Okay, so I knew that with City being at home to Norwich City while
I was on a short break in Edinburgh
Pleasing
It was pleasing to see so many different players on the
score sheet and very pleasing also to have kept a clean sheet ourselves – Hart wasn’t the only Manchester City
It was pleasing to read a text from my mate [who went with
his partner in my place] that we should have had 10; adding that Norwich
Pleasing too is the goal different over the other teams. We
were already near the top of the pack in that respect; Arsenal
are now the closest with +13 to our +17 and Manyoo?
+4 in still in 8th. Just
thought I’d chuck that one in…
Home form reads a very pleasing and impressive…
P W D L F A
5 5 0 0 20 2
… and so "IF ONLY" are the words that scream out when you think of Aston Villa and Chelsea
away. I can’t argue with the Cardiff City
But for the high possession that we had at Villa and then
self-destructing both there and at Stamford Bridge
But enough of ‘what ifs’; in sharp contrast to the previous weekend
we’ve…
- Gained
3 points on
- gained 2 points on Everton, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur and…
- …maintain our points-gap status with Arsenal and Manyoo
That’s a much better weekend…and one we have to follow up
with a potentially tricky tie at one of our least favourite venues down the
years in Sunderland .
It’s another ‘must’ because our only away fixture of the month also sees our
fellow, early challengers ALL with ‘should win’ fixtures:
-
Chelsea
-
Everton are away...but at ‘lost 9 from 10’ Crystal Palace
-
Liverpool at home to a struggling Fulham side
-
A fine-looking Southampton side at home to Hull City
-
Tottenham,
who SHOULD see off Newcastle United on their
own patch
Only the Manyoo v Arsenal game looks more like a fixture where they might
share the spoils and, for me, that would be the perfect result.
I say again though, a win at Sunderland
is a must.
Before all of that…
…is another venture into all things Champions League. It’s another game I’m going to miss; regular readers may recall
that I’m on dog-calming duty that night with it being bonfire night. Great…
A win against CSKA Moscow
and that sees us through already! We could lose the last 2 games at home to Viktoria Plzen and away at Bayern Munich and still go through on the ‘head to head’ rule. If you finish on
the same points as another team, I am reliably informed, it goes off how the 2
games went between those 2 teams. As I say; beat the Russian side tomorrow and
we’re through. (Slight amendment-update: It also goes off goal difference and so although there would still be a chance of CSKA finishing above us even if we win tonight; I think the assumption here [from my source] is that we'll be out of site on that respect too).
Assuming we’re not entertaining the thought of going through
the group stage as group winners ahead of Bayern – and if we do beat CSKA tomorrow – it would be a real boost to our Premier League campaign. Obviously we could then rest
key players ahead of Premier League games. Who knows, perhaps we could even see
some EDS players and perhaps even a recovering John Guidetti get a shot in the ‘big competition’ (assuming
he’s been registered for this stage of course – I dunno to be honest…)
Possible line-up v CSKA:
4-4-2:
___________________Aguero__________
___________Negredo_________________
__________________Toure___________
__________Fernandinho______________
_____________Pantilimon_____________
No real surprises - I think he’ll go for a strong line-up
(apart from Kolarov giving Clichy
V.F.M.
The Manchester Evening News recently did a short but
informative piece; listing the cost and contract lengths of our players.
Forgetting the contract lengths for now, here’s a copy
of what they published:
2013
Jesus Navas
(Sevilla): £14.9m
2012
Jack Rodwell (Everton): £12m
2011
Gael Clichy
Samir Nasri
(Arsenal): £22m
2010
James Milner (Aston
Villa): £26m
2009
Joleon Lescott
(Everton): £22m
Gareth Barry (Aston Villa): £12m
2008
John Guidetti (MCFC Academy
2007
Dedryck Boyata (MCFC Academy
2006
2005
Micah
Richards (MCFC Academy
To add my little bit, here’s
what I think the Value For Money has been on all of those
listed from a score of 0 to 10; baring in mind price paid verses performances /
contribution:
0 – Terrible…..5 –
Average…..10 – What a bargain!
2013
Fernandinho - 5/10
He’s
okay but we could have got better for £30M.
Martin Demichelis - 7/10
Too
early to judge accurately; seems like a quality, experienced addition to the
squad.
Stevan Jovetic - 2/10
So far
anyway, but not his fault; has been injured for the most part. I’m sure he’ll
be a diamond.
Alvaro Negredo - 7/10
And can
only see him getting better…
Jesus Navas - 6/10
Hard to
judge when he’s not played much. For the quality I THINK he has; £14.9M
is a bargain by today’s prices.
2012
Richard Wright - 5/10
Never
played but can’t argue for a highly experienced cover who, no doubt, is
contributing to the coaching side too.
Scott Sinclair - 0/10
Scott
would have suited City in our Pre-Thaksin Shinawatra takeover days. We’ve moved
on massively since then and injuries aside, he was never going to have the kind
of quality required to break into and then sustain a run in the side. It was a
panic buy…and he’s now currently helping to fill the West Bromwich Albion
treatment room…
Costel Pantilimon - 9/10
For the
price, we have a quality keeper who has never let us down whenever asked to
come in.
Javi Garcia - 1/10
He was
always Mancini’s 3rd choice, defensive midfielder and another panic
buy. How he recently gained another cap for Spain
Matija Nastasic - 8/10
The
speed and ease of which Matija settled into Manchester City
Jack Rodwell - 4/10
When
fit Jack as showed some real quality and if he can get over the underlying
issues that are plaguing him; like Nastasic we’ll have a long-term, quality player
on our books…and one who, I’m sure, will shine for England
2011
Gael Clichy
Referring
to Nastasic once again, Gael’s performances this season have been slightly below
his own high standards. It’s only for this reason that he doesn’t get a VFM score
of 9 because, at just £7M; he has been one heck of a player for us.
Sergio Aguero - 9/10
Only
misses out on a VFM score of 10 because of last season’s dip in scoring form.
But he wasn’t alone and this guy oozes quality and determination. I was
literally praying for us to sign him in 2011 and had him as a screen saver in
an Atletico Madrid shirt (I’d never done that before). I then tried it with Falcao more recently but it didn’t work…
Edin Dzeko - 7/10
His
goal return hasn’t been too bad at all and he has scored some very crucial ones
too! Scoring at vital times in vital games has probably nudged him from a 6 to
a 7 because he contribution otherwise can be truly awful, especially when his
head drops, which happens all too often and really bugs me!
Samir Nasri - 7/10
Almost
as bad as with Aguero; I yearned for us to sign this guy – especially as I knew
that plenty of Manyoo fans who wanted him for themselves (and were gutted when
we got him). I saw Samir as a high-quality addition to our already impressive
and creative midfield; a real cherry on the icing-type player. And what a first
season! So the French international only gets a 7 not for the £22M spent but
rather the poor second season and indifferent (but improving) 3rd
season-so-far. Should improve and for that price his VFM could easily hit 8 and
possibly even a 9.
2010
James Milner - 3/10
What a
quandary I was in giving this score. I was quite excited when we first signed
him, as I saw him as a dependable, flexible and all-round strong player to add
to our improving squad – he was ‘different’ to what we had in Yaya and Silva
(and later the incoming Nasri). Then I went through a period of, “What have we
signed here?” He had pace and energy but that was it. He couldn’t pass
particularly well, I didn’t see him as a tackler and he didn’t even wade in
with the odd goal. He was a nailed-on VFM 0/10. But then he improved…and
improved…and improved even more. He is, in my opinion, unlucky not to have
played more games and that, sadly for him, is resonating into this season too;
after a brilliant pre-season I have to add. But despite his vast improvements;
at a whopping (and David Silva-busting) £26M, I just cannot justify giving him
more than a VFM 3.
Yaya Toure - 8/10
At
times languid; at other times devastating. After a few games I was wondering
how on earth this player ever played for the mighty Barcelona Spain
David Silva - 9/10
Nothing
much needs saying really. I can’t pay a higher compliment than saying, “He
makes us tick”. Little injury niggles and spells out with (mostly national
team-related) fatigue, he’d be a VFM 10!
Aleks Kolarov - 0/10
Literally
from the sublime to the ridiculous. To all those who have seem him…”play”
regularly, I say, £16M. That’s sixteen…MILLION…Pounds Sterling. I may have put
0/10 but his VFM should actually read, “OMG”. He cannot tackle, his positional
play is AWFUL, he has no right foot, can’t turn quickly and has very little in
the way of pace. Some would say that he’s really good at free kicks – I would
ask those to make note of who now takes most of our free
kicks (and perhaps why). He’s…okay at them I suppose and
has scored a few beauties. And the best compliment I can give him is that he’s
not terrible when being asked to play left wing. But by no means do those very
weak ‘plusses’ even nudge him up to 1/10 on the VFM scale.
Joleon Lescott - 6/10
Most
like him; I do too…but unfortunately the 2 who don’t appear to agree just
happen to be his previous and current Managers. For me he’d get a higher VFM
rating but he’s just not getting many games and so slips from a 7 to a 6.
Shame.
Gareth Barry - 7/10
Similar
to the James Milner story for me; I was reasonably excited to be getting the England
2008
Vincent Kompany - 9/10
Simply
put, the only reason Vinny doesn’t get a 10 is because of the recent (going
back to the 2012/2013 season) injuries.
Pablo Zabaleta - 10/10
For the
price, this guy is phenomenal. He was good when we got him and has just
improved so much. Like Milner I’m sure, if asked, he could play every game he
has so much stamina – and he’d also run
through brick walls if asked to! A huge compliment is that he has had his
praises sung many a time by a certain Mr Neville.
John Guidetti - Manchester
City
I can’t
put him at a zero VFM rating because he cost us nothing and has been nurtured
through our EDS for many years. He’s also scored bags of goals for our second
string side. Feyenoord then got a whopping 20 goals and several assists from
him in just 23 games (hence the, quite rightly, 10 rating for them)! Then he
got that terrible virus and the rest is a sad
history. Fingers crossed that his Manchester City VFM will improve and soon.
Dedryck Boyata - 6/10
Again,
another one who cost us nothing. And although he’s not played many; I have to
give him one more than John because he has, at least, played some first team
footy. And he’s not bad either…
Joe Hart - 10/10
Recent
critics might want to take a look, at least, at the fact that Joe is the only
one who shares a 10/10 with our Zaba. £100,000?! Excuse me?
Micah Richards - 9/10
Cost us
nowt; has given us so much. How unlucky that he has Pablo in front of him (and
struggles for similar reasons for England
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