Should I be elated, or should I be annoyed?
Manchester City - a team that I have followed since I was 4 years old - are on the verge of making their own little bit of footballing history. After a season that has seen them go to the farthest parts of Europe, had English-named Brazilians walk on the field at the City of Manchester Stadium, and an FA Cup Final to look forward to, City now lie 7 points clear of 5th placed Liverpool in that all important 4th spot - meaning that they could be up against the 'Big Boys' of football next season in Europe's elite competition: the UEFA Champions League.
And let's not forget that in 12 days City will walk out onto the field at the new Wembley Stadium for the second time this season - and the second time within a month - for the FA Cup Final! Surely I should be over the Blue Moon looking at this... the end result is the most important thing in a game - I know that - but why did City make such hard work of it today? And why am I so annoyed?
With Chelsea beating Tottenham on Saturday, City had the chance today to open up a large 7 point wound in Tottenham's attempt to secure a second successive season in the Champions League. And, after 9 minutes of good attacking football, against bottom-of-the-table West Ham United, Manchester City were rewarded with a great goal, when Nigel de Jong popped up on the edge of the area to curl in his first goal for Manchester City. And in the bright sunshine, the sky blue shirts shot up in cheer; even de Jong's smile made the day seem brighter - "1-0 up. Relief! Elation! Happiness! Joy!" And then before anyone in the stadium could blink, City play-maker David Silva contributed his 12th assist of the season, by chipping the ball in behind the Hammers' defence for the lively Pablo Zabaleta, who pounced on the drifting ball, and struck home via a deflection to send the City faithful into orbit. "2-0! 15 minutes in! Oh, how wonderful. This is going to be a rout! Even defenders are scoring!"
But here is why my problem lies; why, at 2-0 up in a game that could not only do our league position a huge favour, but help our goal difference as well, did we take our foot of the gas after a great first 15 minutes and allow the opposition back into the game? It has happened on more than one occasion this season - Newcastle away, Blackburn away, Manchester United away - and today, we were incredibly fortunate that we were two goals up before West Ham got a foothold in the game.
I don't understand why we do this. Is it to save energy for the second half? Is it to save energy for the next game? Does Mancini enjoy waving his defensive penis around at the media to try and prove that defensive football can win games - which it can, by the way - so that he can stick his fingers up the nostrils of SkySports and tell them to 'deal with it'?
Why? Why, why, why, why, why? Even when West Ham got a goal the Blues didn't seem to be shaken. They didn't even seem to notice that something wasn't quite right. Fine, West Ham got a stroke of fortune during the move for their goal, but the valiant Hammers had done enough for a short period of the game to deserve a goal. But don't stop! Don't lose urgency! Don't put the brakes on and wait for the half time whistle! You wouldn't stop running a Marathon if you were first, would you? No, you wouldn't! Okay, maybe slow down a bit and try and nick a third goal before half time, but don't put three points in danger; especially when the three points we were going for today were as important as they were!
Even in the second half, the bite in City's midfield just evapourated into the howling winds that circulated the City of Manchester Stadium throughout the game; Barry lost a yard of pace after an exceptional first half, Silva looked petrified to shoot, despite being in the best position he had ever found himself in on a football pitch before, and Balotelli looked like he didn't want to be involved in the second half.
We cannot afford to play this type of game against teams such as Villareal or Bayern Munich, (who City will most likely face in the Champions League qualifiers in August, should we get there) as we will be beaten. Maybe Mancini knew that West Ham's threadbare midfield wouldn't be enough to carry them through the game? Maybe he thought City were doing enough to win, despite only seriously threatening the West Ham goal twice in the second half?
I'm a huge Mancini fan, and I will defend him to the ends of the Earth when it comes to it, but he and the Blues pissed me off today for around 70 minutes. We should have gone on and scored 6, done our goal difference a massive favour and pulled further away from Spurs and Liverpool in more than one respect. But, even after this rant, I have to go back to my first point: the end result is all that matters.
City did deserve the win today, and I'm so happy to look at that table and see us finally get past the 60 point mark, but Mancini has to be careful. If he approaches Everton in a similar manner next week, City would find their confident smiles being turned into worrying looks over the shoulder. Spurs have a home game against doomed Blackpool, and Liverpool - who seem impossible to beat at the moment - are away to Fulham, who seem to be on a late surge towards the top 8, after winning their last 2 games.
Could it really happen? Could it?
On the positive side of City life, it could all be over by this time next week - City could be in the Champions League. If Tottenham lose to Blackpool and the City boys beat Everton, the Blues will be 10 points clear of Tottenham, who will only be able to pick up 9 points from their remaining fixtures; and City will be 7 points clear of Liverpool, who will only be able to pick up 6 points from their remaining two games.
City player ratings for City v West Ham.
Hart 6 - good save from Keane, but was too slow when deciding where to kick and throw the ball.
Zabaleta 8 - once again, another passionate and all round good performance from Pablo.
Kompany 7 - didn't have much to deal with, but did well when called into action.
Lescott 7 - was at fault for West Ham's goal, but dealt well with everything else.
Kolarov 6 - slow to get forward and made two mistakes that could have lead to awful outcomes for City.
De Jong 7 - great finish for his goal, City missed his bite and passion when he went off.
Yaya Toure 6 - quiet, but got on with his game well.
Barry 7 - exceptional in the first half, let down by his second half performance, was subbed for Dzeko.
Adam Johnson 6 - good start, closed out of the game.
Silva 7 - good game as ever from Spanish Dave, but I just wish he would have a bit more confidence in shooting positions.
Balotelli 6 - good first half, poor second half.
Dzeko 6 - cameo wasn't effective, but stung Green's gloves once or twice.
Milner 8 - excellent, best game I've seen him play in a while, got stuck in and looked dangerous.
Vieira N/A - came on too late to be rated.
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