Man City Q & A

Man City Q and A
30 December, 2013 By Steven
The first game of 2014 see’s the Swans welcome title favourites Manchester City to the Liberty Stadium. We spoke to Ric from*http://www.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/ for the lowdown on Wednesday’s opponent.

How’s your season been so far?

Overall I’d say it’s been a good first half of the season for City. Our home form has been imperious and whilst we’ve struggled on our travels at times, there are signs of improvement on that front recently.

Progression to the knockout stage of the Champions League was imperative this season, and was achieved with relative ease.

What’s your opinion on Manuel Pellegrini’s start to life at Manchester City?

It took a while for Pellegrini to implement his own playing style on the squad, but we are now reaping the rewards. At times last season our play was too cautious and laboured, but we are playing a much more attacking game under Pellegrini. The approach seems to be “we will score more than you”, and it’s great to watch. Whilst it can leave us vulnerable at the back, few teams can match our vast array of attacking talent.

His man management skills are good, and he has commanded the respect of the squad. He has shown his European pedigree by progressing in the Champions League and, whilst he perhaps doesn’t have as close a relationship with the fans as Mancini enjoyed, few are still pining for the Italian.

Who have been your star players and who needs to buck their ideas up?

Of the new signings, Fernandinho and Negredo have excelled and added another dimension to our play. The likes of Aguero, Kompany and Silva look back to their best, whilst Samir Nasri is playing the best football of his City career, and appears rejuvenated under Pellegrini.

Javi Garcia and Edin Dzeko continue to frustrate, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if both were to move on at the end of the season.

You have a very strong squad which is capable of competing on all fronts. But what competition would you most like to win and why?

Winning the Champions League would arguably be more of a statement and would raise our profile, but the Premier League is the priority for me. Anything else would be a bonus. Not that we can be too picky mind you, given our paucity of success over the years!

The Premier League season has been very open. Who do you think are your biggest challengers for the Premier League?

Liverpool have been the best team we have played this season, but may lack the squad depth to sustain a title challenge. Arsenal look to be back in form following their recent wobble, whilst you can never rule out Mourinho’s Chelsea. It’s the most open title race in years, which is good for the league.

What do you make of Swansea and which players are you wary of?

Swansea play good football, and gave us a difficult match at The Etihad a few weeks ago. The 3-0 scoreline flattered us, and it could have been a different story if de Guzman had taken his chance in the first half. I have a great deal of respect for Laudrup as a manager, and Swansea as a club. The likes of Shelvey, Hernandez, and Bony will all be a threat.

Predict the score and where both teams will finish.

Swansea 1 City 2. We’ve struggled at the Liberty Stadium in both visits so far, but we are on a good run of form at the moment and will hopefully maintain that momentum. I think/hope/pray City will finish first, and think Swansea will finish tenth.

 

Opposite version on Bluemoon

Steven from the Swansea Oh Swansea fanzine gives us the lowdown on our New Year's Day opponents

What are your expectations for this season?

As ever the first priority is 40 points to stay in the league but if that's all we achieve then I would be a bit disappointed given how well we've done in our first two seasons at this level. Given the fact that we've been in Europe then I don't expect to finish as high as previous campaigns but realistically I thought we'd finish about 13th this time around. In terms of Europe I thought we had a good chance of getting to the last 32 which we've achieved and it all depended on the draw from there. We were paired with Napoli a couple of weeks back so it's unlikely to think we'll progress from that tie but you never know.

Are you happy with the manager?

On the whole of course he's done a good job, top half finish and won us our first ever major trophy last term and we're going along steadily again this year. He has frustrated at times this season though I must be honest. He has rotated the team far too often for my liking which has caused inconsistency and we have yet to hit our best form. I understand it's because we've had a lot of extra games but after we've played you we should be back to one game a week until mid February so I'm hoping we will revert back to a settled side.

Who are your key players?

There's a few. Ashley Williams is key at centre half, he's our best defender and our leader. Leon Britton may not get the headlines of others but he's always one of the first names I look for on the team sheet, he just does the simple things so well, you may not always notice him but when he's not there he's a big loss, although his understudy Jose Canas has performed admirably when called upon. The other one is Michu, he's our main goal getter but fortunately for you he's injured and won't be able to play on New Year's Day.

Were you happy with the business conducted during the transfer window?

I was originally but I'm not sure if any of them have really had the impact we were hoping for yet. Wilfried Bony was the big signing at £12 million but he hasn't been great yet but I do believe he will come good eventually. His understudy Alvaro Vazquez isn't an option though, he's useless and thank God he's only on loan!. Canas has done well as I alluded to earlier and Alejandro Pozuelo has looked good in patches but Michael Laudrup needs to play him behind a striker, not out side where he has little or no impact. Jordi Amat has looked reasonable at centre half whilst Jonjo Shelvey is capable of being brilliant or awful - you really don't know what you're going to get with him but he's still young and I think he'll improve the more he plays.

Are there any rising stars in the squad that we might not have heard of?

Not really I don't think. Ben Davies came through last year but he was the first one since Joe Allen made his debut in 2007. It's an area of the club that's been weak for a while but we are looking to address it.

Your Achilles heel?

Set pieces at both ends. We rarely score from them and often concede. It's been the case for God knows how long and part of it is to do with our lack of height. Our other big problem is if we concede the first goal as we've only won once under Laudrup after going behind. Needless to say if you score first on Wednesday I'd snap your hand off for a point!

If you could have any City player in your team who would you choose?

Haha! Where do I start? I'd have to go for Sergio Aguero, I've been a big fan since his Athletico Madrid days and he's been outstanding for City since he joined. Our top scorer in the league this season is own goals so I'm sure his presence would rectify that stat pretty quickly. Yaya Toure would be a close second.

What is your perception of City as a club?

If I'm honest I'm not really a fan of clubs with owners who pump vast sums of money into their club. I always think football should be run in a way that you can only spend what you earn but you're not the only one's who do it. I do like the majority of City fans though, there tends to be a better atmosphere at your place than a lot of other Premier League grounds and I always remember the high gates you got when you dropped into what is now League 1 in the late nineties so I am pleased for those supporters who stuck by the club during those days who must now be loving the progress you've made in the past few seasons.

Likely starting XI for the game, and score prediction?

Hard to call the side as there will be changes again no doubt. I'll go with Tremmel, Rangel, Williams, Chico, Davies, Britton, De Guzman, Pozuelo, Hernandez, Bony, Routledge.

As for the score I'll say 1-1. We've done well against you at our place and given that you've had a few defeats on the road I think we have a chance of getting something

Posted in Opposition View by Ric Turner.