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Nigel de Jong starts on the bench as City have gone with Yaya Toure, Gareth Barry and the in-form James Milner in the middle. It's a gutsy move by Mancini as the control of the midfield has always been the key to the Manchester derby the past few years.
As expected Gael Clichy gets the nod at left back in the preferred City defensive line and Aguero and Balotelli will start up front. Sir Alex Ferguson has also pulled a couple of surprises. Jonny Evans in for Nemanja Vidic is potentially huge because while Evans has good recovery instincts he can be turned fairly easily. Phil Jones also does not start with Chris Smalling taking his place.
The biggest concern for City is if Rooney drifts back to make it a five man midfield before then working with Wellbeck up front.
Some fascinating player choices for both sides. I think I would have taken Dzeko over Balotelli in such a formation. I'll be curious to see if City are playing a diamond or have Balotelli and Silva out on the wings to help with Nani and Young.
City: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Toure, Barry, Milner, Silva, Balotelli, Aguero. Subs: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Nasri, Toure, De Jong, Kolarov, Dzeko.
United: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Nani, Fletcher, Anderson, Young, Rooney, Welbeck. Subs: Lindegaard, Hernandez, Da Silva, Valencia, Jones, Berbatov, Park.
Comments
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Posted by Alex on 10/23/2011
When will Ferguson stop messing with the lineup? A crap lineup at Liverpool last week today no Vidic. Why?
Wallace Reply I heard Vidic was injured...
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Posted by johnny on 10/23/2011
I think mancini picked quite well. Balotelli and milner continue their fine form and silva is amazing as usual. The defense was a little shaky but held up well enough.
Wallace Reply Milner was immense. Seems petty to talk about the defense after a result like that, but you saw with the Fletcher goal what happens when teams play passes in front of the City back four without de Jong. But still 6-1 is unbelievable.
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Posted by Matt From Melbourne on 10/23/2011
Never been more proud or more impressed as a City fan. Normally I would be analyzing a game right now, tonight that's simply not needed. CTID!
Wallace Reply A crazy result. Never in my wildest dreams, admittedly those include Rachel Weisz, but never in my wildest dreams would I have seen 6-1.
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Posted by Hari on 10/23/2011
Wallace,
my,my-simply speechless!!!
1-6
will go down in history..
mancini got his tactits right too...playing balotelli behind aguero meant that aguero got hustled by the defense while balo was left a little free,dont you think???
Wallace Reply I think equally as important was Milner and Silva helping out down the wings. Was really a very interesting tactical choice by Mancini. If Scholes is still in the United team, I think the result would have been vastly different, but he wasn't and it wasn't.
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Posted by Small berries on 10/23/2011
Massive result. I felt queasy for the first 15 minutes or so watching Man U have all the possession. Credit to Balotelli and Milner for sublime games, loved Silva's touch of class at the end to set up the 6th. While I don't think this was a representative Man U performance, I think we can safely claim the pole position for the title race. Do you think this is a turning point performance for Balotelli? Most important game of the season and he delivered massively - it won't be so easy to leave him off the starting eleven.
Wallace Reply Balotelli proved in the FA Cup semi final that he can play in these kinds of games.
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Posted by Adam on 10/23/2011
How many city players make the all-manchester team again? Are we still going with United 3 defenders? Time to re-evaluate
Wallace Reply I'd still take Vidic and Jones, but Evra was very poor today. Clichy wasn't spectacular but quietly competent which was what was required.
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Posted by Laseno Thomas on 10/23/2011
Silva, Balotelli, Sergio, milner and not to mention the defence, this city side was built with balance and purpose, the end result was not in question but the scoreline was still surprising to say the leas. City all thye way BLUE MOON RISING,
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Posted by Roberto Carlos on 10/23/2011
I am still amazed at the scoreline. Fantastic game for city, United underestimated their opponents and overestimated their home advantage. David Silva is the heart and lungs of these city team, hopefully they keep on their top form so far this season and don't disappoint me in the second half of the season like they usually do...
Wallace Reply Silva is the best player in the Premier League. I said this at the end of last season and I have no reason to change that evaluation.
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Posted by ludd on 10/23/2011
always spot on keep the good work man
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Posted by Tawin on 10/23/2011
I thought at half-time both teams were pretty even and we had a better finishing with the first goal from Balotelli. Johnny Evans' red card changed the whole game for me though.
Wallace Reply I wasn't actually comfortable until the fourth goal went in.
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Posted by James on 10/23/2011
I guess we can have our cake, and eat it too! What a tremendous day; we can only hope Mancini keeps the squad grounded. Do you think Mancini's faith in Balotelli is primarily that Mario can be a difference-maker with limited touches ... the ability to conjure a goal out of seemingly nothing? If so, I can see why Mancini prefers him in some big EPL matches.
Wallace Reply That Balotelli can get better is frightening. I loved his little flick in the set up to Aguero's goal.
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Posted by Ryan on 10/23/2011
What a win! 6-1 at Old Trafford...that's just unreal.
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Posted by Aashu on 10/23/2011
What a result! United were torn apart in the final minutes.
Fergie picked the wrong team. It was surprising to see Welback & Johny Evans being picked ahead of Hernandez & Jones.
I was surprised by Mancinis team too. Balotelli & Milner both proved to be inspired selections. Dejong being left out was a bold decision considering that the City defence does look shaky in his absence.
In all an amazing win for City.
Wallace Reply I was terrified that de Jong wasn't in the starting lineup. Ferguson paid the price in some way for his off season moves. For the first time he offloaded the seasoned veterans that he could have called on in this kind of situation.
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Posted by samson on 10/23/2011
though i did'nt watch d match but i think something went wrong.dont u think so?
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Posted by Don-X on 10/23/2011
Hey Wallace ...
This one will go in the history books !
today, I was particularly impressed with Milner !
He has been consistent even if I do not consider him a technically gifted player like Nasri for example, but he has shown consistency during the last few games !
I think if Dejong was playing instead of Barry, we would of come out this game with a clean sheet !
Now let's go on and see how the rest of the season will unfold ! ... I will stay optimistic for City in the Champions League ... their toughest test will come in the shape of Bayern in the CL .. and Liverpool in the EPL before the end of the year !
Wallace Reply yes and no. Barry and Toure played as the two in the middle. de Jong doesn't play well that way, but rather as the single DMC right in front of the back four. So Mancini may well have got that right.
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Posted by Drew on 10/23/2011
The Form City is in is just astounding. City are looking less and less likely to try and purchase Robin Van Persie this january the way all 3 strikers are performing.
Wallace Reply City don't need more great players. They need squad players that can fill in when someone gets injured.
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Posted by jalepeno11 on 10/23/2011
I guess the reason Balotelli started today is Mancini knew that the game will be very tight and chances to score will be very few. So he wanted a striker who needs two or three attempts to get a goal and open up the game. Balotelli is the player who could do just that. Edin Dzeko is a good striker too, but sometimes he misses clear chances.
Wallace Reply Dzeko and Balotelli against Evans and Duran Duran's inspiration would have been interesting today.
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Posted by Jerry on 10/23/2011
I admit that many know more than I do when it comes to evaluating. I really thought that Clichy in the first half was the key player for City. He was under fire from Nani and Smalling (Milner, who is no slouch on defense, helped out). It seem to me that Clichy made the right decision in each opportunity.
My case in point was a brief period before Balotelli's first goal where Clichy had Nani and Smalling with Milner behind the play. Nani had the ball at his feet and Clichy rushed up and forced Nani to pass the ball to Smalling before Smalling could make a wide run into space. I said to myself "I rather have Smalling have the ball at this moment than Nani." That was enough to foil United's momentum at that moment. Just the little things like that that helped City absorb the early United possession domination and eventually helped turn the tide in the match.
Wallace Reply I thought Milner and Silva combined with Richards and Clichy incredibly well today.
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Posted by davidif on 10/24/2011
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Posted by James W. on 10/24/2011
Hey Wallace, what's going on with Nasri? Out of favor with Mancini?
Wallace Reply Before City signed him I said I didn't think he made a "normal" starting 11 so not surprised to see him on the bench. But the club will need Nasri before the season is over.
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Posted by Sean on 10/24/2011
New Zealand win the rugby world cup and my man city thrash united..best sporting day of my life ? You bet it was
Wallace Reply There are some ancient New Zealand roots in my family so I'm with you on that one.
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Posted by Hari on 10/24/2011
Wallace,
ultimately what you have been saying would happen to city if they played a straight back four without protection happened to united-they played a 4 man midfield which got bossed by city's at time 5 man midfield...further the full backs regularly added to the attack and crowded the midfield,dominating united....yes scholes would definitely have made a difference....what do you think???
Wallace Reply I expected United to play five in the middle and was surprised they didn't. Anderson was poor and Fletcher is not a creator so Mancini's tactics of doubling Young and Nani worked like a charm. If Welbeck had not played and Scholes was still available, just that one change, I think it would have been a very different story.
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Posted by alfredb on 10/24/2011
Sir Alex killed United by leaving veterans out of his team in his obsession with the youngsters and trying to prove a point. Park, Valencia, Vidic, Giggs, Chicharito, Berbatov...! What was Welbeck doing there as one-dimensional as he is? SAF to face the board and owes fans explanations.
Wallace Reply yeah I think he got his team selection wrong, but it would be a mistake to write-off United. Ultimately the youngsters are going to be very good for them.
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Posted by Ashif on 10/24/2011
Though I'm a Chelsea fan, still I enjoyed the city success ie Utd battering. Don't you think the odd goals City are conceding may cost dearly in a bad-football day, like Chelsea yesterday? I got packed with my fantasy teams with city defenders and got bashed each weekend :(
I agree with you about Silva. David Silva is the best thing after Christiano Ronaldo in EPL (Mata is closing though)......
Wallace Reply That was gamble Mancini took. In leaving de Jong out, I wouldn't have expected a clean sheet in a million years. Barry and Toure were very good, but there's still a gap in front of Kompany and Lescott when you play that way.
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Posted by micky-2-times on 10/24/2011
Come on CITEH!! What a result, superb performance. I was a little afraid without DeJong in the starting lineup. If he was how would that have changed the team. Barry was ok, nothing special. Millner was great.
Furguson made another mistake in selection? Jones should have started. We completely bossed the midfield and deserved the win.
Finally Mancini has let the dogs off the leash, Who let the dogs out!!!!!
Wallace Reply It wasn't that City bossed the midfield, although the team did, but rather all attacking focus was on the wings and City had that covered tactically. Mancini did his homework.
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Posted by vc on 10/24/2011
Man o man, what a night it was. Just watching the highlights over and over.
Was very worried when we conceded the fletcher goal, given the community shield history this year. But its good to see that we have learned from our mistakes.
Silva was pivotal. The way he is heading, gonna be the best player ever played for city. What do you think?
I think MILNER is more consistent than NASRI lately and his inclusion was a positive message to the bench warmers. What do u make of ADAM JOHNSON, frankly i like the guy. But I am afraid we are gonna lose him in the next transfer window.
Wallace Reply Johnson is an interesting case. He plays well when given the opportunity but doesn't track back as well as Milner or Silva. That was crucial in this game, yet there are games, such as Wolves, where I could see him being the difference maker.
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Posted by Md Mazharul Islam on 10/24/2011
I hope this year man city can win premier league trophy if they continue their recent form in their next game up to end.
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About
Wallace Poulter is an award winning video game producer, designer, industry consultant and writer. He has been a football fanatic since the day he moved in next door to Brian Clough. "Cloughie" being the acknowledged genius that he was promptly moved out and went to manage Derby. A serviceable senior school left-back in his youth, Poulter played one season of Sunday league football as a striker proving conclusively that he was a serviceable senior school left-back! Today Poulter remains involved with football as a licensed referee and most recently as a consultant on a Football MMO.
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