At the start of yesterday’s match against West Ham, there were slight nerves due to West Ham’s away form defeating both Arsenal and Liverpool, but despite David Silva’s absence, the strikeforce of Sterling, De Bruyne, Navas and Aguero surely would of been enough to beat The Hammers. This was not the case however as City slumped to a 2-1 defeat and it was clear the defeat against Juventus in midweek was still affecting the squad.
The main reason as to why City have made an explosive start this season domestically is due to the fast nature of their style of play and this was not evident against West Ham. City’s passing was poor with the majority of players being unable to gain good control of the ball which led to West Ham gaining possession very easily and creating chances. This was obvious from the first whistle with the likes of Payet and Jenkinson creating good crosses for West Ham troubling a City back four without their talisman Vincent Kompany who was out with a calf injury.
The performance of some of City’s players also contributed to the poor performance from The Blues. Jesus Navas as a winger was someone who could have got City the victory with his pace causing trouble for West Ham’s full backs. However, whenever he entered West Ham’s penalty area he seemed scared to have a shot on goal and instead passed the ball back to a City player away from goal or put in half decent crosses. None of these crosses managed to find a City player.
Sergio Aguero seemed rushed into the starting lineup following his knee injury last week and it looked as if Aguero still was not fully fit. Frequent slips and missed chances clearly showed that Aguero is not firing on full cylinders. Raheem Sterling was another player disappointed many City fans as currently he is unable to justify the £49 million price tag. Only scoring one goal in all six appearances for the club, this is not the Sterling which we were watching at Liverpool a last season. It is unfortunate for the young Englishman as it is clear that he is trying his hardest to create chances, but for some reason the run of play never seems to go his way. However, with the likes of Bony not performing well, Sterling and Aguero along with De Bruyne and Toure were our biggest attacking threats, but sadly they were unable to get the victory for City.
We cannot take away the fact that West Ham as a team performed extremely well. Instead of ‘parking the bus’, The Hammers were passing the ball instead of just booting the ball upfield and hoping for the best. The likes of Payet and Moses were causing all sorts of problems for City as The Blues clearly were not expecting a team like West Ham to play so fluently. Both goals were well deserved. The first scored by Victor Moses was a well placed shot which Hart could have done better with but the bounce was enough to take it over the line. West Ham’s second was scored by Sakho following a corner and as the ball bounced around the box , West Ham’s No.15 managed to tap it in. City’s only goal was a long range shot from Kevin De Bruyne and it was an impressive goal to open his account at City. However, this was not enough for City to get the draw or even the win.
Despite the poor performance, there were a few City players who impressed. Fernandinho continues his amazing start to the season, controlling the City midfield and being able to create chances and it is clear the rest over the summer has had a positive effect on the Brazilian midfielder. Nicolas Otamendi also impressed during his first start in the City lineup. With the absence of Kompany it was down to Otamendi to anchor the back four and it is clear to see he is a very talented defender. Blocking out many of West Ham’s crosses, Otamendi was not afraid to put his body on the line, but he is also willing to start attacking moves as he made some darting runs up the pitch. De Bruyne also impressed with his goal along with some great passes he made showing that he is a player with superb vision and will be fundamental to City’s title challenge in both England and Europe.
The winning streak was going to come to an end at some point and it is clear memories of Juventus are still playing on the minds of the City players. However, now City will hopefully bounce back and get back to winning ways starting against Sunderland on Tuesday night.
