SB Nation - Samir Nasri

Manchester City 5 - Chelsea 3: So long Rafa, and thanks for all the fish

Stephen Schmidt — Sun, 26 May 2013 00:05:54 -0000

The Rafa Beitez era is over, with his Chelsea side sending him off with a whimper. Ironically, Rafa chose his final game in charge to run out something other than a 4-2-3-1 formation for the first time I can recall in his lengthy managerial career.

Since Thursday night's game didn't give us enough lol-worthy defending, Chelsea picked right up where they left off just minutes into Saturday's contest. Oscar placed a picture perfect pass to Sergio Aguero, and despite saving the initial shot, Henrique Hilario was left for dead on the Gareth Barry rebound.

Chelsea settled into the game shortly after the opener, with the midfield duo of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and John Obi Mikel looking especially impressive during the next 20 minutes or so. City would strike again on the counter though, with Samir Nasri making it 2-0 City. Loftus-Cheek came off before the half, with the legendary Paulo Ferreira coming on to replace him. Ferreira slotted in at left back, with Nathan Ake sliding into the midfield.

The second half started at 2-0, with Chelsea making only a single change. Petr Cech entered the game for Chelsea, replacing Hilario in goal. Seconds later David Luiz laid a ridiculous ball on the feet of a breaking Ramires, and Chelsea had cut the deficit to 2-1. Chelsea missed out on another pair of excellent chances, and James Milner made it 3-1 just 10 minutes into the second half. It was some fantastic play from City's attackers, but was likely helped by very little effort on the defensive side from Chelsea.

At 61 minutes, Juan Mata came on for David Luiz, with Nathan Ake dropping into the center of the defense. Four minutes later, we were treated to a Yossi Benayoun for Oscar swap, with Benayoun taking over the left midfield position occupied by the Brazilian. Shortly after the change it was 3-2, as Fernando Torres picked out Ramires with a beautiful cross that was subsequently buried. Demba Ba was also making an excellent run onto the ball, continuing to look pretty good paired with the Spaniard up top.

Chelsea continued to apply the pressure to City, but Samir Nasri made it 4-2 with about 20 minutes left to play. Edin Dzeko played provider for the second time on the evening, combining well on a give and so with the full-throttle Frenchman. Nasri then chipped the ball comfortably over Cech, making it back to back friendlies in which Chelsea conceded four (or more).

Demba Ba missed an excellent chance to cut it to 4-3 on 75 minutes, as the ever-brilliant Juan Mata played him free on goal. Ba shot wide of the net though, keeping the Blues' deficit at 4-2.

In the 80th minute, Ramires earned yet another dangerous free kick for Chelsea. Juan Mata then proceeded to do something silly good with the free kick, and the City keeper couldn't do anything about it. 4-3 City, and the game was defense-free at this point.

City only took a few second to add a fifth, as Edin Dzeko bounced one in front of Petr Cech from about 30 yards away. Cech looked like he struggled to read the hop, and the ball scooted under him into the back of the net. City came close to adding a sixth just seconds later, but a last ditch stop by Petr Cech kept the score at 5-3.

The final minutes played out with more end to end stuff, with even the hobo getting into the action and trying a silly backheel shot. The backheel was saved easily by Richard Wright, but Yossi would have a much better effort with his head just a few seconds later. That was the last real attempt for either side, with the US tour ending in a second straight high-scoring loss.

Here are a few thoughts I had as this one was unfolding:

I like the blue shirt, blue shorts, blue socks look for Chelsea. It's not the traditional home color pattern, but it looks great.
Seeing Fernando Torres wearing the captain's armband was just strange, especially with David Luiz on the pitch at the same time. Say what you will about Torres' play during his time at the club, but I've never seen anything from him that would make me think of him as a Chelsea captain.
The two-striker formation today was kind of fun to watch. It's really impossible to take much away from a game in which both teams were more concerned with entertaining than securing a result, but it was certainly different.
I know I just said it's hard to take much away from a game like this, but it's easy to forget just how deep that Manchester City is at times. They're bringing in one of the best tacticians the game has to offer in Pellegrini, and they're going to be a very scary side to watch next year.
Andreas Christensen looked a little lost out there tonight, but the two other teenagers starting for the Blues were among the best players on the pitch tonight. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is going to be a household name before he reaches the age of 20, and Nathan Ake looked fantastic in all three positions he played this evening. The youth talent we have at the moment is just ridiculous, I wouldn't swap our current setup with any other side on the planet.
I'm so glad the Rafa Benitez era is over. He wasn't good, he wasn't horrible, and he certainly didn't do enough to make me feel any differently about him than I did when he was hired. All in all, I'm just to be excited to be turning the page and hope that the Chelsea board has learned from this move. Listen to the fans, don't let them make the decisions about who the club hires, but don't hire another manager that the supporters absolutely loathe. It certainly makes writing about the team less fun when you don't care for the man in charge, and I'm really looking forward to the second coming of The Special One just because of that.
Speaking of departures, I'd have to assume that tonight was Paulo Ferreira's last appearance as a Chelsea player. I'm really going to miss the Portuguese, and I'll actually miss Hilario as well. It was fun guys, you'll both be missed by this fan.

FA Cup Final: Game Thread

sonics097 — Sat, 11 May 2013 15:41:18 -0000

City are back at Wembley, and hoping to win the FA Cup (with Budweiser!) to add some silverware for the 3rd consecutive season. Still can't believe I have just typed that sentence; never would have imagined that possible even 4 or 5 years ago.

Anyways, on to the lineups:

TEAM NEWS: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany (c), Nastasic, Clichy, Yaya Toure, Barry, Nasri, Silva, Tevez, Aguero
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) May 11, 2013

#wafc starting XI for the FA Cup final! Robles, Kone, Alcaraz, McCarthy, Maloney, Gomez, McManaman, McArthur, Boyce, Espinoza, Scharner
— Wigan Athletic (@LaticsOfficial) May 11, 2013

Big surprise in net, with Joe Hart getting the start over Costel Pantilimon, who by all accounts was the expected starter as he has been throughout this cup run. Perhaps his comments a few days ago about not returning to City next season made Mancini not see any reason to start him now? In any case, the rest of the lineup is as expected, with the only real battle for a starting position coming between Samir Nasri and James Milner, with the Frenchman just edging it out. Wigan have fielded their strongest lineup and should come out with energy and intent.

Word is that City fans have about 2/3 of Wembley today, so the support should be strong. Here's to a performance to match it!

Comment away...

FA Cup Final, Wigan vs. Manchester City: Tactical preview

Tim Palmer — Sat, 11 May 2013 05:00:05 -0000

From a tactical point of view, perhaps the most memorable feature of Roberto Martinez's and Roberto Mancini's management style is their contextually unusual fondness for three at the back - but for varying reasons, neither manager may start with this unorthodox formation in Sunday's FA Cup Final.

Instead, Manchester City have firmly preferred a 4-4-2 template in 2013, having utterly failed to acclimatize to Mancini's tinkering while for Wigan, the situation is more complex. Injuries have decimated their squad to the bare bones - especially crucial in the context of a relegation dogfight - and by necessity rather than design, Martinez may be forced to field a four-man defence.

The decisive injury has been to Maynor Figueroa. The Honduran generally plays as the left-sided centre-back in a 3-4-3, where his ability to also play left-back means he's comfortable defending in the channels, and covering for the forward runs of Jean Beausejour.

The Chilean is also an injury doubt, meaning Wigan's left side could have an entirely different feel - crucial, as 42% of their play comes down this flank, a bias only beaten by Everton in the Premier League. The signing of the Chilean full-back was one of the more significant moments in the evolution of this Wigan side: he had previous experience at wing-back thanks to Marcelo Bielsa's Chile side, and is a good crosser from deep positions.

In the previous fixture between these two sides, Samir Nasri's narrow positioning on the right wing, combined with Shaun Maloney being used as the most advanced Wigan attacker, almost like a false nine, meant Beausejour enjoyed great time on the ball, striding forward confidently and whipping crosses into the penalty area towards Franco Di Santo.

Unfortunately, the lanky Argentine was typically profligate and has recently been usurped in the starting line-up by the youthful Callum McManaman, who is nominally the right winger but plays a very narrow role, almost as a second striker. His runs from inside to out are very clever - his goal in the semi-final against Millwall stemming from this situation, as did the winner against West Brom - and must be tracked diligently by Gael Clichy, who likes to stick tight to his marker.

Mancini will probably take the cautious option and start James Milner ahead of Pablo Zabaleta, as the Englishman's insatiable work rate provides good protection for the Argentine full-back, despite the probable absence of Beausejour. Besides, City's balance simply feels more comfortable when Milner starts, as he tends to play wider than Nasri and so provides more space for Silva to drift into.

The flipside of Wigan's predisposition to the left is that the space vacated by Beausejour can be exposed, especially without Figueroa to sweep up in behind. West Brom striker Markus Rosenborg cleverly took advantage of this by drifting out into that channel when his side didn't have possession, and the outlet he provided on the counter-attack was the catalyst for Shane Long's opening goal. Pablo Zabaleta's forward runs have become commonplace this season, and with Beausejour's likely replacement Roger Espinoza a central midfielder by trade, positionally insecure and attack-minded, the Argentine full-back will enjoy good freedom by storming past Maloney into advanced positions.

In the last clash between these two sides - which came just two days after they had confirmed their place in this final - City overloaed the centre with creativity, with both wide players characteristically playing narrow and Yaya Toure permanently occupying an advanced midfield role. But for all their control in this area, City couldn't create opportunities, and not even the standard Mancini change to a back three could alter the score line.

Instead, City's breakthrough came when Carlos Tevez was introduced, prompting a return to a back four - but it was the Argentine's movement between the lines that was crucial, finding space on the edge of the penalty area to jinx his way past Wigan's defenders before curling home a smart finish. Ben Watson looks likely to play the deepest midfield role, and must ensure he isn't overwhelmed by City's sheer presence in his zone.

Wigan must get off to a good start here. Their most impressive performance this season came in this competition, in the quarter-final against Everton - they simply blew David Moyes side away with a flurry of quick passing and attacking football, scoring three unanswered goals inside the first thirty-five minutes. City are able to turn to star-studded bench including Edin Dzeko, whose goals off the bench have cast him into a substitute's role this season.

By contrast, Wigan have Franco Di Santo.

The Week Ahead: Fantasy EPL Player Picks Week 37

Neal Thurman — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:28:25 -0000

I have been on the road all week for my day job and the days have been pretty intense - not like the days when I have a chance to watch matches and participate in chats when I'm at home or at the office in Virginia. The pace of work has made it particularly difficult to start internalizing all of the big news that has surfaced and/or happened in the Premier League this week.

In the short term, the 2-2 draw between Spurs and Chelsea yesterday means that the race for 3rd and 4th is still on at the highest and most intense level. Chelsea are clearly in the pole position to secure one of the two spots with Arsenal the favorite to beat out Spurs for the other given the combination of lead in points, easy schedule, and superior goal differential. Still, the outcome of last week's matches means that all three teams will need to keep the pedal down and play their best players through this weekend for sure and likely for next weekend as well. This is important for fantasy managers as it gives them something solid to hold on to.

Toward the bottom of the table, the fact that Wigan are still within shouting distance of Newcastle and Norwich (and all three clubs have similar goal differentials) means that all three will also be sending out their best players this coming weekend for sure and, if Wigan aren't confirmed as relegated after their match with Arsenal, next weekend as well. Sunderland is on the fringe of this conversation as well but between their three point lead and superior goal difference, it would be extremely improbable if they were to really dip into the relegation fray.

As if that weren't enough drama to be floating around in my head with work intensity all around me, Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement. There are a lot of angles that you will read and hear related to this momentous event in the coming days and weeks. There will be football historians who will tell you about his place as one of the giants in the history of the game. There will be tactical experts who will tell you how he innovated with formation and was smart enough to be flexible with same based on the players he had in any given season or match. There will be managers and psychologists who will extol the virtues of his man management and ability to get the best out of his players. Finally, there will be business types who can talk about his success in the transfer window over the years and how he spent big but didn't often miss on a big signing or contributed heavily to the growth of Manchester United as a global brand. These things are all true and praise-worthy.

However, this is a fantasy EPL site and the first thing that comes to mind is the implications for players and teams heading into next season. With David Moyes strongly rumored to be Sir Alex's successor, my first thought is with the potential drop in value of Everton players who have fairly consistently punched above their weight under Moyes' leadership. Will Everton minus Moyes look more like Aston Villa minus Martin O'Neill? Or will they be more like Swansea who seem to keep chugging on with their system regardless of who is managing them and which players leave for more money elsewhere? The next set of implications applies to United's current roster where you have to think a fair number of veterans will be cast off including:

Scholes and Giggs riding off into the sunset with SAF seems fairly likely
Does Patrice Evra make way for either Alex Buttner or (surprised not to have seen this rumor yet) Leighton Baines?
Will Moyes go young at CB with Smalling and Evans taking over for Rio and Vidic as the regular starters?
Will the animosity between Wayne Rooney and David Moyes hasten Roonaldo's exit from Old Trafford and will that mean more time for Javier Hernandez/Danny Welbeck or will it just mean that space is opened up for a CRon return or Lewandowski acquisition?
Will Moyes, whose Everton teams have been strongly midfield-dominated finally spend money in central midfield and also give Shinji Kagawa a consistent run of starts?

Finally, can David Moyes - who has done a great job within his constraints - be the exception to the rule that says that mid-table managers in the Premier League rarely make the successful leap to a "big" club. If you can name one example of such success in the Premier League era, you know the league better than I do. The really successful managers - SAF, Wenger, Mourinho, Rafa, Roberto Mancini, and to a lesser extent Chelsea's others like Big Phil or Carlo Ancelloti - have come from other leagues. The few attempts that have seen mid-to-bottom of the table managers move up in profile and spending power - Mark Hughes at Manchester City, Big Sam at Newcastle, Roy Hodgson at Liverpool, etc. - have been gigantic failures (the jury is still out on Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool). If the transition from SAF to Moyes means that the current roster only functions at 80% of their current level then the implication for their fantasy value (especially compared to high prices held over from their years under SAF) could be bad news for managers wanting to buy United players.

The summer will unfold and many of these questions will be answered more definitively but we can certainly say that things have gotten MUCH more interesting heading into the 2013-14 season.

Oh, here are my player picks headed into Week 37 with a major emphasis on Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Wigan, Newcastle and Norwich with a little bit of Manchester City given their match-up with already relegated Reading and their need to stay a little bit sharp for the FA Cup Final.

Forwards

Lukas Podolski - Don't love his recent form but he appears to be the guy to lead Arsenal's line against Wigan which seems appealing for the price.
Juan Mata - He seems to have woken up from his second half slumber just in time to secure Chelsea's place in the Champions League for next season.
Papiss Cisse - Feels like time for one of those crazy thunderbolt goals of his and the price isn't bad at all given where it has been at times.
Edin Dzeko - He seems likely to get a start as Mancini makes sure his best players get some rest ahead of the FA Cup Final. He's also likely auditioning for a summer transfer so he'll be highly motivated.
Emmanuel Adebayor - That K2 guy woke from the (seeming) dead to power Spurs point at Stamford Bridge yesterday - hard to imagine him not getting another start. Could we have the Kanu 2.0 thing wrong, is he really Mark Viduka 2.0 - showing off his best now that it's time to make money from a summer transfer?
Calum McManaman - The price has gone up but he's a nice, lower-priced alternative that has been producing if you can't afford guys from the list above.

Midfielders

Theo Walcott - He seems to have rediscovered his form and is worth the money.
Oscar - He's hot coming down the stretch which is bumming me out because I was hoping he'd be (relatively) cheap headed into next season.
Gareth Bale - Has he run out of steam or will he find some more magic for the last couple matches and do you have the b@lls to invest the money necessary to find out?
Samir Nasri - He has cooled somewhat but the price is reasonable and there's some reason to believe he'll start which is solid reasoning at this point in the season.
Yohan Cabaye - His price has dropped under 13 on the back of 6 straight weeks producing single digit points - will he rebound here or is he already mentally on the beach? I'm betting on the rebound with relegation a possibility.
James McArthur/James McCarthy - The Wigan fighting Mc's are apparently interested in keeping the Latics up and they have put on a late-season surge that makes both worthy of consideration. I'd throw Roger Espinosa into the mix if I were more confident he'd start.

Defenders

Michael Dawson - It is not my intention to spend a lot of money on defenders down the stretch and Dawson allows me to get in on some potential with Spurs trip to goal-shy Stoke without spending much.
Vincent Kompany - Like Oscar, he's staging a late season rally that will make me unhappy at the start of next season but for now, he's solid value.
NUFC Defenders - The prices of Magpies defenders went up a bit after the nil-nil draw with West Ham last weekend but none of them are terribly expensive either - I'd pick Stephen Taylor of the group - no need to invest more than necessary.
Ryan Bennett - I can't say I feel particularly good about Norwich playing against WBA (whose matches seem to contain goals both ways) but if you're looking for a likely starter on a team with something to play for who doesn't cost much then Bennett is an option. (Could I be any less enthusiastic about this recommendation? I'm not sure I could).
Eric Lichaj - With Matty Lawton a question mark, Lichaj could be a solid enabler if you need someone cheap but this is definitely a case of "check the team news tomorrow" before you make any plans based on it.

Goalkeepers

Robert Elliot - He's cheap and he's playing a QPR team that have quit to the extent that even their own manager is willing to talk about it.
Anders Lindegaard - With 9 starts to his credit and requiring one more to receive a winner's medal, you have to think he'll get the start against Swansea at 3.13 which is a great value.
The rest of the attractive keepers - Cech, Szczesny, and Lloris - are pretty expensive with Lloris being the most reasonable at 9.35 which is that high almost entirely based on this past week.

The FA Cup Final: Manchester City’s Road to Wembley

HeapyLatic — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:04:00 -0000

City have so far only conceded one goal in this year’s competition, that coming in the Semi-final against Chelsea. They have managed to score a few, 15 goals in total they have managed to score with Carlos Tevez scoring five of their goals. So the Argentinian could be the man to watch.

Manchester City 3-0 Watford

Comfortable first round tie for the Premier League champions, as they strolled past a strong Watford team. They rarely got out of third gear and were 2-0 up before half time. By the second half they took their foot of the gas, and managed to get a third in the final minute of the game.

Stoke City 0-1 Manchester City

Premier League opposition followed and a much tougher test away from home for City. They struggled to break down the doors of a very strong Stoke City defence which was stubborn as ever. The Manchester club still was the better side, and in the style of champions they grinded out the win.

It took till the 85th minute with the prospect of a replay looming over the two teams, before Pablo Zabaleta’s fine finish book a place for City in the fifth round.

Manchester City 4-0 Leeds United

Another Championship side and another game at home for City. Again it was rarely a struggle as straight from the off it was one way traffic. Yaya Toure scoring in the sixth minute and they didn’t look back. Another goal was added before half time, with two more coming in the second half.

Manchester City 5-0 Barnsley

The same recipe and the same result, relegation threatened Barnsley were out to cause an upset. It didn’t look likely on paper and all hopes of that were quashed as Carlos Tevez racked up three goals to make him City’s leading FA Cup scorer. No looking back for them and they looked like the team to avoid in the cup this season.

Chelsea 1-2 Manchester City

Chelsea then were the unlucky team to have a semi-final match against City. Yet again in the same fashion as there other FA Cup ties this season, City started quickly and didn’t look back. Right from the word go they were the better side, and considering this was there hardest opposition, they didn’t make it look like they were working very hard.

Samir Nasri eventually managed to get their noses in front, after some solid goal keeping from Petre Cech had kept City at bay. Two minutes into the second half and it was 2-0 with Aquero getting on the score sheet.

There was a fight back from Chelsea and Demba Ba managed to get himself on the score sheet and be the only man so far to score against the Manchester club in this season’s competition.

What do we know?

It’s going to be hard to score, and even hard to stop this train. Manchester City look intent on getting some silverware and so far have brushed every team aside in this season’s competition. Can we stop them? I hope so!

Preview: City vs West Brom

lafaitele — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:52:21 -0000

As bad as the performance was against Swansea City, this match has the potential to be even worse. With the FA Cup Final coming up on Saturday, there is no way that Roberto Mancini is going to play his key players. I think there's going to be some super heavy squad rotation.

Who should be rested? Yaya Toure has been pretty exhausted, and will certainly not be playing. Same most likely goes for players like David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta and maybe even Samir Nasri.

I think that we're likely to see a team with some players returning returning from injry. At RB, we might see either Micah Richards or Maicon, both of whom are back from injury. In midfield, we might see the return of Jack Rodwell, who had a great game with the EDS squad.

I swear, we had better see some youth players today. I really want to see how Denis Suarez and Rony Lopes handle the Premier Leauge, not to mention some of our other talented players, like Abdul Razak, Karim Rekik, and Jose Angel Pozo (who might be down with a leg injury).

Mancini has such a reputation for developing young players, but it's been rare to see any of our highly vaunted young players. Considering that our senior squad players are completely gassed, and don't seem to be giving it their all, why not throw on a team of youngsters and let them run wild? Even if we were to lose heavily, I would still enjoy seeing them get a go.

Projected lineup: Hart, Maicon, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, Garcia, Rodwell, Razak, Suarez, Lopes, and Dzeko.

Yes I realize that lineup isn't what will happen, but if it were up to me, I would play all three of those young guys up front. Oh well. Here's to another (likely) uninspiring fixture.

Preview: Manchester City v Swansea City

lafaitele — Sat, 04 May 2013 10:00:06 -0000

I gotta be honest, this is going to be tough match for me. Ever since I took Swansea to win the Champion's League in the year 2018, I've had a real soft spot for them. They even named the new stadium after me. It was beautiful.

Ok, so maybe that happened in Football Manager. Even, so, I do enjoy watching them play. It's been tough to watch them lately, since they have only won one of their last 7 matches. Along the way they've been beaten by Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, and West Brom, while managing to draw against Southampton and Norwich.

The Swansea squad is looking a little gassed right now. They got off to such a great start to the season, and even though they're in 9th place, they are only 5 points away from the relegation zone (albeit with a game in hand). Considering that every place higher they finish is another 500k pounds, it would be worth their while to hold onto that extra few million.

Unfortunately, they're going up against a Manchester City side with the right attitude. Even with the terrible loss to Tottenham, we've still won 5 out of the last 6 matches. We've got very winnable games left, and I expect to see players going all out to prove that they belong at the club.

In addition to the players looking to keep their first team squad status, I think that we might get a chance to see a few of the younger players over the next few matches.

Important point to keep in mind - we only beat Swansea 1-0 at home this season, with Carlos Tevez providing a moment of brilliance to get all the points. Last season we whomped Swansea 4-0, before losing a key late season match 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea have played pretty average at home this season, winning 6, drawing 7, and losing 4. They've dropped a lot of big points at home.

Stars against West Ham

Samir Nasri - played a great game last time, showing how dominant of a playmaker he can be. He even put a good effort in on defense, which was surprising. Even though he missed a point blank chance, he still looked solid. I think that at this point if Mancini stays, he goes; there could be a scenario where the opposite happens.

Yaya Toure - combined well with the little people up front, and had a beautiful shot that sealed the match against West Ham. If we can get another world class player to play next to him, our central midfield will be dominant for years to come.

Stars against Swansea?

I think that this is the type of match that Tevez and Sergio Aguero can dominate. With an injury looking likely to keep Chico Flores out, we might have a great chance to run the defense ragged.

David Silva - No one is looking forward to the summer more than David Silva. He has looked absolutely exhausted at points through the season. He has played so many matches for team and country, without a real break since the summer 2011 (when he came out of the gate on fire). I think that his pride will make him want to finish strong.

All in all, I expect the City run to continue, with a solid performance away to Swansea. 3-1 for City.