Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City: Lampard fires home winner after City go down to ten
The starting line-ups
An evenly-balanced game at 11 v 11, before Chelsea made their numerical advantage count late on.
Andre Villas-Boas named his expected side – David Luiz was suspended, so Branislav Ivanovic tucked inside and Jose Bosingwa started at right-back. Otherwise, it was unchanged from the side which defeated Valencia.
Roberto Mancini went with what increasingly looks like his ‘big game’ Premier League line-up – as against Liverpool and Manchester United, Edin Dzeko was left out with Mario Balotelli ahead of Sergio Aguero. Gael Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta were at full-back.
This was a game of various stages…
Stage 1: City dominate
First, inevitably, the question of how much Chelsea pressed. Villas-Boas explained this nicely himself: ”In the beginning of the game we were trying to find the best position for the block. We set out today on a medium block. They were feeling too much attraction to press their short build-up, and in the first ten minutes we suffered a lot. I think we adjusted that, I think the players felt they had to adjust, so they lowered the lines a little bit, felt comfortable with it, and then they gained the confidence.”
Whilst Chelsea closed down in midfield early on before dropping, City were pressing excellently for a longer period. Aguero played high up and took it in turns to become the main striker with Balotelli – those two pressed the defenders, and the City midfield was extremely brave in closing down high up the pitch despite the numerical disadvantage in midfield. Zabaleta was very aggressive with his positioning, sticking tight to Mata even when the Spaniard dropped into the midfield zone. City got the upper hand in this period through sheer energy and physicality – they took the lead early on through that obvious approach against Chelsea, pace in behind. That justified the decision to play Balotelli over Dzeko.
The formations were as expected, with the arguable exception of David Silva starting from the right and James Milner from the left.
Stage 2: Evenly-balanced
City’s pressing lasted for around 20 minutes, before they then dropped deeper, formed two banks of four behind the ball, and started to try to soak up pressure. At this point, Chelsea’s spare man in midfield became important; Oriel Romeu completed all his passes between 15 and 45 minutes with calm, steady distribution.
Aguero and Balotelli were now doing little out of possession and that can partly explain Chelsea’s equaliser – John Terry got time to hit a huge ball out to Daniel Sturridge who beat Clichy and crossed for Raul Meireles, making a Frank Lampard-esque run into a goalscoring position.
The main feature of the game, however, was arguably that the two star men couldn’t really get into it. David Silva and Juan Mata weren’t poor, but neither were the force they’ve consistently proved to be so far this season. There didn’t appear to be any particular reason for this – the game was fast, frantic and congested, but if any players should be able to cope with those conditions, it was these two.
This general pattern continued after half time, although Chelsea increasingly pushed City back – the energy of Ramires in the centre of the pitch was a factor in driving the side forward, and it was particularly noticeable how many more challenges Chelsea won – their tackle completion rate was exceptional.
Stage 3: 11 v 10
Clichy had a poor game – culpable on the first goal, and then dismissed for a poor challenge on Ramires after being given the runaround by Sturridge. This changed the game completely – City were no longer an attacking force, and their only attempt with ten men came from a low Mario Balotelli shot that Petr Cech saved comfortable.
With ten men, Mancini started off trying to play 4-4-1, bringing on Kolo Toure to play at right-back, with Pablo Zabaleta going to left-back. This shape worked reasonably well in forming a good defensive barrier, but Mancini seemed concerned that City were inviting too much pressure.
Shortly before the concession of the penalty (and the subsequent winning goal) Mancini changed to more of a narrow 4-3-1-1 shape to guard the centre of the pitch. Nigel de Jong came on for Silva and sat ahead of the back four, Milner and Barry were either side, and Toure played behind Balotelli. This was a curious move – Chelsea had been working the ball nicely from flank to flank, and this simply gave Ashley Cole and Bosingwa even more time on the ball. The latter received the ball more frequently in the final 35 minutes than in the opening 55.
Chelsea should be given great credit for their patience and calmness with the ball when they had a man. Never did they resort to hanging it up for Drogba in the box – instead they went from flank to flank, spreading the play and creating overloads down the flanks. The only thing they could have done better was to move Sturridge more central – he and Bosingwa got in each others’ way on the right, and it was telling that Chelsea got the breakthrough when he moved into a goalscoring position, albeit indirectly.
Conclusion
Like with Real Madrid during the Clasico, we saw a side start strongly by pressing, but then fall away dramatically later in the game (not withstanding the changes resulting from the red card).
A tactical battle mainly based around (a) degree of pressure in the first half, and then (b) managers’ reactions to the 11 v 10 situation later on. The scoreline basically went with the pattern of the game.
This Chelsea line up is probably their big game line up – but the midfield is concerning. Romeu proves himself to be great, by staying calm and keeping possession staying in position so Chelsea have three at the back when the full backs bomb on. But surely this puts too much pressure on Meireles and Ramires in terms of creativity and pressing, making chelsea a little more predictable?
I worry about this too, especially because Ramires isn’t as silky a passer and is more responsible for the Essienesque runs from the midfield. That leaves Romeu and Meireles responsible for the interior passing. I think this could be ameliorated if Rambo and Meireles switch sides to free up space for Mata to come interior more. Barring a run from a fullback, Chelsea’s left-middle play is short passing; their right-middle play is Ramires running with the ball. A switch would balance this tendency out.
If you wathc it really doesnt ever seem like we are really playing 3 in midfield. Sturridge takes a wingers position the majority of the possession, and Mata is rarely ahead of Drogba or the CF. At least since the team has been playing deeper. I am more concerned at the number of players in the box attacking service. Meirelles scored on a cross today but there were crosses with no one in the 6 yard box. That should be Drogba’s home when the ball goes wide, even if he doesnt win it, he is enough of a beast to keep the ball from being cleared properly.
Thought Romeu was closing down too early and neglecting space too often. Gary Neville pointed it out for the goal but there were a few other occasions where that happened as well.
And Villas Boas gives great interviews doesn’t he.
Mancini is a really average coach.That is all.
+1
For the tackles chalkboard, is losing a tackle where the player tries to make a tackle but is unsuccessful at getting the ball back, or is it a successful tackle for the other side, in which case Chelsea made 33 tackles and City only 7?
It is where the player tries to make a tackle but is unsuccessful at getting the ball back, hence letting the attacker get past the defender.
Chelsea fans should be glad Mikel isn’t first choice at the moment.Romeu at least can play vertical passes in congested areas.
can you explain what AVB means by the block??
im guessing something along the lines of at what point they start pressing and also the width of the band between defense and midfield, but not 100% sure.
i think the left defense to right side attack switch is something the avb has been asking the team to do because terry attempted it 3 times during the game and romeu attempted it as well i think. i wonder if it was common in avb’s porto team.
whats your opinion on mata, do you think he will end up being given a more central role if chelsea buy a more orthox/pacey left sided player?
‘Block’ is just a technical term used to describe how high or low the line of defense is. For example, a ‘high block’ would mean a high defensive line and therefore probably pressing and closing down from the front etc. whereas a ‘low block’ is when a team defends deep, for example Man City in much of the second half. The distance between defence and midfield is always similar in any block, except probably more compact in a ‘high block,’ in order to stop the opposition from playing between the lines.
surely this back four has to be used more frequently, discarding the use of a high line?
Seems like Mancini is targeting the last 20 minutes to get goals. So if a player is sent off on 58 they’re in trouble.
Some amazing atmospheres City are having to deal with away from home, maybe they shouldn’t have hit 6 against United at Old Trafford after all!
I thought that one of the most notable turning points in this game wasn’t so much Manchester City’s changes in tactics as Chelsea’s decision to sit back more. After they did that, City didn’t really look capable of getting past them, certainly not as much as they had when Chelsea had used the high line approach for the first 20 minutes or so. It also seemed to make them more comfortable in general, and they were able to get the ball out to Sturridge a lot more often as well, while he had been quite neglected in the first few minutes. I was somewhat surprised that they didn’t start out like that after the Valencia match, but it definitely seems to work a lot better with the players they’ve got
Yeah. As soon as I saw the high line thought we were gonna lose. Was really really disappointed to see AVB tried it again.
But after 15m or so we went back again and we looked comfortable. At least we got it right in the end and that is all that mata.
Pretty fair assessment but I think there are a few points you could have included. I have noticed you have put up tactical analysis of numerous Chelsea matches and have never mentioned how the deep line truly helps Chelsea’s attack. By playing deeper and counter attacking it allows Chelsea to be less creative and more direct which fits the team better than probing and picking out short thru-balls. Also I think it creates more space for sturridge and Mata to play one on one against the full backs or DM which makes them much more dangerous(Ramires also can explode and drive at the backline putting them under pressure, if it hadn’t been for a world class tackle from Kompany he would’ve strolled into City’s 18 on a 40 yard run). I think Mancini noticed this and adjusted to play deeper in the second half.
Also You will notice Chelsea’s backline and particularly the fullbacks have more energy at the end of matches when the team has been playing deeper. Early in the season A.Cole would look exhausted in the last few minutes of matches, now he looks like he can push on, the same for Bosingwa today. The distance traveled may not seem much different but as a former player, the distanced sprinting vs. jogging is huge. When the team pressed forward the defenders were forced to sprint forward and back, with the center backs sprinting wide and back inside. Now they are typically dropping, getting comfortable, keep the ball in front, and minimal chasing. Terry Chased Aguero way out of position for City to Score the goal.
Lastly I am not happy with Meirelles’ selection over Lampard but I think he is in the match to dictate play and Frank hasnt been doing it for some reason. Frank is still better at this than Raul in my opinion and you see it for the second goal. Lampard recieved the ball in traffic and turned to find sturridge quickly which was one of the few times Chelsea had the ball in the penalty area with the man advantage. Frank also played a nice one – two with cole to nearly create another chance.
Finally I think Chelsea can really complete playing a low-medium block and conserving energy. The service from the wider players needs to improve and come in earlier but the team is finding their rhythm and organisation. Also Sturridge kept Chelsea from slowing down their play, he was confident and determined and put in a top notch performance. Capello will not be forgetting this one any time soon.
Thank you for your analysis and the opportunity to comment.
Hey some really good points. Mr Cox is a disciple of the high line pressing game so might not see effectiveness of why playing a bit deeper works for us. (don’t have the players to play it)
Have to say, Sturridge has really improved in leaps and bound this season from being a squad player to now a key player in our team. Was pretty on and off at the start of the season but with a run in the team now seem to put in some game changing moments week in and week out. I fear for all left backs that has to face him for rest of this season. Can even cross properly! Think he is gonna to be a big player for us and England for years to come at the rate he is going. It might also be ‘cos Mancini tried to mind game Sturridge in the press before the game and it backfired. lol
Good to see he turned up in a big game as well and don’t bottle it like Ronaldo.
This was a good post, thanks for posting it. I agree with most of your points.
http://opitacoboleiristico.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/reacao/
About Mourinho.
Zero and BDStew have got it right. Chelsea have been a counterattacking team for quite some time. They are still better at sitting deep and countering. Even Man City, in my opinion, are a better countering side than a ball-playing side, so when Chelsea decided to sit back, it made City less threatening.
I can’t think of a ball-playing team aside from Arsenal who have had recent success in the EPL, and that’s being generous to Arsenal.
Tottenham are in my opinion better playing the ball than countering as well, but again it depends on your definition of success.
Swansea and Blackpool have tried from the bottom to play positive football… We know how it ended for Blackpool, I hope the Swans stay up.
Hmmm I dont know. I always see Spurs as a counter attacking team because of the pace of Bale and Lennon on the wings but when they want they can control the game and play the ball well with VDV, Modric and Parker controlling the middle and Adebayor holding the ball up.
I know this isn’t a site to discuss players, but it’s amazing how Torres’ continued absence from this Chelsea team is now not even commented on. Not a word in all the match reports in national newspapers – and he didn’t even get on as a sub. Seems he has no value in a counterattacking strategy so we can assume that he’ll feature only when Chelsea seek to take the attacking initiative against bottom half teams in the EPL. For top half and Champions League fixtures he’ll be nowhere to be seen. This has to be one of the biggest football stories of 2011. Such a shame, as Torres at his best was a wonderful sight.
He looks shot to me. There is no more match reports of Torres simply because how much more can you write about him sitting on the bench and doing nothing of note when he get the chance to come on.
His only world class talent is running in behind defenders and seemed to have lost his pace. At the Newcastle game he was put through one on one twice and the defenders caught up with him whilst Studge stood in front of the defender, knocked the ball pass him and left him for dead.
I would actually say Torres plays best when we are counter attacking since he would have more space to run in behind defenders instead of playing against bottom half teams that plays deep and park the bus. Against Man city when they started to play deeper, no reason to put on Torres. Think Mr Cox said in a previous articles about the uselessness of subbin on a fast striker late on.
He needs to leave if he wants to revive his career. Chelsea are too geared towards a “Drogba” up front and Torres is pretty much the opposite in terms of how they play up front as strikers. I wouldn’t mind seeing him at Arsenal to work with VanP or replace him if he leaves.
maybe, just wondering if chelsea played mata in the middle, that mught mean romeu can do what he likes without being forced to attack. ramires could do what he does best.
Going back to being a pure countering team is regressive. AVB understands this.
It is not 2005.
Chelsea – I still dont trust Chelsea’s central defense. Terry and Ivanovic dont suit eachover. Early on they were so susceptible to pace and this forced chelsea to drop deeper. Ivanovic in particular really struggled with Manchester citys movement from the forward two. However it should be said, City never looked to cross the ball in, as terry and ivanovic would have dominated easily against aguero and balotelli.
At fullback, Cole and Boswinga were fantastic, pushing forward and making great tackles, but also exploiting milner and silva moving inside and not tracking back well. Then when chelsea needed to socre a goal against ten men, they were key, fantastic on the ball and providing great crosses. Boswinga in particular had his best game of the season, and should be the number one RB.
In midfield, Romeu was both good and bad. In possession he was there free man, keeping possession excellently and switching the ball from side to side, in particular he tried the quick cross field pass to sturridge a few times and it nearly worked. But defensively he wasnt up against anyone, instead he had to worry about aguero dropping deep, and silva and milner moving inside, and this overwhelmed the young midfielder for the first 20 mins, and then chelsea dropped deep and he was helped out bu team mates more (more compact). Ramires was similar in doing some things right and wrong. The good things he did well were to press Barry stopping him from keeping possession easily and make some great breaks, dribbling at speed at Barry who isnt great at tackling these sort of players. But his passing was poor, he continually gave the ball away when in possession with sloppy passes and also should have dropped deeper to help Romeu straight away instead of it taking 20 mins.
Meireles was showed a good performance, he did well to nullify Yaya (with the help of mata) and stop him breaking forward, kept possession well and got forward into excellent positions (ala his goal). The one criticism of Meireles in his position is he cant play those killer passes, but in this chelsea team its not possible, they are playing mata who drops deep and drogba who likes the ball played to him not in front of him. The one player who likes these passes is sturridge, but he is on the other side of the pitch and has stayed wider more recently looking to beat his fullback instead.
The front three did okay. Mata played more in midfield as he dropped deep into central positions, but was kept quiet by Yaya Toure and Zabaleta showing the importance he had to chelsea attack. He still managed to keep possession well, but he couldnt get a grip on the game and didnt manage to play any great balls really. This did stop Yaya from moving forward as much, tho much of the credit should go to Zabaleta, who pretty much man marked Mata the whole game.
Sturridge was a key player, constantly beating clichy and creating chances for himself, but more importantly for his team mates (Meireles goal) which shows his is growing in his position. He became a great outball for chelsea, helping them get up the pitch and push Man city back. My only criticism would be (as ZM said) he didnt move into more central positions and look for the through ball, which might explain Mata not having as big an impact (no target for his through balls).
Drogba had a good game. He held the ball up well, won a lot of headers to unnerve the city defense and also managed some good flick ons and passes for his team mates. Not his best game as his finishing was poor, he gave the ball away a lot trying ambitous passes and his movement wasnt great today, sometimes just standing there waiting for crosses, when he could have looked to drag the CB’s around.
Overall, Chelsea were lucky and had to play direct counter attacking football to win, not really keeping with the new image they were creating for themselves. But they won and in a big game like this, that is what counts. They were a bit dodgy in defense, were over whelmed in midfield until they became more compact and had drogba and Sturridge as good outballs and weapons on the break.
On the whole Lampard debate, i think he is as good as Meireles in that position and it seems AVB is just rotating.
Bosingwa certainly did not have his best game of the season.
The ‘Lampard’ debate isn’t rotation either in my eyes, it very much looks like he prefers Meireles in the style he is going for, possession and pressing and I feel he thinks Meireles does it better than Lampard, the phasing out of Lampard does have to start at some point, possibly now? maybe Lampard will get more games we will see.
He dealt with milner well (not easy), got forward to stretch the play and sent in some great crosses. Can nobody give him credit when he plays well?
I think it is, though i could be wrong, but Lampard has started 16 of the 24 games so far this season, so isnt doing that bad for game time… I think right now meireles is on form, in a couple of games Lampard will get a run of games.
Lampard can keep possession well, can tackle well and is still very fit. The only thing i would say is that he isnt very creative and can find it hard to open up defenses, but then thats the same for meireles.
In the long term Mata will move inside permanently in place of lampard, but for now lampard is just competing with meireles on equal gorund.
I think that Boswinga had a great game today because Milner tracked inside most of the time, and thus Boswinga could get support from his teamates. Boswinga seems to be beat too easliy by a winger with tricks and pace, which is surprising because he has speed and is great on the counter attack. So I don’t seem he as a long term solution and I’m guessing that AVB is scouting for another RB.
Chelsea fans: Any good RB’s in the youth academy and could break into the first team? Or are Chelsea opening up their wallet again?
Give him a run of games and he will improve a lot. He is at his best pressing forward and pushing the winger back, using his speed to nip in front and steal the ball. Once he has got his confidence back, which is returning every game, he can get back to his best, which had bayern munich after him.
I like Bosingwa, but he has been defensively better in other games (albeit against worse opposition).
I wouldn’t say we have any potential youth at RB, Hutchinson at 21 who came out of retirement from an injury, Billy Clifford and Todd Kane are the only rightbacks i can think of at reserve and youth level, none of which will play for the first team any time soon. Unless some of our better potential youth CB’s do a Smalling/Jones and play at RB instead, i think RB is a position in need of strengthening in the near future, especially if Ivanovic is going to be used as a CB more often and to cover for the impending departure of Alex
Thanks Kane and Laurence for your comments. It will be interesting to see how he does as the season goes on. I was a big fan of him when he first started, but he seems to have lost some form lately (IMO), similar to Evra perhaps? Although I don’t watch every Chelsea game, so perhaps he’s just playing a shocker when I watch!
I agree with Laurence that this is a position that needs strengthening in terms of depth/backup. It occurred to me that perhaps Boswinga’s jitters could be due to changes in the centre backs and that his form will continue to improve once they have a settled partnership there. I also think that having Romeu will improve matters, because he can simply force his opponent to try to beat him on the outside, or show him the inside knowing that Romeu will be there to help track and tackle.
Although Chelsea may feel much more comfortable with counterattacking at this point, this is a recipe for disaster against teams that bunker. Chelsea can play like this in big games but AVB also knows that the team needs to learn how to break down teams in possession if they are going to be a title challenger.
Meireles, Romeu and Ramires provided more fluidity than with Lampard in the field. It always seems that the team feels forced to get Lampard into that middle position with the ball and so the midfield positioning becomes too rigid. Lampard has the attributes to play in a more fluid midfield but they need to shake the seniority complex and think of him as just another team player.
Man City – There first loss of the season, and while they werent outplayed and were unfortunate, they showed some weaknesses that can be exploited.
In defense, Kompany and Lescott did well, they wernt dominated by Drogba and didnt have much else to worry about, with the goals arguably mistakes by Clichy and the mdifield. Kompany in particular looked to battle with Drogba, with Lescott covering and this kept the Big man quiet for most of the game. Zabaleta did a good job on Mata, tracking him into central positions and making sure he couldnt start to control the game. But this meant he vacated his RB position and Ashley Cole had lots of space to exploit when he got forward. Clichy was Man city’s worst player, targeted throughout the match, he was beaten over and over again by Sturridge and was the culprit for both goals. His mistake was dropping deep against sturridge and surrendering ground. Clichy should have looked to push forward and push sturridge back. Either Sturridge would have tracked clichy and end up further away from goal. Or more likely would have left Clichy to get forward (giving city another outlet in attack) and looked to attack the space left behind, but Lescott could have moved across (comfortable at LB) and dealt with sturridge, I think this would have worked better.
In midfield, City were able to keeps possession well through Barry and Yaya. Barry looked to press Ramires, and isnt the best at pressing, but then Ramires isnt great under pressure so this resulted in him losing the ball anyway. But Barry was caught out when Ramires was running at him with ball, and was beaten a few times. But Barrys passing today was fantastic and was the foundation for every attack, re-circulating the ball. Yaya had a tougher time, dealing with meireles and Mata, as he looked to press Meireles but also keep an eye on mata. This resulted in Meireles able to keep the ball well, but mata not getting into the game. This also meant Yaya couldnt get forward as much as likes to, and this nullified a big weapon of Man city’s.
On the wings Silva and Milner did well in the first 20 minutes, moving inside and exploiting the space either side of Romeu, but then Chelsea dropped deep, and they lost that space and couldnt get into the game. Milner did well to track Boswinga, but ended up too deep and gave the ball away too much trying to pull off ambitous moves. Silva was disappointing, unlike mata who was tracked, Silva was left free but was having an off day. He found it hard to pass through an organised deep defense and lost the ball when trying to dribble at cole and Romeu with Meireles also helping out sometimes.
Without Silva on form, City were reliant on Aguero for creativity and he was excellent in the first 20 minutes finding space, but he slowly drifted out of the game, as the space he enjoys playing in was squeezed. This pretty much stopped man city from threatening, as Aguero couldnt find space, Silva was having an off day, and Milner was trying too much. Aguero looked to press Terry when out of possession, and did a good job, but tired after 20mins and was poor from then on. More importantly he left Romeu completely free, which let Chelsea keep the ball more easily and allow them to create good opportunites (Meireles could get forward for his goal because Romeu could cover him).
Balotelli exposed Ivanovic’s pace straight away to get his goal (also showing good movement). For the first 20 mins his pace frightened the Chelsea defense and he was Man city’s most dangerous player, also showing excellent movement to get chances for aguero, these two when given space can tear apart a defense. With Chelsea dropping deep he didnt get much space in behind, and his weaknesses were shown. He was impatient in possession, constantly trying the hardest pass, when a simple pass would have helped City move forward. He also didnt hold the ball up well, dribbling into crowds of chelsea players and losing the ball.
Overall, Chelsea were very lucky not to have the lost the game in the first 20 minutes, as Man city tore them apart, with Silva and Milner moving inside to overwhelm Romeu, Aguero pulling the strings in between the midfield and defense and Balotelli providing pace behind. But then Chelsea dropped deep, squeezing the space both Balotelli and aguero worked in. This meant City needed there other players to break down Chelsea, but Silva and Milner were having off days, Yaya Toure, Clichy and Zabaleta were too preoccupied to get forward and attack and Barry depsite playing a great game, hasnt got the talent to unlock defenses like Chelsea’s. Mancini made a mistake at the end when down to 10 men, of not defending against Chelsea’s fullbacks, this was there downfall when they could have got at least a point. But Man city will move on and are still yet to be outplayed.
Glad to see the referee not get conned by Silva, it was distinctly similar to Modric on Sunday where the defender puts a leg out and realises he has made a wrong decision and corrects it by pulling the leg back ‘before’ the contact is made with the other player. In this case we all know the attacker thinks contacts going to be made and thus goes down pre emptively, it looked alot closer with Silva but it still looked like simulation overall.
It seems that Chelsea play better without Luiz, who make Terry’s job a bit harder. Boswinga and Sturridge were great and Romeu helped the team to keep calm and playing at a good pace.
Oriol Romeu is a very good player. He has been the key figure in Chelsea’s build-up play. John Obi Mikel should play at CB in my opinion. He is able to deal with playing in a high backline: he has pace, good positioning and good passing. Much better than Ivanovic from my point of view.
Don’t know why AVB insist high line defense. You need to compromise with what you got. All those nice high line defense and early pressure cannot be materialized with current Chelsea squad.
You don’t 100% dominate the game against top team. Man-city done very well this season but city defense is not perfect yet.
I don’t understand, with all the money City have, why they went out and signed Gael Clichy?! It’s not as if he’d been great for Arsenal and had to get out of a side that just wasn’t winning trophies, he’s been average in an under performing Arsenal side for years, and he was dreadful yesterday.
Just a quick mention for James Milner, think he’s massively improving, particularly technically.
I was thinking the same about Milner, he’s improved a lot since last year…who would have thought he would be keeping Nasri out of the side?
There doesnt appear to be an awful lot of fullback talent readily available right now, although with City’s spending power, they could get almost anyone bar players from rival teams, who do you think would fit the bill?
Everton need cash…so Baines perhaps?
Evra?! I’m sure Manchester United fans would happily sell him to Man City…Bienvenue a Manchester ; )
Any chance that Mikel could play centre-back for Chelsea if AVB looks to revert to a high line for their next few games against smaller teams before they (presumably) bring in a new CB in january?
I think this is a really good idea, he is fast enough, strong and good in the air. It is well worth a try at least…
Man City shall not play two forwards and press intensely at the first space, as when time goes on their numerical disadvantage will be exploited by Chelsea, who plays counter. Balotelli shall be deployed at left, Silva at middle and Milner as right
http://opitacoboleiristico.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/licoes-de-um-campeonato-parte-2/
A little bit more about brazilian league in 2011.
When doesn’t Gael Clchy have a bad game, or at the most a very underwhelming one. I understood City’s spending spree but that was one signing that just didn’t make sense. I don’t think anyone on the north side of London is losing sleep over not having Gael prowling around The Emirates. EEK.
In saying all that, he was relatively cheap wasn’t he? 5-7mil or something, they didnt really need him either, Bridge is rotting there, albeit self caused.
Great analysis but I am not sure I agree witht he formation you show or some of the commentary.
1. Silva seemed to be tucked much closer to Yaya Toure and Mata. In the first half he was very often sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Toure so he could monitor both Mata and Ashley Cole’s runs. When Cole bombed forward, Silva split off from Mata and chased Cole.
2. I think Ramires was almost in line with Mata most of the time, by default or by virtue of his runs. He seemed eager to push to the edge of the box.
3. Finally, I think Barry was practically glued to Ramires and Toure to Meireles (except for the goal). Romeu had tons of space because no one seemed to care about him having the ball with room to pass. He was playing a separate game in the vast wasteland between Meireles/Ramires and Ivanovic/Terry.