MAN CITY 0 – 0 Man Utd – PLAYER RATINGS
11 Nov
Hart - Wasn’t in the thick of the action, as perhaps he may have expected. Dealt comfortably with both Evra’s and Berbatov’s efforts, but distribution wasn’t great, often overhitting hos long balls out to Milner and Tévez - 7
Boateng – Not his most convincing performance, as he looked slightly troubled on occasions, although he usually managed to recover with some last-ditch tackles. Didn’t get forward a great deal, but was part of an efficient rearguard - 6
K. Touré – Good to see the former captain back to his best after a recent shaky spell. He saw a lot of the ball and used it diligently, rarely conceding possession. Put in one great block to deny Hernandez, and formed a solid partnership with Kompany - 8
Kompany - Typified the excellent work of our defence in restricting United’s chances. Won everything in the air and was a tower of strength from corners. Kept Berbatov and then Hernandez relatively quiet - 8
Zabaleta – Again deployed in his unfavoured left fullback position, but continued his sterling work from the WBA game. Handled Nani, United’s most dangerous player, with ease, and managed to get forward well. Could have done better with his shot towards the end, but his showing will keep the pressure on both first-choice fullbacks, Boateng and Kolarov - 8.5
Milner – Milner works incredibly hard for the team, and that effort often goes unnoticed. He vindicated Mancini’s faith in him over Johnson by tracking Evra consistently, and not allowing United’s left-back to be an attacking option, except for one moment. Could do with some work on his corners though - 7
De Jong – Nigel was at his outstanding best yesterday. He won every tackle and performed superbly to help protect our defence. Tired towards the end, but showed how good he can be. And the way he struck one shot from outside the box, with such venom and power, was pleasing! - 9
Y. Touré - Received a barrage of abuse from the fans in the second half, as he looked visibly shattered and failed to do his job. However, in the first half, it must be noted that he was very impressive in the manner he denied Scholes time on the ball to dictate the tempo as we know he can. Managed a couple of his bursts forward without producing the end product - 6.5
Barry - Takes an unfair amount of criticism from the crowd, who don’t appreciate the valuable job he does. Worked tirelessly in midfield to close down the space and formed an effective barrier alongside de Jong. Covered well for Kolarov when the Serb got forward towards the end - 7.5
Silva - Unfortunately, we couldn’t get him into the game as often as we would have liked, as United worked hard to deny him any space. Looked bright and was eager to receive the ball, but not the impact he has had in recent games - 7
Tévez - Clearly was struggling with his thigh injury, but battled manfully and was a decent outlet for the midfield. Could have shot early in the game when he took one touch too many, and was generally quite greedy, as he often is. However, considering he didn’t have a great deal of support, he did a good job - 7
Subs
A. Johnson – The fans called for his introduction, as they hoped he would add that spark to our attack, but Johnson, usually so effective off the bench, did virtually nothing. He had one decent, jinking run just after he entered the fray, but after that he was anonymous, apart from gifting United the ball in dangerous areas on a couple of occasions. I think I’m in the minority of fans who doesn’t think he’s ready to start- 6
Kolarov – As I stated in the preview, this game probably came a week too soon for the Serbia international, but he came on late in place of Boateng and managed to look promising. He got forward with regularity and with another week’s training under his belt, he should be ready to start at the weekend against Birmingham- 7
Adebayor – Don’t think he was too enamoured with being brought on in injury time! - No time to mark
Very enjoyable read Sven, as I expect!
I do, however, think your grammar, using the word ‘however’ is slightly off. With a negative comment beforehand it should be, for example…
>>> “It is clear, however, that…..” instead of “However, it is clear that…”
Anyway, besides that one point i think it is a good article. I do, as ever, disagree with a few ratings, but you support your views very well.
I dont think Tevez did a great deal and therefore Iwould have given him a 6, and Ido believe, as you know, Zabaleta should have been man of the match, but nevermind! I do agree de jong has a very good game.
The talking point of your article will either be AJ or YaYa….I will let you know where I stand on these issues;
1.) AJ…agree with you, is not as effective from the very beginning, BUT should be given longer than 20 minutes as when he did get in the game he did look dangerous.
2.) YaYa – Very disapointing, and the talking point will be his wages…he had on okay first half, and is very strong, but he just gets his head down and runs which im not a big fan of. He should learns to make the easy pass, EARLY and he’d be much more effective. BUT, still not worth £200,000 a week – no-one is.
Very good read, keep up the good, hard work and your 300th blog commenter wishes you well
x
What the hell?
We were awful last night, yet nearly half the team get an 8+ rating?
FeedTheGoat – only 4 out of the 11 got an 8+ rating. City weren’t awful – we were solid and efficient… Care to explain your negativity?
Feed The Goat – we should feed you so much so that cannot say anything as stupid as your comment above. A select few from our team played very well last night. I was in attendance and thought Zabaleta was outstanding, thought De Jong had a very good game, and the likes of Silva and Barry, when brought into the game were both influential.
Next time please comment with a bit more productivity and suggest a way forward, or even give your own ratings – not slate someone else who has taken the time and effort to write a very good blog.
Tactically Mancini got it horribly wrong.
Silva IS a support striker and Yaya is a defensive midfielder why it was the other way round only made both players look bad!!!!…Mancini buck up your ideas…have u seen the players b4 buying them!!!!
Silva didn’t play as a defensive midfielder, so not quite sure of your point there. Yaya did a good job in the first half, but has impact diminished over the course of your match.
Your last comment is quite amusing actually. You’re exactly the type of supporter who probably praised Mancini last week when we won, but now criticises him when we draw against the side who are second in the league…
????????????????
I think you lot have n’t got a clue! You were rubbish and didn’t want to win the game. ManU were n’t much better.
I don’t think you lot should get too excited just yet!!!
I too belive that AJ is not ready to start. Milner offfers more because of his workrate and defensive work. I still think he is a long way of the form he had last season.
Why is everyone so angry with this result, we are 4th in the league with a decent lead over the chasing pack, who except for tottenham I cant see any of them in the top four come the end of the season.
easy to see why citeh aint a top team,how on earth can you be satisfied with yesterdays game,utd who isnt in best form had it easy and mancini well its a disgrace to see that he is not willing to go out and try to win games….shocking…
Clown
Fergie came with a 4-5-1 formation his idea was to stop city playing and he got what he came for, well done. Scholes was playing as a defensive mid for most of the game has anyone seen this before?.
Yeah Mancini could have gone at them more but he does tend to give a bit to much respect to some teams I noticed this especially against Juventus (they are poor IMO) but don’t forget he took the same approach against Chelsea and it worked but they never came to stop us playing, shows though which of the two have the more ambition don‘t you think? Fergie has shown City the utmost respect in this game that they only show to very few. It is plain to see their team is on the wane, the times they are a changing in the words of Bobby Dylan. While their supporters fill their heads with magic like signing Wesley Sneijder and the like while we are actually signing these kind of players. Who knows maybe they will sign him if Inter will except £12.88, half a mars bar and one of Bobby Charlton’s old locks of hair for a player they signed a year or so ago for £15m+, a player who played a major role in them winning the league and the Champs league! These day dreaming supporters think of these kind of signings while paying for their owners failing shopping mall debts in the USA, it’s absolutely hilarious!
City fans shouldn’t pay to much attention to a media that would like nothing more than to see City fail and their old favourites to turn back the clock to better days when they had the monopoly on the big players and wages, well it looks like the good old days are gone doesn’t it. Surely as City fans people here have more than seen the media bias over the last few weeks alone. Don’t forget we are the crisis club with player mutiny and all the arguing yet nited couldn’t even come near scoring. So now what will they run with? I’ll tell ya it’ll be City’s negativity. What the hell were the 18 times champions against the crisis club if not negative?