Declan Rice

Status
Not open for further replies.
tolmie's hairdoo said:
If Stones and Dias could stay fit, and Bernie stayed, I would probably agree.

Stones can play midfield with his eyes closed.
Click to expand...

This is true but Rodri has been overplayed this season so he will need less games next season and Stones does pick up injuries - so we will maybe need something more in the engine room. After the season we’ve just had and having played every game since March with almost no margin for error the players will be mentally and physically exhausted and some will get circa 3 weeks off.
 
bluetonium said:
The money doesn't bother me, we could afford it. It's more telling that we don't want to cough up. That would suggest there are other irons in the fire, because if we thought Rice was the primary target, of such importance to our plans and his club is selling, we'd have no issue meeting the price tag

Either that or we've been directly told Rice wants Arsenal not us, either way we'll have our own cunning plans and these usually turn out pretty well.
Click to expand...
At least they can’t say we’ve paid the most for an English player now. Although I noted the bbc saying it’s the same as Grealish although a paragraph late added there was £5million add ons.
 
eyalluvitt said:
Hard to shake the media driven narrative, after taking a very impressive 30K fans to Istanbul they said yes ‘City took a lot of fans but they barely celebrated the goal or the win’. United and Liverpool apart I would stand our support against any other fan base in England
Click to expand...

And we didn’t cause a riot, delay the match or kill anyone!
 
DMA's said:
I do wonder if the club can afford to be this nonchalant about transfers when pep does leave. I think peps genius allows us to be very selective in the market

Click to expand...

Of course, but that goes without saying, as the board will operate very differently when Pep does eventually leave.

So it’s really a moot point and fans feeling “Pep will make it work” is perfectly justified whilst he is here.

And it’s not as if all the players we bring in now are going to be lower quality for the future, anyway.

Txiki and co aren’t going to be employing Boehlyball—we are still bringing in excellent players, all the while developing arguably the best talent in the world in our Academy.

In fact, I think there is an argument that signings like Kovacic (older, role players) are now needed more than signings like Haaland (young phenoms), because we have some very talented youth coming through and there needs to be a real path to the first team that doesn’t take 4-5 years to realise for a 21 year-old player.

We very likely have our own Bellinghams coming through now.

And that was always the long term strategy to ensure sustainability and high achievement.
 
Is it real that we legally, and because of the treble money, have around 1 billion to spend?
That seems a LOT and we can do wonders.

About Rice, I'm too pleased we retracted on him, he is good but no way 100 million. This stupidity with the over-overpriced players has to stop and it's good we don't follow it.

We can do much better with 100 million.
 
KingGeorge said:
"He filled a role and did his part in us winning a treble."

What role did he fill? An extra body to help in training? I mean he may have not been a huge problem, but he wasn't much of a value-add either.
Click to expand...
He played when needed (and was nowhere near as poor as many make out), trained well by all accounts, and I am sure contributed to team chemistry and hunger to achieve greatness, which we did.

Can’t really fault him or his signing, especially not in retrospect.
 
Johnny Mars Bar said:
A game, like the dippers, they shouldn't be playing in anyway.

Just like when we won our last treble, the community shield should be City vs City reserves.

Or if I'm being kind, this year's really should be City vs united as they won the Coca Cola cup.

Arsenal won jack shit.
Click to expand...
Send the City womens team to play them
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
It would be a mistake.

Don't underestimate the mental fatigue and ability to go again next season.

Huge task for some players at the wrong end of the age scale.
Click to expand...
I agree we act now and keep improving the squad, but in reality who is on the wrong end of the age scale currently? Walker, who is an elite athlete and no longer required to be a full time player. Mahrez, who while still capable didn't feature in either Cup final and that was even with Foden not in the first 11. Neither are crucial as far as winning this coming season.

The elephant in the room is KDB and that's a big one. Moreso than even his age is the fact that he is slowing but surely breaking down and Holland aside he is still the "star" player and one of the best players on the planet when fit and on it. Add to that his long time running mate, Gundo, being gone and there's no doubt we should be adding at least 2 dynamic young players, one an AM and the other a wide player who is comfortable on either side. Foden can move inside but who backs up Grealish if he goes down with any type of injury. Bernardo is not a full time winger (if he stays) and Mahrez at 33 is what he is. I'd love to see us move for someone like Chiesa who can play on either side and would come cheaper now and has a lot to prove in getting back to an elite level. And we could take our time in returning him to full fitness due to our squad depth. Just a thought.
 
ManCityGR! said:
Is it real that we legally, and because of the treble money, have around 1 billion to spend?
That seems a LOT and we can do wonders.

About Rice, I'm too pleased we retracted on him, he is good but no way 100 million. This stupidity with the over-overpriced players has to stop and it's good we don't follow it.

We can do much better with 100 million.
Click to expand...
We ain’t getting muller[Rice]d!
 
He is a good player but we just got Kovacic for pocket money in comparison and I think he is as good albeit older. He looks buzzing to have signed for us too.
 
SebastianBlue said:
He played when needed (and was nowhere near as poor as many make out), trained well by all accounts, and I am sure contributed to team chemistry and hunger to achieve greatness, which we did.

Can’t really fault him or his signing, especially not in retrospect.
Click to expand...
“and I am sure contributed to team chemistry and hunger to achieve greatness, which we did.”

In essence his contribution was extremely limited.
 
I'm relieved we're not signing him to be honest, especially if it means we keep Bernardo. When you look at the standard of midfielders we've had under Pep (David Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Bernardo, Rodri, Fernandinho) it tells you the level he expects in that position and Rice is nowhere near the level of these players.

Zinchenko and Delph are midfielders by trade but could only get in the team at full-back and we've all seen how badly Phillips has struggled. Unless you are the creme de la creme then it's very hard to get in to a Pep midfield. It's the one area of the field that can't have a weak link otherwise the whole system falls apart.

Kovacic is a quality player and whilst not like-for-like, he is a very good replacement for Gundogan. We have KDB to come back, Foden is apparently going to be playing more central and hopefully we keep Bernardo who can move back in to midfield if we need him to. In terms of numbers, we are arguably in a better position than last season when you factor in Foden's change of role in the team.

We will undoubtedly need to sign a midfielder soon with Kevin potentially coming towards the end and we'll need to replace Bernardo when he leaves but I would say a winger is probably a more pressing need right now.
 
We have done tgis loada before and nearly always been right, Arsenal offering to pay an extra 15 million and us saying nah is smart by the club as west ham could easil reject both and go we want £120.

Let arse have him, doubt it will make much difference to us, we will find someone esle as always
 
pavelsrnicek said:
The concern I have is it’s Gvardiol and done. We need to build from the treble win rather than relax after it. Refresh and inject hunger and make sure we have a good mix of ages in the squad. Our midfield (with or without Bernardo) needs more than just Kovacic.
Click to expand...

100% this.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top