The Europa League provided our final European excursion of the week, with both Man City and Liverpool held to draws by Juventus and Utrecht respectively. From a Fantasy perspective the matches themselves were largely uneventful but the teamsheets and in particular, the post-match comments from both Roberto Mancini and Roy Hodgson, were certainly of interest.
Mancini made four changes to his lineup for the visit of the “Old Lady” – the most notable of which was the inclusion of Emmanuel Adebayor which saw a switch to a 4-4-2 formation. The fact that Adebayor failed to take his chance, frustrating his manager and the home fans at times, probably confines him and the more attacking setup to the back of Mancini’s mind for the foreseeable future.
Mancini did his best to be positive on Adebayor’s display but it does seem unlikely that we will see a Premier League start for the striker anytime soon.
“Manu was available after 20 days. I’m happy with his performance. What he needs now, as a striker, is to score a goal.”
The City boss added an interesting footnote in his post-match comments regarding the striker situation at Eastlands. Talking on the fact that Carlos Tevez put in another tireless shift, plus the fact that his skipper has missed just a single game this season, Mancini hinted that rotation would not become a factor with until Mario Balotelli is fit.
“It’s better for us that Carlos plays until Mario Balotelli is back and Manu Adebayor is 100 per cent.”
It was Adam Johnson, rather than Tevez who notched the City goal, providing another cool finish following a perfect through-ball from Yaya Toure. The assist will have boosted Toure’s growing reputation amongst Fantasy Managers, while Johnson’s goal may yet tempt his owners to hold firm, despite the seemingly constant threat of rotation. The winger later revealed that the goal came straight off the training ground, stating that Mancini was looking for more of the same –
“I’ve been working on it a bit in training, running across defenders. The manager wants me to do it more.”
Johnson also made the point that he’d been out of the side of late but that could well be set to continue at the weekend. The hero on the night, Johnson could be benched yet again when Newcastle visit Eastlands this weekend. David Silva was rested and emerged to replace Adebayor late on; the Spaniard would seem certain to be recalled to the starting eleven for Sunday’s game. He will likely be joined by James Milner and Nigel De Jong who were also rested for the tie.
The hamstring injury sustained by Pablo Zabaleta gives Mancini a further headache at the back – just the latest in a seemingly endless string of problems at full-back.
Zabaleta is out of the Newcastle game, leaving Mancini with the option to start with Jerome Boateng at left-back. He made his first start for City last night following his own injury concerns and, while he is capable of filling in on the left, it’s hardly his preferred position. Joleon Lescott presents another, perhaps more viable option – he returned to the bench last night and could now be called upon to resume his run as emergency left-back, with Boateng, Dedryk Boyata and perhaps even a returning Micah Richards, competing for the right-back slot.
Liverpool have now gone four games in all competitions without a win following their uninspiring stalemate with Utrecht. Roy Hodgson’s side were dominated for the large part of last night’s tie and only several saves from Pepe Reina and a goalline clearance from Raul Meireles, kept them from defeat.
Fantasy Managers were of course glued to the performance of Fernando Torres and would have far from impressed. The Spaniard was quiet throughout, seemed off the pace and failed to take the one major opportunity that came his way in the second-half – forcing a decent save from the home keeper.
Hodgson was quick to leap to his defence in his post-match interview.
“There was some good combinations between him and the wide players and Dirk Kuyt. He worked very hard but he’s still missing that elusive goal…There were a couple of quite good occasions for him to score but I think he’ll feel it was a good 90-minute workout for him and another step in the right direction.”
There was a suggestion that Torres may well have picked up a knock to his knee in the game, although Hodgson seemed unaware of any issue.
“I didn’t spend the whole 90 minutes watching one player, obsessing about him and whether he picked up a knock or not.”
Interestingly, Hodgson went with Dirk Kuyt as a partner to Torres once again and it certainly seems as though he is attempting to establish this as a first-choice pairing. With Kuyt classified as a 8.7 midfielder in the Fantasy Premier League game, there is clearly potential here to be exploited.
Having been deployed on the right side of midfield for the previous two seasons, Kuyt appears to be enjoying his new central role and offered words of encouragement for his striking partner…
“We created a good chance together and against Sunderland and West Brom it worked well so I think we can play well together, but last night wasn’t the best game for us or the team…It’s just a matter of time for Fernando. I said that after the Sunderland game when people were talking about him not scoring, but he still provided two assists. Last night he missed a chance but he is human and can miss chances like everyone else. I’m sure his goals will come.”
With Kuyt brought inside, Hodgson appears to be starting Raul Meireles on the right of midfield. Hodgson had this to say on that particular situation.
“We don’t play with wingers. The way he plays and the way Joe Cole plays, we think (playing wide midfield) is more than suited to their qualities…We saw evidence of that in the game because they often got into situations where they received and turned with the ball – especially in the first half. I think we can get some use from Raul Meireles there with his passing ability.”
Hodgson’s midfield will of course be boosted by the return of Steven Gerrard against Blackpool on Sunday after he was handed a rest last night. It’s at the back that Hodgson has real issues though – bizarrely, just like Mancini, it’s at left-back that the problems can be found. Paul Konchesky is laid low with a hamstring injury for Sunday, while Dan Agger is also a doubt having picked up a groin injury which saw him left at home for the Europa League tie. Now Martin Kelly, who started at left-back last night, is also a doubt having sustained a knee injury. Hodgson must hope that Kelly pulls through for Sunday, with 17-year-old Jack Robinson the only clear remaining option.
