Read the other day we’ve only signed 1 left back in 9 years and he did his cruciate after 3 weeks
Compare that to the amount of wingers we’ve signed and it’s crazy
Not sure its accurate if you include all the players who have turned out at LB, Delph and Zinch among others have done shifts in title winning teams.
But LB is always difficult. It's the most specialised outfield position. We have been unlucky with Mendy and his injury. Should have got Lucas Digne when he was cheap.
This reminds me of Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.Spot on, you start to wonder how much Pep is having to do with transfers, or if he's getting players he actually wants. Stones, Mendy, Rodri and Mahrez haven't particularly improved since arriving (I'd excuse Cancelo as he's hardly played). It seems to be like Watford, players arrive and the coach is told that's what he's got, get on with it. The incestuous relationship Pep has with the Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain is all nice and cosy but I don't see helping matters with the inadequacy of the squad.
Pep inherited the best players in the squad, Kompany, Fernandinho, Silva, Aguero, KDB, Sterling, Yaya. Now this group have started to break up the replacements have been poor/cheaper options and it's not worked. Other than Gundogun I can't remember any reference to us signing a player because that's who Pep wanted. Of course credit has to be given for getting players like Sane, Bernie Silva, Walker and Jesus, but we've had really poor transfer windows for 2 seasons now, maybe more I'd love to know if it was the board saying to Pep we can't replace Kompany, or Pep thinking he could convert Fernandinho into and centre half. The board seem to under instruction to buy average cheaper players.
We should have been buying Sergio's replacement this season, he's in his final year, more injury prone than ever, but I fear we will wait until next summer or even the summer after, and buy average again.
Not sure on that, we obviously have to play a left back.
None of Zinchenko, Delph, Laporte Walker or Cancelo were signed to play there (or have ever played there before?) but all have had to under Pep
Surely that's a sign of bad recruitment in that position?
Seems like we always try and "get away with it"
I would have thought we would be linked to Lucas Digne. He's a decent young left back and was on loan from PSG to Roma last year. Roma and PSG have not yet agreed terms to make it permanent so he is as available as it gets.
When he played Danilo looked good to me. Not sure if he didn't settle but I was suprised when we let him go and splurged a load on Cancelo who still doesn't feel like his City career has started yet.And the RB's we sign, Walker has proved his worth, but Danilo and Cancelo crazy, lazy poor buys.
To be fair he wanted out, but considering his contract/fee he was nothing special.When he played Danilo looked good to me. Not sure if he didn't settle but I was suprised when we let him go and splurged a load on Cancelo who still doesn't feel like his City career has started yet.
Not sure on that, we obviously have to play a left back.
None of Zinchenko, Delph, Laporte Walker or Cancelo were signed to play there (or have ever played there before?) but all have had to under Pep
Surely that's a sign of bad recruitment in that position?
Seems like we always try and "get away with it"
Those missing player in your second paragraph sums up our current predicament superbly.The 198 points years boasted a squad that included Kompany, Sane, David Silva, Otamendi, Mangala, Danilo, Delph and a peak Fernandinho. Since then we've only signed Ake, Cancelo, Rodri and Torres. And brought through Foden and Garcia.
Compared to the 198 squad we started last night without Aguero, Jesus, Sane, Silva, Silva, Gundogan, Kompany, Laporte, Stones, Otamendi, Mangala, Zinchenko, Danilo, Delph. Thats a major dip in quality, transition years?
I ignored keepers as the maine man is still there.
Our obsession with not paying more than €65m for a player is starting to tell.Anyone else feel like our recruitment strategy is starting to hold us back?
We’re now losing players like Silva and Kompany, while the likes of Fernandinho and Aguero aren’t getting any younger. The thing is, the players we’re bringing in aren’t at the same level and often it feels like a case of ‘we don’t really know how they’ll turn out, but let’s hope they’re good’. Players like Aguero, Silva and Yaya were top class when we bought them and even Kompany was really highly regarded but held back due to his injury record.
Buying proven big players often DOES work. I’d argue our two biggest names purchased since Garry Cook left were De Bruyne and Sterling but based on the last few years you just know that Aguero’s successor is going to be some mid-range player who ends up struggling to get 15 goals a season.
This will upset some but we SHOULD be in for players like Sancho. His record at Dortmund is phenomenal. I don’t care about the past - let bygones be bygones. He’ll be a star in the top flight for the next 10 years when he comes back.
Don’t get me wrong I do think there are good deals to be had with lesser known talent, I just think you need a strong core of top class players and then you build around them.
Yet look at mistakes he’s made in the biggest of games... Spurs at home CL he was involved (negatively) in all 3 Spurs goals; Lyon CL the other month, made two mistakes in the same move that lead to a winning goal.How many great buys have we made in the last 3 years. Laporte...
This is the worst midfield we’ve had since Sven’s team or maybe early Hughes’ teams but even he had Kompany playing well in midfield and then had Barry and de Jong. They’d all walk into our midfield now.Next summer will be expensive and difficult as we’ll be replacing Aguero and Fernandinho while facing competition from a number of clubs, like Real, who haven’t spent this summer.
This summer has been a little disappointing in that we had a relatively poor season, based on previous standards, and haven’t really addressed the shortcomings in the squad. We all hope that Pep can address the issues that were apparent in the games that mattered last season.
Hopefully Dias becomes the partner Laporte needs. Hopefully we get a new left back and if not hopefully one of Cancelo, Ake, Mendy & Zinchenko is a left back capable of playing at the top level. Hopefully between Rodri, Fernandinho, Gundogan and maybe Bernardo we have enough in the middle of the park and we can fix the holes that have been apparent in matches like Arsenal, Lyon & Leicester.
Hopefully Sterling, Mahrez, Bernardo, Torres and Foden share the creative burden with KDB. Hopefully our 2 strikers stay fit for enough of the season.
As far as I can make out we seem to be crossing our fingers and hoping that everything works out this season. We seem to be a less energetic, less creative and slower side than at our peak 2017-19. All we can do is hope things work out.
Mahrez?Ederson, Bernardo, Mahrez and Walker to name a few.
Indeed. From Fred to Jorginho to Maguire and a fair few others... what sort of team would Txiki have built if these players had come?We have been more miss than hit in terms of our main targets the last few years, luckily they have pretty much all gone on to seem like we dodged the bullet with them, but at the end of the day that's as worrying as having succeeded in signing them!
No.Anyone else feel like our recruitment strategy is starting to hold us back?
...
My point was that Bernardo has put in the work before and will do again, poor season or not. If you’re happy with Mahrez’s workrate and all-round contribution then that’s fine. I am not.