MAN CITY 4 – 2 Watford – PLAYER RATINGS
26 Jan
This is a guest post by David Mooney, part of the award-nominated BlueMoon podcast and author of the recently published and highly recommended The Man Who Restored Pride, a book based on Roberto Mancini’s time at the club.
Pantilimon - No chance with either of the goals, but a very shaky performance with a number of moments where he seemed indecisive and he was lucky not to have conceded a penalty - 5.5
Richards - What has happened to the old full back we used to see storming forward and tackling back? Struggled with his offensive duties and looked like his injury problems have affected his confidence - 5
Demichelis – First touch was a problem throughout the game, but showed a marked improvement when he stepped into midfield, where he helped the Blues control the play - 6
Lescott – Outpaced regularly by the Watford forwards Forestieri and Deeney, looked nervous at times, but did do well in the air where necessary - 5
Kolarov - Not his greatest performance in a City shirt, but by no means his worst – he was also responsible for some dangerous crosses, getting an assist and a goal, too – 6.5
Rodwell - Looked like he wasn’t ready to return from injury, which gives him mitigating circumstances for some slack passes and looking a little off the pace – however he did put in some brilliant, tough tackles towards the end of the first half - 5
Y. Touré - Two completely contrasting halves from the Ivorian – the first, he looked disinterested and struggled to work his magic, but he was a huge part of the attack in the second, using the ball well - 6.5
Navas - Struggled in the first half, but much improved after the break; dynamic runs, good second half supply into the box, but poor corners - 6
Lopes - Wasn’t able to get involved to anything like the extent he did at Upton Park and was often crowded out with little support; it’s not really his fault he was isolated, but his performance suffered because of it - 5
Aguero - Three brilliant finishes to make a perfect hat-trick and showed moments of excellence to dig the Blues out of a hole when they really needed him; had no service in the first half, but showed in the second what he can do with the right balls - 7.5
Džeko - A new work ethic from Dzeko is showing, even if his touch still deserts him a lot of the time; looked one of the brightest in the first half and was always in the mix in the box when City were pushing for goals in the second half - 6
Subs
Zabaleta - Arguably his introduction, along with Kompany, was the biggest change in the game, with his over and underlapping runs giving Navas more space to run at the Watford defence – 6.5
Kompany - Secured everything up at the back and showed the desire to turn the game around from 0-2; he showed silky skills when in a tight spot on a few occasions and was key to the Blues’ change in attitude – 7
Jovetic – Being eased back into action after his long time on the sidelines and he showed some deft touches and cute interplay as a bit of a tease as to what fans can expect when he’s back to full fitness - 6.5
Fair and thoughtful comment.
Thanks
Perfect hat-trick including a wonderful second and Aguero gets 7.5! Im absolutely stunned, shocked even
Lets all admit we knew this defensive nightmare was on the cards? IMO we only have 3 defenders of class Hart-Zabaleta & Kompany the rest are average and we need better!
To come back and win in this fashion shows what we are made of and reminds me of another club not to far from CITY !
We got out of ‘jail’ hope we have learnt our lesson.
ctid
Say nothing about the first half, couldn’t listen in on mcfc BBC Manchester, a technical glitch, like city’s defending’ so that was very annoying, poor me- play like that in the next couple of games & were dead, hazard, Oscar & co will have a field day, we need a strong center half, demich has been very poor last couple of games, Richards is gone, he’ll never be the player he was, to many injuries, I agree with t.r about the defenders,The young dutch center half for Celtic is very good, he’s only about 22′ a blind man can see the ability he has, definitely worth a look, nasty is fast turning into Richards, but he’s young enough to come back strong again, fair play to the manager I thought he had a blinder at half time & after the game, next two games are monsters, dont let that pup jose mess with your head boys, come on the city.✌