QPR 2 - 3 Manchester City 3: Five Thoughts
by Danny Pugsley on Nov 6, 2011 3:29 PM GMT
in Manchester City: Five thoughts
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It is widely assumed that the mark of a good side (and certainly one who have aspirations of winning the Premier League) is having the ability grind out results when not on top form, i.e. winning ugly. This was certainly the view yesterday as City at times laboured to victory as opposed to swatting their opponents aside. The numbers certainly back this out and the passing and territorial advantage City usually have was not in evidence, in fact they recorded their lowest team and individual passing numbers of the season.
It was interesting therefore to see David Platt's comments post-game then, in discussing City's struggles at Loftus Road:
"The important thing is that when we're not quite at it, passing-wise, and not cutting through teams, we can still win football matches."
This is a good point that Platt makes and evidences quite why City are such a potent force this season. Despite not enjoying a stellar day in terms of passing the football and having ceded territory and initiative to QPR, the side still had the ability to score three times on the road to see off a side that was confident and willing to test them. An important stat? It is now thirteen consecutive games (including the final two games of 2010/11) where City have scored at least twice. With a return like that it is no wonder the side has dropped so few points.
A further trait that I do think the game showed was that this is a side that possesses plenty of character. Even after City's start this season, there was those who still held the view that the side was a collection of talented individuals as opposed to a cohesive unit; a side who is united in their aims and ambitions. Anyone who has watched City at close quarters knew that this ascertion was an incorrect one but in falling behind for the first time this season and then letting QPR back in the game, the team still dug deep to come up with a winner. Would other City sides of the recent past have come away with the win?
Were City surprised by QPR's approach? Loftus Road has hardly been a haven for goals this season with QPR winning just once and scoring only three goals in the five games before yesterday, but QPR came at City early, and came at City hard. Adopting a more attacking approach than previous games in adopting a 4-4-2 formation they were prepared to get at City from the midfield onwards. In some ways this was similar to the approach that Wolves took in the game at The Etihad Stadium recently, but QPR possessed a greater threat with both Alejandro Faurlin and Joey Barton impressive (reflected in their numbers). They also possessed a wide threat with Jamie Mackie and Shaun Wright-Phillips and were prepared to get balls into the box to the pairing of Heidar Helguson and Jay Bothroyd. The absence of Vincent Kompany left a big hole but the absence of Nigel de Jong (in hindsight it seemed the type of game that was ideal for him) was equally as important as without his presence - that both shields the central defensive pairing and provides additional security for the midfield - QPR had the upper hand in the midfield battle.
With all sides around City also winning, it was important for them to take the points heading into the international break. With two tough Champions League games against Villarreal having been played recently in addition to the Premier League fixtures its timing may be no bad thing. When City resume in two weeks time, they will face four important games in just ten days: at home to surprise second-placed side Newcastle ahead of the vital Champions League game with Napoli before heading to Anfield the following weekend to face Liverpool and then rounding out against Arsenal in the Carling Cup. Suddenly the squad Mancini has at his disposal doesn't look so big.
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I didn’t get a chance to watch the game, but I have to say it’s pretty ugly we let in 2 goals against this squad. I watched the Chesea game against QPR and if they hadn’t been gifted a PK there was no way they would have scored. Chelsea played most of the match with 9 men and still looked dangerous enough to maybe get that equalizer.
As you said sometimes you have to win ugly though.
Good point on De Jong Danny. I think a few things were learnt today.
1) Savic isn’t there yet. Weak in the air, often poor positioning
2) We were unbalanced in midfield for most of the game. Yaya prefers to play central, Barry plays left and although Milner started on the right he was trying to provide linkage to the strikers and when we lost possession we were often badly exposed down their left hand side. Of course as soon as Mancini tried to correct that by bringing on Johnson he lost his man and they scored.
3) When Yaya plays as one of the two defensive midfielders we’re not as tight as we are with De Jong and Barry. Ironically that creates a problem for Milner
4) Teams have success against us when a) they press high up the pitch and get aggressive and b) when they play down the flanks, effectively by-passing our narrow midfield 3. There’s a price to pay for playing 4-2-3-1. Lack of width both attacking and defensive. Very few teams have tried to exploit it
Overall though it was a great game. QPR looked like they had a blast and they were fun to watch. City showed lots of character and spirit as you said and as usual we also looked like we were having fun. Wonderful to see Yaya and Silva on the score sheet again.
Agree about Savic. I was really annoyed when Boateng left as I thought he could step up this year and he was worth a lot more than the 10million we got for him. Atm Savic just isn’t in the same class, but I do believe he will come good.
I think you’re judgement about Milner, Barry and Toure being an unbalanced midfield is slightly harsh and rash. That midfield was pretty good against United. We can’t judge it of one game. In truth though, any midfield with De Jong will be ‘better’ defensively, but Mancini is gambling that with Barry’s superior passing game City will retain possession and there will be less time to defend. Lets be honest Toure cannot be left out. So many of our attacking moves come from him passing from deep or switching with Silva, who is then allowed to start a move from deep. No other player can switch with Silva like that and play in the defensive midfield role.
Maybe you’re judging it on one game. I’m judging it over there course of the last 18 months. Our midfield is exceptionally strong, but when we play this particular trio of players in the way they deployed against QPR we’re unbalanced.
Exhibit A: The amount of problems we had stopping them down our right
Exhibit B: Micah Richards spending 70 minutes very exposed as he tried to contain 2 or 3 players at once
Exhibit C: The fact that Mancini saw what was going on and put Johnson in to show he’s learnt some lessons and shore things up. Unfortunately that didn’t work out too well.
I wouldn’t suggest that Toure be left out. If you read any of my previous comments you’ll note that I think he’s a fantastic player., But he’s much more effective in the advanced role of our midfield tight three.
by Jeremy Morris on Nov 8, 2011 5:09 PM GMT up reply actions
Totally agree with the above point on toure as one of the two holding midfielders- as of yet I agree in that i don’t think this problem has been fully exposed by teams -however after the break the following block of 10 fixtures contains many stern examinations – Napoli (a) being the obvious key one given our CL aspirations. I will be very interested to see the side Mancini picks for that one and wouldn be surprised to see him revert to de Jong Barry toure as a 3 to leave us less exposed.
The other outcome of a generally average defensive performance is that Micah Richards has been (criminally in my view) left out of the 25-man England squad announced today. Capello was at the game yesterday and I think unfortunately Micah was the fall-guy for what was really a team-tactics shortcoming on our right hand side. They really caused us problems down that flank until we stabilized things in the last 15 minutes or so.
I agree with your thoughts on the Napoli game. I’d go further and start Milner either right or left so that we’re in more balance defensively. If left, De Jong will need to shift right. If right Barry will play further left. Silva’s getting better at defending but he just can’t be relied on. Of course he’ll play but I expect Nasri will be sacrificed. I’m not sure Nasri and Silva can play in the same team in any case.
The one player who’s shown real appetite to do some grafting over his past couple of starts is Dzeko. He popped up a couple of times with important tackles around our box towards the end. That’s a valuable element to his game versus Balotelli.
by Jeremy Morris on Nov 6, 2011 10:17 PM GMT up reply actions
Micah's unlucky but...
Yeah Micah is unlucky, but he was damn average on Saturday. It was surely his worst performance of the season.
He loves to get forward, but there were a couple of times, one notable as it almost resulted in a goal, where he wouldn’t just make runs forward to add width but sit on the off-side line as a winger. There was no movement he just stood there for an age and then the ball was stolen, QPR counter-attacked and we were left with a 2 v 3 with which they were unlucky not to score. Micah made little effort to race back and cover, which is something that the Kyle Walker, who is not yet in the same class, always tries to do.
I have no problem with fullbacks offering width or making attacking runs, but they must be constantly re-positioning and dropping deep to cover at appropriate times. I know the 2 holding midfielders are meant to cover the right and left fullbacks, but you can’t hug the offside line and when you are caught out of position you damn well sprint back.
I love Micah and think he has the ability to be England’s best defender. Atm I would rate him as England’s best right back. However, I can fully understand Capello’s decision. Johnson has the experience and there isn’t that much of a gap in ability. Kyle Walker is honestly going to far exceed Micah at right back, but he isn’t there yet. The problem is Micah is a centre back who is extraordinarily athletic, so much so that he can dominate the position to the extent that he could in the top couple of right backs in Europe. BUT he could be the best centreback in the world and he should be.
Good lord. Are you a Spurs fan in disguise? I don’t think anyone in their right mind would prefer Kyle Walker over Micah Richards (except the England manager and I’ll leave it to others to decide whether he knows what he’s doing).
As you note above, our midfield wasn’t bad at OT. Um, neither was Micah Richards.
by Jeremy Morris on Nov 8, 2011 5:15 PM GMT up reply actions
Haha, fair enough. Richards is definitely exceeding Kyle Walker at the moment, but I was talking about future potential. Walker, and Richards for that matter, will be extraordinary right backs. Walker just seems made for the position more so than Richards. My point is that I feel Richards could be even better at centre back.
I can’t really fault Silva for his defensive work. I guess we will have to agree to disagree, because the one thing that has impressed me the most about him is that even with all the creative freedom he has been given he is always tracking back and in a good position to cover the fullback. For example, he was consistently doubling up in the united game and Nani was kept very quiet.
You mean other than giving the ball away several times over the past few weeks that have either led directly to goals conceded or near misses. “Always tracking back and in a good position to cover the full back”. Where, in the bar? Come on!
He’s a great player and I admit he’s getting better at realizing that sometimes we don’t have the ball but he’s not a reliable contributor in defence.
by Jeremy Morris on Nov 8, 2011 5:18 PM GMT up reply actions
Obviously Silva can’t be compared to De Jong, Milner or even Scott Parker’s prowess in defence. That’s not the point though. Silva is an attacking midfielder who isn’t expected to make blocks and sliding tackles, but he still has to track back and help out the defence which he consistently does. We can’t complain about the guy, surely he is consistently one of the most selfless players in both attack and defence. There is a reason Mancini isn’t criticising him the way he does Johnson, who again lost his man against QPR which directly caused the 2nd goal. I haven’t heard anyone complain about Silva not doing his bit in defence in any season.
And giving the ball away would tend to point to a problem in attack. Also Silva is widely recognised as being one of the best player’s in the premier league when it comes maintaining possession so I am not sure where you are coming from there. Agree to disagree hey?
IMO Silva, along with others, looked tired. I think this was reflected in some unusually poor passes and touches that resulted in a lack of possession. There also seemed to be a tendency to play more direct than usual, which I don’t understand the reason for.
At the beginning of the game I was annoyed with Mancini for not resting Silva. How many games has Silva started in a row now? I am sure he hasn’t missed any besides the CC. I thought Nasri should have started, but it was pointed out to me later that he had been carrying a knock in the knee picked up in training.
I think over the next couple of weeks there will be a big test for city as fatigue starts to set in due to the smallish nature of the squad. I am very confindent about city’s prospects but IMO this is their biggest problem. Many people would say we have one of the biggest squads and technically this is true, but Mancini is only willing to use a small portion of them.
Silva, along with others, looked tired.
It’s this, gentlemen. And we still won.
“Smallish nature of the squad”. Dude, don’t go saying that in public. You’ll be laughed out of town.
I am referring to quantity not quality. We only have 18 outfield players for 4 competitions. Tevez gone, Onuoha and Bridge are ignored, Toure was banned, Hargreaves was bought with a view to rehabilitate him in time to cover Yaya at the ANC. That 18 looks kinda shaky.
Hey, we can’t complain as Mancini has decided to loan out player like Adebayor and sell SWP, but if you compare to united they may not have the quality of players we have in their first 18, but they have a bucket load of players. Just think about their strikers: Rooney, Chica, Welbeck, Berba, Owen, Macheda and even Young. Goalkeepers, well Tomasz Kuszczak is now 4th string so they ain’t doing to bad there. Look at Tottenham, or Liverpool and there masses of midfielders.
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