The Mancs in Blue

Without much going on and with an ill brother I have to take time out from holiday to post the Man City analysis. Without much to report other than the fact that there isn't much to report we'll get right to it.

The more I look at their squad and manager the less I worry about their threat. They played some blistering performances and gave us a good thrashing at Eastlands last season but to be honest, that defeat just speaks to how bad our dip in form really was.

We'll start at the back and in Shay Given, they have a very good keeper, although he's no longer in the worlds best 10 for me. They have our old boy Stuart Taylor as back up, which seems a shame for poor old Kasper Schmeichel who showed so much promise under Sven. Micah Richards is a quality full back on his day but his momentum seems to have dropped off and he hasn't been in form for some time. If he can recapture his form this season he'll be a force in the league, as part of a new breed, a huge, fast, strong type of super athlete who can jump 5 feet in the air and with good touch to boot. In the middle of defense, so far they have Kolo and Richard Dunn with Onouah waiting behind. We all know about Kolo and his drop in form, his loss of pace and all that. We'll see what he can do with a new challenge, he may be invigorated and recover his talent for some time, but to be honest, I'm sad to say that I doubt it'll last and he's likely only to get worse. Richard Dunn has always been OK, never a world beater, but efficient. He's certainly not a trophy winning center back, neither is his pairing with Toure. At left back they have Wayne Bridge, who is good and capable going forward but can be easily beaten on the back foot.

Cover in these positions is where they're likely to fall short at the back. With the disaster that is Tal Ben Haim their 4th choice center back, they'll be so very easy to penetrate should anything go wrong with their first choices, although their depth in the center of midfield may see Vicent Kompany moved back there and he is a very good player in both roles. Zabaleta is also capable of deputising well at full back, but I have doubts about the little I've seen of Garrido, their young sub left back.

In the midfield they're strong and oddly weak at the same time. With Robinho and Wright-Phillips on the wings they can be devastating. But with Robinho and Wright-Phillips on the wings, they can be gash. Wright-Phillips is a very hot and cold player and Robinho has some seriously bitchy personal issues that seem to overtake his football. They don't have much by way of cover for these two, only Petrov it seems, and he of course will be up for the challenge. But, injuries in these positions will hamper their progress badly, although they can move around their formation should such a thing happen. A switch in formation is never ideal and so this could be a major part of a possible downfall.

In the middle of midfield they have a wealth of talent with Kompany, Ireland and...wait a minute. While they have a lot of center mids are any of them really title winners? Nigel de Jong is so over rated it's not funny. Just because he's an international doesn't mean he's any good. He's another player who has somehow benefitted from media hype, like Ibrahimovic, like Darren Bent for a time, like Danny Alves. These players are talked up as the best in the world in their position (not Darren Bent of course) but really their very average. Danny Alves can hardly put a pass on target, it's ridiculous, I'm a better right back, and I play center mid. Then there's Gareth Barry, who had a very good season when moved to the middle a couple of years ago, but to be honest I didn't find him all that impressive when I watched him last season. Maybe he had a mediochre year and will bounce back, but maybe he's just on the decline.

Vincent Kompany I feel is very good and I wish we had landed him when we were connected. He's big and strong and good in the air. He's a very good tackler and is a quietly efficient passer. Stephen Ireland is a crazy fucker but bloody hell is he good. He was super consistent last year in his man of the match type performances and for me, outshone Robinho as Citeh's best player. He pitched in with some goals, he ran box to box, his passing was excellent, especially his penetrating passes and he pitches in with the tackles too, he's likely to be the main man next season. With these two in the middle of midfield and Barry floating along they should do well in midfield battles through the season, whether or not they can do it against the big boys we'll have to see. And whether or not these are the players they'll have there we'll have to wait and see, like I said before, Kompany may be moved to center back should Sparky not land Jolean Lescott or somebody else.

Up front they've got Benjani, Bellamy, Santa Cruz, Tevez and Adebayor. I doubt Benjani will be in the frame all that much. I can't really see him getting a game over the others. Bellamy was an unbelievable signing, what was Hughes thinking. What a shit eating twat and with all the money in the world that's who you sign? Santa Cruz is alright but he won't win you titles. Not in England anyway. Tevez I think is pretty overrated himself. He'll always work his ass off and fight until the last whistle, but he'll also spend half the game running down loose balls that have bounced off him because he's got the control of Niklas Bendtner. He can deliver that quality though and when he comes through he can really come through, it's just that for me, it's not really often enough. We all know what Adebayor is capable of, in both directions. He can be fantastic, run down defenders, work like Tevez and deliver quality with good skill and pace. And he can be a total lazy cunt. I think we'll likely see something in between and if he can link up well with Tevez it could be devastating at times. Although it could be hilarious at times too.

They've got a big squad and have some other players in there like Michael Johnson and Kelvin Etuhu who may or may not feature and who may or may not come through to good effect.

It seems to me that Hughes hasn't done a whole lot of homework and has spent a lot of money on a bunch of players who are quite good but not all that good, with a few exceptions of course, he's bought Bellamy who is total shite and Kompany who is very good. He plays interesting tactics, which require his players to get behind the ball in defense and move the ball quickly in attack, similar to Man U. I don't think that they will have what it takes to make a serious challenge to the top 4, but we'll wait and see. The window still has over two weeks to go, but still, to get a thrown together team, even with super star talent, to gel and win things will take time. Time and more money and when that happens you see the true color of the super mega billionaire owners, they can get hard headed, they can become unreasonable and should this happen it could mean the end of the new Citeh.

Head to head our full backs will be the difference and do the business. Wrighty-Phillips and Robinho won't spend much time in their half and Clichy and Sagna, Eboue and Gibbs will get in behind them and push us forward and that'll be that. Diaby and Song will have to work hard and be athletic and Cesc will have to be Cesc. Our forwards will be too much for them at the back and if they're not, then our other forwards will be. I'm looking forward to the game more than most and I'll be rolling in the isles when Bendtner scores 2 and Adebayor gets subbed off at half time.

Highbury86