OT - Yay, City & Villa draw - best possible result at this point I think

OT - Yay, City & Villa draw - best possible result at this point I think

about 1 month ago Brett Perryman 36 comments 0 recs |

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Aston Villa played well.

They have a hard-nosed style and stuck to their guns for 90 mins. City got lots of possession time when they were down 0-1, but dropped back on their heals a bit to protect the road point after tying it up. Villa has a prominent franchise style of play, something City lacks what with all the new players – work in progress.

Gareth Barry – not impressed, can’t wait for Michael Johnson to arrive
Wayne Bridge – man of the match, dude delivered the goods
Tevez – disappeared in the 2nd half after launching a few ambitious shots in the 1st
Adebayor – quit challenging for long balls after half-time, but was dangerous
SWP – stupid starting him against a team of lumberjacks, he got dominated physically

It seemed like every City first touch was awful – like the ball was over-inflated beyond the players’ feel. At times, the City midfield was pretty inept trying to matriculate the ball upfield thru teamwork. Tevez had to fall back and help them out lots. Bellamy was only slightly feisty and only moderately awesome and spectacular like all of y’all know he is, but he did pop clear in the box long enough to drill one. Decent result in that situation I suppose – the Bluemoon forum thinks so anyway. What do I know, i’m new to this.

Tottenham, Villa and City seem to be forming a challengers tier below the top 4. I don’t think Villa has another gear, but I think it’s reasonable to assume City might raise their level as the season progresses and out-point them. If they can hang with Tottenham and see one of the big clubs falter [coughLiverpoolcough] then maybe they can earn a rewarding finish in the standings.

by shroomer on Oct 5, 2009 5:18 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

City.

I’d be surprised if they didn’t break into the top 4 this year.

by LiamP on Oct 5, 2009 7:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm kinda getting skeptical about our chances - our midfield has holes.

I’ll target 5th or 6th until they show more crispness. Maybe Kompany will help.
Or playing Tevez at right half.

The tall blond kid with the scruffy beard in this video might help when he gets match fit.
21-yr-old Michael Johnson – poise, skill, possession, vision, understands spacing – he might be special.

by shroomer on Oct 5, 2009 9:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Deep down

I think they knock either Liverpool or Arsenal out of the top four. Just not sure which one.

They’ll probably buy another nice player in the winter to fill a hole, while Liverpool has roster issues as it is (in terms of the upcoming rule change), and I don’t really see Arsenal doing anything. Their one need will be a holding CM with Song headed to Africa, but I don’t think that Wenger would pay big bucks for a guy at that position with the young guys they have.

by Brett Perryman on Oct 5, 2009 10:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

African Cup of Nations is going to be a HUGE wild card

Drogba, Essien and Mikel will all be gone for Chelsea. All 3 are going to be massive losses for them. Curious to see if United/Liverpool/Arsenal/City can make up some ground during the month.

by LiamP on Oct 5, 2009 11:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You and Liam have a better feel

seeing how you’ve been EPL fans for a while now, but I think you’re both nuts. Arsenal looks like a machine – way better than City, IMO. I guess the grass is always greener, eh? You see pricey depth and I see a lack of cohesion. Hope y’all are right – I’m still pretty worried – probably my inner-Rangers fan rearing it’s ugly head. I haven’t seen them with Robinho in the mix yet – my mood might change then.

Yeah, reading the Bluemoon forum has given me the impression that the City fanz expect a major siging in Jan. – even some Messi talk going on there. You gotta believe the Sheik’s gonna buy somebody, eh? I hope we remain near the top until then.

I’m just down on our MF’ers. The Bluemoon forum thought Ireland was awesome today. To me, he stood out by just being average along side so many of his teammates’ clumsy traps and passes. The forum also thinks our center backs are vulnerable to fast strikers in transition – Kolo’s kinda slow they think. Man, Bridge impressed me today. Dude was solid – endline to endline. I played a lot of left back so I can identify with his task.

The 2-week int’l break will be handy seeing how we had several nicks and dings today. What do we do for the next 2 weeks? Watch our int’l guys play and root for their cont’d good health? heh

by shroomer on Oct 5, 2009 11:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

x

To me, it’s a matter of depth. City has a remarkably deep squad and don’t have to deal with the CL/Europa League this year. Look at Liverpool…there’s just no depth there. If I’m honest, I had originally picked them to win the title before I found out that Aquilani (who I think will be fantastic) was out for several months. It just looks like if they lose Torres or Gerrard for any amount of time, they’re fucked. Carragher looks awful, Johnson is terrifyingly good going forward and terrifyingly bad defensively and Lucas is so incredibly average it’s shocking. I can’t comment about Arsenal because they’re just a really hard team to properly evaluate.

And the geniuses on bluemoon who talk about Messi? They’re the ones you generally want to ignore. You’ll probably buy someone but it sure as hell won’t be Messi.

by LiamP on Oct 5, 2009 11:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good point about the CL/Europa league and City

Hughes mentioned that very thing in the paper – said it will keep them fresher and healthier than a lot of their EPL competition this season.

by shroomer on Oct 6, 2009 12:05 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

In depth analysis of Arsenal-

Vermaelen is awesome. Arshavin is awesomer. Fabregas is awesomest.

Seriously though, I think they have a very good shot this year. They shoulda/coulda/woulda beat Man U and that City game was right there before he who shall not be named did his thing. Also, Chelsea lost to Wigan and Man U drew against Sunderland, so it’s not like they’re juggernauts.

I think Luke French has a lot of potential. TORP potential.-Dstar

by sprite on Oct 6, 2009 12:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Vermin, Arshy and Fabregas

Same 3 guys that popped into my head, too. Wish City had one of them Fabregas-type dudes who seek out and deliver dangerous balls.

by shroomer on Oct 6, 2009 12:34 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Arsenal

I assume that what LiamP is referring to as far as their depth is that they are developing so many players that it’s hard to handicap who will move forward over the next six months and who won’t. Ramsey and Wilshire are probably going to be really good players, but how much of a role could they play this season if they became necessities? The same goes for Vela and really Bentner as well, Gibbs and Traore on the back end, etc. The other wild card is that quite a few of their talented attackers are fragile. RvP, Eduardo, Walcott, Rosicky, Fabregas, Diaby, Nasri have all missed significant time in the past year, and Wilshire has to be considered fragile at this point.

I’m concerned about two spots, though. One is central defense. Djourou was a huge loss to me because I think that there was much more of a chance that he could cover reasonably for one of the starting pair than Senderos, and Silvestre is terrible. The other is holding MF. Song has been between solid and superb in pretty much every game, but they won’t have anyone who can do what he does in January and/or if he gets hurt. Denilson, Diaby and Ramsey are not olding CMs. But the worst part is that these two positions rely on each other, and they’re the two where they have zero depth whatsoever. It seems to go against Wenger’s belief system to sign fill-ins from the outside for trouble spots, so unless something changes – catastrophic injury to one of the three starters, Gallas negotiations going badly, or Song regressing badly – they probably have what they have for this season.

The other guy they will lose is Eboue, and he is the only true cover for Sagna at right back, but unless they are missing Sagna for the entirety of ACN, I doubt if that will kill them.

by Brett Perryman on Oct 6, 2009 4:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

x

It’s hard to evaluate Arsenal because their performances (as a group and as individuals excluding Fabregas) are so inconsistent. Arshavin looks like he can’t be bothered one week and looks like one of the most dangerous players in world the next. RVP is really not suited to his current role and your defense is prone to moments of insanity. This, plus the depth in talented but unproven youth along with players who are just getting healthy again (Walcott, Rosicky, Vela) makes them hard to evaluate right now. If Fabregas plays like he did against Blackburn, it doesn’t really matter though does it?

by LiamP on Oct 6, 2009 7:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nasri is also getting closer. I’m very interested to see him in this system. I wonder if he won’t go in the middle and make Diaby and Denilson straight out backups. His natural position is more of an ACM, and in a standard 4-4-2 like they ran last year while he and Fabregas were both healthy it’s hard to find a spot for both of them inside.

by Brett Perryman on Oct 6, 2009 8:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah! Haha

I think Luke French has a lot of potential. TORP potential.-Dstar

by sprite on Oct 6, 2009 8:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

4-4-2

The question is if Song can be effective in a 2 man midfield. If he can, I imagine this is your ideal formation with Arshavin playing just off RVP up front.

My fantasy team hates that Arshavin’s being played on the wing right now.

by LiamP on Oct 6, 2009 8:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think so

van Persie is definitely better in the 442, but everyone else really seems to be taking to the 433, and it definitely takes the pressure off of Song. As long as they have seven guys who can score goals like they have so far, I don’t see any reason to change. And van Persie has seemed to come around a little lately as well. He played really well against Olympiakos I thought, and the goals are starting to come.

by Brett Perryman on Oct 6, 2009 8:38 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And by the way

we haven’t really gotten to see Walcott in this system aside from his short run where he scored the nice goal Sunday. He seems like one of the guys it could really benefit. He is by no means a pure winger, and he hasn’t quite evolved into a pure central striker yet, but he can still run at people from out wide in this formation without as much defensive responsibility.

by Brett Perryman on Oct 6, 2009 8:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not sure about everyone.

I think Fabregas is enjoying having both Song and Diaby (or whoever) with him in midfield, and Song probably needs 2 other guys with him at this point in his career. Still, I think Arshavin and RVP are both much more suited to a 4-4-2.

4-3-3 makes sense at this point, but man would you guys be fearsome if you bought someone like De Rossi and went 4-4-2.

by LiamP on Oct 6, 2009 10:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree that the scale would tip toward the 442 if they had someone like De Rossi, but that’s a pretty big if. They just flat out didn’t have anyone who could replace Flamini and it really killed them, Fabregas or no Fabregas, last year. Song has improved a lot, but I really think that is at least partially attributable to the formation.

Also, the fact that they lack true wingers hurts them in a 4-4-2 even if they had a second dominant CM. Arshavin, Wilshire, Rosicky and Nasri all like the middle of the field, and Walcott isn’t a true winger.

by Brett Perryman on Oct 6, 2009 10:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

x

Yeah, De Rossi would cost more than twice as much as Arsene’s biggest signing to date. I was just throwing his name out there as the quality of player that Arsenal need in that position for the 4-4-2 to work.

No doubt that all of those guys do prefer playing up the middle, but I think that Wilshere and Rosicky can both play wide without too much problem. Arshavin can play wide too, but he drifts out of the game a LOT when he plays there.

by LiamP on Oct 6, 2009 11:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't forget Nasri!

He should be back when play resumes. I heart that guy.

I think Luke French has a lot of potential. TORP potential.-Dstar

by sprite on Oct 6, 2009 8:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I still think Chelsea is the class of the league

that odd Wigan result and a few other uninspiring games notwithstanding.

by Brett Perryman on Oct 6, 2009 4:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The 2-week int’l break will be handy seeing how we had several nicks and dings today. What do we do for the next 2 weeks? Watch our int’l guys play and root for their cont’d good health? heh

Since we are Americans, we also have two enormous games that will largely determine whether we make the WC, dammit. But yeah, these breaks are incredibly damaging to the club teams quite often. It is amazing that the professional side of the sport is as cooperative as it is. Think about if Mark Cuban owned a club with world class players who kept sustaining serious injuries while with the national team. He’d try to figure out a way to get more control over the situation like he did in basketball.

by Brett Perryman on Oct 6, 2009 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Clubs and most fans hate it too.

There’s nothing clubs can do though, aside from inventing phantom injuries for players who are willing to stay behind to rest.

The basketball comparison isn’t really a fair one for many reasons. The qualifying schedule for the WC & Euros is much more drawn out, so it’s not like they can play during the offseason. Also, the importance placed on the WC or Euros is exponentially greater than that placed on any international basketball tournament, including the Olympics.

by LiamP on Oct 6, 2009 11:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs