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City launch 2013/14 Nike home kit

2013-05-22T21:45:57Z

City are currently in New York in the midst of a post-season tour (check out kmoney's piece from this weeks event in Staten Island) and last night launched their 2013/14 home kit, the first since the move from Umbro to Nike.

A few images of the new kit are available via the clubs official Facebook page. Thoughts?

Injury In The Premier League: Man Games lost To Injury

2013-05-22T11:38:26Z

Firstly, the method.

I have checked every teams injury list in the 'game preview' section on whoscored.com. I then take this list and cross check it to see if the played listed as injured or doubtful actually played. If they didn't they were marked down as injured and thus was recorded as 1 man game lost to injury for their team. On many occasions I doubted whoscored.com's numbers so these were cross checked with local or national newspaper game reports/team sheets, sometimes it helped, other times not so much.

As for which playing staff were eligible to be recorded as a man game lost to injury, The top 2 goalkeepers, the 25 man PL squad, and any outstanding u-21 players who played for their respective clubs but who may not have been listed in the 25 man squad. Most teams tend to use a core of 20 players or so and rarely went beyond that number.

This was a horrendous task, the most time consuming of any of the numbers I have counted this season. It is something I may not do again. But here we are, we have a full 20 team, 380 game season to look at. Let's begin.

Part 1

Man Games Lost To Injury

The following table shows each teams man games lost to injury using the method already described.

First off, the spread is enormous. Injuries aren't evenly distributed, not even close. Villa suffered nearly 50 injuries more than any other team (thank God for their youth set-up). Newcastle suffered at least 25 more injuries than 3rd place Man United, with Ben Arfa, Coloccini, Tiote and Cabaye out for sustained periods. That group are probably 4 of their best 5 players.

This is the one issue I have with my own work: how to quantify the improtance of the injury? About as good as I could do was to give each players injury a value, but then who sets the value? Would that valuation be fair? Would that valuation take into account form? Question marks all round, so I dropped the idea of the value. Far too lazy aswell!

Anyhow, back to the team numbers. Six of the 8 most injured teams played in european competition this season which fits nicely with the theory that the more games a team and it's players play the bigger the likelihood that injuries occur. This is pretty logical stuff, mind. Wigan and Villa may have incurred more injuries due to extended cup runs.

If this theory of the more games played the higher risk there is to incur injuries, then we all need to look at what Chelsea did this season. Chelsea played close to 60 games yet suffered just 81 injuries, over a third of those were due to Romeu's long term knee issue. Luck or skill on Chelsea's part?

Part 2

Injuries Per Game Week

(Click to enlarge)

This is the total number of injuries all 20 teams had on a game week basis. Game week 12 to game week 21 was the peak injury period for Premier league teams.

Immediately before Game week 12 in the Premier League there was a double header of International games. From Game 12 onwards the European teams potentially played 3 European games, 2 FA Cup games and League cup fixtures if needed.

Teams that played in European competitions suffered more njuries. Why? Small samples and all, but the only evidence I have points to injuries becoming more likely the more game time a player plays.

Team Injuries: European Teams And Non-European Teams

Obviously there can be issues with sample size over a single season and luck plays in part in injuries too. This graph paints a pretty clear picture though:play in Europe and you will suffer more injuries. It really is best to ensure you have a big squad to cope with the demands of playing on two major fronts (Tottenham) otherwise these injuries can be costly at the seasons end.

Injuries Per Month

We know about injuries per game week and a little about the frequency of games in all competitions (we need more info though) so let's now break down the injury totals on a monthly basis.

By Chart

By Graph

August, September and October see a gradual build up of injuries. Legs are still fresh, the helter skelter of games in all competitions hasn't yet begun. The three game weeks are coming soon though.

November, December and January, as expected, have a high number of recorded injuries and this is no surprise considering the concentration of games across all competitions.

April is an oddity but I think I cracked the reasons why. From the 7th of April to the 28th of April teams played 5 Premier League fixtures. Five in 21 days will probably take it's toll and that is probably what causes the spike in that Month. The accumulation of games over a long season will, surely, also take it's toll.

Looking over the injury total numbers for the November to January period it becomes difficult not to argue the case for a winter break. No club wants to pay a substantial wage to players who are not able to do their job. Injured players, especially crucial players, cost clubs in terms of performance and points, and thus money. Why clubs and the PFA don't push harder for a winter break in order to protect their players and assets is difficult to grasp.

A front and back loaded league schedule which avoids clashing with the bulk of the the domestic and european cups would surely be a better idea than the current setup. Games could be more evenly distributed across the months, injuries may decline due to this and teams would benefit in the ways already stated. Players may stay healthier, managers can field stronger teams and owners may not be wasting as much money paying injured players.

Seems sensible, so it probably won't happen.

City in the Community: A day with the Blues

2013-05-21T20:20:58Z

I could only get two interviews at the event and, as I'm sure you can imagine, it was tough to get more interviews given their schedules. But, I did get interviews with Dzeko and Razak, which I hope will suffice for this piece and keep you guys reading! This was a great event not only for the community, but for me as well, growing up in a town effected by Sandy, I know the struggles of those closer to water ways. Enjoy!

Event Overview

May 21^st Manchester City arrived at St. Joseph’s by the Sea in Staten Island to do more then just play soccer with local kids. About seven months since the devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to the East Coast, Staten Island community members still look for a sense of normalcy.

City delivered some relief for this community when they arrived Tuesday to kick the ball around with Staten Island United soccer players. As a part of the team’s 2013 USA Tour, Manchester City made a stop in Sandy-ravaged Staten Island to donate a variety of much needed soccer equipment to the Staten Island United Soccer Club. “It was a tragedy, but it is good to see the kids after still happy and playing football,” said Edin Dzeko. The kids may not still feel the full effects of Sandy, but it is certain their parents do, but seeing their children happy is a great escape for those who are suffering. With multiple tragedies happening across the US, sports have given the country an escape, even if only for a moment especially with the recent Boston marathon bombing, and the devastation caused by tornados in Oklahoma. Dzeko said it best “it’s good for them to play a sport.”

Regardless of its appearance, were in dire need for equipment. Through the “City in the community” program, City has worked throughout America to help communities in need, through soccer! This is a great program that, now with a team in the US, City will be able to focus more efforts here and all over the globe.

The event gave the players a flashback to their younger days, and you could tell they were enjoying themselves.

Season:

Of course, everyone wants to know how the players are feeling after a “disappointing” season, and what looms for next season. I only got the chance to interview Edin Dzeko and Abdul Razak, but here’s what I got. Of course, players were not happy about how the season went “It was disappointing because we finished second, and lost in the final of the FA Cup so we aren’t happy, but that’s football,” said Dzeko.

Dzeko has been a hot topic in City camp, especially with changes expected. The Bosnian’s future with the club seems to be dwindling, but he is not focused on that right now. First is national team, we have have one important qualification left, then it’s holiday,” said Dzeko, “Too much talking about that, first national team, then rest, then who knows what can happen.” Obviously, he is not going to say much about this so I wasn’t too surprised by his answers, but I gave it a “college try!”

Razak:

I fell in love today, and that was with Abdul Razak. No mom, it isn’t true love, it is a man crush. He was very talkative, much to my surprise, and I found it a great opportunity to see how he views the managerial changes and how they’ll affect his status with the club. “I worked hard for Mancini to give me my debut…any manager that comes, I will work hard to impress them,” said Razak.

It isn’t only his future that he see’s can improve from the introduction of a new manager, but every young player will have an opportunity to impress the new skipper (Pellegrini). “He will give an opportunity to every single young player for MCFC. It doesn’t matter where you have been, it is important to work hard,” noted Razak.

As a young player, it is hard for some to adjust to the pressure and intensity of an EPL season. Razak has been luck enough to have fellow countrymen (Yaya and Kolo) on the team when he arrived. “I’m always happy with them (Yaya and Kolo), it is nice for me because they help me.” I mean, if you haven’t fallen in love by reading these quotes, I wish I could attach the vocals to this post so I didn’t feel like such a creep, but just trust me.

The news of the New York City FC broke during/after the event and was unable to ask any of the players about what it means for the club. But, in my eyes, it is a great chance for some future employment ;). Seriously though, it will give NYC another professional sports team to get behind, grow soccer in the US and give our youth talent a chance to break into soccer in a middle of the road league.

Stay tuned, more to come on Saturday on a day full of events!

City 2 - 3 Norwich: The Tactics

2013-05-20T21:05:33Z

Before we look at the Norwich result, let’s first take on the small matter of reading the pitch diagrams and understanding the formations. There are three phases of the match that warrant a watch: defensive, transitional and offensive. When a team comes onto the pitch at the start of each match in a 4-4-2 (like City and Norwich on Sunday) or a 4-3-3 (like what Arsenal always plays in) that describes the formation the team will defend in. The offensive zone -- especially in City’s case -- is far too fluid and dynamic to be confined to a strict formation, but in the defensive zone, the more rigid and strict a team is, the better they’ll defend.

The transition phase is simple: how does a team move from the defensive phase to the offensive phase. In City’s case, the transitional phase consists mainly of Yaya carrying the ball forward (exactly like what we saw for Rodwell’s second goal on Sunday), which is one of the primary reasons we can look so disjointed as a team when Yaya is playing poorly. So what happens to a 4-4-2 in the offensive phase? Well for City, the width in attack is provided by the fullbacks (Zabaleta, Clichy, Maicon, Kolarov and Richards when deployed in such a role), allowing the "wingers" to drift inward -- this is especially true for Nasri and Silva who are at their best when moving from a wing to the center of the pitch.

As for the strikers, the second striker (the player who sits just behind the target man, usually Tévez or Agüero) typically drops into the midfield to link up with the deeper players while the target man (on Sunday this was Džeko) remains in line with the opponent’s centre-backs. The arrows on the pitch diagrams represent the shift in a player’s movement or position in the offensive zone from that of the defensive zone. With the logistics covered, it’s time to move on to the fun stuff.

Starting Lineups:

Brian Kidd made five changes from the starting eleven that faced Reading on Tuesday, most notably opting to give Jack Rodwell a rare start in place of Gareth Barry. Edin Džeko and Carlos Tévez were also given starts in what could be their final competitive matches in City shirts. None of Kidd’s changes altered the starting formation as City began in a 4-4-2 with Džeko leading the line.

On the other side, Norwich played in their customary 4-4-2 with the only notable change being the underutilized Steven Whittaker in Sebastian Bassong’s centre-back position. Grant Holt sat at the top of Norwich’s attack, just above Wes Hoolahan.

City’s Double Pivot

With Jack Rodwell being preferred to Gareth Barry, City’s midfield combination was significantly altered. At his best, Rodwell plays as a box-to-box midfielder – not as the defensive shield we almost always see Barry playing. The double pivot in its traditional form uses two central midfielders who alternate in their attacking positions, always leaving one of the two sitting deeper than the other, thus providing defensive support to the two centre-backs. When Barry and Yaya are the central pairing, Barry assumes the defensive role allowing Yaya to storm forward. Today however, Yaya was asked to play deeper (a role he excelled in at Barcelona) and Rodwell took up the attacking position.

The result? An impressive performance from the young midfielder that saw him score his first two goals in a City shirt while continually moving the ball forward through the middle. Rodwell provided the perfect link between the defense and the attack – a performance that must have all blues excited for next season.

Norwich’s Strong Start

Most likely because they were finally free of relegation and their newfound confidence that came from putting four past West Brom at the weekend, Norwich began the match on the front foot. They were sharper and more energetic than us, creating a couple of chances that could’ve seen them go in front very early (as it was they took the lead in the 26’). While City began the match as if it was little more than a mundane postseason friendly, Norwich saw it as an opportunity to play free-flowing, creative football, flooding the wings with continued runs that put early pressure on the home side. Only Tévez began the match with the appropriate energy – something that, for all his faults, we’ve grown quite accustomed to.

City’s Central Defense

With Brian Kidd opting to rest Kompany and Nastasić, Jolean Lescott and Micah Richards began as the City centre-backs – and what a game to forget they had. While Yaya certainly deserves a large amount of blame on the first goal (he sure made a right mess of collecting and clearing the loose ball), it was Lescott who let Hoolahan skip past him and play in Pilkington while Richards was caught ball watching and couldn’t get back in time. On the second goal, Lescott was unable to cut out a smart pass by Snodgrass across the face of Hart’s goal that Grant Holt – left unmarked by Richards and Zabaleta – calmly finished off. The third goal was a bloody mess: Howson skipped past Nasri at the center circle, easily cut through Toure and Rodwell who were spaced too far apart, again skipped past a half-hearted challenge from Lescott, and shrugged off Richards as if he was a schoolboy. Truly awful defending from five different City players at four different points of contact. Fair to say we won’t be saying Richards and Lescott in central defense again…

Samir Nasri’s Influence

Samir Nasri has to be one of the more frustrating players I’ve seen. That combination of talent, laziness and disinterest really is outstanding. When he’s on his game (which to be fair has been most matches since April), he’s one of the best players in the Premier League. I thought he was especially good on Sunday, wanting to be on the ball and dropping quite deep for large amounts of the match to influence the game from a deeper position than he is often wont to do. His passing chart (taken from Stats Zone) proves this better than any words can. More than half of his passes are in the middle third and of his five failed attempts, two were attempted balls into the box. That leaves just three on the day that went astray! This is the player we thought we were buying from Arsenal.

The Importance of Pilkington and Snodgrass

City’s 4-4-2 almost always sees either or both of Silva or Nasri on one of the wings, and due to their creative inclinations and lack of breakneck pace, they tend to quickly drift inside, shrinking the offensive area considerably. This is typically remedied through the offensive runs of our fullbacks, which often forces the opposing team’s wingers to drop deep and help their fullbacks – in this case that should have seen Snodgrass and Pilkington dropping back to support Martin and Garrido respectively. However, Norwich routinely played wide balls out to the wings, allowing Snodgrass and Pilkington to play deep inside the City half which forced Zabaleta and Kolarov to play deeper and safer than they have for most of the season. This made our attack too narrow, only rarely stretching the Norwich defense and pinning their wingers into uncomfortable situations.

The following heat maps (courtesy of ESPNFC.com) show exactly this problem: Kolarov did get forward more often than Zabaleta – although that came mostly in final thirty minutes when City were chasing the equalizer.

City’s Substitutions

The Agüero for Tévez substitution was an obvious like for like change that didn’t alter our play in any considerable way. The Silva for Rodwell change however had a real impact in our formation, moving Nasri even further inside than he had already been drifting, and playing as a central midfielder with an increased involvement on proceedings. He forced City into a quicker tempo that I thought was an important factor in our dominant-without-scoring final 20 minutes.

The Verdict

It’s difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions in a match that really was devoid of meaning (although with United’s draw, a win would have decreased that annoying gap to single digits). Our lack of energy though was a little surprising given our front line was composed of two players who were probably playing their last match at the Etihad, while Lescott too is being rumored to leave in the summer. The obvious positives though are Rodwell’s man of the match performance and Nasri’s influential game – both of which bode well for our future.

The Premier League 2012/13: Margin Of Victory/Margin Of defeat

2013-05-20T08:06:59Z

In the previous post I looked at the Premier league Table by home/away points and home/away goal difference, now I want to look at victories and losses. Specifically, the margins of each of those categories.

As per usual I will break it down on a team by team basis and organize it by victory/loss by 1 goal, 2 goals, 3 goals, 4+ goals.

Margin Of Victory, Margin Of Defeat

Sortable

4+ Goals	3 Goals	2 Goals	1 Goal	Team	1 goal	2 goals	3 goals	4+ Goals
			5	Man United	16	7	2	3
		3	3	Man City	12	7	2	2
		2	5	Chelsea	10	7	3	2
		2	5	Arsenal	9	5	4	3
	1	1	6	Tottenham	14	5	1	1
		2	5	Everton	9	6	1
	1	5	3	Liverpool	6	1	4	5
1	1	4	11	West Brom	8	4	2
1	2	4	7	Swansea	5	3	2	1
1	2	5	8	West Ham	6	4	2
3	2	1	8	Norwich	9			1
1	3	4	9	Fulham	7	1	2	1
1	1	4	8	Stoke	6	3
1	2	4	8	Southampton	3	5	1
3	3	2	9	Villa	6	3		1
3	2	3	11	Newcastle	9	1	1
1	2	4	10	Sunderland	5	1	3
3	4	3	10	Wigan	6	1	2
	5	6	11	Reading	5	1
1	2	6	12	QPR	3	1

Victories

Man United and Tottenham are the teams with by far the most single goal victories in the PL, quite what this means year on tear we don't know. Are goals by the slimmest of margins (1) a repeateable trick?

The flat track bullies: Arsenal and Liverpool registered 7 and 9 victories respectively by margins of 3 goals or more. The next closest team sits on 5,

Norwich look a touch odd on this table, 10 victories, 9 of them by a single goal. Can Norwich's streak of one goal victories at home be repeated, if not, just how much doom awaits them?

Defeats

Whoa, West Brom. The Baggies are in the bottom 6 in the league in losses by a goal.

Man City and Liverpool had the fewest one goal losses this season (3) but neither club could prevent incurring some heavier defeats.

Wigan and Villa were butchered by the big boys at times, with Wigan suffering 7 defeats by 3 or more goals and Villa suffering 6 defeats by 3 or more.

Newcastle suffered 11 1 goal defeats and enjoyed 9 1 goal victories. That is 20 games decided by a single goal, only Tottenham have had as many games decided by a single goal.

Interesting.

The 2012/13 Premier League Table

2013-05-19T22:46:58Z

First up, The Premier League table. With some twists.

The Premier League Table 2012/13

Now, the league table can be found easy enough. You know how to do it, so I am not going to repost it here. In it's stead I have made the chart above. The size of the bubble indicates Total Points.

There is a gap in most statistics between the Big 7 and the rest, the Premier League table is obviously no different. To be a top 7 team it appears you need over 32 home points and above 25 away points. Everton with their crazy good home form and Liverpool with good away form are exceptions to this.

For Liverpool and Everton, two clubs with designs on the top 5, improvement is needed. It is probably fair to say that to crack the top 5 and gain a European place of any kind two things are required: 35 home points and 30 away points. Liverpool fail on the home points test, Everton on the away points test. Both clubs need to improve on a particular aspect of their form.

Down toward the bottom of the table we see QPR and Reading are adrift, Wigan went down on their home form and then we get to the remaining teams. The group of remaining 10 teams accumulated their points in all kinds of ways. Villa stayed up on their away form, West Ham excelled due to their home form, which masked away issues. The rest of the clubs are tightly bunched around each other, with West Brom being a slight exception. The Baggies had tremendous home form, especially early doors, and this masked the 8th worst away form in the league. West Brom really slowed down as the season went on, maybe it was fatigue, or the fact they knew they could neither rise nor fall too far. It will be interesting to see how they cope sans Lukaku.

Goal Difference

This is a sortable table, so play around with it!

Team	Home GD	Away GD	Total GD
Man United	26	17	43
Man City	26	6	32
Chelsea	25	11	36
Arsenal	24	11	35
Tottenham	11	9	20
Everton	16	-1	15
Liverpool	17	11	28
West Brom	7	-11	-4
Swansea	2	-6	-4
West Ham	12	-20	-8
Norwich	5	-22	-17
Fulham	-2	-8	-10
Stoke	-1	-10	-11
Southampton	2	-13	-11
Villa	-5	-17	-22
Newcastle	-7	-16	-23
Sunderland	1	-14	-13
Wigan	-13	-13	-26
Reading	-10	-20	-30
QPR	-15	-15	-30

There is all kinds of info wrapped up in that table.

Tottenham do not have a good GD at home, not as good as you might expect for a team who nearly quaified for the CL on the back of ~~Cristiano Ronaldo~~ Gareth Bale.

Only West Ham and Norwich have a bigger home to away drop in goal difference than Man City do. City were, as they have been in recent years, a very good home team. but City's away form....well, that's for another time.

Everton are another team who were very good at home but nay good away. reading, Norwich and West Ham were butchered away from home. The relegated sides finished with the three worst Home goal difference numbers.

Anyway, play around, look for yourself.

The posts will come thinck and fast in the next few weeks. I apologize in advance.

Micah Richards To Be Offered New 4 Year Deal

2013-05-19T20:47:37Z

Link is here

Any new deal for Richards would tie in nicely with Clichy's recent contract. It has been a trying season for Richards, injury and Zabaletta's form have meant this year can be viewed as a lost season somewhat. The next campaign will be pivotal for Micah, a new manager will be onboard and it will be interesting to see how many games Micah will play with Zabaletta continuing to impress on his march to becoming one of the leagues best right back's.

Micah's League Selection In 2012/13

This is not pretty. Micah missed a lot of time due to that knee injury so we give him a pass there, but this is a wasted season. I think the next two years are very important not just for his future at the club but for his development as a football too.

City 2 - 3 Norwich City: Post Match Thoughts

2013-05-19T19:55:11Z

Growing up in the era when Gonzaga, the Cinderella's of college basketball who had you falling in love each march, I have had a soft spot for the underdogs. Norwich is very similar, as I find it hard not to root for them, but that would obviously change if they were a threat to City's position in the league.

So ends another EPL season and as disappointing it was for City, it wouldn't have been as bad if it wasn't for the expectations of success. Today's result wasn't too much of a surprise since we were just playing to finish a physically and mentally taxing season for our blues.

It was a valiant effort by Jack Rodwell, to get us back level not once but twice. I was extremely happy for Jack getting his first two goals as a City player, and it showed his resiliency after a tumultuous season of injury and, toward the end, snake bitten attempts of breaking through on the score sheet. I hope this is just a snippet of what he can do in an entire season, giving he escapes the imminent axing to take place this summer.

Other than Jack, it was a pretty lack luster performance by the entire team. With a back line that hadn't played together all season (you see where we'd be if they had!), you had to expect the worse especially with the likes of Lolarov in the squad. My hope was that Kidd was just giving those who hadn't played much, a chance to start seeing as the result wouldn't affect our position.

There will be no ratings today because I was on my way home college during the game. I also hope that I didn't scare my fellow travelers as a screamed wildly as Rodwell scored both times.

If you have read this far and are still upset by the season as a whole here's some food for thought. When I became a revived soccer fan seven years ago, and chose City as my team we were the brunt of many jokes. Now, when we draw or lose to teams like Norwich, Wigan and Southampton it is "magical result" for them, and social media explodes with any jab people can take at us. It may take some getting use to, but it's something I wouldn't trade to be in 14th again.

I would like to thank all of the Bitter and Blue readers for their comments and feedback through the second half of the season. And a special shout out goes to my fellow contributors who have written and come up with some great stuff throughout this season, and I can't wait to see what next season has in store for us! BLUE MOON RISING