Saying he's been playing poorly or as our resident king of hyperbole says "doing the bare minimum" is just their way of trying to justify their reasons for wanting Aguero out. The fact it's in no way true doesn't matter, just soundbites and cliches really.I absolutely do believe he is playing well. My eyes are telling me that. Sergio's stats are telling me that. More importantly Pep is telling me that. Or is it easy to believe Pep when he was calling Sergio out earlier in the season but hard to believe when Pep is now saying Sergio "has arrived" in his philosophy and is playing "unbelievable"?
It seems to have become really fashionable on here to slam the guy without reason. To be honest, with some of your previous posts I thought you were better at observing the game than what you came up with on this occasion. Still, I respect your opinion even though I wholeheartedly disagree.
I can't remember a lot of the rest of your post. I laughed at the being left behind in plays and not linking up the way Pep would want. The reason he hasn't been in the box on some plays is because he has been linking up exactly the way Pep wants. He has dropped deep and started the bloody play off with a pass that has put somebody else into space!
Be it Silva or Sterling or Sane or KDB. Then they have attacked the box. Or is Sergio expected to fly over the ground faster than the ball being passed up field and be on the end of what he created? The way people are talking in here, I'm sure the reply will be "Jesus could do it". Heaven forbid if that kid puts a foot (pardon the pun) wrong when he comes back. Everyone on here is already expecting the lad to be perfect. That is impossible.
I absolutely do believe he is playing well. My eyes are telling me that. Sergio's stats are telling me that. More importantly Pep is telling me that. Or is it easy to believe Pep when he was calling Sergio out earlier in the season but hard to believe when Pep is now saying Sergio "has arrived" in his philosophy and is playing "unbelievable"?
It seems to have become really fashionable on here to slam the guy without reason. To be honest, with some of your previous posts I thought you were better at observing the game than what you came up with on this occasion. Still, I respect your opinion even though I wholeheartedly disagree.
I can't remember a lot of the rest of your post. I laughed at the being left behind in plays and not linking up the way Pep would want. The reason he hasn't been in the box on some plays is because he has been linking up exactly the way Pep wants. He has dropped deep and started the bloody play off with a pass that has put somebody else into space!
Be it Silva or Sterling or Sane or KDB. Then they have attacked the box. Or is Sergio expected to fly over the ground faster than the ball being passed up field and be on the end of what he created? The way people are talking in here, I'm sure the reply will be "Jesus could do it". Heaven forbid if that kid puts a foot (pardon the pun) wrong when he comes back. Everyone on here is already expecting the lad to be perfect. That is impossible.
Do we have the money though? We need a minimum of 5 first team signings in other positions (centre half, two full backs, holding mid, keeper) before we even look at signing any attackers.
The problem with our attack is we just are not clinical enough, Sanchez scores at least 20 goals a season every other season. He brings more goals to the team and instantly makes us a more clinical forward line. No brainer. It isnt the fact that we are stopping other teams getting him, its the fact that we need this kind of player.
I actually feel sorry for you if you think he's playing well, because it means you've managed to forget how good he used to be, because the guy we have on the pitch today is a shadow of the player from 2 or 3 years ago. I can only assume talk of him leaving is the reason you're pretending he's playing well, because he's nowhere near his best.
You hear Pep say he's doing well? That's great, same treatment he's giving Bravo. I hear him constantly bemoaning that we need 4 chances to score a goal, and 90% of the time those 4 chances are falling to Agüero.
He's not linking up the way Pep wants, he's still not created a single good chance for either winger, and you'd have to be delusional to think that Peps plans for Agüero linking play involves our only striker being nowhere near the box when the deliveries come in.
As for Jesus, I haven't seen anyone put pressure on him or have unrealistic expectations of what he can do - I have seen a load of overly precious people warning everyone not to put any pressure on him though, it happened in January too, but he was alright then wasn't he? No one jumped on his back, everyone was just excited to see him play.
Alexis is a wonderful player but I am really surprised that people are so excited to sign him and get rid of Sergio. Their stats on Squawka speak for themselves and confirm for me what I've been seeing when watching them play.
Since Sergio's come back into the side (from Hull backwards):
Passing % - 86, 93, 87(vs Arsenal), 90, 65, 88, 78
Chances created in total = 9
Take ons total = 28
Goals = 5 against 5 different opponents (a lot of them top sides)
For Alexis in those corresponding games:
Passing % - 70, 83, 63(vs City and inexperienced RB Navas), 79, 67, 72, 76
Chances created in total = 11
Take ons total = 35
Goals = 3 against two opponents (WBA and Hull)
I mean, why bother quoting small sample sizes? Let's get down to the stats that actually matter:
Goals Scored in PL 2016/2017
Sanchez - 18
Aguero - 16
Assists in PL 2016/2017
Sanchez - 9
Aguero - 0
Key Passes created per game (average) in PL 2016/2017
Sanchez - 2
Aguero - 1
Defensive Contribution in PL 2016/2017 (average tackles, interceptions and clearances per game)
Sanchez - 1.5, 0.6, 0.1
Aguero - 0.6, 0.1, 0
Now stats aren't telling the full story, though the obvious one here is that Sanchez is a more well-rounded player and Aguero is more of a natural, traditional centre-forward. The question from this is, what does Pep prefer? Flexibility or honed ability? I would argue probably the former.
Nonetheless, I do believe that whether Kun goes or stays will be ultimately decided by Kun. I think he will choose to leave whether we get Sanchez or not, but if we do, then I don't see how he could have any doubt in his mind as to it being time to move on.
I actually feel sorry for you if you think he's playing well, because it means you've managed to forget how good he used to be, because the guy we have on the pitch today is a shadow of the player from 2 or 3 years ago. I can only assume talk of him leaving is the reason you're pretending he's playing well, because he's nowhere near his best.
You hear Pep say he's doing well? That's great, same treatment he's giving Bravo. I hear him constantly bemoaning that we need 4 chances to score a goal, and 90% of the time those 4 chances are falling to Agüero.
He's not linking up the way Pep wants, he's still not created a single good chance for either winger, and you'd have to be delusional to think that Peps plans for Agüero linking play involves our only striker being nowhere near the box when the deliveries come in.
As for Jesus, I haven't seen anyone put pressure on him or have unrealistic expectations of what he can do - I have seen a load of overly precious people warning everyone not to put any pressure on him though, it happened in January too, but he was alright then wasn't he? No one jumped on his back, everyone was just excited to see him play.
I would agree in part about Aguero but having watched the Hull game I think he was really trying to do something about it.
He is too young to write off. If he wants to go or Pep genuinely doesn't think it will work, then fair enough. But I think Serge has changed quite a few things recently & we haven't seen him play alongside Baby Jesus yet. GJ is a very easy player to work with.
You're looking through rose-coloured glasses at the way you think Sergio used to play compared to the way he actually did and the player he is now. He did not put every chance that came his way away back then and he's not doing it now. Strikers miss chances. Have always done so. Just recently they showed highlights of the last time City played Hull at the Etihad. Sergio missed three excellent chances. It took Milner's free kick at the end to scrape a 1-1 draw. He's also involved in general play, build up and defence, more than he ever has been.
As I mentioned in my previous post, you probably would (and you did) find an excuse not to believe what Pep has had to say about Sergio recently. Does that mean you didn't believe a word he said earlier in the season when Sergio was banging goals in for fun but Pep said he still wanted more? Even including what Pep has said about Bravo I see no reason (never have) to believe that he has stated anything other than the truth as he sees it. Doesn't come across as the type to really care if others see it differently.
90% of the time our best chances are falling to Aguero? I'd like to see some concrete stat and its source on this if you please. In the last game, aside from Sergio's goal, Silva and Sane had the best chances and they didn't finish them off! Both of those efforts were created by Sergio.
You talk about not creating any chances for the winger's, he made Sane's goal in CL game against Monaco at home. In the FA Cup against Huddersfield he instigated a counter attack and put Sane through and the young lad's touch let him down. Again in the FA cup against West Ham, he went deep, took the ball, took half the defence out of play with a pass to Silva who passed it on to Raheem who fluffed his lines in front of goal. Don't tell me he doesn't create, mate. They are just a few that come off the top of my head.
Our only striker nowhere near the box? Pep has stated in previous press conferences that he is playing with 5 strikers. The three at the front and Silva and de Bruyne. He doesn't like midfielders to be just creators, nor strikers to just wait by the box and bang in goals.
With Jesus, I can only assume you haven't been reading many posts. He would have banged in every chance Sergio has got in recent games don't ya know?
I like your posts in general, mate, and this has been a good discussion. But my fingers are tired. You have your stance. I have mine. Only time will tell if they ever meet.
Nonetheless, I do believe that whether Kun goes or stays will be ultimately decided by Kun. I think he could choose to leave even if we don't get Sanchez, but if we do, then I don't see how he could have any doubt in his mind as to it being time to move on.
Nonetheless, I do believe that whether Kun goes or stays will be ultimately decided by Kun. I think he could choose to leave even if we don't get Sanchez, but if we do, then I don't see how he could have any doubt in his mind as to it being time to move on.
I want nothing more than for him to stay, lead the line exactly how Pep wants him to, and for him to have a few 50 goal seasons before he leaves, as our top goalscorer, the highest scoring foreign player in PL history (50 goals away) , and having broken that 31 goal scoring record - which I think a striker like Aguero should be more than capable of in this system with the players he has around him. I mean christ, he's likely to get near 40 this season having missed 10 games from suspension.
I want that more than any other outcome, but it's incredibly hard to deny that while I agree he is trying, it's not currently working and our attack is seriously huffing and puffing just to get past teams at the bottom of the table, and against teams like Chelsea, who sat back and let us have the ball, we didn't look like scoring once in 45 minutes.
Alexis + G.Jesus could be magical..Might not reach 35+ goals a season each,but bet we'll be more fluid and better especially in attack.
'Aguero's the best striker in PL history'?
Good to defend our own,but that's a different kind of reaching.
Can we afford to go for rough diamonds? It's one thing taking a chance on Jesus when we have Sergio already in the squad, we don't have that luxury in the full back positions. I've every faith that Maffeo will make it as our first choice right back in the next 3 to 4 years but as it stands we have no starting right and left backs for next season with one back up right back (Kolarov is obviously seen as a centre half). We need players that can hit the ground running there.Depends if we go for a full set of obvious, expensive, players or if we uncover a few diamonds.
If we go for the lazy scouted, uninspired overpriced Otamendi kind of signing, then we'll be struggling, but we brilliantly scouted Gabriel Jesus for less than the bearded Ben Mee & he's worth 5 times as much, so it can be done in other positions.
I want nothing more than for him to stay, lead the line exactly how Pep wants him to, and for him to have a few 50 goal seasons before he leaves, as our top goalscorer, the highest scoring foreign player in PL history (50 goals away) , and having broken that 31 goal scoring record - which I think a striker like Aguero should be more than capable of in this system with the players he has around him. I mean christ, he's likely to get near 40 this season having missed 10 games from suspension.
I want that more than any other outcome, but it's incredibly hard to deny that while I agree he is trying, it's not currently working and our attack is seriously huffing and puffing just to get past teams at the bottom of the table, and against teams like Chelsea, who sat back and let us have the ball, we didn't look like scoring once in 45 minutes. The attack looks stale, uninspired and this is at a time when Silva is playing his best football in years, Sané and Sterling are playing out of their skins in most matches and getting deserved praise for their attacking play and chances they're creating.
I'm still hoping for that 1 game where it all clicks and he finally gets it, and manages to play well individually whilst also doing the things Pep wants, but there's been several false dawns and my hopes are dwindling.
Can we afford to go for rough diamonds? It's one thing taking a chance on Jesus when we have Sergio already in the squad, we don't have that luxury in the full back positions. I've every faith that Maffeo will make it as our first choice right back in the next 3 to 4 years but as it stands we have no starting right and left backs for next season with one back up right back (Kolarov is obviously seen as a centre half). We need players that can hit the ground running there.
At centre half we have a bit of depth but already one project in Stones and if we want a young player, the safer options are still going to be fucking expensive.
Pivot we can take a chance on with Dinho and Delph in the squad but I get the impression that Guardiola values the position too highly, he hasn't given Garcia enough of a chance there for me this season to suggest otherwise.
GK it looks like we're spending in the £30-40m range on Moraes.
We'll have a decent sized budget this season with a fair few of the Hughes/Mancini era high earners getting the boot from the wage bill, but a lot of those players are leaving on frees and we're unlikely to bring in more than £40m-£50m from selling Hart, Nasri, Mangala, Bony etc. I'd feel a lot more confident about next season if we concentrated on bringing in the very best possible in our weakest positions (LB, RB, LCB, DM, GK), our strongest positions are good enough already and should only get better.