This Sunday’s Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Manchester City certainly has the makings of a decisive game in the outcome of the title race. With City’s stuttering away form over the last six weeks seeing them lose three times in the Premier League, would a defeat by Villa on Sunday represent a fatal blow to their title chances?

Clearly Villa this season have been playing a drab brand of football that can in truth explain their abject league position. This for a club of Villa’s stature is simply not good enough. The appointment of McLeish has divided many Villa fans and seven months on we are no nearer a consensus on his status. Nevertheless, Villa in spite of their patchy form, Villa has over the last month or so begun to deliver performances that should in truth have given them greater reward than they have accrued thus far. With players of the calibre of Bent, Ireland, Given and a rejuvenated Robbie Keane, Villa should pose some serious questions of a City rear-guard which has looked suspect over the last month or so. While accepting that the suspension to Kompany robbed them of their talisman for four games, this cannot explain the general malaise that has crept into City’s play in recent times. Gibson’s goal for Everton saw him standing on the halfway line with Richards prior to the goal, yet by the time he reached the edge of the box, Richards was strolling back to see his team concede.

As potent as City have been as an attacking force over the last month or so, Silva hasn’t been at his best nor has Aguero, while Dzeko hasn’t been firing on all cylinders for what seems like an age. This brings me to a certain Mr Tevez. If ever there was a time to call for the return of the gifted and mercurial Argentine, then Sunday would be the perfect opportunity for him to return as they have been lacking a spark that he could undoubtedly provide. Conversely, on the Villa side with Keane departing to sunnier parts in a few weeks, they need to make the most of his tactical nous while they still have him on board. Villa during their emphatic victory over Chelsea at the end of December demonstrated that they possess the qualities to challenge the strongest of Premier League teams, so why not adopt the same approach for City on Sunday?

With Ireland beginning to look like a player again after two years in the doldrums, what better place to showcase his obvious ability then against his former employers who cast him aside when the oil money was pumped into the club? With a solid structure Villa should now be aspiring to be where Newcastle are, on the brink of Champions League football. Yet, they are instead a few defeats away from being dragged into a relegation battle that a squad of their talent should be nowhere near. The time has come for Villa to illustrate that this season will not just be another confined to the past, forgotten in an instant. They now need to stand united and play a brand of football not like the puke football the home fans have been subjected to on many occasions this season. For the talent available to them their approach should be positive and if they adopt such a positive outlook to Sunday’s crucial encounter then by Sunday evening, perhaps the Villa supporters may be rejoicing on the appointment of Mr McLeish after all.

For a guy who had a tough time finding the pitch for Manchester United, Darron Gibson certainly helped his former employer on Tuesday. His 19-yard deflected strike beat Joe Hart at the hour mark, and Everton earned the home victory over league leading Manchester City.

Tim Howard and the Everton defense, playing without injured defenders Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin, kept a clean sheet against a star-studded lineup for the Blues playing in their Milanesque red-and-black away kits. A somewhat makeshift central defense pairing of John Heitinga and Tony Hibbert were surprisingly hard-nosed, especially in defending the multitude of aerial attacks from the wings. While City poured on pressure through extended portions of the match, the closest the came to a tally was a Samir Nasri slice from nearly 30 yards that struck the corner of the woodwork.

The interesting tactical feature for Manchester City was playing a 4-4-2 with Samir Nasri paired in a deep central role with Gareth Barry. With James Milner playing to the right, he and David Silva would cut inside from the wings behind Gibson and Marouane Fellaini. The two central midfielders from Everton would be sucked upfield to get pressure on Nasri and Barry, and that left space for the wingers to wait for passes into the next layer. Unfortunately for the Blues, their two forwards, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero, were not particularly effective in the final third at finding space.

The Toffees were up to their usual game of aerial football, attempting to play balls to strong center forward types (Denis Stracqualursi and Tim Cahill in this match). In general, Gibson and Fellaini were quite generous in returning possession to City throughout the match. In the first half, they nearly scored off a corner as Stracqualursi headed the ball towards net. A saving clearance from Joleon Lescott kept the match level up until the Gibson goal.

That goal came at the end of a great run by Roysten Drenthe. As he came upon pressure, he laid a pass into space for Leighton Baines. The left back crossed from just outside the 18-yard line, and was initially thwarted by Vincent Kompany. The ball came to Landon Donovan, who couldn’t find a shot himself but set up Gibson streaking towards the area. The recent acquisition from the Red Devils hit a right footed shot that glanced off the defense and snuck inside the right post.

The match was stopped for nearly 5 minutes in the first half as a pitch invader decided to handcuff himself to the City goal. The scene was somewhat surreal as the police freed the intruder.

Everton did well to see out the match, and this is yet another time where Manchester City lacked the wherewithal to fight back to scrounge out even a single point from this match. While they were missing Mario Balotelli to suspension, the lineup certainly had enough quality to muster a goal against a makeshift back line for the Toffees. The Blues are now on level terms with their Manchester counterparts at the top of the table, with goal difference their only saving grace at this point. Their next test is against Fulham, a home match where they will need to return to form since United is back on track.

EVERTON 1 – 0 MANCHESTER CITY – JANUARY 31, 2012, GOODISON PARK, LIVERPOOL UK

EVERTON (4-1-3-2) – Howard; Neville, Hibbert, Heitinga, Baines; Fellaini; Donovan, Gibson, Drenthe (Baxter 79′) ; Stracqualursi (Vellios 88′), Cahill
MANCHESTER CITY (4-4-2) – Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott (Kolarov 68′), Clichy; Milner (Johnson 61′), Nasri, Barry (de Jong 86′), Silva; Dzeko, Aguero

GOALS – Gibson (Donovan) 60′, 19 yards, right foot strike
DISCIPLINE – Everton 1 (Drenthe 77′, caution); Manchester City 2 (Kompany 34′, caution; Lescott 59′, caution)
SHOTS – Everton 9; Manchester City 20
SHOTS ON GOAL – Everton 5; Manchester City 12
FOULS – Everton 12; Manchester City 9

Unbelievable scenes happened at Goodison Park Tuesday night when a protester entered the pitch and handcuffed himself to one of the goalposts. The incident forced the referee to stop the match for approximately five minutes until the man and the handcuffs could be removed from the goalpost next to Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart.

While the police tried to free the man from the handcuffs, the managers from both sides used the time to speak to their players and to give them some team tactics.

The irresponsible move by the protester not only delayed the game, but it also resulted in nobody knowing what he was protesting. The man became quite irate when the police tried to shake the handcuffs. And for a few minutes, the protester spoke to the Everton players.

Here are the photos from the incident.

After a flying start to the 2011-12 Premier League campaign, Manchester City has struggled since the December 12th loss at Stamford Bridge to Chelsea. In that match, the bad luck that has dogged the Citizens reared its ugly head. With City leading 1-0 early in the match, a penalty shout was missed when David Silva appeared to be taken down inside the 18-yard box. Later in the match, Gaël Clichy was sent off, and Joleon Lescott was called for a handball.

Chelsea’s 2-1 victory was reminiscent of recent Blues wins against Manchester United. For all of Chelsea’s character and experience, it appeared that once again they had been the beneficiary of several controversial officiating decisions. However, Chelsea’s positive relationship with match officials in England is a recent development. After all, this is a club that was the victim of the single worst officiated game in recent memory, the 2009 UEFA Champions League semifinal 2nd leg against Barcelona. Prior to that Champions League semifinal, Chelsea often found itself to be on the wrong end of a number of decisions domestically or when facing Liverpool in European competition. The Blues also were faced with hostility from the press, opposing fans and elements within the game due to their fortune at having been the beneficiary of a big money takeover.

The discussion of Chelsea is not simply a digression from the topic of Manchester City circa 2011 as much as it is a focus on where the Citizens may be headed. Chelsea bore the brunt of resentment by both supporters of entrenched clubs and those who supported smaller sides in the 2003 to 2009 time period. This resentment ultimately led to a degree of skewed media coverage against the Blues and in several cases questionable officiating decisions. While some may question whether this actually happened, I see the narrative repeating itself in the form of Manchester City.

Victimization among football club supporters is a complex that develops slowly but in many cases for good reason. As an example, Leeds United fans, unruly as they tend to be, had good reason to believe their club was being unfairly targeted after the 1973 UEFA Cup and 1975 European Cup Finals, both of which saw the Whites defeated by dubious officiating decisions in major continental finals.

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea took the victimization complex, which justifiably was permeating the Blues supporters’ base and club hierarchy, and channeled it into brilliance on the pitch. The Chelsea side under Mourinho’s leadership won six major domestic trophies in just three seasons.

Now, Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City team is feeling the pinch much like Chelsea did in the early Mourinho era. But does City have the character and will to respond in a similar fashion?

Chelsea pre-Mourinho had emerged as a top tier club. Despite some awful times in the 1980s, Glenn Hoddle revolutionized the way Chelsea played and the types of players they signed in the mid-1990s. Cup successes followed and while the Blues had not won the league in five decades, the club was more established than Manchester City was when Mancini took over in December 2009.

But following FA Cup success in 2011, and an unprecedented offensive outburst in the first few months of the 2011-12 season, it appeared City was now among England’s “elite.” Nonetheless the reality is nothing comes easily when trying to overturn an established order and City are not only outsiders, but unlikeable outsiders due to the heavy spending of the club’s Abu Dhabi based ownership group.

Despite media assumptions to the contrary, Manchester City does not have a particularly deep squad . Were the Citizens to have faced an injury crisis similar to Manchester United or Arsenal at any point this season, their title chances could simply have been written off, and Champions League qualification would likely be in doubt.

The departure of the Toure brothers (particularly the influential Yaya Toure) for the Cup of African Nations coincided with a dip in form, a controversial suspension to club captain Vincent Kompany, an injury to David Silva, another suspension to Mario Balotelli and elimination from both domestic cup competitions. Simply put, Manchester City has not been able to overcome most of the adversity they have faced since that loss to Chelsea. The title credentials of City’s starting XI are unquestionable. But the squad lacks depth, and to this point in the season a degree of resourceful character needed to win a title.

Carlos Tevez’s continued transfer saga hangs over the club at this time of remarkable adversity. Mancini’s side, bereft of proper squad depth to compete for the title, is further thrown into turmoil by the spectre of a player who last suited up for the club in September and is advised by one of the most disreputable men hovering around English football. Yet, when given the opportunity to cut the club’s losses, City rejected a generous swap with Liverpool for the under-performing Andy Carroll, a player that despite his recent poor form could really help the Citizens hold off United in the title race, by adding valuable depth and a target man on set pieces.

The challenge for Roberto Mancini with a depleted squad that cannot seem to get the breaks to go their way is to channel his inner Mourinho. The City manager has done a great deal of whining in the press the past several weeks. What he has not seemed to be able to accomplish yet is the mentality Chelsea had between 2004 and 2006. With the deck seemingly stacked against them time and again, Mourinho rallied his side to channel their anger and sense of injustice into winning football under adverse conditions. Chelsea’s manager constantly wound up the opposition, the media and his own team with tales of victimization and unfairness. However distasteful, it worked and Chelsea has remained since an immovable force in English football.

Mancini has proven as City manager to be tactically adept and at least a decent man manager. He has taken a squad with a bloated payroll and substantial ego who were clearly underachieving under Mark Hughes and delivered City’s first major trophy in 35 years as well as a top 3 finish. But overtaking Manchester United and the post Mourinho Chelsea are substantially more difficult than eclipsing Arsenal and Liverpool, as Mancini is now learning.

In context it is difficult to imagine another club captain of a top of the table side being sent off and suspended the way Kompany was for a questionable challenge in the FA Cup versus Manchester United. The Citizens dropped a controversial New Year’s Day decision to Sunderland on a clear offside goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Following a first leg Carling Cup semifinal loss largely due to injuries and suspension (David Silva was injured, Kompany suspended) penalty decisions and 50-50 calls all seemed to fall Liverpool’s way in the second leg at Anfield. Instead of rising above the adversity, Mancini’s Citizens simply melted in the euphoria of the Reds first Wembley trip in sixteen years.

The return of Kompany, the Toure brothers and Balotelli will no doubt help bolster City’s ranks and title hopes. But the key to winning the title for an outsider club as Chelsea proved is psychological belief and a will to overcome perceived injustices. To this point the Citizens have not proven they can replicate Chelsea’s model and until they do, winning the title may in fact be a bridge too far.

Take any Premier League match and there will often be one or more crucial calls made in a game by the referee that will be incorrect and, sometimes, will sway the final score of the match. Whether it’s the correct or incorrect decision to award a penalty for Liverpool after Micah Richards handled the ball, or a stamp that goes unnoticed by the referee, or a lunge that was correctly or incorrectly penalized with a red card, the catalogue of questionable decisions is a mile long.

Practically every collision and goalmouth incident is scrutinized so closely on television. The incidents are played over and over again, in slowmo and from different camera angles. Oftentimes, if you’re like me, when I first see an incident, my reaction will be to call it one way — either a foul or not a foul, a goal or a not a goal, etc. Then I’ll see a different camera angle, and I’ll agree that my first reaction was a correct one. But then the devils that are those production people will show me a entirely different camera angle and I’ll completely change my mind. This happens so often that I’ve lost count.

For once, in an upcoming high profile football match — take, for example, this Saturday’s early kick-off between Liverpool and Manchester United in the FA Cup — I’d love it if the FA and TV networks took part in an experiment. For one match only, all slowmo and replays will be banned. All we’ll get to see in the match is the game itself, played in real-time without the opportunity to see key incidents replayed.

It would be incredibly frustrating, right? We’d be itching to see that key moment again to second guess whether what we thought we saw indeed actually happened.

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the world of referees. Not aided by any video technology, the referee and his assistants can only make decisions by what they see in real-time. They don’t have the luxury to see it again. For once, we would be on a par with the ref. They would have the advantage of being on the actual pitch, but depending on their position on the pitch compared to our camera angle, the referee and his team wouldn’t always have the best vantage point for seeing incidents.

Maybe then we’d have a greater appreciation of the difficult job that referees have, and how it’s completely unfair that we have so many more advantages over referees of seeing the incidents over and over again on our TV sets while the refereeing teams have nothing.

By the way, I believe Phil Dowd’s decision was a correct one tonight. Having said that, I can see both sides of the argument. When something like that happened tonight, a referee can’t win. If he hadn’t called a penalty, the home crowd would have put him under so much pressure because he didn’t award a penalty when Richards obviously handled the ball. But from City’s perspective, he didn’t have an opportunity to get his hands out of the way. No human can attempt to throw his body and try to block a shot by not using his arms to balance himself, like Richards did. That the ball hit is hand was purely accidental, but like I said before, if Dowd had not awarded a penalty, the fans (and any home fans) would have been baying for his blood.

Manchester City, Mario Balotelli and his agent are all angry that Balotelli has been slapped with a four match ban by the English FA for stomping on Tottenham Hotspurs midfielder Scott Parker. Balotelli, his club and his agent would have us believe that his boot ended up in Parker’s head solely by accident and the player is simply being persecuted by the FA simply because he is Balotelli.

I agree with Balotelli and his supporters that the FA erred in its decision to hand him a four match ban. In fact, the ban should have been longer. It is about time that football associations everywhere confront the issue of violent conduct against players by other players on the field of play. Had Mario Balotelli’s foot come down directly on Scott Parker’s head it could have resulted in very serious injury to the Spurs player. Thankfully, that was not the case.

We call football the beautiful game and for good reason. However the beauty is slowly being taken away by the beasts of the game and that should not be allowed to continue. The creative artistry of the playmaker is slowly being squeezed out of the game by ultra defensive tactics spearheaded by skill deficient midfield enforcers whose sole role on the field of play is to chop down opponents of class and skill.

Hard tackling midfielders who break up plays and get their own teams offence started are not the issue here. Patrick Vieira, during his heyday at Arsenal, was the quintessential midfield hard man, but he was a wonderful box to box midfielder who did it all, as was Roy Keane at Manchester United and Claude Makalele at Chelsea — even though he was not blessed with the skill of Vieira and Keane.

Football fans pay good money to watch the Messi’s, Ronaldo’s, Silva’s, Mata’s and Suarez’s dazzle us with their skill, even when they are playing against the teams we support. The real football fan appreciates class and artistry no matter who the player or for whom he plays a fact exemplified by Madridistas in November 2005 inside the Bernabeu when they gave a standing ovation to Barcelona’s Ronaldinho for his breathtaking display even though that display condemned Real Madrid to a 3-0 defeat in el Clasico.

Clubs are supposed to back their players however, when a player intentionally sets out to hurt another player, a line must be drawn. Manchester City should be careful in their stance. After all, its was little over a year ago that Nigel de Jong broke the leg of Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa with a senseless tackle for which he was never sanctioned, neither on the field or off. Their argument that they are being targeted because of the suspensions of Vincent Kompany and Mario Balotelli is therefore baseless.

A cursory look around the Premier League reveals a real lack of creative artistry. Outside of a select few players led by Juan Mata, Luis Suarez, Hatem Ben Arfa, David Silva and a certain Mario Balotelli, the Premier League lacks players blessed with dazzling skill. This situation is however not exclusive to the Premier League and is a blight on all the major European Leagues.

The Premier League must take the lead however and bring the hammer down on what is tantamount to the desecration of the beautiful game. The message must be loud and clear, violent conduct will not be tolerated by any player. Those of us who pay to watch this game of ours understand that we will not see the purists on a regular basis but we are also sure that we do not want to see the likes of Pepe at any time.

Manchester City’s month of January continued to drop like a lead balloon. Craig Bellamy stuffed home the decisive goal at Anfield with just over 15 minutes remaining, and Liverpool set up a Wembley date with Cardiff City in the Carling League Cup Final.

City was playing for yet another game without their standout central defender, Vincent Kompany. The backline proved to be an issue on the decisive goal, as Bellamy worked a give-and-go with Glen Johnson near the penalty spot. Bellamy’s left foot beat Joe Hart, his former teammate at the Manchester club.

Until then, it looked like the Blues would be willing to play a more defensive approach. If Manchester City could have held onto a 2-2 aggregate score until the 120 minute mark, they would have escaped the round on away goal total. Roberto Mancini waited too long to bring on defensive support, and Bellamy took City out of yet another competition.

In the past two months, Manchester City has bowed out of three competitions – the League Cup, the FA Cup (the match against Manchester United where Kompany drew red on a tackle of Nani), and the Champions League. Aside from the Premier League, the only other competition that City can vie for will be the UEFA Europa League.

The match started well for the Reds. They dominated much of the possession early, but the first goal came to the Blues from an unlikely source. Holding midfielder Samuel de Jong took a shot from 22 yards after accepting a pass from David Silva in the 31st minute. The Dutchman’s strike wasn’t completely clean, but it had a hard bend to the left. It eluded Pepe Reina’s reach to the upper right 90 to level the tie on aggregate.

Nine minutes later, Liverpool reacquired the lead on their second penalty of the round. A shot from Daniel Agger deflected off Micah Richard’s extended leg and onto his arm. Referee Phil Dowd pointed to the spot, a call which seemed very unfair since Richards had no time to react and because the deflection would have likely struck his head had his arm been elsewhere. Steven Gerrard’s low penalty to his left left Joe Hart no chance to stop, and the Reds were back up, 2-1.

The score remained 2-1 until City found a way level again in the 67th minute, this time on a low, bending cross from left fullback Aleksandar Kolarov. Silva couldn’t reach the ball on the near post, but Edin Dzeko was attacking from the far side and took care of the chance. That could have been enough to send Manchester City through, but former Blue Bellamy decided the result for the home club.

The Final of the League Cup will occur on February 26th.

Could it be at all possible that Manchester City could be at the center of more criticism? The answer to that is yes, of course, as the “Noisy Neighbors” have a Argentinean striker that seems to have trouble coming to terms with the fact that as a footballer, he must play football. Meanwhile, City play Liverpool today in the Reds’ most important match of the season. Today’s “Daily Ticker” will cover that match, heroics in the African Cup of Nations, as well as the rest of the day’s news, followed by another rant, which may appeal to the Citizens.

Tevez Taxed:

As alluded to above, Manchester City have punished Carlos Tevez for not showing up for training in November. The owners decided that a withdrawal of 9.3 million pounds from the Argentines bank account would be appropriate punishment for the man who refuses to play. Tevez’s decision not to play in the Bayern Munich match was the last straw for him. City have stated that they are open to selling the player at the right price, because as we all know they are in deep need of financial support.

Rodallega Ready to Roll?:

Wigan Athletic’s Hugo Radallega may be headed off for bigger and better things in the near future. The striker is all but sure that he will depart from Roberto Martinez’s direction in May when is contract runs out. In a interview with Caracol Radio, Rodallega said, “These are my last three months with Wigan.”

Nigerian Talent Headed for Loftus Road:

Taye Taiwo, AC Milan’s 26 year old right back, has joined Queens Park Rangers, becoming Mark Hughes’ first signing in his time in charge of the promoted club. This should prove to be a fantastic piece of business by the new kid on the block, as the Nigerian international has represented his nation 48 times and the Rossoneri on a few occasion in the Champions League this campaign.

Speaking of Taxes…:

Harry Redknapp is defending himself in court, on accusations that he evaded taxes in his time as Portsmouth manager. Amid the economic downturn, Pompey faced a financial crisis that has up through today. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has condemned the club’s inability to pay up to the government. A “winding up order’ was placed upon the lads at Fratton Park, as the club is frantically searching for new investors.

African Cup of Nations:

Bakaye Traore’s deflected shot was enough to earn Mali victory over Guinea. However, the Guineans bombarded with attack after attack, but just like Liverpool has done all season, they failed to convert, leaving the spoils to Traore’s Mali.

2010 World Cup Quarterfinalists Ghana squeaked by a feisty Botswana yesterday with a 1-0 victory of their own. The Black Stars’ John Mensah was the hero of the day, as the defender’s 25^th minute goal won the match for his nation, but he nearly became the villain, sending his country down to ten men after being sent off with 67 minutes gone.

Today, the Cup of Nations will return to Group A action when Libya face Zambia and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea match up with Demba Ba’s hungry Senegal.

Carling Cup:

Cardiff City 1(1)-0(1) Crystal Palace (Cardiff wins 3-1 on penalties)

The Welsh side is no stranger to Wembley, having been there in recent years to face Blackpool and Swansea. Overwhelming Crystal Palace with a whopping 27 shots and 61% of possession, Cardiff failed to put the visitors away and it took two phenomenal saves from keeper Tom Heaton to see the Blackbirds through to the Carling Cup Final.

Liverpool (1) vs. (0) Manchester City:

Banned Balotelli, Suarez, and Kompany will have to watch from afar as their sides battle for the right to take on Cardiff City. Despite Liverpool’s only goal in the last match coming from the spot, the Reds had ample opportunities to put City away at the Etihad. However, they let those chances slide on by and relied on their defense to ward off City. To their credit, Dalglish’s men picked up the all important away goal to get a leg up on the Citizens come leg two from Anfield

El Classico: Take Umpteen

Over the past year it seems there have been more Real Madrid vs. Barcelona battles than there have GOP debates. Another chapter will be written in the rivalry’s history books and hopefully negative football will not be a part of the battle. While the last El Classico featured Barca’s ability to pick out passes to wide open wing-backs and Pepe’s ability to stir up controversy in cup ties between the two, one would hope this go around will feature a match of football, and an intense tactical battle, as opposed to one in which twenty-two men roll around a field of grass pretending they need to be taken by helicopter to the local hospital.

(Recommendation: Watch Liverpool vs. Manchester City live and save this Spanish match-up for desert.)

The Daily Rant:

Could it be the Daily Rave though? While City have their shortcomings character-wise one must acknowledge their play on the pitch. Not only are the Citizens top of the table, but they have done it in style. Their ability to adapt to different styles of play and their work ethic are without question a perennial attribute of most members of the squad. The midfield has been run by Gareth Barry and James Milner all year and without Yaya Toure, only the Special One would be able to tell us where they would sit in the table. While the above three have played a tremendous role in the team’s success, everything has gone through David Silva. While it may seem obvious, the role of the Spaniard has changed as of late. Last year and early on in the season, Silva was fixed to the left or right side for the entire match. On Sunday, Silva had his coming out party, as he was given Steven Gerrard-like license by Roberto Mancini to roam the pitch. Against Spurs, I would argue that the Citizens played in a 4-3-1-2, with Silva acting as a withdrawn forward. This brilliant tactical development for City will boost creativity and give the side more flexibility, as if it does not have enough already. Should the young Andre Villas-Boas take note? How could he not? City have achieved exactly what he is trying to do with Juan Mata. The winger is a talent that could come more central to influence the game on a larger scale, as Silva has become a classic #10 at City.

In a side that is constantly changing one must also applaud the side for their reaction to in-game tactical audible. In their first Champions League fixture, City faced a counter-attacking Napoli side, which took shape in a 3-4-2-1. When Cavanni scored for Napoli 21 minutes from time, Mancini instantly switched his side into an optimistic 4-2-4. Within five minutes of conceding, the men in sky blue struck. By getting men forward, the lads were able to create a free-kick for Kolarov to hit. In perfect range for the back, he slotted it home with ease to earn City the draw.

Finally, the squad’s side to possess has been amazing. As Steve Nicol put it, they are the kind of team that will put you to sleep and score. The team strung 26 passes together to score one goal against United, in their humiliation of the Red Devils this fall.

After a day to let the occurrences #EpicSunday settle in, it is time for the renewal of the EPL Talk “Daily Ticker.” This makes the site your one-stop-shop for all things Premier League. The day’s news is all here, along with recaps of undermined matches and other happenings around the world of football. A new feature will include my Daily Rant, which should stir up passionate debate amongst you, the readers.

Stamp the Stamping Out of Football:

Mario Balotelli proved that he has no character this past weekend, as he attempted to harm Spurs midfielder Scott Parker with his boot. The controversial Italian’s effort on goal led to him being caught off balance in his side’s win at the Etihad, thus the striker landed awkwardly, however, without a shadow of a doubt, an attempt was made by Super Mario to kick Parker in the head. Shockingly, the FA is attempting to take action against the iPad addicted forward.

Richard Jolly Addresses Balotelli in his latest column.

Not be out done by his teammate, Joelon Lescott could be looking at a four match ban as well. The Englishman threw his elbow into counterpart, Younes Kaboul’s face in City’s victory. What appeared to be accidental, was shown by video replay to be a clear attempt to injure the Kaboul. Needless to say, Balotelli and Lescott were lucky to be on the pitch after 90 minuets.

Not EPL related, but an important issue nevertheless. It will be interesting to see how Pepe’s case influences the English FA. The Spanish FA dropped charges against the ball-winning midfielder on Monday. Real Madrid’s Portuguese midfielder stomped on Lionel Messi’s hand in their 1-2 loss in the first leg of their Copa del Rey showdown. Video evidence will put the RFEF in hot water, as Jose’s man looks down to step over the little Argentine, and purposely steps on the Barcelona star, causing Messi to roll over in pain.

Premier League News:

Frank Lampard will not play against QPR when the two London outfits meet in the FA Cup, due to a calf injury. Lamps has been spotted with bandages around his left leg, as a small tear to the muscle in question has been confirmed by the team’s medics. The Chelsea man suffered the injury in the Blues’ match against Norwich at the weekend.

Robin van Persie claims that himself and manager Arsene Wenger have a sturdy relationship after the #10 displayed his outrage and disbelief that Alexander Oxlade-Chamberlain would be replaced by Andrei Arshavin. Just when the 18 year old could have helped Arsenal to victory, Wenger took the player off due to a high amount of lactic-acid in the player’s system. Arshavin was clearly a poor replacement for the Ox, as his dreadful defending led to Danny Welbeck’s 81st minute winner for Manchester United.

The man who revived Tottenham Hotspur from the bottom of the Barclays Premier League to Champions League football is being tried for not paying up his fair share to the government. His time at Portsmouth has come into question, as ex-Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric, allegedly dropped a cool $295,000 in a Monaco bank account. According to reports, the two were stuck behind bullet-proof glass today, so at least Redknapp is invincible, unlike his team’s form under pressure.

Transfer News:

Carols Tevez is still wanted by A.C. Milan.

Queens Park Rangers have failed to reach an agreement with Sau Paulo prodigy Henrique. The Brazil U-20 was not granted a work permit, due to the fact that he has not yet been capped by his country

African Cup of Nations: 

Stateside, we have no legal access to the competition, which has sent shockwaves across the football world. To the day, host countries Equatorial Guinea and Gabon have pulled off stunning wins, while Zambia defeated a highly confident Senegal side, which includes Newcastle’s Demba Ba. The Ivory Coast got by Sudan with a 1-0 victory, as the “Golden Generation” had a rough start on their journey towards silverware. Yesterday, Tunisia defeated Morocco 2-1 in a western African derby. Today’s action features the Black Stars of Ghana facing Botswana and Mali taking on Guinea, before the 2nd round of the group stage commences.

The Daily Rant:

Surprise, surprise, my first victim is Mario Balotelli, and I’m sure if he were reading this piece, he would ask, “Why Always Me.” Well, Mr. Anti-Bully, you are the most hypocritical, insane player in all of English football. Antics are one thing, but negativity is another. A recent comment on the site criticized EPL Talk for not writing positive articles on Manchester City. However, are writers supposed to encourage stamping on the head of the industrious Scott Parker, or should we applaud him for arrogantly standing at the spot with his arms spread, after he scored a goal, he should never have been on the pitch to finish. The explosive striker (pun-intended) is only hurting Manchester City. He has taken away from the clubs integrity. Now below, I am sure all the City backers will respond by saying, who cares what he has done off the field, but rather that he has scored at important times against United and Spurs. However, Mario Balotelli is a professional footballer. Note that the word professional is in the job description. Is attempting to harm others adequate behavior? I think not. If I were to do what Balotelli has done at my school, I would never walk into that building again. City has talent. They do not need Balotelli. He is a virus. So City supporters, are you ready to bite the bullet and focus on long term success and a happy squad, or do you maintain the speeder is your savior?

Two nil down to City, most teams would have bitten the dust and collapse, but Spurs showed an undying belief to fight back. This isn’t the Spurs team of years ago; this is Redknapp’s team, full of hard running and energy. They were unlucky to lose to a spot kick in the 94th minute, especially conceding it to a player who should have been sent off. They will feel hard done by, but their performance showed they can mix it with the big boys. Eight points behind isn’t a mountain to climb, given the nature of the Premier league this season and with a bit of luck on their side, Spurs’ can overcome the Manchester clubs.

…while Arsenal were never in it.

And aren’t going to be in for a long time, it seems. Manchester United versus Arsenal always had a prestige to it, now it clear of the distinct gap between the two sides and Arsenal can no longer really be considered a force anymore. If this season was a one-off, you can cite a number of reasons, but the fact that we’ve seen this Arsenal team before over the last six seasons, suggests that despite Wenger’s constant comments that the team is progressing; they haven’t and aren’t going too either. A lack of quality players; an unorganised backline; no plan B and possibly no Champions League next season (they are five points behind Chelsea) expect them to fall a little further unless major changes are implemented.

City’s lack of depth is noticeable

For all the talk of Manchester City having a team filled with unquestionable depth, there is a clear indication that the Sky Blues are reliant on a handful of players. Vincent Kompany’s absence is especially noticeable with City’s defence looking less resolute without him and either Lescott or Savic living up to standards. The same goes for the frontline: City need Balotelli or Aguero to be firing at all times, with Dzeko blowing cold more often than hot. Finally, the lack of a midfield presence in Yaya Toure cannot be ignored. The Ivorian offers everything: hard running, a fierce combative nature, an eye for attacking flair and a defensive resoluteness.  City were missing his presence against Spurs and they will be hoping he returns from Africa, ready to go.

United will be fighting to the end.

Much like last season, there was a distinct lack of world-class quality in the United team. Apart from Wayne Rooney, United don’t have the players of yesteryear, instead focusing on young players and a few experienced individuals to lead them. Last season, they won the title not because of the quality of the side, but rather because they wanted it more. They fought tooth and nail; never giving up, believing they could win in any situation. And just like last season, they are doing it again. Sir Alex has moulded the squad with a winning mentality, doing what it takes to win. They dominated the first half against Arsenal and after the Gunners drew level, you thought the momentum had swung, but United, true to their fashion, fought harder and took the lead. 2-1, 3 points and still in the race. Expect them to fight to the end.