Rodgers for the second game running didn't choose our best line up. Lucas was dropped and rightly so but Allen wasn't the right choice; don't get me wrong here, I'm not slating Allen or holding a vendetta against him, in fact he started the game pretty well but as soon as they scored he went missing and was almost as though he wasn't on the pitch, at times I thought we only had Gerrard and Hendo in the midfield Allen was so badly missing from the action. We needed Can to start IMO, we needed more of a midfield presence, we saw when he came on he was getting really stuck in and was bullying them off the ball and cutting out a fair amount of their play through the middle, something Allen wasn't doing.
The second mistake and this was by far the biggest but once again I am not surprised in the slightest; Glen Johnson. Aside from once again being utter sh*te, 3 main things really stuck out.
1) Around the 12:30 mark of the game (so early on), City broke up our play and went on the attack, we had players tracking back but he was just casually jogging leading to Gerrard having to try and get out to the gaping hole on that side of the pitch whilst having to try and get Skrtel to basically back him up, a cross came in and it fell to Zabaleta who volleyed over the bar, if it had fallen to Dzeko it could have been a different outcome. Johnson still wasn't back in position when the shot happened.
2) Around the 32nd minute when Sturridge left Kompany for dead and rifled a shot from a tight angle at Joe Hart, City then broke at us and Johnson was once again taking his time to get back. This time he managed to get back before City got in any sort of shot. However, he didn't get back into his own position, instead he went between Skrtel and Lovren for some stupid reason and left a huge space out on the right once again. Luckily no goal came of it.
Also, when they would zoomed out and show our defensive line; Skrtel, Lovren and Moreno were all in a line together but Johnson was hanging back and would have been playing them onside so it shows even more he has no awareness of his defensive line.
3) This is what got me most and I don't want to see him play for us again as it is and this was the final straw. When he got injured, we were out of subs and trying to get back into the game. In that situation, unless it is a serious injury I expect any player, don't care who they are, whether it's Johnson or Gerrard, you play on and at least try to do the best you can. He felt a bit of a twinge that conveniently happened when he got jeered for losing the ball so easily in an attack and he immediately started to walk towards the edge of the pitch asking to be subbed. He didn't look badly injured to me, yet Moreno who looked like he could have actually done some damage when he went down carried on and was still breaking up play and winning tackles whilst not being all that mobile. Same with Skrtel too, he carried on.
Moreno was at fault for the first goal, no question about it but the fact he carried on after going down and trying to make amends all game is a start of making amends for costing a goal.
For periods of the game we were the better team and the only way they were able to stop us was by fouling us. Sterling was causing them all sorts of problems and Coutinho was looking much more effective. We were looking solid defensively too (minus Johnson).
We went 1-0 down to a lapse in concetration and it was pretty much the only thing Jovetic had done up until that point. After Sturridge had the ball in the net it all went wrong, we were on the back foot and when they got the second goal it looked as though the flood gates would open, it was only thanks to a lack of composure on Jovetic' behalf that we weren't 3-0 down sooner.
Aguero scoring with his second touch and within seconds of being on the pitch was a total embarrassment, I don't know if it is just me but Migs seemed a hell of a long way off his line and made it a whole lot easier for Aguero. Aguero had the choice of the shot he went for or an easy lob.
Markovic looked bright when he came on and was causing a few problems, had a good bit of link up play with Moreno too which is a good positive sign for the future. Good to see there is a degree of an understanding there already.
Lambert, I was happy with him once we got to 3-1 but then he bottled going for goal and making it 3-2 when it was easier to go for goal than anything else but he tried squaring it and having Sturridge walk it in. I know he isn't going to be a regular but a player signed to do the job he does should be scoring there, not passing it, no excuse.
We fell apart in too many areas, Hendo was quiet, Gerrard wasn't passing as well as the first half when he was looking dangerous, picked out Sterling a treat after a good run which was dangerous. Coutinho faded and Sturridge looked to be getting no service (took his goal well, just a shame it didn't count).
Overall City were the better team, we had our spells but they were more composed and took advantage when they had the chance. They were patient in their build up play and didn't take any risks and covered each other well when they had to.
I hate to say it but we should have taken the Chelsea approach here, against City at the Etihad you have to be compact and allow very little space and look to exploit any gaps that occur like they done to us last season at Anfield and how they will look to play when they go to the Etihad. We created chances but a lack of discipline to stay compact and defensively solid really cost us in the second half because there were times after they went 3-0 up that I thought it was going to have to become damage limitation. Luckily the changes Rodgers made put a bit more of a positive spin on things and we were able to at least get one goal back.
We may have lost and undeniably lost to the better team on the day but we can't let this result get us down. Some more thought into the team selections; I.e not playing Johnson and more hard work on our defending and we will be okay. This was always going to be our hardest game of the season and we have gotten it out of the way nice and early when they have a pretty tough run of games coming up, the Eithad hasn't been a good ground for us over the last 4 years, think we've last every time we've gone their lately.
We're still ahead of the Mancs too so every cloud and all that.
Also, forgot to say this part about Johnson.
Their second goal could have been cleared off the line if he had headed it instead of trying to get a leg to it!
« Last Edit: Aug 26, 2014 08:14:05 pm by 7-King Kenny-7 »
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