City v Bolton: Player ratings

Paul Handler

September 18, 2005

| Submit Comments | Comments (43) |

James: Didn't have much to do, and could do nothing about penalty - 7

Mills: Strong performance, got forward well - 7

Dunne: Good defensive job until giving away the penalty - 7

Distin: Strong display at the back - 8

Thatcher: Started quietly but grew into the game effectively - 7

Sinclair: Had little chance to make an impact - 5

Barton: Blossomed in second half, should have scored - 8

Reyna: Controlled possession well and took charge of the midfield - 8

Musampa: Battled hard in the centre of the pitch - 7

Sibierski: Provided a useful aerial threat - 7

Vassell: Ran his heart out but did little to damage Bolton - 7

Subs:
Jihai (for Sinclair 26): Was careless in possession at times - 6

Ireland (for Barton 81): Not enough time to make an impact - 6

Not used:
Fowler, Onuoha, De Vlieger

Do you agree? Have your say.

| Submit Comments | Comments (43) |

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Edski Vega, Nottingham (18/09/2005 at 19:28)

As soon as i heard theat Sibs was in the team in place of Cole i knew we would throw it away... i said we would lose 1-0 in the last 5 mins.... but to lose in the 94th min is hard to stomach! Bolton came with their typical negative game plan but they got the result so they don't care. Vassell and Sibs are of no use to this club and i expect both to be sold for nominal fees in January - then we can get some serious goal threats in. Other then that we should have won today - everyone played well until the last minute.

ryan, china (18/09/2005 at 19:34)

sun is our sun,he is always the best,your rating is wrong.

blue_moon, Manchester (18/09/2005 at 19:47)

RONG MUSMPA MINUS 74 E WOZ RUBBISH I HAVE ALWAYS DEFENDED HIM BUT E IS LAZY AND IRLAND IS DA NEXT BEST FING FOR CITY CHANGED THE GAME

adam, withington (18/09/2005 at 20:04)

ireland made a fantastic impact MEN. a couple of shots either blocked or briliantly saved, and bourght his teammates into play with some intellegant passes. please watch the game properly.

G Utted, OIdham (18/09/2005 at 20:38)

Agree with most marks except for Sibierski... even though he got himself some chances. He's big, but too soft - gets pushed off the ball too much and spends too much time on the ground and not enough time keeping up with the play. I'm still in a state of total shock - we battered the donkeys, but somehow managed not to win.

Blue Tiger, Virginia (18/09/2005 at 21:14)

Man of the match was Claudio Reyna, but no striker able to take advantage of his through passes.
CITY was too sloppy giving the ball back to Bolton over and over again.
NO game should be won on luck or bad luck.
Next game at Newcastle a real test.

Jon, Foulridge (18/09/2005 at 21:42)

Why on earth didn`t Fowler start?

Stu, Glossop (18/09/2005 at 22:00)

Stephen Ireland not enough time to make an impact???? He caused Bolton all sorts of trouble and was only on the pitch 10 mins id have given him 8

Jopapgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (19/09/2005 at 01:04)

How does Dunne rate a 7? The handball was intentional and unnecessary. Doesn't matter what else he did, he gifted the game to Bolton. Try 4 or 5, tops.

Life, Boston, USA (19/09/2005 at 03:42)

Generally agree with the ratings. Mills is definitely playing better now, Sibs was quite effective, and for all Musampa's shortcomings he does provide a scoring threat from the left side. The high ratings in the context of a home loss says it all - unlucky!

Billyblue, California (19/09/2005 at 04:42)

I'd say those player ratings were right...except Jihai deserves a 7 because of his good play deep down the right at the end of the game.

Dave, Sale (19/09/2005 at 08:02)

The 10 minutes Ireland had suggested his promise in the reserves may develop, no doubt will get a run out Wednesday, along with perhaps Hussain.

Have to wonder about Robbie Fowler, couldn't get the ball in the net, but he sat glued to the bench

Mat, Bredbury (19/09/2005 at 08:31)

Sibierski had an excellent game,proving that Bolton arn't always the masters of aerial battles,Reyna was man of the match for me, protected the defence and played some good cross field passes,and got forward when needed.Ireland looked good in the 10 minutes he had,wasn't over impressed when he played in pre-season in Thailand,but looked very good,with good vision even though he was on a short time.

Sandy, Dublin (19/09/2005 at 09:28)

The3 only thing I can disagree with is Barton. Surely he was worth a nine. I have knocked Joey so many times, for his attitude, his passing etc., but from what I saw on Football First last night Joey demonstrated what others have been telling me. This lad is class. Yesterday he showed it to me for the first time. He was everywhere. He was unlucky to score and he ran his heart out. The other surprise was Sibierski's first half performance. Hits the bar twice. This must be his best perforamnce in a long time, though he looked to flag badly in the second half ( or maybe Bolton just cut his threat). All in all a game we should have won, but if you play this well I don't think you can complain too much, except to ask Dunnie to keep his hands down!

RJKS, Stretford (19/09/2005 at 09:30)

Great display of attacking football at times & controlled the game untill the penalty which everyone knew was going to happen. Onwards & upwards.

THE BLUE TOOL, URMSTON (19/09/2005 at 09:46)

STEPHEN IRELAND HAD LITTLE TIME TO IMPRESS -6?? he made five passes and each one created a scoring chance and he had a shot of his own cleared off the line. Musampa -7 he contributed nothing at all to the game, I was there, i dont think the clown who these scores out was. Ireland should start the next game, his vision for the killer pass is needed. Unlucky lads, 1 defeat in 14, nothing to worry about.

Russkiblue, Moscow (19/09/2005 at 09:51)

Have to say I was very impressed with young Ireland when he came on. Considering he only had ten minutes to play, I thought his control and movement were outstanding. Hope the result isn't indicative of the rest of the season, and we put this behind us and continue with the good run. Sorry to see Trev come off, as he has been a revelation this season. Hope he returns soon.

Renato CTID, Torino - Italia (19/09/2005 at 09:57)

I disagree about Sun and Ireland votes: they both were positively impressing into this so unlucky game. I'm proud of my Blues the same: now we are a really good squad, thank you dear SP!!!

KTBF, Railway Blue, Failsworth (19/09/2005 at 09:59)

The comment about Stephen Ireland is ridiculous!! "Not enough time to make an impact" - thats what he actually did do, make an impact!! His first touch produced a brilliant save from the keeper and he played some intelligent balls from midfield which very nearly won us the game! This lad has a big future!

CTID, LEEDS (19/09/2005 at 10:05)

I thought Ireland did have an impact. He looked very good indeed.

a blue neville, somewhere in yorkshire (19/09/2005 at 10:05)

I thought Sun did very well as a makeshift right winger - he was unlucky not to socre and helped Mills out on a number of occasions. So why did he get only 6 and Vassell 7? As you say Vassell ran his heart out but never threatened. So did Sun - and he threatened. Sibierski looked like the only person able to score in the first half - it's a pity he is a bit lightweight but hopefully the knockers will get off his back. As for Bolton's goal - well City had had enough warning with Pedersen breaking down the left, so why wasn't Mills keeping an eye open down there? As for the final score, as Victor Meldrew might have said "I don't believe it"!

Chas, Shrewsbury (19/09/2005 at 10:28)

I'm not in the "we was robbed" camp. Dunne's bizarre hand ball aside, poor finishing by Sibierski and Musampa cost us the game. Sibi did some good headers but his first shot was straight at the keeper - a waste of time. Musampa worked hard but his finishing is poor - some good opportunities were wasted. He needs to work on this aspect of his game. Bottom line is that we missed Andrew Cole. Sibierski is a good midfielder but he isn't a substitue for Cole.

Ian Bell, Aberdeen (19/09/2005 at 10:50)

I can understand the starting line up with "Sibs" included to add a bit of height to our attack,against a big defence but as he faded in the 2d half,surely Fowler could have came on to offer something different.Stephen Ireland,be proud,be very proud.

Ian, West Sussex (19/09/2005 at 11:08)

Absolute travesty of a result - but that's City unfortunately.
Midfield generally OK with Barton outstanding.
Fowler should have been brought on for Vassell who tired badly in the last 20 mins. Ireland definitely showed some promise.
Dunne's mad moment really ruined things though.
All this makes the Newcastle game vital now as Owen and Shearer typically do very well against us.

Mike, Stockport (19/09/2005 at 11:13)

I missed my first home match since January 1999 yesterday, so all I can judge on is what I saw on Match of the Day last night. Stephen Ireland impressed me in the highlights, so for him to merit just a six with "not enough time to make an impact" line is plain daft. If the marking is done before the final whistle they're worthless. On another point, Ireland has just turned 17 - has he overtaken Lee Croft in the manager's thoughts? The side this week against Doncaster will make interesting reading, methinks.

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