Promising signs in parts - My thoughts on the Citeh game

Just got back.

Well, I'm not too disappointed to be honest. I wasn't very happy by how we gave away two pens and let them have a goal on a plate, but at the end of the day City were just a league a head of us.

The two most promising players on the pitch were Sammy and Hatem.

Hatem's all round game wasn't that great, but two moments of magic from him could have got us two goals. A lovely run and a nice little through ball unlocked City's defense, but Ba couldn't finish. And another lovely run and unfortunately he had to shoot with his weak foot, and was unlucky not to score. He hit the post. I'm excited by Hatem, because if he can unlock cities defense, he can unlock any defense.

Sammy was a great today. Yes he's still got a lot to learn, but against the best side in the league by a mile, he looked quite threatening. His spell in the England team has certainly helped his confidence and all round play.

Even though we were raped by city for most of the game, we should take confidence in the fact that we threatened them, and we could have scored at least another 2 goals. I was right next to the city fans, and they shat themselves at times during that game and cheers out of relief when we didn't put away a good chance.

Ratings -

Krul - 7 - Could do noting about the goals, some great saves.

Simmo - 6.5 - Decent game today, not much wrong. He did get exposed at times, but you can't blame him against City.

Colo - 7 - Good game, no complaints.

Taylor - 7 - Good game, a few edgey moments, but overall a decent performance.

Raylor - 6.5 - It would be very harsh to criticize him for the 1st pen. Yes his hand was away from his side, but when you're defending like that, in the heat of the moment, you sometimes forget things like where your hands are. And besides, if Raylor's hand hadn't have been there, City would have scored anyway. The 2nd goal was his fault, but I'm not going to bash the lad. His overall performance today wasn't bad.

Guthrie - 6.5 - Decent game

Cabaye - 6 - Very quiet today, didn't touch the ball often. Some decent defending.

Hatem - 7 - Yes he was quiet for most of the game, but he made things happen and produced a few moments of magic within the game. For his first start back, against City, you can't have too many complaints. Very promising stuff.

Sammy - 8 - Going to give him the man of the match. Very promising performance. He's starting to learn when to win corners and when to attack at the right times. He threatened city at times. Great performance from the lad.

Jonas - 6.5 - Not bad. Some good defending, got raped when going forward really.

Ba - 6.5 - Some decent wins in the air, some decent hold up play, but was dominated for most of the game by City's defense really. Not one of his best games.

Gosling - n/a - Scored the goal, credit to him, but It doesn't justify a start for him before anyone jumps the gun and says it. I know It doesn't matter how you score, but It was Ba who did the work to close him down, and all Gosling had to do was score in front of an open goal. I'll give him credit for being in the right place at the right time, and I'm not having a go at the lad, but the goal doesn't justify a start, the same way Shola's didn't.

Perch n/a - Didn't really see him do much other than play a decent pass to Ba that lead to the goal. Credit to him for that.

Lover - n/a - Some decent passing and link up play.

MOTM - Sammy. Good performance from the lad in a game where we didn't do much.

Even though we were getting owned by City for the majority, we still threatened them, and on another day, who knows, we may have nicked a point, but City thoroughly deserved their win.

No hard feelings, our first loss against one of the best sides in the world, probably the best on their current form.

HWTL

 

were you responsible for the crowd trouble then?

 

Nah. I shat myself at one point, when one of the City fans let off a firework. I thought a gun had been shot or something.

Fecking City fans threw bottles and coins off us. ****s.

 

C'mon! 6.5?! He was at fault for both goals and nearly every chance came from his side. To give him the same as Simpson who was solid is laughable

 

also, not giving perchinho a 10 is outrageous

 

Yes but his overall performance wasn't bad, and you can't really bash the lad for the pen ffs. The ball was smashed straight off his arm, no way he could have avoided it, and if his hand wasn't there, the ball would have gone in the back of the net anyway!!!

 

Perchino got an assist () and didn't manage to get carded or **** up for a goal. His best performance to date. 10/10 for Perch. Future captain? Perhaps. Solid as a rock. What a guy. What a man. King of the world. The backbone of the team. Perch.

 

Sammy was better tonight, but he is no way near an 8. If he got past people, and put decent crosses in he might warrant an 8 - but running into touch or into dead ends isn't my version of good play

 

Sammy an 8? ! You're clueless at times.

 

He won us corners and threatened. If it was against a middle table team, I'd agree, but he was playing against the best defense the league really, and the best team. He did his best and played very well and I'm giving the lad 8 because It's his first start in the PL and it was against the best team. He played very well under that sort of pressure.

 

Sorry you don't agree, but no need to call me clueless. Yes I'm being generous but I think he deserves a lot of praise.

 

The amount of times I have seen him play and overhit it whilst running down the line in ludicrous. Don't think he'll make it, but I'll be pleasantly surprised if he does.

 

Don't be daft.

 

He shouldn't have had his arms up either way, on a bad day it could've been a red card for deliberate handball.

 

I love the man, I have him as my avatar, but I just don't think he will be as good as Shane Ferguson or Yven Moyo. He will stay with us forever though

 

For ****s sake he's just getting started! Yes he's sloppy at times, but he makes really good runs, and sometimes puts a decent ball into the box. He's got good skill and he could be a great player for us in the future. He was certainly our brightest spark today.

 

This, I'm fairly critical of younger players, but Ameobi has 'it'

 

Tash is always resonsible for all the trouble.

And he still doesn't know that it's HTL not HWTL!

 

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time - Most of your comments I agree on, but this I don't really.