From early kick-offs to Chelsea weaknesses, Manchester City’s victory provided some interesting insights
• Chelsea are not invincible
We all know this is a kneejerk sport but there was still something fairly ludicrous about the fact the man with the Sky Sports microphone thought it appropriate to ask Carlo Ancelotti at yesterday’s press conference whether English football was witnessing Chelsea’s version of what Arsenal achieved during the 2003-04 season (thankfully Ancelotti had the good sense to say it would never happen).
True, it had been an immaculate start, with five wins from their opening five games, but Sir Alex Ferguson had a point when he said the champions had benefited from an easy start. With only four fully fit defenders at the club and a 19-year-old centre-half playing at right-back, Manchester City had a vulnerable edge here but Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda malfunctioned. Things just didn’t click. Their forward play was stodgy, predictable even.
Chelsea are legitimate favourites to retain their title but some perspective is needed – they are not going to leave Manchester United like a speck in the distance. Their defence found Carlos Tevez a constant menace and opposition managers will surely note how Branislav Ivanovic can look vulnerable at right-back, not nimble enough when faced by a player with James Milner’s ability to turn and run.
• Nigel de Jong is more than just a kicker
The problem when you ram your studs into an opponent’s chest in a match watched by three billion people – about half the world’s population – is that people tend to remember it.
It is De Jong’s lot, therefore, that he will probably always be remembered as the guy who committed possibly the worst foul ever to be seen in a World Cup final, and maybe got away with one of the worst miscarriages of justice given that he received only a yellow card.
But don’t make the mistake of thinking he is just a modern-day hatchet man. De Jong is the enforcer in City’s midfield, strong in the tackle, quick to the ball, a man who gives the impression he would run through a plate-glass window for his team. He likes to make his presence felt and, at times, he does trespass into an area of recklessness. But when he gets it right, as he did here, there are few better defensive midfielders in the business.
• 12.45pm kick-offs are no fun (or not often, anyway)
There are exceptions – Manchester United’s recent visit to Everton being one – but there is a definite pattern of 12.45pm kick-offs drifting into a sense of anti-climax. The crowds tend to be subdued, as if they are nursing a collective hangover. The football can be lethargic, almost dreary at times.
In fairness, it does not help at Eastlands sometimes that City pack their team with so many defence-minded players, but it was strange that such an eagerly anticipated match was so disjointed, even dull, for long spells. This was a big moment in Manchester City’s season but, in the hour preceding Tevez’s goal, it was rare to hear a sell-out crowd so subdued.
• There’s more to come from David Silva
It’s lazy in the extreme to say that David Silva is too small to play in the Premier League (this is the man Luis Aragonés, the former Spain manager, once described as having the “biggest balls” in the national team).
Being small, with nimble feet and a low centre of gravity, can actually be an advantage when you play in Silva’s position, with a neat appreciation of space, looking for that killer pass. But there were only sporadic moments when we saw that creativity. That is not to say Silva played badly, just that he was decorating the game rather than dominating it.
He needs more time to adapt to the different challenges of the Premier League but it is encouraging for him that both his manager, Roberto Mancini, and the club’s supporters seem to appreciate this.
• Another weakness in Chelsea
The visiting bench consisted of Ross Turnbull, Yuri Zhirkov, Paulo Ferreira, Daniel Sturridge, Patrick van Aanholt, Gaël Kakuta and Josh McEachran – all good players in their own right and, in the case of four of them, outstanding young talents. But this was not a list that smacked of a team with great strength in depth.
City, meanwhile, could call upon Shay Given, Emmanuel Adebayor, Adam Johnson, Jérôme Boateng, Patrick Vieira, Joleon Lescott and Jô. The problem for Ancelotti when his team went a goal behind was that he did not have many ways to change his side for the better.
Manchester CityChelseaDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk
