Man City v Chelsea - Talking Points

In an intriguing game at the Etihad stadium, Manchester City failed to record a win for the third league game in a row, but did manage to take a point off title favourites Chelsea. However, that was not the main story behind the game, which brought up a lot of talking points, which I will look at.

First off, Frank Lampard's equaliser for Manchester City. That in itself is a bizarre sentence, but for it to come against Chelsea is Hollywood-esque. A player scoring his first goal against the team who he became a legend at after scoring 211 goals in a 12 year spell at is something that the writers of Rocky might scoff at for being a little bit far-fetched. Lampard himself looked devastated to have scored, despite it being the equaliser in a huge game. This brought up the tiresome discussion of players celebrating against their old teams, which, frankly, is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

 

Many believed that Lampard's contribution at Man City wouldn't be particularly big and I was in that bracket, but now even if he does nothing else this spell will be remembered for that goal. It was a classic Lampard goal, arriving late in the box to latch onto a cut back before sliding a volley home, cancelling out André Schürrle's 71st minute opener.

 

What surprised me most from this game was Chelsea's inability to see out a game that it appeared they had won in predictable fashion and indeed this seems to be their only weakness at the moment - they are leaking a lot more goals than is typical of a Mourinho side. After the controversy surrounding his defensive tactics last season, Mourinho's men have leaked silly goals so far this season. However, with Diego Costa's undeniable quality up front, they have a ruthless edge that they have lacked since Didier Drogba's prime, which makes them capable of winning any game. It is still likely that Mourinho will bemoan the lack of defensive solidity that would have won them this game comfortably.

 

Pablo Zabaleta received what could be perceived as a harsh red card with less than half an hour to go, after receiving two soft bookings, however he must take a large portion of the blame, as referee Mike Dean set the tone early on with a plethora of cards which it must be said he was mostly consistent with. Zabaleta rushed in to tackle Costa, whom he had had a battle with all day, tripping him up and got his marching orders. Shortly after, Chelsea made that extra man pay and Zabaleta must be held at least partially responsible as with him on the pitch, City had a much better chance of winning it.

 

Finally, I'd like to talk about a few notable players that didn't make the headlines. James Milner's performance was absolutely superb and though he is often a much maligned player (who I have to admit has only recently won me over) he shows why he is a player at a top 4 team in the big games. Often his work rate is mentioned but little is said of his technical ability, which is on par with many top players. He is an intelligent player who creates space and uses it well with his incisive passing, accurate crossing and decent finishing. He was outstanding in every position he played, which included the very unnatural position of left-back, but he did what was asked of him. On the other side of the spectrum, Yaya Toure has so far struggled to impact games this season, despite being City's top scorer last season. He again failed to impose himself on Chelsea's midfield, but this may have been down to the impervious Nemanja Matic, who again impressed at the base of the midfield. Matic broke down innumerous City attacks and used the ball intelligently which helped Chelsea to nullify the midfield threat which City possess, except for one notable time.

 

Making his debut for City was Eliaquim Mangala, who looked like a top-drawer centre-half. Mangala is a towering defender with pace and strength in abundance, but reads the game well and aims to defend on the front foot, much like his partner Kompany. He helped to nullify the threat of Diego Costa who didn't get much of a sniff until he hit the post late on with a snapshot from the edge of the box. Despite not scoring, Costa was a constant thorn in the side of City, pulling out wide and battling with Zabaleta, eventually culminating in a red card which could have won Chelsea the game. Down the middle, however, he had little joy due to the performance of Mangala and Kompany.

 

All in all, Chelsea will be disappointed not to have held out for three points which would have put them five points clear at this early stage, but they are still clear favourites at this point. Man City will take heart from a good performance but need to get their creative players in better positions or they may struggle to create chances against bigger teams. Defensively they look solid, so they now need to refind their scoring form of early last season.

Blind Faith - The Importance of Daley Blind

Though you're probably tired now of hearing about Manchester United's transfer dealings this summer, I'd like to speak about the signing who seemed to be ignored - Daley Blind. Clearly the big name signings of Di Maria and Falcao are huge and show the pull of Manchester United still exists, but you have to have a base to allow the quality they have up front to shine, and Blind provides that.

Whilst it's too early to draw conclusions from the 4-0 home victory against a, let's face it, lacklustre QPR side, there were some hugely positive signs. Where previously this and last season United had struggled to control the midfield, they dominated large portions of the game, and most of this was down to Blind's impressive performance. Dutch experts had suggested for a while now that Blind was a perfect fit for a top team in England and it appears they were right.

So just what does Blind add that United lacked before? The main one is defensive awareness, the ability to break up play and shield the defence that Cleverley, Fellaini and Carrick lacked, which will help the young defenders like Jones and Blackett to develop their own game and gain confidence. Whilst Blind may lack the size and build of the colossal Marouane Fellaini, he is still a very strong midfielder. He makes up for the size difference with tenacity and athleticism that had been missing from a pedestrian United midfield before.

Daley Blind's passing is as good as any other midfielder at the club, too. Michael Carrick was lauded for his ability to control games through his vision and range of passing, but Blind can easily match him in that, but with a more complete defensive and also attacking awareness. He has a Busquets-esque quality to him, in that he quietly goes about his job, making intelligent decisions that can easily go unnoticed. Like Busquets, he is a wonderful player with and without the ball at his feet and will be invaluable to a side aiming to control games, as United should. 

At under £20m, United may have pulled off a real coup and Blind could be the most important of all the summer signings they have made. However, time will tell whether Blind can perform as well against better teams or whether the power of teams like Chelsea and Man City will be too much for United's midfield.

Value on Deadline Day - How Hull Broke the Rules

People will tell you that there's no value on deadline day, that you have to overpay if you panic buy, that leaving it late is dangerous, but Steve Bruce has dispelled these myths. Hull pulled off no less than four last minute signings, all of which improve the depth and quality of the squad; for a combined fee of less than the price of Danny Welbeck.

Hull signed Abel Hernandez, an extremely fast and highly rated striker with a record that isn't that impressive, but it's not dissimilar to Shane Long's who was slightly more expensive despite being 3 years older. Hernandez does have a good International record, scoring 7 in 14 appearances, as well as an impressive season last season, so it appears that he is still improving and should be a good replacement for Long. He is extremely quick and willing to run in behind the defence, which should be a great combination with fellow Uruguayan Gaston Ramirez, who joined on a season long loan after failing to lock down a starting place at Southampton. Ramirez is an extremely talented player who had been chased for a while by top European teams before signing for Southampton, but he's not quite settled in. He could be an absolute steal for Hull should he display the talent that was so clear 2 years ago. He's still young and this could be a huge season for the attacking midfielder who will add flair and creativity to a team which sometimes struggle to break down the more organised sides in the league.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Hatem Ben Arfa turned down the offer of joining relegation threatened Birmingham City in the Championship. To the surprise of a few people, however, he accepted the chance to prove himself under Steve Bruce at Hull. Newcastle fans bemoan the decision to let go the enigmatic winger go, blaming Pardew for not getting the best out of him and I have to say it is a bizarre decision, as Ben Arfa is a wonderfully talented if mercurial player capable of carving open even the best of defences on his day. Touted as a player who could not only somebody who could be a target for PSG or Liverpool but someone who could be a potential Ballon D'or winner, Hull have an amazing talent on their hands that if they can control, can propel them onto the next level.

Finally on deadline day, Hull signed the talented Mo Diame from West Ham for £3.5 million pounds. Diame is another talent who is plagued with inconsistency, but Bruce will fancy himself as a good man manager who can get the best out of the players who previously were inconsistent. Diame is a player who doesn't fit the archetype of an African defensive midfielder - he is strong and powerful, but his game is based on his ball-carrying skills and attacking skills, rather than pure physicality and defensive strength. On his day he controls games in a way that Yaya Toure does, but on a smaller scale and not as consistently, but he could excel alongside the talented Huddlestone and the energetic and tenacious Livermore who will provide him with support.

In summary, Hull have signed some unbelievably talented players who may have not quite shown their skill quite yet, but they will be hoping that they can get the best out of them. Diame, Ben Arfa and Ramirez could all unbelievable coups for Hull if they work, whereas Hernandez could be a superb addition to an otherwise threadbare front line. Hull appeared to have contradicted the cliché that there's no value on deadline day and broken all the rules.