Newsletter #1610

Views tonight on the Liverpool game, which was our third draw on the bounce and either a scrappy game or tactical masterpiece depending on your stance.

We also have opinion on ticket prices and Ireland’s drop in form.

Next up the FA Cup replay at Stoke. Let’s hope Mancini and Co. have learned the lessons from the recent two games.

MATCH VIEW I: MCFC 0 LFC 0

For the Benefit of Mr. Kuyt…

No one is claiming that the latest game was a classic and one commentator slated the 0-0 draw with Liverpool as ‘the worst game of the season’. Who cares? It’s the point for City that counts. Some of the media speak and write lies about our club (but more of that later), so they will have their field day after we dared to stand up to a clearly pumped up Liverpool who earned 6 bookings (and should have had more). We had to avoid defeat in this game, so it was a case of mission accomplished. There was too much at stake and neither side could afford to lose. With Tevez unavailable and with Bellamy not quite ready to start, we lacked our best attacking threat, so Mancini had to make sure we were solid, and he succeeded. Our boys can take credit for the way they battled and refused to be intimidated by Liverpool. De Jong and Barry had to be a solid shield in front of a back four that the performed very well indeed. Indeed, we certainly didn’t need to have a third ‘defensive’ midfielder in there. Note Bene Roberto!

On the flanks, Zabaleta and Bridge performed very well indeed: covering, and making blocks with tenacity. Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott look like our best centre back pairing as things stand. It’s early days but it could well be a partnership in the making, and give us that left-foot right-foot combination. Vinny gives us a more commanding presence than the unconvincing Kolo Toure, who really struggles against big, physical centre forwards (to the point that he gave up jumping against Kevin Davies in the Bolton match). As well as this, Kompany and Lescott are both good on the ball, and they should be retained for the next match at Stoke, at very least. What we need to see is consistently good, solid performances, and with competition for places from Toure, Onuoha and Boyata; we have this.

Mascherano really should have had a straight red card (let alone 2nd yellow) for his nasty challenge on Barry. Referee Walton was truly appalling. Is it another case of a referee scared to give decisions against the established ‘big four’? We should also have had a penalty when Skrtel pushed Adebayor in the box. That said, the Scousers should have had a penalty when Benayoun was caught by Kompany’s lunge for the ball. Fair play to the Israeli International and it is much to his credit that he didn’t dive, though his team mates probably won’t be glad handing him. Maybe we can put to bed the myth about foreigners being the divers, especially when you see Gerrard continually throwing himself to the turf, often when he hasn’t been touched. Gerrard should have been off in this game for his diving and for the foul on Lescott, who commendably got straight up and tried to keep Gerrard out of the book for a tackle that deserved a caution.

My main disappointment in this game is that Stephen Ireland continues to disappoint, and did not take his chance to shine here. Why did he not shoot when well placed in the first half? Instead, he inexplicably turned backwards. I hope that he can regain last season’s form but I don’t think Stevie blaming Mark Hughes for not playing him behind the striker is going to help him discover that. Come on, lad, pull it together.

Liverpool’s players know they have serious rivals in City, Tottenham and Villa, and the pressure is starting to get to them. Some of them, though, would do well to stop being arrogant: Mascherano telling us ‘you can buy players, but you cannot buy history’; Kuyt with his childish and ignorant ‘our (Liverpool) history is much bigger’ than City’s. How exactly, My Kuyt do we measure how ‘big’ a history is? Numbers of trips to Grimsby? Trophies? Maybe he’d like to explain to Mike Summerbee or Mike Doyle what he means, and while he’s at it, he may ask them (nicely, mind) if he could have a look at their medals: English Championship, FA Cup, League Cup, European Cup Winners’ Cup. Those historic honours probably took more winning than a solitary Dutch Cup!

Kuyt went on to explain that ‘it is difficult to buy the history of Liverpool’. I know, I know, he’s letting himself in for a load of gags here about car stereos and hookey tyres, but if we were that way inclined, I’d say it’s as good as impossible to buy Liverpool’s history unless someone knows how to bring Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley back to life! For the benefit of Mr Kuyt, I’d say he’d do well to realise that City have a rich history (OK, no trophies for thirty odd years, but history isn’t all about trophies), and history isn’t all about finishing 4th and boring the nation’s pants off as Benitez’s Liverpool have done in recent years. Maybe we should send Kuyt and Mascherano one of Gary James’ excellent books to give them an idea of our history, but on second thoughts, it would probably be wasted on them! Mascherano also amused us with his ‘I certainly don’t want to play for Manchester City’. I tell you something, Senor Mascherano, we don’t need you. We’ve got Nigel de Jong and he can make a clean tackle and doesn’t dive, unlike you! I am glad to say that none of our players made any cheap shots at Liverpool, which is a great club, and still England’s most successful football club (much to Stretford’s chagrin!). It’s a pity for Liverpool that the likes of Kuyt and Mascherano can’t keep their mouths shut, because 1) if it was a wind-up it helped motivate our players further (not that they should need it) and 2) arrogance and ignorance isn’t really the Liverpool way, if ‘history’ is anything to go by. Tellingly there was no such nonsense from Messrs Gerrard and Carragher, who have a greater sense of perspective and know that Liverpool may have problems trying to ‘buy’ players for a better future. Surely, it’s the future rather than the ‘history’ that’s more important? Maybe that’s where Kuyt and Co. are going wrong.

Just one final thought in today’s ‘history’ lesson: here’s a quiz question for you (can you tell I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about this?): in round figures, how many trophies in Liverpool’s ‘history’ have Messrs Kuyt and Mascherano won between them? No conferring now (we have ‘zero’ tolerance for that) .Answers on a postcard to Messrs Kuyt and Mascherano, but only by 2nd class postage, mind.

The trouble with only getting a point against the Scousers is that it has let Tottenham creep past us into 4th place, and Villa have closed the gap as well. Hopefully, City will be more positive when we play Tottenham (whenever that is) as they have more to hurt us with than Liverpool (minus Torres for much of the game) did. Tottenham will come to attack us more than Liverpool did, because they are geared to attack. We need to get in their faces, to hurry them, starting with their defence and break up their play, building ourselves a platform for us to impose our game on them. Hopefully Tevez and Bellamy will be available then as they are the best players for this job. If we are going to play with wingers like SWP and Adam Johnson, Mancini will get the best out of them when they play predominantly on their natural flanks as it will give them a better chance to get to the bye line to get crosses in. Switching wings is an intelligent tactic that gives opposition full backs something else to think about, giving them a different challenge with a player cutting in rather than necessarily going down the outside, but it should be used sparingly.

I was delighted with the battling spirit shown by the players and encouraged by Gareth Barry’s words, which shot down the nonsense in the media about player unrest. How do muck rakers like Daniel Taylor in the Guardian get away with it? There is no major rift between Bellamy and Mancini either. Bellamy is opinionated and always had plenty to say to Mark Hughes. Hughesie took it on board, and who is to say that Mancini isn’t doing the same? Mancini and Bellamy had a difference of opinion but it has been blown out of proportion and is not a major problem here.

I have to say, though, that I was disappointed with Mancini’s comments expressing frustration about Tevez being in Argentina. Whilst we do need Tevez, Mancini should not be revealing any aspect of private conversations with his player and he needs to understand that it is not just about his baby that was born prematurely. Mancini would do well to reflect that Tevez’s wife might need him for longer to help settle. Sorry, Roberto, some things are more important than Football. Family comes first.

MATCH VIEW II: MCFC 0 LFC 0

Let me start with a positive: a draw is better than to get beaten.

This game was played by two teams that did not want to lose, and both teams that looked like they didn’t want to win ether. What a tedious game to watch.

The best chance during the whole game and by both teams was a great effort from Adebayor who brought out a great save from Pepe Reina in the Liverpool goal.

Kompany and Lescott played well together in the central defence, and I hope they will be the ones chosen for future games.

My man of the match goes to Paplo Zabaleta, who continually tried to get the team to go forward; he would get knocked down by a Liverpool player and get right back up to fight for the cause. Tiger Nigel came close again with his non-stop running and tackling.

Superman turned up in his Clark Kent suit, and never played like Superman; he is off form, and for so many games now. I have been thinking that it might have been because of Vieira being brought into the team. Vieira, who has been a fantastic player whilst with the Gooners, is now a shadow of his past, and I don’t think that the team will miss him for the three banned games.

I do hope that the FA review the foul by Mascherano on Barry when he could have broken his ankle with his reckless tackle. Liverpool ended up with six yellow cards; the club could be fined for so many yellow cards in one game.

With Toure on the bench, the captain’s armband was given to goalkeeper Shay Given. I am one who likes to see a player who can be a leader on the pitch; how can a goalkeeper be that player? At least it was better than Toure.

Spurs and Villa have been showing their form in recent games and unless City play to win games they will overtake City for a fourth place finish in the Premier League. Today we missed Tevez – that stood out. City should not have to depend on him with so many stars in the squad.

Next Wednesday another game versus Stoke. I think that Mancini has a plan to win this game: in a penalty shoot out.

Come on you Blues!

MATCH VIEW III: MCFC 0 LFC 0

Well the boys turned up to play huh! Unlike a lot of the media saying it was a ‘bore draw’, I thought a little differently. Some vicious tackles, plenty of passion from both sides and a point shared and six yellow cards dished out by an even more inept referee than the Stoke game.

Zab (man of the match) had a super game, closely followed by de Jong and Kompany (who has to stay at CB). The only downside (other than the loss of two points) was that we looked toothless without Tevez and Bellamy. A memo to Ireland: stop blaming Hughes for your form slump, and start playing like we know you can.

All in all would have taken a point before the game, but instead of taking points off the top four, we need to take points off the bottom four.

And for those who go back a decade, Chris Greenacre scored for the Wellington Phoenix in their Hyundai League semi-final win against Perth Glory. The Phoenix has well and truly risen!

OPINION: LIVERPOOL GAME I

No Score Bore or Fascinating Tactical Battle?

If ever there was a game to divide opinion it was the weekend’s City vs. Liverpool ‘no score bore’. The press hated it, Match of the Day hated it, and judging by many of the posts on the comments pages, many of the City fans hated it too. “We pay our money to be entertained and that wasn’t entertainment.”

As the dark sheep of a Liverpool supporting family who has been watching City for 40 years, I took my 3 kids to this one in the vain hope that my youngest son (who claims to be a Liverpool fan) could be persuaded to join his sister in the Blue half of the family, rather than follow the lead of his older brother who I failed to convert in 2001 when Liverpool won a hat trick of trophies while we were being relegated from the Premiership (again).

It was my youngster’s first match at the City of Manchester Stadium, in fact only the second live game he has attended (the first being the 0-0 draw England played out with Macedonia – maybe he was the jinx?) but the discussion on the way home proved that he had not been persuaded by the finer points of the beautiful game, as a lack of goals to an 11 year old equates to a lack of entertainment.

On the assumption that not all the comments posted on the various blogs are from 11 year olds, and with respect to my fellow City fans, I think a sense of perspective is needed here. Yesterday was a tactical battle the likes of which I have not seen played out by Manchester City since I have been watching them. Well I guess you could say my early years watching Allison’s sides counted as seeing a master tactician at work, although I suspect this is looking back through blue tinted spectacles given that this was the man who sold Peter Barnes and Gary Owen to bring in such luminaries as Michael Robinson and Steve Daley, and whose best known quote is “a lot of hard work went into this defeat”.

I have seen such tactical battles played out between Mourinho and Ferguson or Benitez and Wenger, and this is surely the point. The so called top 4 have not maintained this position by luck, they are the best tactical Managers, and most successful Managers start at the back and move forward (as the old cliché goes). So we move from Hughes, 18 goals conceded in his last 9 Premier League games, to Mancini, 6 goals conceded in first 9 Premier League games. As it happens, only scoring 1 goal less (15 compared to 16) and even that would probably be on a par if Tevez had not gone AWOL. Or should that be AWL?

Now I have to agree that watching the team over the past few weeks has been turgid stuff. We certainly now look like an organised team who knows what to do when we haven’t got the ball; we just seem to be a bit unsure what to do when we get it! But hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Personally I’ll wait a little longer before passing judgement. Unfortunately, I fear my younger son is now going to be the new black sheep of the family and support Tottenham or Aston Villa!

OPINION: LIVERPOOL GAME II

Not the best of games but one person stood out on the pitch: referee Peter Walton for what is probably the worst and most abject performance I have ever had the misfortune to witness. He was unbridled s**te and the arrogance of the buffoon as he waltzed around the pitch was breathtaking.

I am given to understand that he should technically have retired at the end of last season… well by God he bl**dy well should have done! I never want to see this idiot referee a Man City game again and I would love to see the assessor’s report on his mishandling of the match.

City had a nailed on penalty when Adebayor was blatantly pushed in the 2nd half and when Barry was fouled and injured Wally Walton just stood posturing 40 yards away not even bothering to come and see the injured player. The man is a disgrace and should be put down and, in so doing, put all football fans out of the misery of seeing this prat ever again.

OPINION: STOKE GAME

Like everyone else that was at Stoke for the league game, yes I agree it was a shocker. But let’s not get carried away here, whenever are Stoke renowned for being involved in an exhibition match?

They play it ugly and you have to win (or in our case draw) ugly. Better teams than City have, and will, fail to get a result at their place. As for were we lucky to get a draw of course we weren’t! For the vast majority of the match, Wiley and the linesman on our left touchline were very much in favour of the home team. Any time Fuller ended up on the seat of his pants, they got a free kick. Wiley didn’t even want to give a free kick for the foul that brought the eventual sending off!

Much has been made of the disallowed goal and yes it should have been disallowed. Why? Because as anyone there will have seen, Wiley gave a free kick for a foul by Adebayor on their ‘keeper for an absolute identical challenge earlier in the second half and so he couldn’t possibly have allowed the Stoke goal to stand.

Whilst we are by no means in the best of form, we are still in the FA Cup and 4th in the race for Champions’ League places although that could fall apart if Pompey are wound up on the 1st March so here’s to hoping that all goes well and they survive that court case!

Anyway, bring on the Scousers and let’s cement our place in the top 4!

Keep the faith.

OPINION: RIP OFF MERCHANTS

Alex Channon is right to complain about the Fulham ticket rip-off but we should be aware of the ‘people who live in glass houses’ maxim.

I went to book a ticket for the Liverpool game and we are charging £46! For me personally, having to travel from Cumbria on the OSC coach, the total cost of that game will be over £80 when travel costs and the pie and a pint are included.

The club can be excellent when it comes to trying to fill the ground for cup matches but it seems we are just as capable as any other club of ripping-off supporters when the club can get away with it.

OPINION: SUPERMEN

Whilst the confusion over the effects of Kryptonite on Superman seems to be resolved, I am still struggling with political correctness gone mad. The arguments about Tevez being right to attend his child’s birth were excellently made but the idea that keeping a father from attending the birth is in any way similar to keeping a mother away from the birth is too weird to forget yet no one else has commented on it.

Strange to see the daggers out for Mancini so early, especially after Hughes’ defenders were quick to highlight the position we were in when he left. It seems to be assumed that a couple of poor performances were deliberately planned by the manager. We were awful, but I assume it is a glitch rather than a game plan. Still, healthy debate is what makes this so worthwhile.

On Tuesday 16th Colin Mayers of Blacon, Chester died after a hideously prolonged battle with cancer. He would have been 44 next week. He left an 11 year old daughter. Colin was an incredible human being and a true Blue and has left a massive hole in this world. I don’t think he subscribed to MCIVTA, but he deserves a mention as a true and loyal Blue. Anyone who knew him was truly privileged.

OPINION: MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Keith, if you are going to criticise a ref get the name right! Martin Atkinson was the ref when we played United at Old Trafford, not Alan Wiley.

We were desperately bad at Stoke. Adabayor, Toure and Vieira must go; if they were not good enough for Arsenal, they are not good enough for us. Why oh why are we buying all these ‘has been’ players? It is becoming annoying and tiresome.

RESULTS

21 February 2010

Blackburn Rovers      3 - 0  Bolton Wanderers      23,888
Aston Villa           5 - 2  Burnley               38,709
Fulham                2 - 1  Birmingham City       21,758
Manchester City       0 - 0  Liverpool             47,203
Wigan Athletic        0 - 3  Tottenham Hotspur     16,165

20 February 2010

Everton               3 - 1  Manchester United     39,448
Arsenal               2 - 0  Sunderland            60,083
West Ham United       3 - 0  Hull City             33,971
Wolverhampton Wndrs   0 - 2  Chelsea               28,978
Portsmouth            1 - 2  Stoke City            17,208

League table to 21 February 2010 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea         27 12  1  0 39  8  7  3  4 24 14 19  4  4  63  22  41  61
 2 Manchester Utd  27 11  1  1 36  8  7  2  5 27 16 18  3  6  63  24  39  57
 3 Arsenal         27 11  1  2 38 14  6  3  4 25 16 17  4  6  63  30  33  55
 4 Tottenham H.    27  8  2  3 28  8  5  5  4 20 18 13  7  7  48  26  22  46
 5 Manchester City 26  9  4  0 30 14  3  6  4 18 19 12 10  4  48  33  15  46
 6 Liverpool       27  9  2  2 31 11  4  4  6 12 16 13  6  8  43  27  16  45
 7 Aston Villa     26  7  5  2 23 10  5  4  3 14 11 12  9  5  37  21  16  45
 8 Everton         26  7  5  2 23 17  3  3  6 15 20 10  8  8  38  37   1  38
 9 Fulham          27  9  2  3 21  9  1  5  7 11 20 10  7 10  32  29   3  37
10 Birmingham City 26  6  5  2 12  8  4  2  7 13 20 10  7  9  25  28  -3  37
11 Stoke City      26  6  4  3 19 14  2  6  5  7 15  8 10  8  26  29  -3  34
12 Blackburn R.    27  8  4  2 21 12  1  3  9  8 31  9  7 11  29  43 -14  34
13 West Ham United 26  5  4  4 23 20  1  5  7 12 20  6  9 11  35  40  -5  27
14 Sunderland      26  5  5  2 19 14  1  3 10 13 30  6  8 12  32  44 -12  26
15 Wigan Athletic  26  3  5  5 11 18  3  2  8 15 34  6  7 13  26  52 -26  25
16 Wolves          26  4  3  7 10 19  2  3  7 11 25  6  6 14  21  44 -23  24
17 Hull City       27  5  5  3 18 20  0  4 10  7 34  5  9 13  25  54 -29  24
18 Bolton Wndrs    26  3  5  5 17 23  2  3  8 12 26  5  8 13  29  49 -20  23
19 Burnley         26  6  4  2 17 12  0  1 13 10 43  6  5 15  27  55 -28  23
20 Portsmouth      26  3  2  8 16 20  1  2 10  5 24  4  4 18  21  44 -23  16

MCIVTA FAQ [v0910.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour (Alex Rowen)         : news@mcivta.city-fan.org
Subscriptions (Madeleine Hawkins): subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org
Technical problems (Paul)        : paul@city-fan.org
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[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

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?

Manchester City FC recognises three supporters’ clubs: The “Official Supporters Club” (http://www.mcfcosc.com/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.mancitycsa.com/) and “The International Supporters’ Club”.

[6] Where can I find out about Points of Blue (formerly the Fans’ Committee)?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears on the club website as a minor entry under “Fans Zone”.

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

The Radio Manchester (née GMR) pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/sport/manchester_city/index.shtml.

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found at http://mcfc.videoloungetv.com/do/preLogin?clubSiteCode=MCFC&CMP=AFC-003.

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

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premiership games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer, http://www.soccertv.com/, and http://www.livesoccertv.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://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213262,00.html

[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] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth 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.

Heidi Pickup, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: