I thought Skrtel had a very good game. Sure, he was grabbing shirts but it was less than usually and Kompany was just as guilty so the ref let it go.
Kompany did his fair shair but Skrtel does this all the time and you know it! Cardiff should have had at least two PK's from Skrtel the previous game and it wasn't a surprise when I heard Set piece, header from Kompany, goal, and that Skrtel was marking him. Just not a strength of his and let's be honest, you aren't going to win that tussle with Kompany, he is a monster ( why wasn't Sakho on him btw?)
My problem at the moment is.. Ok you're grabbing the attackers shirt, fine.. But he's putting himself at a disadvantage, how the hell can you jump when you're too busy wrestling? I felt that Sahko should of been marking Kompany, Skrtel is an aggressive defender but he's not the tallest.
Understatement of the year right there! Its the reason I dislike him and I've been.banging on about for at least two years!!!
He's too busy concentrating on pulling Kompanies shirt for their first goal when instead he should be concentrating on beating his man to win the ball. Would still like to see what Toure and Sakho would be like as a partnership. And dero need competition or even a replacement for Johnson because lately he's been slacking loads.
Sky Sports have Skrtel and Kompany on the same rating. http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/287461/ratings Some of the other ratings are a joke also.
not a bad performance losing by one wrongly disallowed goal at city is still top 4 levels, now we just make anfield a fortress too and hope to be a bit more consistent than them away from home recent city home games: liverpool -1 everton -2 hull -2 arsenal -3 swansea -3 man utd -3 newcastle -4 wigan -5 spurs -6 norwich -7
Alot is made of Skrtel's shirt pulling, lets not forget at least one occasion when Kompany was pulling Suarez's shirt towards the end of the game. Penalty also? Or the times Lescott was wrestling Sakho too. So many defenders do it, which is why the refs do nothing. It's impossible to stamp out because they can't see it all if it was disallowed and everyone does it anyway so you'd be sending off the whole defense! Yeah I'd wish he'd just attack the ball instead, but that's something different to criticising him for foul play. Skrtel overall had a good game. I haven't found a single defender who can outmark Kompany at set pieces so far in the last few years in the PL so to call him up on letting him get the better of him is a little harsh...
I thought Kompany was the first player to come against that had a gameplan against the grabbing and pulling. He was clearly strongly plus he used his arm very well too; placing it at a 90° angle at Skrtel's throat giving him a free header. Just shows man handling/marking is not the answer against physically and mentally stronger opponents.
I agree with this. Can't entirely agree with the rest purely on the share volume that Skrtel does it, plus he often doesn't even look at the ball whereas others such as Kompany and Lescott today do/did!
Agree totally, we are a weak side overall when it comes to strength in one on ones, and yeah I noticed Kompany's tactics.
As G said, the volume he does it in is what gets me!!! The only way I would have been surprised would have been if Agger was on the field but agger wouldn'thave been grabbing, he would have been totally lost! Just glad we went there and really gave a good account of ourselves. A lot of people were wanting us to just get waxed but instead we showed we just might have the cajones to keep kicking on.
After sobering up and watching again. I'm pleased with the performance overall. Think Brendan may be getting a ban for calling out bent refs but sure, I thought he was too polite at times anyway. The game highlighted our known weaknesses which should be resolved in the next two Windows. But it also showed just how far we've developed since a year ago. Faster than I thought we would and with more flair. So with an entirely winnable game at Chelsea to go I'd suggest that if we repeat or improve on the first half of the league we will be in the top 4 come May. Wums can say what they like on here, unless they're a city supporter they should look to their own teams clear weaknesses and really worry whether they'll be in Europe next year...
Anyone think Moanrinho will set up shop with Mikel, Ramires and Lampard again and go for a dour 0-0 draw?
more worried about lady boy, just hope he isnt saving his crap performances up for when we play the ****s. just hope this time ****ing football wins the game, and not the **** officials.
Wow - it's rare that I come away from a loss and feel proud. We went to the most difficult place in England and should have come away with at least a point. This is a results business but I think our club as a whole can come away with our heads held high - we seemed to have gained a lot more respect from rivals. In terms of the game itself - our attack was brilliant. The movement, fluidity, the intent - Sterling is really maturing as a player and he, Suarez and Henderson look like a great trio. Will be interesting to see how we fit Sturridge in. Despite a nervy start to the game, I thought Aly did pretty well considering he hasn't played in a while. And the less said about Johnson the better.
I thought Sakho would have been better placed to mark Kompany. At the very least, Skrtel and Sakho should have swapped when Kompany kept getting the better of Martin! Chelsea are at home though so they can't just sit back
