Last night, the scene was seemingly set for Man City; their captain withdraws his transfer request following a period of unrest and with so many games snowed off, Roberto Mancini’s side would soar to the top of the table just in time for Christmas if they managed a victory…. Then along came David Moyes to burst the Abu Dhabi bubble.
City went into the game strong favourites but a look at their home form shows they have scored just two goals in the last five games at Eastlands whereas on the road, they have grabbed eleven goals over the same number of games. So far this season, away from home when the onus is on their opponent’s to attack, City have excelled both offensively and defensively; not only have they scored more goals on the road than any other team, they have the joint-best record for goals conceded, too.
At home, however, they have the second-worst tally in the league; a total of nine goals scored is better only than Wigan and Birmingham’s eight. Outwith the three goals in their first home game of the season against Liverpool, City have scored just six times in the subsequent eight home games.
In Fantasy terms, it’s best summed up by the returns of Carlos Tevez; his last five home games read (1,2,1,8,2) and last five away games read (11, 12, 8, 16, 1). When teams play deep, it seems, City are struggling to break them down.
Yaya Toure has -somewhat surprisingly- been fielded in a role playing behind Carlos Tevez this season and the two “Average Position” maps below are taken from the last home and away games the two have played together.
The top map is from City’s game at Fulham and shows how offensively Tevez (32) was positioned. By staying so high up the pitch, he allowed his midfield to bomb forward, as shown by Toure’s (42) position, as the ex-Barcelona man played higher, on average, than David Silva. Between them, Tevez and Toure grabbed three goals and an assist in City’s 4-1 win that day. With their hosts pushing on, it was easier for City to exploit any gaps left in the Fulham defence.
The bottom map is taken from last night’s encounter with Everton and illustrates City’s problems when face with a well-drilled opposing side. On average, Tevez was barely higher than the halfway line, with little space between Toure and himself, particularly in comparison to the Fulham example.
This is backed up by the passing heat maps of both players: although their “Passed Made” were higher up the pitch against Everton than against Fulham, the above “Average Position” map shows them lower, which goes to show how often the pair must have dropped deep when not on the ball.
For all City’s possession -they had 69% of the ball- Everton showed their opponents lack the guile to do any real damage. Mancini’s side may well have had plenty shots but many were wild efforts that came from a desperation to rescue the situation and were subsequently blocked or off-target. The hosts had just five shots on target last night and it took a deflection from Phil Jagielka to grant them a consolation goal.
Give Mancini credit; he seems to have the team’s shape and personnel pretty much nailed away from home, but what is clear from these last few Eastlands matches is that City need a little more craft and intelligence on the ball at home. Alternatively, perhaps a change in formation or player roles -David Silva in the hole behind a Tevez and/or a front two?-could be the answer to their problematic home form. One thing is for sure, though, something need to change if they are to maintain their title drive. Mark Hughes can tell the Italian that much.
