View From A Blue

Caballero - Will attract his fair share of blame for Middlesborough’s first goal, but that moment aside he was an excellent last line of protection. Made a string of important saves to keep us in the game - 7 Zabaleta - Full of energy and fizz down the right, and looked to break forward as much as possible, [...]

This is a guest post. It is said that Manchester City cannot be viewed as a European heavyweight until they start to make waves in the UEFA Champions League. As it stands, the Blues are now a regular sight in the world’s premier club tournament, having qualified regularly for it since 2011. The learning curve [...]

Hart - Couldn’t have done anything to prevent either of the goals and apart from picking the ball out of his net twice he had very little to do. There was one comfortable stop from Sanchez, but that was about it - 6 Zabaleta - To a large degree, thanks to his dogged defending and persistent tackling, he prevented [...]

Oh, City. Fourteen games unbeaten, playing with a renewed swagger and confidence, stars back in form … and then a performance like that. Toothless. Aimless. Vulnerable. That the decision to award Arsenal a highly debatable penalty in the first half has barely been discussed post-match typifies the general feeling that City were not even close [...]

Vincent Kompany is set to return to the heart of defence after missing the past few weeks with injury. The only real selection dilemma for Manuel Pellegrini is who partners City’s formidable captain. Martin Demichelis has been the Blues’ best defender this season and his reading of the game against Arsenal’s movement and interplay would [...]