Newsletter #1786

Well a short edition this evening ahead of the pleasant experience of a 3pm kick off!

Well done to the lads on Tuesday with a splendid win away to Arsenal – our first win there since the season we won the League Cup! With Mario having banged in an overhead goal against Villa, the portents of a revisiting of ’76 look good! Just the small matter of a 2-legger against Liverpool to contend with in the meantime.

Enjoy yourselves and do drop a line for next week’s editions.

MATCH VIEW: Arsenal 0 Manchester City 1

We didn’t get to a semi-final for 29 years then 3 (almost) come together! City’s win over Arsenal at the Emirates (the first at Arsenal since 1975) was a triumph of resilience of the team on the night and the resilience of the City squad itself. It was a thoroughly absorbing contest. So what if both sides were much changed from the regulars? The quality from both teams was immense. The passing was excellent from both sides in a game that was pleasing on the eye. It was very competitive and no quarter was given. The midfield was a battle royale between the duos of feisty Frimpong and Coquelin for Arsenal and de Jong and Hargreaves for City.

If there were any negatives on the night, Nasri did seem rather affected by the Arsenal fans booing him. He’s got to toughen up and either ignore it or thrive on it.

One of the chants from the City fans was:

Van Persie is ours,
Van Persie is ours, you are our feeder club
Van Persie is ours

It was more of a wind up than anyone being arrogant! In any case the Arsenal fans retorted with “Champions’ League… you’re having a laugh”, which kind of brings us down to earth a bit, if that were needed. If we are going to buy another Arsenal player though, and I don’t imagine that Arsenal would countenance this very easily, we should sign that Oxlade-Chamberlain in a jiffy. What a terrific prospect. He’s got Walcott’s skill, and enough of his pace to be a danger, but far more poise on the ball to make him a more potent threat. That Arsène Wenger can certainly spot a player, even if he has selective vision!

Arsenal may have more shots on target, forcing Costel Pantilimon into two excellent first half saves, but it was City who finally found the cutting edge and finish to progress to the next round.

What a goal that was to win the match: a move that extended almost the whole length of the pitch. De Jong nipped in ahead of an opponent near our own byeline and flicked away the ball, which was picked up by Dzeko who advanced down the left at speed, and just before the half way line drove a defence splitting ball that Adam Johnson controlled on the run. Johnno checked, swivelled and played a delightful flick with the outside of his left foot to the on-rushing Agüero who steered home a terrific low finish just inside Fabianski’s left hand post. What a goal! One of the best that I have ever seen by City.

All in it was a good, solid, hard-working performance, which shows our squad’s depth. It was particularly good to see Costel Pantilimon look so assured in goal. Goalkeeping over here is different to any country in the world, given the physicality of our game and the number of crosses that a ‘keeper has to deal with and Costel acquitted himself well.

On one level I’m disappointed that we can’t humiliate Manure again in the League Cup, particularly at Wembley, but overall sense prevails. It was lovely to see Gary Neville’s face after that latest humiliation. Fair play to Palace too. They have some terrific youngsters (Zaha, Clyne etc.) and what a wonder strike that was by Darren Ambrose.

I was fully expecting Liverpool in the draw, especially if the Rags beat Palace, so we will have to do it the hard way. We should be good enough to beat Liverpool if we put our strongest side out but our league meeting with the Scousers on the 3rd January is a more important game. Likewise the home fixture against Tottenham on 22nd of January, especially if Spuds turn out to be our biggest threat for the title. What a wonderful selection conundrum Roberto has? Certainly a more pleasant decision than Joe Royle had in wondering whether to play Craig Russell as a left back, left winger or a striker! How times have changed.

There is no doubt that the League is most important to us. Indeed, Sheikh Mansour has stated that “our main objective is to win the English Premier League”, showing again how in tune he is with City fans. It is great to read his comments again, enthusiastic as ever about City.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/owner-sheikh-mansour-aware-manchester-city-are-prized-scalp-6270291.html

It all makes a nonsense of the ignorant, snide remarks of the Napoli president about the Sheikh getting “bored” with his “plaything”. The fact is that we only see the Sheikh being even committed more to City if that were possible, and his actions (e.g. The Etihad Campus project) as much as his words prove this. Something we are most grateful for.

ARTICLE: LEAGUE CUP STILL IMPORTANT

Mancini has a valid point in that because of fixtures, games pile up.

On the other hand I feel that these other fixtures are helping all the players in the City squad to keep in top form. Against the Gooners we saw a team with a mixture of players from the great squad.

The winning goal was a great goal started by Edin with a through ball to Johnson, who coolly flicked it onto Kun Sergio for a well taken winner!

In Costel Pantilimon, City have a very good ‘keeper who produced some fine saves against the Gooners. Of course Joe Hart is our number one, but can City keep Pantilimon next season? It would be nice to have such a talented ‘keeper as a back up and to play some other games.

The Carling Cup is still important with the final at Wembley!

The semi-finals of the League Cup looks appetizing (as I write this): United or Crystal Palace, Cardiff, Liverpool and City go into the hat for the draw.

I, like many other people across the world, was saddened by the loss of Gary Speed. R.I.P.

AND FINALLY… TOP GEAR

Anyone know where I can buy 2 Mario Chicken Hats?

Xmas is coming and need to get a Mario Chicken Hat!

Help, help!

RESULTS AND TABLE

League table to 30 November 2011 inclusive

                            HOME         AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L   F   A  GD Pts
 1 Manchester City 13  6  0  0 19  3  5  2  0 24  9 11  2  0  43  12  31  35
 2 Manchester Utd  13  5  1  1 19 10  4  2  0 11  3  9  3  1  30  13  17  30
 3 Tottenham H.    12  4  0  1 12  7  5  1  1 14  9  9  1  2  26  16  10  28
 4 Newcastle Utd   13  4  2  0 10  5  3  3  1  9  7  7  5  1  19  12   7  26
 5 Chelsea         13  5  0  2 19 11  3  1  2  9  6  8  1  4  28  17  11  25
 6 Liverpool       13  2  5  0  9  6  4  0  2  8  6  6  5  2  17  12   5  23
 7 Arsenal         13  5  1  1 13  5  2  1  3 13 18  7  2  4  26  23   3  23
 8 Aston Villa     13  3  2  1 10  6  0  5  2  6 11  3  7  3  16  17  -1  16
 9 Everton         12  2  1  3  7  8  3  0  3  8  8  5  1  6  15  16  -1  16
10 Norwich City    13  3  2  2 12 10  1  2  3  7 11  4  4  5  19  21  -2  16
11 QPR             13  1  3  2  5  9  3  0  4  9 15  4  3  6  14  24 -10  15
12 Stoke City      13  3  2  2 10  8  1  1  4  3 15  4  3  6  13  23 -10  15
13 Swansea City    13  3  3  1  8  2  0  2  4  4 14  3  5  5  12  16  -4  14
14 West Brom A.    13  2  1  4  6  9  2  1  3  6 11  4  2  7  12  20  -8  14
15 Fulham          13  1  3  2 11  9  1  3  3  4  7  2  6  5  15  16  -1  12
16 Sunderland      13  1  3  3 10  9  1  2  3  5  6  2  5  6  15  15   0  11
17 Wolves          13  2  1  3  8 10  1  1  5  5 13  3  2  8  13  23 -10  11
18 Bolton Wndrs    13  1  0  6  9 19  2  0  4 10 12  3  0 10  19  31 -12   9
19 Wigan Athletic  13  1  2  3  8 11  1  1  5  4 13  2  3  8  12  24 -12   9
20 Blackburn R.    13  1  0  5  6 13  0  4  3 11 17  1  4  8  17  30 -13   7

MCIVTA FAQ [v1112.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Philip Alcock)         : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour                      : news@mcivta.city-fan.org
Subscriptions (Madeleine Hawkins): subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org
Technical problems (Paul)        : paul@city-fan.org
FAQ (David Warburton)            : faq@mcivta.city-fan.org

[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings by email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page/Twitter

http://www.mcivta.com/ is the unofficial Manchester City Supporters’ home page. Created in 1994, it is the longest running of the Manchester City related web sites. Back issues of MCIVTA are also hosted on the site. You can also follow on www.twitter.com/mcivta to get the latest updates.

[4] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/ and the official club Twitter page at www.twitter.com/mcfc. The club also has a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mcfcofficial

[5] What supporters’ clubs are there?

The Official Supporters’ Club and the Centenary Supporters’ Association have merged to become the Manchester City Supporters’ Club (http://www.mcfcsupportersclub.com/). The club also recognise the Manchester City Disabled Supporters’ Association (http://www.mcdsa.co.uk/).

[6] Where can I find out about Points of Blue?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears on the club website under the “Fans” heading (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Fans).

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

Live match commentary can be found on the club website. The Radio Manchester pre- and post-match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/england/manchester/.

[8] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/ provides a listing of Premier League games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. A useful site for North American viewers is http://msn.foxsports.com/.

[9] Do we have a Usenet newsgroup?

Yes we do: uk.sport.football.clubs.man-city is our home on usenet. If you are not familiar with Usenet, a basic explanation is available here: http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/Usenet

[10] Do any squad members have their own web pages?

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.mcivta.com/players/

[11] Do any squad members have their own Twitter accounts?

A list of genuine player accounts is maintained at http://twitter.com/#!/MCFC/players

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth historical analysis try http://www.mcfcstats.com/.

DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in MCIVTA are entirely those of the subscribersand there is no intention to represent these opinions as being thoseof Manchester City Football Club, nor of any of the companies anduniversities by whom the subscribers are employed. It is not inany way whatsoever connected to the club or any other relatedorganisation and is simply a group of supporters using this mediumas a means of disseminating news and exchanging opinions.

Philip Alcock, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: