City must stem goal flow beside Thames...
By Dave Walker
For the first time in nearly six months,
Manchester City go into a match off the back of a domestic defeat and four
games without a win - an unpalatable scenario for perfectionist Roberto
Mancini.
Equally unfamiliar is the prospect of
kicking off against higher placed Premier League opposition with Fulham one
notch above City in sixth position.
Mercifully, the domestic reversal in
question was limited to the ‘Capital Punishment’ – sorry – Capital One Cup and
not the Premier League. Not many City fans will lament an early exit from the most
junior of the four competitions entered this season, but the manner of the
defeat is definitely a cause for concern.
The abject performance that accompanied the
‘shock’ 4-2 loss to a bright, but hardly outstanding Aston Villa, aroused
bitter memories of yesteryear and an era where Keystone Cop defending was the
norm.
It wasn’t as if Mancini could point to a
plethora of young bloods gaining vital, albeit bitter, first team experience in
the cup exit. Only the full debut of playmaker Denis Suarez and a start for
Abdul Razak met that criteria.
One would expect a team boasting England
regulars Lescott, Barry and Milner, plus the likes of Kolarov, Tevez and
Balotelli would have had more than enough to overcome a mediocre XI from the
Midlands.
But no. Despite taking the lead twice and
subjecting the bulk of the 28,000 crowd to a painful extra 30 minutes of play,
they succumbed in a pitiful display of ineptitude in the pouring rain.
The worry is that the Villa match was a
reflection – admittedly an extreme example – of sloppy play by the Champions
this season.
Where is the sharp incisive inter-play that
saw a rampant City dismantling opponents at will, giving rise to the humorous terrace
ditty of ‘We’ll score when we want, we’ll score when we want, we’re Man City,
we’ll score when we want’?
To even the most untrained eye City’s
problems are entrenched in a defence with all the solidity of a blancmange in
an express train dining car.
City seem to have as much chance of a clean
sheet as a Chinese laundry before the washing machines go on…what has happened
to the meanest ‘D’ in the Premier League?
All the components are still there – Hart,
Clichy, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov – supplemented by the promising
Nastasic and the ultra experienced Maicon. Richards is missing, Kolo goes
missing in action and Savic won’t be missed at all so, if anything, the unit
should be stronger.
Mancini must surely decide on his best back
four and stick with it for half-a-dozen games to breed consistency and stop
haemorrhaging goals. Even if City opt for three at the back it needs to be the
same trio to cultivate a genuine understanding.
The irony is there will inevitably be
wholesale changes at Craven Cottage with the return of the likes of Hart,
Clichy, Zabaleta, Kompany, Garcia, Silva, Nasri and Aguero to name but eight!
City could and should have too much for a
reshaped Fulham with Berbatov and Rodallega offering an attacking threat. Last
year the Sky Blues threw away a two-goal Aguero advantage to hang on 2-2. They
must be far more resolute this time out.
The aim has to be three points and a first
elusive ‘nil’ posting for the other team. It’s early days but City don’t want
to be falling any further behind the league leaders.
Player watch
Vincent Kompany vs Dimitar Berbatov
‘Berbaflop’ - as he is mockingly referred
to - might feel he has a point to prove after being shipped out of Old Trafford
this summer. He is still capable of hurting teams and City skipper Kompany
needs to snuff out the threat from the deft Bulgarian.
Kompany has not been at his imperious best
this season, partly the reason for City’s poor goals against column but he will
come good again – the sooner the better.
If the Captain can marshall his troops and
prevent breaches of City’s defence then it will mean at least a point gained. The
reality is it needs to be all three.
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