Manchester City Vs Tottenham Hotspur

Wednesday, May 5th 2010.

Eastlands, Manchester, UK.

With the season almost at a close, it isn't the relevance of trophies and medals being handed out but the fight to finish fourth. To enter the Champions League qualifying rounds and potentially the group stages of the tournament. For Manchester City it is the acceptance of there new status and vast sums of money used to assemble the current squad. For Tottenham it would be the realization of a goal they felt was taken from them four years ago after a dodgy lasagne scuppered there chances.

Based on the opening passage of play whichever team were to conquer would still need adjusting if they are to make any impact on Europe's elite tournament next year. With the game being played at a frantic pace the ball was being rushed forward, normally high without any quality. Both teams cancelling each other out for long periods as they tried utilize their target men in bringing the wide players into the game. This lack of patience or execution might be cruelly exposed in the Champions League but that is if teams can compete at this frantic pace. There is always talk of the England national team being at its most potent when playing a high tempo, even if that replaces quality.

What must be troubling the Manchester faithful is that City still look like a team in progress, or possibly transition, as there still isn't a clear understanding of formation or tactics. Even as we enter the last weekend of fixtures there is a disjointed look about the team, players look lost or at worse, out of position. Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy were always dropping deep to find the ball, trying to make things happen but found no spark or creativity around them. Adam Johnson showed signs of his potential and forced a smart save from Gomez on 25 minutes as he shot powerfully through a crowd of players. Tottenham's defence was looking very comfortable but Johnsn did cause a rare moment of confusion when he forced Gareth Bale into knocking a cross towards the corner of the goal but Gomez parried wide. However City's main goal threat cam from defender Kolo Toure as twice Bellamy picked him out from corner kicks but he was unable to finish from good opportunities.

Although Tottenham have also assembled a squad at great cost (significantly less than there opponents of course) there was more focus and execution as they were able to complete the double over City. They were lined up in their usual 4-4-2 formation and chose to play Peter Crouch up front and Arron Lennon on the right and there was certainly cohesion if not always composure. They could have easily gone ahead on eighteen minutes when Gareth Bale played in a dangerous free kick from the right and Crouch, pulled away from his marker and headed against the post from close range. Crouch again caused the City defence problems on 38 minutes as Lennon picked him out from the right and he headed the ball down to Bale. The young Welshman watched the ball bounce and volleyed wide from 12 yards when he should have hit at least the target.

There was an expectation that a reaction from City was coming in the second half but it didn't happen. In fact Tottenham appeared to grow in confidence and looked the more likely to open the scoring and should have done on 55 minutes but for a great save from Martin Fulop. Gareth Bale played in Jermain Defoe on the right and he took his chance first time with the outside of the boot and was heading for the bottom corner but City's stand in goalkeeper palmed the ball away for a corner. On 76 minutes Bale opened up the defence again, this time crossing the ball into penalty area but neither Defoe or Crouch could make contact as they both threw themselves at the ball. Still there was no reaction from City as they couldn't link midfield to attack with any fluency, easily marshaled by the impressive pairing of Michael Dawson and Ledley King in the Tottenham defence. Building on that solidity Tottenham finally opened the scoring, as Peter Crouch was able to easily head into an open net as the City goalkeeper could only parry to the England striker. It was no more than they deserved as looked the more organized and disciplined team.

After this huge disappointment the signals coming out of Manchester suggest they will stick with Roberto Manchini in the managers position. It's clear that there will be changes in other positions though as he will be determined to change the personnel of the team to fit his ideas. I think Carlos Tevez will replace Emmanuel Adebayor as the clubs focal point in attack with the Togolese making way. I would predict that he would be joined by Roque Santa Cruz as the Paraguayan was predictable absent through injury for much of the season. An important addition may come in the shape of a return to fitness of Martin Petrov to add support from the left, allowing Bellamy to support Tevez through the middle. For a club that has recruited in huge numbers they should still look to the youth and academy players for the resources to achieve a Champions League spot next season. The return of Michael Johnson from injury or Stephen Ireland from the substitutes bench could help link the midfield to attack, something that was clearly missing last night. Defensively they also have the return of Joe Hart, perhaps the leagues most outstanding goalkeeper this year that will give them a defensive foundation to try and build after the injury sustained by Shay Given.

For Tottenham it will be more tweaking than rethinking, as they will look to consolidate form in both competitions. Of course they still have to negotiate a qualifying game to officially take part in Europe's elite club competition. Any success they do achieve in that competition next year will greatly depend on the fortunes of Roman Pavlyuchenko and Luka Modrick as there form will impact them greatly. As will the development of home grown players such as Gareth Bale, David Bentley and Arron Lennon as they will need to ease the creative burden on the Croatian.

Final Score - Manchester City 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur.