UEFA EURO 2012_ Poland-Ukraine

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Let's take a look at how a few of our more high profile loan players are progressing so far this season:

Dedryck Boyata Defender 21 yo League 9 (1) Goals 1

Boyata has seemingly struggled this year although we have to take into account the teams struggles also. Bolton are unexpectedly in the relegation zone and now might not be the best time to blood youngsters. Has featured in only 9 league games this term in between injuries and loss of form, playing both RB and CB. With Cahill's £8m transfer to Chelsea, Boyata may now be expected to play a greater role with Bolton which could see his development get back on track. An interview here.

Gregg Cunningham Defender 20 yo Nottingham Forest League 13 Goals 0

Cunningham was signed on an emergency loan basis in late October which expires on the 31st December. Plays mainly as a left back and is yet another prospect who is trying to develop in a less than ideal situation which is what Forest find themselves in. They are struggling badly. Difficult to find any information on Greg, to the extent that I'm not sure if his loan was extended. But it's safe to say that Greg isn't setting the world on fire or outperforming his team mates level of play. He appears to be an average player in a 23rd place Championship side. Saw a few comments alluding to being 'a bit soft', 'not strong enough', 'goals coming from his mistakes in left back position'.

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A defeat is still a defeat, this is true: yet we have to take a few things into consideration. Manchester City after the re-organization (which I believe came to late) were the better team. This cannot solely be attributed to the opposition taking their foot of the gas. This was a derby; the mercy rule does not exist. United had the chance to avenge the 1-6. The notion that they eased up is preposterous, cautious once City made it 1-3 maybe.

The tactical change was a beauty. Clog the wide areas to shut out their first half threat. Keep a tight block of two holding midfielders, thus allowing Aguero and Nasri to still support each other with the occasional break from deep. All this time City's disciplined shape never faltered. This was the key, City never onced chased the game, for if we had, United would have exposed it. Playing with ten men is an art and you need to always have two players left up front to feed off each other once the ball is finally played up there. The alternative is nine men behind the ball and relentless pressure, trying desperately to run out time (see Inter v Barcelona's Champions League semi-final back in 2010).

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Here is a statistical breakdown of Manchester City's performance for the start of the 2011/12 season.

Manchester City have created more chances than any other team in the Premier League up to 18 games:

via www.barriesview.com

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This is an unashamed plug for my new book - "Thirty Five Years" about Manchester City's 2010/11 season. It is available now on Amazon, link here for more info:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thirty-Five-Personal-Manchester-2010-2011-ebook/dp/B006IOS950/ref=sr_1_61?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1323201582&sr=1-61#_

(Or, just search for "Thirty Five Years Manchester City")

The book is only available (so far) as an "e-Book" ie it can be downloaded for Kindle and PC-based readers, though it will also be available on the WH Smith and i-Tunes websites soon. Please have a look, it is also possible on the Amazon site to see the first few pages of the book to get a feel for the contents etc. & of course please feel free to pass this on to anyone you know who might be interested!

Thanks!

=Steve Maclean=

'A team of ex-footballers and F1 drivers including Vitaly Petrov, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez are undone by a UAE XI featuring Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak.' So I guess if Aguero sprains a groin, Balotelli shoots off fireworks or Dzeko decides "screw this reliability thing, I wanna make a name for myself" and they can't go, we've got this guy. Check out the last goal. I gotta say, "A" for effort. 

I can't stop laughing. I've seen some funny fan behavior but this takes the cake for me. I hope the B&B community, especially, enjoys it. If America had more fans like this, I just might attend more sporting events. I may just have to fork over the cash for the flight from Los Angeles to Manchester. And this post has to be 75 words long at a minimum, I suppose I'll just have to keep typing until I finally get to that magical number. 

I'm in America. I don't know how reputable the Daily Mail is. But according to the DM, Tevez was depressed, apparently ate anything and everything that was in front of him and not moving and afterward checked himself into a clinic. 

For your reading pleasure: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2033426/Carlos-Tevez-suffered-eating-disorder.html

My own opinion: yes, athletes are exceedingly well paid. But I have met professional athletes who get traded and find themselves in a strange town, putting up the family in a hotel, getting to know a new organization, etc. It can cause problems. Tevez is not the first nor the last player to go through this. I would add that addictions are awful. He'll get his share of jokes at his expense but he's got sympathy from me. I wish him well. 

As the title suggest I decided to put up a little side post for the FPL.

Most of you I assume are partaking in it.

The scores are a bit inflated due to the recent goal scoring drama's that took place with United and City.

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LIsten up.

Owning a sports team has never, ever been entirely about profit. Economists will tell you that there are two things involved with a purchase--economic benefit ($) and psychic benefit. When you buy an expensive painting, you are not doing so necessarily because of the economic benefit; you are doing so for the psychic benefit. It's what collectors do. Owning a sports team is not all that different from collecting great works of art--sometimes you say damn the expense, I want a trophy. It's why perfectly good businessmen will make horrific decisions in sport; they want a toy, they can buy the toy and the toy (*ahem* Adebayor *ahem*) turns out to be not so great. (h/t for all of this to Malcolm Gladwell's ESPN column). 

The owners of Man City are essentially saying, "damn the profits, let's win." As a fan, I'm fine with that. Other fans are screaming that we're cheating somehow, that if we win it won't be as "pure" as other teams who have won in the past. To that I say, Man City is doing to the Premier League what the big 4 have been doing for years now. For a long time, people have wondered what would happen if Man U was challenged by another team that could match the red menace's resources. We're about to find out. That our resources are coming from sheikh's who love a good toy over profit, who want the psychic benefit over the economic benefit, is not something to be criticized. The same fans who criticize City for spending oodles of money on players are spending oodles of money on red jerseys, tickets, concessions, etc. and I'm not sure these fans are getting an economic benefit for their actions. Well, of course they aren't. They are getting a psychic benefit. 

In short, that any fan can look at City and say, "Not fair! You spending too much!" is just the height of hypocrisy and ignorance. This is the Premiership. Spending money has always made the difference and always will. And if our spending for a psychic benefit is a source of your current psychic pain, all the better. 

Sincerely,

Man City Fans (EPL Champions, 2012)