Man City Report - Derby Win & Not Much Else

Following the second international break of the season, Man City had seven matches from mid-October through early November before their next international break: four EPL matches, two UEFA Champions League group stage matches, and one Capital One Cup match.

In the first of those seven matches, Man City picked up where they left off in the EPL with a 4-1 win at home over Tottenham thanks to four goals by striker Sergio Aguero.  Man City's Champions League struggles continued with a 2-2 tie on the road against CSKA in an empty stadium on a shaky late penalty for CSKA. The match was played in an empty stadium because of racist chants fans sang at previous matches.  Unfortunately Man City's struggles in the Champions League spilled over into their EPL form with a 2-1 road loss to West Ham.  Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse, October ended in horrid fashion as Man City crashed out of the Capital One Cup with a 2-0 loss at home to Newcastle.  Thankfully November started out better than October ended as Man City beat Man United 1-0 at home against a 10-man United side that deserved to lose the first Manchester Derby of the 2014-15 season.  Those positive vibes could NOT carry over to the Champions League as Man City lost 2-1 at home to CSKA to put their hopes of advancing to the knockout phase of the Champions League on life support as they finished the match with nine guys after midfielders Fernandinho and Yaya Toure were both given red cards.  Man City tied QPR 2-2 on the road in the EPL in their final match before the third international break of the season.

Following their most uneven set of matches in over a calendar year, here are my updated player rankings for Man City:

2014-15 Player Rankings 2.0

1. Sergio Aguero (F, LR 2) 2. Vincent Kompany (D, LR 3) 3. Yaya Toure (M, LR 1)  4. David Silva (M, LR 4)  5. Pablo Zabaleta (D, LR 5) 6. Edin Dzeko (F, LR 7) 7. Samir Nasri (M, LR 6) 8. Joe Hart (GK, LR 9) 9. James Milner (M, LR 11)  10. Jesus Navas (M, LR 10) 11. Aleksandar Kolarov (D, LR 15) 12. Fernandinho (M, LR 8) 13. Stevan Jovetic (F, LR 13)  14. Fernando (M, LR 12) 15. Eliaquim Mangala (D, LR 14) 16. Gael Clichy (D, LR 16) 17. Martin Demichelis (D, LR 17) 18. Bacary Sagna (D, LR 19)  19. Willy Caballero (GK, LR 18) 20. Dedryck Boyata (D, LR 21)  21. Matija Nastasic (D, LR 20) 22. Scott Sinclair (M, LR 22) 23. José Ángel Pozo (M, LR 23) 24. Sinan Bytyqi (M, LR 24) 25. Frank Lampard (M, LR 25) 26. Richard Wright (GK LR 26)

1) Sergio Aguero (F, LR 2): So far this season Aguero has 12 of Man City's 22 EPL goals and no one else scored more than two EPL goals.  I am not sure what the NBA Jam equavalent of "on fire" is in soccer but whatever it is, that is what Aguero is right now.  In fact if Aguero fails to score in the EPL, Man City usually loses.  Take Man City's four EPL matches discussed above: 4-1 win over Tottenham (four Aguero goals), 2-1 lose to West Ham (zero Aguero goals), 1-0 win over Man United (one Aguero goal), and 2-2 tie with QPR (two Aguero goals).  I never thought I would love a Man City forward from Argentina more than Carlos Tevez but Aguero's flair for the dramatic goals throughout his Man City tenure (remember his 2011-12 EPL title clincher against QPR!?!?!) OFFICIALLY makes him my favorite Man City forward from Argentina of all time.

9) James Milner (M, LR 11): I've long hailed defender Pablo Zabaleta as the most versatile player on the roster despite the fact that he only plays right outside back for Man City because of how well he defends and seamlessly counters-attacks.  Milner's performances so far this season is giving Zabaleta a run for his money given that Milner lined up at every midfield position and even played right back in a pinch earlier this season.  Other than Milner's impressive work rate there is nothing else that stands out about his game as exceptional but that alone gets him well deserved appearances for Man City even though there are many more technically skilled passers and finishers that could line-up ahead of him in the midfield for Man City.  Milner's contract runs out at the end of the season.  I hope Man City are able to retain his services because if Milner leaves not only would it be on a free transfer but Man City would also be forced to spend roughly $25 to $30 million in the open market to get a versatile midfielder like Milner.

12) Fernandinho (M, LR 8): I found the Fernando signing over the 2014 Summer Transfer Window curious.  Sure that signing looked like a straight replacement for Javi Garcia but Fernando's presence made me worry about Fernandinho's spot in the team.  Fernandinho started the season slow following an emotionally and physically draining World Cup Cup in his home country of Brazil.  Thankfully Fernandinho looked more like himself as of late till he was sent off in the Champions League against CSKA.  Last season Fernandinho and Yaya Toure formed one of the most dynamic central midfield tandems in club history but that spark has just not been there this season.  Each guy deserves some blame for the tandem's collective dip in form.  It certainly will be interesting to see how the duo performs in the next couple months given all the fixtures in such a short period of time.  If the tandem struggles, look for Fernando to move ahead of Fernandinho.

21) Matija Nastasic (D, LR 20): Apparently Nastasic is NOT in Man City's long-term plans, which is a shocking fall from grace for Nastasic given that Man City paid Fiorentina roughly $20 million for his services in the 2012 Summer Transfer Window and they signed him to a five-year contract that runs through the 2016-17 EPL season.  Unless Nastasic is a locker room cancer, it makes no sense to me for Man City to give up on Nastasic given that he is still just 21 years old.  I know Nastasic has been perpetually injured during his Man City tenure and is currently 4th on the central defender depth chart behind Kompany, Demichelis, and Mangala but young defenders like Nastasic are hard to find.  In fact they are valued so much by clubs that Man City paid $50 million for Mangala's services this summer.  If healthy, I say give Nastasic some FA Cup starts.  Worst case, you pump up his transfer value.  Best case, you rediscover the central defender you thought your purchased a couple years ago to give Man City some much needed depth at central defender for the first time in a very long time.

Man City has a ton of matches from mid-November through mid-January so make sure to check back for my next Man City Report once Man City's fate in the group stage of the Champions League is decided in mid-December.

Man City Report - January Transfer Window Closes With a Whimper

After Manchester City spent over £90 million on four players in the summer transfer window, I thought chances were very low that City would spend as much in the the January transfer window.  Still when the January transfer window opened, I implored City to target younger, long-term acquisitions with not a very expensive price tag to inject some young legs into their squad since they are chasing four trophies.  City did not follow that strategy given that they did not purchase a single player.  Instead, City either released (22-year old midfielder Abdisalam Ibrahim) or loaned out (forward Harry Bunn to Huddersfield Town, midfielder George Evans to Crewe Alexandra, midfielder Emyr Huws to Birmingham City, striker John Guidetti to Stoke City, and midfielder Albert Rusnak to Birmingham City) a number of their younger players.

Player Rankings

1. Yaya Toure (M, LR 1) 2. Vincent Kompany (D, LR 3) 3. Sergio Aguero (F, LR 2) 4. David Silva (M, LR 5) 5. Alvaro Negredo (F, LR 4) 6. Jesus Navas (M, LR 7) 7. Fernandinho (M, LR 6) 8. Pablo Zabaleta (D, LR 12) 9. Joe Hart (GK, LR 11) 10. Edin Dzeko (F, LR 9) 11. Samir Nasri (M, LR 9) 12. Gael Clichy (D, LR 13) 13. Aleksandar Kolarov (D, LR 14) 14. Stevan Jovetic (F, LR 17) 15. James Milner (M, LR 15) 16. Matija Nastasic (D, LR 10) 17. Javi Garcia (M, LR 16) 18. Joleon Lescott (D, LR 18) 19. Micah Richards (D, LR 19) 20. Jack Rodwell (M, LR 20) 21. Martin Demichelis (D, LR 22) 22. Dedryck Boyata (D, LR 21) 23. Costel Pantilimon (GK, LR 23) 24. Alex Nimely (F, LR 26) 25. Erik Johansen (GK, LR 27) 26. Marcos Lopes (M, LR N/A) 27. Richard Wright (GK, LR 25)

City were linked to the Porto pair of central defender Eliaquim Mangala and central midfielder Fernando.  Instead of purchasing what might have been two pieces of the club's spine for the next decade, City purchased an entire soccer club.  After purchasing New York City FC as an expansion MLS team set to join the league in 2015 less than a year ago, City purchased Melbourne Heart FC in Australia.  That means City now owns teams on three continents.  It looks like New York City FC and Melbourne Heart FC could be dumping grounds future homes to current City players with expensive wages that are no longer useful to City given that the MLS allows three "Designated Players" and the A-League allows one "Marquee Player".  That means the likes of Gareth Barry and Joleon Lescott could be on their way to the United States or Australia in the January transfer window next year.

City manager Manuel Pellegrini was named Barclays Premier League manager of the month in January but unfortunately he has no chance of winning that same honor in February following City's 1-0 home loss to Chelsea.  With Fernandino injured, Pellegrini started Martin Demechelis in central midfield alongside Yaya Toure against Chelsea, which almost seemed like an April Fools joke when I saw the starting 11 announced.  Pellegrini had a healthy James Milner, Jack Rodwell, and Marcos Lopes on the bench.  I favored starting Milner, Rodwell, or Lopes over Demechelis.  That also shows you how much City missed out by not purchasing Fernando in the January transfer window.  City's loss to Chelsea snapped their perfect record to start the Premier League at The Etihad and their 20-game unbeaten streak.

City is showing some financial discretion in order to conform with the Financial Fair Play rules.  That makes sense long-term because City lost £197.5 in 2011, £97.9 million in 2012, and £51.6 million in 2013.  City's owners have deep enough pockets to float the losses just discussed without thinking twice but City still need to get their books balanced in the next 12 months or they risk being banned from Champions League play.  While City's inactivity in the January transfer window makes sense long-term, it clearly will have a negative short-term impact on their pursuit of four trophies this season.

Man City Report - City in 2nd Place in EPL as January Transfer Window Opens

There are a ton of fixtures compressed into a very short period time in the EPL from the beginning of December through New Years Day that go a long way towards determining how the table looks at the end of the season.  As such, I tried to live-tweet via @CheeseheadSN as many EPL matches for Manchester City as possible through today that I aggregated in #TweetBeat post.

I was unable to live-tweet any of City's first three matches in December: 3-0 home victory over Swansea, 3-2 road victory over West Brom, and 1-1 tie on the road versus Southampton.  I made up for that by live-tweeting City's 6-3 thumping for Arsenal at home and City's 4-2 win over Fulham on the road.  City beat Liverpool 2-1 on Boxing Day but Cheesehead Chick and I were traveling back from celebrating Christmas with In-Law Cheese so I had to catch the match on tape delay, which precluded me from live-tweeting that match.  I made up for that by live-tweeting City's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at home and City's 3-2 win over Swansea on the road.

With all of those fixtures in the bag, City does not play a league match until January 11th when they travel to Newcastle to face my buddy Uncle Patty's favorite club.  Up until a few years ago City was not a very attractive destinations for big name players and usually did not even have the resources to make a run at quality players during the January transfer window even if players were interested in joining City.  I remember previous January transfer windows when purchasing winger Nery Castillo for $6 million from Shakhtar Donetsk felt like a huge acquisition.  Those are the kind of moves that City would not even spend a second considering this season given the quality of their roster and financial resources.

Despite the fact that Mike Tyson has never heard of City, the rest of the soccer world knows about City and many quality players would love the chance to play for a club that has gone from "the other club in Manchester" to one of the biggest clubs in the world in just a handful of years.  I do not expect City to make a ton of big moves given that they made four large acquisitions before the start of the season.  If anyone was going to leave City, the most likely candidates are midfielder Jack Rodwell and striker Edin Dzeko since both players would start for most EPL clubs but have a hard time getting regular first team action for City.

Given City's deep pockets, they have the resources to purchase almost any player in the world but with the Financial Fair Play rules coming into force in 2015, which in layman's terms means clubs will have to balance the books by 2015, City should shy away from big-money transfers.  If City are going to purchase any players they should target younger, long-term acquisitions with not a very expensive price tag such as AC Milan striker M’Baye Niang (valued at roughly $10 million) or Villarreal central defender Mateo Musacchio ($75 million out clause but is only valued at a fractions of the out clause).

With all of that background out of the way, here are my updated rankings and player thoughts for City's current roster:

Player Rankings

1. Yaya Toure (M, LR 2) 2. Sergio Aguero (F, LR 1) 3. Vincent Kompany (D, LR 4) 4. Alvaro Negredo (F, LR 3) 5. David Silva (M, LR 5) 6. Fernandinho (M, LR 9) 7. Jesus Navas (M, LR 6) 8. Samir Nasri (M, LR 7) 9. Edin Dzeko (F, LR 8) 10. Matija Nastasic (D, LR 10) 11. Joe Hart (GK, LR 12) 12. Pablo Zabaleta (D, LR 11) 13. Gael Clichy (D, LR 13) 14. Aleksandar Kolarov (D, LR 14) 15. James Milner (M, LR 17) 16. Javi Garcia (M, LR 19) 17. Stevan Jovetic (F, LR 20) 18. Joleon Lescott (D, LR 15) 19. Micah Richards (D, LR 18) 20. Jack Rodwell (M, LR 21) 21. Dedryck Boyata (D, LR 23) 22. Martin Demichelis (D, LR 22)  23. Costel Pantilimon (GK, LR 16) 24. John Guidetti (F, LR 24) 25. Richard Wright (GK, LR 25) 26. Alex Nimely (F, LR 26) 27. Erik Johansen (GK, LR 27)

1) Yaya Toure (M, LR 2): Thanks to scoring the second goal in a 3-2 victory on the road against Swansea City, Toure became the first City midfielder to score 10 goals for the club in the EPL.  Toure was going to reclaim the top spot in my most recent rankings because striker Sergio Aguero suffered against Fulham that will keep him out at least a month but even if Aguero was healthy, unless he had a huge scoring binge, Toure would have reclaimed the top spot anyhow.

6) Fernandinho (M, LR 9): It only took four months for Fernandinho and Toure to look like they've been playing together their entire careers.  Add in that Fernandinho found the back of the net the last few matches, if this run of form continues for Fernandinho and Toure, I think we are looking at the best central midfield pairing in the EPL and possibly all of Europe.

11) Joe Hart (GK, LR 12): Once Hart got his starting job back from Pantilimon, he never looked back. Hart made a number of big saves against Liverpool to keep City in the match and had to get stitches below his left eye following City's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace after suffering a nasty kick to the face.

15) James Milner (M, LR 17): If striker Edin Dzeko is the super-sub up top, Milner is becoming the super-sub in the midfield for City.  Although it has not directly resulted in many second half goals, when Milner enters matches, he routinely works the opposing midfield that is gassed from City's potent midfield.

I hope that everyone is having a great start to 2014.  If City do in fact make any significant moves in the January transfer window, make sure to check for my full coverage in this space.

#TweetBeat - City beats Fulham at Craven Cottage

Much like I did last week for Manchester City's thrilling 6-3 victory over Arsenal, here are my real-time thoughts on City's 4-2 road victory over Fulham on the road at Craven Cottage:

Questionable free kick for @21LVA pounded home by @Toure_yaya42 on yet another amazing free kick by him to put #mcfc up 1-0 over #fulham
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

Free kick by @21LVA centered back by @demichelisok and finished by @VincentKompany to put #MCFC up 2-0 over #Fulham after 45 minutes.
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

Deserved goal for #Fulham as they pull back one on #MCFC to make it 2-1.
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

Makes sense to add @Navitas7 in place of @EdDzeko to give #mcfc a boost against #fulham with the score line 2-1 in favor of #mcfc
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

Nightmare freakish own goal by @VincentKompany makes the scoreline 2-2 between #mcfc and #fulham. Hang on for a nervy final 20 minutes.
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

@JM7Foundation is the only other #MCFC player worthy of getting in this match, not sure it was worth taking out @SamNasri19 against #fulham.
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

Great through ball by @21LVA for Jesus Navas to finish five-hole on @M_stekelenburg to give #mcfc a 3-2 lead over #fulham
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

Oh my god, what a ball by @_AlvaroNegredo_ to @JM7Foundation for a clinical finish to ice the match 4-2 for #mcfc over #fulham
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

@21LVA makes way for @javigarcia06 as #MCFC will ice a nice road victory over #fulham to set-up a huge boxing day match against #Liverpool
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

Great 4-2 victory for #mcfc over #fulham on the road, @JoeHart played well despite "giving up" 2 goals since neither were his fault.
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) December 21, 2013

City has seven matches (six in the EPL and one in the FA Cup) between Boxing Day and the close of the January transfer window.  With a full slate of EPL matches in a condensed window, City hosts Liverpool to start the make-or-break portion of their EPL schedule in hopes of winning the EPL for the second time in three seasons.  Check back over the next few weeks for full coverage of arguably the most exciting portion of the EPL calender.

Man City lose 2013 FA Cup Final to Wigan

Rumors swirled before the start of the 2013 FA Cup Final that even if Manchester City beat Wigan, current Málaga manager Manuel Pellegrini would replace current City manager Roberto Mancini.  City lost 1-0 to Wigan, a side that will most likely be relegated from the EPL, so there is almost no chance Mancini will retain his job.

I had hoped to be writing a retro-diary of City defeating lowly Wigan but after City's demoralizing loss I could only muster up giving a recap of all the tweets I sent during the 2013 FA Cup Final:

I love Gus Johnson but he has to temper his excitement, every scoring chances doesn't mean he has to start screaming. #2013FACupFinal
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

Close calls but probably the right no calls on the two potential penalties. #facup
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

Finally #mcfc comes to life with their first real scoring chance of the match, great kick save Hextall-style to keep it 0-0. #facup
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

Shocked no PK was give to #wigan, looked like @pablo_zabaleta took down Espinoza in the box. #wigan clearly the better side right now #facup
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

Entertaining first half of #facupfinal tied 0-0, #wigan was slightly better than #mcfc. Hope to see Milner in & Barry out to start 2nd half.
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

Good start to 2nd half for #mcfc but still time to get Milner in the mix at the expense of either Barry or Nasri. #facupfinal
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

Not too sure if @aguerosergiokun could have gotten to that ball, looked like a dive on the replay, but he almost "earned" a PK for #mcfc
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

#wigan looks the better side in the 69th minute, #mcfc needs to pick things up. Rodwell enters for Tevez, horrible decision by Mancini.
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

With 10 minutes left, #mcfc is starting to look more confident and #wigan looks like they are on their back foot a bit. #facupfinal
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

That might have been a straight red on @pablo_zabaleta actually, #mcfc down to 10 men.
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

And Mancini is looking for a new employer as #mcfc goes down 1-0 in stoppage time on a header from #Wigan substitute Watson #facupfinal
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

Hate zonal marking on corner kicks and Watson's goal shows why. #facupfinal
— CheeseheadSportsNut (@CheeseheadSN) May 11, 2013

With increased expectations thanks to the influx of petro dollars, City face an important off-season as they try to re-group to make a legitimate run at "The Treble" (win the UEFA Champions League, the English Premier League, and the FA Cup) like their Manchester neighbors did just over a decade ago. Check back later this month for my thoughts on how management should proceed before the start of the 2013-14 season.

City beats United at Old Trafford

Manchester City entered their regular season Manchester Derby played in the red half of Manchester trailing United by 15 points with just eight matches to play.  Thus no matter what happened in the match, United will most likely win the EPL.  That made this Manchester Derby more of a litmus test on City manager Roberto Mancini's ability to motivate his team since there are rather loud rumblings emanating from the dressing room that players are becoming increasingly frustrated with Mancini's managerial approach.

The opening 45 minutes turned out to be quite entertaining despite ending with a 0-0 scoreline.  City midfielder James Milner put the visitors ahead with a thunderous strike that benefited from a slight deflection off a United defender to beat United keeper David de Gea.  United defender Phil Jones pulled United level by heading a ball that looked destined for goal away from goal but fortuitously into City defender Vincent Kompany's back en route to the back City's net.

With the score tied 1-1 it looked like City might go into a shell and possibly even lose their first match of the season after leading until substitute Sergio Aguero's impressive individual effort.  Aguero summoned memories of his title clinching strike from last season against QPR to put City up 2-1 with less than 15 minutes left in the match.

Things got chippy toward the end of the match with five yellow cards getting issued following Aguero's strike: two for United (Rafael and Antonio Valencia) and three for City (Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry, and Pablo Zabaleta) but the score line finished 2-1.

Who can forget the beat down City put on United at Old Trafford last season?  That means thanks to their win last season (6-1) and this seasons (2-1), City prevailed at Old Trafford in consecutive years for the first time in 41 years.

In typical "Sir" Alex Ferguson fashion, the United manager blamed the referees for the result claiming that Milner's opener should have been disallowed due to City players being in an offside position.  As usual, Ferguson looks like the petty little man that is nitpicking things instead of taking the high road despite the fact that his club is almost assured to win the EPL this season.

City possessed the ball for 60% of the match thanks to completing over 100 more passes than United according to Opta.  Thus even the more biased United supporters would have to admit that City was the better side despite Ferguson's assertions.

Even after defeating United, City still trails United by 12 points with only seven games to play so absent an absolute meltdown it looks like City will finish second after winning the EPL last season.

City now has to focus on the FA Cup. On Saturday Millwall plays Wigan with the winner set to face the winner of Sunday's match between City and Chelsea in the 2013 FA Cup Final on May 11th.  As crazy as it sounds, despite winning the EPL last season and just beating United on the road to essentially guarantee that City will finish no worse than second in the EPL this season, Mancini is still not guaranteed to hold onto his job past this season unless he can hoist the FA Cup for the second time in three seasons.