Have we just witnessed a turning point?
Treble Resolves all round! Manchester City’s New Year’s Eve no show at Liverpool has been followed up inside 48 hours by an absolute headache of a football match against Burnley. It was a no holds barred scrap in which City ultimately prevailed over a dogged Sean Dyche side and another outstandingly awful English refereeing performance, this time from Lee Mason.
Mason’s scattergun approach typifies the inconsistency of officiating across the Premier League. His decision to send off City captain Fernandinho on 32 minutes for a rash challenge was in my opinion correct, however it was a sending off completely at odds with what has been allowed to go before in this campaign and nowhere near as bad an offence as some of the high profile let offs we have seen granted recently. Somebody somewhere, for example, has issued a directive granting the Stretfords safe passage…What worsened Mason’s implication today was how many times he allowed scything challenges from Burnley players the benefit of the doubt having drawn a line in the sand so early in the game. However, Fernandinho’s potentially thumping suspension for a third red card of his season will be merited. His stupidity should not be factored in either when contemplating any clear and present Football Association ‘agenda.’
Groundhog Day appeared to be with us again up until the point that Fernandinho walked. City, dominating possession, were all huff, puff and wrong or no decision in the final third yet again. The tedium and frustration of repeatedly watching a one shot to umpteen passes ratio has become an angst ravaged talking point across Planet Blue of late. The sides went in scoreless at the break with Burnley, who had grafted impressively out of possession easily the happier of the two and obviously sensing they could get something out of this.
A seething Pep Guardiola who had ordered all his substitutes to warm up as half time approached immediately rang the changes, bringing on City legends Aguero and Silva for the ineffective Iheanacho and Navas respectively. Without that bold double sub, City would not have won this match. Kun and Spanish Dave galvanised their team-mates into the type of fighting spirit that we have been lacking at key moments this season. Immense credit should be afforded to the players as a collective for finding the reserves so soon after that chastening defeat on Merseyside to overcome the Burnley physicality that had overrun Middlesbro and Sunderland over Christmas alongside Mason’s meddling. Clichy’s goal was an out of nothing classic and Kun’s winner a wonderful rapier strike.
Thankfully, that brace proved to be just enough as City’s hopelessly leaderless defence, bereft of communication, was once again found wanting, this time with our 10 men well on top…
I have analysed thoroughly the footage of the goal that gave Burnley a dangerous late foothold in the game. For me, it is a goal that should have been ruled out for a foul on Bravo who had the ball in his hands before he was barged over. I am in complete agreement with a pumped up and furious Guardiola regarding the foul on our keeper, but I am sure I will be at complete odds with him as to how it came about. Despite redeeming himself late on with a brilliant save to preserve our lead, Bravo is simply not commanding his box and increasingly looks physically incapable of mixing it with big, strong opponents. He looked like a little kid playing in nets against the big kids in the phase of play that led to the Burnley goal, regardless of the fact that the referee opted to give him no protection.
But look even closer at the situation today. Like at Anfield, Bravo gets the basics all wrong defending that corner. He directs nobody to guard the posts and attempts a powder puff punched clearance across a defensive rabble. Thankfully the ball gets cleared off the line twice but it’s when he finally gets control of it in a flailing chaos that he gets knocked over and the ball is forced over the line. I suggest that this episode emphasises how Bravo remains an accident waiting to happen 20 Premier League games into the season. I think he needs taking out of the firing line as a matter of urgency and I sincerely hope he will not start the FA Cup game at West Ham on Friday night.
Meanwhile, here is wisdom. Today saw City emerge from the type of situation and sense of injustice that can forge squads together into a siege mentality that leads to achieving great things. In March 2014 a Silva inspired City rode out Mason’s early sending off of Kompany at Hull to win 0-2 and begin a sequence of results that ultimately saw the Blues lift the title.
The City manager cuts an angry man right now which will obviously knock a few hack noses out of joint, but I welcome it. This could well prove to be the day that Pep and his men came together to start fighting fire with fire.
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