Just seen the highlights and I can't believe the space we gave Aguero in the build up to the 2nd goal and I'm pretty sure JR won't be starting in goal for us any time soon.
I was a bit worried before the game that Ruddy would have a blinder and give AN a nightmare decision to make for the next league game. Thankfully (although I feel a bit sorry for JR), the decision to keep DR in goal was made far easier yesterday.
Haven't seen the highlights yet, but interesting to see Ruddy coming in for criticism. Of course there was one other major change in our defence in that Martin was playing as one of 3 central defenders.
Highlights available here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35211537 Yes and he didn't do himself any favours either - also not sure that 3 central defenders worked.
or here for those outside the UK Maybe I am reading too much in to it but on the second goal, JR looks like he's given up.
Well from what i've seen and heard none of our defenders nor the keeper looked PL quality. Our CB's don't seem to be able to defend as a 3, which isn't a great surprise as they often seem to struggle as a pair. Confirms a couple of things for me really 1) Rudd is our best keeper at the moment 2) If Martin isn't playing at RB he shouldn't really be playing at all 3) Brady either needs to play at LB or we need an upgrade for Olsson. 4) We need to sign at least 1 if not 2 CB's this window.
That 3rd goals terrible. We really can't defend against skillful players. That gave me flashbacks to Suarez.
Hi bors, just to give credit where due, Russell Martin was the only defender that showed presence of mind in trying to prevent Aquero's first goal. He moved at speed to get in a tackle but unfortunately the ball ran for Aquero. Our defence was frequently static and allowed Man City time to dictate their next move, obviously still enjoying the Christmas holiday !!! You get out of a game what you put in . . , no effort, no result.
We could have done something about that....like tackle him before he got into the penalty box, awful defending
And there we were, all thinking that it was Norwich that went off the rails yesterday http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news...t_veered_off_norwich_airport_runway_1_4373553
Hello canario! Surprised by this... Having watched the highlights and as others point out, to be fair to Martin, on this occasion I don't think any of the goals were his fault. The first one was pure class from Aguero, although Bassong did just let him run right round him. And the third it was Bennett who got turned inside out. That's not to say our shakey performance as a whole wasn't down to him though... I think goals two and three are both really poor from Ruddy - he essentially got beaten at his near post for goal two and it wasn't even right in the corner.
I agree I don't think Martin was really at fault for any of the goals, I just think we look less nervous when he plays on the right. I was thinking about it the other day when we were talking about captains and maybe part of the problem reverts back to when Martin & Bassong were joint captains. Maybe when Martin / Bassong play together there is not one dominant CB and this causes problems and uncertainty. We seem more confident when Bassong / Bennett play together, maybe because it's much clearer who is doing the organising. Having said that I've got no real evidence to support this I just get the feeling the ship is much steadier when he's at RB.
Not counting Saturday, obviously, but our 4 / 5 performances prior to that fully bear you out. 9 points from 12 plus 2 clean sheets along the way!
Yep - it's the performances as well as the confidence from the team and the results just add weight to that. Partly perhaps helped by Rudd being on stellar form, so it's always difficult to know what exactly to attribute it to, so as Canario says it's not really clear evidence, but there's a definite "feeling" that the whole set-up is more natural and organised.
Just gleaned the player ratings from the EDP for the Cup game - Ruddy 6.5, Wisdom 6, Martin 5.5, Bassong 5.5, Bennett 5.5, Olsson 6, Dorrans 5, Mulumbu 5, Howson 6.5, Odjidja 7, Jerome 6.5 and TBH, I pretty much agree, though I thought Mulumbu deserved slightly higher. Also, AN rested some of his key players ahead of our trip to the Britannia.
