New signing Balotelli wanted to keep his shirt number from Inter (45) which is Greg's number, so he's taken Dunne's old jersey number, 22: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Team-news...s-number-is-up
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New signing Balotelli wanted to keep his shirt number from Inter (45) which is Greg's number, so he's taken Dunne's old jersey number, 22: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Team-news...s-number-is-up
How did he play when he came on against argentina ? I missed the second half
Messi was so scared he asked to be subbed off 30 seconds later. But Cunningham did OK - maybe a little unwilling to go forward like KK had been and was left on his arse by the winger's trickery at one point, but overall he looked up to the challenge.
Was he left on his arse because he was bamboozled, or did he just slip? I thought he just slipped.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
I only saw it once but it looked like he was caught flat-footed to me.
short interview with Cunningham about his new contract with City: http://mcfc.co.uk/Video/Interviews/G...am-on-new-deal
I hear Kolarov who played LB at the weekend for City is out for 4-6 weeks and Lescott is expected to play LB tonight in the Europa league. Out of interest, Is Cunningham in the 25 man Europa squad?
It's either Lescott or Cunningham tonight.
From Man City's official site: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Team-news...-Euro-patience
Quote:
Either Republic of Ireland youngster Greg Cunningham or Joleon Lescott is likely to start at left back.
Cheers tets. Would be great if he got a start.
It would always have been a big surprise if Greg had played tonight. A loss over two legs would spelled the end for Mancini, and handing a youngster his first competitive start in a crucial position would have been a massive gamble.
Agreed. Presume Lescott was LB. Micah Richards was the only the defender on the subs bench.
Just come on for City against Timisora
Not on the bench tonight and Boyata another kid has come on for Bridge. Not to inspiring that he's seemingly dropped even further down the pecking order :(
Ideally, Cunningham will seek and get a move on loan before the loan window closes. Man City is no longer a club where youth will easily flourish.
If he dropped down a division, such as Coleman did last year, I'd imagine it would be very beneficial to his development and confidence as a footballer. Then again, all it takes is for a few injuries or suspensions for Cunningham to get his chance. Maybe he'd prefer to wait for that chance.
Judging from the match report Boyata actually went right back so dunno who swapped in for Bridge. But agreed, he needs to be loaned out asap. If he was playing week in week out in the championship it would be fair game for him to be starting for us.
Zabaleta went left back I think.
Started tonight against WBA in the Carling Cup.
Both of WBA's goals have come from the "right channel". No idea why Cunningham is at a club like Manchester City.
According to a report on 5Live half-way through the second half both Cunningham and Man City's right back were being 'taken to the cleaners.'
09/23/2010 - 09:31:21
Manchester City could have just three fit defenders for Saturday's Premier League crunch with Chelsea.
After last night's 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at West Brom, Roberto Mancini revealed he is desperately short of defensive options for the visit of Carlo Ancelotti's men.
Unless Micah Richards recovers from a hamstring injury that kept him out at The Hawthorns, Mancini will have only Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany and Kolo Toure available to face the only side left with a 100% record.
"We have big problems," he said.
"I hope that Micah Richards can recover. If not I don't know who can play left-back."
The obvious inference is that should Richards miss out, Zabaleta will play on the right side and City would look for an alternative on the left flank.
That could either involve Adam Johnson being pressed into emergency service, or more likely a midfielder such as James Milner or Gareth Barry.
Either way, further injury fears shaped Mancini's team selection at The Hawthorns where, having taking a first-half lead through Jo, City were undone by two goals in as many minutes from Gianni Zuiverloon and Simon Cox.
"We couldn't take any risks," he said
"If I had more players available it would be a different team.
"But when you play like us and Chelsea, on Saturday at 12.45, the time to recover is very short.
"They would need minimum three days so to play tonight would have been dangerous."
It is to be hoped owner Sheikh Mansour understands the dilemma.
"I don't regret making the changes," he said.
"Saturday is more important, the FA Cup is more important. The Europa League is more important.
"I did not regard this as a necessary sacrifice. We wanted to win. That is why I had four senior players on the bench.
"But I knew there was a chance we could lose because we started with six young players.
"I am happy with these guys. We might have lost the game but they can improve. If they do not play tonight, when will they ever play?"
West Brom assistant boss Michael Appleton declared himself delighted with the result.
He said: "It was a great result. Really positive. Made numerous changes and the lads responded well.
"We were second guessing their side bearing in mind they have Chelsea on Saturday but there was still a lot of experience in the side.
"They brought the cavalry on at the end and we were under the cosh for the last 15 minutes but we did enough to win."
Jasus, so he's not even considering him in an emergenct situation? Needs a loan move
Yeah, clearly he's not up to snuff or Mancini would play him as they are desperate for a fit left-back. Obviously there's no short-term future for him there, he needs to go out on loan and get some games under his belt.
He is 19yo and highly regarded by both Mancini and Trap. Whatever he has been doing up to now has worked just fine.
It would be a huge risk to play him against Chelsea. The likes of Malouda and Anelka have destroyed world class full backs in the past, let alone a 19-year-old novice. A player like Cunningham needs to be gradually eased in. Mancini even admitted his first competitive start last night was ahead of schedule.
Aye that's a fair point - if it was the likes of Bolton then his attitude would probably be different.
Heard Cunningham is joining Leicester on loan. It's be good to see him get some first team action.
good to hear, these young lads need game time.
can we really see him getting into the first team at man city, ever though?
Frankly, no. Mancini under too much pressure to get instant success to waste time developing a young player. A period on loan followed by a move seems like the best we can hope for to be honest.
Good to hear. Looks like Eriksson is reviewing his old Man City post-it notes, bringing in Darius Vassel as well.
I seriously doubt it. Wouldn't exactly break my heart to see him move on either.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
Ah, to be fair he's had a good long look at Boyata and he certainly seems to rate Cunningham. It's very rare to see two 19 year olds getting game time in defence at any Premier League club, let alone one with a limitless credit card.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr A
The Sven connection must be at work here. Cunningham can only have been, what, 16 when Eriksson left the club? Interesting.
It will be our first real chance to judge him properly. If he does half as well as Coleman at Blackpool he will be a sucess
Hot off the press, Cunningham has joined Leicester on loan until January
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ty/9116103.stm
Excellent news. I'm sure he'll be very excited at the prospect of linking up with his old mate Darius Vassell.
Leicester at 40/1 for the division title.
They might well be down to 20/1 after the weekend
16 points behind? I don't think so really, could make the play offs for sure though
Darius Vassell.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic
If enough perception is created in the next few games that Leicester are capable of getting run together, then their odd will tumble, sustaining the run is another matter. If a sound manager comes into a team with potential & money and is able to rectify the immediate weaknesses then who knows what can happen in that league.
Will Cunningham get a run out this Saturday? he would hardly go to a club if he was just to be a reserve?
I would imagine Sven must be familiar with him from his Man City days and wouldn't have loaned him if he didn't wish to play him.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Hardly likely that Greg would go to a club that was not going to play him.
Hardly likely that Sven would sign a loan player and not play him.
2 x hardly likely = it's unbelievable that Greg won't play on Saturday .
Left-back Greg Cunningham goes straight into the squad following his arrival on loan from Manchester City.