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A straight City post today. Aren't you the lucky ones?



I know when to eat my words, have no fear about that. I am not afraid to say: 'I was wrong' and change my opinion on a subject. That subject is - of course - Carlos Tevez. I have previously blogged that I felt he was not a great signing, believing some of the busted flush stuff I had read, and the limited evidence I had seen for myself in matches. Now, 17 goals to the good and a fabulous spat with Neville Neville's lad, I am prepared to admit that I was mistaken. The return leg midweek is set to be a corker (I hope I'm not putting the mockers on anything) if the last one is anything to go by.

So, the wonderful little Argie aside, as well as the always satisfying victory over the Rags, what's the state of play at Eastlands now, according to the Great Sage - i.e., me?

To start with, I believe Mancini had an easy ride up to the Everton match, which I always thought would be a toughie. I had, however, expected a bit more from us than we showed in that game, and it was something of a capitulation, straight out of the City old school - despite Everton being (as always) hard bastards and right up for it. United are a bit of a curate's egg (in its original sense, if you please) at present, with Rooney almost looking like he's the only good part of the team, so beating them made for a relatively easy and somewhat odd task, even if there were a few dicey moments towards the end. We've pretty much strolled past our other opponents since the Italian took over, and no disrespect to Scunthorpe fans, but the FA Cup doesn't look to have dealt us such a bad hand either. Well, we shall see, eh?

General thoughts on the team? Given continues to be fantastic, but we still look frail at the back, though I don't think either Lescott or Bridge being out of action has necessarily contributed to that. Richards' fine goal against Blackburn aside, I have serious doubts about him, and Zabaleta is all fire and no finesse, seemingly in danger of picking up a booking almost every time he goes into the tackle. Toure is fine, if a bit long in the tooth (though not as long as Sylvinho, that's for sure)

Midfield is decent, though I was hoping for a bit more from Daddy Dick this season. Barry has been solid if unimaginative and De Jong is excellent as a Gattuso style breaker-upper. Up front, well, no worries as long as Tevez can continue his run of form, if Bellamy can come back into his, and if SWP (I realise he isn't a forward in the true sense of the word, but he is very much an attack-minded player) stops being so infuriating and puts together a couple of decent performances for us. I had my doubts about Adebayor before the incident in Angola, so it's anyone's guess what sort of player he will be when he does return to the first team.

Not that I'm really interested in it, but FWIW in the 'us making or not making the top 4 this season' argument, I am firmly in the 'not' camp. We are still prone to too many stupid defensive errors, and are readily rolled over by determined teams who won't allow us to play our quick break game.

All in all it must be said, not too unhappy so far. Except that I cannot fathom the Vieira thing. Not one bit.