WBA v City - Live Thread

[blueboy]

So, teams news will be our shortly. Wonder if Sergio will start? If not, I'm going for this:

..................................Hart....................................

Sagna..................Vinny.........Mangala...........Kolorov

................Fernando/Evans..............TLMLF.................

Sterling........................Silva.......................Nasri.....

..................................Bony...................................

[blueboy]

EDS v Soton Live Stream Here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akAbrwheY4s&feature=youtu.be

KO: 19:00

[blueboy]

Tonni Duggan's getting some 'tasty' headlines:

[blueboy]

Omen?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3192505/Manchester-City-look-continue-trend-winning-Premier-League-title-having-begun-season-Monday-night.html

[Topdawg]

I hate to say it, but I'm tempted to have Navas instead of Nasri. Iheanacho rather than Bony or me.

[blueboy]

TEAM FOR TONIGHT:

[blueboy]

Well, one of the two Dawg.

[Paulpowersleftfoot]

Traffic was shite as usual getting here
Glad to see dinho rather than fernando
Just fucking win blues

[blueboy]

Traffic was shite as usual getting here
Glad to see dinho rather than fernando
Just fucking win blues

Enjoy Paul!! Let's home we start with a really good attacking win. Be great to see Sterling score a couple!

[Paulpowersleftfoot]

Need to win tonight and Sunday

[blueboy]

A win tonight by 2/3 goals, a good defensive performance and Sergio getting 15 mins ready for Chelsea would be ideal.

[Topdawg]

Good to see Mangala is still shit. Diving in on the wrong side at the half way line and shit passing out of defence. Where is John Stones when you need him? Even Lescott would do...

[Guest]

Pick that out! TLMF seems up for it :-)

[blueboy]

Good to see Mangala is still shit. Diving in on the wrong side at the half way line and shit passing out of defence. Where is John Stones when you need him? Even Lescott would do...

Bollocks! He's been doing well! One mistake or misplaced pass????

If anything, it's Navas who's fucking shite! Jesus 'two or three extra touches' Navas! Cross the fucking thing first time!

Great 2nd goal by TLMLF, nice touch by Bony after a good piece of possession football. But it was Silva's goal for the 1st one.

[Nijinsky]

Is TLF after that 1st half now TF?

[Nijinsky]

I still think carragah is a twat

[blueboy]

Is TLF after that 1st half now TF?

Nope!!!!

[Nijinsky]

Haha consistency that's what I like 

[Guest]

Corner! Goal! WTF! Get in Vinnie

[Topdawg]

I watched about half the match. Mangala gets on the wrong side twice and tried to nick the ball. He fails to nick the ball and the attacker is away. You just can't do that at this level. It's tough enough even on the right side.

[blueboy]

Again, that's bollocks Dawg. He had a decent game. Even the commentators said so and said the defence was solid all game. Conceded cock all remember! 3-0.

TLMLF had a decent first half, drifted off in the 2nd, but if he plays like that for most games, we'll be ok.

Silva, simply sublime!

[Topdawg]

That's total shite bluey. Just because you get lucky and don't concede from a bad mistake doesn't suddenly make you good. Go watch that error near the half way line.

[blueboy]

So, are we now picking EVERY single mistake a defender makes?

Kompany had a decent game, but are we now going to slate his performance for that 'usual' shit 'diving in' tackle he made in the first half where he got totally turned by Berahino? Of course not.

Managala made 3 or 4 excellent last attempt tackles and clearances, but if we are now going to tear apart a player for making a single mistake, then WTF do we say about Navas then?

[Guest]

Good win! 

Manga was alright I thought Kolarov still crap but a lot better than preseason... sanga seems to have improved also...

Silva immense. ..

[blueboy]

I thought the defence as a whole albeit WBA, played well as unit today. Hart was excellent with his punches from crosses.

Sterling added another dimension, but on your assessment criteria, because he didn't score that one-on-one, he must have been shit!!

Even Kolorov and Sagna had a decent game tonight - but, it was WBA.

TLMLF was excellent in the first half.

Bony struggled a little, but showed with his hold up play, what he'll bring to us, and I honestly think  he'll play next week with Aguero against Chelsea and Navas will be dropped, Sterling back on the right wing, Silva in behind Bony with Ageuro playing a wider role on the left.

[leopold]

The overall impression I got was an accomplished performance against a typical Pulis setup.  I did think we'd struggle to get three, but in the end we could've had twice that and it still wouldn't have flattered us.

And after Chelsea's lacklustre performance, I'm feeling a hell of a lot more confident for Sunday.  Bring the buggers on, let's lay down our marker!

[Guest]

We won comfortably so lets not throw the baby out with the water just yet.

Decent game for all... a few mistakes here and there by some but over all good performance. We didn't look threatened...

Sterling needs to gel, bony needs fitness and Aguro was slowwww for his standards...

I can see us only getting better... players looked like they give shit again... hopefully will keep in up!

TLMF was even defending!!!!

[leopold]

And we were being written off for a top four place before a ball had been kicked, too.

Arsenal got beaten at home
Chelsea could only get a draw at home
Spurs gave the rags a home win
Dippers relied on a worldie to beat Stoke

I know it's only one game, but right now we're looking a much better side than any of those.

[TMG]

Hart was excellent Commanding performance
Thought Kolarov defended well albeit against an average team We r still short on a good defensive LB tho
Mangala & Company did very well 2gether & sagna was pretty solid too
Toure great 1st half
Silva magnificent throughout
Bony & Sterling did their bit without being excellent
Their time will come
The only disappointment for me was Navas He just isnt good enough Personally I'd like to see Nasri & Sterling interchanging on the wings 
Great opening result & the best PL performance of the weekend not that we'll get any credit

[Wensdi]

Have to agree with the majority.  Silva superb - controlled the match.  YaYa has upped his game and Sagna looked like a different guy (not just the hair cut).  Thought Manga was decent too - he put a lot of effort into defending.  At least Navas works hard - have to give him that.  Thought Kolarov did a decent job too.  Sterling will get there after a few more matches.  If anybody didn't shine tonight it was Sergio.  He just never got into the game really.

[Topdawg]

I expect Navas to be given more chances unless we get KdB. I think Pellegrini wants his pace and his effort (though we'd like some end product).

Silva was magnificent and Sterling had a good league debut for us. If Yaya can continue in the same vein, he may even get a namecheck from bluey...

I'm not picking on Mangala but you just can't go making such challenges so far away from goal. He has got to position himself better and then make better decisions. I said the same last season. If he felt he had to make that challenge on the half way line, then at least take the man out and get a yellow for it.

[blueboy]

Tbf Dawg, I must have missed that challenge. I saw Vinny do exactly that though.

As for name checking, it's the first game of the season. Let's see him do that in 90% of games and for 90 mins, like Silva mainly does.

[Topdawg]

I saw two of them in about 45 minutes, that's why I mentioned it.  He still looks clumsy to me, but he has good strength to knock players off the ball.

[blueboy]

Martin Samuel's Match Report:

The big screen was trailing a Psychic Night to be held at The Hawthorns on September 25. To be fair, about five minutes in, gifts of precognition were not required to foretell what was going to happen here. Manchester City were all over the home side from the start.
Clairvoyant Diane Lazarus would have seen a tall, dark stranger — about eight of them in fact, all bearing down on West Brom’s goal.
Prime among that number, Yaya Toure. His was a vintage display.

Toure cut a troubled figure at times last season and the damaging machinations of his agent have hardly helped his standing at the club — but here was a wonderful return to form for a player who is close to unstoppable on his best days. Toure is a Chris Gayle of a player, capable of taking the game away from teams as expertly as the West Indies captain does with the bat. Manchester City were dominant from the get-go here, but it was Toure’s drive and ambitious eye for goal that had the game won inside 24 minutes.
There was some disagreement over the identity of the first Manchester City scorer, so Toure left nothing to chance with the second.
While commentators were still debating whether the opener belonged to him, David Silva or West Brom’s unfortunate Craig Dawson, the Ivorian let rip with a shot that brooked no argument.
And that was it, match over. A third was added after half-time but from the moment City went two clear, it was plain that there was no way back for the home team.
If City did not maintain their early momentum it was only because they did not need to. They play Chelsea on Sunday, so City conserved energy, but the first-half numbers told the story: 11 shots to Albion’s one, 71 per cent possession and 417 passes, more than all but three Premier League teams completed in the entire 90 minutes of the opening weekend. By the end of the game, City had racked up 692, 211 more than any rival.
At the heart of it all was Toure. The first goal probably belonged to Silva — and if it does not right now, the Dubious Goals Panel should right that wrong — but Toure’s thrust made it possible.

The second? Well, that was Toure’s alone. He started it, he finished it and you won’t see too many better between now and May.
West Brom were understandably wary of City’s front-line and massed numbers in their own half, but Toure still blasted a path through.
The opening goal, after nine minutes came after a pull-back from Jesus Navas on the right. Toure marched onto it and shot, the low ball getting a direction-changing flick from Silva and a final, hapless deflection off the boot of Dawson.
Its roll over the line was almost comically slow, but goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was so bamboozled by its pinball progress that he seemed powerless to move.
Was it going in before Silva’s intervention? Possibly not. Was Silva’s touch deliberate? Undoubtedly so. Was it on target thereafter? Looks like it. So did Dawson’s touch make a difference? Only in the angle of entry, not the accuracy.
So it sounds like Silva’s goal to me, although it was announced as Toure’s (not much chance of Dawson claiming it).
With immaculate timing then, 13 minutes later, Toure claimed one that most definitely bore his signature.
It was his run and well-struck pass to Wilfried Bony that got the move going, the striker laid it back to him and Toure struck it, quite magnificently, from 20 yards out, with curl but also pace, Myhill clutching air, utterly defeated.
That is nine goals in 30 from the opening weekend scored by African players — ten if Toure gets the nod for the first one, too.

Those who have faith in portents will note that the last five league champions have begun their campaign on the first Monday of the season, but the biggest sign was City’s supremacy rather than any reading of runes.
It is hard to tell whether West Brom were weak or simply overwhelmed. Once Toure arrived with his gander up, there was only going to be one winner.
He is some player, when he wants to be.
So, two up, City coasted, but made sure of victory with a fine set piece in the 59th minute.
Silva whipped a curling inswinger of a corner, met by captain Vincent Kompany, who completely outjumped his former team-mate Joleon Lescott, the ball clipping his shoulder and going in at the far post. It had been an underwhelming weekend for the title contenders thus far. Manchester United at best efficient, Chelsea lucky to draw with Swansea, Arsenal defeated against all expectations by West Ham.
This was different.
Here was a performance of pure class from a team that has hit the ground running.
Manuel Pellegrini could even afford to keep his main striker Sergio Aguero in reserve until midway through the second-half and still have complete command.
It might be argued that West Brom were ineffectual compared to some of the opposition faced by the elite this weekend, but it was more that City allowed them to be nothing more.

They were physically superior, technically impressive and clinical. Albion retreated, Albion got 11 behind the ball, but were rarely in the contest.
It is far too early to make assumptions about who is the team to beat this season, but City look to be in a better place than their rivals right now.
Of course, all eyes were on Raheem Sterling, City’s £49million acquisition from Liverpool, and a young man who came to encapsulate all that is wrong with English football for a brief period this summer.
His first touches were greeted by boos from those on the moral high ground over the manner of his departure.
A deliberate trip by Craig Gardner after five minutes was even more joyously received. The biggest cheers, however, were reserved for the 41st minute when Sterling missed a sitter.

A lovely, angled pass by Fernandinho put him through on goal with only Myhill to beat, but his finish was weak and too near and was comfortably saved, James Chester sweeping in to mop up the rebound.
It wasn’t the worst debut by any means, but better is to come.
Sterling was withdrawn after 75 minutes for Samir Nasri, Pellegrini’s eyes no doubt by that time on the Chelsea game. He will be needed for that more than he was last night.
West Brom? Berahino got the ball in the net, late in the first half, his chance well-taken but offside. It was the only time Tony Pulis’s team really threatened.
Before the match, an excitable stadium announcer cornered a young fan. ‘Where do you think we’ll finish?’ he asked. ‘Fifteenth,’ came the reply.
Maybe he’s psychic, too.

[shakencity]

"So, two up, City coasted, but made sure of victory with a fine set piece in the 59th minute.
Silva whipped a curling inswinger of a corner, met by captain Vincent Kompany"

Didn't know Silva took corners with his right foot as well

Great opening performance...just got to do the same this weekend now.

[leopold]

He could've hit it with the outside of his left, that would produce the same effect.  Although, given how crap our corners normally are, that would've been a very brave move.

And even as I write that, I realise the futility of my point, considering how it actually paid off...

[skyblueoz]

Watched the game tonight after work, wasn't getting up @ 3 in the morning to watch the game then driving all day. Good performance couldn't have asked 4 much more from the opening game. You can only beat what is in front of you lets ensure we play to a higher standard on Sunday & leave moanrinho looking for more excuses.

[blueboy]

OK......so, after watching the game, I come to this conclusion after thinking about how we have won the PL titles recently and how we may have to go about our business this season.

What I've noticed (and it hasn't always worked 100% of the time), is that we score fairly early and then go on the attack for a second, we've 'tended' to not only win the game, but play a style of game that involves possession-based football with confidence.

I think if we look at last season in particular, we started games far too slow and it often took us a while, sometimes in the 2nd half, to score a goal, not get a second, and then teams who threw everything at us, seemed to be successful against us.

I think we need to be clinical (with a little bit of luck like last night), get that early goal, but more importantly, get that 2nd goal as quickly as possible, preferably in the first half.

I think our defence has panicked in the past when we are only 1-0 up with 20 mins to go and the opposition are going all out for the equaliser, or a winner.

Last night we saw the perfect game.

2 first half goals, bright, energetic football with and without the ball, and then come the second half, we just kept possession and passed WBA to death, even whilst creating further chances, which we took one to make it 3-0.

With a 2 goal cushion, I think we can keep the ball enough to pass and frustrate ANY PL team, which then may create more openings for us to score more goals.

We saw last season that when we were lethargic and over-passed it for large periods on the first half, we struggled.

I think with Sterling being an outlet with his pace, Silva playing in the no.10 role running the show and TLMLF performing 50% better than last season, we have enough to do this to most teams this season.

I think we need that aggressive, attacking philosophy we had the years we won the titles - from minute one, spend 45 minutes destroying teams with quick passing and attacking football....and taking our chances. If we need to, like last night once 3-0 up, we can take out foot off the gas and just play keep ball, to rest some legs for the following game.

Just an observation.

[leopold]

And a fair observation at that.  We've shown in the season's we've won the league that fast, attacking football has given us the edge.  But in those where we didn't, we've shown lethargy in possession have been our downfall.  In fact, last season our best performances were those when we had much less of the ball.

So yes, balls-out attack in the first half sounds like a plan to me, especially now I'm in the South Stand this season!

[Topdawg]

What we've got with the addition of Sterling is more players that scare defenders. Utd. used to have it in their midfield of Scholes, Giggs, Beckham and Keane. You couldn't double up on anyone as someone with tons of free would go unmarked.

It's impossible to double up on Silva, Sterling, Yaya and Aguero. Teams are also scared of Navas' pace. If we get KdB, that'll scare them even more. And we seem to be moving it about even quicker than before.

[Guest]

Last 5 champions have played on the 1st Monday night game you know !!  Don't believe in omens but if I did that would be a pretty big one 

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