Juventus preview

Prestige European ties return to City. The UEFA Cup run under Mark Hughes was great fun, but we didn't entertain any of the elite. Tomorrow we host Juventus, our first European glamour tie since the 1980s.

I'm certainly excited about it. Having won in Salzburg the imperative to win tomorrow is slightly weaker, and so we can, within reason, relax and enjoy it. We don't get Alessandro del Piero at Eastlands too often.

Because it's so novel, it's hard to search in the precedents for anything meaningful. We have played them before, of course, in the UEFA Cup in September 1976. We won 1-0 at home, thanks to a Brian Kidd back post header but lost 2-0 in Turin. Interesting enough but this is hardly a sign of how things are going to go tomorrow. Will Emmanuel Adebayor be inspired by Kiddo's pre-game reminiscing?

I do think Adebayor will start, for the first time since our last home European game, over one month ago. The question, then, is whether he will be partnered with Carlos Tévez in 4-4-2 or left alone in 4-5-1. I would have guessed our captain would start, but on the other hand I think he'll bring back Adam Johnson too and that precludes 4-4-2 diamond. So it's 4-5-1 without Carlos or a flat 4-4-2 for the first time this season. Ultimately I don't know enough about Mancini or how he plans to use this squad to predict these things.

I don't really know enough to make a prediction, either, but I like the sound of 1-1 so I'll go with that.

'A clean sheet is holy'

After the best defensive performance I can remember from a City side, Nigel de Jong has been talking about the emphasis Roberto Mancini places on defending:

“Everybody knows what kind of manager he is,’’ De Jong said. “He has come from a country where defence is No 1 and he has brought that mentality from Italy. It took time but the main focus for him is to get the defence right because he knows we have enough quality to score goals — especially at home. That’s what he preaches: make sure we don’t concede.

“It is the mindset of every player. The belief is there. I don’t want to say the belief wasn’t there under Mark Hughes but with the manager coming from Italy defence is No 1. He spends more time on the training pitch with the defenders to get them to realise that a clean sheet is holy. You can see the message is getting through because we haven’t conceded a goal in the last three games and only two in six Premier League games.’’

If you add to those six games the two against Timişoara plus the win in Salzburg (all the games we have played our first choice defence), that's two goals conceded in nine games this season. One of those was certainly a gift, and Darren Bent's penalty might also have been too.

To those searching for evidence that Roberto Mancini has made a positive impact since his arrival (or rather, to those pretending that no such evidence exists), this is the simple and obvious response. It's not even to do with summer spending. Mancini has done this with Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Kolo Touré, Pablo Zabaleta, Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards - all players Mark Hughes used.

James Ducker, of The Times, has put some data together. He wrote today that Mancini's Manchester City are conceding 0.70 goals per Premier League game (19 in 27 with 11 clean sheets), while Mark Hughes' MCFC conceded twice as many - 1.4 per game (77 in 55).

Bumper Chelsea reax

Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph

De Jong and co rarely looked like letting Chelsea through on Saturday. One particularly emphatic (but fair) tackle by De Jong on Nicolas Anelka summed up the unquestioning execution of Mancini’s orders. Gareth Barry ably assisted De Jong in the centre while Vincent Kompany and Kolo Touré were imperious at the back, blunting the battering ram that is Didier Drogba.

Steve Tongue, Independent on Sunday

Chelsea weigh in as the biggest and heaviest side in the League but City stood up to them in some shuddering collisions, no one more so than Nigel de Jong, whose challenges this time were generally more legitimate than for Holland against Spain in the World Cup final. Carlos Tevez rivalled his team-mate for individual honours and claimed more headlines with the only goal, scored following an exciting burst from his own half that finally brought the game to life.

Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail

How they achieved it was simple, at least in its design if not its execution. Mancini's three holding midfielders - Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure - denied Chelsea the space they needed. When they did have the ball, City broke with pace and dexterity through Carlos Tevez and David Silva.

Daniel Taylor, The Guardian

Mourinho spoke of a culture whereby Barcelona's opponents "give away the game because they think they cannot win". The same, loosely speaking, has occurred in England. City, however, demonstrated all the attributes that are needed to bring Chelsea to their knees. They were fast to the ball and hard in the tackle. Mancini talked later of not giving Chelsea's attackers space and his players, in particular Gareth Barry and Nigel de Jong, carried out such instructions with an efficiency that suggested they have all grown to understand the Italian's philosophy.

ZonalMarking.net

City played a relatively deep defensive line, but also kept Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry solidly ahead of the back four. They were ambitiously trying to deny Chelsea space both in behind the defence and between the lines – and it just about worked, thanks to some excellent individual defensive performances. Vincent Kompany was man-of-the-match but Barry and De Jong’s tackling stats (9/10 and 4/4 respectively) were equally important in breaking up the play and Ramires, in particular, struggled to cope with the pressure. Rather than attempting to stop Drogba, they instead stopped the supply to him – he only completed one pass in the second half, and was removed after 75 minutes.

Ian Herbert, The Independent

A defence against which no Premier League side is yet to create a goal this season – the two City have conceded were a penalty and a mix-up – has been subjected to a mantra, rather than a systematic reorganisation, according to Nigel de Jong, who revealed Mancini "preaches" clean sheets.

Chelsea player ratings

Hart A quieter day at the office than expected. There was one notable save, diving to his right from a Branislav Ivanović header but for the most part it was routine: a few good saves low down but nothing out of the ordinary. 7

Boyata Drafted in a right back for only his second Premier League start. Could easily have been sent off for a tug on Didier Drogba, or could have conceded a penalty. But for the most part he was assured, not allowing Ashley Cole or Florent Malouda to get beyond him. Better on the ball than I thought too. 7

Kolo Touré A shaky first half - allowing Ivanović to get in the header that almost put Chelsea ahead, and coming worryingly close to repeating his mix-up with Hart. But he had an excellent second half, making some crucial interceptions. 7

Kompany Show me a better centre-back in the Premier League. He's been imperious all season but this was probably his best ever performance for City. He shackled Didier Drogba, as he has done before, to the extent that the Ivorian was withdrawn in the second half. His positioning was immaculate, he won every challenge and at one point he went on a forward run that Lúcio would be proud of. 9

Zabaleta A typically enthusiastic performance at left back. He was very keen to get forward early on, in support of Milner, and led to the creation of our best early chances doubling up on Ivanović. Booked for a nasty lunge on the Serbian and could have received a second yellow for a hack at Essien later on. 7

Silva Nominally playing on the right but when we were in possession he drifted all the way across the pitch. As ever, his imaginative movement unlike anyone else on the pitch. It was one such run off the ball, dragging John Terry away from Carlos Tévez, that enabled our goal. Off the ball he was tougher and more dogged than people might think, which is very welcome, though his nasty kick on Alex was not. 7

Yaya Touré Kept his position well in the first half, but as things started to open up later on he moved forward, to the extent that we were almost playing 4-4-1-1 at times. His leggy runs are getting better, though his final ball does suffer from not quite being on the same wavelength as his team-mates. 7

de Jong Just as good as in this fixture last year. He was crucial, just in front of our back four, breaking up Chelsea's attacks with tackles and interceptions. Florent Malouda and Michael Essien just couldn't break through. His foward passing was more incisive than usual, too. 9

Barry A very accomplished all-round performance. He did the basics well, and often: nine out of ten successful tackles, and all 42 attempted passes completed. He looks sharper and fitter than last year, which is probably connected to the fact that his place in the team is no longer automatic. A big improvement this season. 8

Milner Worked hard up and down the left flank, and put in a few good crosses although with only one 5 foot 8 striker on the pitch it's not as easy as when he played with John Carew. 7

Tévez For the most part he looked fairly isolated up front, although he did work hard dropping deep. But when presented with a half chance he took it, making it four in three for City against Chelsea. 7

Subs:

A. Johnson One good run but generally quiet. 6

Adebayor Ran well into the box once but went down easily. 6

Boateng Nice for him to make his debut, coming on for three minutes at right back. Didn't have much to do. n/a

City 1 - 0 Chelsea

• This feels like a marker. It might not be the biggest achievement of Roberto Mancini's career; that has to be the once in a generation win at Stamford Bridge last year. But it is his most significant. In September we are still in the window of opportunity for season-shaping wins, and this certainly looks like one. Beyond that, it is a empowering personal vindication for Roberto Mancini. If our defeat of Chelsea last December was the idealised Mark Hughes performance, this was an idealised Mancini display: as impenetrable defensive arrangement as I've ever seen from a City side, providing the platform for a piece of Carlos Tévez magic to win it for us.

• Chelsea have started this season unlike any Premier League side I can remember. If you include the final scenes of last season they had scored 38 goals in their last eight league games. But they created nothing from open play. Two close headers from set pieces and that was it. I have never seen a City side defend that well. The back seven (eight if you include Yaya Touré) held their shape perfectly, as well as all putting in a number of exceptional individual performances. Didier Drogba, snuffed out, was eventually replaced. Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda - the two musketeers who have blown away so many sides this year - were anonymous. Michael Essien was reduced to shooting from distance. This was the first Premier League game since Boxing Day in which they have failed to score, a run of 26 matches.

• We didn't create much more, either. It was a very cagey game, not unlike the 0-0 draw with Liverpool last season. But unlike Chelsea we capitalised on our one opening. Yaya Touré won the ball in midfield and fed Carlos Tévez, breaking from inside our half. David Silva persuaded John Terry not to commit to Tévez, who found enough space to shoot through Ashley Cole's legs and into the bottom corner. This is becoming a key part of how we win under Mancini: establishing a sound defensive platform and waiting for Tévez to do something special. In an ideal world we'd create more chances playing thrilling football with a fluid movement of all outfield players. But it's not like there's a bad way to beat Chelsea.

• From that point the game opened up a touch. Chelsea committed bodies forward but never looked like breaking through. We threatened more as Yaya Touré started driving forward into space. We might not have created that much, but neither did Chelsea. Danny Sturridge, Yuri Zhirkov and Josh McEachran came on but there was still no breaching the Barry-de Jong-Kompany-Kolo shield. Joe Hart barely had a difficult save to make. If you want an example of what Roberto Mancini has brought to City, what he's all about, then this is it. That's two goals conceded in nine games with this team now, and one of those was a freak. It takes some adjustment - it doesn't feel right - but we have to confront the possibility that we have the best defence in England.

• Now I can cope with the Blackburn draw and the Sunderland defeat. I can even cope with the limited side we put out on Wednesday night. I said I would have put Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong out at the Hawthornes, and while I maintain a greivance on this issue, I can certainly see that they looked well rested and fresh today. Had they played in midweek things might well not have turned out this way. In this regard, and in others, today was a striking personal vindication for Mancini.

Chelsea preview

How better to follow-up a cup trauma than with one of our biggest games in the Premier League? Whatever happens tomorrow lunchtime it will stop people talking about whether Ben Mee was one gamble too far.

We've had a fairly middling start to our Premier League campaign. I do think we've played better than I thought we would, but we're probably a few points behind where we ought to be. But a good result tomorrow, some momentum for the Juventus and Newcastle games and we can really march into autumn with some authority.

There's no doubt, either, that this is our hardest game of the season yet. I can barely remember the last time a side started a Premier League season with as much swagger as Chelsea have. They look like a side hitting their stride in January or February, as United sometimes do. To be playing with their confidence and cohesion in late summer is something special. I fear we're going to struggle to live with them tomorrow.

We did beat them last year; a strange game looking back in that it represented the footballing peak of the Mark Hughes era but came just weeks before his dismissal. At the time we spoke of Shay Given's late penalty save as a 'Mark Robins moment', but it seems as if a decision had already been taken.

Tomorrow will be a very different game. That was the best single deployment of the Hughes gameplan: an aggressive, high-tempo 4-4-2 with Craig Bellamy and Shaun Wright-Phillips pressing from wide. On Saturday it will be more of the cautious and composed, football at arm's length that we have seen this season. There are injury problems in defence: I don't know if Gareth Barry or James Milner will have to play left back but it's possible. This might be a shame; the Milner-Barry-de Jong-Yaya-Silva midfield feels like our first choice and is well balanced. Moving one back would mean playing Adam Johnson against Ashely Cole, which sounds like a one-sided battle in both a defensive and attacking sense.

It's going to be tight. We're certainly going to look for a 0-0. I don't think we're quite going to get it, but I'm confident we're not going to get rolled over either. 0-1.

Samuel / Mancini

There's a good interview in today's Daily Mail of Roberto Mancini, conducted by Martin Samuel. (Samuel did a similarly good one of Mark Hughes in roughly January 2009.) He comes across as determined and ruthless, which isn't exactly news, but there's some interesting stuff in there too.

He talks about the attraction of City being the chance to turn an unsuccessful club into a successful one, which offers a different sort of appeal from maintaining the status of an already dominant club:

'That is why I liked Manchester City. It is like Sampdoria: if we are successful, we change the history of this club and we change it for life. This is our moment. When people ask why do I come here, I tell them it is because Manchester City never win.

'For me, that is the best challenge. Inter Milan were a top team but they had not won the league for a long time; Lazio the same; Fiorentina the same; Sampdoria never win.

'These are good challenges because when you work for Real Madrid or Barcelona it is easy; all managers win at those clubs. But if you build a squad, work very hard for months and years at Manchester City and then you win, for me that would be more important. That would be fantastic.'

This is something that some of our new players spoke of on joining. Carlos Tévez has mentioned it too. (I can't find links right now but will try to rectify this later today). Of course for players that join for the money this is an effective cover story. But I don't think it's entirely artificial either. Mancini then goes into the importance of a 'winning mentality' at City, which we've heard of incessantly over the last few years. (Can't we just buy one?):

'There are players whose only target is their day off and that is a big problem. You must replace them with those whose target is the win against Chelsea, then against Arsenal, then against Manchester United, who will work every day for this. Yes, there is still the day off, but you must never lose your focus even then.

'Before, at this club, there were players whose targets were wrong, but that mentality is changing. Those whose targets were wrong are the ones who have left. I tell them there is no day off now. The top players will play Saturday in the Premier League, Tuesday in the Champions League, Saturday in the Premier League; it is impossible to rest. Yes, there is one day you can use to recover, to have a massage, but your head must always be on the pitch and on your job...

'At some clubs you do not have to change mentality,' explained Mancini.

'For Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea it was already there.'

Generating a winning mentality seems to be the alchemist's trick in Premier League football. Sir Alex Ferguson has spent almost a quarter-century nurturing one at United, José Mourinho imposed one through force of will, Arsenal had it but appear to have let it slip. I don't think we have it yet but I do think that we're moving in the right direction, and that Mancini has the right idea. I certainly support him in his attempts to cajole and bully the players in the right direction.

There's more interesting stuff there, including his relationships with Adebayor, Shay Given, Mario Balotelli and even the line that Adam Johnson could 'change his mentality to improve', which I think isn't quite as surprising as it might be. The whole thing is certainly a good Friday afternoon read.

WBA reax

Jon Culley, The Independent

Even the recall of Shay Given, for what may have been his last start in a City goalkeeping jersey, could not compensate, much as the Irishman demonstrated his quality for Mancini's benefit with a string of fine saves.

For his part, the Albion head coach, Roberto di Matteo, made 10 changes from the side that had beaten Birmingham last weekend but had enough experience and determination in his 11 to expose City's vulnerability and, although West Bromwich trailed at half-time, two goals in as many second-half minutes produced a just result.

Ian Edwards, Daily Telegraph

Given had made four excellent saves to thwart Albion by the time Gianni Zuiverloon surprised him with the sheer speed of his shot from the corner of the 18-yard box to equalise, and the huge gap which allowed Simon Cox to exchange passes with Roman Bednar to complete a deserved victory for Roberto Di Matteo's side was symptomatic of a dismal defensive performance.

Phil Shaw, The Guardian

Vieira relished the role of senior citizen, rarely straying from the centre of the pitch or breaking into a run but directing and cajoling his raw colleagues. Given needed no such coaxing, swiftly resuming his defiance after half-time by racing out to pluck the ball off Barnes' feet after a through-pass by Bednar.

WBA 2 - 1 City

• If I had one desire for this season it was a trophy. Even a final would have sated me. And knowing that we are not going to win the Barclay's Premier League this year (and who would want to - it's so frightfully vulgar), all energy must surely be channelled into the cups. And of the three cups, the League Cup is surely our best bet. Yesterday afternoon we were just five games away from Wembley. The numbers are the same in the FA Cup but the stronger opposition makes it harder. We've played three Europa League games already but we've got another thirteen until Lansdowne Road. And so for Roberto Mancini to justify his team selection by saying that this is the fourth most important competition strikes an obvious wrong note.

• Of course I understand the need for rotation. And I appreciate that players are tired, that we need to be at our strongest for consecutive home games against Chelsea and Juventus. But there is a middle way. This was not a home game. This was not against a team that should be rolled over, like, say, Northampton Town. It was an away tie against a Premier League side. So to go into it with a back four of Greg Cunningham, Ben Mee, Dedryck Boyata and Javan Vidal (one Premier League start between the four of them) was so knowingly suicidal as to make you wonder what the point was.

• The key in the Carling Cup, as Manchester United show, is to do just enough. Yes, rest and rotate. But you can't just send your lads aimlessly over the top towards the German lines. You've got to give them a chance. So why he didn't supplement the team with more quality and experience is beyond me. In previous games where Mancini has rotated - Scunthorpe away in January, Timişoara at home in August, he has always kept his two lieutenants, Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong in the side. With those two instead of Ben Mee and Abdi Ibrahim we would, at the least, have had a decent spine running through the side. It might not have been enough: I would have wanted James Milner instead of either Roque Santa Cruz or John Guidetti too, in all honesty. But those changes do seem consistent with putting out respectable teams in our next few games.

• Whereas now our chances of winning trophies this year have probably halved. I didn't watch the game (£60 well-saved in retrospect) so I don't have any opinions of my own about it, but by all accounts West Brom's side (not their first choice, either, it must be said) comfortably deserved to progress. Now, it's quite possible that we'll continue to progress through Europe, or that by the time the FA Cup rolls around we'll have seen off injuries, Silva will be fully settled in and we'll be flying. We could even be on for a treble by then, but that contingency is a fairly remote one. We have maimed our chances of trophies this year. What makes Mancini think he can be so casual and flippant about this?

On Tévez as captain

I'm conscious of the fact that I've barely written anything about the captaincy situation so far this season. This is out of character - I've previously written about it, criticising Kolo Touré's performance of the role and advocating for his replacement by either Nigel de Jong or Vincent Kompany. I was surprised by the Tévez appointment, and didn't know what I thought at first. But the more I think, and the more I watch, the more I sympathise with it.

Initially I thought Tévez was poorly suited to the role. His lack of English, his erratic and bolshie behaviour might well have excluded him; how different to the loyal, honest Richard 'Boxer' Dunne. He's certainly not a conventional captain in the way that Vincent Kompany is: vocal, consistent, articulate in both English and French (thus allowing him to cover two of the squad's three major linguistic groupings). He would have been the natural pick, and Nigel de Jong would not have been too far behind. (Given that de Jong is one of the world's most infamous footballers after the World Cup the idea of him captaining one of the world's most hated football clubs - from a seige mentality, 'two fingers up' perspective does hold some attraction.)

But there are reasons to appoint a captain beyond merely the case of the player who best fits the checklist. One of the key facts of City in 2010 thus far has been just how dependent were are on Carlos Tévez. He's scored 20 in 27 games this calendar year, but even that stat feels like it undersells him. Just think of the games where we looked flat before he opened the scoring and turned the game. The 3-0 win at Molineux, where he scored twice, both goals in the League Cup semi against United at home, and the goal at Old Trafford that almost took it to injury time. At Stamford Bridge in February we were 1-0 down but out of it just before half time. But Tévez spun Terry, tore past Carvalho and drew us level. Or the Wigan game, where we played miserably and relied on a Tévez hat-trick within the last twenty minutes to win it for us. Then on Sunday, against Wigan again, it was his chip just before the break that allowed us to go in on a high, with the win in our nostrils. If you don't think that changed the game, compare the respective second halves of the Sunderland and Wigan games this year.

I think it's fair to say that no team in the Premier League is as carried by one individual as we are by Tévez. For Gerrard there is Torres. For Rooney there is Scholes and now Nani and Berbatov. But Tévez is the sole carrier of our torch, the only man capable of lifting a flat performance, of carving something out of nothing through his own bubbling blend of will and talent. At times last season he was not just our only competent finisher but also our only creative player, the only one who could create a chance - even if it he had to take it himself. With Robinho back at Santos and Ireland drifting out of favour he was certainly our most effective trequartista even if he lacked the chances to show this.

Carlos Tévez is the difference between a pedestrian, tidy but fairly inconsequential team and a very different outfit: with Tévez charging around up front we can beat almost anyone: we did the double over Chelsea last season, and he scored three of our six goals. If we are going to achieve anything, this year or in the next few years, he will be at the centre of it. And therefore Mancini is right to do everything possible to keep him interested and motivated. If giving him the captaincy is what is required to sustain and enhance his emotional involvement with the club, then it has to be the right decision.

Tévez needs to be as invested in the project as it is in him. If his time at Manchester United taught us anything, it is that he needs to feel like the most important man at the club, as if the whole enterprise rests on his shoulders. Now, this wasn't the case at Old Trafford. But, as it happens, it is at City. By giving him the armband Mancini is reminding Tévez that our stories, and our chances at glory, are intertwined. When Kolo Touré discussed losing the captaincy, he said the manager told him it was so Tévez would be 'more involved in the set up' - and made reference to Diego Maradona at Napoli. Just because a comparison is lazy doesn't mean it's irrelevant. As an unlikely captain himself Maradona led Napoli to the most successful spell in their history. He carried the team, the armband was a manifestation of that fact. If we ever win anything under Roberto Mancini, it will be thanks to Carlos Tévez. It is only right that it should be Tévez who would lift the trophy.