£33 Million for Nigel De Jong

The tough tackling, play breaker upper, defence protector is sorely missed by Manchester’s finest side. Say what you will about our friend from the Netherlands, City are missing him.

The fact the reported fee was only £3 million received from AC Milan makes it even harder to bear. I’m sure City paid around £17 million for him in January 2009. In which time I would argue he got better and better. So did he really ‘depreciate’ by £14 million in the space of three and a half years? My mind says no.

What also appears to have happened on the evidence so far is that City has replaced Nigel with inferior players.

Prior to his injury Rodwell suffered a shaky start to his City career. Despite the fact he is still only young and playing at a higher level he is yet to really impress me. I appreciate he may be better going forward than De Jong although there has been no real evidence of that yet. His defensive play is nowhere near the level of Nigel as yet, which is one of the reasons the side is struggling.

At this moment in time I cannot see why Garcia was bought. For me he offers nothing to team above anyone else. I’ve yet to see him play a forward pass. He is not better going forward than Toure and is not better than Barry in the defensive role. £16 million is a lot to pay for a player who offers little to the side, especially with FFP looming on the horizon.

Perhaps those evaluations are a little harsh and I hope both players prove me wrong. As it stands, in simple terms; neither Garcia nor Rodwell offer the qualities of our much missed Nigel.

The defence seems to miss the Dutch master as opposition players are finding it easier to get at them. There are too many open spaces between the midfield and the back four to be exploited.

Nigel would have sat in these exact spaces and prevented those attacks from happening. I bet if you asked Kompany et al would they like De Jong back they would bite your arm off.

The defence has looked shaky and void of confidence at times this season. I never remember them looking like that over the past two seasons. De Jong was a major reason behind that.

If it was a contract dispute that forced his sale then so be it. I’m not privy to what goes on around the boardroom table. However whatever he wanted I’m sure it was more financially viable than the combined transfer fees and wages of Rodwell and Garcia.

In my book it was a mistake to let him go. Paying out £33 million to replace him was even worse.

Grant Mills

@mancinismarvels

Hammer Time

On a day where Chelsea dropped points and United seized the day against a poor Arsenal side, typical City failed to take their opportunity to go level with United.

On a side note, is it now the norm that a side like Arsenal will turn up at City and play out of their skins because we are champions? Contrast this with their non-existent showing at Old Trafford. Something City needs to understand quickly.

City dominated West Ham yet failed to make it count. Mario missed a sitter, Tevez and Toure missed good opportunities. But apart from that City failed to break a spirited resistance.

On a night when it was clear West Ham had only one tactic and seemed to be happy to defend it was simply not good enough from City. As Mancini later stated it was definitely a case of two points dropped.

How frustrating was the often mislaid final pass? There were so many times when a bit more composure or class in the final phase of the play could have led to a goal. With all the ability this side has it’s simply not good enough.

As soon as I saw the line up I was concerned. No recognised right back (how frustrating is that, we have three, all unfit) and a lopsided attack. It’s my opinion that Mancini should not play Edin and Mario together. They are too static and there are too many, annoying, frustrating times when they give the ball away too easily and the move breaks down. This is simply asking for trouble during an away game when the opposition and their fans are well up for it.

The eternal Dzeko debate lingers on. For me, when he starts he is simply not good enough. He is so frustrating at times and seems to offer little threat. Case in point was a great ball in from Mario, all Dezko had to do was take it in his stride and the goal was on (not a hard skill for a top striker I would assume). Annoyingly again it bounced off his thigh and rolled away and the chance gone.

Oh for Rosler in his pomp, chipping Schmeicel or Flowers, Quinn leading the line or Goater getting on the end of everything. They would offer as much threat as Mario and Edin do at present.

Kolo Toure had his best game in a City shirt for a long time. Defensively sound he rarely looked in trouble and was always on for an out ball, he created a few openings as well. Despite this the team miss Richards and Zabaletta who are as much a part of the attacking play as our forwards. Hopefully Zabaletta is back for the Ajax game.

Surely at a time when Silva is injured, Nasri and Yaya are not producing; Sinclair should be given a chance to start, otherwise we did we buy him? Last night’s game would have been a great opportunity for him and would have provided more width and creativity. The Swansea game was also crying out for his introduction yet Kolarov was given the nod instead.

Sinclair must be desperate for a chance to impress, get him on and let him show us what he can do. The team needs a spark from somewhere why not Sinclair?

On a positive note the defence was rarely troubled and Kompany looks back to his commanding best. That is the third clean sheet in the last four games. Sadly we have only scored six goals in those four games. Contrast that with this time last season and we are well off the pace.

Its all well and good saying City have not yet clicked into gear but what if this is it? What if they have already peaked? At a time when United have found their feet and Chelsea can be unplayable, City are in danger of watching them disappear over the hill and out of sight.

With fixtures against Spurs, Chelsea and United now rapidly approaching this is a time for our players to really show what their made of and take control of the title race. Winning those games (two are at home) would most likely put us top (all else being equal) while denting our rival’s aspirations.

Come on City.

Grant Mills

@mancinismarvels

Carlitos Way

City struggled to a win over Swansea in a game which for the first half was almost a mirror image of last season’s encounter. The home side huffed and puffed with no cutting edge whatsoever whilst The Swans looked the more likely to score.

The Blues looked void of ideas, had no penetration and could not get the ball forward quickly enough. The tempo was so slow that there were never any gaps to exploit and on the rare occasions that City pressed Swansea were able to get back into position and defend the attack.

I’ve said it before 4-4-2 is a dated formation, which has been exploited since 2004 when Rafa Benitez bought players like Garcia to Liverpool in order to exploit the space between the two banks of four. It’s simply too easy to play around this formation, surely it’s not the way forward for City.

On Saturday this also saw Tevez and Aguero isolated up front, withdrawn from the game with little impact. The midfield could not get the ball forward quick enough, whenever they did the space was closed down. Frustrating times for the home side.

All that changed when Mancini got a grip of the tactics in the second half. Kolarov went off, allowing Balotelli on up front, this pushed Aguero out to the left (which I’m still not sure about) but more importantly allowed Tevez to drop deeper and take hold of the game by the scruff of the neck.

When City plays in my favourite 4-2-3-1 they play with two strikers, one in a deeper role, linking play. This contrasts to Chelsea who employs three interchangeable, attacking midfielders and only one striker. Tevez showed last night he was back to his best and in the deeper striker role it could be argued that City play it better than Chelsea (they have copied us haven’t they?). As well as being a creative force Carlos was also a goal threat and a menace around the box.

His goal, when it came was a thing of beauty. Such accuracy, combined with pace and power is difficult to achieve from that distance. When you view the angle from behind the shot it, he really didn’t have much to aim for. It was a strike fit to win any game. In fact he hit it so hard that Vorm, the Swans keeper injured himself trying to save it.

Silva is absent but has not been at his best this term, whilst both Nasri and Toure seem to have gone off the boil. Their creative juices have not been flowing like last season and City have really missed that creative spark. Step forward Carlito, he showed what City have been missing. He picked the ball up, attacked defenders, went past people, shot at goal, brought people into play and effectively ran the game in the second half. This was the Tevez of 2009-10 and 2010-11, I hope he is here to stay.

If he can display this form week in week out and the aforementioned three can get back to their best City can start to threaten defences up and down the country again. Our number 32 will surely impress on Mancini that he is the best man to play as the deeper striker, none of the other three can play that role as well as he can. Mario and Edin are more of a number 9, whilst Sergio can play deeper but as a number 10; he needs to be closer to the goal.

The stats will show that Carlos completed forty seven of his sixty two passes and had three out of four shots on target. It might not be obvious from these, but for me he dominated that second half and really made City tick and provided inspiration at a time when we really needed it. At a time when other strikers around the league seem to be scoring freely I would bet Tevez is chuffed to bits with that performance. He should be he saved the day.

Grant Mills

@mancinismarvels

Top 5 Terriers in the Tackle

1.   Nigel De Jong

I still can’t believe he’s gone. Signed by Mark Hughes in the January transfer window of 2009 he was always tough in the tackle. City were ridiculed in some areas of the press for paying such a large sum for him (£17m), when they could have gotten him on a free in the Summer. Money well spent in my eyes. Alongside Tevez he was the first name on the team sheet during the 2010/11 season. He never gave in and scored a couple of cracking goals too. Sadly for him the team progressed and there was less demand for his abilities. Although at this present time I think we are missing him. Good luck Nigel.

2. Pablo Zabaletta

This guy is great. Fact. Over the past few seasons he must have spent more time being patched and stitched up than any other Premier League player. He has other qualities too (see my Lifetime XI). Opened the scoring on that fabulous day in May versus QPR. “I thought I score one goal in one season and we are going to lose. But I’m still dreaming I don’t want to wake up”. If every player showed his determination we would never lose. He seems to be getting better in every game we play. Why City bought Maicon when we have Zab Man and Richards is beyond me.

3. Danny Tiatto

This guy had that Aussie competitive spirit and it clearly showed in his game. He was up and down the whole game, could put his foot in and scored goals. Bought in 1998 for £300,000 he was never one to shy away from a challenge. I went away to Boro in 2001 when he scored a cracker. Ran the length of the field, beat a few men and slotted the ball in the corner. It was incorrectly ruled out for offside. Typical City.

Had his less than favourite moments as well, like when he was sent off against Blackburn in 2002 and went mental. Tia Tia Tiatto, Tiatto, Tiatto.

4.  Peter Reid

Signed by Howard Kendall in 1990 he went on to manage City, leading them to two 5^th place finishes (1990/91 and 1991/92) after Kendall could not resist a return to Goodison. A real ‘bull in a china shop’ Reid was coming toward the end of his playing career whilst at City. He provided experience and midfield steel to complement some of City’s emerging youth talent of the time. Thankfully he didn’t have to chase Maradona around the pitch whilst at City.

5.  Joey Barton

Despite his recent antics Barton did well during his time at City. After graduating the youth set up he was given his debut during the 2002/03 season by Kevin Keegan. He went onto become a senior figure in the squad making 153 appearances scoring 17 goals in the process.

Eventually he moved to Newcastle in 2007 after an earlier ill advised transfer request fell through. Sadly Barton only seems to make headlines for the wrong reasons nowadays.

His antics on May 13^th provided the extra 5 minutes which allowed City to score twice.

Grant Mills

@mancinismarvels

Nostalgic Match Reports

Welcome to the first in a series of nostalgic match reports

Division 1, February 2000, The City Ground, Forest 1 – 3 City.

City travelled across The Peak District to Nottingham to face a Forest side intent on interrupting their promotion push. The City side that day in the East Midlands included the likes of Bob Taylor, Jeff Whitley and Richard Jobson.

Forest were a mid table side at best after suffering relegation from the Premier League the previous season. They were in the process of rebuilding following the Pierre Van Hooijdonk debacle only twelve months earlier.

At that time as a student you could get a ticket from Nottingham Trent University for a fiver. The downside was that it was a home ticket and it required silence sitting amongst a mixture of regular home fans and people who had turned up just  because City were the draw that season.

Sat in silence I was when Chris Bart Williams opened the scoring after only nine minutes leading to what appeared to be the eruption of the entire ground.

This was to be City’s day however as the talents of Goater, Kennedy and Bishop started to show why City were eyeing the title. Wearing the classic ‘middle badge’ Eidos shirt, Bob Taylor scored the equalizer after thirty one minutes to silence the home fans and the hangers on.

Things got even better only four minutes later when The Goat popped up to score another to put City two one up going in at half time. Not to be out done by his strike partner Goater bagged another in the eighty third minute to send the City fans into celebration and cause the Trent End to begin to empty.

Forest were overwhelmed by City that day and the blues were simply too good for them. It was easy to see the confidence in the players who would go on to gain promotion that season.

Grant Mills

@mancinismarvels

Top 5 Transfer Deadline Day Deals

1. “We’re Sheikhing up baby now”. September 2008

Mansour and the Abu Dhabi group seize control of City on a brilliant day for the blue half of Manchester. It felt like all of City’s Christmases had come at once. The embarrassment of the Shinawatra era had come to an end and all of a sudden the possibilities were endless. No debt, unbelievable resources, the financial backing to achieve the unthinkable. In a statement made shortly afterwards, whilst talking of others at the club he said “.They reflect our shared aim of seeing Manchester City Football Club evolve to become a significant force in the world of football”.

City’s new owners immediately announced their intentions by signing Robihnio from Real Madrid.

2. Robinho, September 2008

Straight from left field this deal was literally out of the blue. The new petro dollars had been secured and City were linked with every player under the sun from Berbatov to David Villa.

It appeared that Robinho was on his way to Chelsea when Andy Burton appeared on Sky Sports News saying similar to “Here we go, sweaty fingers time.....Robihno has signed for Manchester City”.  Unfortunately for Robinho it appeared the next day he thought he had signed for Chelsea.

Despite what went on afterwards he was our first ‘superstar’ signing at £32 million and paved the way for the rest of the big deals.

3. Benjani, January 2008

Prior to the big money investment our transfer policy was somewhat average. Rolando Bianchi take a bow. Benjani had looked a decent player at Portsmouth and City were lacking a proven goal scorer at that time (Emile Mpenza anyone?). The deal dragged on all day and amongst rumours of private jets, medical complications and fee problems it appeared the clock was going to run out. Big Ben chimed midnight on Sky Sports News and City fans were left wondering if the deal had been completed. It was not until the early hours when most of the freezing reporters had gone home that we learned the deal had been completed.

4.  Adam Johnson, February 2010

Mancini had only recently taken the hot seat at City, Johnson was the much hyped player of the moment and was also linked with a potential move to Stamford Bridge (déjà vu – see above).

After a string of impressive performances for Middlesbrough, City shelled out a fee rumoured to be around £5 million for the left footed winger and became Mancini’s second signing following the capture of Patrik Viera.

5. Majita Nastastic, September 2012

Despite a flurry of transfer activity in the most recent transfer window none of the new purchases have really impressed me so far. I also feel its possible these five new players were bought just to appease Mancini following his public complaints and the majority of them were players we did not need.

The one exception so far is Nastastic who has impressed me the most. Aged only nineteen he looks composed on the ball and good in the tackle. He could go on to be a great player and the fee of £12 million could be a bargain. The other bonus was that we got to send Stefan Savic in the other direction.

Grant Mills

@mancinismarvels

Top 5 City Goal Scorers

1.   Shaun Goater

He played for City between 1998 and 2003; after being bought by Joe Royle for £400,000 from Bristol City. When I first laid eyes on him I couldn’t believe how bad he looked, gangly, ungainly and with a first touch like a baby elephant; he didn’t fill me with hope. How wrong I was. Goater quickly settled in and scored 21 goals in his first season to fire City to promotion to division 1.

My favourites memories of our Shaun are the 2001/02 season when at the start of the season he seemed to score every game and had bagged something like 25 goals by the time Halloween had rolled around.

2.   Carlos Tevez

Joined City from United (although he was technically never a ‘United’ player) in summer 2009. talkSport broke the news first and it was like waiting for Christmas for the move to be formally announced.

After a slow start when Adebayor grabbed the early headlines, Tevez burst into life and scored 29 goals in his first season. He scored 23 goals the next season and lifted the FA Cup. Prior to the arrival of the likes of Yaya, Silva, Aguero and Nasri, Carlos almost carried the team creativity wise and was always the go to man when City needed something to happen.

3.   Sergio Aguero

“Aguerooooooooooooooooooo……….” Will forever be remembered for that moment back in May. Bought as a replacement for Tevez (who had asked for a transfer) Sergio arrived from Athletico Madrid and made an immediate impact. Brought on with 20 minutes left in the season’s opener against Swansea he scored a tap in with his first touch, brilliantly set up Silva then rounded it off with a long distance strike.

Strong, skilful, quick he scored 30 goals (23 league) in his debut season, there is still much more to come from Kun.

4.   Nicolas Anelka

Often forgotten due to our recent superstar signings, ‘Le Sulk’ was a coup by Keegan when he bought him in 2002 to provide the fire power for the new Premier League campaign.

Opened his account with two goals in a home win over Everton and scored the opener in the 3-1 win over United. Had his moments at City but he mostly led the line brilliantly when he often had to manufacture his own chances. His goal scoring stats are just shy of a goal every other game, which in a mid table at best side; is a great return.

Eventually left in January 2005 to join Fernerbache.

5.   Uwe Rosler

Nicknamed Herr Bomber, Rosler was brought in during early 1994 after then Chairman Francis Lee was tipped off about the former East German internationals availability. Scored three for the reserves before quickly establishing himself in the first team.

The team were poor at the time but he quickly struck up great partnerships with Paul Walsh, Nicky Summerbee and Peter Beagrie. Uwe went on to play 181 games for City scoring 65 goals in the process. Probably our best player until Kinkladze arrived.

Grant Mills

@mancinismarvels