Nope. They're training that way in preseason. Very, very young team for the EDS this year but im fine with that. City will have known about this happening for ages.
Interesting we have gone down this road. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind it is, whether it's because it's seen as good for the kids to have to battle it out & play their style versus more experience, therefore handle defeat & come back or whether they want to bring through a 'team' at the same time, hoping a group of them come through together.
I'm fine with it whatever. None of it made any sense under Pellegrini, as the end goal seemed to be 5 mins sat watching Demichelis in midfield, but if the end goal is actually a young kid in the first team, it all makes sense.
One thing though looking at it completely the other way: Giggs was talking about how much he learned as a kid, playing with & against 'old pros' in the old reserve team system. I remember Colin Bell after his injury, basically doing a 'Pep' with the reserve team, where he played a sort of Kroos type role (but also with tackles & headers) & organised all the kids into a team.
There could also be some truth in that argument, but I suppose if the 'old pro' you learn from is Joey Barton, or earlier, Gazza, it doesn't stand up very well.
