..I travelled up to the game yesterday, and have not had the chance thus far to write a report. Although I guess most found a way to see the game anyway, but here goes. THE GAME The first half was pretty much all one way traffic with city completley dominating the game, and bar a few half chances we hadnt really had a sniff of their goal. MH mentioned that we would 'go for it' but tbh we hadnt up til then and we had showed them far too much respect. They had I think I saw on the main screen 72% posession in the first half. In terms of the goal from Toure it was poor defending. Heading the ball back into the danger zone, then not closing him down. I did also think Green could have done better in blocking the shot. Second half began much the same way but then out of the blue we got an equaliser from a good run from Johnson and Zamora getting the rebound from Harts save. Game on I thought, but then defensive errors go and let us down again - not closing down Tevez and allowing the chip to float in. Nothing Green could do about it, sometimes you need some help from your defence. So after getting level we found ourselves back on behind once again. We responded well and were putting together some flowing moves and having a much better share of posession. Two decent chances fell to Nelsen but both were missed. Five mins of injury time was put up on the board and at that time we looked like we may get a point, but Tevez got a lucky goal (havent seen it again yet) and it was game over. THE RATINGS GREEN - 6 - could have done better with the first goal but overall had a decent enough game. Made a decent save in the first half. Doesnt talk enough for me though. FABIO - 6 - Made several good impacts on the game, but also several poor ones. Got forward well and was involved in alot of our decent moves, but was caught out of position a number of times and cocked up a few decent opportunities with bad passes or crosses. NELSEN - 7 - looks a much better option at CB than the others imo. He talks and organises which is what I like to see and clearly knows how to position himself. Did make a couple of errors but overall I was impressed. FERDINAND - 5 - didnt have a great game tbh. He is liable to mistakes and made a few. Should have closed down for the second goal, only 2 mins after we had equalised, and for me to often is out of position causing others to come across to cover. BOSINGWA - 6 - same as fabio tbh. looked quite good at times, and others made poor decisions that let him down. FAURLIN - 6 - firstly, great to see him back. he had a decent game - obviously was going to be tested to his limits with toure etc.. but coped well. Lacked a bit of pace and fitness to close down but that is expected. made some nice passes and got stuck in. GRANERO - 7 - MOM - a good debut considering he only signed a day or so before and barely knew his teammates. Also a noticable improvement in set piece deliveries - especially a great free kick in second half that nelsen almost got to. passed well and wasnt afraid to get stuck in either. PARK - 6 - wasnt overly impressed tbh but worked hard so has got a 6. to me he shouldnt be playing on the 'wing' as he has no pace, but again isnt a CM either. so i dont know where he fits in! Perhaps on the right in a three man 4-3-2-1 formation. Worked hard nevertheless and was involved alot. SWP - 6 - did ok and caused problems but for me he needs to attack his man. when toure came on i thought he would attack him and go down the line, but he kept on cutting inside, despite being on his favoured right flank. JOHNSON - 6 - worked hard and made a great run across the 18yd line, then shot which set up zamora for a tap in. always making runs off the ball so i was impressed. perhaps in a game v lesser opponents he would get forward more into the final 3rd. ZAMORA - 7 - battled hard and got a goal. was against two big CB's but threw himself in and was always around the final 3rd. although for me he was too often on the wing rather than in the middle where he could receive a cross (down to tactics though). SUBS: ONUOHA - 6 - came on for the injured ferdinand and didnt really put a foot wrong that i noticed. DYER - 6 - came on and introduced a bit more speed in our play and made a few nice passes and runs. will be a useful player. CISSE - N/A - came on too late for me. only had one opportunity to run off the defenders and swp made a poor pass. THE FINAL WORD For me I would have liked to have seen a bit more pace in the side (Mackie/Hoilett for Park) as I think we severley lacked pace in our counter attacks which hindered us. Mackie is also strong so perhaps would have been a better option than SWP who kept on being pushed off the ball. I agree it was right to play AJ and BZ in a 4-4-2 to give their defence something to think about but both were quite deep too often that made attacking difficult, especially in the first half. But I guess that is down to the quality city posess. First half we stood off them too much. Should have been in their faces getting stuck in, but we did that too late. Although we did get back into it briefly, we undid that good work immediatley which was the turning point for me. Cisse should have had another 10mins (came on at 80mins) to run at the tired defence. Overall a improved second half performance that gives lots of positives for the next few weeks. We looked more like a team which is promising and with 2 more weeks work we can be positive about our chances. Although the table makes for poor reading as it stands, not a brilliant start to the season.
Cheers Judo. Only one minor disagreement. Nelsen's first chance was only a quarter chance IMO. Other than that, completely agree and love Granero. Agree MOM and fantastic set pieces. Nelsen should have scored from that free kick.
Agree on Granero, I thought his dead ball deliveries were excellent - 100% better than a certain J Barton who used to ballon them in the air with no pace.
Neslon could have done better with the second effort,but lets not forget hes a centre back!. He looks like captain material. Agree,Cisse and Hoilett should have come on earlier for their pace. Mackie will be a squad player now.
I guess you have a point re Nelsens first chance - he did have his back to goal. Perhaps if it had fallen to someone like Cisse it would have been a better chance.
Possibly but if only it had been Cisse in Nelsen's place for second chance.... Oh well, onwards and upwards.
Agree - Granero looks like the real deal - didn't think we played too bad considering how little time some of the players have been together - things can only improve (we hope) - just gonna take a few weeks
I agree, I think we have made huge steps since our first game, with our new acquisitions likely to come in for the game against Chelski, things can only get better.
Agree with most of your ratings except: A bit harsh on Ferdinand. Just before the goal he had been knocked into next week. Should have been subbed immediately. A bit too kind to Faurlin. The 70/30 possession stats for the first 30 minutes show how poorly our central midfield were competing.
Thanks Judo. I pretty much agree with that. I would have preferred a 4 5 1, would have made us more solid defensively with this, but with players with a better cutting edge (Cisse and Adel in the 5) more of a threat on the counter.
Very good summary, based on what I saw on TV. Great that you are able to get out to these away games - I assume you are a season ticket holder at Loftus Road?
Nice concise report Judo. Pretty accurate on most points from what I saw on ESPN. Granero paves the way to another level - and we've got the players to follow through. First defeat in ages where I didn't sulk for days afterwards!
Thanks for the report: very helpful, very balanced. As Brix said, it's one defeat where I felt there were many positives to be taken, although I base that opinion on the views of people like Judo, on the radio commentary and on a few minutes of MOTD. Onwards and upwards.
