Is Nasri Putting 100% In This Season

Hello everybody, it’s J-L (@BlueMoonJL) again. I recently had a discussion with a good friend and fellow City fan. I not only wanted to ask him what he thinks about the current on goings at the club, but also what he thinks the future holds.

So, sit back, and read the interview below. I was asking the questions, and my friend was answering them. Enjoy!

Q- Do you think City can turn around their season and, potentially, retain the Premier League Title?

A- It would be extremely difficult to retain our title within the remaining twelve games, but, after last season, anything can happen. City can win the remaining games but I can’t really see United slipping up. We just need to play our best and carry on to the end. We are still in the FA Cup so hopefully we can have some success in that. Hopefully we can bring in some new faces in the summer too and help us out for the future.

Q- You mentioned bringing in some “new faces”? Who would you like to see arrive at the Etihad?

A- If rumours are true about [Edin] Dzeko wanting a return to Germany and Carlos [Tevez] not signing a new contract, then a new striker has to be a priority. As for potential targets? [Radamel] Falcao? [Edinson] Cavani? Neymar? The signing of Robin van Persie has been the difference in the title race this season, I’ve got to say. City signing a goal scorer of the same quality as Van Persie is important, especially if strikers are going to be leaving.

Q- Do you not think that players like Sergio Aguero have the same kind of quality as Van Persie?

A- Yes, I do. Sergio is a great player and I think he needs another quality striker to play alongside him. Aguero and Tevez together are unstoppable, but if Tevez is on his way out another striker has to be brought in to replace him. I honestly don’t think Dzeko is on the same wavelength as Aguero. Luis Suarez is a possibility.

Q- Do you not think a new defender is on the cards, with Kolo Toure admitting he’ll probably leave come the end of the season, and rumours suggesting Lescott could be leaving sooner rather than later?

A- Possibly a centre back, yes, as we would struggle if we get struck with injuries like this season, although we do have players that can cover the position such as [Micah] Richards, Pablo [Zabaleta] and Javi Garcia. I think we should play Richards in the centre alongside Kompany anyway, and then Zabaleta on the right, with Clichy on the left. We already have three quality right-backs [Zabaleta, Richards and Maicon], so no right-back is needed. Our two left- backs are solid too, so I don’t see any improvement needed there.

Q- No room for Matija (Nastasic)?

A- Nastasic is a quality player. Fantastic for his age and has great potential. Overall solid defender but I think a partnership of Kompany and Richards is hard to beat. In the future, I think Nastasic will be one of the best centre backs around.

Q- What do you think of the supposed plans to play a 4-3-3 “Barcelona style” formation next season?

A- I like the idea, but if we are going to play a striker in the centre, I think it should be Dzeko who can head the ball. Aguero on the wing and I think we should give Sinclair a chance. Why buy him and not give him a go? We have been bringing on defenders, such as Kolarov and Maicon, to play in his position, so why not just play Sinclair. He’s a young, quality winger. Proved himself well at Swansea last season. He’s a really skilful, pacey young man.

Q- From my understanding, and rumours, we would play Hart and the usual back four, Yaya Toure, Milner and Silva in midfield, Aguero up front, and sign Reus and Jesus Navas to play either side. What do you think of this idea?

A- Well Reus is quality, would be a great signing, although, personally, can’t see him leaving Borussia Dortmund. He wants to be playing first team football all the time.  No room for Sinclair? A bit of a waste signing if Mancini isn’t going to play him. Our midfield and defence is solid.

At this moment, we both discovered that Robin van Persie has limped off injured for United against Queens Park Rangers.  My friends proceeded to say: “Van Persie is injured! Can I change everything I have said about City not winning the league? ”

Q- Would you like to see Neymar at Manchester City next season?

A- Yes! People are saying that he is overrated after his poor performance against England the other week, but I still think he is a great talent. Would love to see him in a sky blue shirt next season.

Q- How much would you be willing to pay to ensure his signature?

A- Well, we can’t overpay too ensure we get anybody, due to the new financial fair play regulations, so I’m not really sure. He’s valued somewhere around £35m and his buyout clause is 80m euros. It’s not worth overspending as he hasn’t proved himself other than for Santos yet. On the other hand, Bale would be a good signing.

Q- As a fellow City fan, do you not believe that we need a new creative playmaker, especially as Mancini openly criticized Samir Nasri’s performances this season recently?

A- Nasri’s form lately has been quite poor. As Mancini rightfully said, he’s “playing at 50%” of his capability. I personally don’t think Nasri puts in enough effort. I can’t see the passion from Nasri that I can see with the other players. If Nasri does not start to put some effort in then surely Mancini will bring a new playmaker in.

Q- Who can you see that “new playmaker” being?

A- Well, I hope to see someone like Gotze or Isco come in.

Q- What do you think of all the speculation regarding Mancini’s future?

A- He has to stay for what he has done for us, in such a short space of time, and how he has done it. You just can’t beat it. I give the guy respect. He’s dealt well with some of the things he’s had to put up with, such as Balotelli and Tevez issues – constantly in the press. You have to give managers a chance, you can’t just sack them after a poor spell. How long did it take (Sir Alex) Ferguson to win his first title? 5, 6 years? He was on the verge of being sacked as well I think.

If you enjoyed this, then visit my personal blog over at: www.bluemoon-jl.blogspot.com and follow my general Manchester City views page on Twitter – @OurCityView. I post regularly and love to interact with fans and get their personal views and opinions on things.

Mancini doesn't want anymore headaches

Roberto Mancini will be hoping to set aside the pain suffered from last week’s defeat at Southampton, a game Man City never deserved to win and arguably the worst football they have played since the Italian took charge in 2009.

Chasing down Man United in the Premier League title race may not be the Blue’s number one priority anymore, with the FA Cup being the biggest hope for silverware left this season. A failure to win against Leeds on Sunday could end Mancini’s hopes for anything this season.

Leeds toppled Tottenham Hotspur in round four, and will be hoping for more of the same when they visit the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Leeds have gone three games without a win since knocking Spurs out of the competition but will be hoping a win in Manchester will reignite a winning streak.

Man City will start the game with an almost full squad, something that hasn’t been said very often this season.

Vincent Kompany is due to set to make a return to the squad after picking up an injury during City’s last FA Cup fixture in late January.

Micah Richards is the only player definitely ruled out due to a knee injury.

Neil Warnock is also hoping to have a fully fit squad to pick from, although January signings Stephen Warnock and Steve Morison are unavailable as they did not turn out for their previous clubs in the earlier rounds of the Cup.

Betting

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Take advantage of the £200 free bets and place a bet on Man City to win the FA Cup with odds of (4/1)

Predicted Lineups (Starting XI) :

Predicted lineups is very tough to call for this game, with Mancini hinting of a major squad change after the shocking defeat at St Mary’s.

Man City: Hart;  Maicon, Kompany, Nastasic, Kolarov;  Silva, Rodwell, Y.Toure, Milner;  Dzeko, Tevez  (4-4-2)

Leeds: Kenny;  Green, Peltier, Lees, Warnock;  Byram, Brown, Norris;  Diouf, Morison, Varney (4-3-3)

Recent Form:

Man City:          WWDDL

Leeds United:   WWLDL

Did You Know ?

• Leeds have knocked three Premier League clubs out of domestic cup competitions already this season. They are 30/1 to win with Bet365.
• Leeds Captain Michael Brown started out at Man City. He was sent off 10 minutes into his debut in August 1995.
• James Milner  began his career at Leeds, and became the Premier League’s youngest-ever goalscorer during his time there, he broke the record held by Wayne Rooney by just five days at the age of 17.
• The two clubs have faced each other in the FA Cup five times before; Leeds coming out slightly on top with 3 wins over Man City’s 2.
• Man City have conceded 9 goals in 5 home cup games this season.
• The two teams met in the 5th round back in 1977. Leeds won 1-0 at Elland Road.

On This Day; 17^th February 1998- Frank Clark was sacked as Man City manager, it is alleged he first learned of his dismissal from a local radio reporter.

Watch The Game Free Streaming

Watch the game free streaming Here

The club signed a 10-year kit sponsorship agreement with Nike in 2009. As a result, kits were produced by Nike subsidiary Umbro. Under the conditions of the deal, the agreement would be revised every three years and it was announced in 2012 that City would switch to Nike at the beginning of the 2013-14 season. Man City’s main partnership is with Etihad Airways with the club having an extensive deal until 2021.

Leaked image could be new Man City kit

What do you think?

Mancini's reaction to Gareth Barry's own goal, which sums up a lot.

Mancini blasts his sides performance following the 3-1 defeat against Southampton;

Well what a shocker that game really was, Just after Mancini saying Man City were still in the title race, Southampton win one of the defining games of the season, out playing and outclassing Man City.

We did close out an eight point gap last season in fewer matches than what we have left this season to recover but we don’t seem to have the same flair and determination we had last season.

Yesterday’s game turned out to be a real shocker as Southampton produced a class performance to earn a 3-1 victory at St Mary’s. It was a great performance from the Saints as they now move six points of the relegation zone and it has to be said they deserved every point from the game.

Manchester United can go twelve points clear at the top of the table if they beat Everton today, with Man City’s only saving grace being that United will probably put out a weaker side than usual with Alex Ferguson keeping his eye on the Champions League game against Real Madrid midweek. The likes of Van Persie and Rooney will probably be sidelined against the Toffees.

Fergie’s men will enter the game against Everton with a huge psychological advantage knowing even if they lose; the point’s gap hasn’t closed since the last game week.

Man Utd could crumble again like last season, but it’s extremely doubtful Alex Ferguson will make the same mistakes again.

Man City are now constantly on the back foot and even if we win every game left this season, but United don’t falter we will still only finish second, that is how difficult the challenge is for Man City now, it is a huge mountain to climb.

But keep in mind we have been here before and we came out on top, so it can be done again, we must keep the faith and never give up.

Roberto Mancini has said that a 12-point deficit to Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester United could be too big for his side to overcome, and also blasted his side’s performance as ‘worse than poor’.

United can widen the gap to 12 points with a victory over Everton on Sunday and when asked if he was conceding the title to United Mancini said: “Maybe, 12 points is too much at this moment and we have not played well in the last two games.”

He added “This is strange because we played the whole of January really well, I don’t know why we played so bad today. Southampton are playing well and it is difficult to score against them, I didn’t think a team like us can do a performance like today.”

Asked if it was a poor performance Mancini replied: “No, I don’t agree, it was worse than poor. We didn’t play. We played with maybe two players in this game and with 11 against two it is difficult to win.”

City fell behind in just the seventh minute when Jason Puncheon followed through the rebound from Rickie Lambert’s strike. City then became their own worst enemy as Steve Davis doubled the home side’s lead after City goalkeeper Joe Hart allowed Lambert’s shot to fumble through his hands.

Edin Dzeko reduced the arrears before half-time with an unconvincing strike, but a Gareth Barry own goal early in the second half secured a first win for Saints’ boss Mauricio Pochettino and left Mancini angered over the team’s performance.

Mancini also hit out at the midweek international programme, saying: “All of the players came back Thursday night or Friday and when you have 16 players away on international duty it is difficult to prepare. Sometimes the fixtures are ridiculous because they don’t think about this but we played a bad game.”

Discussion Point; Are Samir Nasri’s Man City days coming to an end?

Welcome Back Yaya - You've Been Missed

Southampton’s Luke Shaw is a doubt for the visit of the Premier League Champions

The 17-year-old left-back picked up a ligament injury before his England Under-21’s debut against Sweden this week, also doubtful is full-back Nathaniel Clyne who also failed a start for the Three Lions .

Jose Fonte is out for the Saints and Gaston Ramirez and Guly do Prado are also doubtful

Adam Lallana could make his first start since suffering a knee injury in early December and new signing Vegard Forren could make his debut.

City will be revelling in the fact that Yaya Toure is back in the squad.

Touré, and brother Kolo, are back at City earlier than expected after the Ivory Coast suprisingly failed to get past the last eight of the African Nations Cup.

Captain Vincent Kompany could also make a comeback as City look to end a run of two successive draws.

Manchester City cannot afford many more slips if they are to successfully defend their Premier League title and will remember how dangerous Southampton are from the corresponding fixture on the first weekend of the season.

The fact remains unless City perform like last season in the Premier League and again overhaul a hefty deficit to Manchester United, they will end up with only the FA Cup to play for, having made zero progress in Europe.

It is hard to imagine owner Sheikh Mansour being too impressed about that given his vast investment.

But Mancini believes some gratification can be gained from the campaign, even if City fail to retain the Premiership Title.

“It is important we are there, on the top and fighting for the title every year,” he said.

“If another team is better than you, you should accept it.

“But I don’t think anyone has played better than us over the last two years.

“Manchester United are a strong team, so are Chelsea but in the last two years Manchester City are the team that played better in the Premier League.

“We are unlucky because we lost players in January to the African Nations Cup.

“But last year no one believed we could win the title and in the end we won. This year could be the same.”

Betting

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Predicted Lineups:

Man City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy; Y.Touré, Barry; Silva, Agüero, Nasri; Dzeko. (4-2-3-1)

Southampton: Boruc; Cork, Yoshida, Forren, Fox; Puncheon, Ward-Prowse, Schneiderlin, Lallana; Rodriguez, Lambert. (4-4-2)

Recent Premier League Form:

Man City: WWWWDD

Southampton: DWDDLD

Did You Know ?

Man City have seven less points than they did this time last year with 53.

A failure to win for City would make it the first time since March-April last year that they’ve gone three league matches without a win. They’ve drawn the last two.

The Saints have thrown away 24 points from leading positions this season – more than any other side.

Southampton have won just one of their last nine home league matches against Manchester City – losing five of them.

Saints striker Rickie Lambert is the joint-fifth top scorer in the league this season, scoring 11 goals to sit alongside Gareth Bale, Edin Dzeko and Theo Walcott in the scoring charts.

These two sides played on the opening day of the season, with Manchester City prevailing 3-2 thanks to a winner in the 80th minute from Samir Nasri having been pegged back twice by Southampton equalizers.

Since January 2003, Manchester City have spent a total of 109 million pounds in the January transfer window, an average spend of 18.17 million pounds.

9^th February 2003; Shaun Goater comes on as a substitute and scores to bring the game level against Man Utd in the derby. Goater scored again, but the goal was disallowed and the game ended 1-1.

To watch videos of Man City’s previous meetings, click here ManCityFlash, please subscribe for more videos.

The current Premier League table, Man City trail Man Utd by 9 points

With Manchester City now trailing local rivals Manchester United by 9 points in the Barclay’s Premier League, fans like me will surely be saying “What has gone so wrong this season?”

At this point last season, City had accumulated a total of 63 points, compared to only 53 points so far this season. That’s 10 whole points lower than last year in February. The W/D/L record at this point in February 2012 was 20W/3D/3L. The record so far this season is 15W/8D/2L. The figure I am most concerned by is the number of the games that we have drawn. We have already drawn 5 more games than throughout the entire successful season of 2011-12. But why?

We’ve currently conceded 21 goals in 25 games in the league to date. I’m not too concerned; our defence has been solid, with Kompany and the newly recruited Serbian Matija Nastasic, who is, the best young defender in world football in my opinion. He’s 19, and has already made 19 appearances for the Citizens, including Champions League games against opposition such as Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax.

Anyway, enough chit-chat. What did concern me, however, was the lack of goals scored. Despite the fact that last term, we scored an incredible 93 goals; we’ve only managed 47 during this campaign.

From an outside perspective, looking in, Manchester City began the season with possibly the strongest forward line in the Premier League. Big-name stars, such as Sergio Agüero, notably famous for providing 30 goals in his first season (in a new league and for a new club) and that goal on May 13^th 2012. 93:20. Enough said. We also had Carlos Tevez, It’s strange, he was the club’s captain just 2 seasons ago, and then there was the Bayern Münich dispute. Then he returned and scored a hat trick against Norwich City. And now he’s on about a return (on a free transfer) to Boca Juniors. Then there is Edin Dzeko, dubbed a “super sub” by many a supporter, but has recently shown his worth in terms of starting a game from the off, with a decent run of form and goal scoring. After all, he hasn’t won the Bosnian Footballer of the Year for 2009 and 2010 and been nicknamed “Bosanski dijamant”, or “The Bosnian Diamond”, for no reason. And then there’s Mario Balotelli, he’s now been taken back into Italian football by his favourite team, AC Milan, and there’s no surprise, he’d managed just 2 goals in the games he had featured in this season.

Yet none of these strikers have scored enough, or scored consistently. That’s the real reason why we are doing so poorly this year; I suppose though, that Agüero’s early injury in the first game against Southampton probably did disrupt his regime and his progress. Although we can’t deny that he is an exceptionally talented, young player, I think that we need to sign another striker. With Tevez wanting to move on, and Balotelli already gone, I think the summer is the ideal time to snap up a new striker. A few supporters, including myself, would like to see young Swede John Guidetti promoted to the first team line-up and see how he takes to Premier League football, as he seems a real talent. However, I believe he needs another season to regain full match fitness and to develop a bit more, physically and skilfully, before he enters the fold, furthermore, City, in my honest opinion, rely too heavily on Spaniard playmaker David Silva. Behind Silva in the pecking order is Samir Nasri, who, ultimately, is not good enough and has not been performing.

To conclude, I believe that Manchester City must part ways with bit-par players, like Tevez and Nasri, and sign new, young, talented players to replace them. If City want to win the Champion’s League and continue with their success in the Premier League, which I’m sure owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is thoroughly interested in, players must be sold and bought. But who?

I’ll be doing another article within the next few days to inform you of who my personal choices would be, regarding potential replacements and signings.

J-L

Follow Me On Twitter @OurCityView

Visit my blog for more: www.bluemoon-jl.blogspot.com

You could win this rare and authentic 10″ x 8″ hand signed photograph of Man City defender Joleon Lescott.

It has been hand signed by the Man City and England defender in black marker pen and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

To Win, all you have to do is re-tweet the message below. You must be following @mancityonlineco

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Mancini admits he will be cheering on Fergies men against Real

Roberto Mancini admits he will be cheering on Man United when they take on Real Madrid in the Champions League .

The Man City boss hopes that a win for Utd at the Bernabeu will occupy them enough to take their eye of the Premier League ball.

He feels it will boost City’s title hopes if Alex Ferguson’s men can continue in the competition, forcing him to rest key players in domestic matches.

But Mancini knows what is required to take on the Vikings,  having played against them twice in the group stages earlier this season.

Asked if he wanted United to beat Real, Mancini said: “Yes, it would be another two games for them. I will go there and support them with a red-and-white flag.

“But playing Real Madrid is tough — they are one of the best in the world. They have incredible players, fantastic history. It will be very hard for United to beat them because they are a really top club.”

City have only the Premier League and FA Cup to worry about for the rest of the season and have done well so far with key players out for parts of the season, including the Toure brothers on international duty,  Maicon, Micha Richards, Aguero and Kompany all out through injury at times.

Once all players are fit and back on duty, Mancini is confident that City will not go short.

City’s unbelievable comeback last season and the final day triumph they had in the last minute of stoppage time to win the Premier League is likely to play on the minds of Fergies men.

Mancini said: “If we could do it last year when we were eight points behind with six games to go, it’s not impossible that we can recover this with 14 games left.

“We could recover five or six points and still lose at the end but we’ll do everything to win the League. United have good experience but anything can happen right up until the last game.

“When you are seven points behind, it’s difficult to recover but we’re a good team and playing well. We’ve also started to work better with the defenders.”

City are yet to concede a goal in 2013, but will face the toughest test of the year so far when they play Liverpool today.  Suarez and the newly signed Daniel Sturridge will be aiming to break downs the gates of City’s castle like defence.

Goals have not been recently forthcoming for Mancini’s forwards with Dzeko, Aguero and Tevez only managing to score 30 between them all season and none of them finding the back of the net in the last three matches.

But Mancini feels they can still guide City to glory.

He said: “I don’t know why they are not scoring as many. We’re also missing Mario’s goals. Last season, he scored 13 in the league and this season, he only got one.

“It’s clear that we’re missing seven, eight, nine goals and if we had got these, we probably would have four or five points more.

“We are disappointed because we lost two points against QPR but there are some games when you can attack for 100 minutes and you don’t score.”

The Toure brothers will missing again, and probably for next Saturday’s trip to Southampton aswell, but will be back for the FA Cup tie with Leeds in a fortnight.

Mancini said: “We have three strikers but we have two or three other offensive players and have Silva and Yaya to come back.”

Man City and Liverpool have been two of the hottest teams in the Premier League in 2013. And even though both teams come into this match off draws, they’re sure to provide plenty of highlights.

Man City start this match with more clean sheets than any other team in the Premier League with 11. But right behind are Liverpool, tied for second with nine.

Man City follow up from a 0-0 draw at Loftus Road against QPR, and cannot afford any more slip ups after falling further behind Man Utd midweek in the chase for the Premier League title. With Man United playing Fulham on Saturday, there seems every chance that Man City could be 10 points adrift of their main rivals when they play Liverpool on Sunday..

Liverpool have played incredibly well this month, but recently gave up a disappointing 2-2 draw at The Emirates.

The truth is, that in the draw at Arsenal, Liverpool were gifted a two goal head start by what can only be described as terrible Arsenal defending, and when the home team found their rhythm in the second half it was all hands on deck to keep the Gunners at bay.

Rogers will realise his mistakes from that game and will almost certainly tighten his defence up against City.

Three of the last 6 league games between City and Liverpool at the Manchester club have ended 0-0, though the hosts have recorded back-to-back 3-0 wins over the Reds at the Etihad.

Vincent Kompany is unlikely to recover in time from a calf injury, though Matija Nastasic could be in line for a comeback as he was fit enough for a bench role last time out.  Javi Garcia impressed alongside Joleon Lescott in central defence at QPR and offers further cover.  Dzeko dropped to the bench last time out after a run of four starts but may replace Carlos Tevez alongside Sergio Aguero. Maicon and Micah Richards are still out.

Betting

Bet 365 are offering Man City (5/6), Draw (11/4) Liverpool (16/5), click here to see more offers and claim up to £200 in free bets, limited time offer!!

Predicted Lineups:

Man City: Hart;  Zabaleta, Nastasic, Lescott, Clichy;  Garcia, Barry;  Milner, Aguero, Silva;  Dzeko.

Liverpool: Reina;  Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique;  Henderson, Leiva, Gerrard;  Sterling, Sturridge, Suarez.

Recent Form:

Man City:  LWWWWD

Liverpool: LWWLWD

Did You Know ?

Liverpool have won just three of their 12 Premier League away games

Man City have won 32 of their last 36 home matches in the Premier League.

Liverpool have still yet to beat a side in the top 10 of the Premier League this season

There have been under 2.5 goals scored in Manchester City’s last 3 games in the Premier League.

Liverpool have conceded at least 2 goals in 5 of their last 6 away matches in the Premier League.

Man City have kept clean sheets in 50% of their home games this season and have actually kept six clean sheets in a row now in all competitions heading into the game

Flashback Videos:

To watch videos of Man City’s previous meetings, click here ManCityFlash, please subscribe for more videos.

David Villa

Manchester City are believed to have made contact with Barcelona over a last ditch deal for striker David Villa.

If there’s any player worth talking about, with chance of a last minute move before transfer deadline, it’s David Villa.

Reports in Spain are suggesting that City boss Roberto Mancini is keen to sign a replacement striker before transfer D-Day.

Arsenal have already had a knockback from the 31 year old Spanish striker, who has expressed interest in moving from the Nou Camp following growing Premier League interest.

A move to City would be the best option for Villa, as it’s arguably the best chance of winning silverware if moving to England and the best bundle in terms of wages and bonuses.

There is an obvious hole to fill at City with Mario Balotelli leaving for his boyhood club AC Milan, but this does not guarantee him to be Mancini’s number one choice striker, there is still Aguero and Dzeko to superseed.

Just as at Arsenal there is Podolski, Giroud and Walcott to contend with.

It is reported that he is so keen for a move to England that he would even be willing to accept a loan move right now to push through the transfer before the deadline.

If reports are to be believed, negotiations are already underway, with a £15million deal being talked about.

Chances are, Arsenal and City will both make dramatic offers just before the clock strikes twelve.

Villa’s current deal is due to expire in 2014.

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