Man City v Swansea (anyone watching)?

[ZLF 274]

All this garbage about disliking clubs because they buy the title is ridikulus. It has been that way since the money grabbing premiership then league was created.

Yes liverpool may have dominated but the clubs in the top 5 changed and even QPRs and us could look for a place at the season end; now its as much a parade as the SPL.

Newcastle & Liverpool amongst others have spent a much larger fortune than blackburn did and got no where near their achievement - the only club outside the holy trinity of Ar$e, Manure and chel$ki in 20 years to win the title say it all. And for each sutton and shearer they still had a Stuart Ripley... Dalglish is in a trinity of managerial greats to repeat top flight success at the top level with more than one club.

Less ridicule and more acclaim for the non glamour clubs please; thats what we are too & as the great S Fry hinted this weekend achievements taste all the sweeter when it comes along.

[NeonYellow 4]

I thought their keeper was excellent and kept the score down with a couple of great saves.

Also Swansea''s passing was very good better than ours but they kept passing sideways at times when they could have been a bit more direct especially as they were losing the game.

[Ruddygore 0]

I''m afraid it is not garbage Zippers, it is fact. Man City and a few others could afford to put such teams together and it is like watching an ALL-STAR team in some respects. Well worth watching, amazing individual skills and on occasion some great teamplay but lets not all get carried away, we''ve been watching them play Swansea tonight, not to belittle Swansea but much like ourselves, finding out that there is a whole different gear being used, a very different tempo.

Garbage it is not as we can see in other sports and in fact in life. Money buys success, money breeds success/money, look at the gulf between the top 3/4 teams in F1 and the middle ranks and then the rear 2/3 and you can see that money is being well spent on design and technology.

Level playing field? Well, not quite and as good an argument as any for a Super League in Europe.

[The Voice Of Reason 0]

It''s very difficult to make a good analysis when Swansea were playing Man City because there is a huge gulf in class as we will find out no doubt, however, they did not penetrate well enough when they had possession, and I''m happy to have a point and zero goal difference after round one.

I am torn between being reluctant to laugh too much because ain''t played Man City yet, or, sitting here grinning at Swansea and QPR.

Think happy thoughts.

[crabbycanary 2]

Think back to the Charity Shield game and this team (more or less) were 2-0 up against Man U but still lost!

Swansea looked good with the ball but did not offer anything in the last 3rd. Swans keeper was excellent, with possibly his best save at 3-0 when the ball was deflected back towards goal and he stopped it on the line?

Concentration is a big thing in this League, Swansea showed at the start, they could defend/contain, and start attacks against a Top 4 team, but you have to keep it up for 90 minutes plus (as my Wife always says) :)

[Cantiaci Canary 557]

I thought Swansea were impressive last night I wouldn''t be surprised to see them finishing above us in the table. A very nippy team. 

[exiled blue 0]

"Think back to the Charity Shield game and this team (more or less) were 2-0 up against Man U but still lost!"

the difference was, that game didn`t really count!, last night`s did. elsewhere on this board i was talking about the big,big difference between the championship and the prem, in terms of the sheer size and power of the players. last night was a perfect example. swansea could have easily lost by 8 goals, we simply swept them aside. our only real short arse, david silva, was truly outstanding.oh and the other little fella , aguero wasn`t too bad either!!.

[Sephiroth Owa 0]

One moment that stood out for me was Yaya Toure just running past the Swansea players like they weren''t there and getting a shot in. He was just too strong and fast.

[exiled blue 0]

yaya`s a beast. he takes some stopping once he gets up a head of speed. someone on one of the city forums said it must be like standing in the way of an accelerating wardrobe!!

just ask united in the fa cup semi. :smug:

[crabbycanary 2]

I thought a Man City fan would say that the Charity Shield didn''t really count!

I am sure if you had won, then it would have been the start of the Blue tide steamrolling Manc land. :}

Swansea are the smallest team in the World it seems, although their shorties weren''t as good as Aguero! It''ll be good trying to see if John Terry can get close enough to kick him, (NOT I suspect). BTW Exiled Blue, what is your opinion on Balotelli?

 

[Jim Smith 2,317]

God I wish people would stop with the Swansea love in. Yes they knock the ball around quite nicely, they always have done although not always to any great effect as we saw at Carrow Road last season. The fact remains though that of the promoted teams only one got a point this weekend (away from home) and the others both took hidings. Ok we were arguably playing the weakest opposition of the 3 but I would back us to pick up other similar results away from home this season on a more regular basis that QPR or Swansea because we have a manager who knows how to get results out of cruciall games. Obviously though our home record is going to be absolutely key so stating next weekend we need to make the Carra a fortress!

[exiled blue 0]

i`ll be honest, i didn`t even bother watching the charity shield!. pointless.

as for balotelli, i really don`t know what to think. he`s undoubtedly got talent, but he`s also undoubtedly a complete idiot. it`s really just a matter of which side of him wins out. he splits opinion right down the middle, seems a bit of a `marmite` character. if it weren`t for mancini, he`d be gone by now, no other club would put up with his antics, but mancini sees something special in him, and tbf, he`s not been too wrong on much so far.so i`m prepared to wait and see...

[exiled blue 0]

and also, it`s not like we need him desperately either. we are in the very fortunate position of being able to have him sit on the bench all season if needs be, despite his price tag. no-one else could afford to do that.

[chicken 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]All this garbage about disliking clubs because they buy the title is ridikulus. It has been that way since the money grabbing premiership then league was created.

Yes liverpool may have dominated but the clubs in the top 5 changed and even QPRs and us could look for a place at the season end; now its as much a parade as the SPL.

Newcastle & Liverpool amongst others have spent a much larger fortune than blackburn did and got no where near their achievement - the only club outside the holy trinity of Ar$e, Manure and chel$ki in 20 years to win the title say it all. And for each sutton and shearer they still had a Stuart Ripley... Dalglish is in a trinity of managerial greats to repeat top flight success at the top level with more than one club.

Less ridicule and more acclaim for the non glamour clubs please; thats what we are too & as the great S Fry hinted this weekend achievements taste all the sweeter when it comes along.[/quote]

Hmmm. I agree to a certain extent but have to point out that it hasn''t been that way ever since the premier league started. By that I mean although the sky money has been about for some time the ridiculous amount of money pumped in by owners etc hasn''t, that is what angers people.

Infact I would go as far as saying that Man City''s £400million sponsorship deal sort of makes the champions league and premiership money pale into insignificance.

Plus they haven''t earned it by finishing position in the league. And on top of that the sponsorship deal was a way of getting around new FIFA regulations.

It''s also very un-natural. It''s great to see a team of fantastic players - a bit like the galactico''s of Real Madrid a few seasons back, but like Boy and Girl bands in the pop world most are just plastic and fake.

You look at that team now and on paper they should walk the league. That''s great. But how has it progressed football? What has it done for the image of football apart from highlight all that is wrong with the game at the moment?

I was in Spain the past week, and a a Rangers fan got chatting to me, after a while a Middlesborough fan joined in. We were discussing the merits of the Championship and how for the most part it is more fiercely competitive.

You don''t get managers saying that it would be a miracle for them to stay up or playing weakened teams against the bigger sides so they can ensure their best team is fully fit for more ''important'' games.

But that is what has become of the premiership. Supposedly the best league in the world is fast becoming the most ludicrous. The parachute payments are little more than the FA''s way of insurance for the clubs that go down so that they can afford to make larger gambles to stay in the premier league.

You look at what Man City are rumoured to be paying the likes of Silva and Aguero - £200k a week. That''s £400k in total. I wouldn''t be surprised if that alone could pay for half our squads wages for a week.

There remains to be far too big a gulf in affordability in English football - in my mind something that needs to be addressed by the FA and FIFA sharpish. It won''t happen though, that is for sure.

[Eadienhucks 0]

[quote user="Cantiaci Canary"]I thought Swansea were impressive last night I wouldn''t be surprised to see them finishing above us in the table. A very nippy team. [/quote]

1st 20 mins,swansea were allowed to play,and was allowed to play pretty,something we wasnt as wigan closed us down from the off!!

But as soon as man city got going,swansea fell apart,all crab passes and chasing lost causes!..

We may .and prob will lose to man city,but it wont be 4 nil,even though by then man city will be in their stride for the title!

[exiled blue 0]

until now, and i include the swansea game, we haven`t handed out any real `spankings` by which i mean 6 or 7 goals. we probably would have done so to burnley when they were in the prem. 3 goals up in the first 12 minutes, but then the heavens opened and the game descended into farce with the burnley staff trying to get the game abandoned. usually we go a couple of goals up and mancini takes off an attacking player for a defensive one, to hold what he has. but monday night saw the opposite happen, de jong off for aguero, so maybe he`s living up to the promise he made that once we had `his team` in place, he`d start going for the throat more. only time will tell.