Bloody good weekend that, unless you're a West Ham fan of course.
Having the pleasure of watching the Rags get eaten by Wolves was deeply satisfying, and the astonishing capitulation by the Gooners up on the Tyne was a sight to behold. Now, with the London Huns (as a good Glaswegian friend of mine so succinctly put it) continuing their trajectory of shiteness, the title's in the mix again for City in this strangely stuttering season, where I thought early on Saturday morning that we would be lucky to grab a top 4 spot.
What can you say about Tevez, really? Marking his 27th birthday with another hat trick and drawing level with Lord Berba in goals tally whilst - according to the Guardian at least - appearing only half interested and missing a couple of beautiful chances. It's frightening to think where we might be without him, but luckily enough that's not a thought that needs to cross our minds for the moment. Dzeko seems to be struggling a little, and was keeping his arse warm for a good while on Saturday of course, but I still think he'll come good. Balotelli (presumably) remains in Colorado with his frozen knee and tortuous training schedule, and in any case I have to admit that he has so far (despite his 8 goals from relatively few games) failed to convince me as a striker.
And, with AJ out for the bulk of the rest of the season, we will need someone to start banging a few in. In contrast to Balotelli, Kolarov (not a striker I know, but an accomplished wing back) has impressed me thus far, and he seems to be stepping up his game now, just when we need him most. Silva - undoubtedly brilliant as he is - should perhaps be putting the ball in the net a bit more often, but that might be something of a harsh criticism.
I'm not going to swagger, despite the obvious lack of quality and depth in the Rags, not to mention that they lost to the team bottom of the league, with the derby coming up. I must admit that we have more than a few concerns at the back which were not evident a few weeks ago. Though not in the same hilarious league as Petr Cech yesterday (I swear he was scared of Ivanovic after having a go at him) Hart continues to make bewildering decisions on occasion and gives me cause for concern, as do others in the back line, including Boateng (disappointingly) Lescott (obviously) and even Kompany in recent games (surprisingly). No doubt we will play a different kind of game when it comes to derby day, making more use of De Jong and trying to slam the door shut, but this tactic can easily fail if there is just one error in the back line.
But it's onwards and upwards; standing toe to toe with the big boys and all of that jiving around. Bring it on.
2 comments:
I talk jive. But not as extended 12" version as Thomas Cook! Can Rayners really be without likes of Adrian Bayor? Shall all good work that Neil Young and Emlyn Hughes did but come to naught? Who is Silva, what is he? And what price a Quinn Martin Epilogue return of Steve Reeves?
Dear Leader, your words are wise as ever. Will your all-seeing eye deign to make a prediction on the outcome of tomorrow's mighty battle at Old Trafford?
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