The Wrecking Ball: Player Ratings -- Manchester City 4 - Manchester United 1

Manchester City's attacking troika of Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and Alvaro Negredo conspired to give Manchester United well more than they could handle on Sunday, easily dispatching last year's Premier League champions in an emphatic 4-1 derby day victory on Sunday afternoon.  Although the pregame questions may have concerned the severity of Robin Van Persie's injury situation, post-game questioning will shine a more difficult spotlight on the lineup selection of United's new manager, David Moyes.  United were outplayed, outhustled and outscored during a 60 minute battering by their cross-town rivals, who turned the atmosphere at the Etihad into a Sunday carnival of sorts for their fans.   Although the visitors performed better over the game's final half hour, the turnaround was much too little, too late to reverse the three goals by City scored within minutes of either side of the interval.

Herewith our player ratings for individual performances in what was a damaging and demoralizing team loss:

De Gea: Little he could have done on City's goals, but his spill of Dzeko's long-range strike showed how badly his confidence was shaken by conceding four times. 5.0

Smalling:  Struggled mightily to handle the left side of City's attack  and went missing in the first ten minutes of the second half. Tellingly, was often the United player furthest forward on attack. 4.0

Ferdinand: Never saw Aguero coast in behind him for the fourth of the afternoon.  May need a rest -- what ever happened to that Jonny Evans guy? 4.0

Vidic: Key first half interception kept the scoreline from being even worse for the visitors. 4.5

Evra: Had a close-up view of Aguero's stunning 16th minute strike that set City on their way,  and was unable to keep up with a rampaging Jesus Navas at the start of the second half.  Was unfortunate not to score with his 80th minute header that hit the woodwork. 4.5

Valencia: Lost his man to allow City's first goal, and played Toure onside for the second from his position on the post. A shadow of the player we saw in the second half against Leverkusen. 4.0

Fellaini:  Worked hard in a vain attempt to contain City in the middle of the park, but lost Toure when it mattered most just before the interval.  His lack of pace in the middle of the park was exposed badly today. 4.5 

Grabbing Our Attention: Week 4 in the BPL

photo by 20after4	via PhotoRee

We drank some beer, watched some football, saw some highlights and even managed to sneak in some NFL this weekend.  In other words, it was just another weekend at the corporate office.  Without further ado, our thoughts on a relatively hum drum week in the BPL:

o Watching Chelsea play Everton made us realize Jose Mourinho thinks it's still 2006 in the Premier League. Frank Lampard and John Terry are not everyday starters anymore. David Moyes was under a similar impression at United, but someone finally mentioned to the new skipper that Ryan Giggs is nearly 40 years old these days....

o Laurent Koscielny is one of the most rash defenders in the BPL. Always one hare-brained decision away from either a red card or a penalty, the only other defender who rivals the Frenchman is Chelsea's own Sideshow Bob.

o Referee Martin Atkinson's poor decision making was illustrated brilliantly when he denied an advantage to Sunderland's Jozy Altidore on a play on which the American scored -- to helpfully pull the ball back for a free kick, which was promptly wasted by the home side. If ever there was a referee who needed to be relegated, it's Atkinson. The guy is a walking disaster.

o Alvaro Negredo is quickly learning the ins and outs of Premier League football. In his first start, the Spaniard was straightened right out by Referee Mark Clattenburg, who helpfully explained that while artfully pretending to be on the receiving end of head and facial injuries may be greeted with a wink wink, nod nod in Spain, playacting is generally frowned upon England.  With the notable exception of Ashley Young, of course....

o Is it just us, or does Manuel Pellegrini always look as if he's just walked out of a horror movie? Truth be told, that's likely how'd we feel, as well, after watching Manchester City play  these past couple of weeks. The kindest thing we can think to say of the new City head honcho is that his starting XI choices strike us as slightly naive.

Obsequious Fawning: Week 1 in the Barclay's Premier League

photo by slopjop	via PhotoRee

Week one is in the bag, and farlieonfootie's regularly insightful and often irrelevant insights on the Premier League are back for your reading pleasure:

o Don't know about you, but we were left scratching our collective heads over the style of football that Sparky is attempting to play at Stoke City....  If "no possession and relatively few chances" are what the Potters' owners had in mind when they sacked Tony Pulis in search of a new footballing identity, then we guess they're well on track.

o After watching Sunderland lose at home to Fulham this Saturday, we're wondering if Jozy Altidore will live to regret his move from the Eredivisie to the Prem.  Racking up 30 goals a season will give a striker some confidence, and Jozy's recent play for the US National Team has shown that he was positively coursing with self assurance after his year in Holland. But playing for a Sunderland side that looks as if they could be relegation fodder could have a belief-sapping effect on the young American. Only time will tell, but we're already watching.

o And speaking of Jozy Altidore, his former employer -- the Hull City Tigers, for those paying attention -- were playing the role of sacrificial lambs for the love-in that was Jose Mourinho's to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Looking more toothless than tiger-ish, Hull City showed the drastic gap in talent that often exists between the top teams in the League and those coming up from below.  And Steve Bruce, with his embarassingly obsequious fawning over the 'Happy One,' has just demonstrated once again that all great players do not turn out to make great managers. It's gonna be a long year at Hull.

Heads Up

photo by storem	via PhotoRee

I watched Atleti take on Malaga in the absence of EPL action Sunday. While it wasn't the match I hoped to be witnessing -- that one would have pitted a certain team from Manchester against a fourth place side from London -- it served as an interesting diversion from the snowed-out schedule (or lack of) that the EPL served up this weekend.



Actually the match also served as a respite from the horrid football -- NFL style -- that I unfortunately saw first hand earlier in the day, while watching the Miami Dolphins host the Buffalo Bills. The Fins managed to run their standard offense fairly consistently today -- 3 runs and a punt -- on their way to another home loss in a season that is ending yet again in bitter disappointment and finger-pointing.



Atleti served up a better game, though, with a 3-1 victory that may take some of the pressure off embattled coach Quique Sanchez Flores. Diego Forlan was dropped from the Atleti starting lineup, and Reyes was a welcome return with the warm weather being judged to suit his style better than the last time we saw Atleti -- in their disappointing and snowy mid-week exit from the Europa League.



The sight of the lush green pitch at Malaga's Rose Garden -- located in the heart of Spain's Costa del Sol mediterranean vacation land -- was a stark contrast to the muted brownish-green grass of the English winter. The game's style also served a harsh contrast to that of its English relative, and seemingly matched its location, played at the leisurely mañana pace of a land accustomed to vacationers. Both sides were content in the first half to play languid, ticky-tack football, with long arcing crosses interrupting the tight, controlled passes from time to time; beautiful to watch, but a very different sort of game than that featuring the more direct style preferred in the EPL (often referred to derisively as "over the top" football).