City Struggles

February 15, 2010 by kartik · 2 Comments
Filed under: Adam Johnson, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy 

Saturday’s uneven and un-inspirational FA Cup performance versus Stoke  confirms many of the fears supporters had about playing without either Carlos Tevez or Craig Bellamy. Both will be unavailable for tomorrow’s league clash with the same Potters, but cup tied Adam Johnson will be available.

Without Johnson in the lineup, City struggled for attacking link up play behind the strikers, and Stephan Ireland’s run of poor form continued despite his mouthing off about Mark Hughes during the week.

City’s recent FA Cup History has seldom if ever seen such a poor later round performance at Eastlands. While disastrous cup ties have taken place in the early rounds of both the FA and League Cups (most recently City’s embarrassing performance under Hughes versus Nottingham Forest last year), most poor Cup efforts such as the 2007 Quarterfinal rout at the hands of Blackburn have come away from home.

Roberto Mancini is now learning first hand about the grind of English football and fixture congestion. Often times his Inter Milan teams began to fade down the stretch of the Serie A campaign, sometimes allowing its title rivals to sense a collapse. While Mancini’s 2007 and 2008 Inter teams did win the Serie A title, their were wobbly stretches of football in February and March.

City’s FA Cup and Champions League qualification ambitions demand that these wobbles be minimized.

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Hull Thoughts

February 7, 2010 by kartik · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Adam Johnson, Match Summaries 

One of the worst first halves since the Stuart Pearce era for City gave way to an equally frustrating second half even if the level of  football was more acceptable. Wayne Bridge who has had to deal with so much this week was the lone bright spot among players who featured in the City starting XI.

Rather than emphasize the negative, which could take all morning to outline, let’s focus on the two new Manchester City players that made their debuts in this match.

Adam Johnson played a vital role coming in for the ineffective Stephen Ireland after Hull’s second goal. Johnson played in a floating role behind the two strikers, Tevez and Adebayor and provided a definite spark . Johnson seemed more effective when pushed towards the right hand flank. Johnson played some nice balls into the box and was able to take on defenders.

Patrick Vieira added a degree of calm into the City midfield which has been disjointed in the past several games. The on field leadership and experience Vieira provides is missing from a group of City players, that while accomplished do not have significant experience winning major honors, and leading title winning teams.

Saturday’s performance was the worst of the season for the Blues. But perhaps we saw a glimmer of hope going forward from the two newest additions to the squad.

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Transfer Window Thoughts

February 2, 2010 by kartik · 1 Comment
Filed under: Adam Johnson, Benjani, Roberto Mancini, Robinho 

The decision to loan Benjani to Sunderland will no doubt provide a bit of a shock to the supporters base that has been concerned about a lack of scoring punch beyond Carlos Tevez recently. Benjani scored the only goal in City’s 1-0 victory over Boro in the FA Cup Third Round, and has a reputation for lively play inside the opposition 18”.

Combined with the loan deal that sent Robinho to Santos, City enters the final portion of Premier League matches and the fifth round of the FA Cup with substantially less going forward. The signing of Adam Johnson from Boro will certainly help in the league, he is FA Cup tied, and will play no further role in that competition.

While the collapse of the Gago deal may actually provide a blessing in disguise for City, the failure to secure McDonald Mariga thanks to the UK Home Office is a devastating blow for the club. Additionally, the failure to sign Victor Moses, a young striker with tremendous future upside was disappointing.

When Patrick Vieria returns from injury, this transfer window will truly be judged. If the former Arsenal great provides the leadership and midfield cover necessary, Mancini’s cautious movement can be applauded for not unsettling the team too greatly. However, if Moses provides a spark for local rival, Wigan and Benjani helps revitalize Sunderland’s season, question will no doubt be asked of the manager.

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