It's Quiet 18 - Wanna ring the bell?

[Tricky_Trev]

How sexy is this team though? For home games against deep blocks I say bollocks to inverted full backs and just play a double pivot of experienced midfielders. Would have to defend with a back 4 in other games, but there’ll be plenty of matches where this is possible:

——————————Haaland———————————
Grealish————————————————Foden—
——————Bellingham———KDB————————
——————————————————————————
———————Rodri———Mac Allister——————
——————————————————————————
——Gvardiol/Ake——Dias———Stones————
——————————————————————————
——————————Ederson———————————

 

[richards30]

How sexy is this team though? For home games against deep blocks I say bollocks to inverted full backs and just play a double pivot of experienced midfielders. Would have to defend with a back 4 in other games, but there’ll be plenty of matches where this is possible:

——————————Haaland———————————
Grealish————————————————Foden—
——————Bellingham———KDB————————
——————————————————————————
———————Rodri———Mac Allister——————
——————————————————————————
——Gvardiol/Ake——Dias———Stones————
——————————————————————————
——————————Ederson———————————

Fucking WOW!

 

[Jokithedruid]

How sexy is this team though? For home games against deep blocks I say bollocks to inverted full backs and just play a double pivot of experienced midfielders. Would have to defend with a back 4 in other games, but there’ll be plenty of matches where this is possible:

——————————Haaland———————————
Grealish————————————————Foden—
——————Bellingham———KDB————————
——————————————————————————
———————Rodri———Mac Allister——————
——————————————————————————
——Gvardiol/Ake——Dias———Stones————
——————————————————————————
——————————Ederson———————————

Think we'll do the inverted rb with rico or stones. That's why we have Kovacic as back up if Mac Allister gets too pricey (and I think he will be).

 

[Forza_City]

Why would that worry you? He literally says that was a joke.

Not that more if Mac Allister is the second midfielder we go for after jude then it might become a cucurella saga again which isn’t the way city want to go about business with any club

 

[RayCTID]

Gvardiol's performance vs us lot was a little concerning but imagine him against our rivals both domestically and in the Champions League?

 

[Tricky_Trev]

Think we'll do the inverted rb with rico or stones. That's why we have Kovacic as back up if Mac Allister gets too pricey (and I think he will be).

Oh yeah, we’ll definitely do it often, but I’m talking specifically about certain home games where we’re trying to break down a deep wall of bodies. I can see this kind of team in those games tbh. And I agree, it’s more likely to be Kovacic than Mac Allister but we can dream.

 

[Centurions]

Not that more if Mac Allister is the second midfielder we go for after jude then it might become a cucurella saga again which isn’t the way city want to go about business with any club

With hindsight Chelsea had obviously already been in touch and advised how much they were willing to pay, we just weren't going near it. Hardly a saga.

Edit: ignore any Brighton fans thoughts on it at the time.

 

[foggy1974]

Not that more if Mac Allister is the second midfielder we go for after jude then it might become a cucurella saga again which isn’t the way city want to go about business with any club

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but would we have offered more than the £35m quoted had we expected Cancelos form to dropped off like it did.

 

[skillman]

Ake never seemed like a bad buy, he just had a hell of a job on his hands displacing Dias, Stones and Laporte.

To be fair, Phillips is in the same position with Rodri in front of him. Ake had a fair few of, let's say, rash moments in his early days here too but has been fantastic this season.

 

[wolviedinho]

Give him whatever he wants!

He wants Jude!

 

[aguero93:20]

Give him whatever he wants!

 

[richards30]

;-)

 

[BongoBlue]

Aw hell, ni...

 

[Legal Alien]

Whats the point in signing gvardiol when we have ake?
Essentially the same player
So creates an extra body with no variation

Sign gvardiol and we fix the left side of our defence as defensive roles because we have gvardiol, ake, dias rotating 2 positions. None of them can do the lewis/stones style and none of them can fly up and down.

So left side sits and right side creates but never the reverse.

Feels a huge fee to actually limit our playing style options

Yep and Pep said in his press conference last week that he's looking for a different type of player, someone we haven't got in the squad currently.

Guardiola hints at what Man City want from summer transfer window

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has spoken about what his side currently do and do not have in their squad

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

 

[Legal Alien]

How sexy is this team though? For home games against deep blocks I say bollocks to inverted full backs and just play a double pivot of experienced midfielders. Would have to defend with a back 4 in other games, but there’ll be plenty of matches where this is possible:

——————————Haaland———————————
Grealish————————————————Foden—
——————Bellingham———KDB————————
——————————————————————————
———————Rodri———Mac Allister——————
——————————————————————————
——Gvardiol/Ake——Dias———Stones————
——————————————————————————
——————————Ederson———————————

We have the players to play a similar team today, it doesn't cost a penny more and is arguably better!

............Ederson........
Stones....Dias....Ake
...............Rodri..........
Bernardo........Foden
..............KDB............
Alvarez........Grealish
...........Haaland.........

 

[domalino]

How sexy is this team though? For home games against deep blocks I say bollocks to inverted full backs and just play a double pivot of experienced midfielders. Would have to defend with a back 4 in other games, but there’ll be plenty of matches where this is possible:

——————————Haaland———————————
Grealish————————————————Foden—
——————Bellingham———KDB————————
——————————————————————————
———————Rodri———Mac Allister——————
——————————————————————————
——Gvardiol/Ake——Dias———Stones————
——————————————————————————
——————————Ederson———————————

I can't see us spending £220m on central midfielders, which is what it'd cost to get Bellingham and Mac Allister.

I still think Frenkie De Jong is the best option alongside Bellingham because we can do a deal with Barcelona who supposedly want Laporte, Cancelo and Bernardo but don't have any money - a swap deal for one of our players would allow both clubs to get good fees on paper without actually spending that much.

 

[Alexia_Ko]

How sexy is this team though? For home games against deep blocks I say bollocks to inverted full backs and just play a double pivot of experienced midfielders. Would have to defend with a back 4 in other games, but there’ll be plenty of matches where this is possible:

——————————Haaland———————————
Grealish————————————————Foden—
——————Bellingham———KDB————————
——————————————————————————
———————Rodri———Mac Allister——————
——————————————————————————
——Gvardiol/Ake——Dias———Stones————
——————————————————————————
——————————Ederson———————————

You've got that energetic midfield so Rodri isn't working like a dog, beautiful team. Only downside is that you would only have Perrone and Philips on the bench to come on as subs

 

[Alexia_Ko]

We have the players to play a similar team today, it doesn't cost a penny more and is arguably better!

............Ederson........
Stones....Dias....Ake
...............Rodri..........
Bernardo........Foden
..............KDB............
Alvarez........Grealish
...........Haaland.........

In this team we'd only have bernardo helping Rodri whereas in the other team you'd have Mcallister and Bellingham

 

[Alexia_Ko]

The only reason why we are going for a 5th CB is because of a possible system change, it looks like we'll be playing a 3-5-2/3-2-2-3 which would require a 5th CB and Fullback

 

[Tricky_Trev]

I can't see us spending £220m on central midfielders, which is what it'd cost to get Bellingham and Mac Allister.

I still think Frenkie De Jong is the best option alongside Bellingham because we can do a deal with Barcelona who supposedly want Laporte, Cancelo and Bernardo but don't have any money - a swap deal for one of our players would allow both clubs to get good fees on paper without actually spending that much.

Tbh I can’t see us getting Mac Allister either but I was just imagining how we could look in certain types of home games if all went absolutely perfectly. But it seems unlikely we meet the asking price for Mac Allister. But sub in FDJ or Kovacic into that same system.