How many of our rivals players would get into our first 11?

[WesthoughtonJohn]

De Gea, and Vertonghen (over Otamendi)

Nahhh not having De Gea.
Everything I've seen from Ederson tells me he fits perfectly in our lineup

 

[WesthoughtonJohn]

We'll go with

----------------Ederson---------

Walker - Otamendi -Stones -- Delph

-------------Fernandinho--------------

-----Silva-----De Bruyne--------

Sterling----Jesus/Aguero-----Sane

Mendy is long term injured so your lists can be with Delph and then without.


Chelsea: Hazard (over Sane or Sterling), Azpilicueta (over Delph), Kante (maybe - probably not), Christensen (maybe - probably not), Courtois (maybe -probably not). 2 in. 3 maybes

Arsenal: Sanchez (over Sane or Sterling), Monreal (maybe -over Delph). 1 in. 1 maybe

Man United: De Gea (maybe over Moraes), Pogba (maybe over Silva), Martial (maybe - probably not ), Bailly (maybe). 4 maybes

Spurs: Rose (over Delph), Kane (maybe), Eriksen (maybe), Alderweild (maybe), Alli (maybe). 1 in. 4 maybes.

Liverpool: Coutinho (probably over Silva, close), Mane (maybe), Salah (maybe). 1 in. 2 maybes.

Ok

Chelsea - Kante as a squad player currently, long term replacement for Ferna.
Hazard - no thanks went missing last season.
Delph - I think he's done enough to keep his place - so for 1st team NONE

Arsenal - Sanchez, tough call this one as the manager clearly sees a place for him. Trouble is I don't know who you leave out.
For first team - 1

Stretford - not one single player.
Pogba for Silva - I assume you mean Bernado, even then do one!!!!!!

Spurs - Alderweild but again he has to fight for the place
For the first team - none

Dippers - not a one is an upgrade on what we have team wise.

In summary - we as City fans should be ecstatic and proud of what we have. First team and squad wise. In particular management wise when you think of Fabian!!

 

[Chrisdunk]

Hazard won't outright replace any of our players but would be a good first 11 rotation.

Fucking hell, some of you are deluded. Hazard walks in with his eyes closed. No one in football is taking Sterling or Sane over Hazard as good as they are. That lad is an absolute genius & joy to watch. His backheel assist earlier tonight was yet another moment of magic from him.

 

[Chrisdunk]

Can we have a little bit of objectivity on this forum? Hilarious how people on here can call the likes of Hazard, Sanchez, Pogba, Coutinho etc "shit" players.

 

[cucumberman]

Fucking hell, some of you are deluded. Hazard walks in with his eyes closed. No one in football is taking Sterling or Sane over Hazard as good as they are. That lad is an absolute genius & joy to watch. His backheel assist earlier tonight was yet another moment of magic from him.

11 rotation does not mean he is lesser of Sterling or Sane. It means he's equal to Sterling or Sane or Silva but brings something different to the starting 11. Horses for courses.

 

[pogrom92]

Hazard starts in any team on the planet.
Maybe Mane over Sterling.
Sanchez as backup/partner to Aguero/Silva when needed.

 

[Chrisdunk]

11 rotation does not mean he is lesser of Sterling or Sane. It means he's equal to Sterling or Sane or Silva but brings something different to the starting 11. Horses for courses.

He's a much better player than both Sterling & Sane. He's the only PL player that would comfortably walk into the team.

 

[cucumberman]

He's a much better player than both Sterling & Sane. He's the only PL player that would comfortably walk into the team.

Hazard, like Sanchez, has established himself as a key player to their respective team. But give more credit to Sterling and Sane. Both players are currently sitting 7th and 8th in the top 10 goalscoring list. Sane joint 2nd with KDB in the Assist list, with David Silva on 1st. Hazard, in his 9 games playing hasn't even hit half the numbers our players are getting. Even Sterling who is down the assist list is higher than Hazard. Where was Hazard when we dominated them most of the game. Where was Hazard when they lost 2-1 to Palace. We also have our fair share of inconsistencies but rarely when Silva is playing.

I believe you are basing your judgment on Hazard's previous form. No doubt he has a lot to offer, weaving through the midfield, making key passes, scoring world class goals. Brilliant player to watch like Kinkladze. But it's hard to argue for his being in the City team because we have David Silva who is a far better and composed playmaker than Hazard. That leaves us with the slots of Sane, Sterling and KdB. These three players are currently dominating the PL stat in assists, and the first two players in goals scored.

The only time when Hazard would walk into a team is if that team isn't City. If it's City, it's rotation.

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

Nahhh not having De Gea.
Everything I've seen from Ederson tells me he fits perfectly in our lineup

+1
De Gea is an excellent keeper, but his on-the-ball skills and distribution are nowhere near as good as Ederson's; under pressure especially, De Gea will turn the ball over or kick it out of touch.

 

[cucumberman]

de Gea would walk into most first 11, but not our first 11. Our template is different from most if not all other teams in that our keeper has to have not just the skill but the confidence to play one touch passes as well as making instant decisions on who to pass to. de Gea doesn't have that. Their match against Newcastle recently showed that he clearly doesn't have the consistency to pass the ball comfortably. Under no pressure, he tried to chip the ball to the RB, a distance less than half the width of the pitch, but it was inaccurate by several yards and went out of play. He returned to his line shaking his head because he knew that it was a poor attempt and poor technique of what should have been an easy pass.

Not to say that Ederson won't make mistakes in the future, but I bet if Ederson plays in midfield he wouldn't look out of place at all, judging by his movements around and on the ball.

Shotstopping wise the verdict is still out but I like what Ederson has shown so far which is far improved from Bravo. He might not be better at shotstopping than de Gea, but seeing that Ederson has made 16 saves compared to de Gea's 36 with both on similar goals conceded, I think it's fair to say that we as a team have been defending better.