18 Yard Box looks at the performances of the defending champions till now.
 |
| Where will the title go? |
The English Premier League has been proved
the most competitive league after the emergence of clubs other than the famed
quartet of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. One such club
worth mentioning is Manchester City. Since 2009, Manchester City has forced its
way to the top 4 edging out the big clubs.
After a grand-stand finish to the
2011-12 season, which saw City claiming the title, they have their targets set
on keeping the Premier League trophy on the east side of Manchester.
18 Yard Box's Rishav Ghosh analyses Mancini’s
endeavours in the past few months.
Title chances
Title chances
Half of the season over, City are placed 2nd,
7 points shy of the League leaders Manchester United. The League table won’t be
a pleasing sight for Roberto Mancini but given Manchester United’s show this
season he would rather take that away and capitalise on dethroning United from
the top spot. Although this season City hasn’t been able to put together
convincing performances, they still have enough power to turn things the ‘City
way’. As things stand now, City has not less than a mountain to climb to get to
that ultimate goal. Having crashed out of UEFA Champions League and the Capital
One Cup already, Mancini would be looking to focus on the Premier League and FA
Cup better than ever.
7 points is a big gap but considering last
season’s debacle, City would hope that the same happens to United this season.
At present City are truly alive in the League and would also like to add the FA
Cup to their kitty.
Woes
 |
| We havent seen these celebrations quite often this season |
Lack-lustre performances from Manchester
City has dealt a severe blow to their title ambitions. Despite having an
unbeaten streak till early December, they find themselves playing ‘catch-up’
with United. Apart from Yaya Toure and Zabaleta, the rest of the team are
finding it difficult to settle into the team with Mancini chopping and changing
his first eleven every gameweek to find the perfect combination. Mario
Balotelli hasn’t been able to put up a solid performance to win the gaffer’s
trust. Sergio Aguero too has been underperforming, leaving it to Edin
‘super-sub’ Dzeko to score late
equalisers and possible winners. Midfield department hasn’t been delivering
that well with Yaya Toure being the lone war-horse. Off lately, David Silva has
been under-performing and so have Samir Nasri and Gareth Barry. 3 months into
the season, Manchester City forwards are finding it difficult to find the back
of the net when their team needs them to. The Final pass has been poor this
season. With Kolo Toure and Yaya Toure leaving early January for the African
Cup of Nations, it will be a tough challenge for Mancini to pull his team
through to the pole position second time in a row.
Tactical
overview
 |
| Thumbs up or down for the Italian? |
Having pulled off a coup last season, City
is banking on Mancini to pull off yet another. However, looking back at the season
till now, Mancini hasn’t been able to get his mind straight about team
selection. In the Champions League, he lost his plot fielding only 3 defenders
on a couple of occasions. Playing a 3-5-2 formation against a strong Real
Madrid team was a costly mistake. Questions have been raised over Carlos
Tevez’s exclusion from the big games. Since then, he has switched back to a
more played 4-2-3-1 which isn’t paying dividends either. Mancini has employed a
much more centralised approach to his play with Tevez/Balotelli/Dzeko/Aguero
dropping into pockets of space and picking up the passe. David Silva has been
under-performing and lack of cover for him has resulted in poor results. Moreover,
the service provided to the forwards hasn’t been that good either. Zabaleta has
undoubtedly been the most versatile player, but on numerous occasions he has
been forced to play out of position as a left back to cover for Kolarov and
Clichy who have been ineffective this season and also to allow Maicon to play
as right back. With the ‘business end’ of the season coming up, it’s now or
never for Mancini to find the perfect winning combination.
Despite all this, Manicni’s substitutions have
gained a lot of appreciation. His introduction of Edin Dzeko during crunch time
situations has paid dividends. The Bosnian striker has been their goal machine
this season. Morever, playing Tevez in the ‘Rooney’ role for City has also
worked since he has been the player has been instigating attacks. Overall,
Mancini seems to be scraping his way through but still getting results needed
to keep the Citizens in the hunt.
18YB Suggests
18 Yard Box suggests a set of players that might turn the title race Citizens’ way. (These players need not be linked with the club and are purely suggestions)
18 Yard Box suggests a set of players that might turn the title race Citizens’ way. (These players need not be linked with the club and are purely suggestions)
Isco
 |
| Will he dawn the Blue Jersey in January? |
The clinical Malaga attacking midfielder is
well known for his play-making and his huge involvement in Malaga’s top 3
finish in the La Liga last season. Awarded the prestigious ‘Golden Boy’ award
this season, he most likely seems to be the next big break-through in the world
of football. Known for his creativity, vision, dribbling skills and passing, he
caught the eye of Manchester City who have been rumoured to be linked with this
U-21 Spanish international who is worth only a measly 17 million considering
the contributions to his club. He would be an ideal cover for David Silva who
has not yet reached the peak of his form this season.
Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha
 |
| He could do the trick this season |
Manchester City are having long standing
problems regarding their wingers. Milner who used to play both right and left
wing has not been able to deliver and hence the delivery into the 18 yard box
has been very poor. This 20 yr old winger from Crystal Palace might just be the
solution to Mancini’s problems. Zaha,an U-21
England international, is very dominant on the ball with good pace, ball-control,
dribbling skills and not to mention, crossing abilities. Rated at 8 million, he
would be a cheap yet good addition to the squad.
Written By,
Rishav Ghosh
Rishav is a writer for 18 Yard Box
Any Suggestions? Write to us on 18yardbox06@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment