Maybe it’s Cancelo and all those English right backs breathing down his neck.That was not my intent
Now that you mention it...
He had a mediocre 2018-19 season so he's probably due for some sort of correction
Manchester City 19/20 season
- Thread starter Gentleman Jim
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Have you never watched Walker before? The main reason he's managed to play for clubs like City and Spurs is because of his ridiculous athleticism.
Watched him many times since he was in the England youth teams but he’s looked even a level beyond what I’ve seen before from him this year. Incredible.
Is David Silva being benched by Pep because he favors B. Silva? Or is he coming off an injury or something?
On transfermarkt site his contact is listed to end at the end of this season. Are they letting him go?
On transfermarkt site his contact is listed to end at the end of this season. Are they letting him go?
Yes this will be his last season with Man City, a mutual agreement I believe
Just think he wanted more midfield security.
David Silva started the last game.
David silva himself came out and said this would be his last season at Man City in the summer.
Ah, I didn't know this. Any reasons why he's leaving?
We are still yet to see them do something special in europe. They probably are favourites on paper for it this year but they never seem to impress when playing european clubs imo.
Interestingly, Pep's City only lost to a continental team once and that was Pep's first season. The other 2 times they got knocked out by English clubs: Liverpool and Spurs.
City really don’t think the rules apply to them
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...uest-extra-winners-medals-Premier-League.html
I’m sure they could just make copies with the sale of a few more hundred barrels and not tell the players
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...uest-extra-winners-medals-Premier-League.html
I’m sure they could just make copies with the sale of a few more hundred barrels and not tell the players
While it makes sense to bring an English + Experienced 3rd Choice Goalkeeper, surely it would have made more sense to buy-back Gunn (or sign someone like Butland or Pickford), have them as 2nd choice GK and demote Bravo to 3rd choice? Because its clear to see that Ederson needs to be facing stronger competition than Bravo if he is to prevent making the sort of stupid mistakes which (alongside their inability to finish their chances and their failure to properly replace Kompany) cost them a win against Spurs recently.
Zinchenko is not really a Full Back though...
While having Fernandinho as a CB is not that bad an idea (the trouble is if he is tall enough to be a decent CB), they still needed to get another CB since Fernandinho is still needed to provide competition/depth for Rodri.
The only time he has actually played at CB was as part of a Back 3/5 for England in 2018, so unless Pep is going move towards such a backline (which they might have to anyways with Sane being injured), its a bit of a risk putting him in a Back 4.
Surprised Man City didn't sign another winger in response to it, especially since B.Silva needs to be moved to CM as well.
Nothing stopping him playing in place of D.Silva (in such a formation) from time to time, especially if D.Silva is going to be playing less.
To be fair, Man City have been acting a lot more stingy of late when it comes to their transfer dealings.Exactly, Pep or money was it?
There are a lot of club's in Europe that could have done with signing him, including ourselves.
For me I would have definitely both of them (alongside the Rodri, Cancelo & Angelino signed that they also made), but I would have (alongside keeping Sane) also signed another Goalkeeper and another CB to directly replace Otamendi. Which would have pretty much completed their squad and put them in a good position to win the CL.
Which goes to show why De Ligt was an fool to have that idiot as his agent, it also explains why Raiola wanted to have a release clause in his contract (so that he can make more money for himself rather than represent his clients best interests, which I don't know is supposted to be the job he has paid to do).
They need to be loaned out (to clubs that will actually develop them as players) to get the game time that they need, rather than be thrown into the lions den when they are not yet ready.
It depends on if they actually want to spend what is needed to get a particular player though, which has cost them when it comes to replacing Kompany.
The trouble is that their other CBs are getting older, their midfield still needs improving and its far from clear if Sarri is willing to play a 3-5-2 formation (which is the best formation for them to play considering the players they have) to get the best out the players he has.
While he wasn't signed by Pep, one can make a strong case for him being the most improved player out the whole team under Pep.
If the Al Nahyan's had bought the right club in Manchester (i.e. ourselves) and had eventually brought Pep to Old Trafford (there was no chance of him coming to the club under the Glazers); we would have dominated the League even after Fergie called it a day, won a fair few CL's to boot and likely kept CR7 at the club.
Hence why I feel that out all the mistakes the Glazers have done in relation to this club, not selling it to them has to be the biggest one.
Shows how competition for places gets the best out of any player. Hopefully the same also applies when it comes to playing for the Three Lions as well.
Didn't Mourinho himself complain about the same thing when he was at Chelsea?City really don’t think the rules apply to them
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...uest-extra-winners-medals-Premier-League.html
I’m sure they could just make copies with the sale of a few more hundred barrels and not tell the players
Regardless my view is that as along as the player has played in at least 1 game in any of the 4 competitions a PL Senior Men's team compete in (PL + CL + FA Cup + League Cup), they should be given a medal for their contribution (however small) in helping that team win the league. Otherwise they should not be given one.
Well Mourinho is also a moaning tart so I’m still not convinced.
I think Pep sees Bernardo as a winger for the time being, especially with Gundogan signing that contract extension. Mahrez, Sterling, Bernardo and even Jesus can play wide so he's probably assuming we're good.
Bernardo is a winger full stop. That's how I see him anyway. He's at his best when he is out wide. Such a skilful player, plays direct and aggressive and is so good 1 v 1. I reckon we might see Cancelo get the odd game on the RW too. Can't imagine Pep has spent that much on him purely to compete with Walker, I'm assuming he has other plans for him. Jesus can do a decent job on the LW but I wouldn't want him there for a full game, he's fine as an option to float out wide during games, perhaps swapping with Sterling in the middle to keep the defence guessing.
Loaned out to who?
Will they play regularly? Will the receiving team play a similar system to City?
Most people give the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton as destinations but those teams have spent considerable money on incoming players and have good prospects of their own to give game time to.
Amazed they didn't sign a centre back. Mangala is no loss but Kompany was a colossus for them.
There didn't seem to be a lot of top CB's on the market this summer except for De Ligt and Maguire who went for silly money.
We have a couple of good prospects who could probably do a job at a push and will get some time in early domestic Cup games plus Pep seems intrigued with the idea of Fernandinho at CB.
We bought Mangala at a time when he and Benatia seemed to be the two best players available and it turned out to be a waste of money. It will be better in the long run to use the resources we have and only buy if there's a player out there at a realistic price who is exactly what we are looking for.
If you want to believe the rubbish they report (Every single LFC article positive whilst all their rivals get negative) then go for it. It's propaganda though.
Their midfield and offence are individually full of world class players but I don't think their defence is. Pep gives them a lot of confidence which is incredibly important in football but I think their defence can be exposed.
They'd have signed both De Ligt and Maguire but for their finances being investigated. Would have been scary to be honest. If Stones improved they'd have the CB position locked down for at least 5 years.
He did actually: https://www.espn.co.uk/football/che...very-chelsea-player-to-get-prem-medal?src=com
Except that Gundogan is likely to be more of a backup to Rodri this season (especially if Pep is going to be playing Fernandinho at CB at times) and Bernando is needed at CM to compensate for the (likely) reduced role that D.Silva is going to play this season.
Judging by the fact that Pep is rotating the ST position between Aguero & Jesus so far this season, I would not count Jesus as an option on the wing (even if he can play there). So there is definately a case for signing Mikel Oyarzabal (the Spanish winger who was linked to City as a Sane replacement) in January considering the release clause he has (which is in City's current price range) and the fact Sane is basically out for the entire season (and will likely take some time to return to his best form next season).
Not saying that is a bad RW (far from it in fact), its just that I feel that he is better as a CM. Similar to how D.Silva & KDB where decent Wingers who turned out to be even better Central Midfielders.
Except the problem of depth is not really at RW, but rather at LW (With only Sterling being able to play there).
Why not? Especially when the price paid for him was the going rate for any sort of decent FB, the fact that Walker last season clearly needed some proper competition for his place (especially when his mistakes midway last season almost cost City the League) and the fact that he and Walker are pretty much the only RB's you have at the moment.
Agreed.
Which is why he (likely) feels he can get away with stupid mistakes like he did against Tottenham in the PL recently (and against the same team in the CL). And for the record I would say the same about De Gea as well (who in his last game help concede a goal from a guy who had scored 2 goals in his 2 seasons before that game...while playing as a striker for the whole time).
Bravo was indeed far better in his second season than he was in his first (and played a big part in them winning the League Cup that season), but despite this fact its clear that Pep would be foolish to drop Ederson in favour of him.
I feel it would make more sense to keep him on loan for a few more years (to develop as a player) instead, besides there is also a chance that Zack Steffen (depending on how well he does at Fortuna Düsseldorf) might end up filling that role himself.
Don't get me wrong, Ederson is certainly one of the best keepers that is out there (only Oblak, Ter Stegen and maybe Neuer & Allison can all can claim to be better than him), but it is clear to me that he needs more competition for his place to reduce the number of mistakes he makes. Because while you cannot entirely remove mistakes altogether (because we are human), there is no excuse whatsoever to be mistakes against the likes of Fernando "Own Goal" Llorente
Because he is needed to take the place of D.Silva (who of course also started out as a winger), that's why. Especially when D.Silva is no longer going to be at City come next season.
Sane is basically out for the whole season (and will be quite some time till he is back to be best), Jesus is needed at ST (and is better as one), B.Silva is needed at CM and it will be several years before Correia will be ready for the first team (asumming he turns out to be good enough). So there is a pretty strong case for City to sign another winger for January, even if Sane ends up staying.
Do you feel that both Eric Garcia and Taylor Harwood-Bellis are ready for Premier League Football? Because while I feel that both of them have a lot of potential, I don't think they are quite ready for that level of football just yet and thus they should be loaned out to a Championship Club playing a similar system to City instead (before looking to play at the top-tier of English Football afterward).
Well the trouble is that (thanks to the vast amount of overinflation in todays transfer market) any CB that anything like (or has the potential to be) decent is going to cost silly money anyway. And regardless of how stingy your club has become (when it comes to transfers) and despite the money the club has spent on defensive players under Pep (which was needed by the way); there was more than enough evidence last season that showed that there was a need to invest in CB this season (heck Laporte's performances alone against Spurs in the CL in both legs is enough evidence).
The fact that Kompany has left and the fact Nicholas "Error Prone" Otamendi still calls himself a Man City player only strengthens the case to invest in this area during January.
Are they going to be challenging for a place against the likes of Laporte, Otamemdi & Stones (in the PL/CL games) though?
He has a lot of the qualities to be a decent CB, the only problems are his height and the fact he's 34.
The problem is though, any prospects at CB that have the potential to be decent are going to costly anyway, that is the reality of the trasnfer market today.
Surely having a defence that can win the CL should be a bigger priority than yet another failed attempt at pleasing UEFA over FFP (honestly at this stage they are better off taking them to court over FFP).
Which hopefully would result in the rest of the Top 6 be more willing to invest in their defence, as well as other clubs being more incentivised to develop defensive players.
That was my point, he was a moaning tart. Very similar to pep
Thanks for confirming.
Thanks for confirming.
Your Welcome!
Wow just seen the Laporte news, real bad luck for him if he has done his ACL. Think that could be a game changer in title race of very small margins.
Of course Man. City will still smash many bottom half teams but going to an Arsenal or Leicester with Stones-Otamendi combo? Both have errors in them as they frequently show playing for their national teams.
Guess they'll put Fernandinho in but he's getting on a bit now and also had his injury problems so dosen't strike me as someone who can play there 20 games up to xmas.
Of course Man. City will still smash many bottom half teams but going to an Arsenal or Leicester with Stones-Otamendi combo? Both have errors in them as they frequently show playing for their national teams.
Guess they'll put Fernandinho in but he's getting on a bit now and also had his injury problems so dosen't strike me as someone who can play there 20 games up to xmas.
Not replacing Kompany was stupid on their part. Now with Stones and Laporte out their down to Otamendi and an out of position Fernandinho. Can see them going for someone like Ake or Dunk in January. Akanji from Dortmund would be a good signing for them.
Stones-Otamendi is suicide against anyone with pacey forwards who press a lot. Obviously Liverpool are the most obvious, but teams like Arsenal, Leicester, Bournemouth and even ourselves could have success against them.
I can’t wait for the movie, it’s like the rocky story of football
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ad-ahead-Paris-Saint-Germain-Real-Madrid.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ad-ahead-Paris-Saint-Germain-Real-Madrid.html
It's the eye of the camel, it's the thrill of the fight...
Manchester City - the little engine that could ... pay for a billion euros worth of players and still not win the Champions League or fill their stadium.
Sheiky could always sell a few and get his money back when he gets bored.
Great Stephen Ireland article in the Athletic, I had no idea he was a single parent at 18
https://theathletic.com/1196206/2019/09/10/stephen-ireland-exclusive/
https://theathletic.com/1196206/2019/09/10/stephen-ireland-exclusive/
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This is going to be a tennis score.
Guardiola never produces a team with a good defense.
Well
still waiting for City to hold serve.Ignoring goals conceded over the last 2 seasons, sure.
3 sets to 2!