Mulumbu's first half against Manchester City in detail...

I just watched the recording I have on my digital box of the game (fast forwarding the bits where the ball goes out of play so it took me about 30mins). Only the 1st half as the debate centred more around that and obviously I didn't have endless amounts of time but it was actually quite enjoyable to see AN's tactics at work in closer detail.

Did Mulumbu constantly/endlessly give the ball away in the first half against Manchester City?

No. He gave the ball away twice with a misplaced pass as reported by various stat outlets. You could argue he was involved in four negative moments if you were being picky. He directly loses the ball 3 times in total from around 20 touches on the ball. Notably the mistakes happen towards the end of the half, which is down to him getting tired, arguably.

The below analysis only looks at Mulumbu on the ball, it was actually a lot of the work he was doing off the ball that impressed me most. In the first half Mulumbu and Tettey cut off a lot of possible passes for Manchester City?s midfielders. It is notable that the highly-rated De Bruyne struggled against us and was notably frustrated at the end of the first half.

I haven?t watched the 2nd half again but if Opta is to be believed then he doesn?t give the ball away again. My feeling as I watched was once Mulumbu got tired, Manchester City found more joy between our defensive and midfield lines.

Anyway here's every touch Mulumbu had in the first half analysed...

1st minute - Mulumbu helps kick off the match and passes the ball back to Tettey

10th minute - Nods a difficult ball down to Tettey

12th minute - Passes it to Howson and gets it back straight away then passes forwards to Tettey who drives forward and passes it to Brady who gives it back to Mulumbu. Mulumbu slips on the ball but doesn?t lose it and passes it to Howson

13th minute - still the same spell of possession, Mulumbu in CM passes to Bassong who knocks it wide to Olsson. Olsson cross is headed out for a corner.

14th minute - From the corner... Tettey has a blocked shot, the ball falls to Mulumbu who hits an excellent pass out to Olsson. Olsson cross almost results in a goal but Bassong can?t connect.

15 minute - Mulumbu controls high ball well in midfield but as he tries to dribble pass Bony he is tackled. He was surrounded by three Man City players so it was difficult for him to get out of the situation. NEGATIVE MOMENT NUMBER ONE

17th minute - Mulumbu receives the ball in the centre circle and lays it off to Tettey. Tettey drives forward and loses it with a poor pass.

18th minute - Good sliding interception by Mulumbu as Manchester City look to move it around the box, ball falls to Ryan Bennett who passes to Tettey. Tettey kicks it straight at a Manchester City player before Mulumbu wins it back and passes it off to Olsson.

21st minute - With superb positioning, Mulumbu blocks a Sanga forward pass. Mulumbu then passes it to Tettey who passes to Jerome who is tackled and Manchester City almost score after Russell Martin goes weakly into a 50/50.

23rd minute - Mulumbu tackles Yaya Toure in midfield and runs forward with it before passing it off to Olsson. Mulumbu perhaps could have been braver with a pass forward rather than back but I think he was trying to keep ball, which he did. Olsson is more positive but ends up giving it away and fouling his man.

26th minute - Mulumbu tackles Toure and it goes for a corner to Manchester City

28/29th minute - Mulumbu holds off De Bruyne who looks set to counter but Mulumbu beats him to the ball, shields it from him and passes it off to Tettey. Intelligent positioning, two weeks ago it probably would have been a goal for the opposition.

29th minute - Mulumbu plays a simple pass back to Ryan Bennett

31st minute - Mulumbu receives ball deep in his own half and lays ball off to Tettey who gives it back to him. Mulumbu then plays a good forward pass to the feet of Jarvis, Jarvis gives it back to Mulumbu. Mulumbu holds off two players and knocks it off to Jarvis who ends up giving it away in a 50/50. This TBF was partly Mulumbu?s fault but he didn?t have much else on. NEGATIVE MOMENT NUMBER TWO.

37th minute - Mulumbu receives ball from Tettey and gives it away with a bad forward pass for the first time in the match. UNSUCCESSFUL PASS NUMBER 1 and NEGATIVE MOMENT NUMBER 3

39th minute - Has to chase a wayward pass from Howson, gets there and knocks it back to Bassong who gives it away with a poor pass in the air forwards, Sagna?s header just evades Mulumbu?s attempted interception. Manchester City break comes to nothing as Navas is caught offside.

40th minute - Receives ball from Bassong in the centre circle and passes it to Olsson on the wing and looks for the return, gets it but then gives it away with a no-look pass forwards. Little excuse for that one and this ends up being his last touch of the half. UNSUCCESSFUL PASS NUMBER 2 and NEGATIVE MOMENT NUMBER 4.

Posted By: Brandonio, Nov 1, 05:42:01