ricardo 7,345 Posted January 7, 2012 The stroll down King Street this afternoon was enlivened with memories from Ricardo''s boyhood in the 1950''s. In those days the FA Cup was a huge event and the words "Cup Football" were used to describe any match where goal mouth incident and end to end action predominated. In that spirit it was great to see PL pay tribute to this wonderful old competition by putting out virtually a full strength side. Far too many of the big boys use this event to give their also rans a run out which to my mind kind of devalues the whole thing from the point of view of the "would be Giant Killers".Burnley showed their intent to give it ago as the came forward early and twice Declan Rudd had to spring into action to stop on target efforts. City''s reply was swift however as in the 4th minute Wes laid on the perfect cross from the left and Holty did what Holty does best with a firm header to give City the lead. The football was fast and free flowing from both sides but City were carrying the greater threat. In the 12th minute another bout of inter-passing left Drury clear on the left to float a perfect cross for the in-rushing Jackson to nod past Grant for number two. It was looking all too easy but Burnley gave themselves a lift when Rodriguez planted a firm header in the corner of the net . Play now settled for a while and I thought the ref did well not to reach for a card when a couple of careless tackles went in. Holty even managed to avoid a card when his tackle caused a Burnley player to foul his own teamate. Two for the price of one to Ricardo''s way of thinking. It was a good game to watch and the City midfield in particular were neat and accurate in possession. Burnley were a shade unlucky to concede a penalty on 30 minutes but the linesman was sure and when Holt stepped up to take it the whole stadium was stunned as the big man put it a foot wide of the right post.Ricardo was well pleased at halftime in the fact that City had looked a class above a decent Championship side and as the second half kicked off there was an expectancy of further goals.We didn''t have to wait long. There were a couple of narrow squeaks for Burnley as first Fox shot wife and then another remarkable scramble as Grant saved brilliantly from Wes only for Holts follow up to hit the post and was somehow bundled wide. The third eventually came just before the hour mark. The lively Andy Surman capped a fine performance when he confidently netted from an angle after latching on to Drury''s pass. From there on City pulled the Burnley defence all over the park. Burnley attacks were by now very sporadic and PL decided to give Morison and Wheelie a run in place of Holt and Jackson. Within seconds of coming on Wheelie''s swift turn and shot was only parried by the keeper and Morison netted with probably his first touch. It was exhibition stuff after this and and Burnley must have been grateful to hear the final whistle without shipping further goals as City continued to create chances right up to the end. Even Wheelie looked a yard faster and quicker in control. PL is indeed a miracle worker.A very satisfying performance today. It was pleasing to see the difference in quality between Premiership and Championship so clearly displayed on the pitch. Andy Surman gets my MOM for one of his best outings in City colours. He really looked the part today and in Ricardo''s opinion is only bested in the "football brain" department by Wes. At the back Ayala gave a classy display again but in truth everyone performed today and it was as comfortable a passage into the fourth round as anyone could wish for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whoareyou? 0 Posted January 7, 2012 Good report as ever, Ricardo.But i hope Fox was shown at least a yellow card for shooting his wife.[;)] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trent Canary 0 Posted January 7, 2012 Thanks Ricardo. How did Ayala look defensively? He always looks good with the ball, but I have not really watched him off the ball enough to judge his marking and positional sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mister Chops 7 Posted January 7, 2012 Good report, thanks Ricardo.I''ve always said David Fox could be our OJ Simpson. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlyBlyBabes 0 Posted January 7, 2012 Good job for us that foxhunting has been banned then ......! [;)] What did you think of Jackson today? Best suited to a substitute role it seems to me, but then......you see them from the stands. OTBC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,345 Posted January 7, 2012 [quote user="whoareyou"]Good report as ever, Ricardo.But i hope Fox was shown at least a yellow card for shooting his wife.[;)][/quote]Whoops, sorry. Wide not WifeMind you, I can''t find anything in the rules that says you can''t, LOL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,345 Posted January 7, 2012 [quote user="BlyBlyBabes"]Good job for us that foxhunting has been banned then ......! [;)] What did you think of Jackson today? Best suited to a substitute role it seems to me, but then......you see them from the stands. OTBC[/quote]He had a fine game Bly, and was close to another goal on several occasions. Nice to see all our main strikers score, they all looked sharp and confident. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,345 Posted January 7, 2012 [quote user="Trent Canary"]Thanks Ricardo. How did Ayala look defensively? He always looks good with the ball, but I have not really watched him off the ball enough to judge his marking and positional sense.[/quote]I thought it was his best game so far. He looked very shaky when I first saw him in the League Cup loss against MKD but he''s starting to grow on me now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ROBFLECK 132 Posted January 7, 2012 Cheers Ricardo, Good performance, good assessment ;-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drurys testamonials mark 14 0 Posted January 7, 2012 [quote user="ricardo"][quote user="whoareyou"]Good report as ever, Ricardo.But i hope Fox was shown at least a yellow card for shooting his wife.[;)][/quote]Whoops, sorry. Wide not WifeMind you, I can''t find anything in the rules that says you can''t, LOL.[/quote]You need a disclaimer ricardo in case any violent men on here choose this as an option to fists Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drurys testamonials mark 14 0 Posted January 7, 2012 Forgot to say you summed up well again ricardo. Was surprised by Wilbraham''s input. Made a change to see us win in the 3rd round. Almost didn''t go. Glad I did. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gingerpele 0 Posted January 7, 2012 Another great report Ricardo, have to agree with pretty much all of that. Was a very enjoyable game, everyone played well, was a joy to behold. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canary Wundaboy 1,358 Posted January 7, 2012 I was just glad we won, Burnley have been a bit of a bogey team for us in the past few seasons. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Panic 0 Posted January 7, 2012 Cheers for that Ricardo.Good to hear there was such a gulf between us and a (some would say average) Championship side...an, admittedly minor, but good indication of what division we will be playing in next season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jacko 0 Posted January 8, 2012 I think today was a combination of factors. I felt we were much more comfortable in possession than they were and they really had to work hard to stay in the game. As a result Burnley faded a lot in the last 25 minutes and we really started to turn the screw. Today for me also showed the benefit of playing a system which the players understand and which plays to their strengths. I felt by comparison Burnley''s 4-3-3 system looked very lopsided. Rodriguez looked very classy and assured as one of the wide attackers. But I felt Austin looked very uncomfortable out wide. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
