Manchester City 5 Hull 1
Manchester City v Hull City
Friday December 26, 2008, 3.00pm
City of Manchester Stadium - Att: 45,196
mcfc.co.uk report, MEN report,
If Mark Hughes was hoping for a statement performance from his side given the recent attention on him, then he most definitely got it. A fantastic performance of attacking football - particularly in the first half - and one that we have shown on occasion previously in the season.
The return of Robinho was obviously a huge boost to the side, but equally as important (if not more so) was the return to the early season form by Stephen Ireland. The trio of Ireland, Wright-Phillips and Robinho are an integral part to our success and it is important they sustain their form and whilst I'm certainly not getting carried away, the performance should dispel some of the recent doom.
Hughes sprung a surprise with the inclusion of Elano for the game after many predictions that he had played his final game at the club - but you do wonder whether he will ever be a regular under Hughes? We do look a far better side with the formation that lined up today, but is it likely that a more robust 4-4-2 will be deployed at Ewood Park?
Jo had a great opportunity to impress when replacing Caideo at half-time but failed to enhance his claims at all, or even match the approach shown by Caicedo on full debut.
I know Hughes has made much of our slide last season, but historically he has enjoyed good second halfs to the season and his prediction this week of finishing top ten should easily be attainable given how bunched the Premier League is this season, and looking at the table it is not inconceivable for us to be challenging top six if a consistent second half can be put together.
Hughes referred to our start last season as "unsustainable", and in truth he could have been referring to Hull. They have made a tremendous start to the season, but in truth have caught many sides by surprise. I would expect (like ourselves last time around) them to struggle over the second half and slide to mid-table - and they are only six points ahead of us.
A little bit of transfer talk today with Marcos Senna talking positively about a potential move and Harry Redknapp suggesting we are interested in Craig Bellamy following West Ham rejecting Tottenham's bid for the player. On the playing side, I don't see where he fits into our side as it is clear we need a 'main' striker, which Bellamy clearly is not. As for his personality, that's another matter entirely.
4 comments:
I am going to blow my own trumpet for months and months on here and other fan sites i have visited i have been saying caicedo deserves his chance going on his performances for his country and i was right it seems 4 goals in 3 games not to shabby.I have seen articles on who you would get rid of and lots of fans chose caicedo i fought his corner and im glad he has proven me correct. Can someone inform me how i get a application to be manager lol CTID
^ i agree gago i have mentioned a fair few times about caicedo i even raised a comment on one forum stating that he is already better tha evans..and was dismissed for it..
he's a cracking lad.
felt sorry for jo, of ocurse we were flat in the second half, but he looks so out of confidence it was hard to watch....let me tell you now, he isnt a bad player... you know he wouldnt be partnering pato in the olmpyics if he was, he wouldn't of played and scored plenty for one of the best russian side going... he is going to need time, with his price tag that is difficult to understnad...if he was an acedemy player he woul dbe given the world...like a certian welsh striker...
anyway merry christmas...will update my blog soonish....still entertaining
Yeah tommy i have to agree about jo, and the main thing that annoyed me after he came on today was the fans, granted he didnt do anythin special today after he came on but you know fickle city fans are ten a penny there was loads around me waitin to have a go everytime the ball went near him and it annoyed me because he hasnt had a fair crack in the team, he also didnt look poor not amazing but not poor and we were 4-0 up when he came on, so a lad that is clearly lacking confidence got to come on into a team winning comfortably but any confidence he could of takin from finishin a game in the winning team some fans that are supposed to be supporting the team were tryin there hardest to ruin the lad, if mr cook wants the same old city mentality gone this is another case of it same old city fans once they dont like someone thats it they dont get another chance and they target them its pathetic, i must point out its not majority of the fans but still out of 45,000 its alot of them and it needs to stop i personally wont tolerate negative fans near me i have to say sumut and i think if more fans like me made them look silly with the nonsense that comes from the mouths of these ppl who turn up 1 game in 5 we could stamp out alot of the negative attitude at our club, just like im sure all those same kinda ppl who were sayin caicedo was shit not long ago without watchin him will now love him it needs to stop we need more faith in our players as long as they play for us we should back them. ps its GA GA tommy gago plays for real madrid, and he isnt as good as me so dont want ppl gettin wrong idea ;) CTID
haha sorry GAGA... i was talking about signing gago yesterday for our defensive midfield role..
Post a Comment