Tag Archives: Manchester City

MATCH REPORT: Manchester City 2 – 2 Arsenal

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Man City starting XI: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri; Savinho, Silva, Gundogan, Doku; Haaland

Arsenal starting XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel; Calafiori; Havertz, Partey, Rice; Saka, Trossard, Martinell

Match Officials:
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistants: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook
Fourth official: Andy Madley
VAR: John Brooks
Assistant VAR: Richard West

Premier League 
Etihad Stadium
Sunday 22nd September 2024
KO: 4:30 (UK)

Today , we return to the Premier League as we look to face Man City at the Etihad. After a solid performance at Atalanta in the Champions League, with Arsenal drawing 0-0 thanks to a great Raya double-save, Arteta will be looking to add more attacking threat against a strong Manchester City side.

Without the presence of Martin Odegaard, Rice and Havertz will have to step up and be creative . Trossard replaces Jesus as Havertz moves upfront with Trossard in the 10, which is expected as Jesus was nullified by the Atalanta defender on Thursday.

A surprise change is the replacement of Ben White with Riccardo Calafiori as he comes in at left-back and Timber moves to right-back. For me, I think that this is the right change by Arteta for this type of game as Timber is better defensively than White and with Jeremy Doku on his side, I think that Timber will be able to deal with him. Calafiori is also very solid defensively and I think that he will be able to handle Savio’s trickery.

Bernardo Silva kicked us off and straight away in the first 5 seconds, there was a collision between Rodri and Havertz as Rodri fell to the floor. Rodri got back up and the game restarted. As we played out from the back, Man City aggressively pressed however, some clever passes allowed Raya to kick it long. 

A few moments later, there was another collision as Haaland ran into Saliba as he went up for the header. Michael Oliver quickly waved away any complaints of a booking as a free kick was given. A diagonal ball across our half was brought down by Bernardo Silva who fired a ball into the path of Ilkay Gundogan who took a brilliant touch and set himself up for the volley however, his effort went wide. 

Moments later City broke again as Savio slipped the ball through to Haaland who made no mistake and poked the ball past Raya and into the net. A record breaking goal for Haaland as he scores his 100th goal and 10th of the season. A good bit of play from City however, we shouldn’t have been carved open that easily. 

As we began to settle down, Saliba played a diagonal ball across to Martinelli who brought it down and crossed in however, the ball was cleared. A cheap foul was then given away by Gabriel on the edge of the area. Gundogan stepped up to take and his curling effort rattled against the post and out. 

Man City then managed to grab another corner and the ball was quickly took but Rodri went down again in the box , clutching his knee after colliding with Partey  and the referee blew his whistle for the corner to be retaken. After Rodri was down for a prolonged period,he came off a. The corner was then swung in and cleared by Havertz. Rodri was then replaced by Kovacic after a foul on Partey. 

The quick ball was clipped out to Martinelli who set the ball back to Calafiori whose amazing curling effort went straight into the top corner an amazing start  for the Italian. Our fans bellowed out chants silencing the home crowd which was pretty much already silent. 

As play begun City started to mount on the pressure, however our defence stood strong. City then attacked again as Savio took a nice touch past Calafiori and crossed into Haaland who was successfully challenged by Saliba who headed away. Kyle Walker then fired a long range effort towards our goal however, Raya was there to hold it in his gloves. 

Trossard was then booked for pulling back Savio. Then, a combination between Doku and Gvardiol allowed Doku to shoot however, his effort was deflected out for a corner. The corner was whipped in but Havertz was there again to clear. 

Saka and Timber then provided a combination of their own as Timber slipped Saka through and his cross was blocked and out for a corner. The corner was swung in deep by Saks and was met by Gabriel who headed over by Gabriel. He probably should’ve scored as it was a free header however, it was good to see that Man City were unable to mark him. 

A nice turn by Saliba allowed himself to glide past Haaland and we regained control of possession. Again some nice play by Gabriel and Martinelli allowed Martinelli to beat Walker for pace and cut the ball back for Trossard who blazed over. A looped ball from Rice then fell to Saka who then played the ball round again to Rice on the overlap whose cross was blocked and out for a corner. The corner was swung in again by Saka and AGAIN BIG GABI got on the end of it unmarked and headed into the net. Another inevitable corner goal just on the brink of half time as 6 minutes were added. 

Partey was then booked after he was late and stopped Man City from countering. Trossard was then booked again and sent off for kicking the ball away after giving away a free kick. I do think that this was a second yellow however, it shows no consistency as a Man City player had thrown the ball away and not received a yellow. The free kick was swung in and cleared as the referee blew the half time whistle.

Half time views:

A very strong first half performance after going 1-0 down. Disappointing to see Trossard go off however, it is good to go in 2-1 up.

I’m sure Arteta will be riling up our players to battle but also keep them composed and to keep a compact shape.

A sub will probably have to be made for defensive support. Anyways, hopefully we can hold on for the three points.

Before we kicked off we made our first substitution with Ben White replacing Saka. We then kicked off and City started on the front foot with Haaland’s effort being held easily by Raya. City then had another chance as we seemed to be sitting in a 6-3 formation, with Kovacic blazing over. 

Another shot from Dias this time, then sailed over the bar as Raya slowed down the clock with his goal kick. Shots after shots and Raya stood strong as he made a great save to deny Walker. 

Some last ditch defending from our defenders resulted in a City corner which was played out and in to the leaping Haaland who was denied brilliantly by Raya who parried out to Bernardo Silva who fired over the bar. As we stayed in our compact shape, another chance fell to Gvardiol on the volley whose effort was again met equally by Raya. 

A couple of moments later, Raya went down to receive treatment as Myles Lewis-Skelly received a booking before he’d even made his Premier League debut for appearing to tell Raya to go down. We again held our own as we hooked the ball away into the City half. 

Savio’s effort then went over the bar as Doku was replaced by Phil Foden. As City stayed camped outside our box, Dias again had a shot, which was deflected off Phil Foden and into the hands of Raya. 

Calafiori then went down signalling that he had to come off as he was replaced by Kiwior. With 15 minutes to go, we stood strong with the latest City effort coming from Kovacic which was again blocked. Foden then made his way into the box but his shot went over. 

Pep then made two substitutions with Savio and Walker being replaced by Grealish and Stones. Kovacic then lashed another one over the bar. We then managed to grab a free kick as Havertz went down after a duel with Dias and then Declan Rice was booked for delaying the restart. 

Dias then hit another one into the crowd as Martinelli went down with cramp however, Michael Oliver was having none of it as Jesus looked to come on. Raya was then forced into another save to deny Gvardiol as Martinelli was replaced by Jesus. Gabriel then went down after a challenge in our area. Again another one of our places went down, this time Timber as Raya kicked the ball away and the referee blew his whistle. 

Bernardo Silva was then booked for arguing with the referee. Timber then came off and was replaced by the booked Lewis-Skelly for his Premier League debut. We again managed to clear our lines however, City  came again and won a corner which was delayed by Jesus who received a yellow card. 

The corner was direct this time as Raya rose the tallest and claimed brilliantly. As we ticked past the 97th minute mark, City took a short corner as Grealish fired a shot in which was saved by Raya however, the ball bounced out to Stones who poked home for the equaliser. 

After the celebrations, we kicked off and already the players started pushing and shoving as Haaland bundled into Partey. VAR checked the foul and called it only “reckless”. As the ball was kicked long, the referee blew the full time whistle putting an end to one of the craziest games of the season.

Full time views:

A very hard-working second-half performance where we stood strong and failed at the final hurdle. Arteta will be proud of the lads for their commitment and perseverance throughout the game despite Trossard getting sent off.

A positive first half performance with a great goal by Calafiori and a dominant header by Gabriel. Without Trossard’s sending off, I think that it would have been a completely different game. 

Anyhow, onwards and upwards as we look to build on a great point today as we face Bolton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

COYG

Hudson

End Spurs title hopes in September, lift the trophy at Anfield

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Morning! Apologies for the lack of blog yesterday. Life got a bit on top.

To cut a long story short, I got home from Slovenia at 2am Monday morning, then had a funeral that afternoon. By the time I was awake on Tuesday, it was already time to work and my inbox had over 100 unread emails after a week off work.

This morning has been a little more relaxing. I have already watered my plants, had a coffee in the garden, and now have a spare hour to write some random sentences on a keyboard and hope they make some sort of sense.

Yesterday the fixtures were announced. They are, of course, just a provisional list subject to change. We now await for the TV companies and police to interfere. We will know the final fixtures list in May!

The way I see it, Tottenham will be champions of August again, before we end their real title hopes in September. Around 30 games later we will be lifting the league title at Anfield!

I am of course jesting, although I bet this blog gets picked up throughout the season by those who regurgitate these things without reading.

It will be a tough title race once more. Manchester City have raised that bar to needing 90+ points. Finishing 2nd is not a failure.

Some people are already making noises that if Mikel Arteta does not win a trophy this season he should be gone. I do not think some fans realise how hard it is to compete in England.

Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea. 5 into 3 does not go (excluding European success), meaning that at least two clubs a year will miss out on a domestic trophy. And that does not take into account the fact Man City can win it all.

And you also have the smaller teams; the likes of Newcastle, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Tottenham. They will all be having outside hopes of a trophy.

This is not France, Germany or Spain where their are only one (Munich & PSG) or two (Barcelona and Madrid) real big teams. Winning a trophy in England is harder than any other league in the world.

It has been 4 years since we won the FA Cup during those Covid times. The 12 domestic trophies since then have been split between just 4 teams: Manchester City (6 trophies), Liverpool (3), Manchester United (2) and Leicester City (1).

Chelsea have now won a domestic trophy since 2018 (6 years ago), Tottenham are 16 years without a trophy, Aston Villa and Everton are 28 and 29 years respectively and Newcastle have not seen success for nearly 70 years!

In this Manchester City era, failing to win a trophy should not be seen as a success. Likewise, finishing 8th and winning the League Cup should not really be something to celebrate.

We have a tough start, with away trips to Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City in the opening 5 games. Arteta will need to ensure the team come out of the traps a bit quicker than they did last season. He will already be preparing and planning.

In Super Mik we have a brilliant football mind. He reminds me of Arsene Wenger in the early 00s when every time a job at Munich, Barca, Madrid, etc came up he would be linked.

Those that demand high standards will be left scratching their heads with confusion the day Arteta leaves and is then linked with every top job, including Manchester City, in Europe.

Enjoy your Wednesday.

Keenos

No sympathy for the “Badly Run 6”

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Yesterday it was leaked that 6 clubs were at the risk of breaking Profit and Sustainability Rules, and might have to sell before 30 June to avoid breaching them.

Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Everton Nottingham Forest and Leicester City were the 6 clubs named. And as expected, fans of the clubs (alongside Manchester City fans) blame the rules their clubs signed up for, and the “Cartel 6” – their pet name for the “Big 6”.

Oddly, they include Chelsea as part of that Big 6. But the West London club are one of those facing punishment.

The truth is, these clubs are not being punished for being ambitious. They are being punished for being badly run. The Badly Run 6.

Everton – Last season Everton were hit with 2 points deductions, so it should be no surprise they are on this list.

Whilst their fans followed their red brothers and sisters and played the victims, the truth is they are the worst run Premier League club since Leeds United. And a perfect example as to why PSR is needed.

When Farhad Moshiri became major shareholder in Everton in 2016, their fans rejoiced. The expectation was he was a front for oligarch Alisher Usmanov and the Uzbeki would bankroll them to success.

Huge early spending was financed by sponsorship deals linked with the former-Arsenal owners companies. But huge money signings did not translate to success on the pitch.

As Covid hit, Eveton’s finances were in a mess. In 2022, they “claimed” that Covid had cost them £170m. This was nearly £100m more than the next largest loss claimed – Arsenal’s £86m.

Everton have continued to balance the books and, with Moshri wanting out, they have been taking out monthly loans from private companies to finance their day to day running.

Everton’s net debt increased to roughly £330m at the end of June 2023 up from £141m a year earlier. And that does not include the £200m they owe 777 Partnerships.

Instead of blaming the Premier League, and pointing fingers at clubs that are run better, they should be directing their anger to their owners.

Without PSR, Everton would be in administrations and plummeting down the leagues.

Chelsea – Is it any surprise that Chelsea are on this list?

Their new owners thought they were being clever, spending close to £1bn over the space of a couple of years, handing out long term contracts to everyone. There is a reason why other clubs never exploited amortisation and only gave out 5-year contracts on average.

The Chelsea plan was clear – to spend huge on young players, give them long contracts to spread out the transfer fee, and then sell academy graduates to balance the books.

Last season they raised £75m by selling Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi. This was topped up by cashing in on the Saudi boom.

It was always known that to stay within PSR, Chelsea would have to continue selling academy graduates and this season they will look to raise funds through the likes of Reece James, Conor Gallagher, Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah.

It is an unsustainable model as it relies on academy graduates the calibre of Mount, James and Gallagher to come through each year, become regulars, and be sold for big money.

Chelsea will be in the “have to sell to buy” for years to come due to the contract situations.

Aston Villa – Villa are being upheld as the team who are “being punished for trying to be competitive; with loads of comments about how they sold an academy graduate for a record British transfer fee and are still in danger of breaching the rules.

There is a bit to unpack on this one, so we will start with Jack Grealish.

For years, any time Liverpool made a big money signing, they justified it by saying “we are just spending the Coutinho cash”, instead of just acknowledging they were a big spending club. Villa is becoming a similar joke with the Grealish money.

Grealish left them in 2021 for £100m. that same summer they signed Emiliano Buendia (£33m), Leon Bailey (£30m), Danny Ings (£25m). £88m and, Bailey aside (when fit), very uninspiring. Reminds me of when Spurs spent the Gareth Bale money on a load of rubbish.

To the above, they then added Lucas Digne (£25m) in January.

In 2022, their fans continued to claim they were still spending the Grealish money as they signed Diego Carlos (£26m) and Coutinho (£17m). A fairly quiet summer was backed up by a busy winter as they signed John Duran (£14.7m), Alex Moreno (£13.2m) and Leander Dendoncker (£13m).

Aston Villa are not in their current position because they have been ambitious, they are in the position because they have bought a load of tripe and wasted that Grealish money. And this is a continuation of what they have done since returning to the Premier League in 2018.

Aston Villa have spent nearly £500m since returning to the Premier League. They are the 8th highest spenders with only the “Big 6” and West Ham United ahead of them. Alongside this, they have consistently had a wage to turnover ratio of 80% – IE they spend 80% of their turnover on wages

Villa have “leapfrogged” other clubs who operate within PSR such as West Ham and Brighton through their spending.

There is a tight line between being “ambitious” and being “wreckless”.

Aston Villa’s owners took the gamble and got Champions League football as a reward. For them the gamble might have paid off. But for many others taking the gamble it does not. Villa could quite easily go the way of Everton if they are unable to sustain their spending.

Nottingham Forest – Like Chelsea and Everton, it should be no surprise these clowns are on this list.

Since promotion back to the Premier League in 2022, Notts Forst have signed 35 first team players. A further 11 have also joined on loan.

The majority of these players came in on short term deals, with sizeable signing on fees. Many have now left for free having seen their contract expire. It is not sustainable to run a club on signing almost a whole squad every summer, and releasing the same amount of players.

They have already been hit with one points deduction, and it will not be a surprise if they are hit with another. A badly run clubs.

Leicester City – The implosion at Leicester City has been on the cards for years.

After their success in 2016, they continued to building a team off the back of the Champions League money and sales that saw them also win the FA Cup and finish top 6 twice. In 2021 there was talk as to whether they had replaced Arsenal as a “Big 6” side.

But they were being quietly propped up by the income from their owners company – King Power. King Power International Group is a Thai travel retail group. They basically own and operate duty free shops across Asia.

When Covid hit, flights were grounded globally. And no flights meant no income for King Power. This is when things started going downhill for Leicester, and also highlights why the Premier League want to protect clubs from having “above market value” sponsorship deals from companies owned by owners.

In 2023, Leicester City announce club-record loss of £92.5m and their debt peaked in 2023 to £364m – with £194m of that owed to their owners.

Leicester City act as a warning to Aston Villa – ambition is not always sustainable and if you recruit players on big wages and do not maintain your league position, the debts will quickly rise.

“Victims of their owners ambition” is how I would label Leicester City’s current predicament. he club continued to gamble, expecting the income to continue rolling in, and it did not.

2 years ago Leicester were relegated. A warning of what could happen if you rely only on owners ambition, rather than running the club well.

Newcastle United – The final club on the list is Newcastle United. I was surprised they are close to being in breach.

Whilst they have spent big since the Saudi’s came in, it felt like they were operating sensibly and working withing PSR – clearly with one eye on the Manchester City case.

Last season they secured Champions League football. This season they have no European football. And that is maybe why they are sailing close to the winds on PSR.

That will be a £50m+ drop in income from 2023/24 to 2024/25. they now have to finance a huge wage bill without any European income.

Are Newcastle a victim of ambition? I would say no. Are they being held back from signing players due to PSR? Probably.

If anyone was to be against PSR, it would be Newcastle. They want to be where Man City are but can not spend the millions that their fellow PetroClub did.

But what is interesting is it is only their fans moaning about PSR, not the owners or management. This makes me think they are happy with PSR and are looking to grow the club sensibly, for generations to come.

Newcastle fans sum up the “fast food culture” that we live in. They want to be bank rolled to immediate success. They are not willing to wait and grow sensibly.

I do not think Newcastle are that badly run. They just have fans who have ideas above their station.

With all of this, it has to be remembered that PSR effects all clubs.

Fans hit out at the “Cartal 6” yet one of those facing punishment is Chelsea.

In January, Manchester United were unable to recruit due to PSR. Arsenal also pulled out of a deal for Mohammed Kudus due to PSR. Liverpool have also face restrictions on what they spend.

It is also nothing new for players to move to bigger clubs, where they will play on bigger stages, earn more money and have a greater chance of success.

I see fans of Everton, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest moaning that PSR is the reason why they might have to sell Jarrod Branthwaite, Alexander Isak, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Gibbs-White this summer. But none of these were academy graduates.

Was PSR the reason Branthwaite left Carlisle for Everton? Or Isak joining Newcastle from Sociedad? Watkins joined Villa from Brentfod and Gibbs-White moved from Sheffield United to Nottingham Forest.

It seems fans moan about PSR when it is there player looking to move clubs. But when they are signing players nothing is said.

You can not sit their demanding your club sign X, Y or Z player from clubs below you in the league, then cry foul play when a club higher than you signs one of your players.

I have made it clear that PSR is a good thing. It is needed to protect the future of clubs.

Chelsea, Everton, Newcastle, Leicester, Aston Villa and Notts Forest are not being punished for their ambition. They are being punished because they are badly run.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the Badly Run 6.

Keenos