De Terriër

De Jong

I am of the belief that there is not single player currently in the Manchester City squad that is of more importance that this man. Given the way he’s used sparingly in cup competitions or when he’s close to picking up a suspension for yellow cards I think Mancini agrees!

This is quite a bold statement given that De Jong’s role in the team can polarise opinion even amongst fellow City fans (should such a defensive player still be on the pitch when we’re chasing a goal was one such comment the ill informed Chris Waddle threw in his direction).

Had Mr Waddle watched City with any intensive purpose this season (or indeed, during our defeat to Villa) he would have realised that De Jong is much more than just a ball winning midfielder, he’s the anchor that keeps some form of semblance and structure to our midfield. This is a man that has much more in his locker than winning the ball and in this man’s opinion is only bested by Silva and Tevez in his ability to retain it.

De Voorbijganger

Due to the position De Jong plays in the City midfield it’s easy to think of him as just a tackler, somebody to ruffle to the feathers of the opposition, somebody to get the ball back and quickly make a 5 yard pass to somebody more comfortable in possession.

That’s quite a stereotypical view of defensive midfielders in general though and is far removed from the truth in the De Jong. For all his snarling, bone-crunching tackling and aggression there’s something much more to De Jong’s game that isn’t picked up on in the media and it’s this weapon in his armoury that makes him such a vital cog in the City machine.

De Jong has a wonderful range of passing, he isn’t just a player that gives the short easy ball but is quite comfortable at switching the ball from flank to flank, playing the side rule ball to slip in the overlapping full back and having as close to humanely possibly to 100% pass completion ratio in the 15 yard pass to David Silva.

De Misdadiger

As De Jong is one of my favourite players, I find it quite annoying that De Jong is lucked upon as a violent thug. Sure, he has characteristics that could make him a thug (short, stocky, skin, head, Dutch – he’s sounding like the medical dictionary definition of somebody with short-man syndrome) but that’s just not the case. It’s obvious, in my eyes, that De Jong loves playing football, he always plays with a smile and you’re more likely to find him playing peace maker than agitator.

His tackle on Ben Arfa earlier this season caused much controversy, but it was obviously unintended. Not even a yellow card was produced and sitting in the 1^st tier of the East Stand there was debate at the time as to whether or not it was even a free-kick! If anything the only thing De Jong can be found guilty of is over-enthusiasm rather than anything sinister. He is the benchmark for how to channel aggression in all the right ways in my mind.

It’s obviously sad that such a talented player is missing for the best part of the whole season, however I’m still very much of the opinion that it wasn’t De Jong’s tackle that caused Ben Arfa’s injury, it was Ben Arfa’s hesitance to challenge for the ball that caused Ben Arfa’s injury.

De Doel

When De Jong finally does score for City I hope it’s a home game. If it’s at CoMS that his goal eventually comes then the roof will come off. He’s come pretty close in recent weeks to breaking his duck; firstly the 1 on 1 chance that was spurned against Leicester in the cup and then the 25 yard shot against Villa that was somehow deflected onto the post.

Our stocky midfield dynamo will score soon, and when he does it’s likely to set a new benchmark on the decibel counter.

De Kapitein

In my opinion Carlos Tevez should not be captain of Manchester City. For all the traits Carlos does have that would other wise make him an enamoured leader, speaking English doesn’t appear to be one of them. Communication is the pivotal attribute that’s needed to be an effective leader and I’m not sure Carlos can communicate effectively if at all with the majority of his colleagues.

If we remove Carlos from the captaincy that only leaves two (three at a push) candidates in my eyes. The ‘push’ is actually the most obvious in many peoples views and that’s Kolo Toure. Toure is not an option for me, if Mancini strips Tevez of the captaincy and gives it back to Kolo then that’s a major step back, it also means he’s hamstringing himself by having to play a centre half that was has had a major resurgence in form after losing the additional pressures of that accompany the role.

Kompany is real candidate #1. Probably the most intelligent, articulate and respected member of the City dressing room (it’s hard for anybody to say a bad word about something that spends their free time playing Pro Evo and Football Manager though) many have already touted Kompany as captain of the future. I don’t agree with that, Kompany should be captain of the here and now. I wonder if Clark Carlisle would still feel quite intelligent after a game of scrabble with our Vincent? I’ve always been a lateral thinker, I don’t just see Vincent as a future captain, that’s the obvious, I think there’s a real chance Kompany could be manager of our club in the future if he so wishes.

De Jong is candidate #2. If Tevez does indeed leave in the summer as many expect; then these are the two players Mancini needs to deliberate between when deciding who is the captain for next year’s campaign. Regardless of which one of the two he chooses, I think we’re in good hands.