If we can't get rid of the players that we need to, we may well have to compromise like last season, which is not good.Do you think Pep will want to go into the new season with only Fernandinho & his son, as right sided central defenders who have ever played in the Premier League ? With no real pre season ?
If we can't get rid of the players that we need to, we may well have to compromise like last season, which is not good.
We tried to sell Otto last summer, no takers, so far it seems the same this year and if a decent offer came in for John Stones, I think Pep would let him leave, he no longer trusts him.
You mean the two experienced CB that could not get a game last season, despite Laporte missing a large portion of the season, a 33 yr old CM player and a untried 19 yr old kid getting in front of both?I think it could possibly be a career ending mistake from Pep, if he gets rid of both our most senior cbs at this late stage.
No time to train new ones & barely any qualified backup for injuries etc.
And decided he's bigger and better than us!That's utter bollocks.
Stones gets as much shit as anyone & far more than his poor quality replacement who has already helped knock us out of two cups & has only been in the side a few months!
You mean the two experienced CB that could not get a game last season, despite Laporte missing a large portion of the season, a 33 yr old CM player and a untried 19 yr old kid getting in front of both?
Come on, they are both picking up big money, and their contributions have been minimal. Otto no problem, his time at the top is over. Stones is a waste of space, sad but true.
I think it could possibly be a career ending mistake from Pep, if he gets rid of both our most senior cbs at this late stage.
No time to train new ones & barely any qualified backup for injuries etc.
Good lord! You would think we were talking about Maldini, Nesta or Puyol here! its Stones, fucking John Stones! A career ending move for Ppe to get rid of Stones? I am beginning to think Stones is some kind of Don Corleone here at City, fucking untouchable, you talk bad about him or you sell and just like that you are done!
I don't understand your stance on John Stones. He is a player with incredible natural talent, a player whom his manager rated highly, a player who has had incredible support from that manager, yet John Stones has not only let himself down but Pep.I mean the only two experienced cbs, exept Laporte, who has enough on his plate trying to regain form & full fitness.
I don't know what has been going on with Stones, but imo, he wasn't very well managed from a football p.o v. If there is a guaranteed way to knock a players confidence & match sharpness then his usage last season would be it. If he was truly that far gone, he'd have been better off just being dropped & transfer listed rather than dragged around doing fuck all then stuck in for1 game to make a tit of himself.
I don't understand your stance on John Stones. He is a player with incredible natural talent, a player whom his manager rated highly, a player who has had incredible support from that manager, yet John Stones has not only let himself down but Pep.
Pep clearly has lost his trust, understandably, yet you and posters on here still have this blind faith over John Stones.
I just don't get it, last season we lost our best CB to a long term injury, THIS WAS JOHN STONE'S OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW HIS WORTH, what did he do? nothing , absolutely nothing, he went missing , as he has done every time the pressure is on.
Four years he has been here, and he is going backwards, he is not even at the level when we signed him!
Let's cut our losses, get what we can for him and move on.
It is in the best interest of both parties.
Completely agree with you.I'm saying that for whatever reason, he was taken for visits to Premier League grounds, last season, yet according to folks on here, there was no purpose to it, as Pep doesn't trust him.
So it wasn't a fitness thing it was a 'you're not wanted" thing.
So why was he there ? And why then, suddenly throw him into a game, when he hasn't played for ages ? Is it likely he will be that good, when he plays ?
Why not just tell him & transfer list him ? What are the 'talks' about at the end of the season ? Why hasn't he gone, on a free if neccessary & been replaced, so we have a new cb who knows what he's doing ?
Unless, Pep wants Stones but he's not been 'right' or fit.
Then, it makes sense. Otherwise it makes no sense at all, to waste all that time. It should be sorted, even a loan deal.
And now Laporte has Covid, just shows how flimsy our cb choices would be, without JS & Otamendi in the squad.
Stones splitting with his wife has resulted in a massive fall off in his performance level.
I said last season that he needs to work hard at his game but he is still making horrible mistakes. The Villa Cup final being a case in point he was actually excellent in that game baring one mistake that led to a goal.
He needs to concentrate better during a game to remain in City's medium to long term plans
Completely agree with you.
If a 19 year old untried kid was picked in front of you despite telling the club he no longer wanted to be at the club, you know your time is up.
Not really sure that's what I said?So what are we doing, waiting for Stones to figure out his problems and in the meantime, our world class players are getting older and Pep is getting closer to leave the club? Enough of excuses, it hasn’t been like this for 5 month, he hasn’t played well and consistent for two fkng years. If you think it’s more important to keep Stones rather than winning UCL, then there’s your priority
Not really sure that's what I said?
To be honest I wouldn't have either Stones or Garcia at the moment. Stones has reached levels in his career that Garcia could only dream about. Can't be doing with shit CB's being described as good readers of the game because they can't tackle, have got no pace and are shit in the air. Garcia will never make it as a CB at Premier League or La Liga level.
Stones is better than what both Arsenal or Chelsea have got and I reckon he'll end up at one of them if we manage to bring in Koulibaly. Garcia will hang around at City for a bit and probably go on the one way loan to Girona before disappearing.
I am sure Mangala had personal reasons why his form dipped after the Chelsea game but he was shown out the door after spending just one season with the team. I think Stones has had 3 seasons to impress and has failed woefully. Time to move on.Stones splitting with his wife has resulted in a massive fall off in his performance level.
I said last season that he needs to work hard at his game but he is still making horrible mistakes. The Villa Cup final being a case in point he was actually excellent in that game baring one mistake that led to a goal.
He needs to concentrate better during a game to remain in City's medium to long term plans
Totally agree. Reminds me a bit of Nastacic in that he got in the team young and had a couple of decent games so people think because of their age they’ll get better and better. Both extremely limited though and will never have pace, strength or be good in the air.