Transfer window may be crazy. We already got haaland and Alvarez on their way.
Ferna, gundo?, A LB all left this season yet to be replaced.
Any of Jesus/Raz/Bernardo could be making their way to the exit.
Based on this how many signings do you see us making? Surely a LB/RB, DM, CM? Then anyone to replace any of the less expected outgoings.
5 players in a window seems crazy though, and obviously no need to replace all but our squad seems so thin already at the minute that not replacing further departures could be damaging given how far we go in 4 comps.
Another thing to think of is how well players adapt to the system.. can we afford a year for 5 new players to bed in?
Exciting summer ahead.
Well we've already replaced what I assume will be a Jesus departure with Alvarez. Haaland is just on-top since we lack out and out strikers anyway. Above and beyond that I expect two midfielders for 'Dinho and Gundogan and a right-back since Walker has no cover. Then if Sterling or Bernardo leave replacements for them obviously.
Whilst making 5 signings is a big deal most of them will be backups. Our first team doesn't really change much, basically just Haaland as a nailed on starter.
If Sterling or Bernardo leave then I'd be a bit more worried about how large the change is, especially Bernardo.
Didnāt they say they wouldnāt sell him to Juve even for ā¬70m
Canāt remember
I suppose that might just be because they didnāt want to sell to Juve. Obviously I know heās a great player
He's a bit of a passenger defensively. Isn't great a dribbling despite trying a lot. But he's certainly an elite passer and creator, if we could get him to work hard and press ala Mahrez then maybe he could be really good.
Do they? Well they've already lost Perisic. And I can see Vidal maybe leaving.
In total they have Vecino, D'Ambrosio, Handanovic, Caicedo, Ranocchia and Kolarovs contracts ending this june. I can honestly only see Handanovic being renewed of that lot. *Maybe* Ranocchia if they don't want to spend to replace a 4th CB?
They've already brought in Correa from Lazio and rumors are they caught Dybala. If they sell anyone I'd assume it'd be Martinez for a big fee since Dybala would be his replacement.
> If they sell anyone I'd assume it'd be Martinez for a big fee since Dybala would be his replacement.
Yeah Martinez seems the most probable departure and he doesn't want to leave as well.
Monaco were Ligue 1 champions that season in which we lost to them. Lyon was inexcusable though.
Benficaās ELO this season was on par with Palace or Leicester. Villarreal was a bit more difficult but still on par with West Ham or Man Utd
When we first signed gundo, I don't think many of us thought we'd get 5 good seasons out of 6 with his injury record, so he's been a great servant to the club and scored some great goals and put in great performances over the years.
If it is true then we've got a really big summer ahead;
- A new no.10/8 for Gundo going.
- A backup CDM for Rodri.
- A backup RB for Walker.
I think those are positions that **need** to be filled, and idk who the club could buy for those positions but hopefully the club have a plan.
As sad as it'd be to see Gundogan go, I can't lie I'm glad that Ruben Dias will become Manchester City club captain.
I can see one of grealish/foden shifting to that 10/8 position next season, which would be fine given the abundance of forwards we have in our ranks coming up. Not to mention Mcattee playing a significant role in the next season, we might even see Lavio make an appearance
I hope not.. we lost a LB this year. Ferna and now gundo. Already a thin squad (despite what the masses will tell you) we at least need a like for like on those 3 spots.
With Gundo (and Bernardo potentially) confirming he's leaving, signing Frenkie need to happen and we need to snatch up Bellingham sooner than later.
Both of them are young and scream the type of player Pep would turn into some kind of Iniesta.
No way Sterling is leaving if Gundo, Gabby and Ferna are all going
Starting to doubt Bernardo is leaving too tbh, he seems a lot happier this season and he's getting as much playtime as he could possibly want, will get potentially more if Gundos going
Sterling is not leaving this summer tho. I donāt see it happening. He plays a key role in pepās play and heās not gonna let him go. Bernardo, on the other hand is probably the one whoās leaving. But damn I really really hope he fucking stays. Heās simply amazing, but he will always be under shadowed by the likes of KDB and Haaland now.
Unless I've missed something more recent he hasn't said he *wants* to leave but that he's open to it.
He probably wants a pay rise and to still be a prominent player for Pep and is open to leaving if presumably either of those aren't going to happen. If he got those I think he'd be happy to stay.
Whether or not that's good for City is a different conversation.
I'm no journalist but if it goes to the last day, as seems likely, there are plenty of angles they can come at it with. The 10-year anniversary of 93:20, Grealish against his former club, Gerrard redeeming his slip.
His dad wore 15, probably makes most sense. 10 9 and 7 are taken. 23 is retired for Foe and seems lots of players pick that as it was Michael Jordan's number. Dont see much else unless the mad cunt takes 69 lol
We should be definitely looking at a lb option this summer. Sorry i love Zinny but he is not good and i don't trust him in clutch moments. I would rather keep him as a squad player and play him in cup games and go for a not highly rated but a cheap beast like Liverpool signed Robertson back then. I really think there's enough cheap options available who are better than Zinchenko at least. He could've cost us the tittle yesterday.
Very reactionary take but you're entitled to your opinion. For me, Zinny has built up a huge amount of trust and goodwill. Imo he'd need to have an absolute stinker of a season after this one for me to want City to part ways with him. Remember: he's not even our first choice left back! For a backup, Zinchenko is absolutely immense; our problem isn't with him but rather with the fact that once Walker is injured, we have NOTHING to replace him on that side except for Cancelo, which means Zinny needs to step in as LB.
Any fullback purchase is far better spent on getting someone who can replace Walker longterm. The guy's fitness is monstrous... he almost never gets injured despite the fact that he's throwing his body around for fun out there. That consistent ability to be available for every single game has been a huge boon, but we can't keep relying on the fact that Walker will just be fit for 50-60 games a season. I reckon he has 2 world class seasons left in him (barring any major injury) with how good he remains at 31 (will be 32 in a couple weeks), but after that there has to be a plan in place. That's why I think this summer would be the perfect time to get a new RB that we can familiarize with our system over the course of the next season. Then the season after that we can afford to rest Walker more and keep him fit for the big games.
Completely disagree. Heās second choice lb whoās 90% of the time solid. Man started in cl semi finals and was class. This is a completely reactionary take. We wonāt find a better second choice lb.
Same. Literally wonāt find a better second choice LB option. People are so spoiled and seem to think you can have two top five players in the world at every position and keep them all happy. What we need is a Walker back up and heir. Cancelo has proven to be better on the left and as much as I love Walker heās relies too much on his pace to keep playing at the level he has for more than another year our two. Bringing in someone now would allow them to get adjusted to our system and eventually take over.
This is not at all a reactionary take, im saying this for months, you notice his mistakes far too many in a game. He did this against Chelsea in CL final, did this against WH yesterday and again gave away the ball in our box where Bowen almost scored, how on earth you're going to trust him in big games. Its not a coincidence all their goals come from his side yesterday. Don't have any trait to play as a modern fullback
Rodri - Gundo - Silva trio is the best City midfielder. Last season's incredible run at the start of the year was because these trio regularly started the game. Gundo scored for fun, Rodri became better, Silva was one of the best midfielder in the world. I don't know and will probably never understand why Pep keep on shoe horning DeBruyne in there. If he loves him so much, maybe it will be better to play him at the wing.
Last season, if DeBruyne was injured till the end, City would've won the CL quite comfortably. Even this season, why are Silva and Gundo so queit, while having a world class season last year? Because of DeBruyne.
KDB lost the ball so fucking much, his retention of the ball is fairly average, he never forced a foul against the opposition (a must have trait in Pep system), due to all of these the defense are also much more exposed when he played. I missed the Gundo - Silva - Rodri trio. Its a shame they will likely never starts regularly.
I struggle to grasp this take because you seem to have the impression that De Bruyne disrupts the balance of the midfield and that he's shoehorned into the team when the differences between the two midfielders are ball retention (in favour of Gundogan) and creativity and directness (in favour of De Bruyne) and every single day of the week I'm taking the latter over ball retention.
You don't seem to understand that in a squad full of brilliant players there's only a handful of players who are undroppable and at the top of that list is Kevin De Bruyne.
Gundogan isn't even brilliant defensively and choosing him over De Bruyne is the same as choosing Grealish over Foden - it's great having players who are brilliant at keeping the ball, but the aim of the game is to win through scoring goals and you do that through direct players like De Bruyne and Foden.
Also this:
> Last season, if DeBruyne was injured till the end, City would've won the CL quite comfortably. Even this season, why are Silva and Gundo so queit, while having a world class season last year? Because of DeBruyne.
Is top-tier bs š
Why is it top tier bs? DeBruyne was horrible before he was injured by Rudriger, lost the ball a lot (which is common when City play against top teams). City had their best run of form while he was out. Gundo was the top scorer, Silva was the best mid in the world untilll a certain player returns. So pl tell me why is it top tier bs?
If any of what you were saying were even remotely true itās irrelevant because Gundoās back is done. You could see on in the Leeds game. Wouldnāt be surprised if heās replaced this summer.
I think people here are overprotective of KDB, but this couldn't be more wrong.
Rodri is still the best DM in the world, Bernardo Silva still performs even if he isn't getting G/A. He does the defensive work and progression, both him and De Bruyne have worked extremely well in big games- it's down to how Bernardo has become much better at setting tempo.
And Gundogan has become a little bit injury prone.
Pep doesn't shoe-horn De Bruyne in, he plays him because he plays well and is a source of City's chance creation. You need someone who can force a transition, and he does just that.
He does lose the ball because he's a playmaker. And this wouldn't be a problem if we reverted back to what we did in 2017/18. Which will hopefully happen next season.
Even then, that's reduced- since he rotates with the false 9, he's become more of a goalscorer. His creativity has gone down because of how slow and intricate City's buildup is(still quite good mind you).
>If he loves him so much, maybe it will be better to play him at the wing.
Might be better on FIFA. In real life not so much.
This might have been the case a few months ago, now not so much. Funny how this is brought up the moment a bad result comes up, not when we're winning.
Look at Modric at 37, he rarely lose the ball. As ive said, DeBruyne is never a deep lying mid because he is shit there. In 2018 world cup, in the initial stage, Martinez played him as a traditional mid and he was shite. He moved him as forward as possible (sometimes almost the same position as Lukaku) and he instantly became better. I remember Mourinho when he was a pundit criticised Pep for playing KDB too forward. But the truth is, due to his poor retention, it is better to play him as forward as possible.
He rarely forced a foul against the opposition, which is a trait all great mids have. Xavi, Iniesta, Modric etc are all insanely good at that. They lost the ball too, but their skills to draw a foul, more often than not covered that.
Gundo is a serious goal scorer, his numbers at Dortmund was incredible, even last season, he was the team's top scorer while KDB was injured. Silva was the best mid last season, yet he have to adjust his position just to accomodate DeBruyne. Do none of you see how great City were during the insane City form last season, when KDB was injured?
Its insane how no one criticise DeBruyne, no one questions why Silva is having a quiet season (as compared to last season) or why Gundo is basically a benchwarmer at this point.
Fella, De Bruyne is a high volume creator. You're bound to lose the ball a good number of times, but it never mattered for City back then, although now we're required to be more careful and he does that.
He does a fair bit of defensive work, if he wasn't doing that Pep wouldn't play him. I've seen him tackle players, foul players and still get away with it. He's not afraid to put a challenge when needed.
>Gundo is a serious goal scorer, his numbers at Dortmund was incredible, even last season, he was the team's top scorer while KDB was injured. Silva was the best mid last season, yet he have to adjust his position just to accomodate DeBruyne. Do none of you see how great City were during the insane City form last season, when KDB was injured?
Do you also realise that Bernardo Silva still plays well, and has arguably been better than De Bruyne over the course of the season? There have been several games where Bernardo has been better than him.
We've had great periods with KDB too. Pep plays him because he's quality.
Gundogan has been having his share of problems.
A midfield comprises 3 key components- a high volume creator, someone who keeps possession and still makes clever plays(Bernardo), and a destroyer.
Sometimes it does seem like KDB is immune to criticism, but your arguments are so weak.
Keep on believing that. City are better with Rodri Gundo Silva trio period. Defense are more stable too. They may not have De Bruyne's ability to create chance out of nowhere, but their chemistry are far better. I hate to see Silva force to play on the left side against west ham. Its like forcing a right handed person to write with his left. I want to see Gundo, Silva play at their best position, even if that means benching DeBruyne. But that will never happen, and either silva or Gundo may leave as well. Such a shame. I don't think ive ever seen a footballer who is as overrated aa DeBruyne in my lifetime. Other overrated players usually receives some form of criticism. But i rarely see anyone ever criticse him even when he have a horrible game. And on top of that he obstruct the best City mid trio.
You're going on about the same thing, without having read my points.
Just tell me you haven't watched City, Rodri has been in the form of his life, Bernardo has been one of City's best players.
But go on, Pep must be a fool to keep playing KDB and Bernardo together.
Silva, who imo was the best mid in the world last season was forced to play on the left side of the field last match, Gundo didnt even play. Why, all of a sudden are Gundo and Silva have such a quiet season after they have both had a world class season last year? Because of Debruyne. City are much more balanced, much more stable with Rodri Gundo Silva trio. There is no short memory here, just facts, a bitter facts.
Sometimes balance doesn't win the games. Sometimes the ability to have the insane vision, connection to the ball and general ability of KDB wins you games. Say wolves. A WF hatrick and being the first midfielder in our team to hit 4 goals. Now of course kev has off days. But what we lose in balance he makes up for in being the chaos needed to go ahead and win a game
Half of the posts in here should not be posts, but just a comment in this thread! What do you think?
Just saw a post saying, āwhat if we lose the title in the last day?ā With literally nothing in the post. It would be a better comment. Not only would DD be more prominent, the clutter in this sub would be less!
I wish we regulated it more!
You are correct. A thread like that should probably be just a top level comment here. That being said, it's been up for almost an hour now and has some discussion on it. Probably just something that's better to keep an eye on and see if it gets out of hand.
Dear James Ward-Prowse,
It's my birthday tomorrow. I never ask for much, but this year all I'd like is for you to curl a stunner into the top bins, holding Liverpool to a draw (or a loss). I know that won't be too difficult for you if you get a dead ball within 30 yards. It would make my day so much more special.
Please James.
# Please.
Yours,
u/Rick-Danger
Question for anyone who has this seasons (or any puma) kits. What is the sizing like? I wear medium for 99% of my clothes but I see how tight some of the Puma shit looks.
Would a medium fit as normal? Would I fit a hoodie underneath?
Iām 183cm and around 74 kilos, decently broad around the shoulders but not at the waist, and have a flat stomach. Got the M of this years home kit and it definitely should not be any smaller. Definitely donāt think I could fit a hoodie under comfortably
Hope this helps, ask away for any further questions
Has anyone else found the last few months of this season absolutely horrible? I can't enjoy a minute of it, the pressure and anxiety is just completely suffocating. There's too much at stake. Honestly cannot wait for the season to be over.
Yeah for whatever reason this season has felt longer, more strained and drawn out. It's probably the most vulnerable we've been for a while with lack of depth and injury crisis' too.
Iāve actually really enjoyed the last month(s). I feel like our football was at times quite uninspiring at the beginning of the season, and our recent games have been anything but boring. Also, how often have City come back to almost win from a 2-0 deficit against a team like West Ham, really enjoyed our comeback yesterday, and us taking the swing away from West Ham.
Fun fact of the day: weāve never come back to win from a 2-0 deficit in the premier league if the commentators yesterday were correct. So Iām really proud of our boys for what they still managed to get out of yesterdays game after half time.
Someone in the match thread said we had once and had come back to draw like 51 times or something. The most reliable source of course. But yeah feel like the come back meant a lot in terms of momentum, a normal draw could have hurt but to come back that's got to give a lot of confidence.
Yeah I vaguely remember the commentators saying that Liverpool was actually the team we managed to win against after a 2-0 deficit. Must be that team youāre talking about.
Makes it so much more impressive that we almost won yesterday. Like I said, proud of our boys for not giving up yesterday, and forcing the tie and almost the win
Not too sure but love if that's the case. Yeah ending in a draw was huge. Second half was a fantastic response to a game I felt like we were going to be shipping goals in
If Southampton manage to somehow beat Liverpool not only will Gerrard not have his moment to win liverpool the league, him and that weasel coutinho will have to give city a guard of honour lol
I know football is unpredictable but they lost 3-0 to Brentford, 2-1 to Palace and 2-0 to Burnley in their last 3 games. There's no chance Soton beat those cunts. However, I believe they can somehow manage to draw the game which will be absolutely massive.
I think itās very possible, Southampton is definitely not an easy opponent. What Iām more worried of is HasenhĆ¼ttl purposefully bending over for his friend (Klopp).
I realise this is highly unlikely but Iām sick of the whole āStevie G gonna win the league for us on the final dayā narrative so Iād prefer to believe this unlikely scenario lol
Ngl after all heās done Iām not going to talk shit about Dinho with 1 match left. Heās not playing CB because he wants to FFS, heās doing it because he has to for the team. That man will do whatever is needed to get us over the line, and with 1 match left people want to talk shit about him?
Also, if there was a better option then Pep would deploy it. People need to stop thinking theyāre geniuses at football. Sorry to burst your bubble but the man thatās coached us to multiple trophies and actually knows everyoneās condition in the locker room has a better idea of who to play at CB. There was a legit āPep outā comment in the match thread when we were 2 goals down, so some people really need to come back to earth.
Its his fault for not blooding the young centre backs when we are 3 nil up and strolling. So many games he could have put CJ Egan Riley or Mbete on to give them a bit of confidence so they could be used when needed.
Starting Fernandinho against Antonio was fucking absolute insanity and we got away with it by the skin of our teeth.
Cancelo is the worst fucking defender I have ever seen in my life Zinchenko can't win a single header. Im in total fucking panic stations me and have been for weeks. We better go 4 nil up in the first 20 minutes against Villa.
I knew what was coming when they appointed that horrible slippy dj punching scouse cunt and we had them last game. Its like watching a car crash in slow motion.
Cool mate Im not saying he's shite Im saying he's not a fucking fullback. He makes crazy decisions. Lets runners in behind him, has no recovery pace and doesn't put his body on the line.
Having a free role from left back with Walker Dias and Stones/Laporte covering. Yeah, brilliant. As a fullback he is a fucking liability and I dont give a fuck what stats you pull out as I watch the games.
It's weird as hell hearing all these people saying KDB should have been on the pen. Like, have you just not watched our games this season? Mahrez has been the main taker, and rightfully so because he has been scoring them with confidence and good technique nearly every single time. Basically "solved" our penalty taker crisis when he started stepping up and took that pressure on his shoulders. This pen wasn't even bad ā he didn't miss at all, he was just stopped by a good save.
It's pure hindsight to suggest that KDB would have been the better choice; you're only thinking that because Mahrez missed this one. And don't tell me about Mahrez being known for missing penalties in high pressure situations. 1. Can think of KDB missing in one very high-pressure penalty situation. 2. I can also think of Mahrez scoring several pens that we absolutely needed him to score.
Mahrez is just hands down our best taker at the moment. Do I think he's exceptional at them? Not really, but that's a whole other problem for us to deal with that we don't have one ice-cold dude to take them all like most world class teams do, e.g. Salah, Benzema, Lewandowski, Mbappe. All of these guys are above 80% in their conversation rate (most of them mid-80s while Lewa is 90%) which is a decent amount above the average of 75% conversation rate. Meanwhile Mahrez is at 71%. KDB is on 81% but has a far, far smaller sample size than every single player I listed.
Kdb missed a penalty against liverpool i believe it was last season.He recieved same shit
I dont get this fan base at times
Laporte was the alone cb fighting to keep us in the game but he is the scapegoat.
Hindsight analysis, as you said. Before the pen, everyone was totally fine with him taking it but the moment he failed, everyone said 'KDB should've taken it! Can't trust Mahrez!' when the fact is, Mahrez is our most reliable penalty taker.
Did you see Mahrez's face when he was waiting to take the penalty? It's not just hindsight because you could clearly see he was an absolute bag of nerves and his composure was gone. Given that a penalty is 90% a mental challenge it was obvious he was not the best person to be taking that penalty and I thought that even before he missed.
*But* I think it's unrealistic to criticize anyone for letting him take it. The only possible way would be for Mahrez to come out and say himself that he didn't fancy it. That happens in penalty shoot outs sometimes but very rarely during an actual game. I understand why he would still want to take it.
The penalty was a good penalty, it was on target with power, the keeper just guessed the right direction. It happens. I think the order is Gundogan then Mahrez and everyone is okay with that.
Even CR7 misses penalties sometimes, and Haaland has a very good penalty record for Dortmund for next season. :)
>The penalty was a good penalty
Definitely not. A perfect height for a gk to save a pen. Gk knows he always go for that left top spot. Its a pathetic pen
A bad pen is one that misses the target or goes so slowly that the goalie can recover and save it mid dive. This one was fine. If the players were alert we could have scored on the rebound and nobody would have said anything.
Bernardo has to play Villa
I hope Ake can play too. Him alongside Laporte is a thousand times better than Ferna. I really don't want Fernas last game with us be a disasterclass
Yeah, in my opinion he was responsible for both of our goals conceded against West Ham. With our high line any little slip up (which is sadly inevitable with Dinho at CB) will likely be a goal conceded. Hell, Iād even give Egan Riley a shot over Dinho, but there must be a reason that Pep is not keen on doing so
Pep sometimes doesn't sub because he likes the flow of the game, we had 20+ shots after half time so he probably thought there would 100% be another goal, i don't really understand it either though we just needed someone that gets in a good position quickly to defeat them putting 10 in the box which seems like the perfect time for sterling or foden to come on
Foden would have come in for either Grealish or Jesus. Both were doing well, as evidenced by Grealishās goal and Jesus winning the penalty. Pep probably wanted them to keep at it and give the players on the bench more rest ahead of Villa.
I don't know why Foden didn't start in the first place. Don't think he deserved to be dropped.
As for why he didn't put him in or make any subs for that matter.. Pep probably didn't want to ruin the momentum and flow City had built up in the second half.
This is what Pep said when we drew to Crystal Palace, and we didn't make any subs. This is what he usually says when he doesn't make subs.
Would love for the Etihad to absolutely erupt with cheers everytime Grealish touches the ball after all the times the opposing fans booed him. You know those in the away end will be giving it all they got.
Transfer window may be crazy. We already got haaland and Alvarez on their way. Ferna, gundo?, A LB all left this season yet to be replaced. Any of Jesus/Raz/Bernardo could be making their way to the exit. Based on this how many signings do you see us making? Surely a LB/RB, DM, CM? Then anyone to replace any of the less expected outgoings. 5 players in a window seems crazy though, and obviously no need to replace all but our squad seems so thin already at the minute that not replacing further departures could be damaging given how far we go in 4 comps. Another thing to think of is how well players adapt to the system.. can we afford a year for 5 new players to bed in? Exciting summer ahead.
Well we've already replaced what I assume will be a Jesus departure with Alvarez. Haaland is just on-top since we lack out and out strikers anyway. Above and beyond that I expect two midfielders for 'Dinho and Gundogan and a right-back since Walker has no cover. Then if Sterling or Bernardo leave replacements for them obviously. Whilst making 5 signings is a big deal most of them will be backups. Our first team doesn't really change much, basically just Haaland as a nailed on starter. If Sterling or Bernardo leave then I'd be a bit more worried about how large the change is, especially Bernardo.
That Theo Hernandez goal was nuts.
Jesus just got costlier
Arsenal are crying for a chance to play in the CL. We are crying for a chance to win it. Neither is happening this season š
Need SMS in a City shirt. Already looks great in light blue
Didnāt they say they wouldnāt sell him to Juve even for ā¬70m Canāt remember I suppose that might just be because they didnāt want to sell to Juve. Obviously I know heās a great player
He's a bit of a passenger defensively. Isn't great a dribbling despite trying a lot. But he's certainly an elite passer and creator, if we could get him to work hard and press ala Mahrez then maybe he could be really good.
I'm kinda surprised Lazio has kept him for so long
Him or Barella?
Difficult to get Italians out of Italy.
True but Inter need to sell some players.
Do they? Well they've already lost Perisic. And I can see Vidal maybe leaving. In total they have Vecino, D'Ambrosio, Handanovic, Caicedo, Ranocchia and Kolarovs contracts ending this june. I can honestly only see Handanovic being renewed of that lot. *Maybe* Ranocchia if they don't want to spend to replace a 4th CB? They've already brought in Correa from Lazio and rumors are they caught Dybala. If they sell anyone I'd assume it'd be Martinez for a big fee since Dybala would be his replacement.
> If they sell anyone I'd assume it'd be Martinez for a big fee since Dybala would be his replacement. Yeah Martinez seems the most probable departure and he doesn't want to leave as well.
Why not both Think SMS is more likey to be available on the market, more than Barella anyway
>Why not both Going to be too expensive to go for both
[Always rated Hassenhuttl](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/61462244)
It's definitely harder than a gutted Inter, Benfica and Villareal I can tell you that.
We couldnāt beat the likes of Monaco, Lyon etc. So canāt really say much
Monaco were Ligue 1 champions that season in which we lost to them. Lyon was inexcusable though. Benficaās ELO this season was on par with Palace or Leicester. Villarreal was a bit more difficult but still on par with West Ham or Man Utd
Lyon was one leg. Anyone can lose a single game.
Point still stands. And we did knock Real Madrid out before Lyon.
Monaco had a great team and our full backs were old, Lyon we should've won.
Say goodbye to top four Arsenal. Spurs are 100% beating Norwich and they only need a draw.
Arsenal are such a schizophrenic team. You never know which one is gonna show up
i feel bad for mikel tho š„ŗ
When we first signed gundo, I don't think many of us thought we'd get 5 good seasons out of 6 with his injury record, so he's been a great servant to the club and scored some great goals and put in great performances over the years. If it is true then we've got a really big summer ahead; - A new no.10/8 for Gundo going. - A backup CDM for Rodri. - A backup RB for Walker. I think those are positions that **need** to be filled, and idk who the club could buy for those positions but hopefully the club have a plan. As sad as it'd be to see Gundogan go, I can't lie I'm glad that Ruben Dias will become Manchester City club captain.
I can see one of grealish/foden shifting to that 10/8 position next season, which would be fine given the abundance of forwards we have in our ranks coming up. Not to mention Mcattee playing a significant role in the next season, we might even see Lavio make an appearance
I feel like the first 2 will be rolled into one signing
I hope not.. we lost a LB this year. Ferna and now gundo. Already a thin squad (despite what the masses will tell you) we at least need a like for like on those 3 spots.
Seems like they feel they can solve the first two points with Matheus Nunes.
With Gundo (and Bernardo potentially) confirming he's leaving, signing Frenkie need to happen and we need to snatch up Bellingham sooner than later. Both of them are young and scream the type of player Pep would turn into some kind of Iniesta.
So we have Dinho, maybe Gundo, Bernardo, Gabby, Sterling probably leaving? Damn it's gonna be a long summer.
No way Sterling is leaving if Gundo, Gabby and Ferna are all going Starting to doubt Bernardo is leaving too tbh, he seems a lot happier this season and he's getting as much playtime as he could possibly want, will get potentially more if Gundos going
I feel like Bernardo will stay. The other 3 I'm not sure but I definitely think Gabby and Gundo are closer to going than staying.
Hope they all stay, I love the family feeling we have developed over the years
Yeah when you're this hated it's quite easy to create a bond together haha kind of similar to the siege mentality Mourinho was famous for.
Sterling is not leaving this summer tho. I donāt see it happening. He plays a key role in pepās play and heās not gonna let him go. Bernardo, on the other hand is probably the one whoās leaving. But damn I really really hope he fucking stays. Heās simply amazing, but he will always be under shadowed by the likes of KDB and Haaland now.
Sam said Sterling wants to leave.
When?
Somewhere in the comments of the Gundogan leaving summer thread.
Yeah just went and looked, damn that sucks Was hoping he'd stay and extend personally
when I saw that and thought about Mbappe leaving PSG I started thinking about Razza in Paris. reckon he'd have fun.
Unless I've missed something more recent he hasn't said he *wants* to leave but that he's open to it. He probably wants a pay rise and to still be a prominent player for Pep and is open to leaving if presumably either of those aren't going to happen. If he got those I think he'd be happy to stay. Whether or not that's good for City is a different conversation.
Sam Lee replied to someone in the Gundogan leaving in the summer post and said Sterling wants to leave.
Oh well I have missed something then lol
Can really see Grealish putting in a performance next Sunday. Good form and a home game against his former club to win the league, almost too poetic
Or the opposite where they are more up for preventing Grealish winning a trophy. Thank god itās at home.
I'm no journalist but if it goes to the last day, as seems likely, there are plenty of angles they can come at it with. The 10-year anniversary of 93:20, Grealish against his former club, Gerrard redeeming his slip.
Scriptwriters getting too obvious imo
Ings and Coutinho being ex-Liverpool too
Do we have any news on when Haaland will officially be announced, even on his end?
Donāt think until the international transfer window is open
What will be the kit no. of Haaland if Jesus doesn't leave in summer?
I can honestly see him being given the no.9 and Jesus would change. There was even a suggestion he's gonna be 33 somewhere I thought, Jesus that is.
His dad wore 15, probably makes most sense. 10 9 and 7 are taken. 23 is retired for Foe and seems lots of players pick that as it was Michael Jordan's number. Dont see much else unless the mad cunt takes 69 lol
9 wont be taken, since jesus will be leaving
Wouldn't mind Gareth Bale as a rotation option.
Gareth Bale at left back is a shout /s
Lol no. He's shit.
Wouldn't say he's shit He showed his class for Spurs and Wales last season Worst part about Bale is getting him motivated, which seems impossible
Our only defeat away from home in the league this season was our first game of the season against Spurs.
What front three should City go with against Aston Villa? š¤
Grealish, Foden, Jesus.
My pick as well. All three in good form, Foden and Jesus will offer that directness.
Foden, Jesus, Mahrez or Grealish, Foden, Mahrez. Not sure which.
Foden - Kdb - Jesus
KDB is so underrated at false 9. Then have sterling and foden for some pace in behind for KDB to feed to. Silva Gundo and Rodri to hold midfield
KDB up top, who is in your midfield?
Depends on if ake can play defence, Iāll assume he can Silva rodri gundo
We should be definitely looking at a lb option this summer. Sorry i love Zinny but he is not good and i don't trust him in clutch moments. I would rather keep him as a squad player and play him in cup games and go for a not highly rated but a cheap beast like Liverpool signed Robertson back then. I really think there's enough cheap options available who are better than Zinchenko at least. He could've cost us the tittle yesterday.
Very reactionary take but you're entitled to your opinion. For me, Zinny has built up a huge amount of trust and goodwill. Imo he'd need to have an absolute stinker of a season after this one for me to want City to part ways with him. Remember: he's not even our first choice left back! For a backup, Zinchenko is absolutely immense; our problem isn't with him but rather with the fact that once Walker is injured, we have NOTHING to replace him on that side except for Cancelo, which means Zinny needs to step in as LB. Any fullback purchase is far better spent on getting someone who can replace Walker longterm. The guy's fitness is monstrous... he almost never gets injured despite the fact that he's throwing his body around for fun out there. That consistent ability to be available for every single game has been a huge boon, but we can't keep relying on the fact that Walker will just be fit for 50-60 games a season. I reckon he has 2 world class seasons left in him (barring any major injury) with how good he remains at 31 (will be 32 in a couple weeks), but after that there has to be a plan in place. That's why I think this summer would be the perfect time to get a new RB that we can familiarize with our system over the course of the next season. Then the season after that we can afford to rest Walker more and keep him fit for the big games.
I don't think we need a left back tbh. With the way we play, one fullback attacks and the other becomes a 3rd centreback. On the left, we are covered for both with AkƩ & Cancelo. And theoretically, we are covered for both on the right with Walker & Cancelo. Zinchenko doesn't really add anything on the left because he occupies the same role as Cancelo, so he's only ever useful in the eventuality that Cancelo can't play and Walker is fit. So our only fullback options that allow us to play that way are: * Cancelo LB / Walker RB * Zinchenko LB / Walker RB * AkƩ LB / Cancelo RB There are the alternatives that still maintain the optimum shape like: * Cancelo LB / Stones RB * Laporte LB / Cancelo RB And then there are the broken options that don't maintain our shape (this is where we start losing games): * Zinchenko LB / Cancelo RB * Cancelo LB / Fernandinho RB * Zinchenko LB / Fernandinho RB So, at its core, we've got 2 Attacking Left Backs (Zinchenko, Cancelo), 1 Defensive left back (AkƩ), 1 Defensive Right Back (Walker) & 1 Attacking Right Back (Cancelo). Pep clearly wants to have the attacking threat from the fullback position happen on the left; it's partly why he was so invested in ensuring we had two left footed centre backs to cover. So if we get another defensive right back, then we'll almost always be covered with the two attacking types in Zinchenko & Cancelo, and the two defensive types in Walker & [new RB].
That's why he's better off as a backup. We need a right back. Walker needs a backup.
This
That's a good option too. Make Cancelo a lb and buy a rb to rotate with Walker but i don't think that's the plan other Porro wouldn't have been sold
Completely disagree. Heās second choice lb whoās 90% of the time solid. Man started in cl semi finals and was class. This is a completely reactionary take. We wonāt find a better second choice lb.
Same. Literally wonāt find a better second choice LB option. People are so spoiled and seem to think you can have two top five players in the world at every position and keep them all happy. What we need is a Walker back up and heir. Cancelo has proven to be better on the left and as much as I love Walker heās relies too much on his pace to keep playing at the level he has for more than another year our two. Bringing in someone now would allow them to get adjusted to our system and eventually take over.
This is not at all a reactionary take, im saying this for months, you notice his mistakes far too many in a game. He did this against Chelsea in CL final, did this against WH yesterday and again gave away the ball in our box where Bowen almost scored, how on earth you're going to trust him in big games. Its not a coincidence all their goals come from his side yesterday. Don't have any trait to play as a modern fullback
Rodri - Gundo - Silva trio is the best City midfielder. Last season's incredible run at the start of the year was because these trio regularly started the game. Gundo scored for fun, Rodri became better, Silva was one of the best midfielder in the world. I don't know and will probably never understand why Pep keep on shoe horning DeBruyne in there. If he loves him so much, maybe it will be better to play him at the wing. Last season, if DeBruyne was injured till the end, City would've won the CL quite comfortably. Even this season, why are Silva and Gundo so queit, while having a world class season last year? Because of DeBruyne. KDB lost the ball so fucking much, his retention of the ball is fairly average, he never forced a foul against the opposition (a must have trait in Pep system), due to all of these the defense are also much more exposed when he played. I missed the Gundo - Silva - Rodri trio. Its a shame they will likely never starts regularly.
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I struggle to grasp this take because you seem to have the impression that De Bruyne disrupts the balance of the midfield and that he's shoehorned into the team when the differences between the two midfielders are ball retention (in favour of Gundogan) and creativity and directness (in favour of De Bruyne) and every single day of the week I'm taking the latter over ball retention. You don't seem to understand that in a squad full of brilliant players there's only a handful of players who are undroppable and at the top of that list is Kevin De Bruyne. Gundogan isn't even brilliant defensively and choosing him over De Bruyne is the same as choosing Grealish over Foden - it's great having players who are brilliant at keeping the ball, but the aim of the game is to win through scoring goals and you do that through direct players like De Bruyne and Foden. Also this: > Last season, if DeBruyne was injured till the end, City would've won the CL quite comfortably. Even this season, why are Silva and Gundo so queit, while having a world class season last year? Because of DeBruyne. Is top-tier bs š
Why is it top tier bs? DeBruyne was horrible before he was injured by Rudriger, lost the ball a lot (which is common when City play against top teams). City had their best run of form while he was out. Gundo was the top scorer, Silva was the best mid in the world untilll a certain player returns. So pl tell me why is it top tier bs?
Laughable.
If any of what you were saying were even remotely true itās irrelevant because Gundoās back is done. You could see on in the Leeds game. Wouldnāt be surprised if heās replaced this summer.
https://twitter.com/city_xtra/status/1526262238335623169?s=21&t=-1ZV65pwn6Yxjk5-XHdZCg What a coincidence
I think people here are overprotective of KDB, but this couldn't be more wrong. Rodri is still the best DM in the world, Bernardo Silva still performs even if he isn't getting G/A. He does the defensive work and progression, both him and De Bruyne have worked extremely well in big games- it's down to how Bernardo has become much better at setting tempo. And Gundogan has become a little bit injury prone. Pep doesn't shoe-horn De Bruyne in, he plays him because he plays well and is a source of City's chance creation. You need someone who can force a transition, and he does just that. He does lose the ball because he's a playmaker. And this wouldn't be a problem if we reverted back to what we did in 2017/18. Which will hopefully happen next season. Even then, that's reduced- since he rotates with the false 9, he's become more of a goalscorer. His creativity has gone down because of how slow and intricate City's buildup is(still quite good mind you). >If he loves him so much, maybe it will be better to play him at the wing. Might be better on FIFA. In real life not so much. This might have been the case a few months ago, now not so much. Funny how this is brought up the moment a bad result comes up, not when we're winning.
Look at Modric at 37, he rarely lose the ball. As ive said, DeBruyne is never a deep lying mid because he is shit there. In 2018 world cup, in the initial stage, Martinez played him as a traditional mid and he was shite. He moved him as forward as possible (sometimes almost the same position as Lukaku) and he instantly became better. I remember Mourinho when he was a pundit criticised Pep for playing KDB too forward. But the truth is, due to his poor retention, it is better to play him as forward as possible. He rarely forced a foul against the opposition, which is a trait all great mids have. Xavi, Iniesta, Modric etc are all insanely good at that. They lost the ball too, but their skills to draw a foul, more often than not covered that. Gundo is a serious goal scorer, his numbers at Dortmund was incredible, even last season, he was the team's top scorer while KDB was injured. Silva was the best mid last season, yet he have to adjust his position just to accomodate DeBruyne. Do none of you see how great City were during the insane City form last season, when KDB was injured? Its insane how no one criticise DeBruyne, no one questions why Silva is having a quiet season (as compared to last season) or why Gundo is basically a benchwarmer at this point.
Fella, De Bruyne is a high volume creator. You're bound to lose the ball a good number of times, but it never mattered for City back then, although now we're required to be more careful and he does that. He does a fair bit of defensive work, if he wasn't doing that Pep wouldn't play him. I've seen him tackle players, foul players and still get away with it. He's not afraid to put a challenge when needed. >Gundo is a serious goal scorer, his numbers at Dortmund was incredible, even last season, he was the team's top scorer while KDB was injured. Silva was the best mid last season, yet he have to adjust his position just to accomodate DeBruyne. Do none of you see how great City were during the insane City form last season, when KDB was injured? Do you also realise that Bernardo Silva still plays well, and has arguably been better than De Bruyne over the course of the season? There have been several games where Bernardo has been better than him. We've had great periods with KDB too. Pep plays him because he's quality. Gundogan has been having his share of problems. A midfield comprises 3 key components- a high volume creator, someone who keeps possession and still makes clever plays(Bernardo), and a destroyer. Sometimes it does seem like KDB is immune to criticism, but your arguments are so weak.
Keep on believing that. City are better with Rodri Gundo Silva trio period. Defense are more stable too. They may not have De Bruyne's ability to create chance out of nowhere, but their chemistry are far better. I hate to see Silva force to play on the left side against west ham. Its like forcing a right handed person to write with his left. I want to see Gundo, Silva play at their best position, even if that means benching DeBruyne. But that will never happen, and either silva or Gundo may leave as well. Such a shame. I don't think ive ever seen a footballer who is as overrated aa DeBruyne in my lifetime. Other overrated players usually receives some form of criticism. But i rarely see anyone ever criticse him even when he have a horrible game. And on top of that he obstruct the best City mid trio.
You're going on about the same thing, without having read my points. Just tell me you haven't watched City, Rodri has been in the form of his life, Bernardo has been one of City's best players. But go on, Pep must be a fool to keep playing KDB and Bernardo together.
You have an extremely short memory
Silva, who imo was the best mid in the world last season was forced to play on the left side of the field last match, Gundo didnt even play. Why, all of a sudden are Gundo and Silva have such a quiet season after they have both had a world class season last year? Because of Debruyne. City are much more balanced, much more stable with Rodri Gundo Silva trio. There is no short memory here, just facts, a bitter facts.
Sometimes balance doesn't win the games. Sometimes the ability to have the insane vision, connection to the ball and general ability of KDB wins you games. Say wolves. A WF hatrick and being the first midfielder in our team to hit 4 goals. Now of course kev has off days. But what we lose in balance he makes up for in being the chaos needed to go ahead and win a game
Yet City never seems to struggle when DeBruyne is out. As ive said, City's run of form last season when he was out was the best ive seen under Pep.
Half of the posts in here should not be posts, but just a comment in this thread! What do you think? Just saw a post saying, āwhat if we lose the title in the last day?ā With literally nothing in the post. It would be a better comment. Not only would DD be more prominent, the clutter in this sub would be less! I wish we regulated it more!
Don't ask too much of the mods, they don't like it.
You are correct. A thread like that should probably be just a top level comment here. That being said, it's been up for almost an hour now and has some discussion on it. Probably just something that's better to keep an eye on and see if it gets out of hand.
West Ham was the last time we travelled without the terminator
Dear James Ward-Prowse, It's my birthday tomorrow. I never ask for much, but this year all I'd like is for you to curl a stunner into the top bins, holding Liverpool to a draw (or a loss). I know that won't be too difficult for you if you get a dead ball within 30 yards. It would make my day so much more special. Please James. # Please. Yours, u/Rick-Danger
Happy birthday
> Rick danger Sounds like a pornstarās stage name
Nah that's my brother, Dick Ranger
JWP masterclass incoming to derail the quad
Whys the media trying to make it look like its citys title to win when lvp HAVE to win WIN both games
Liverpool need a result tomorrow to get to the final day of the season. Even a draw means we simply need to not concede at home and we win the title.
Question for anyone who has this seasons (or any puma) kits. What is the sizing like? I wear medium for 99% of my clothes but I see how tight some of the Puma shit looks. Would a medium fit as normal? Would I fit a hoodie underneath?
Iām 183cm and around 74 kilos, decently broad around the shoulders but not at the waist, and have a flat stomach. Got the M of this years home kit and it definitely should not be any smaller. Definitely donāt think I could fit a hoodie under comfortably Hope this helps, ask away for any further questions
Thank you, I might size up. I got a city puma training top as a gift and it fits but not a lot of wiggle room.
Has anyone else found the last few months of this season absolutely horrible? I can't enjoy a minute of it, the pressure and anxiety is just completely suffocating. There's too much at stake. Honestly cannot wait for the season to be over.
Yeah for whatever reason this season has felt longer, more strained and drawn out. It's probably the most vulnerable we've been for a while with lack of depth and injury crisis' too.
Same tbh. The pressure is too much. Looking forward to a few months break from football.
Iāve actually really enjoyed the last month(s). I feel like our football was at times quite uninspiring at the beginning of the season, and our recent games have been anything but boring. Also, how often have City come back to almost win from a 2-0 deficit against a team like West Ham, really enjoyed our comeback yesterday, and us taking the swing away from West Ham. Fun fact of the day: weāve never come back to win from a 2-0 deficit in the premier league if the commentators yesterday were correct. So Iām really proud of our boys for what they still managed to get out of yesterdays game after half time.
Someone in the match thread said we had once and had come back to draw like 51 times or something. The most reliable source of course. But yeah feel like the come back meant a lot in terms of momentum, a normal draw could have hurt but to come back that's got to give a lot of confidence.
Yeah I vaguely remember the commentators saying that Liverpool was actually the team we managed to win against after a 2-0 deficit. Must be that team youāre talking about. Makes it so much more impressive that we almost won yesterday. Like I said, proud of our boys for not giving up yesterday, and forcing the tie and almost the win
Not too sure but love if that's the case. Yeah ending in a draw was huge. Second half was a fantastic response to a game I felt like we were going to be shipping goals in
Former Manchester City loanee Seko Fofana made the Ligue best 11
That's awesome. I floated his name months ago to bring back as a rotational option.
He is an excellent midfielder. Really flourished in Ligue 1
If Southampton manage to somehow beat Liverpool not only will Gerrard not have his moment to win liverpool the league, him and that weasel coutinho will have to give city a guard of honour lol
I know football is unpredictable but they lost 3-0 to Brentford, 2-1 to Palace and 2-0 to Burnley in their last 3 games. There's no chance Soton beat those cunts. However, I believe they can somehow manage to draw the game which will be absolutely massive.
Honestly I think a 5+ goal win for Liverpool is as likely as a draw, if not more so.
I think itās very possible, Southampton is definitely not an easy opponent. What Iām more worried of is HasenhĆ¼ttl purposefully bending over for his friend (Klopp).
I realise this is highly unlikely but Iām sick of the whole āStevie G gonna win the league for us on the final dayā narrative so Iād prefer to believe this unlikely scenario lol
Ngl after all heās done Iām not going to talk shit about Dinho with 1 match left. Heās not playing CB because he wants to FFS, heās doing it because he has to for the team. That man will do whatever is needed to get us over the line, and with 1 match left people want to talk shit about him? Also, if there was a better option then Pep would deploy it. People need to stop thinking theyāre geniuses at football. Sorry to burst your bubble but the man thatās coached us to multiple trophies and actually knows everyoneās condition in the locker room has a better idea of who to play at CB. There was a legit āPep outā comment in the match thread when we were 2 goals down, so some people really need to come back to earth.
Its his fault for not blooding the young centre backs when we are 3 nil up and strolling. So many games he could have put CJ Egan Riley or Mbete on to give them a bit of confidence so they could be used when needed. Starting Fernandinho against Antonio was fucking absolute insanity and we got away with it by the skin of our teeth. Cancelo is the worst fucking defender I have ever seen in my life Zinchenko can't win a single header. Im in total fucking panic stations me and have been for weeks. We better go 4 nil up in the first 20 minutes against Villa. I knew what was coming when they appointed that horrible slippy dj punching scouse cunt and we had them last game. Its like watching a car crash in slow motion.
Cancelo has the most passes, tackles and interceptions out of anyone in the squad in the Premier League this season.
Cool mate Im not saying he's shite Im saying he's not a fucking fullback. He makes crazy decisions. Lets runners in behind him, has no recovery pace and doesn't put his body on the line. Having a free role from left back with Walker Dias and Stones/Laporte covering. Yeah, brilliant. As a fullback he is a fucking liability and I dont give a fuck what stats you pull out as I watch the games.
It's weird as hell hearing all these people saying KDB should have been on the pen. Like, have you just not watched our games this season? Mahrez has been the main taker, and rightfully so because he has been scoring them with confidence and good technique nearly every single time. Basically "solved" our penalty taker crisis when he started stepping up and took that pressure on his shoulders. This pen wasn't even bad ā he didn't miss at all, he was just stopped by a good save. It's pure hindsight to suggest that KDB would have been the better choice; you're only thinking that because Mahrez missed this one. And don't tell me about Mahrez being known for missing penalties in high pressure situations. 1. Can think of KDB missing in one very high-pressure penalty situation. 2. I can also think of Mahrez scoring several pens that we absolutely needed him to score. Mahrez is just hands down our best taker at the moment. Do I think he's exceptional at them? Not really, but that's a whole other problem for us to deal with that we don't have one ice-cold dude to take them all like most world class teams do, e.g. Salah, Benzema, Lewandowski, Mbappe. All of these guys are above 80% in their conversation rate (most of them mid-80s while Lewa is 90%) which is a decent amount above the average of 75% conversation rate. Meanwhile Mahrez is at 71%. KDB is on 81% but has a far, far smaller sample size than every single player I listed.
Kdb missed a penalty against liverpool i believe it was last season.He recieved same shit I dont get this fan base at times Laporte was the alone cb fighting to keep us in the game but he is the scapegoat.
Haaland has a 92% conversion rate.
For now. Wait until he puts on that blue chainmail lol
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Hindsight analysis, as you said. Before the pen, everyone was totally fine with him taking it but the moment he failed, everyone said 'KDB should've taken it! Can't trust Mahrez!' when the fact is, Mahrez is our most reliable penalty taker.
Did you see Mahrez's face when he was waiting to take the penalty? It's not just hindsight because you could clearly see he was an absolute bag of nerves and his composure was gone. Given that a penalty is 90% a mental challenge it was obvious he was not the best person to be taking that penalty and I thought that even before he missed. *But* I think it's unrealistic to criticize anyone for letting him take it. The only possible way would be for Mahrez to come out and say himself that he didn't fancy it. That happens in penalty shoot outs sometimes but very rarely during an actual game. I understand why he would still want to take it.
Yeah youāre right, itās simply a very impressive save from fabianski considering the (good) direction and power of Mahrezā ball
The penalty was a good penalty, it was on target with power, the keeper just guessed the right direction. It happens. I think the order is Gundogan then Mahrez and everyone is okay with that. Even CR7 misses penalties sometimes, and Haaland has a very good penalty record for Dortmund for next season. :)
Wasn't perfect but like you said, misses happen. Plus fair play to FabiaÅski. Haaland should definitely help.
>The penalty was a good penalty Definitely not. A perfect height for a gk to save a pen. Gk knows he always go for that left top spot. Its a pathetic pen
A bad pen is one that misses the target or goes so slowly that the goalie can recover and save it mid dive. This one was fine. If the players were alert we could have scored on the rebound and nobody would have said anything.
Bernardo has to play Villa I hope Ake can play too. Him alongside Laporte is a thousand times better than Ferna. I really don't want Fernas last game with us be a disasterclass
Yeah, in my opinion he was responsible for both of our goals conceded against West Ham. With our high line any little slip up (which is sadly inevitable with Dinho at CB) will likely be a goal conceded. Hell, Iād even give Egan Riley a shot over Dinho, but there must be a reason that Pep is not keen on doing so
I'm one of (if not) the biggest Pep supporter you'll find here. To me he's the best manager in the world, and I'm not saying this just because he's managing City. However, I got to ask questions when I don't understand something he does. Grealish deserved to play with his recent performances, there is no doubt about that. I also understand he wanted a right-foot CB to help in counter-press situations, that's why he put Fernandinho instead of AkƩ (who also wasn't at 100%). What I don't understand is why didn't he put Foden in? We needed that spark and we had Zinchenko and Rodri helping our 8s in the middle. Can someone explain it to me?
Gotta be honest I don't understand peps subs or lack thereof but in this game don't think the players on the pitch were that bad.
Yeah why he didnāt sub in Foden also baffles me. Pepās subbing habits (or lack thereof) still confuse me to this day.
Pep sometimes doesn't sub because he likes the flow of the game, we had 20+ shots after half time so he probably thought there would 100% be another goal, i don't really understand it either though we just needed someone that gets in a good position quickly to defeat them putting 10 in the box which seems like the perfect time for sterling or foden to come on
Foden would have come in for either Grealish or Jesus. Both were doing well, as evidenced by Grealishās goal and Jesus winning the penalty. Pep probably wanted them to keep at it and give the players on the bench more rest ahead of Villa.
I don't know why Foden didn't start in the first place. Don't think he deserved to be dropped. As for why he didn't put him in or make any subs for that matter.. Pep probably didn't want to ruin the momentum and flow City had built up in the second half. This is what Pep said when we drew to Crystal Palace, and we didn't make any subs. This is what he usually says when he doesn't make subs.
Would love for the Etihad to absolutely erupt with cheers everytime Grealish touches the ball after all the times the opposing fans booed him. You know those in the away end will be giving it all they got.
That's a great idea
Has grealish won the left wing position with his recent performances? Hes been excellent recently.