02 Nov 2014 16:00:00
Considering I went into the game expecting City to win comfortably; I find it odd that I'm feeling a little disappointed not to have come away with a point.

Smalling's sending off was stupid and effectively ended the game as a sporting contest - but before that I thought we were doing fairly well. Our performance in the final third wasn't good enough and our defense was being taken out of the game a little too easily; but we were in control in the middle of the park and had some good possession. The red card gave City the upper-hand in midfield again and that in turn made things very difficult.

I think we did well to go as long as we did without conceding but felt that that was down to City being poor as much as us being good. They should have had two or three penalties and we should have been down to nine. Fellaini and DDG were fantastic again and Carrick did very well when he came on. Valencia looked disinterested at times and was constantly out of position (not to mention a few instances where a player went past him and he just gave up rather than chasing back). He's not a rb and that's something that needs to be addressed.

Di Maria was poor again. His deliveries from free kicks were good but his corners were shocking. He might have been able to do more had we kept eleven men on the pitch but he does have a tendency to give the ball away regardless. Not too long ago I saw somebody on here say that they were glad we signed Di Maria over Sanchez (not sure whether we could have actually signed the latter) - and I'm wondering whether that's still the case?

RVP did very little again - but then again even at his best his contributions are usually limited to goals alone. Had his chance at the near post gone in his selection would have been justified. As it is I think he's the one who should have been sacrificed rather than Januzaj (he was actually causing problems in the early stages). Rooney was in and out of the game but his run was fantastic and he covered a lot of ground. I'd like to see him given a game up top next week with Falcao.

DDG 8, Valencia 4, Smalling 1, Rojo 5, Shaw 7, Blind 6, Fellaini 8, Januzaj 7, Di Maria 5, Rooney 7, RVP 4. Carrick 8, McNair 7, Wilson 6.

1.) 02 Nov 2014
I can't disagree with how you rated the players.
I for one would play Carrick at CB -alongside McNair - next week.

2.) 02 Nov 2014
Mcnair was good and should be a regular in the team Carrick would be my choice to replace Blind and Fellani should be dropped when Herrera is fit Wilson would be my choice to replace Rvp

3.) 02 Nov 2014
Fully agree with your post redseven. Not sure about McNair to be honest, wasn't he the one who let Aguero go for the goal and got turned with ease by Yaya, he didn't exactly do anything today that made me think he should start ahead of Blackett?

4.) 02 Nov 2014
He looks comfortable on the ball - which is more than can be said for any of our other CB's.

5.) 02 Nov 2014
Agree with the ratings apart from smalling should be zero instead of one. He's a total person and should not play again for some time and fined the maximum for allowing himself to be sent off. A total prat.

6.) 02 Nov 2014
02 Nov 2014 20:02:29
Januzaj gets a 7 even though he didn't do much and got subbed early yet Di Maria how won us a few free kicks and got in behind gets a 5? Hmm.

Rooney should have got an 8, fitness went towards the end slightly but after his suspension that's hardly surprising. Put in a real captains performance, defending well when others failed, attacked well and lead by example.

7.) 02 Nov 2014
02 Nov 2014 20:09:50
Beast Seriously. did you say you are not sure about McNair as he was out done by Augero and Yaya. on a couple of occasions. So the kid was undone by 2 of the best players in the league a couple of times. Seems excessive if you ask me. he will grow and grow. His performances have been so impressive. His Attitude has been top notch too, throwing himself into everything

8.) 02 Nov 2014
Januzaj has had 3 starts on the trot now and has contributed very little.

9.) 02 Nov 2014
Jrobb - I am saying instead of Blackett, I like McNair but he didn't do much today to justify any hype. I haven't seen why he should start ahead of Blackett, what did he do that justifies that, 2 mistakes which were costly ultimately? I'm not crucifying the guy, he will make mistakes and its great to have him on our team, but saying he should start based on today isn't wise, Smalling made 2 mistakes as well as it happens.

Carrick is the other one I would play at the back based on today, he can link perfectly from there.