Friday 20 February 2015 18:03, UK
Jamie Redknapp believes Manchester City should let new signing Wilfried Bony loose as soon as possible to keep up their title challenge...
Manchester City’s clash with Newcastle at the Etihad on Saturday Night Football is a must-win for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, and it’s the perfect time to unleash Wilfried Bony.
There has been a lot of talk as to where the Ivorian will fit in, but last year Manuel Pellegrini liked playing 4-4-2 with Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero up front.
In Europe, you may only see Aguero, but since the moment Bony arrived in the Premier League I’ve thought he’s a tremendous player. He has adjusted, is so powerful, brings people into play, can wriggle and score and as a midfielder you feel you can link with him.
Bony is not a snip at £28million but having lost Negredo, Pellegrini had to go out and make this signing. It definitely wasn't a strange one for me.
He’s a different option to Edin Dzeko, and with the Bosnian the 4-4-2 system hasn’t worked too well this season. I always watch Dzeko and there are times he looks brilliant, but he can also look hit and miss. Bony is a little bit more consistent, more of a goalscorer and will take the pressure off Aguero.
The problem for City has been the home form. They’ve picked up 10 fewer home points than Chelsea this term, and nine fewer than they picked up at the Etihad at this point last season.
They don’t have a great deal of width; full-backs Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov have not been at the same high level this year, and the bad run they’ve had of late coincides with Yaya Toure being out.
Toure makes a difference, he has five winning goals this season, and when opposition teams see Fernando and Fernandinho, you know they won’t hurt as much.
They’ll keep the ball 25 yards out, pass it side-to-side, but Toure will take the ball past four players and can score from 25 yards. That’s the difference, and it takes all the pressure off David Silva.
But City have problems at the back, and it's not like they have no defensive guard. Fernando and Fernandinho played against Arsenal and they still looked like giving away plenty of chances.
Vincent Kompany has had his injuries this season, but he has struggled with them for years and has still come back strong.
This year his confidence is really low, and when the leader in the team is lacking belief it rubs off on the rest of the players. Newcastle will believe that City will give them chances.
When you go to a place and lose, three, four or 5-0 a few years on the spin you really don’t want to go back. But City had a decent team out when Newcastle beat them 2-0 earlier in the season in the Capital One Cup fourth round, their first win at the Etihad in 12 attempts. Despite being a mid-table team, they show glimpses. This won’t be straightforward.
Jamie Redknapp is predicting a 2-1 Manchester City win at 15/2 in his Sky Bet Tips.
