Well we we're always expected to lose this fixture but the scoreline does hurt. I want to congratulate Man City for the way they played at times and also Aguero for having a great debut. We might not take points off the top six away from home, but if we can re-establish Fortress Liberty again then I feel confident we'll be in the division next season. Man City look a beast of a team and even though our lack of fitness played a part they did show good tactical nous and quality. Now that's out of the way, I'll get onto the action from the game itself. Match Report First twenty minutes and Swansea were in control but not attacking quickly enough. Sinclair and Dobbie's natural game sees them like to delay and think before committing to an action, and I think that cost us as it allowed the Man City defenders time to take the ball and counter attack. The rest of the first half saw Man City picking up the tempo and starting to exploit the space Swansea left when going forward. A few close shaves aside the 0-0 scoreline at half-time was probably a fair reflection of how both teams didn't do enough in the final third. Second-half and again Man City were happy to let Swansea have the ball in the middle of the pitch and closed down the wingers. This led to the Swans being funnelled narrow and had a knock on effect to the defence too. Johnson kept his width on the right flank and fired in a left footed shot that Vorm could only parry towards Dzeko. The Bosnian striker rearranged his feet quickly to stab home at the far post and give the home side the lead. It was a touch harsh on the new keeper in his first game with his teammates who had already made two great saves. The second goal was quite similar too, coming from the right flank past the narrow Swans defence - this time Richards put the ball across for the unmarked Aguero to score on his debut with an easy finish. After the second Swansea started attacking with more pace, with Sinclair sprinting easily past both markers on a few occasions but the rest of the swans team wasn't advanced enough to take advantage of the situation. The third goal game from great play by Aguero, when the Argentine made a great run, flicked it over the keeper and then barely hooked it towards the penalty spot before the ball crossed the goal line the wrong side of the post. Silva was following up and slotted into the roof of the net to delight the home fans. Yet more saves followed for Vorm as the debutante impressed both sets of fans with some top quality saves. The fourth and final goal came in injury time as Aguero showed more quality by driving in a 30 yard thunderbolt across goal into the top corner of the net. The scoreline seemed harsh at that point but highlighted the difference between a £7.5m squad and one far more richly assembled. Man City Ratings GK) Hart - 7. Made a couple of nice saves, tidy distribution and cleaned up the area well. DR) Richards - 8. Exposed once or twice but won the ball well in advanced positions and got an assist. DL) Clichy - 7. Solid debut but was largely defending due to the threat from Dyer. DC) Kompany (c) - 7. Solid defender who marshalled the backline well. DC) Lescott - 6. Didn't see much from him but didn't have a lot to do. MR) Johnson - 8. Linked with Richards well, got into good positions and got Dzeko his goal. ML) Barry - 7. Comfortable but didn't seem to impact on the Swans midfield as much as his fellow midfielders. AM) Silva - 9. Found space easily and pulled all the strings up top. Got on the scoresheet and linked well with Aguero. DM) De Jong - 7. Solid and stayed between Dobbie and Graham well. AM) Toure - 8. The unstoppable object. Good runs, poor shots but dominated the midfield physically. ST) Dzeko - 8. Used his size well and occupied the defence enough to give others the space they needed. Also finished well for the first. Subs DM) Savic - 6 (on for Johnson at 74 mins). Didn't see much from him. His time will come though. ML) Milner - 6 (on for Silva at 82 mins). Sat back and let others steal the show, did his job defensively. ST) Aguero - 10 (on for De Jong at 59 mins). Great debut performance, two goals and an excellent assist meant his £38m pricetag already seems to be good business. Swansea Ratings GK) Vorm - 9. A great performance from the Dutchman in his first game for the Swans, making eleven saves. First goal was slightly suspect and distribution needs work, but proved his quality and may be the buy of the season at just £1.6m DR) Rangel - 6. Good going forward, dealt with most attacks down his flank but was at fault for Aguero's first goal by not tracking back. DL) Tate (c) - 7. Out of position but made one key block in the first half, and always mindful of the space behind him so didn't move too far forward. DC) Caulker - 7. Solid debut from the Spurs loanee, a couple of nice headers but needs time to learn our style a bit more. DC) Williams - 7. Some good play but Ash saw the first glimpses of the gulf in quality and strength from what he's faced before to Dzeko. DM) Britton - 6. Some nice turns and tackles but he struggled to cope with Toure at pace. DM) Agustien - 7. Didn't play last season, looked bad in pre-season. Ran the midfield for us and didn't look out of his depth at this level. AM) Dobbie - 6. One shot and a couple of nice passes but was largely ineffectual. WR) Dyer - 7. Really impressed with some good defensive covering and getting forward but wasn't allowed to play by Clichy. WL) Sinclair - 7. Some nice runs and showed glimpses of quality but delayed his attacks far too often to worry the defence. ST) Graham - 6. Isolated and couldn't get into the game. He did show promising signs though and should score goals against lower teams. Subs DM) Allen - 6 (on for Britton at 65 mins). Did well defensively, hope to see more from him in weeks to come. AM) Routledge - 6 (on for Dobbie at 65 mins). Promising signs, neat touches and a shot. WR) Lita - 6 (on for Dyer at 81 mins). Not enough time to see what he can do but kept the shape well. Season's predictions Man City - 2nd place. Some good signings but they still seem to be short of the title. Aguero is the new star of the Premier League; Dzeko and Richards look vastly improved; Silva, Hart and Kompany all should play huge parts in their season. Swansea - 16th place. Strengthened but still needs another body at the back. Vorm is the best acquisition, but Graham and the other newcomers should also play a big part in the quest for survival this season. Williams, Sinclair and Dyer need to reproduce last season's form too. Chris
Nice analysis. I may not agree with it all (e.g. I would give Tate a 6 , since although he did make a couple of crucial block , his backtracking just invited the opposition in numbers into our 18 yard box) , but fair comments and a fair reflection of the game.
we was well beaten, we knocked the ball about well at times but, not in threatening areas, in fact when we did get in between there midfield and defence the pass to the front guys was usally straight to a man city player, which put us back on the retreat.nobody really stood out as having a bad game, but tate's lack of pace at full back resulted in us suffering in two ways, first he backs off into the box all the time inviting the opposition to the edge of our box(been like this for a few seasons) and he does'nt support the winger at all. we need to get another full back in i think with pace and a proper attacking midfielder.
doctor love:- don't know what your wage structure is but your club could try to take Wayne Bridge on loan for the season.
Chris good analysis, but can't agree with Tate on 7, he was way out of his depth, and cost us on numerous occasions! I hope Rodgers only plays him against the bottom clubs if that! Britton was poor last night too, Allen showed more grit in minutes of coming on..................... please log in to view this image
I am sorry but Tate would be a 3 or 4 for me, he made a lot of errors and obviously playing a team like city probably made him look worse than he is, I am sure he will probably be ok off the bench . I would say Britton was a little over awed and will get better, Allen when he came on had a far better game, I would say the scores for them are bang on
I'm glad that people are highlighting Tate at LB as a severe weak spot. We weren't sure whether to laud or criticise Tate for his handling of Kebe - but on the day I wasn't impressed with his backing off of the winger and allowing them to have a free run into our penalty area. Against Kebe, who doesn't have much end product, it didn't matter so much. But with Johnson and Richards coming at him yesterday, I was terrified every time. One time, Richards advanced so far into the box that he actually took a shot at goal from around the corner of the 6 yard box... So he's leaving them run into the box, and not covering the goal either. It's not a direct attack on Tate. He's a good player, and is very good at his centre back duties, displaying some good blocks and positional awareness when he was found more central. But out on the left he just doesn't get tight enough to his man. I look forward to seeing Tate back in a CB/RB role and having Taylor back to give us some much needed balance across the back 4. Taylor will give Sinclair a better option when we're attacking and will also have the pace to get out to his marker before he receives the ball. Aside from that (possibly slightly over critical analysis), I'm really proud of all 14 players that played last night and we showed that we can knock the ball about. Once we lose the nerves and get used to the pace of the game, we'll start pushing higher up the pitch, finding more space, and passing the ball well in more attacking areas. STID.
tate played his part last night and the papers dont agree with most of you, he was a good skipper and for all we know did the job that brendan asked him to do, this is not championship football where the left back can move forward and leave the back exposed. he was well worth a 7 on the night...
I agree he played his part - but it's not the first time we've seen him backing off players. Now I agree that you can't dive in, especially on high quality wingers, as they'll skin you and go past you in a heartbeat. But at the same time, you can't allow them as much space and allow them to run as far into the box as he was letting them. His positional sense is very much accustomed to the centre of the park, and playing out on the left I feel that he's a little reluctant to go and put pressure on the winger before he gets the ball. Being 2/3 yards away from a winger puts pressure on the player to have a good first touch and be productive on the ball. Giving the winger 10/15 yards of space to receive the ball and begin a charge into the box unchallenged could surely not have been our tactic for Tate to employ; as through employing it we got shredded down that side by Silva, Richards and Johnson. If it was the tactic for Tate, then he stuck to it manfully. But the tactic did not have a positive effect on the outcome of the game as far as we're concerned. Good player, wrong position. I reiterate that Tate is going to provide adequate cover for the centre half positions this season - he's man enough to get the blocks in, good with the ball at his feet, and good in the air. But I just don't want to see him exposed against world class right wingers/full backs again this season, it didn't make great viewing. Taylor will give us the balance that we missed at the back yesterday.
You're right, BK. Spot on. Tate should be a utility sub for us at best. Well out of his depth at LB and his backing off makes me scream at the telly. Prem wingers will eat that up. Taylor back so that will help v Wigan. Must win for us I feel.
Agree with most but Tate got to have a 5 at max. Got no problem with Tate going backwards if he eventually makes a tackle or a block...hell even slow the winger down but you can't let a player as good as Johnson run at you all night all the way to the box!
Daiswan won't hear a word said against Tate. Nobody's saying he hasn't been a good servant for us but we have to remove sentiment from this or we'll get mullered every game. I don't think Rodgers has that sentiment - at least I hope he doesn't. He's already alluded to the mistakes at the back (ie Tate) for the first two goals in his post match interview. Don't expect Tate to be anything except on the bench this season, thank god. Get used to it, Dai.
I don't see why Dai is being lambasted over this and to be honest there's quite a lot of "I told you so" about what a lot of people have been saying. Dai never said Tate was going to be a stalwart at LB this year, as I also said (along with many others) he would be tried and if he was found lacking, then so be it. He deserved his shot though and I'm so chuffed for him that he got to lead us out in the clubs first ever Premiership game. Taylor is always going to be the obvious choice at LB, everyone knew that.
Tate did alright under the circumstances. We all know he backs off rather than tackles but he's doing the best he can with what he has available, I'd rather him try to hold up the winger and wait for help than dive in and concede a penalty. Remember also it was David Silva who he was backing away from for much of the time, a man capable of making Most Lbs in the world look stupid and Johnson is no slouch either. A 6 is a fair score, 5 at the very worst. He won't be playing there regularly and is fine for the utility defender that he will be for most of the season, he might even be a decent option to play in front of the back four is we decide to go more defensive against the top 6 in future.
I'm critical of Dai.....well mainly because he's Dai and his past sins won't be forgiven. Giving a player a higher rating for a game on the face of it because of past service kind of sums him up, because no way was his performance anywhere near good enough on the night, though I accept he wasn't alone. However I do bear in mind the gulf in class and value between the two sides. But whereas I really believe Tate will play a part this season (as he rightly should), and that LB is definitely not within his comfort zone, I don't think he should be anything other than a utility sub at best at this level. The trouble is in "trying" to see if he's "found lacking" we'll be losing games. Monday's was almost inevitable. Saturday's won't be and thank god Taylor's back.
That is how he is/will be used though. He only played because of Taylor's ban and probably won't start more than 6-8 games all season in the league.
hacker Jack Swansea will not be the only team to get a good beating at the Etihad stadium this season. Good Luck for the rest of the season till you play us of course.
