City versus West Ham

City Versus West Ham

Not quite sure what I think will happen tomorrow, my emotions are all over the place, which is very unusual for me. My head is saying that a home game against West Ham should be a straight forward affair, but theres always that nagging doubt that something could happen, be gone such thoughts. We will be fine, I’m sure.

If the City team plays as it did on wednesday against Aston Villa then City should win the game and considering we’ve only dropped 4 points at home all season the stats say that we will get what we need from the game tomorrow.

I have a feeling that we see a lot of spoiling tactics on display by the West Ham players but under instruction from that arse of a manager of theirs plus from the Scouser Nolan, who is always looking to get the opposition players into trouble and i’m sure his true colours will emerge during the game tomorrow.

I saw a statistic on the TV yesterday that showed that West Ham have played the most long balls of any team in the premier league, which i’m sure is a direct result of the managers tactics. The West Ham faithful i’m sure are not impressed with this version of the game, that they profess to be the self proclaimed academy of football, now that is a laugh at the present time.

I’m hoping that the atmosphere in the stadium will be as good if not better than on wednesday night, with the fans getting right behind the team and making a shit load of noise to show the team that we appreciate the effort they have put in and what they can achieve tomorrow. I’m always sceptical or organised fan things and i’m certainly not a subscriber to the “you must sing or else you ain’t a proper fan” brigade and i’ve been disparaging about some of the supporters groups, but in terms of getting noise in the stadium they have done well so far. I just hope they change their view on ticketing and such like.

I have to say that i’m not surprised at all the shite that is coming out on TV and in the papers from all sides about City, these are, of course, designed to try to get under the players and managers skin in some way, with the hope of knocking us from achieving what we are trying to do. I’ve said this before and i’ll say it again but there is a deep seated and very worrying anti- City agenda that goes far beyond the boundaries of football. This isn’t jealousy perse, although there is a lot of that, its much more cultural and aimed at our owners background, i’m convinced of it.

I have to say that I’m so so impressed with the way the manager handles the press and TV, he is very cool and collected and doesn’t allow them to fluster him, whatever the line of questioning the try to go down. The flag in the North Stand on wednesday declaring him the “Charming Man” said it all for me, well done whoever made that, and this shows the world what we think about him.

TEAM SELECTION

Anyway, who do I think will play then, my first reaction to this was to start with the same team that started on wednesday, and really would be tempted to do just that. However, we have heard in the last 24 hours that Aguero is fit (allegedly) and if that is true it would be stupid to leave him out of the team. This then begs the question of who to leave out of the team, and I fear that this could be James Milner.

There is a bit of me that thinks we should play with just one striker and allow Silva to play in that “hole” behind the striker. That may well be an option and then its who is upfront, Dzeko or Aguero. I think that Aguero would cause more problems to the lumbering defenders than Dzeko, but you cant argue with Dzekos scoring rate in the big games, so its a tough one, but I would start with Dzeko and Aguero.

This then means that Silva would have to take a more orthodox role in midfield, which of course he can do but I cant help thinking he’s better off further forward. However, we should attacking intent and so i’ll stick by my choice of the two strikers. I’m sorry James Milner but its a role off the bench for you in this match.

My normal central midfield pair would be Yaya and Fernandinho, but I have to say Ferna is looking a bit knackered in recent weeks, which is a direct result of all the football he’s played this season in what is a much tougher and more physical league than he’s used to. He is real quality and will only get better for City over the next few seasons. So that leaves me with Javi Garcia as the holder in midfield, he is definitely not everyones cup of tea but he’s played well in the latter part of this season and, in my opinion, hasn’t let us down at all. So on this basis its Garcia who gets my nod as the holder in midfield. This also has the added advantage of bringing extra height to the team, which will be valuable against the kings of the high ball.

Nasri for me should be a permanent fixture in the team now as he is definitely getting back to the firm he showed in out title winnings season under Mancini. He is able to carry the ball at the defenders in a different way than the other players in the team, and he has the knack of popping up to bag a goal or two. Top player and is a definite starter in my team.

The full back spots are obvious to me in that Zabaletta has made right back his and must be the best right back in the premier league. The left back spot must go to Kolarov, who will be able to get down the side of the defence and put across some of those great crosses of his, to hopefully create havoc in the penalty box and yield a few goals. Thats tough on Cliche, I know, but we need more penetration from left back in this game, so it much be Kolarov. No arguments from anyone about who the CB’s should be I think, Vinnie and Demi, end of.

So there you have it folks a few musings and my selections for the the game tomorrow, Come on City.