PL: Man City h Ratings and Reactions

[bromsgrove_avfc]

Freidal - 7

Cuellar - 6

Collins - 9 Immense and my MOTM

Dunne - 9

Warnock - 8

Milner - 7 Great workrate, but just lacked that bit of composure tonight

Petrov - 8

Sidwell - 7

Young - 6

Agbonlahor - 8.5

Carew - 6

[Jon]

I must have been watching a idfferent game. Whilst Carew didn't offer too much of a goal threat I thought his work rate was excellent tonight. He was back defending half the time! He went off because he was knackered because he'd run his arse off.

yep, i thought Big John was immense last night.

8/10 for me. Worked his socks off for the team, and showed some bits of real quality.

Ditto gabby.

The only poor player last night IMO was Asher

[Jon]

442's not so bad after all.

Hmmm.

I'd suggest it was more of a 4-4-1-1, or even 4-5-1, as Big JOhn was seemibngly asked to play a lot deeper.

Personally i thjink we should have gone with the genuine 4-3-3, using Coker CM, although I do think Big John had a top game.

[Jon]

Brad: 8

Carlos: 7

The Undertaker: 8

RBD: 9 (MOTM)

Warnock: 7

Stan: 9

Sidders: 8

Asher: 6

Milly: 7

Big JC: 8

Gabby: 8

[Villarocker]

We played well in the first half but I felt like we never looked like really going for the win after City levelled in the second half. I was looking at our back four and they seemed like they were unable to pass the halfway line in the second half!

I would like to see us be a bit more adventurous at home but it seemed like we were being a bit too cautious after they equalised.

[chips'ngravy]

I'd agree with the above.

We looked solid throughout but will not threaten the top four if we are unable/unwilling to take the game to the opposition, especially when playing at home. The main problem once again was the lack of creative sparkin the middle. They'll be a lot of pressure on Downing to fill that void when he finally gets back to fitness.

[Ponky]

Certainly a very good game and the right result although we might have put it to bed in the first half. I agree that Ireland changed the complexion of the match and we should have responded better.

Our main problem at the moment is that with Carew out of form we have only really Gabby and set pieces to score for us and thus we are lacking in teeth up front. Milner seems to conjure a raft of chances for himself only to butcher them all. It's quite frustrating really.

[Pricey_1984]

well played the lads, they worked there socks off.

dunne and collins were rock solid at the back and gabby just keeps on improving (wheres the gabby haters now?)

i see carew getting stick in this thread, yes his hold up play wasnt the best and did give the ball away a bit looks like he lacks match fitness at the moment but he did put the work in by dropping deep into the midfield to help out

Come out of the ground feeling slightly disappointed that we didnt nick all 3 points.

[Rocafella]

I think it is very strange that some people are forking around 7's for Steve Sidwell when he did jack shit going forward as well as missing key passes at key moments.

For me, he was the missing link last night. If someone better and more creative had played, we could have won the game as their team certainly isn't fine-tuned yet.

He works well, yes he has to otherwise he would be a non-league player, but we have Milner and Petrov to do that job as well as Young who has to do some defensive duties.

I am very sad to see Sidwell play an important part in our team and now I am actually looking forward to seeing Downing in that role even though he has never been anything

else than a left winger. MON thinks so, as he has said it, but ask any Boro fan and he'll tell you that Downing is a left midfielder/winger and has only played in the middle because

their team was shite and they had injuries. Much like Reo-Coker at right back. Either way, Downing will do a much better job in the attacking department even though I am not

expecting miracles as he is hardly a world beater. Saying that, he will give something to this team that Sidwell obviously cannot.

[tonyh29]

It's all subjective though isn't it ...

Warnock going forward did some great runs but defensively he was caught out by being the wrong side of the defender on more than one occasion and he did more than his fair share of miscued passes and slices

Yet people happily give Warnock 8 for last night whilst giving Carlos 6 or 7

I thought Sidwell was fine yesterday ..

[RMB]

I thought Steve Sidwell played very well tonight and his performance was underrated. He picked up a lot of loose balls and made a couple of important headers. One which automatically psrings to mind was back defending and got an important header away.

He did lack anything extra but i thought he picked the play up a lot and would even say he played better than Petrov.

Also thought Cuellar had quite a good game but went unnoticed.

[maqroll]

I'd agree with the above.

We looked solid throughout but will not threaten the top four if we are unable/unwilling to take the game to the opposition, especially when playing at home. The main problem once again was the lack of creative sparkin the middle. They'll be a lot of pressure on Downing to fill that void when he finally gets back to fitness.

Shit, I forgot about Downing, let's hope he gives the MF a shot in the arm, cuz it needs one badly.

[runetune]

I've said it a number of times now - When Sidwell plays, I don't know the exact figures, but we have rarely lost a game.......... He seems to be one of those players that you don't perhaps realize just how much he adds to the midfield.

Dunne was immense and showed why City were idiots to not only replace, but let him go! Professional in the way he played, but also celebrated (or rather lack of it). I know he had a lot of stick due to early career incidents, but today he really does show how much he changed.

Collins - I know a few West Spam supporters, and they all told me that Upson was made to look good..... because of Collins, and that had Collins been English and not Welsh, we'd have seen him as first choice CB for England once he got past his injury problems and the country would be raving about him. I can see why they were so annoyed to lose him (all said they would have preferred the loss of Upson). Immense signing, reads the game superbly, rarely puts a foot wrong.

Young - I thought he started well enough, but he did fade off. I think the tackle from De Jong affected the rest of the game for him, and I suspect had he not got that knock his presence would have been better felt.

Milner - once again, does what we know he does so well. Ran, harried, put balls in the box, ran past defenders in the channel. Excellent game.

Gabby - Wow! If he can continue the way he is now playing (even if he doesn't score goals) the whole of the season, he'll be sensational. I don't know what he has been doing, but its seems as much a mental shift and physical beefing up that has changed him so far this season. At 22, its as if he has finally begun to mature on the pitch, and knows what he has to do to achieve better things. He is still learning his trade, and if he carries on then we will have a top striker on our hands.

Overall - Just a great game considering this was against a team that so very nearly beat Utd at Old Trafford and have spent so much cash bringing in some great players. Like it or not - cash will eventually buy them so sort of success, and to have matched them for a point is excellent. In some ways I came away disappointed that we didn't score from one of the first half chances and actually win the game. But overall, I'm more than happy with the final result and more importantly - the performance.

[sting]

With the exception of Carew, all our players gave 100% and before the game i think everyone on here would have seen a draw as a welcome result. I was another who thought that we would get hammered and due to the comittment of the players we could all see very quickly, that that was never going to happen!

As i have mentioned elsewhere, i do think we are still a little short of being top four material and MON not going in for Bent could jump up and bite us in the ass come the end of the season. We simply must purchase another top quality striker in January, thereby waving goodbye to the inafectual Heskey!

We also still have a tenancy to play hoofball when under pressure, so we still need that ball retaining midfielder who can also create. Petrov is simply not good enough for that role and doesn't have the energy!

Overal, an impressive performance from the team, full of effort, if not guile, but with the right signings in January, then that will surely come!

[Malachite]

Great game, very good result, cold light of morning you always have a kind of instinctive contemplation on how you feel about the previous days result, it was good.

[NeilS]

I'm happy enough with the point. I would have liked a win, but at least we didn't allow one of our competitors to take all three from us. It keeps us in touch, and we're still under the radar when it comes to added pressure. Hopefully we'll bide our time just behind the lead pack and hit the end of the season with a great finish and pip them at the end.

One thing that confuses me, on Sky Sports News they had us down as 1 shot on target in the game. The report showed Given saving a near post Gabby flick, and of course the goal from Dunne. Now in my book that is two shots on target at least. Was Gabby's effort going wide?

[PompeyVillan]

I thought we were brilliant. Their goal was one of those moments, which tend to cost £240 million. We matched and bettered them for most of the match, but a draw seems like a fair result.

Our lads played with pride and determination which was really pleasing. Credit to Man City also, their pampered millionaires had to really dig deep to get a result and they could have quite easily wilted under the pressure.

Special mention to Richard Dunne and James Collins. Awesome.

[Demitri_C]

what was attendence yesterday?

with l young coming back be interesting to see what mon does as he is a better rb than cuellar but cueallar shouldnt be dropped as he has done well for us this season. also dunne and collins are undroppable for this game

[rjw63]

what was attendence yesterday?

37K

[Hanky]

I think it is very strange that some people are forking around 7's for Steve Sidwell when he did jack shit going forward as well as missing key passes at key moments.

For me, he was the missing link last night. If someone better and more creative had played, we could have won the game as their team certainly isn't fine-tuned yet.

He works well, yes he has to otherwise he would be a non-league player, but we have Milner and Petrov to do that job as well as Young who has to do some defensive duties.

A non-league player? Seriously? Sidwell had a very good game on the ball and off it last night, that is the type of energy we need in our team. However I agree we need that creative spark with someone like Fabregas (obviously we would not get someone of that quality).

Back 4 were brilliant last night, thought Cuellar did well at right back. Gabby worked his socks off as well. Young was poor going forward but carried out some good defensive duties last night.