Source: Man_City
Gary Owen column
I suppose that just about kills the idea that Roberto Mancini is too defensive! Having said that, City fans can't expect us to start smashing six past teams every week - because things are about to get a whole lot tighter. Burnley were finished from the moment we scored that early goal, but Birmingham - who come to Eastlands on Sunday - will be an entirely different proposition. I've never quite understood those City fans who feel Mancini is too cautious. Even when we played Liverpool, we set up with two wingers, plus Stevie Ireland pushing forward in support of Carlos Tevez. It wasn't a team which was designed to grab a point - but at the kind of level City need to be operating, you have to be respectful of other teams, especially the top teams, or you will get turned over. The team sent out at Turf Moor was virtually a 4-2-4, and I firmly believe that had the weather not intervened, we would have beaten United's Premier League record away win of 8-1 at Forest. Feeling We could even have threatened their overall record of 9-0 against Ipswich, and completely overhauled the nine-goal advantage in goal difference which Spurs had at the start of the day. It's important not to get carried away and expect us to do the same against Birmingham, who come to Manchester feeling, with some justification, that they should have beaten us at St Andrew's earlier in the season. They are a hard side to beat. But in the mood Carlos is in, and with Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy and Adam Johnson all joining in, we just have to be patient and wait for the moment. Tevez has been unbelievable, and he makes a mockery of all the talk about tiredness. He has been putting in 100 per cent - game after game - since the start of the season, apart from the month's compassionate leave - when he will hardly have been putting his feet up. He now has 20 league goals for the season, and you need a player who can do that to get you into the Champions League places. | Submit Comments| Comments (30)| PrintWhat's this? Emaildel.icio.usDiggredditFacebookStumbleUponNewsvineGoogle BookmarksNetscapeTechnoratiWindows LiveYahoo! MyWebMa.gnolia
