Man City 3 - 1 Newcastle - 29/09/2007 - Post match reaction from page 19

[Gallowgate End]

 

3 defensive midfielders, not one of them got close to Elano's shadow all game. What a fucking player.

 

 

Elano was outstanding in the space between the Striker and Midfield today, fantastic finder of space and his creative forward passes were fantastic.

[Guest SLK]

Our midfield was boys against men today...Butt had a shocker when Emre should have been on...

[Guest kingdawson]

 

3 defensive midfielders, not one of them got close to Elano's shadow all game. What a f****** player.

 

Elano was different class, as was Petrov. To think we could have signed Petrov for peanuts > > >

[ohmelads]

There will always be those who accuse others of knee-jerk reactions to comfort themselves. Often they'll talk about how bad things used to be, or you get those who try to blame a shoddy team performance on certain individuals. We were awful today and we're losing games because we're not playing very good football and teams who do that get found out sooner or later. Call this reaction whatever you want, we were taken apart today by a team more focused on getting the ball on the deck and playing football.

[davy_fulla]

Pile of shit. We created some chances out of nothing in the 1st half but got absolutely murdered in the 2nd.  For such a master tactician it amazes me how Sam could even think about changing Taylor in the 2nd half. 'We need a goal so , I know, I'll change the defence.'  The same happened against Derby and we got beat there as well.  While I'm on, Smith looked crap, I've always rated him but he looked lazy today (had the odd brief glimpse of stringing a pass together) and my opinions rapidly changing.

[Guest shaun11177]

Elano didnt just come out of nowhere he has been playing well all season behind the one striker so why we didnt man mark him ive no idea.

Would also add on Taylor in the game against West Ham everytime the camera was on Allardyce you could see Taylor messing about in the dugout not in anyway concentrating on the game in case he came on-surely he should be checking out who he might be marking+when we scored our 3rd girl everyone in the dugout was up and cheering apart from Taylor who didnt look bothered one way or another. It wouldnt suprise me at all if he went in January.

[Guest SLK]

Pile of s***. We created some chances out of nothing in the 1st half but got absolutely murdered in the 2nd.  For such a master tactician it amazes me how Sam could even think about changing Taylor in the 2nd half. 'We need a goal so , I know, I'll change the defence.'  The same happened against Derby and we got beat there as well.  While I'm on, Smith looked crap, I've always rated him but he looked lazy today (had the odd brief glimpse of stringing a pass together) and my opinions rapidly changing.

Tyalor had a crap game today and should have been replaced much much earlier...

[Mick]

There will always be those who accuse others of knee-jerk reactions to comfort themselves. Often they'll talk about how bad things used to be, or you get those who try to blame a shoddy team performance on certain individuals. We were awful today and we're losing games because we're not playing very good football and teams who do that get found out sooner or later. Call this reaction whatever you want, we were taken apart today by a team more focused on getting the ball on the deck and playing football.

 

Spot on, as usual.

[Guest Elan]

There will always be those who accuse others of knee-jerk reactions to comfort themselves. Often they'll talk about how bad things used to be, or you get those who try to blame a shoddy team performance on certain individuals. We were awful today and we're losing games because we're not playing very good football and teams who do that get found out sooner or later. Call this reaction whatever you want, we were taken apart today by a team more focused on getting the ball on the deck and playing football.

 

It wont get any better, Mort needs to act now

[Guest jamesmartinsmith]

Beye - did little wrong - 6

Smith - Passed, tackled and harried well, and had some good touches in the final third - 7

[Guest optimistic nit]

i really think some people have inflated expectations of where we should be.

 

i thought we were going to get turned over today, but we were the better team in the first half imo, we certainly created better chances. we were poor in the second half, maybe the goal 2 mins in was a cause of this, but if you expect us to go to the city of manchester and dominate the game then how good do you think we are?

the performance was better than i expected, we can't turn the team round in 1 transfer window, it will take time, as allardyce has already said many times. it was 10 times as good as anything we played under souness, roeder or against derby, and that, against arguably the 5th best team in the country, is good enough for me for the time being.

[Danh1]

There will always be those who accuse others of knee-jerk reactions to comfort themselves. Often they'll talk about how bad things used to be, or you get those who try to blame a shoddy team performance on certain individuals. We were awful today and we're losing games because we're not playing very good football and teams who do that get found out sooner or later. Call this reaction whatever you want, we were taken apart today by a team more focused on getting the ball on the deck and playing football.

 

It wont get any better, Mort needs to act now

Shut up man.

[NSG]

I wouldn't have given Smith or Beye more than 3 or 4. Thought they were both poor. Beye, I can just bout accept as e was up against a class act and is settling into the league. Smiths performance was unacceptble.

[Guest Knightrider]

We played well in parts, especially during the first half and created numerous chances, however defensive mishaps cost us dearly during the game which Man City capitalised on. That and having an outlet at all times in the shape of Petrov and a player to feed that outlet, Elano, was the difference. I'm disappointed we lost but I saw some encouraging things today. We'll get better and for me the scoreline flattered them, although they deserved their win.

 

It's a funny old game. Going forward today we were much better than we have been at times, yet defending we were poor which has been a strong point for us this term.

 

What do we lack? Balance and understanding. The understanding will come via games, but the balance will have to either be bought or changes will have to be made and sooner rather than later.

 

Enrique needs to start and N'Zogbia needs to play wide left of the forward three (if we are to play 4-3-3) with Martins switched to the right with Viduka in the middle. In midfield I'd put Emre to the left of Barton and Geremi as the anchor either behind him or just to his right, the width will come from the full-backs playing higher up.

 

IMO anyway.

 

Back to the match, I'm not too bothered. Work in progress and all that.

[Guest Dev]

Why is everything knee jerk?..what do you expect we have had years of s**** like this under Souness and Roeder this is no different. A different team a different era its all just f****** false dawns. Allardyce has bought s**** journeymen footballers lets be honest here. whats the point in having a team of hard workers when you sacrfice the talent in the team for it.Geremi is s**** when will people realise the top 4 teams get rid of these players because they have had it.We got rid of Dyer and solano and in one fell swoop we lost our pace and creativity in midfield now we cant pass, tackle or have a clue about anything football related. we have now played 7 games and not one single goal has come from a midfielder doesnt the big fat b****** see that  its just no good.Why oh why is it that no matter what players we have in defence they all become total s*** and have no idea of defending.I watch a lot of football and i never see another team defend so terribly and so embarassing, i cringe everytime i watch us on tv now its just f****** awful

 

This ugly boring standard of clueless football must stop or Allardyce will not last the year out, we have not had a decent team with a clue of how to play since old bob was there.and why does our last 3 managers not have a clue about substitutions it was plain to see that we needed enrique and emre on as soon as city scored there second.

 

Im dreading the Mackem game now after watching our away performances its just total s**** to watch

 

Rant over im going to get very drunk fall asleep and forget that my team is a f****** joke and total and utter s****

 

Seriously dude ... get a life.

 

You are comlpetely clueless about football. You are really an embarrassment.

 

Souness and Roeder? You disgust me.

 

Honestly though he has some points. Sven just gave us a lesson today in 'why grafters will never win against skill away from home.' And our midfield utterly lacked creativity and even moreso pace. When Roeder blamed injuries we all rightly laughed him all the way out of the club but now its OK that Sam has no (EPL standard) cover for most positions?

 

If you can't see that Man City dominated us for almost the entirety of the game then it is you who have no idea about football.

 

no he's a f****** tool. we played good football today for the record, but what the f*** are you expecting? sam and mort to come in and transform us into a PL winning side overnight? we were f***** defensively before they came in, well and truely f*****. we've finally, after many years stregnthened that department, yet now your blaming them for not buying you an attacking player. these things take time.

 

we wern't dominated for the entirity of the game either. we were equal until they scored.

 

Our goal was simply an exemplary piece of skill on the end of a long ball, only allowed by lax defending and indecisive goalkeeping. Full marks to Martins, but when you look at the chances they created, all game, as opposed to ours, they completely dominated us. Which would have been fine if our midfield had been capable of shutting down their attack in the final third, but it wasn't.

 

I agree that defensively we are in a new league this season, but the original poster was talking about our midfield. He said its lost its creativity and pace, and today it simply had. You take zoggy out of our midfield and put him at the back and currently you are left with a set of grafters. They were utterly shown up today.

 

I didn't expect anything overnight, I didn't expect it with Roeder either (actually I expected nothing at all with roeder.) But Sam has to live and die by his activity in the transfer market, and as has been pointed out he got rid of solano and dyer in the midfield and brought in smith and geremi. I'm not calling for Sams head but many many people on this forum pointed out before the season began that we were totally deficient in the creative midfielder department. We still are, and if you can point the finger at Roeder for not fixing the defense (and I certainely did) then you have to point the finger at Sam for leaving us bereft of options going forward when the long ball doesnt work (as it didn't today).

 

 

[indi]

Were people expecting all the shit to be sorted out overnight?

 

I wasn't.

 

Progress is all I want from this season and there's lots to be made!! That's what we're getting at the moment, progress, we'll win some and we'll lose some this year, but we'll be in a much better position at the end of it than we were at the start. It'll take time, maybe two or three years, but eventually we'll be up there challenging for stuff. There's no quick fixes as far as I'm concerned.

[Guest Harry-Norway]

Toon have a lot of good players,but i think its the way Sam plays them which is the problem and i miss the guts to bleed for the stipes in some of the players,we cant play like this for long,the West H game we won,but we could easy have lost that one too,The Derby game sucks and so didt to days game as well.

 

Many have said it before,and i am more and more agree,IS Sam the right man for TOON??

 

You still have to convince me Sam

 

 

 

 

[Guest Knightrider]

Were people expecting all the shit to be sorted out overnight?

 

I wasn't.

 

Progress is all I want from this season and there's lots to be made!! That's what we're getting at the moment, progress, we'll win some and we'll lose some this year, but we'll be in a much better position at the end of it than we were at the start. It'll take time, maybe two or three years, but eventually we'll be up there challenging for stuff. There's no quick fixes as far as I'm concerned.

 

Exactly. I've seen nowt yet to overly concern me. Indeed it's the opposite - lots of encouraging stuff.

[ChezGiven]

There will always be those who accuse others of knee-jerk reactions to comfort themselves. Often they'll talk about how bad things used to be, or you get those who try to blame a shoddy team performance on certain individuals. We were awful today and we're losing games because we're not playing very good football and teams who do that get found out sooner or later. Call this reaction whatever you want, we were taken apart today by a team more focused on getting the ball on the deck and playing football.

 

Spot on, as usual.

 

I dont think we were awful, think thats maybe a bit harsh. We were second best on the day, that doesnt make us awful. Some of Man city's football was superb, not 'just good'. It was excellent football played by some excellent players. We had our moments in that game and i agree with the general sentiment that getting the ball on the deck and passing it about would be preferable. Its diappointing that we couldnt apply more pressure or convert the chances we had in the second half. Could have easily been 2-2 but then again, that may have just meant more papering over the cracks. 

 

One other thing about Sven, he didnt accept the Man city job and then think about which players he wanted. He has had all the players he signed on his radar for months beforehand.

[midds]

Were people expecting all the shit to be sorted out overnight?

 

I wasn't.

 

Progress is all I want from this season and there's lots to be made!! That's what we're getting at the moment, progress, we'll win some and we'll lose some this year, but we'll be in a much better position at the end of it than we were at the start. It'll take time, maybe two or three years, but eventually we'll be up there challenging for stuff. There's no quick fixes as far as I'm concerned.

 

Spot on.  blueyes.gif

 

Patience is needed.

[Guest Magic]

Match Report (sorry this is a lot longer than the player ratings I'd initially intended).

 

Goals:

 

0-1 - Martins - A superb goal. Wonderful deep lofted pass by Geremi behind their defence. Martins had just nipped back onside behind Richards and read it beautifully. Superb first touch with his left and kept his balance to quickly knock it past the keeper with his right, despite pressure from their centre backs on either side. Top draw finishing.

 

1-1 Petrov - Their man timed his run well and got ahead of N'Zogbia. He drove the ball across the 6 yard box and Petrov drove it in unmarked at the right post past a scrambling Given. Probably should have been Beye's man but he'd gone to cover their centre forward, despite Rozenhal's presence in the area.

 

2-1 - Mpenza - Sucker punch right at the beginning of the second half and a catalogue of errors. They'd cleared the ball, and despite us having a couple of players around and no pressure on us Le Zog headed poorly to Taylor and their winger picked it up. Taylor over-committed as it was obvious he wasn't going to get there first and lost the race down the touchline. The cross came in and Rozenhal came off his man to get to the centre of the 6 yard box. He didn't get to the ball and a now unmarked Mpenza powered a low header across Given into the right corner from about 8 yards out.

 

3-1- Elano - Silly free kick conceeded for shirt-pulling by Butt about 27 yards out slightly right of centre. Elano powered a swerving right foot drive right into Given's top right corner. Shay had taken a step the other way just as it was struck, but even if he hadn't he probably wouldn't have stopped it. A superb strike deserving of winning any game..

 

Overall review

 

An entertaining game, particularly in the first half when it was end to end, and helped greatly by the referee who was superb, let the game flow, always looked to play advantage and mercifully seemed completely free of pedantry. We looked quite comfortable on the ball and I actually felt we could make some chances. City also looked good going forward with plenty of movement and pace out wide. They also looked likely to expose the gap between our midfield and defence but their pace out wide posed us most problems, especially down our left where N'Zogbia was often left exposed. City scored at the beginning of the second half and were content to counter attack from then, which they did quite well and to be honest always looked more likely to grab the next goal at 2-1. Their wonder free-kick killed the game off.

 

Player Ratings

 

Given - 6 - Conceeded three goals which he couldn't do anything about. 1 great save, 1 good block in a 1 on 1. Loses half a mark for miscontrolling in the 6 yard box early on and putting us in danger.

 

Beye - 5.5 - Struggled against the pace of their left winger and as such wasn't able to contribute much going forward. Probably in the wrong place when they equalised.

Taylor - 5 - Some good defending mixed with some over-committing. Could easily have cost us a goal early on with a terrible header back. Did his trick of standing 5 yards behind the rest of the defence and played Ireland onside and clean through on goal. Should have stood off his man for the second as it was clear he wasn't going to get the ball.

Rozenhal - 7 - Loses a bit for coming off his man for the second goal. Generally though he was excellent. Very calm and composed. Didn't mess up one clearence. Usually in the right place at the right time (eg when clearing Shay's parry behind from the middle of the 6 yard box.) Also tried to get involved a bit with attacking play when we were pressing for the equaliser. Our best defender by far today.

N'Zogbia - 5.5 - Not the Zog's day today. Often left 2 against one as we had no width in the midfield on the left. Especially in the first half his man got behind and inside him quite a lot and we looked exposed in that area. He did do some good things, but didn't create too much going forward today and had a few poor touches. Also didn't always seem aware of what was going on behind him, ballwatched a few times allowing the runner to get free.

 

Geremi - 7 - The best of our midfield three today. Looked quite comfortable on the ball and put in a few good passes, especially the assist for Martins which was superb. His corners didn't hit the first man all the time today. He also did his job supporting the right back and wing well.

Butt - 5.5 - No lack of effort and got stuck in. Failry tidy on the ball, though he never looked like creating much. Gave away a few needless free kicks (notably for their 3rd). Also we were usually second best in the gap between defence and midfield, and surely this was his responsibility to control.

Smith - 5.5 A new shaven headed look made him easier to pick out. He was playing on the left of the midfield three today and played a bit better than he has been. Looked quite comfortable on the ball, though he didn't create anything. Also put in a lot of effort and was still full of running at the end. Didn't provide any protection defensively for N'Zogbia though, and never really helped out in attack down the left so he loses some marks.

 

Milner - 6.5 As usual no lack of effort from Jimmy. Battled well and won the ball back on a few occasions, despite playing in an advanced role on the right. Looked to get involved and made a couple of good runs. One excellent one might have produced another goal if someone had been attacking the near post to get his cut back. Looked like he might make something happen, but ultimately didn't.

Viduka - 6 - Not one of his better games. A few nice touches but he didn't dominate the forward line as he did aginst West Ham. With Martins pushed out wide more in the second half he was quite isolated and never really got into the game.

Martins - 7.5 - For 70 minutes our best player. Made a lot of effort, scored a fantastic goal. His involvement in build-up play was good. His first touch was far better than last season and his movement off the ball seems to be improving. For the first time he is beginning to look more like a complete striker. Pushed out wider in the second half and didn't do as well then. He often had little support from midield out there. Still, he challenged city's much bigger defenders physically and rarely came off second best. Had little impact in the last 20 minutes.

 

Subs:

Enrique - 5.5 - On for Geremi with about 20 mins left. Allowed Richards to cut inside him on a counter attack. Also I remember one instance where he couldn't get infront of his man to clear a ball into the 6 yard box. He did the right thing covering inside, but he needed to get tighter and a bit goal side. Still, he looked to get forward and seemed comfortable on the ball. Can't wait for him to get a run of games under his belt and see how things stand then.

Faye - N\A - On for Taylor with about 10 mins left. Nothing noticeable good or bad.

Emre - N\A - Only on for about 5 mins, but in that time showed why he should be ahead of Smith if we're going to play that formation. Clearly far better on the ball than any of our starting CMs. Looked to get involved and direct play, which is what that formation badly needed. Tidy passing and looked to: a) make space and time for himself on and off the ball b) keep the ball on the deck.

 

The ref (not sure who it was) - 9.5 - MOTM - Seriously, I thought he was fantastic today. There was some physical play and a couple of strong challenges, but he didn't book a single player. I can't remember one instance of him giving a freekick as players battled for the longballs. He always looked to see how play developed before blowing the whistle. He also let players attempt to outmuscle each other for the ball physically. He didn't keep bringing play back if freekicks or throw ins weren't taken in exactly the right place. As a result players weren't constantly diving and it was played in a great spirit. I don't want to sound like I'll be spending the evening furiously masturbating over his performance, but we spend so much time criticising referees (often with justification) that credit should be given out when it's due. This was a fast, flowing game, played in a great spirit, where players were allowed to use their strength and get stuck in at times. Exactly how the Premiership should be and he was the main reason why. Loses half a mark for not being biased towards us.

 

Our performance

 

There are positives to take from this match. Oba looked much better in all areas than he did a year ago. We kept the ball better than we have done as well, although in the second half the onus was on us to score. In the first half though we competed well and 1-1 was probably a fair scoreline. It was nice to be watching the game actually thinking we could score goals, even though City looked good going forward. The team lacked balance though, this was especially obvious in the second half. There was no support on the left. Zoggy was left a bit isolated and he's not a good enough defender to cope with that. City attacked well and quickly out wide and so our fullbacks had to stay back a lot to cover, robbing Zoggy of his best aspects.

 

Attackwise though we produced little down the left. Smith didn't support over there and with Zoggy unable to commit himself Martins was isolated. When he got up front down the centre and supported Viduka we looked far more dangerous. In the second half Martins stayed out wider. He still didn't have any support and so we didn't make much down the left. This time though Viduka was now left a bit isolated and as such we weren't making much down the right either.

 

Basically I can't help feeling this was the wrong formation. Smith and Butt didn't seem to play off each other well. We created nothing from the middle of the park, and they found space behind our midfield. Neither of them seemed to know exactly what their job was or where to cover. They provided little structure defensively. We also had little support down the left, and when Martins was pushed wider Viduka was left isolated down the middle. Hopefully Emre and Barton will be in full fitness soon because with the 4-3-3 we badly needed some composure, ball skills and direction in the middle (Emre) and someone bursting on to help the Srtikers (Barton).

 

All in all I can't help feeling Sam got it a bit wrong on this one. We deserved to lose, City were better and always looked more likely to score than us in the second half. We did look fit though and worked hard, and the team seems to be beginning to get used to each other, so those are positives Sam will take out of this. Despite losing 3-1 I don't actually feel too downbeat. At least the match was entertaining and we do look to be improving in some areas.

[davy_fulla]

Pile of s***. We created some chances out of nothing in the 1st half but got absolutely murdered in the 2nd.  For such a master tactician it amazes me how Sam could even think about changing Taylor in the 2nd half. 'We need a goal so , I know, I'll change the defence.'  The same happened against Derby and we got beat there as well.  While I'm on, Smith looked crap, I've always rated him but he looked lazy today (had the odd brief glimpse of stringing a pass together) and my opinions rapidly changing.

Tyalor had a crap game today and should have been replaced much much earlier...

 

 

He was crap and should've been changed earlier.  The point was that we desparately needed a goal and Sam changed the defence.

[Guest Dev]

We played well in parts, especially during the first half and created numerous chances, however defensive mishaps cost us dearly during the game which Man City capitalised on. That and having an outlet at all times in the shape of Petrov and a player to feed that outlet, Elano, was the difference. I'm disappointed we lost but I saw some encouraging things today. We'll get better and for me the scoreline flattered them, although they deserved their win.

 

It's a funny old game. Going forward today we were much better than we have been at times, yet defending we were poor which has been a strong point for us this term.

 

What do we lack? Balance and understanding. The understanding will come via games, but the balance will have to either be bought or changes will have to be made and sooner rather than later.

 

Enrique needs to start and N'Zogbia needs to play wide left of the forward three (if we are to play 4-3-3) with Martins switched to the right with Viduka in the middle. In midfield I'd put Emre to the left of Barton and Geremi as the anchor either behind him or just to his right, the width will come from the full-backs playing higher up.

 

IMO anyway.

 

Back to the match, I'm not too bothered. Work in progress and all that.

 

Seriously though it wasn't simply a matter of a few defensive lapses and Man City ending up with 3 goals. It was more like a few defensive lapses and a pile of scything attacks through our midfield, which should have netted them at least 5 if they weren't so profligate.

 

Going forward I didn't think we were very good today. Once Viduka ran out of steam and his combination with Martins went out the door that was our entire attack. Milner looked promising at times but never got a good final cross in, due to his lack of acceleration and pace. Zoggy was too tied to the defense, Smith/Viduka never seemed to know where each other were. Martins did well but it reminded me of last season where we put it all on him.

 

I agree zoggy needs to be released further forward so he can interact more with our strikeforce.

 

It was an OK performace, but the top teams are accelerating away from the rest of us rapidly, and I think a lot of us are frustrated because Man City showed today they are trying to join them, whereas we looked more like we were trying to put in an honest grafting English effort. The gap between us and Europe places is already large, we need to start improving soon or we're never going to bridge it.

[Guest Knightrider]

We played well in parts, especially during the first half and created numerous chances, however defensive mishaps cost us dearly during the game which Man City capitalised on. That and having an outlet at all times in the shape of Petrov and a player to feed that outlet, Elano, was the difference. I'm disappointed we lost but I saw some encouraging things today. We'll get better and for me the scoreline flattered them, although they deserved their win.

 

It's a funny old game. Going forward today we were much better than we have been at times, yet defending we were poor which has been a strong point for us this term.

 

What do we lack? Balance and understanding. The understanding will come via games, but the balance will have to either be bought or changes will have to be made and sooner rather than later.

 

Enrique needs to start and N'Zogbia needs to play wide left of the forward three (if we are to play 4-3-3) with Martins switched to the right with Viduka in the middle. In midfield I'd put Emre to the left of Barton and Geremi as the anchor either behind him or just to his right, the width will come from the full-backs playing higher up.

 

IMO anyway.

 

Back to the match, I'm not too bothered. Work in progress and all that.

 

Seriously though it wasn't simply a matter of a few defensive lapses and Man City ending up with 3 goals. It was more like a few defensive lapses and a pile of scything attacks through our midfield, which should have netted them at least 5 if they weren't so profligate.

 

The defence means the whole team and not just the back-four. Defensively we were poor throughout today, none more so than in midfield who failed to protect the back-four adequately enough. Outside of being gifted chances or openings, they didn't create too much where as they were very mean at the back yet we still caused them problems throughout. I though Martins was very dangerous today and we got in and behind them quite well. The final ball was a bit hit and miss today though.

[ohmelads]

There will always be those who accuse others of knee-jerk reactions to comfort themselves. Often they'll talk about how bad things used to be, or you get those who try to blame a shoddy team performance on certain individuals. We were awful today and we're losing games because we're not playing very good football and teams who do that get found out sooner or later. Call this reaction whatever you want, we were taken apart today by a team more focused on getting the ball on the deck and playing football.

 

Spot on, as usual.

 

I dont think we were awful, think thats maybe a bit harsh. We were second best on the day, that doesnt make us awful. Some of Man city's football was superb, not 'just good'. It was excellent football played by some excellent players. We had our moments in that game and i agree with the general sentiment that getting the ball on the deck and passing it about would be preferable. Its diappointing that we couldnt apply more pressure or convert the chances we had in the second half. Could have easily been 2-2 but then again, that may have just meant more papering over the cracks. 

 

One other thing about Sven, he didnt accept the Man city job and then think about which players he wanted. He has had all the players he signed on his radar for months beforehand.

 

Man City deserve some credit for playing good football but once again I think we made the opposition look better than they were. Our defence held a very high line even when we were winning, and with the pace of Petrov and nobody picking up Elano, it was a simple case of trying to beat the offside trap with a through ball or one over the top, and they did it time and time again. We could do nothing about the free kick, but the first two goals were our own fault. We held a ridiculously high line for both and lost out in a straight sprint. In both cases our defenders were barely in our own half when City started the move. The space behind our defence was massive all game and Man City used that to their full advantage. We only have ourselves to blame. Saying City were excellent is a poor excuse IMO, if you give any half-decent side that kind of space they will create chances, we saw the same thing at Derby.