Manchester City Can Turn Things Around

By Adedayo Ayodele

Thought City did well under the circumstances but we are talking about fine margins here. You make even the slightest mistake against a team like Barca and they will punish you. 

City restricted them and created some good chances but I did feel Pellegrini paid them too much respect in his team selection. You were at home, have been brilliant at home all season because you have attacked teams and taken the game to them, you weren't set-up to do that last night, Fernandinho and Toure were far too deep and too much attention was given to Alves by playing two full-backs on the left. 

Let them worry about you and your players, don't worry about theirs, play your own game. I had imagined he was going to use the formation he used against Chelsea(at the bridge) earlier this season. 

Though they lost the match due to a misunderstanding between hart & Nastastic towards the end but you couldn't fault that formation. Silva on the left, yaya at the back of the striker, Nasri on the right with Jovetic(whom I was dying to see come on for Negredo on Tuesday)upfront. With Fernandinho & Garcia holding the midfield then Yaya dropping back once in a while, I think they'd have played better.

It was also a naive performance as City players lunged at Barca players time after time and didn't over-power them in the right way as Bayern did last year. This played into their hands. For me the main weakness that requires attention for City in the summer is centre half. 

Demichelis and Lescott aren't the quality at that level and Nastastic is one for the future, Kompany needs a quality partner at the back. You are already the best team in England in my opinion, get yourself a top quality partner for Kompany and you'll be a major force in Europe. 

The atmosphere on Tuesday night was also terrible. The city fans couldn't cheer their players up. How sad. 

Think back to Barca's game at Celtic Park, or the Dortmund's game at the emirates...that's how it should be on big European nights. 

Having said all that, do you still think City can turn things around?

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