Nasri and Silva double act shines in a sea of stars

The City kit boss and former Latics stats writes every week for Chron Sport
THESE are, to say the least, exciting times at Manchester City.

It was a joy to watch our 5-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur — a breathtaking display of attacking football if ever I saw one.

Edin Dzeko rightly grabbed many of the plaudits for his four-goal salvo, but debutant Samir Nasri and David Silva were the heartbeat of the team, combining wonderfully at White Hart Lane.

As I said last week, Dzeko appears stronger, fitter and — most importantly — so much more confident than last season. At times he looked like an old-fashioned centre forward, but he also has such good feet and he regularly brings team-mates into play.

We played Spurs away on the opening day of last season and frankly, they battered us. We were lucky to come away with a 0-0 draw.

What a difference it was this time around, leaving North London with three points and five more goals.

You only had to look at our bench to see how strong we have become — Micah Richards, Adam Johnson, Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez are all internationals. And Nigel de Jong, a key man in midfield, was missing through injury.

A quick word for Gareth Barry, too, an unsung hero who covers the pitch for 90 minutes. Nigel has always said Gareth makes his job easier.

With Manchester United battering Arsenal 8-2 and Liverpool still unbeaten, the North-West is leading the way in the Barclays Premier League.

After the international break we entertain Wigan Athletic at the Etihad Stadium, a game we enter full of confidence.


THE new lads at City have settled in well and, as is always the case with footballers, they all have their little quirks and superstitions.
But none compare to Peter Schmeichel. On matchdays he would give me his gloves and instruct me to hide them. No one, including the big Dane himself, was allowed to touch or even see them.

The final part of my mission was then to return the gloves to Peter around 40 seconds before he walked down the tunnel.

He would also insist on shaking his team-mates’ hands in a specific order as they left the dressing room!