Manchester City 2-0 Hull City
Premier League 3rd Round — 31/08/13
3 min readAug 31, 2013
- Manchester City started the match lacking awareness and rhythm, allowing Hull City two good chances on counterattacks, one of them actually hitting the back of the net, correctly offside call by the linesman. Lescott was at lacking on both, badly positioned and completely irresponsible when leading the back line. His partner Nastasic just returned from injury and Joe Hart experienced some unwanted problems, the England goalkeeper is still shaken after a disappointing performance versus Cardiff City, but delivered an acceptable performance today.
- From the beginning Manchester City lacked control in the midfield, being unable to comfortably to build attacks and defend by holding the ball in a way that's characteristic of Pellegrini tactics. Fernandinho, Silva and Touré are talented, should be able to hold the ball more efficiently and distribute it with ease, but the trio has failed to do so in the past two matches. The Brazilian is still adapting to the Premier League and it shows he's lacking that final pass to the strikers, so is the Spaniard by playing less centrally and drifting more toward the wings.
- Yaya Touré has started this season struggling with individual marking, his humongous pace and strength when charging forward is one of the biggest assets Manchester City possess and the lack of his participation in the game greatly affects the entire team performance offensively. Rival managers have noticed as long as the Ivorian is shadowed he experiences difficulties and is kept out of the flow. One of the best examples of Touré's unique qualities are the matches versus Chelsea last season, showing how he's able to control matches with sheer strength in a typical Premier League fashion.
- When heavily marked I would opt to position Touré as a defensive midfielder to help the currently unstable back line and disable the opponents capability of holding him down permanently, giving him permission to surge forward when the opportunity arises. As a deep lying player he can open the field for Fernandinho and Silva to play more at ease. I would also consider using Yaya as a centre back if necessary, similar to some of his matches for Barcelona, including the 2009 Champions League final. Also proving to be a real marksman when taking free kicks, fouls near the box are welcome and the frontline will certainly get them.
- After a incredible performance against Newcastle and a outstanding goal against Cardiff, Edin Dzeko didn't deliver a suitable performance. The Bosnian was unable to drag defenders out of position for Agüero, finish decently (besides a good chance 8 minutes in), win key aerial duels and control the ball inside the box. He has credit and Pellegrini believes in him, but it's a display to forget. New signing Negredo is making a statement with barely 90 minutes played in the Premier League and two league goals. The former Sevilla man is corresponding expectations with solid finishing and displaying a great joy on pitch, quite interesting. His opening goal against Hull City delivered a breather to the entire Etihad Stadium, gave the midfield permission to pass more calmly and claimed a hard fought win.
- Pellegrini is acting cautious, understandable because two months of actual work aren't enough for a man that just started to instill what is wanted from the team. Signals are mixed so far, but the board is extremely satisfied with the long awaited holistic approach from the Chilean "Engeniero"(Engineer) and I'm expecting qualification for the Champions League knockout stages, although getting the first place in the same group as Bayern Munich is asking too much as things currently stand.
