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City 0 - 0 Birmingham
- Again, sorry for being late on this. Circumstances have combined to inhibit, severely, my ability to blog recently. I didn't watch this game, and I'm pleased that I didn't.
- Because if the Manchester derby represented the good side of the Mancini system (and I maintain that it did), this represented its inherent problems. As much as we might like to write this off as a freak result we know that it is not one: we are just not set up to break down teams that park the bus.
- Last year we relied on Carlos Tévez to bail us out in similar situations. But he did not produce here and so neither did the team. And while I've come to think that Roberto Mancini is in a different league from Mark Hughes, I do think that under Hughes we were much better set to win these games. With Stephen Ireland and Robinho given freedom to play we would nearly always break the opposition down early and score a few. Now, we're still playing cautiously for too long.
- But we're still fourth! Things are better than they seem. A win on Sunday would be nice, mind.
2 comments:
A win would be nice wouldn't it but I just don't see it because both Mancini's tactical and philosophical approach are wrong for City and the EPL.
Tactically, not only is his system not designed to break teams down who defend in numbers, it is also extremely vulnerable to to teams who play in a high tempo, high pressure system.
I fully expect Hughes to take a page from the Blackpool match and look to lock us in our own half for much if not most of the match.
Mancini's play not to lose mentality is not only flawed but completely gutless, given that we have the talent to play most sides off the pitch. I'd also argue that conceding possession and defending for long durations in the manner that Mancini demands is not only physically exhausting on the players, but mentally exhausting as well. Let me put it another way. Can you see City under Mancini being able to come back from 2-0 down with 10 minutes to play salvage a 2-2 draw, or come back from 1-0 with 10 minutes to play salvage a 2-1 win? Neither can I. If Spurs can get to the CL playing positive football, why can't we?
Delighted to be proven wrong.Let's hope we can build some momentum.
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