The Poznan Panic! Lech Poznan match report

An unpopular suggestion: I didn't think City played too badly last night.  Pre-match, I thought that this would be a difficult game.  The Poznan cauldron of noise, as previewed in Manchester, coupled with other intangible factors like the new-manager-syndrome and an under-performing team, were always going to make for a contest - no matter how 'much more our squad cost' etc. etc.  Despite all the post-match frothing, a contest it was.

City looked at ease in the first twenty minutes and should have made the pressure pay when Boyata made a hash of a header from six yards out.  Poznan then settled and played some nice football but only really threatened Given from long-range- which turned out to be enough of a threat.  With the addition of Silva, City were on top for large periods of the second half, before Poznan found quick routes through the centre of our midfield.  With the match poised, and Silva just missing a presentable chance, the ball ricocheted off the back of their central defender's head for the lead.  To seal Clive Tyldesley's joy, a Poznan wondergoal put a nice gloss on the scoreline.  Not ideal, but hardly awful, sack-the-lot-of-them territory. 

A team on the top of their form would have finished the game when they were on top and City should have capitalised on early dominance.  Some players, lacking in match fitness and confidence, were fairly woeful - Wright-Phillips and Bridge were the main offenders.  In areas we were a bit soft in the tackle.  Yes, City are not the finished article yet, but I don't think there is any reason to panic.

If you didn't travel to Poland for the game, then you were stuck with ITV.  This can go one of two ways.  Both ways involve anger!  Either you listen to what the commentators say and think "yeah. City aren't good enough! This is a disgrace!" or, like me, you have a built-in distrust of commentators and you stubbornly dig-in - "they've got an agenda! They're misinformed! They hate City!"  Either way is pretty unhealthy.  

Then there is the build-up where presenter Matt Smith seems unable to complete a sentence without mentioning 'bust-up', 'disharmony', or 'rift'.  'We'll see you after the break, RIFT?'...

The point is, the general hysteria surrounding City - which is as much a welcome to the big-time as genuine distaste for what we are doing - is fairly new to us City fans.  When all you're used to hearing in the past are whimsical tales of comedy and mishaps from Maine Road - 'City lost at home to Bury today' - and all we could do was shake our heads and agree, this current focus is hard to escape too.

Two weeks ago, second in the Premier League and top of our Europa League group, the media were trumpeting out their belief that we would be genuine title contenders.  Today, we are fourth in the league and joint top of our Europa League group, and it is a crisis.  Yes, there is the considerable matter that three games have been lost in a row but, in my opinion, only one of those has been a disaster - and even teams on their way to Champions League qualification will lose games.

We are, as ever, a work in progress.  Whilst everyone is very happy to point out that the money spent should equal instant success, football has never been as simple as that.  If we roll back the clock ten years, City have come a long way in a very short amount of time, and whilst some may have grown weary of the steady progression - City are getting stronger.  Let's not make a crisis out of a blip!

As Milner said in the preview, as everyone outside the club revels in speculation about the demise of City, it is all the more important for City to stick together and that goes for the supporters too.

Let's take that mentality into the game at West Brom on Sunday.  A tough game at a place we always do badly - the ideal place for City to show the togetherness that is allegedly missing.