Blue Review – Salzburg, Bolton and Carlos

It’s Sunday, it’s freezing outside and it’s time to look back at the last seven days as a blue.

Euro Qualification

City cruised past Salzburg on Wednesday and in doing so booked their place in the knock-out stages of the Europa League. 

But we could do with winning the group if we want to make things a little easier for us in the knock-out stage as a top slot finish will mean the blues avoiding the teams dropping out of the Champions League.

But our qualification is down in part to Polish side Lech Poznan, who held Juventus to a 1-1 draw and sealed our progress. I’m stunned by Juventus to be honest. I never expected the Italians to draw all five games in the group and thought it would have been a fight between them and us.

But Lech have really surprised me and it just goes to show that you can’t write off a team because of the country they come from. They are a decent footballing side and play the game well and it will be interesting to see what they are made of if they face a CL team.

Bolton Reaction: A Win But Need To Pass Better

City put in a good display against Bolton and showed that, with a little better finishing, we can potentially blast these teams out of sight.

The blues ran the show from the start and it was no surprise when we took the lead after three minutes. It should have signalled a goal fest and the way City were playing, passing the ball around calmly and penetrating the Bolton defence, it shouldn’t have been long before the blues were well out of sight.

But for some reason, it wasn’t to be. Poor finishing was the main problem but another aspect struck me during the game. The amount of misplaced passes that we seem to play is a worry. When we win, these can be forgiven but it is the sort of thing you don’t want to see when we need to score.

There is still a lack of understanding in the team. Some players are passing to where they would expect to find a blue shirt, while the intended target is off in another direction where he would expect to receive the ball. 

Of course it takes time for a team to understand each other, considering the major changes in playing personnel, but it’s a problem that has got to be sorted sooner rather than later.

Despite the lack of goals, I’m happy with the three points. It was a result that had to be ground out because Bolton are a dogged team and have the potential to score. In fairness though, the only real chance they had was when Joe Hart fumbled the ball following a free kick but that was all it would have taken for them to then stick eleven men behind the ball.

Cool It Carlos

Carlos Tevez needs to learn to keep his temper and emotions in check. 

Okay, so he was a little hacked off at being substituted but I personally think Tevez’ anger should have been directed more at himself than Roberto Mancini. Tevez might have scored the winner but he also missed a decent amount of chances that a striker of his quality should be tucking away.

He can be forgiven for those misses, particularly as City won on Saturday but it is the manner in which he dealt with the 90^th minute replacement which will really irk City fans.

Tevez’ was replaced by James Milner for the final few minutes of the game and the Argentine showed his dismay by confronting Mancini on the touchline, before the manager said a few choice words of his own and sent him to the bench.

His very public anger at Mancini and the fact that he continued his rant after taking his place on the bench will do nothing but cause further ructions in the City squad and fuel more rumours that Mancini has no control over his dressing room.

At the end of the day, Tevez is the club captain and should be setting a better example to all players, not just the younger guys. He needs to realise that, every now and then, even club captains can and will be substituted as necessary. 

They are not bigger than the club and Tevez is certainly not biggerthan City.

Coming Up

Next Saturday the blues are West Ham with a 3pm kick off. The Hammers are struggling at the base of the league and face Sunderland at The Stadium of Light today.

Keep smiling fellow blues and have a good week.

 What do you think of the last seven days? Was Tevez’ reaction justified or over the top? Let us know your thoughts

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