Source: Man_City
Gary Owen column
| Submit Comments| Comments (10)| Printable Version1/1Play SlideshowClose MapCity fans had better brace themselves for some tense, tight matches ahead, because Blackburn have shown the rest of the Premier League the way ahead. When we tore into Liverpool, many Blues felt that the new dawn was already peeping above the horizon, and that Roberto Mancini?s men could sweep all before us in a flood of attacking football. But taking on a side like Liverpool, who felt they could come to Eastlands and win, and facing a Sam Allardyce side with no such pretensions, are two entirely different things. Liverpool?s 4-4-2 set-up was perfect for our style, and by the time Roy Hodgson realised it we were 3-0 up and out of sight. Big Sam knows his side?s limitations, and his 4-5-1 set-up was always going to take some dismantling. And when you throw in a shambles of an error, like the mix-up between Joe Hart and Kolo Toure, you make it twice as hard. It has to be laid at Joe?s feet, even though the lad has been brilliant so far this season. He was facing the ball, and it?s his call ? and when you come out that far, you have to clean out the ball, the striker, and the defender as well if you need, and deposit the ball in Row Z. A mistake like that is manna to teams like Blackburn and we lost some of our tempo from that point onwards, just as we did after Carlos Tevez?s miss at Sunderland. Having said that, we missed plenty of chances, and ? as Blackburn found out a week earlier when they lost at home to Arsenal ? that can be fatal. Fans understandably get frustrated when their team is facing opposition who place ten men behind the ball, but they need to lean patience. With Emmanuel Adebayor and Mario Balotelli injured, there is no option of getting the ball forward quickly in the air. That means the build-up has to be a little slower than English football fans are used to, but that is the way of the Premier League these days.| Submit Comments| Comments (10)| Printable VersionAdd A CommentEnter your comments:Sending
