Micah's international future under Capello

The announcement of the England squad last night would have made uncomfortable reading for Micah Richards. Although Capello has made it clear he has doubts over Micah's positional play, the sheer lack of options and competition for the right-back slot must have left Micah with a chance of selection.

It is well known that Micah has struggled to deal with the hype since his early burst onto the international scene. He went from being touted as a future England captain to losing all his confidence under Hughes, but after a resurgence of form under Mancini it is perhaps not inconceivable for Micah to have ambitions for a spot on the plane to South Africa.

Granted, he is not the finished article yet and undoubtedly he has a future with the national side once the mental attributes of his game catch up with his raw physical ability, but looking at the squad Capello has picked for the Egypt friendly, should Micah be aggrieved at being overlooked again?

With all the focus on the "troubled leftback spot", there have been few complaints that Wes Brown is the only player capable of filling the right-back position in the squad. Admittedly, James Milner has been used there, but you would hope that is not the reason he is in the squad on recent performances. Wes Brown then.

One of Capello's constant mantras is that he will only pick a player who is playing for his club side - usually rolled out against Michael Owen and also used against Joe Cole, to some extent, this time round. Wes Brown is probably third choice United right-back at the moment. The baby-faced Rafael and the aged Neville getting the nod ahead of him. If this is endorsement enough to be considered the nation's second best right-back behind Glen Johnson, then perhaps we aren't as nailed on for as good a World Cup as a lot of people think. Whether he is good enough or not, without playing he looks miles off the pace when thrown in on the national scene. In the friendly game against Brazil he was an embarrassment.

Now this isn't meant solely as an attack on Wes Brown, but Micah must surely be looking at England's options for right-back and be thinking - "why not me?" Regardless of whether he is international quality or not, he may just be the best option England have.

Bellamy's handshake

Bellamy did his bit in the mental battle against John Terry today. Choosing a different tactic to Bridge, Bellamy can be seen saying a simple "wanker" to Terry as he takes his hand. It is perhaps the only just thing about the whole affair that the only person it seems to have affected on the pitch is Terry. Three shaky high-profile games since the news - Everton, Inter and City today - have left some people wishing he had been dropped from the England squad altogether, leaving good competition for a spare England centre-back slot, rather than Bridge leaving a position where there is little cover.

So much of Terry's mystique is in his supposed leadership qualities, and with these being questioned and beginning to fall apart around him, maybe he will pay for his misdemeanours after all.

Just to polish it off, Bellamy's post-match comments certainly deserve a re-print: "You guys make a lot more of it. I know what JT is like and nothing surprises me about him. Everyone knows what he's like. But that's off the pitch. On it he's an outstanding player and a great captain."

I think it pleased everyone to see Terry having such an uncomfortable afternoon.

Chelsea player ratings

Given 7.
Faultless for both goals. Made a couple of good saves, including at the feet of Anelka. And looked commanding as captain.

Richards 6.
Looked uncomfortable with Drogba and Anelka - sometimes guilty of showing them a little too much respect. Although grew into the game a bit more in the second half.

Kompany 7.
Lost Lampard for the goal, but otherwise a very solid defensive display again.

Lescott 9.
His best showing for City. Looks so much more assured under Mancini and dominated the battle with Drogba.

Bridge 8.
Considering the furore surrounding this game, showed immense mental strength and concentration to put in an unruffled performance.

Zabaleta 8.
Everything you would expect from him. Appeared to be everywhere and was at the heart of most of the good defensive work in the first half. Perhaps more at home in the midfield position.

De Jong 7.
Another good performance snapping up the Chelsea midfield and again making a lot of big names ineffectual.

Barry 8.
One of his best performances since things started going down hill after the start of the season. Charged with being the most creative of a midfield three and fulfilled it with parts in two goals, as well as covering a lot of ground defensively.

Johnson 7.
There to run at Malouda and most of City's attacks in the first half came courtesy of his pressing. Some nice runs early in the second half too, but perhaps not quite up to 90mins in the premier league yet after his move from the championship.

Bellamy 8.
Quiet in the first half, but ran riot in the second as his pace caused the lethargic Chelsea back four lots of problems. A very well taken first for him.

Tevez 9.
Does so much for the team and can seemingly do it all on his own if he has to. The fact he hadn't even seen his teammates again until this morning is astounding.

Substitutes:

Wright-Phillips 7.
A good choice for his runs against makeshift left-back Malouda. Set up a goal and made some dangerous runs in his time on.

Santa Cruz.
Another cameo towards fitness with a bit of luck.

Sylvinho.
Looked very assured on the ball in midfield when he came on. Should be used there rather than at leftback where his legs fail him a little.

Chelsea 2 - 4 City

Unbelievable. When I said to a Blackburn supporting friend of mine that I never held out much hope for trips to Stamford Bridge, citing their impeccable home record and City's woes there as evidence, he said "well, do you think they will ever lose at home again? then why not today!". Why not today. Football never ceases to amaze. An excellent performance - both defensively and with the quality to cause Chelsea problems on the break. All the moaners should hopefully drop their assaults now. Mancini, like against Liverpool, got it spot on. And, as he said, Tevez was what we were lacking last week. After some 14 days away from the team, Tevez still looked like he could produce something from nothing today. We do seem to rely on him, but he wasn't the only top performer today.

The first half was all about containment and there was perhaps too greater distance between the midfield and Tevez, making the counter-attacking tactic difficult to implement. However, after the break, buoyed by Tevez breaking the Stamford Bridge-goal drought hoodoo, City grew in confidence and thoroughly deserved the win, that was already well in motion before either sending off. City were three-one up before Chelsea faced us with a numbers deficit.

With Hughes in the studio for SkySports, he would have wished for a display of such defensive togetherness under his own management, and Lescott perhaps played his best game for the club - displaying non of the jitters that typified his performances under Hughes. You do have to feel sorry for Hughes though, and he probably wasn't expecting to watch an improved City on his return to the public spotlight. Lescott and Kompany must now be considered the club's first choice centre-back pairing. Like Lucio and Samuel in the week, they reduced one of the world's best strikers to long range efforts and free-kicks.

With all the focus on Bridge, he kept his head remarkably well and produced the kind of performance to do all the talking. Mancini was sensible to withdraw him as it will be the performance now, rather than any post-match shenanigans, that will be remembered. Bridge looked delighted as the goals kept rolling in and this will be an important victory for him. Ironically, the whole affair seemed to bring City together as a unit and the spirit that is sometimes lacking from our away displays was vitally important today. An all action midfield display and Tevez pointing to Bridge's shirt after the third are only two examples of this.

It will be important for City to keep the momentum from this game - the first double over Chelsea since the 50s - and the belief this could give the side should help the push for this fourth spot.

Chelsea preview.

With only the league to concentrate on, this is not the ideal place to start our drive for fourth place. There is no doubt no harder place to visit in the league and this must be every team's hardest fixture. A cursory glance through the online football database website, soccerbase.com, shows that City's last win at Stamford Bridge came in the old second division during the 88/89 campaign and if you want to go back even further to find when City last did the league double over Chelsea, a scenario on the cards this time, then you will have to go back to the 51/52 season. So what realistically would be a success from tomorrow's game? I think everyone would be happy with a point, but a good performance that shows we can compete with the country's best team could be enough to instil confidence in the team and galvanise them for the final months.

The central media story for the weekend will inevitably be the Bridge/Terry reunion. The story on the front of the sports pages of the Guardian on the day the Bridge story broke (yesterday's paper) describes Bridge as "devastated" and "in bits" according to a 'source close to the player,' and it says he is considering snubbing a handshake with the Chelsea captain. I think it would be important for Bridge to confront this game, as it may help him overcome some of his personal problems, but for City's sake, he needs to have his mind in the right place. I am sure he will determined to do well tomorrow, but it is just a question of how he deals with that. This game and the England game with Egypt have probably come too early for him, but if, as Given and Mancini assert, he is ready then he will be important tomorrow for footballing reasons. Terry's apparent remorselessness have not helped matters.

The other big news of today is Adebayor's four match ban. At the beginning of the season one of the main intrigues was how Hughes was going to cope with the mass of strikers on the books and how he would keep them all happy. There was Adebayor, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Robinho, Bellamy, Benjani, and even Caicedo, Bojinov and Jo pre-loans. So it is perhaps a bit of a farce that Mancini is now looking at selection options of Tevez (fitness unknown), Santa Cruz (never fully fit) and Bellamy (who, by his own admission, shouldn't play twice a week and already has 120 minutes under his belt). It is now time for Santa Cruz to step up. Arguably, he was bought as cover for Adebayor for when he was at the African Cup of Nations, but to pay 18 million for a player who is unable to fulfil even these obligations is a bit of a concern. Fully fit, there is no doubting his ability (we've perhaps seen it once, or almost, against Sunderland in Hughes's last game) but we need to see it more often. He is Adebayor's natural replacement and is probably stronger as a targetman, so City could really do with him in the next four games, at least. I would like him to succeed and this is his big chance.

It will be interesting to see what kind of defence Mancini picks for this game. If Toure is fit again, will he be used for his knowledge of compatriot Didier Drogba? For all the criticism he gets, Toure performed very well against Drogba in the home game and he is undoubtedly the most dangerous of many threats to City. If City can defend like they did against Liverpool, we have a chance. Both teams could suffer from the midweek fixtures and Cech's absense is a plus for City. All in all, it is hard to expect too much from this fixture and a draw would be a great result to set up the push for fourth.

"Time to concentrate on the league."

As with all cup exits it is time to trot out the old maxim that "it is time to concentrate on the league". Any team can use it. Usually the ones with a relegation fight on their hands, but title-contenders also benefit from fewer extra-curricular activities. Only perhaps the very mid-table teams are left wanting some more, unless they have the problem of "too many games". Yet City, with so much riding on champions league qualification really could do without a quarter-final trip to Chelsea. Yes, the wait for silverware continues, but City could really do without the ultra-busy schedule that they have gone through in the past few weeks.

Champions League qualification is the last obstacle in the way of attracting the calibre of players that match the ambitions of the owners and Mancini. Mancini said when he arrived that the goal, arranged with the owners, was to finish fourth this season and to challenge for the title next season. Realistically, City are probably only one player in defence, midfield and attack away from being capable of challenging at the top, but players like Chiellini, Luis Fabiano, Gerrard, Balotelli, et al, won't be interested in summer moves if it means missing out on playing on the top of the world stage.

It wouldn't be the end of the world to have a consolidating season playing in the Europa League and making the top-four our own, but I fear it wouldn't fit in with the owner's ambitions for the club. The top four is very much within City's grasp at the moment and hopefully, after the Chelsea game perhaps, we can start to make a real push to hold on to it.

Has Bridge ruled himself out of Chelsea game?

Today, Bridge has withdrawn himself from the England set-up due to the Terry allegations - a shame considering he is not the wrong-doer here, but it is not for us to judge whether the decision is right or wrong, as it is a personal thing. With the game at Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime, will Wayne have similar feelings about shaking Terry's hand at the beginning of the game or the barracking he is likely to receive from the Chelsea fans.

If he is mixed up enough to refuse the chance of a potentially successful world cup campaign at arguably his final opportunity, then maybe Mancini will have to take a view on his mindset before Saturday. I'd like to think, for his and City's sake, that he will be able to make it through the Chelsea game, but if not Garrido will have to face-up to the ground where he had such a nightmare under Sven's management in the six-nil. However, this is an entirely different proposition with Mancini's superior organisational skills.

Whatever happens at the weekend, I think the City fans could make life easier for Bridge with a bit of support.

Stoke preview

Unduly, Mancini has found the pressure building on him of late and probably the last two fixtures he would want to face this week would be away trips to Stoke and Chelsea. After tonight, four of Mancini's fifteen games will have been against Stoke and it is a relationship that is souring rather than improving. The type of football at the Brittania, for better or worse, is not something Mancini will have come across in Italy and his patient style of football is not best suited to the pressing and aggression of Stoke.

Speaking after the Liverpool game Mancini said: "We must work on the high ball, on corners and free kicks, long balls and long passes. If we want to win this game, we must play like them." In the opening games at City Mancini proved he is willing to change the system regularly during games to counter the styles of the opposition, but it will be interesting to see if he can adapt to this style, so far removed from the Italian game.

It could be seen as an early test on Mancini's continuing education as a Premier League manager. Many teams in the league without the financial clout of City have to rely on the brand of football Stoke present and Mourinho's comment that Mancini, though an excellent manager, will have to adapt quickly to the English game are likely to have been referring to this type of football.

I imagine the team he selects will reflect his worry about the physicality of Stoke and therefore I think Richards, who was excellent in the air against Stoke last week, will return at right back and I also think that Santa Cruz will be preferred to Bellamy if he passes a late fitness test. With Johnson cup-tied, I think Zabaleta will move into midfield to offer some more bite, with SWP rather than Ireland dropping to the bench.

Possible team (4-3-1-2):

Given

Ricards Kompany Lescott Bridge

Zabaleta De Jong Barry

Ireland

Santa Cruz Adebayor

Or (4-3-3):

Given

Richards Kompany Lescott Bridge

Zabaleta De Jong Barry

Wright-Phillips Bellamy

Adebayor


Given will be key to our success in this game as he will need to remain strong on crosses/throws/long balls (his weak points and Stoke's strong points) - if he can command his box, City have a chance of making the next round.

Liverpool player ratings

Given 6.
Little to do really. A couple of shows of petulance when corners were wrongly awarded revealed his own lack of confidence when it comes to dealing with set plays and balls in the air at the moment. Not my choice for stand in captain.

Zabaleta 8.
Commitment personified as ever. Always the slight worry he will produce the odd rash moment in a game, but didn't put a foot wrong here.

Kompany 7.
Continues to stake his place as the club's best defender. Although a little lucky with a challenge on Benayoun in the dieing minutes.

Lescott 8.
Another defender looking like a different player under Mancini. An assured performance and even looks to marshall the defence to good effect.

Bridge 6.
Maxi Rodriguez posed little threat to him and was rarely troubled.

Barry 7.
Not bossing the midfield like at the beginning of the season but this performance showed another improvement on recent weeks. Combined with De Jong to keep best-mate Gerrard very quiet.

De Jong 8.
Vital in the battle in midfield. Some outstanding tackles and would have him over Mascherano everyday.

Wright-Phillips 5.
Shaun is a confidence player and he looks short on it at the moment. However, it isn't helping him at all playing on the left where he has little to offer.

Johnson 7.
Am excited about Johnson and for about an hour he looked a threat. Things didn't always work for him in the second half, but the fact that Benitez often threw two men on him is tribute to the talent this lad has. Would also benefit from staying on the left.

Ireland 5.
It is not happening for him at the moment. Restored to his favourite position and where he was previously so effective, he did nothing to suggest he should keep his spot there. Perhaps his own overtraining regimes have sapped him of last season's energy but he is playing like the Ireland of before at the moment - extremely talented but off the pace. Never tries the simple ball.

Adebayor 8.
Did everything he could do with very little help. Was refreshing to see him working hard, holding the ball up, challenging in the air, staying in central positions - all the things that have been missing from his performances at times. Am a big fan of him when he is in this type of form, if only he had Tevez to profit from his hold-up play.


Substitutes:

Bellamy 6.
Looked a threat in the time he had on, will be important in the coming week.

Ibrahim.
Liked the look of him against Scunthorpe, but perhaps not the right option at that time of the game.

Liverpool verdict

Despite the press campaign to label this the most boring game of recent times, I thought, for a game with no shots, this was a surprisingly interesting battle. I think it is fair to say that this was two teams afraid to lose, but Mancini definitely set up the team to win. On paper, SWP, Ireland and Johnson were all set up to support Ade up front and four attack minded players is certainly more positive than the base of three defensive midfielders used in recent games. The trouble being that Liverpool are an exceptionally organised team under Benitez and if they want to stifle an opposition there are few sides in the premier league better at doing so.

Considering City's last win against Liverpool came courtesy of a flying volley from the world's slowest winger, Kiki Musampa, back in 2005, it shows how far City have come that the team who finished second in the premier league last season should adopt such conservative tactics.

It should also be refreshing that City can produce such a strong defensive display against a strong side like Liverpool. Kompany and Lescott have to be the first choice partnership for the rest of the season, with Kompany being perhaps the standout player of Mancini's reign. Mancini is always very diplomatic in the post-match interviews, but he cannot really be considering the immediate return of his club captain after that display.

There should also perhaps be special mention for Yossi Benayoun who, if some of his teammates had been in his position, could easily have gone down for a penalty in the closing minutes.

The only concern is the switching of wingers which pretty much negated the possible threat of SWP, which, with Ireland underperforming, left the excellent Adebayor too much of a job to do on his own. I hazard to say a Tevez could have been the difference between one and three points.

Finally, I think City can get used to unfair treatment from the media but the number of newspapers who reported Bellamy's appearance on the bench as the result of his spat with Mancini rather than the fact he has hardly trained after a knee injury was disappointing. It seems a lot of people would like to see us fail.

Mancini deserves full support of fans.

I don't want to start this blog by setting myself against the increasing minority of City fans to whom this is directed, but I am very disappointed by the number of blues who have been backing a campaign against Mancini in these early days as City manager.

Throughout my lifetime City have become a joke across the game for the constant merry-go-round of managers and nearly all City fans would agree that to achieve success we need a solid period of stability. A period in which a manager can work for a number of years building a team based on the players he wants, the mentality he wants and the style he prefers. It is needless to point out the success stories at football clubs who have benefited from a period of stability or those like Newcastle who have been affected by the opposite. Yet, the same fans who were complaining about this in December are calling for another managerial overhaul. Whether it was right or wrong for Hughes to go, whoever the replacement manager was to be needed to be given three or four years to fully establish the club.

There is no doubt Mancini needs time to bed himself into the English game, yet results-wise he has been a success. Despite the league positions of the teams he has faced, arugably they are the most polarised from the style he has known in Italy. There are no teams like Hull, Bolton, Stoke or even Everton in Serie A. There are games with biting tackles and aggression, but the tempo is a long way short, and to deal with this change of style is something Mancini must do. When Macini joined City, Mourinho sent his blessings - praising Mancini's qualities yet warning him he would need to adapt quickly to the style of the game. I think this has proved true. Mancini is perhaps still uncomfortable with the style Stoke may bring to the park - as evidenced by his show of anger to Alan Wiley at half-time in the week - but this is not to say he won't be learning from it. Seven weeks in charge certainly isn't the time to be calling for Mourinho or Hiddink.

Mancini is also only getting to know his squad and what they are capable of. There are some players at the club who have hardly trained under Mancini yet and evidently, despite having a transfer window to strengthen, he has the confidence (minus a Gago/Mariga/Flamini) that the players at his disposal are good enough for the task.

One of the most worrying things about Hughes's final weeks in charge was his vow to throw some more money at the defence. I believe the squad IS good enough to challenge the top four, and that can be our only goal this season, whilst with a small number of additions in the summer we should be in a position to advance from there. Mancini has made the most of what he has got and has restored the belief to players such as Micah Richards, who can be an invaluable part of the first team at full throttle. People still moan about the defence but Mancini's record is far superior to Hughes's - only six conceded in his eight games, compared to twenty seven in seventeen under Hughes.

In fourth with a game in hand, and a good opportunity to further that tomorrow, City are in the best position they have been in my entire lifetime. We have reached a semi-final for the first time in my lifetime and are still in the FA Cup. Despite intial calls that it would all "take time", the moaners seem to be the first casuality of the riches put into the club as their bloated expectations outmatch their memory.

Another City Blog

As a lifelong City fan, I have started this blog at a time when I think the furore surrounding our team is at its most bizarre. So, as much for my therapy as for reporting City news and hearing your opinions, I will be looking to update this blog regularly on all things Manchester City, whether it be day-to-day events at City or other points of interest.

I have named the blog The Theatre of Base Comedy after Stuart Hall's name for Maine Road, in which he lauded the City fan's sense of humour and how he thought it essential for surviving life following City. I think now, as much as ever, it is important for a large number of fans to remember this and how far the club has come in such a short period of time. There are a lot of reasonable voices on the City blogs and I hope I can add to them and help counter the tide of increasingly hysterical opinions that can be spotted on various forums across the web.

Here's to the bright and positive future of the blues!