while we are atm top of the table, i wanna remind the fans here, to keep their emotions and expectations in check. 2 very tough away games against 2 teams who are very very beastly at home. mancity this season has been scoring goals for fun, esp at home while jose has nt yet lost at home at the bridge. for me. i will b happy with 2 draws. why if u ask me, i think the 5-0 at spurs was more of a tactical battle where avb's persistence on a defensive high line brought way too many problems esp against players like hendo n suarez n sterling who likes to run behind defenders. the scoreline was way too flattering. i dont see mancity and chelsea doing such blunders esp with defenders who are slower in pace (demichelis,terry).

i wanna say, our defense hasnt look good all season apart from the first few games. cardiff caused us all sorts of problems with direct balls into the box n as mentioned, skrtel was lucky nt to gv away penalties which on another day, would hv been given.

while we always talk about the likes of the "big 4" with ars chels manc manu, dont forget everton who are unbeatan in 10 and newcastle who is on the up. never count out manu n spurs might just turn their season around with today's win against soton.

so, if things dont go our way in the next 2 fixtures, we can easily drop to 5th-7th depending on goal difference and hence i hope everyone to keep their head IF we lose.

also. dont be overly happy thinking suarez will still be with us next season after signing an extension to his contract, if he continues to perform like this till the end of the season and do decently in the WC, i see RM, PSG, and Juve, maybe even ars and chel come knocking for his signature. and if RM fail to win any trophies, the pressure will be on perez to splash again and i dont see luis turning RM down. if we are in top4, n RM comes calling, i'll say its only a 20% chance hes staying.

then again, for now, lets all enjoy the show he and the team put on for us. it has been brilliant. come to think of it, imagine if we did actually turn up against hull and won there. we would definitely be top for xmas.

merry xmas in advanced everyone. cant wait for ars chels tmr and boxing day!

honestly, i didnt expect such a performance from the lads. we did more than enough to get a point. but we couldnt get it. lots of credit to the lads. we looked confident and playing like that at etihad against a team with a PERFECT home record this season is just wonderful.

theres only one thing i'd like to add. after our brief 10-15mins of dominance where we scored the goal, do u feel like the players got a little carried away and enthusiastic ? to concede that late in the first half to a counter attack, away from home, to a top team, i feel showed a huge naivety in the squad without gerrard in there, without carra. we lack a good leader and calming influence imo.

apart from that awful miss, i thought sterling was our mom. pls remember, hes only 19 and he will learn and be better.

a thought also came to me when watching skrtel whom for the past few games been struggling against quality players attacking; caulker, kompany. and next up ivanovic/terry. i wonder, how do we practice defending set pieces ? skrtel is imo the best header we have got, and apart from him maybeeeee sakho ? kolo and agger is decent at most imo. so how does the team prepare to def set pieces or crosses ?

sakho was not that terrible defending. he has been immense defending. its having the ball at his feet that scares me. reminds me of a certain djimi traore. BR likes to play from the back. everyone knows that. from the first time i see sakho on the ball, its obvious hes not very good technically.. i think BR and the scouts has got it wrong in terms of signings this summer. kolo, moses, alberto, aspas,cissokho. none has been a success. missing out on the CL for the past few seasons has hurt us bad.

stoke hasnt lost at home for 6 or was it 7 matches streak currently. so. not an easy match. doubt sturridge will start but should be on a bench. very interested to know how BR sets up the team now with stevie back and hendo still doing very well going forward. if we are to play sas from the start. i think hendo might go to the right of midfield which i feel hinders his running behind defences which has caused havoc and opening spaces for luis.