Sunday, 6 April 2008
Necessary reminders
The tone of SGE's post match comments teach us an important lesson. The fact that he can be so impressed with our performance in a comfortable 2-0 win for Chelsea reminds us of the gulf between us and the Big Four. I don't mean that the last few months could have created such an impression - but whilst playing badly against poor teams you can develop a feeling that on our day against big teams we can do well. The other side of this coin is that we did in fact play well. This is not last season. When Richards is fit we are a centre forward away from being a pretty good team. Too much comment this year has alternated between triumphalism and despondency: I hate to say it but Phil Neville had a point. Yesterday proved a useful corrective to both of those extremes.
Friday, 4 April 2008
Chelsea line up
The model for tomorrow will presumably be the home defeat of United or draw with Liverpool. Tight in midfield and defiant in defence. As such, I presume we'll go with Hamann, Johnson and Gelson through the middle (obviously Elano did start in the hole against United, but that was when he deserved to) - in theory our most solid central midfield three (even though they were poor at Reading). The case for keeping Stephen Ireland in central midfield is not particularly strong on recent showings.
Unless SGE gambles on Caicedo or Sturridge up front, Benjani will keep his place. And with a flu free Petrov back on the left, we're back to our favourite task: attempting to crow-bar a series of central midfielders, left wingers and forwards into right midfield. Elano? Ireland? Geovanni? Castillo? Vassell? Elano probably deserves it, but Chelsea are strong enough for that to be used against him. Castillo and Geovanni are both seemingly out of favour, and Ireland hasn't impressed from out wide for some time. So we're left with Vassell. The presumption ought to be that his poor performances would see him dropped, but I'm long past thinking there's any correlation between his form and his selection. Seemingly, if we're playing a team at all better than us then we need hard workers so we pick him. Or if we're playing a team at all worse than us, then we need hard workers, and so we pick him. This is proved by the one time we played a team roughly as good as us - Tottenham - we were able to drop him. How did that game finish again?
Unless SGE gambles on Caicedo or Sturridge up front, Benjani will keep his place. And with a flu free Petrov back on the left, we're back to our favourite task: attempting to crow-bar a series of central midfielders, left wingers and forwards into right midfield. Elano? Ireland? Geovanni? Castillo? Vassell? Elano probably deserves it, but Chelsea are strong enough for that to be used against him. Castillo and Geovanni are both seemingly out of favour, and Ireland hasn't impressed from out wide for some time. So we're left with Vassell. The presumption ought to be that his poor performances would see him dropped, but I'm long past thinking there's any correlation between his form and his selection. Seemingly, if we're playing a team at all better than us then we need hard workers so we pick him. Or if we're playing a team at all worse than us, then we need hard workers, and so we pick him. This is proved by the one time we played a team roughly as good as us - Tottenham - we were able to drop him. How did that game finish again?
Thursday, 3 April 2008
MCFC all over Europe
Note Garrido the Basque and Samaras the Cretian. Didn't think Johnson/Ball/Richards/Vassell would quite fit on England.
A global team
Because we have nothing better to do, my brother and I have attached City players' faces to a map of the world - to show how cosmopolitan our current squad is. Continent by continent to follow.
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
Onuoha online
Nedum seems to have a very irregular column on skysports.com. There's one up today, which is pretty good. It certainly reads better than Micah's more regular effort.
Not much of it is news, except perhaps on the extent of SGE's reaction to last weekend's loss to Birmingham.
If you want to read more by Nedum online, then there's his official site. There's some standard interests, likes and dislikes stuff but some very funny player profiles. Of Michael Johnson, he writes:
And Sun:
Not much of it is news, except perhaps on the extent of SGE's reaction to last weekend's loss to Birmingham.
"It was the most unhappy I have seen the boss since he came to the club and that summed up how bad we were. I am not going to go into detail but he made it quite clear that what happened at St. Andrew's was not good enough and with just six games left we do not want to let this excellent opportunity pass us by."
If you want to read more by Nedum online, then there's his official site. There's some standard interests, likes and dislikes stuff but some very funny player profiles. Of Michael Johnson, he writes:
"He can be quite weird! I can't really go into why he's so strange, but his opinions and the way he behaves can just be really odd sometimes. But as soon as he gets on the pitch he's quality. He still looks quite young and innocent but he's far from innocent I can tell you!"
And Sun:
"He is very mysterious, not just because of his accent, but he is very strange. He keeps himself to himself and we don't know what makes him laugh or anything."
Arsenal 1 - 1 Liverpool
Liverpool were lucky this evening to get that result. Set out for a 0-0 or even a 1-0 home win, they managed to scrape an away goal through Dirk 'Dutch Vassell' Kuyt. Classic Liverpool away in Europe. Even more strikingly, it was classic post-Eduardo Arsenal. Dominating possession, but unable to convert enough chances.
The only possible benefit of 1-1 is that in making Liverpool favourites it will reduce the number of times we hear the phrase 'Historic European Night At Anfield' in the next six days. A Historic European Night At Anfield, apparently, is one where Liverpool can overturn any deficit. Tell that to Benfica.
Seeing Graeme "Put Gerrard anywhere and just let him play" Souness prompted visions of the team of Liverpool legends Sky will assemble on Tuesday night: Three time European Cup winner Souness, two time European Cup winner Phil Thompson and 1995 Coca-Cola Cup victor Jamie Redknapp. I hope it's on ITV.
The only possible benefit of 1-1 is that in making Liverpool favourites it will reduce the number of times we hear the phrase 'Historic European Night At Anfield' in the next six days. A Historic European Night At Anfield, apparently, is one where Liverpool can overturn any deficit. Tell that to Benfica.
Seeing Graeme "Put Gerrard anywhere and just let him play" Souness prompted visions of the team of Liverpool legends Sky will assemble on Tuesday night: Three time European Cup winner Souness, two time European Cup winner Phil Thompson and 1995 Coca-Cola Cup victor Jamie Redknapp. I hope it's on ITV.
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Summer clear out?
Sven suggested this weekend that there might be a clear out this summer. But who's for the chop? A lot of this is naturally tied up with transfer policy, but there are some interesting issues to be unpacked.
Goalkeepers
At the start of the season there was an open competition for goalkeepers: Hart, if anything, seemed our third in line. He is now as sure of his place as anyone. Schmeichel's made some noises about leaving in the summer: presumably he'll go, as may Isaksson. I imagine if they both went we'd bring in someone new. The issue, however, is finding someone talented, experienced, and willing to be understudy to a twenty year old.
Defenders
We only have three defenders who will certainly be here next season: Richards, Dunne and Corluka. None out of Garrido, Ball, Onuoha or Sun have been wholly convincing. We won't get rid of all four of them, but I wouldn't be surprised if one or two left. Sun Jihai is presumably the most likely (will commercial considerations impact this at all?) - he's simply not up to it. Of the left backs, we won't lose both of them but I don't think either of them has staked an impregnable claim to the spot this year (I narrowly prefer Garrido) so a departure is possible. Sven seems to rate Onuoha higher than I do: against Birmingham he achieved the unique feat of being at fault twice for the same goal (missing both the initial header and then the tackle for Zarate's second). I think age may count in his favour. But if SGE can pick up some foreign bargains a departure or two are quite possible, and in Sun's case, likely.
Midfielders
Didi Hamann, Gelson Fernandes and Michael Johnson have all assured their places for next season. The real issue is with our surfeit of players who play in the wide positions or in the hole. Of those, I think that Martin Petrov is the only one not playing for his future. Geovanni, Ireland, Castillo, Elano and Vassell are competing for probably three places (if, as rumoured, we buy a right footed Petrov equivalent). Elano would need a very big offer from abroad to tempt him away: it would take a very poor last six games and an eight figure bid to take him away. The most likely to leave is Geovanni: only on a one year deal, involved against Birmingham for the first time in eight weeks. With his limited chances, how likely is he to earn a new deal? Sven doesn't seem like a big fan so will probably let him go. So that leaves Vassell, Castillo and Ireland. None convincing on the right, Ireland occassionally in the middle. Castillo is different: he's on loan until January 2009 so the issue is what to do then, and therefore any decision is necessarily postponed until then. Ireland and Vassell are both players more popular with Sven than with City fans in general. But if one goes it should be Vass, unless performances in the last six games prove otherwise.
Forwards
The only one guaranteed to stay is the one who's played the least - whilst Benjani, Mpenza and Vassell (plus the four loanees) have to varying degrees played their way out of favour, Bozhinov has been on the sidelines. He deserves another try next year, and will get it. None of the others are safe. We will certainly buy one striker, maybe even two. Combined with the returns of Evans and continued presence of Sturridge, we shouldn't be surprised by a ruthless cull of the rest. None of Benjani, Bianchi, Corradi, Dickov, Mpenza, Samaras or Vassell has a good enough scoring record to demand a place in the 2008/09 squad. Benjani is the most likely to stay, by virtue of his recent acquisition if nothing else (I hope he doesn't play the 75 matches needed to activate the other £3.87m, and not just for financial reasons). But only goals can save him and Vassell. Mpenza may not even get the chance.
We're playing like we either don't realise how tight the Inter-Toto race is, or have presumed that Fair Play qualification is a fait accompli. The fact that half of our squad are playing for their futures will hopefully spur them on to something a bit more acceptable for the last six games.
Goalkeepers
At the start of the season there was an open competition for goalkeepers: Hart, if anything, seemed our third in line. He is now as sure of his place as anyone. Schmeichel's made some noises about leaving in the summer: presumably he'll go, as may Isaksson. I imagine if they both went we'd bring in someone new. The issue, however, is finding someone talented, experienced, and willing to be understudy to a twenty year old.
Defenders
We only have three defenders who will certainly be here next season: Richards, Dunne and Corluka. None out of Garrido, Ball, Onuoha or Sun have been wholly convincing. We won't get rid of all four of them, but I wouldn't be surprised if one or two left. Sun Jihai is presumably the most likely (will commercial considerations impact this at all?) - he's simply not up to it. Of the left backs, we won't lose both of them but I don't think either of them has staked an impregnable claim to the spot this year (I narrowly prefer Garrido) so a departure is possible. Sven seems to rate Onuoha higher than I do: against Birmingham he achieved the unique feat of being at fault twice for the same goal (missing both the initial header and then the tackle for Zarate's second). I think age may count in his favour. But if SGE can pick up some foreign bargains a departure or two are quite possible, and in Sun's case, likely.
Midfielders
Didi Hamann, Gelson Fernandes and Michael Johnson have all assured their places for next season. The real issue is with our surfeit of players who play in the wide positions or in the hole. Of those, I think that Martin Petrov is the only one not playing for his future. Geovanni, Ireland, Castillo, Elano and Vassell are competing for probably three places (if, as rumoured, we buy a right footed Petrov equivalent). Elano would need a very big offer from abroad to tempt him away: it would take a very poor last six games and an eight figure bid to take him away. The most likely to leave is Geovanni: only on a one year deal, involved against Birmingham for the first time in eight weeks. With his limited chances, how likely is he to earn a new deal? Sven doesn't seem like a big fan so will probably let him go. So that leaves Vassell, Castillo and Ireland. None convincing on the right, Ireland occassionally in the middle. Castillo is different: he's on loan until January 2009 so the issue is what to do then, and therefore any decision is necessarily postponed until then. Ireland and Vassell are both players more popular with Sven than with City fans in general. But if one goes it should be Vass, unless performances in the last six games prove otherwise.
Forwards
The only one guaranteed to stay is the one who's played the least - whilst Benjani, Mpenza and Vassell (plus the four loanees) have to varying degrees played their way out of favour, Bozhinov has been on the sidelines. He deserves another try next year, and will get it. None of the others are safe. We will certainly buy one striker, maybe even two. Combined with the returns of Evans and continued presence of Sturridge, we shouldn't be surprised by a ruthless cull of the rest. None of Benjani, Bianchi, Corradi, Dickov, Mpenza, Samaras or Vassell has a good enough scoring record to demand a place in the 2008/09 squad. Benjani is the most likely to stay, by virtue of his recent acquisition if nothing else (I hope he doesn't play the 75 matches needed to activate the other £3.87m, and not just for financial reasons). But only goals can save him and Vassell. Mpenza may not even get the chance.
We're playing like we either don't realise how tight the Inter-Toto race is, or have presumed that Fair Play qualification is a fait accompli. The fact that half of our squad are playing for their futures will hopefully spur them on to something a bit more acceptable for the last six games.
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