City claim Community Shield to start season with a bang

The FA Community Shield, sponsored by McDonalds, has always been a fixture that has baffled me. Hailed as the traditional curtain raiser for the season it is difficult to distinguish whether it is a friendly or a competitive match. With thoughts of pre-season world tours fresh in the minds of both teams and the transfer rumour mill often reaching stupendous levels the match often isn’t taken too seriously by fans and players alike.

The prospect of a trophy though confuses the spectacle somewhat. No team can claim to not want to win silverware so one can never be quite sure what to expect.

Prior to the game, news was emerging that City had agreed a fee for Everton’s young English midfielder Jack Rodwell. The deal all but secured subject to a medical. The news could arguably be more exciting for City fans than the prospect of claiming the Community Shield given the unusually quiet transfer window for Champions, so far.

The approach both sets of players took to the game certainly banished any thoughts of this being a casual, pre-season kick about. Challenges were flying in left, right and centre culminating in a few early yellow cards and eventually a red.

Roberto Mancini opted to use the 3-5-2 system that he has been experimenting with during the pre-season tours of Austria, China and Malaysia. Though City played with more attacking verve for the majority of the first half Chelsea took the lead courtesy of a Fernando Torres goal shortly before half time. Not long afterwards the tough tackling spectacle reached a head when Branislav Ivanovic deservedly saw red for rash challenge on Aleks Kolarov.

In the second half, City managed to make better use of possession in the final third, thanks in part to their numerical advantage over Chelsea. Within the space of 13 minutes fine goals from Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri ensured City were on course to claim their first Community Shield in 40 years.

In true City fashion they didn’t make it easy for themselves. Ryan Bertrand, the young English Chelsea substitute, ensured that City fans bit their nails to the final whistle after pouncing on a Costel Pantilimon spill with 10 minutes left to reduce the Chelsea deficit to 3-2. Nevertheless, City held on to get their hands on the trophy sponsored by McDonalds (a sponsorship that epitomises everything that is wrong with the modern game).

City celebrate winning the Community Shield

The game was comforting for City in that it has proved the 3-5-2 can function effectively in a competitive scenario thus justifying the work Mancini and his staff have undertaken in pre-season. I am not sure that the system is sustainable though. Unless City are able to field 3 centre halves at the back instead of full backs or a deer in the headlights like Stefan Savic, I am not sure Mancini will persevere with the system. With the transfer window still open there is time to make additions to bolster his squad to better suit this system.

Carlos Tevez also showed that he is a different proposition to last season after having lost weight over the summer. The Argentine applied himself with his trademark bulldog like approach and a fine performance was capped with a classy goal. Tevez was perhaps deserving of the Man of the Match award but ITV’s “experts” gave Yaya Toure the prestigious title of McDonalds Man of the Match. Also worthy of note were the tireless performances of James Milner and Nigel De Jong.

All in all, a good day for City: Another season, another trophy.

Chelsea Team

Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, David Luiz, Terry, Ramires, Lampard, Mikel, Hazard (Bertrand), Torres, Mata (Sturridge)

Man City Team

Pantilimon, Kompany, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Savic (Clichy), Milner, Nasri (Silva), De Jong, Yaya Toure, Aguero, Tevez (Dzeko)

Words by Robert Toole

City’s website leading the way with citytv

During the close season there is often very little to write about football that is worthwhile. Obviously, transfer stories capture the headlines but the majority of football coverage focuses on speculation which quite frankly bores me to tears.

Thankfully the City website has been jam packed with videos of all sorts to keep the City faithful entertained during the baron months. The City website provides a vast array of videos that cast shame on their rivals websites. Though the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have similar sections on their sites, you’ll be hard pressed to find the same level of content in comparison to City.

City offer videos ranging from training, in depth interviews, First Team and Academy match highlights, behind the scenes features to more light-hearted features like #AskSergio in which Sergio Aguero answers fans’ questions from Twitter. Last season City debuted the particularly excellent ‘Inside City’ feature which gave an insight to the working of City on a weekly basis: anything from training to charity work was covered. One episode even featured behind the scenes footage of the promo event for Joleon Lescott’s clothing line.

City’s most recent posts are extensive features of their recent pre-season tour of Austria and current tour of China. I don’t know about you but I would much rather be able to see what is actually going on at City instead of reading the ramblings of some listless journalist from The Daily Mirror speculating about what is going on.

Words by Rob Toole

*Videos taken from MCFC’s Youtube channel for the purposes of embedding on this blog.

 

 

 

Mancini is the Man for the Future

Yesterday, Roberto Mancini signed a five year extension to his contract as Manchester City manager. Immediately prior to the deal being completed, there was intense speculation linking Mancini to a lucrative deal to manage the Russian national team. To the relief of many, Mancini put to bed any speculation regarding his future by becoming Manchester City’s smartest signing of the summer.

Though some may not appreciate the magnitude of this deal, the importance of it is not lost on me. Regardless of any big name players that City may sign before the closure of the transfer window, securing Mancini’s services for the next five year is huge by comparison.

Despite Mancini’s success at City, his abilities and achievements are seldom recognised or appreciated by the masses. Delivering City’s first silverware in 35 years with the FA Cup in 2011 and City’s first league title since 1968 in the space of two and a half years is an extraordinary achievement. Yet, it seems that if City do well it is to be expected due to the wealth of the club’s owners but when they underperform criticism is relentless.

The excellent job Mancini has done, and continues to do, can be seen by looking back at the various styles of play City have adopted prior to and during Mancini’s reign as City boss. Even the way City approach certain opposition has changed over time to ultimately get the better of them.

Forza Mancini

The squad that Mancini inherited from Mark Hughes in December 2009 was in a poor state, despite being expensively assembled. The set up essentially boiled down to a gung-ho mentality lacking the basic principles of a good football team: organisation and a good defence. This type of approach was, at times, entertaining but it was severely flawed. Against weaker opposition it worked but when facing the best teams who were organised and defensively sound, problems were inevitable.

The positive side to this approach was perhaps best demonstrated in the 4-2 victory versus Arsenal in September 2009. The negative side to this approach was demonstrated in the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham in December of the same year: a game in which City were torn to shreds by a team who could attack and defend astutely, and essentially had a game plan. Hughes’ last game in charge, the almost farcical 4-3 victory over Sunderland, epitomised this wayward approach.

Though Mancini took on a job with unlimited funds it was by no means an easy task. City were in disarray and it is huge credit to Mancini that the football City produce today is a far cry from the hit it and hope kind of football City fans were having to endure week-in week-out prior the Italian’s arrival. Mancini essentially went back to basics and worked from the back. The key to all great teams is being able to defend and Mancini knows this. From the moment he took charge the number of goals that City scored and conceded decreased.

During the 2010-11 season City were regularly cited as dull and boring due to their defensive nature and perceived lack of goals. The lazy cliché of an Italian style of play was banded round with nauseating regularity. In spite of this, City finished the season with a goal difference of +27. In the same season, Tottenham Hotspur, a team regularly cited as the best attacking team in the league, achieved a goal difference of +9. Quite how City gained a reputation for being negative didn’t quite add up.

With a solid defence in place, Mancini unleashed the shackles in the 2011-12 season. With the additions of key attacking players like Sergio Aguero and David Silva during Mancini’s tenure, City played with freedom, pace and intricate movement. As a consequence City’s attractive style of play was beginning to receive recognition in the media. After 10 games, City had already surpassed the goal difference they achieved the season before (+29) and were on average scoring 3.6 goals per game and conceding 0.8 goals per game. By the end of the season, City won the Premier League by scoring the most goals (93) and conceding the fewest (29). The transformation from reckless entertainers to free scoring Champions was complete, all due to the hard work and tactical knowledge of Mancini.

The excellent work of Mancini can also be demonstrated by the way in which City have changed the way they play against certain opposition. For example, Tottenham have long been a bogey team for City. Yet, Mancini has gone from attempting to nullify the threat of Spurs’ attack to being able to dictate play in his short tenure as City manager. Though the majority of games against Tottenham in the last three seasons have all been well contested games, the results (below) demonstrate the way Mancini has developed his City team from cautious and defensive to sparking attackers.

2009/10 Season
Spurs 3-0 City (*Mark Hughes as manager)
City 0-1 Spurs

2010/11 Season
Spurs 0-0 City
City 1-0 Spurs

2011/12 Season
Spurs 1-5 City
City 3-2 Spurs

It is refreshing  that City have finally got the right man for the job and are looking to the future with Roberto Mancini. There have been many false dawns at Manchester City: managers have come and gone with such regularity that the job was perceived as somewhat of a poisoned chalice. Not anymore, City yesterday completed biggest signing of their summer, Roberto Mancini.

Words by Rob Toole