in which Ireland operates so effectively.

As with Rooney, though, it has become apparent during this season that despite his lack of height Tévez is really rather effective at leading the line. During Adebayor's compassionate leave Tévez enjoyed his best spell at the club, leading the line in a classic 4-3-3/4-5-1 system. In fact, Tévez's strength, tenacity and hold up play arguably make him better suited to this role than Adebayor is. And if Tévez plays this role, then there is space behind him - at the peak of the midfield triangle - for Stephen Ireland.

The coincidence of injuries and absence mean that we have rarely been able to play this way - with Ireland drifting behind Tévez. But it's an option. And suggests that Ireland's form, rather than systems, might now be what is holding him back.

Garrido set to start?

I thought Pablo Zabaleta would move across to left back, but the placing of a big Javi Garrido interview on the official site hints that it might not be. It's between one of those two, I think: Mancini won't want to move Barry or Lescott, and Sylvinho's lack of pace makes him a candidate for midfield only.

Picking between Zabaleta and Garrido is tough. Zabaleta has performed better in midfield this season than he has in defence, and so recent performances from him aren't necessarily a sign that he ought to step in to Wayne Bridge's shoes. He's not guaranteed to start in the middle on Sunday, due to Patrick Vieira and Stephen Ireland, but it's possible. But on the other hand, Javi Garrido is a fairly limited player - slow, fairly weak, doesn't win headers or tackles etc etc. He's an irrational favourite of mine, yes, but he's been struggling to adjust to the Premier League for almost three years now.

Ireland's form

Stuart Brennan has a good article on Stephen Ireland's season, and while it makes some very good points, I have to disagree with this:

But he [Ireland] failed to hit the same kind of form which made him such a favourite last season, when he netted 13 goals.

And then manager Mark Hughes also felt Ireland needed some competition, and was actively seeking a creative midfielder when the axe fell on him in December - Scott Parker was a name being whispered loudly around the corridors at City.

But it was the appointment of Mancini which has truly cast a shadow over Ireland.

In the last two matches, at Sunderland and Chelsea, Mancini has adopted a safety-first approach to team selection, plonking the solid slab of Pablo Zabaleta, Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry in midfield, and opting for a couple of wide men to support Tevez. [Emphasis mine.]

I just can't agree that the arrival of Mancini has been the most problematic element of Ireland's season. In fact, one could argue that Mancini has been better to Ireland than Hughes was this season.

This is fundamentally a question of tactics. Mark Hughes' summer spending led to the junking of last season's 4-2-3-1 for a more cavalier 4-4-2, flirting with 4-2-4 on occasions. Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tévez went up front, with Craig Bellamy and Shaun Wright-Phillips either side. There was only room for two central midfielders, and Hughes started with Ireland and new signing Gareth Barry. While the results were good, it was clear that it was a dysfunctional midfield pairing, unable to boss games. Ireland just didn't have the discipline and nous to take on such a demanding role. Barry's form made him immune from dropping, and so Nigel de Jong was restored to the side.

Ireland did get his chances - in cup games, against Burnley at home, and so forth, but it is telling that his best game under Hughes this term was at Anfield, when the benching of Tévez allowed Ireland back in his preferred position at the peak of a midfield three, drifting behind a striker and two wingers. (He was also excellent in the same role for the last twenty minutes at White Hart Lane.) But as Tévez started to score, and excel dropping into that space in front of the back four where Ireland does his damage, there was no question of returning to the 2008/09 system.

It has only been under Mancini that Ireland has returned to that favoured attacking midfield role: the February home games against Stoke and Liverpool, the cup replay at the Brittania, as well as some of the January games, when he was shifted mid-game between the hole and the right of a midfield four. The point is that he's had as many opportunities to play attacking midfield in a 4-2-3-1 - his dream role, and, if we're honest, his only one - roughly as much under Mancini as under Hughes. You can see Ireland talking about exactly this here. He hasn't really done it under Mancini - he was very poor in those Stoke and Liverpool home games last month. He is coming back from injury, which would make the transition from one manager's methods to another's even harder. And he remains one of my favourite players. But I can't agree with a claim that Mancini has made things worse for him.

Spurs scheduled

Wednesday 5th May, at 8pm. Just four days after Villa come to Eastlands. Presuming nothing goes disastrously wrong between now and then, those four days will decide who plays Champions League football.

It's going to be upsettingly, painfully momentous.

The Spurs game is also the day before the likely date for the general election. We can expect lots of jokes along the lines of 'the blues should have had this sewn up ages ago, can they pull things back to seal victory?' etc etc etc etc.

More from VK

Our most intelligent and articulate player has claimed that our team spirit is better than we have been given credit for:

“We have proved this season that we have the mental strength, by always coming back stronger from defeats and setbacks,” he said.

And he added his own plot twist to those mentioned, with the departure on loan of Britain’s most expensive footballer Robinho, and added: “All these things have made the group that strong that even if we never get the credit for it we deserve, we will go and do everything we can to finish in that fourth spot.”

And then:

“Time will help us, but at the moment we are becoming stronger as individuals and as a team because of this situation. We will be strong until the end now. It’s never been easy because money has always been a subject when our name gets mentioned.

“Good, positive results were always put in the dark by money talk, and negative results were exposed even more.

“But we have proved we are mentally strong just by being where we are now despite everything that has been happening.”

It's certainly true that no one really talks about the City team spirit. The media narrative this season has run along traditional lines: 'soap opera club' most of the time, 'crisis club' some of the time, 'rollercoaster ride' all of the time. And this is with some justification - there was the transformative and unprecedented spending spree in the summer, a traumatic change of manager in mid-season, the departure of our record signing, three of the most dramatic Manchester derbies in modern history and then a barrage of personal controversies surrounding many of the first team squad.

But despite all that we are still in the race for fourth, and arguably the most likely candidates to take it. And even if our maintenance of that position is somewhat due to the lack of ruthlesness from Spurs, Villa and Liverpool, the fact is that we haven't folded after the double blow of the managerial change and the League Cup semi-final exit. Which suggests that there might be something in Kompany's claims.

Arsenal spare?

I know it's a long shot but if anyone has a spare ticket for the Arsenal game next month can you possibly send me an e-mail...

José namechecks MCFC

In the post-match press conference last night José Mourinho said his approach was inspired by Kevin Keegan's Manchester City. No, seriously:

Afterwards Mourinho said he had based his approach to the game on one of the few times a side had come to Stamford Bridge during his time in charge there and held out for a draw. Unusually, he picked out the performance of Manchester City in February 2005 during his first year at the club when City came to Stamford Bridge and got a 0-0 draw. "They made David James look like Lev Yashin," said Mourinho.

And this wasn't even exciting, cavalier, early-era Keegan either. This was lazy, complacent, flaccid late-era Keegan; when we represented a final pay-day for bored millionaires like Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Paul Bosvelt. It was just three games before the home defeat to Bolton which preceeded his resignation (if memories Wikipedia and Soccerbase are correct.)

So, looking back on it, a goalless draw at the Bridge was a fantastic result. Not quite as good as this though, which probably did more to inspire Mourinho's gameplan. We showed that, with Ashley Cole and José Bosingwa injured, and John Terry ageing, Chelsea's back four probably defends further up the pitch than it ought to. Carlos Tévez and Craig Bellamy hit the space in behind to great effect. And last night Inter's main aim was for the masterful Wesley Sneijder to put Samuel Eto'o and Goran Pandev into the same positions. Which is precisely how they scored.

The one(s) that got away

Those watching the fascinating (and fairly funny) events from Stamford Bridge last night will have seen McDonald Mariga come on for Inter with five minutes remaining. I was never too enthusiastic about his potential signing but when you see that José Mourinho is willing to trust him with seeing out Inter's progression to a Champions League quarter final you realise the level of player we missed out on.

Because Mariga was the breadth of a Home Office rubber-stamp away from joining City in January. As soon as that move fell through Inter pounced. And I'm not sure Mariga has too many regrets with the way things turned out:

"I need to improve and play more at this level, but to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world is a fantastic experience.

"Manchester City? Yes I almost join them, but it did not happen because of my work permit.

"But now I am at Inter with the best manager in the world."

Quite.

Interestingly enough, there was another one that got away triumphant last night. Mark Hughes tried very hard to sign Diego Milito in August 2008, but he chose to re-join Genoa as he abandoned relegated Real Zaragoza. A goal-laden season followed, and he went to Inter last summer, and is second top scorer in Serie A this season. Ouch.

Bridge out for a month

Disappointing injury news this evening: Wayne Bridge requires a shoulder hernia operation and will be out for a month. He'd found a bit of form since coming back from his knee ligament injury, and we need him for a crucial run of games in our sights.

None of the alternatives really demand inclusion. We know that Gareth Barry and Joleon Lescott can play there but as two of the pillars of the side I doubt they'll be moved. So it's between the two specialists - Javi Garrido and Sylvinho - and Pablo Zabaleta. Garrido is probably the man in possession, having played there during the winter when Bridge was injured. My hunch is he will go for Zabaleta, who is slightly more reliable, now that Patrick Vieira is available in midfield. Micah Richards will continue at right back.

England squad prospects

As we get closer to the World Cup, the make-up of the elect 23 grows larger and larger in the public consciousness. David Beckham's Achilles snap has only heightened this. Rather than copying and pasting various City player's declarations that 'fourth is important to us' (I'll come back to that tomorrow) I think it's time to have a look at the City players with a shot at making Fabio Capello's final squad, and to attach relatively arbitrary percentage chances of their being included.

Gareth Barry

The lone certainty. Barry has played almost every game under Capello, who brought to England the doble pivote system which served him so well in previous jobs. The partnership of Barry and Frank Lampard is the foundation of the England side, breaking down opposition play and making it possible for Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney to perform further up the pitch. As we all know Barry's had a pretty patchy season in blue but Owen Hargreaves' injury makes him odds-on to keep his place in the side. Michael Carrick is improving but Barry's selection and assured performance against Egypt two weeks ago ensure he'll start at Rustenberg on June 12. Chance of making squad: 100%

Joe Hart

Of course he's been at Birmingham City all season but he's still ours - and may well be a full-time Manchester City player again come June. He has had an exceptional season at St. Andrew's - the best English goalkeeper this season by a distance. Were it not for the continuing mastery of Cesc Fàbregas he would be a certainty for the PFA Young Player of the Year - the first goalkeeper since Mervyn Day to win it. But recent evidence suggests that Capello is likely to prefer the experience of David James or Rob Green. This is fairly puzzling, but Hart's inclusion in the squad for the Egypt game suggests he's next in line. That, and Paul Robinson's month-long absence with a calf strain more or less confirm Hart's place on the plan. 90%

Joleon Lescott

Like Joe Hart, Lescott is currently behind an out-of-form West Ham player in the pecking order. Capello clearly rates Matthew Upson - partnering him alongside John Terry against Egypt - despite the humiliation visited on him by Nilmar in Qatar in November. But with long-term injuries to Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill, Lescott seems to have a decent hold on fourth choice, ahead of Ryan Shawcross, Roger Johnson and Matthew Dawson. So if Lescott keeps up the form which won him the prestigious TLDORC Player of February gong he should keep his place - particularly given his ability to play left-back in a crisis. Of course, all it would take is an injury or a dip in form and Shawcross, Johnson or Dawson - all of whom have been better than Lescott over the course of the season - could steal in. But I reckon he's got a decent chance. 60%

Shaun Wright-Phillips

Shaun is the player I'd most like to make it, as the MCFC Academy graduate with the best chance. But I fear he will just miss out. The right wing position is famously competitive and even with David Beckham absent I think he's behind Aaron Lennon and a resurgent Theo Walcott in Capello's preferences. SWP has seen a lot of England gametime recently, and has a good scoring record, but deep down City fans know that he is not quite of international class. And if we've spotted this then I'm sure that Fabio Capello and Franco Baldini have. The one possible opening is if Aaron Lennon fails to recover from his muscle injury, in which case SWP could go as back-up to Walcott. But with Milner, Gerrard and possibly Joe Cole offering choices down the right it's not looking great for our Shaun. 40%

Adam Johnson

This is an interesting one. The combination of Beckham's injury and Johnson's audacious goal on Sunday afternoon led to some speculative press about the chances of AJ's inclusion on Monday. Capello is known to be fan of his and he would offer something slightly different. Being one of the two quick English left footers helps, given that we have a tradition of playing right footers - Paul Scholes, Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard out there. And while Steward Downing has his own admirable qualities, Johnson has a bit more pace and a bit more magic than his former Middlesbrough team-mate. He's nowhere near the finished product, and was noticeably quiet against Liverpool and Chelsea recently - but stranger things have happened than his inclusion. 20%

Micah Richards

This is a disappointment. Four years ago it looked very likely that Richards would make this plane - and many other such planes in the future - but we all know that it hasn't quite happened for him. He's had a good season, better than last year certainly, but he still does not have total ownership of the right-back slot, and the failings Capello is so critical of have not been entirely expunged. Now that Glen Johnson is fit, and with Wes Brown as a solid understudy it would take at least one injury for Micah to muscle his way onboard. And with James Milner fancied as a right back even that is not assured. But he's still 21 - there will be more chances in future. 5%

VK: 'I like responsibilities and pressure'

There was a fascinating interview with Vincent Kompany in the Sunday Times yesterday. He spoke to Jonathan Northcroft with as much insight and honesty as he always does.

On Mancini and his own role in the side:

“I’ve said I’m happiest in midfield but I’m just as good in both positions and wherever I play my objectives don’t change, I’ll try and be the best,” Kompany says. “England was always where I’d make my career. I love everything about the game here. I’m happy I can get into my challenges without always being carded.

“Tactically, Mancini is a mastermind and makes it very clear he likes his team to be disciplined and build from the back. That suits me. The thing about my positions, midfield or defence, is if the team concedes you’re accountable and that’s perfect. I like responsibilities and pressure.”

And on team spirit after a tumultuous season:

“We’ve gone through managerial changes, a lot of negative press, faced teams who don’t normally pay attention to City and now want to beat us. We’ve had stories, like Ade in Angola [Emmanuel Adebayor caught in an ambush of the Togo team], Robbie [Robinho], who was a good player and left us, the situation of Wayne [Bridge] . . .

"For us, if it was a problem for a particular player, we did like we’d do for anyone in the group, supported him, got him back in the team and made it easy for him to perform. Wayne did that brilliantly. There’s a good spirit because it’s kind of been us against the world and there’s a connection with our fans because of that."

It's all worth reading. It's very clear that Kompany is a man of real intelligence and depth, as well as being an excellent player. I've written before on how much I want to see Nigel de Jong made captain, but I'd be just as happy with this other former Hamburg player. I particularly liked this from Northcroft:

Not all City transfers are huge. Kompany arrived from Hamburg for only £6m when Mansour’s takeover was a few days from completion in 2008. That is less than Liverpool paid for Andrea Dossena, Villa for Curtis Davies and Tottenham for Alan Hutton.

The irony is that England’s most lavish buyers may have bought the bargain of recent years. Kompany looked good — sensible, mobile, competitive, technical — when used by Mark Hughes in central midfield. He looks world-beating, potentially, now Roberto Mancini has moved him to centre-half.

Sunderland reax

Tim Rich, The Independent

For a side that had put four past Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their last fixture, this was a reminder that you can change the manager, you can pump in hundreds of millions to revolutionise the squad, but changing the soul of a club is rather more difficult.

For much of the game, this was Manchester City as they have been since 1938, when, as reigning champions, they managed to get themselves relegated while scoring more goals than any other team. Their inconsistency is a constant, summed up by the way Patrick Vieira was caught dawdling on the ball in a way he would never have been at Arsenal.

George Caulkin, The Times

It was difficult to equate Mancini’s side with the one that had tormented Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. While the second half brought improvements in application and attitude, what preceded it bordered on the shambolic, with too many passes squirting astray and the syndrome known as “Cityitis” re-emerging from a brief period of dormancy.

Louise Taylor, The Guardian

Earlier City's manager had pressed almost every conceivable tactical button, repeatedly reconfiguring his side as Bruce's newly renascent team variously left him sighing, grimacing and even tugging anxiously at both his elegantly knotted blue and white scarf and immaculatelycoiffed hair.

Indeed judging by Mancini's demented charge down the touchline to order his celebrating players to calm down and regroup after that late leveller, the Italian knows his long-term future at Eastlands remains very much in the balance. There is no doubt he wants to remain in situ. Asked if coaching Italy after the World Cup interested him, a smiling Mancini – whose side stand fifth, two points behind Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand – replied: "No, I intend staying here for ten years."

Colin Young, Daily Mail

In the first half Sunderland looked hungrier and the number of stray passes, missed tackles and dreadful shots from the visitors was just too much for Mancini. Once, Carlos Tevez hit a stray pass into touch.

The City boss shook his head, looked to the heavens, chuntered something to himself and sent Roque Santa Cruz on for Wayne Bridge.

Sunderland 1 - 1 City

• The question that we all keep asking ourselves is whether we have shaken off 'typical City.' Progress to the Carling Cup semis suggests we have, being the only side to fail to beat Burnley at home argues the other way. There could have been no better sign of its resilience than a defeat at Sunderland straight after a win at Stamford Bridge. And so as we drifted into stoppage time it looked worryingly familiar.

• But that's not how it finished. Adam Johnson is at the centre of the biggest debate about a goalscorer's intention since Ronaldinho's free kick in Shizuoka eight years ago. It was done with a surgeon's precision, and while he may have been looking for Joleon Lescott at the far post, Johnson does have some of Gaúcho's audacity. He gets the benefit of my doubt. And it makes a nice change to score rather than concede stoppage time goals. Johnson's was our most dramatic late equaliser since Robinho at Ewood Park the Christmas before last.

• And it had been coming: the second half was much better than the first. With a Hughes-style 4-4-2, Bellamy and SWP either side of Carlos Tévez and Roque Santa Cruz - the front four from Hughes' final game, Sunderland at home - we created enough chances to win. But Craig Gordon was looking like a £10m goalkeeper and our finishing wasn't exactly ruthless. So we needed Johnson's late heroics to rescue a point.

• Ultimately we couldn't do what we did at Stamford Bridge - turn a damp dismal first half into a dramatic second half comeback. And it is worrying how lifeless we look at times. But a point from behind on the road is never a bad thing. And fourth is still in our hands.
  

NdJ praises Tévez

Our second best player this season has taken time out to praise our very best:

"Sometimes you need that spark to give you something extra, and it was good to have Carlos back against Chelsea to give us that," said de Jong...

"If you see the results from the last couple of games, it is a fact that Carlos is the spark we need in the squad. With his attitude and attacking skills he gives us an edge in difficult games. We have a lot of quality players, but he gives us an extra boost sometimes...

"Off the pitch he is one of the boys - he doesn't see himself as a superstar at all. He loves football, and has that South American temper in him which everyone loves," said De Jong, who was at Eastlands meeting schoolchildren in his role as the club's enterprise ambassador encouraging pupils to learn about business.

"I identify with that side of Carlos, because I am a fighter as well, so I love to see him play."

People often talk about the lack of experience of finishing fourth or above in the squads of City, Spurs and Aston Villa - and they're right. (Of course, we have Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Adebayor and Patrick Vieira but I'm not sure any of them would get into my first choice City side.)

But something that makes me more confident is the characters of our key players. While 'passion' and 'commitment' are often asked to bear more explanatory weight than they ought to in analyses of football, there's no doubt that de Jong and Tévez, as well as our third most important outfield player, Craig Bellamy, are exactly the sort of characters we need in the position we're in. They're brave, determined, and completely single-minded about success. They're warriors and exactly the sort of characters we need if we're actually going to finish fourth. And I look at the most important players at Spurs and Villa - with all due respect to some really excellent players - I don't necessarily think they've all got that attitude de Jong, Bellamy and Tévez possess.

Regeneration project announced

There had been rumours for some time, but today we heard that City are going to lead and pay for a major redevelopment project of the area around Eastlands:

A Joint Development Board (JDB) has been formed between the three parties, which will harness the respective strengths of the constituent members – Manchester City Council’s and New east Manchester’s land ownership, their proven track record in regeneration, and their access to public funding together with Manchester City Football Club’s commercial leverage with brand partners and history of investment in all aspects of the club’s development.

The agreement creates the opportunity for a long-term partnership between Manchester City Council, NEM and MCFC, to develop their mutual ambitions for the area. All of the parties share the desire for any commercial development to deliver long lasting economic and community growth to the east Manchester area.

It's good news in terms of the results it will bring about - the area around the ground could do with a bit of livening up, to say the least. More importantly, though, it underlines the long-term commitment of ADUG to MCFC. There's no avoiding the fact that if Sheikh Mansour decides he's bored of City and wants to do something better with his money we will be in a rather difficult position. And so evidence that he's not thinking along those lines is to be welcomed.

Managers, tactics and traditions

For some time I've been meaning to write about the legitimacy of style-based criticisms of Roberto Mancini. I was preparing to do so after the Chelsea game, anticipating a fairly inspid 1-0 or 2-0 defeat. Things went fairly off-script that day, though, and so discussing criticisms of Mancini felt rather inappropriate.

But this week two genuine City legends have given authoritative voice to what are growing murmurs in the stands, the pubs and the message-boards: are Roberto Mancini's tactics too cautious, too joyless - and if so, are they at odds with the traditions of the club? First it was Peter Barnes speaking out:

"I'd love to see, and I'm sure City fans would agree, a 4-4-2 with Adam Johnson on the left, Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right, and Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy together up front," said Barnes.

"The more attacking talent you have out there the better, for me, and those four going at teams with pace and skill is a frightening prospect for any opposition.

"Stick two from Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Stevie Ireland in the centre, and that is your six to try to grab that final Champions League place."

And today we have heard from Colin Bell:

"It frustrates me," said Bell. "I don't know if it's because he's a foreign manager, and it's the system he has played for years.

"Under Malcolm Allison and Joe Mercer, the theme was always that we were better than the opposition, so just go out and score more than them.

"We never laid our stall out for a draw. They had us believing that every game in which we turned out, we could win.

"If you aim for a win, a draw is acceptable. But if you aim for a draw, the only other result is a loss."

The content of these criticisms will be familiar to all City fans. Things are, without doubt, much more cautious under Mancini. Three defensive midfielders is the norm, as is the deployment of a cautious option - Pablo Zabaleta, Sylvinho, Gareth Barry - in wide-midfield. The full backs are much less buccaneering than they were under Mark Hughes, as are the whole midfield. All tactical systems are balances between defensive solidity and attacking fluidity, and Mancini has very clearly and honestly traded one off against the other. And he's probably right to do so, after the cavalier catastrophes of autumn 2009. (I mean, 3-3 against Burnley, at home! 3-3 at the Reebok! Blowing a 2-0 home lead against Fulham, and almost doing the same against Sunderland.) I think there's a broad consensus here.

The question, though, is whether there's anything particularly wrong with this. Does a defensive approach make for joyless football? And, even more importantly, does this fit with the traditions of Manchester City? Because the only reason I'm writing this today is because of the comments of Colin Bell and Peter Barnes, two players who understand as much as any others what City fans expect from their teams. I hope I'm not making any claims above our station here. I'm not saying that City are on a par with Barcelona or Ajax or Holland or Brazil, I'm not saying that our football is meant to be shimmeringly beautiful, or jaw-droppingly inventive ('Revie Plan' aside), but it is meant to be entertaining.

At the very least, you expect bodies to be thrown forward, and creative players to be given license. Since I've been a fan, I've been lucky enough to see Georgi Kinkladze, Paulo Wanchope, Ali Benarbia, Eyal Berkovic, Elano and Robinho in blue. Given that we've finished in the top half of the top flight three or four times in fifteen years that's a fairly impressive bunch. The non-performances of the Brazilians under Hughes was certainly frustrating (and I was pro-Hughes, rather than pro-Elano), and those results I mentioned above were infuriating, but I think one can legitimately argue that in his commitment to attacking football, and exciting players, Hughes was operating in the finest traditions of MCFC.

But this is where it gets really tricky: Mancini's catenaccio might just get us into the Champions League. We're probably very marginal favourites, given that Villa and Everton have still got to come to Eastlands. And Hughes' 4-2-4 was taking us to fifth or sixth at best. While nothing is guaranteed it is probably correct to say that by jettisoning the traditions of creativity and unpredictability, Mancini is increasing our chances of success. If we make it into fourth it will be our first time in Europe's elite competition since 1969. But if it's not done in the style of Joe Mercer's side, will it mean less?

Our shot at fourth

We're just four days away from what feels like an endless and borderless fifteen day break, and so focus is returning to the one relevant question in our season: can we come fourth?

Nigel de Jong thinks so:

"(We have a) good chance, I mean Liverpool lost yesterday so it's going to be a tight race at the end.

"Everybody goes for fourth place of course but I think we can do it.

"We've got one game in hand (over Spurs), we've got a couple of good games against our opponents as well at home so you've just got to try to keep going and focusing, try to get those three points in every game and we'll see where we end (up)."

While Gareth Barry pointed out that ruthlesness against the lesser teams is going to be as important as those definitive home ties with Spurs and Villa left to come:

"Three points are massive in the Premier League and we need to keep collecting them," said Barry.

"I'm not sure why we haven't done it against lesser teams.

"Earlier in the season, we had a slump where we failed to win four or five games in a row which we should have won.

"Hopefully, we can put that right before the end of the season, which is the vital part."

This is absolutely right. Looking through our remaining fixtures, it's very clear that Spurs and Villa at home are the biggest games. But given that this is a four-horse race, and that only the narrowest of margins separate the contenders at this point, every match and every point is crucial. Sunderland away, Fulham away, Burnley away, and West Ham away are just as winnable, and just as valuable as our big name home ties.

And are we going to do it? I honestly don't know. It's unlikely - even if we're favourites we've still probably got at best a 35% chance of doing so, as the odds will show. To be very frank, I find it hard to form rational opinions on this sort of thing. Years of supporting City have conditioned me against it. There are lots of attractive elements to the DNA of Manchester City but triumphs and ruthlesness aren't exactly in the mix - if you want dramatic victories from the jaws of defeat on a regular basis there's another Manchester club who will regularly provide it for you. My prediction? We'll go 2-0 down at on the final day, but pull it back to 2-2. We'll think 2-2 is enough for success, based on results elsewhere, and take the ball into the corner flag. Everyone in the ground will know it's not. But word won't get onto the pitch in time, and we won't get that winning goal.

If you don't want neurotic and fatalistic predictions check out Norfstander's vox pops on this issue.

Bianchi goal streak reignites il Toro

Sorry for not blogging about City legend Rolando Bianchi for a while. Torino have been going through a tough spell. Last time I mentioned them, they were second and Bianchi had nine goals in eleven Serie B games. But results tailed off soon after and coach Stefano Colantuono was replaced by Mario Beretta. After six weeks of Beretta, and no noticeable improvement, the board dismissed him and brough back Colantuono.

Since Colantuono's return they've taken fourteen points from seven games, with Bianchi leading the charge. He scored the opening goal of Colantuono's second reign - an equaliser in the 4-1 win over Grosetto. Then there was a brave 0-0 draw at Empoli, before a 1-1 draw with Brescia in which Bianchi scored Torino's equaliser.

Rolando was absent for the 1-0 win at Albinoleffe but did star in the 2-3 home defeat to Salernitana. Torino were 1-3 down with 23 minutes left when they won a penalty - which Bianchi missed. It's testament to his bravery, though, that the penalty they won later on he stood up and scored, even though it was not enough for a point. He made good his error in the next game, scoring the only goal in the 1-0 win at Padova. But all of this was build up for the home game with Frosinone on Saturday. Bianchi took two penalties, scoring the first and then the rebound from the second, and added another with an acrobatic stoppage time volley to seal a 3-1 win.

So in the six games he's played under Colantuono this time round, he's scored seven goals and missed two penalties on top. Torino are just two points from the play-off spots, while Bianchi has the second most in the division with 19 league goals thus far.

Here is Bianchi's weekend hat-trick against Frosinone:

Fulham's fixture pile-up, ctd

Six months ago I boldly predicted that Fulham's fixture pile-up would make them easy opposition at Eastlands. When we went 1-0 down I was worried, but when we won 2-1 I felt like Nostradamus.

Going by the maxim that lightning always strikes twice I'm going to do the same, because Fulham's schedule in March is terrifying. This Thursday they go to Turin for the Europa League tie with Juventus, and this Sunday lunchtime they go to Old Trafford. They entertain the bianconeri at Craven Cottage next Thursday, before our game there next Sunday. Then it's a cup replay at White Hart Lane the following Wednesday before the KC Stadium that Saturday. It's six games in sixteen days, four of which are away from home. And ours is the fourth game of the six.

So I'm going to throw caution to the wind and say that at the very least I expect us to get our third consecutive score draw at the Cottage.