Well Done Man City, so proud of the lads - My thoughts on the game

the media have jumped it, the bbc reporting city dominated the full game...... sorry but did they ****.

they also said nasri and silva played key parts in the game...... nasri was utter **** and silva except for 1 good ball which aguero nearly scored from he was ****.


we werent going to win, i knew that, thought we could possibly nick a draw, but city were not as great as the media have said they were.

 

I beg to differ. City were great - they simply had to be to beat a very good, in form, Newcastle side at St James' Park.

As for City dominating the FULL game - that simply did not happen. City dominated large periods of it, but Newcastle were never out of that game. More clear cut chances fell to City, and in that respect it could have been a victory by a larger scoreline, but that would have been incredibly harsh on Newcastle. Defensively, Newcastle were, in my opinion, superb. In attack you didn't threaten as much as I thought you would do - was worried that you would do - and credit has to go to City for stifling Newcastle in that regard. But one team deserved to win, and they did so.

 

They dominated in periods but we had a few good spells in the game. I think until they scored it was hard to say who would win, however once De Jong came on they had a good few chances really. Forget what the BBC and SKY say, they have been saying we would struggle all season. Evn in Harry Redknaps interview he mention the race for 4th and only asked if Tottenham or Spurs would get 3rd. They simply overlook us and hopefully we will get the last laugh.

Can I just also say I thoght City were brilliant today and Kompany is super human.

 

man city have played superb in games this season, silva and aguero have been unplayable at times...


but today they werent, silva was disapointing, aguero was tucked up in tiotes back pocket haha

but honestly they werent, well done to them either way.

 

Aguero didn't have his best game, nor did Silva, but in the first half the majority of our possession was because of the spaces created by Newcastle focusing on nullifying the threat of both these players. That's how City tend to counter the counter-threat of the opposition. Of course, to really take advantage of that requires the likes of Nasri and Tevez to be on top of their game, and unfortunately (from a City perspective) neither were. But then in the second half, after de Jong was introduced, this allowed Yaya to push forward and he's superb at exploiting a tiring defence. That ultimately being what won us the game.

 

Tiote has plenty to learn for sure. His distribution is still not top bracket, his booking count is a joke, and he still plays in the wrong areas at times. I think the reason we rate him so highly is despite him having these areas to work on, he still bosses midfields on his own at times and if he can eradicate the little errors then what will he be? The guys you mention (maybe with the exception of Sandro) are all in the same sort of bracket. But each has their own areas of work required. Parker has had another cracking season and is a cracking player. He's as good as he will get now and you need creativity alongside. As good as Tiote now, but hard to compare as he is very much a holder whereas Tiote has more facets to his game. In time I'd expect Tiote to progress past his level so I'd go Tiote. Lucas I rate highly and a major blow to Liverpools season. Started badly there but if his most recent form is his true form then he is right up there. Song to me is a bit cumbersome. I'd take Tiote over him. Just more dynamic and Song is half asleep at times. Feillani like Lucas is top class. Almost a carbon copy of Tiote in terms of ability and problems he has (loads of free kicks given away) Him or Tiote? Like Lucas, I couldn't choose.

Sandro is too young to judge but looks a class player in the making. Could be anything but you couldn't compare him to Tiote as he doesn't have the experience.

 

On the game I thought we did well and competed with them. Make no mistake regardless what anyone says, they found it a tough test. I think that shows how far we've come. They were the better side and deserved to win. One of their superstars stepped up when it mattered, fair play. Pleased with our display and with a bit of luck who knows. Maybe say your marks are generous Tash but I couldn't fault anyone.

 

To be fair, Tiote used to get a load of unnecessary and silly bookings, but most of them now are when he's taking one for the team.

I know it sounds silly, but Tiote wouldn't be doing his job if he wasn't getting many bookings, because sometimes someone has to in and stop a central midfielder getting forward, and sometimes Tiote needs to bring someone down.

His distribution of the ball is improving. In fact a lot of his passing are superb, I don't think he's necessarily doing them wrong, he's just asking too much of some players to get forward or control the ball when he hits his pass with a lot of power.

The way Tiote moves the ball about is key to our new style though. Quite quick tempo, flowing football, linking up wings ect.

Tiote is the 2nd best current DM in the league IMO, or at least the one that should have the 2nd biggest price tag.

He's also gotten better at crossing and putting a ball into the box, I think he got something like 3 assists in 3 games earlier in the season from balls into the box.

 

Don't be daft Tash, 14 bookings and 10 bookings a season is way too many. Don't get me wrong if it was only for taking one for the team and he was around the 7 or 8 mark I'd say fine. But you can't ignore the rash silly ones which are still happening. Sometimes he just too eager and still just trips people for no apparant reason when danger is minimal.

The bottom line as far as distribution goes is he is not as accurate as some others mentioned. He can improve and has shown that he will. He has progressed so much in a short time with us. He is just a little sloppy at times. I do think his passing has been worse this season, probably because he has struggled for rhythm because of the knocks.

I rate him highly, and wouldn't swap him because I still think there is masses of untapped potential. I think he is raw for a 25 yr old. But you have to recognise his obvious weaknesses too.

 

I don't think he's raw at all tbh, he knows exactly what he's doing when he has his silly moments, it's not due to lack of experience or quality. His tackling as improved a lot, and a lot of the stand tackles he makes are very precise. Last season I shat myself whenever I saw Tiote in our box challenging someone, but so many times this season, he's come back, covered a defender, and nicked the ball away from someones feel with great precision.

I think the amount of bad bookings does, to an extent, reflect his silly moments but quite a few of his bookings are unlucky also.

At the end of the day, Pardew will no doubt be working with him in the training ground, but I think most of his bookings are generally him just getting stuck in and doing his job.

Remember he's missed a lot of the season due to lack of fitness, injuries and ACoN.

We;re just going to have to get behind him and accept that without him we're not nearly as solid and no one can do his job half as well. We can still cope without him, not saying we're vulnerable totally without him, but there have been games this season where his presence has been vital to the result and a lot of times this season we really missed him.

 

Tash so when Tiote makes a bad tackle and commits a foul he is taking one for the team? Yet when Cattermole makes them (I know he's a prick off the pitch but I like him on it) he's a dirty little **** and should be sent off?

Not comparing the two as there is no comparison there just an observation.

Warm Pouch you make a very fair assessment can't disagree with it to be fair, just thought tashes original statement about toure was way off the mark.

 

Tiote makes silly little trips and barges at times but he doesn't go in and make ridiculously dirty and wreckless challenges like Cattermole does out of pure spite, ones that can properly cripple a player.

And what statement about Toure are you referring to?

 

Toure destroyed us in the league when we didn't have Lucas, luckily he was absent for the CC semi finals.

 

I think we actually lost the game cause Cabaye was tired from Wednesday. Tiote went off injured he was running doubly on wednesday and yesterday he basically just lost first his man and then control of the ball. I would have started with Raylor ahead of Benny on the right to protect perch and brought ben arfa on late on but who isn't wiser in hindsight. Was a high quality game, hat off to city's cb pairing they were fantastic.

 

As far as player ratings go, I thought quire a few of our players were a full notch off their game.

Cabaye was tired and gave away possession badly for their second goal. HBA never quite clicked. Ba continued to need a bit of luck which he just can't find. Cisse should have put that free header on target.

Not griping. Proud of the lads. Just this wasn't a great game for several of them. Their commitment was unquestionable, though, and we gave City a game in spite of being less than 100% in places.

HTL, and hope they're still here next season

 

Kompany is the best in the league by some stretch for me. Lescott should be going to the EC too. he is vastly improved and they are a top notch partnership. Lescott has done well to fight off the likes of Toure, Savic etc. I think we have to start looking beyond Ferdinand and Terry. Lescott and Jagielka have never let England down, and have both had terrific seasons. I'd take those two and Cahill with maybe Smalling/Jones there for the experience.

As you say in hindsight I'd maybe tweak one or two areas but I'm not convinced we could have changed the result. Simply because they gave us so little to play with in terms of space around their back four. Top team. The word team being the difference between them last year and this year.

On centre backs though I thought our two dealt with everything they had to throw pretty well.

 

We'll agree to disagree Tash on his rawness. He still plays with his heart more than his head at times for me. That is just experience. He has a few rough edges, particularly his distribution. Not a great lover of stats but the disposession and giving the ball away stats for Tiote probably do tell a little tale. As you say he can be a touch unlucky with some bookings, his reputation now preceeds him. To be fair though that is of his own doing with the silly tackles. His tackling is getting better and Pardew/the coaches are clearly well aware of his issues. They have improved it this term and it'll improve again. The lad will listen which is half the battle.

He will be booked, it comes with the territory of midfield destroyer which is his primary role. I would agree also some bookings have come when off the pace after injuries.

Being behind him is never in question I don't think. I think I have read maybe one negative opinion of him on here. Cbra made a few remarks after a recent game which stunned me to be honest. But I bet even he is fully behind him when match day comes regardless of his doubts on him. We're a better side with him, most in the league would be.

 

I agree he needs to cut down on bookings, and some of them are unnecessary. I just think he could really use the summer to get himself rested and spend more and more time with the team and Pardew.

I think he needs to learn when to take one for the team.

However, I think we can appreciate the stamina, endurance and emotion in his particular role. I know Jonas works very hard, and Cabaye runs a **** load of miles, but I'd say Tiote's role is the one more physically stressing. He'll be the one put under most pressure as he's right in front of the defence, and one second too long on the ball or a stray pass, in his position, can be fatal.

He's under a lot of mental straight, as well as physical strain, as he's wrestling with players constantly.

I'm not saying Jonas doesn't have to deal with this, but Tiote is definitely counted on more for his physical play and we need him for his presence.

He obviously sometimes just needs to get that bit of aggression out of him or sometimes needs to learn when he should take one for the team and when he shouldn't.

Also remember Tiote's job is to mentally and physically weaken opponents by being on their backs all the time.

I agree he has his faults, but I am sympathetic towards him, and I think his role is the most physically draining, and sometimes it can lead to him snapping, but fortunately for us, he's smart, and when he snaps, he just has a cheeky dig, he doesn't go in with ultra bad tackles or smack people