Downplaying his side’s lackluster display, Hughes claimed; as quoted on skysports.com:
“I do not think either side did enough to deserve the victory. Everton got people behind the ball and managed to stop us playing our type of game”.
It is true that Everton, missing all four first team strikers, tended to back home at times; play narrow and make it difficult for the City players to create anything. Carving out a couple of rare but decent chances, City stars Stephen Ireland and Robinho failed to capitalize on them and it was soon Everton to the fore and in command of proceedings.
Indeed, apart from a couple of rare lapses from an overall impressive Everton side, Manchester City soon found themselves on the wrong foot of events unfolding, and predictably, as Everton dominated the field more and more - a goal was most definitely in the air when makeshift striker Cahill headed it home from an excellent corner. Playing injured players Benjani and Robinho for City was a bad gamble and maybe also a costly one. Man City were simply outmaneuvered in this game by David Moyes and his well polished charges. Everton clearly dominated, had more quality possession and always looked more likely to win the game.
Mark Hughes may have reason to try and smooth things over, to not wreck his players fragile confidence further, but the truth is more brutal; Man City are not good enough.
Not yet anyway.
Hughes has Arabian riches to spend in January and the City squad does need some steel injected into its backbone, as the Everton game clearly demonstrated. Lassana Diarra of Portsmouth does seem a likely candidate and Roque Santa Cruz of Blackburn; a player that could give some extra physique, power and striker instincts in the penalty box (which again City lacked in the Everton game) would be another good signing if they can prize him away from Ince’s struggling side. Of course the team will be linked with a thousand and one other players, but these two seem the most realistic for the time being. Mark Hughes has also gone on record saying he doesn’t want to upset the harmony at the club with too many new signings in January, which of course is a sensible statement.
Whether or not Hughes himself will be around to continue to plant seeds for future success and enjoy the fruits of City’s considerable wealth remains to be seen however.
Mark has yet to prove he has the qualities of a Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or even a David Moyes of Everton. So far the new signings, while competent, have not set the world - or the Premier League for that matter - on fire. The defense looks particularly vulnerable on the wings and even in the middle from time to time, as Richards and Dunne have been prone to momentary lapses of judgment that have been very costly this campaign.
While former manager Eriksson had the team playing defense - as a team - this year the defenders, and Kompany in the holding role, have more than often been left out to dry by the other offensive five. While scoring many goals, the tactic has not been successful in gaining City many points, and consequently they dangle precariously close to relegation. This is hardly what would be expected of a team that recently broke the English transfer record and has regularly been swinging the cash around in the last few transfer windows. If things don’t pick up very quickly, Hughes days could be numbered sooner than many would expect.
The ball seems to be slipping away from Mark Hughes and his City, as are the points
The simple equation in the matter is; the more a board or owner spends money, the more they thirst for immediate success. Quite understandable really, and one would expect the City owners to have higher ambitions than hanging in and around the relegation mire. Hughes needs to put results were his mouth is and start producing. He has much still to prove…
A match against struggling West Bromwich could be just the right medicine. W.B.A. have started to sink toward relegation and must start turning their fortunes around against City if they are to survive, but surely the gulf in class must be too wide?
I wouldn’t bet on it. Everton showed you can outwork and outmaneuver Man City. Get the tactics right and W.B.A. could be back into the mix and City sinking deeper into the bog. City does on the bright side of things have a great opportunity to get their season back on track in the next few weeks; playing teams they would expect to ply points from.
But, while this is a great opportunity it is also one layered in the risk of failure - which could set in motion major changes at the heart of the City of Manchester.
