City 4 - 0 Swansea: 5 Thoughts

Sergio Aguero will undoubtedly grab the headlines, and deservedly so. It was as stunning a debut as I can remember: some thirty minutes that coincided with some wonderful team play, fluid, pacy and incisive and of course he came away with an assist and two goals - one a wonderful long range effort. The situation was tailored made for him as City had taken the lead after a sustained period of pressure, Swansea were tiring and the injection of pace and spark he brought to the side saw City steamroller their way to victory. What was particularly impressive was the way he linked not only with David Silva, but with Edin Dzeko too. I doubt we see him on the bench again any time soon.

Talking of Edin Dzeko, the Bosnian looked sharp tonight. I had concerns when the team was announced that the team was announced (i.e. without a second striker in Mario Balotelli) that he may struggle (as we saw at times last season) as the lone man. No such worries though as he linked well with not only with Adam Johnson and David Silva, but Yaya Toure, who was again in that advanced role that Roberto Mancini deployed him in towards the end of last season. Dzeko looked sharp, mobile and confident - something that will continue if maintains goalscoring form.

Yaya Toure. Simply put he was once again immense. Playing in that advanced role puts a lot of responsibility on his shoulders: maintaining his midfield presence but also linking with Dzeko and the attack. Fortunately his engine is such that he can combine both roles seemingly with ease and his presence is a vital one in the formation that Mancini deployed tonight. How good was his contribution to both defence and attack? Check out his stats: Passing 41/48 (85%), 9 shots, 1 assist, 3/4 tackles, 7/10 possession , 1/1 aerial duels, 1 interception.

The fluidity of the side was telling. The first twenty minutes or so City really struggled with their rythmn and it was a stuttering start to the game as Swansea were content to pass the ball around and enjoyed the lions share of the ball. The 4-5-1 looked disjointed (as often the case when Carlos Tevez was absent last season) but City found their feet and grew as the game progressed. Evident then was quite how comfortable players are in switching positions, inter-changing with one another and dominating the play; all without the side missing a beat. Impressive stuff.

A few words on Swansea. They were impressive over the first twenty minutes or so, but as impressive as Scott Sinclair looked he had little support around him. Yes, they play nice enough football but tired quickly against City's physical superiority (it was telling quite how much of an advantage City had in this regard) and although it was a tough start to the season, it was evidence enough as to how difficult the season ahead will be.