Ranking and Grading Man City's Players on Champions League Performances So Far
Manchester City seem determined to miss out on qualifying for the knockout stage of the Champions League, even if their colleagues in Group E have conspired to keep City's hopes (barely) alive.
Despite earning only two points through four Group E matches, City are not mathematically out of contention for the second qualifying spot in the group. But they need to beat Bayern Munich and AS Roma, and they would still need other results in the group to fall in their favor to survive.
At oddschecker.com, City's chances to survive Group E are worst of the three remaining combatants. Roma are heavily favored to join Bayern Munich (already through) in the knockout round.
What happened to City's 2014/15 Champions League dreams? Maybe these grades and ranking will help to explain.
All statistics taken from ESPNFC.com.
19. Frank Lampard
1 of 19
Even if Frank Lampard never scores another goal in a Manchester City shirt, the one he scored against Chelsea in Premier League play this season will be an indelible moment.
As for the Champions League, though, Lampard has yet to create a moment of any kind. He made one appearance against Roma, coming on for Edin Dzeko in the 57th minute and mustering one shot on target.
Had Lampard stayed healthy, he almost certainly would have figured into City's two ill-fated encounters with CSKA Moscow. But he didn't, and he didn't.
GRADE: Incomplete
18. Bacary Sagna
2 of 19
Bacary Sagna started and finished City's narrow 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. City came within a few minutes of stealing a vital point from mighty Bayern.
Sagna's reward for contributing to such a valiant defensive stand was an excellent seat for the next three matches.
You could understand why City manager Manuel Pellegrini hammered Sagna to the bench if Pablo Zabaleta was in form and irreplaceable. As it is, Sagna probably should have been given another game in this tournament after the Bayern loss.
GRADE: B
17. Eliaquim Mangala
3 of 19
Grantland's Mark Titus spent most of his basketball career at Ohio State University on the bench. His career did not amount to much by way of statistics, but it did yield one lasting concept.
"For those who don’t know, a 'trillion' occurs when a player gets into the game but doesn’t record any statistics, resulting in his box score reading one minute played followed by a bunch of zeros," Titus explained.
Look at Eliaquim Mangala's statistical record in Manchester City's Champions League matches thus far. That should qualify!
GRADE: F
16. Aleksandar Kolarov
4 of 19
The fact that Manchester City missed Kolarov against CSKA Moscow at the Etihad is a greater commentary on how bad Gael Clichy is than how useful Kolarov has been in this tournament.
Kolarov has made one start for City thus far in the tournament. At CSKA Moscow, Kolarov played the entire match and committed the foul in the 85th minute that cost City two points they could really use now.
His appearance against Bayern lasted only a few minutes.
Kolarov almost surely would have played against CSKA Moscow at the Etihad if he had been healthy. That might have helped this grade.
GRADE: D
15. Gael Clichy
5 of 19
On some level it may have made sense to make Clichy and Kolarov a single entry, as their play at left-back has combined to inflict significant damage to City's Champions League efforts.
Clichy has made three starts in the tournament and never really distinguished himself favorably in any of them.
Then, against CSKA Moscow at the Etihad, Clichy negligently attempted a semi-blind clearance through the center of his defensive half of the pitch. Seconds later the ball was behind Joe Hart for what turned out to be the match-winning goal for CSKA Moscow.
My eight-year-old son would not have attempted that clearance in his youth travel team league.
GRADE: D+
14. Samir Nasri
6 of 19
In an ironic twist for a Frenchman, Samir Nasri's City career has been like the weather in England. If you aren't happy with it, wait five minutes and it will change.
Nasri has had extended periods of poor play and injury in his City tenure, but he has also dazzled at times and reminded City supporters of why the Sky Blues paid so much to take him away from Arsenal in the first place.
Unfortunately, Nasri's 2014/15 season appears to be heading toward poor play and injury again.
Nasri has made one start and one substitute's appearance so far in this Champions League season. He has yet to make a difference-making play for City in their Group E matches. That's a shame, since City have already had to deal with injuries to Lampard and David Silva in this tournament.
Nasri was injured for some of those matches, too, but against CSKA Moscow at the Etihad he was healthy and yet still totally ineffective.
GRADE: D+
13. Fernando
7 of 19
Fernando has appeared twice for City in Champions League play this season. Injury has limited him, but in the two matches he played (both against CSKA Moscow) he did not last the full time.
City supporters might have expected Fernando to be a key player, especially when City took the 2-0 lead to the changing room in Moscow and tried to bleed the game away and secure the win. He came off in the 86th minute after the lead was gone.
City keep waiting to see Fernando command the midfield. It is probably too late to make a difference in this tournament.
GRADE: D
12. Fernandinho
8 of 19
Maybe my memory is failing in my older age, but my recollection is that Fernandinho was a really good defensive midfielder last season.
Whether it is a World Cup hangover gone berserk or just rust from losing out to Fernando for playing time, Fernandinho is not a particularly good player right now.
The trajectory of his Champions League play has been tragic. Fernandinho started the first two Group E matches for City, then played a minor role in City's failure to hold a one-goal lead after he came on in the 78th minute in Moscow.
Against the Russian side at the Etihad, though, Fernandinho's role in the loss was massive. The second yellow card he earned was, in its own way, as stupid as the one Chris Smalling picked up against City a few days earlier.
City were a goal down when Fernandinho left the pitch against CSKA Moscow and never seriously threatened to even things up again.
GRADE: D
11. Stevan Jovetic
9 of 19
City could not reasonably expect Sergio Aguero to score enough goals to carry City through Group E on his own. Somebody had to step up and help the Argentine.
Jovetic might have been that somebody but has been hapless in this tournament in the limited time he was on the pitch.
Even though Jovetic has made three appearances for City in Champions League play (one of them a start), he still managed to play only about an hour total. Injuries had something to do with that, but with Jovetic that always seems to be the case, doesn't it?
His wild shot against Roma was memorable, but for the wrong reasons.
GRADE: D
10. Jesus Navas
10 of 19
In baseball, there are five tools by which players are measured: hitting for average, hitting for power, running, fielding and throwing.
Five-tool players (think Mike Trout) are most coveted, but you can be a really valuable player with just one tool if that one tool is exceptional enough (think Chris Carter).
For City, Navas is a one-tool player on the pitch. He cannot shoot, he cannot defend, he is not a great passer and he is too small to do anything in the air. What he does is run really fast and launch crosses from the wings. That's about it.
Against Queens Park Rangers and their ilk in the Premier League, Navas can do that and be productive, because even if those lesser sides know what Navas is doing, they lack the quality to stop it.
But Navas is not a special player in the Champions League, as his line of one shot (not on target), no goals and no assists in four appearances (three starts) will attest. Navas is just another guy in the Champions League.
GRADE: D+
9. Martin Demichelis
11 of 19
In fairness to Demichelis, nobody expected him to have to start three of City's first four matches in Group E.
When City bought Mangala, the expectation was that the younger, stronger man would relegate Demichelis to a bench role. But Mangala has been so awful that Pellegrini had no choice except to take his chances with Demichelis.
The Argentine is another year older and isn't getting any faster or any better.
Demichelis was late covering for Vincent Kompany against Roma, leading to the equalizer that cost City two points.
He is not City's biggest problem, for sure, but he is not much of a solution either.
GRADE: C-
8. Edin Dzeko
12 of 19
Take everything written about Jovetic here earlier, subtract the bit about being injured and factor in about thrice the playing time and you might as well be talking about Dzeko.
Poor Aguero is running 1,000 miles per hour, while Dzeko and Jovetic show all the urgency of transit bus drivers on the pitch.
Strikers are only useful when they are scoring goals. Dzeko has taken nine shots, but only two of them have been on target.
Dzeko is a big reason why pundits repeatedly say City "cannot solve the Champions League puzzle," as Phil McNulty put it for BBC Sport.
A goal or three from Dzeko in this tournament could have made all the difference for City.
GRADE: C-
7. Vincent Kompany
13 of 19
"When no one believes anymore it's my role to still believe. Thanks for the great support today," Kompany tweeted in the aftermath of City's 2-1 home loss to CSKA Moscow.
That's fine "captain speak" and all, but what City's supporters would really like to see is some more capable defending and some real leadership from Kompany in Champions League play.
The last two City results against CSKA Moscow in this tournament saw Kompany whining and complaining to the officials about calls City did not get. When was the last time you saw the captain of a great side do that in consecutive matches in the same group stage?
City lost leads against Roma at home and away to CSKA Moscow and could not hold draws at Bayern or at home to CSKA Moscow. If Kompany were playing great at centre-back, at least two of those results would have held for City.
For that matter, as Richard Jolly tweeted, "Man City have had 4 red cards in their last 6 CL games (Demichelis, Zabaleta, Toure, Fernandinho)." Who is running this show, anyway? Whatever Kompany is saying to these guys is apparently not getting through.
GRADE: C-
6. Pablo Zabaleta
14 of 19
By now you have probably noticed that we are on the sixth-ranked City player for this season's Champions League run so far, and no one is better than a C-. We are not grading on a curve here.
Zabaleta has made three starts and finished all three of those matches. Considering that his teammates are alternately giving up cheap goals or getting themselves sent off, Zabaleta's consistently mediocre play in this tournament distinguishes him.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, or something like that.
GRADE: C
5. Yaya Toure
15 of 19
Please know that I do not enjoy ranking Toure this highly any more than you appreciate seeing him here. But again, when you are dealing with an underachieving, insufficient club like City in this tournament, it just does not take much for a player to be better than his teammates.
City have scored four goals in four Champions League matches, and Toure has one of them. His free kick against CSKA Moscow was a very important goal in that it leveled the score. Granted, he sort of owed it to City to do so since he was asleep on Seydou Doumbia's first goal, but whatever.
Toure's decision to get himself thrown out of the match with his team down a goal and a man already against CSKA Moscow at the Etihad was shameful and selfish, but by then the die was more or less cast.
City needed Toure to be much more in this tournament, but he has not been what they needed. Then again, he has played every minute he was eligible to play. If Toure is playing that poorly, why is Pellegrini leaving him out there?
On second thought, don't answer that.
GRADE: C
4. David Silva
16 of 19
Silva is injured now and thus missed out on City's match with CSKA Moscow at the Etihad. City, as always, missed Silva terribly.
The Spaniard's statistical line is fairly barren, but in his case the numbers really are lying. There is not a statistic for the penalty he should have earned against Bayern, his near miss against Roma in the closing stages or the through-ball he played to Dzeko in Moscow that led to Aguero's goal.
If the rest of Silva's teammates were matching his level of effort in this tournament, there is no way City would be in the predicament they are in now.
GRADE: B+
3. James Milner
17 of 19
It is something of a cosmic joke that City employ both Nasri and Milner, since the two could not be more opposite.
Put aside that Nasri is French and that Milner is English (if you can). The main differences are that Nasri is preternaturally gifted and tries only when he feels like it, while Milner is far less skilled but much hungrier and more consistent.
In this tournament, Milner might be one of four Sky Blues who can look everyone in the changing room dead in the eye and say that he has given everything he has to the cause.
Playing 11 James Milners would not yield exciting football, but it is not hard to imagine that 11 James Milners might have more than two points through four Group E matches.
GRADE: A-
2. Joe Hart
18 of 19
Remember when Hart wasn't good enough to start over Costel Pantilimon last season? Yeah, that was a funny time, right?
Those days are over with a capital "O."
Hart has given up six goals in the tournament thus far. Let's go over them:
- Deflected Jerome Boateng strike against Bayern
- Semi-breakaway goal by Roma's Francesco Totti
- Seydou Doumbia strike from six yards in Moscow
- Bedras Natcho spot kick in Moscow
- Doumbia unmarked header at the Etihad
- Doumbia semi-breakaway at the Etihad
Would you fault Hart for any one of those goals? Me neither. Hart has not been shaky; the 10 in front of him have been wretched.
GRADE: A-
1. Sergio Aguero
19 of 19
You hardly need me to tell you that Aguero has been City's best player all season and their best player in the Champions League.
He has half of City's goals in the tournament, and if City had been awarded the penalties they rightfully earned, Aguero would probably have two or three more.
The best way to put Aguero's performance in perspective is this: If, after City fail to survive Group E, City's roster were made available to Bayern Munich or Roma, would any City player other than Aguero start for either of those clubs? My answer is "hardly not."
GRADE: A+
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