Hugo Viana | Director of Football

[Keeper!]

what's wrong with him, who would be urs then. i think he suits our playstyle and doing good in france so far

Has dressing room issues in time, it follows him to ever club, top coach but poor man management skills.

 

[DelToro]

I think our period of dominance has come to a natural end. I feel we've had our time. Not a wind up, just my feeling.

That’s the spirit.

 

[John Wayne]

Think we need to make Akanji a full-time RB. Better than Walker and Lewis in that position.

I think most of us would probably have our strongest back four as being Akanji, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol. Basically the back four that won us the Treble but Gvardiol now inching in front of Ake in the pecking order.

 

[eastmanc]

I think most of us would probably have our strongest back four as being Akanji, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol. Basically the back four that won us the Treble but Gvardiol now inching in front of Ake in the pecking order.

We probably need to stop the rotation and stick to this back four. Which is what Pep did in the treble winning season.

 

[Beaker]

bayer or dortmund bound. nagelsmann and de zerbi should be our main targets imo

I wasn’t a big fan of the way De Zerbi conducted himself last season. I think he expected that bigger clubs than Marseille were going to be queuing up for him.

 

[citizen_maine]

We probably need to stop the rotation and stick to this back four. Which is what Pep did in the treble winning season.

If only they were fit enough to stick to

 

[.db.]

I posted this in the Title Race thread but it probably fits in this thread better…

…the only players in their prime years in our current squad even when everyone is fit are:
Akanji
Aké
Dias
Foden
Grealish
Haaland
Nunes
Rodri
…8 the 25 man squad, 32%, not even ⅓

I always think the very best teams have a majority of players in the squad in the 24-29 age bracket, with youngsters and ageing players supplementing that major group of players in their prime. Unless you have a situation where there are players over 30 who are still performing at the peak of their prime like Kompany, Fernandinho and David Silva did. And then they had De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Kun Agüero, Mahrez, Sterling, Stones, Walker, Ederson, Otamendi, Laporte, even Delph, all around them who were in their prime years.
That was 14 of the 25 man squad/56% either in their prime or still performing at the level of their prime.

Youngsters and ageing players are over ⅔ of our entire squad, and the ageing midfield trio yesterday remind me more of the ageing four full backs we had under Pellegrini/Pep’s first season that really affected the way we played (and midfield is a more crucial area of the pitch than full backs) more than it did Fernandinho and DSilva in their 30s.

The average age of our midfield of Bernardo, Gündoğan and Kovačić was over 31 (31.3). Add de Bruyne to that midfield and the average age goes up. Then the average age of our outfield bench options (bar De Bruyne who was never coming on) was under 20 (19.8).

The only players not available from all of the 24-29 year olds we have in the full squad are Dias, Grealish and Rodri but even just having those three out, that leaves us with just 5 players/20% of our entire squad being in their prime.

That sort of issue will be a factor with any squad. We don’t have enough players who are at the peak of both their ability+physicality combined to make a player the best they’ll be in their career.

Not only is either getting Pep to sign or finding his replacement important, but getting the balance of the amount of players in their prime in the squad is just as important. Unless we are aiming to build a young squad and forgo winning as much for a few years as De Bruyne, Gündoğan, Bernardo, Kovačić, Walker, Stones etc. all get older, unfortunately get worse and then leave/retire and we have a young crop of players who’ll take a few years to develop? But I thought we would manage our squad better than that to be more consistently elite.

 

[.db.]

Iraola who masterminded our defeat yesterday got Rayo Vallecano promoted, and finished 12th in La Liga plus a cup semi final. No mean feat for such a small club. He's young and worth keeping an eye on.

The guy at Forest laughably sacked by Spuds is doing well.

Michel at Girona finding it tougher this year.

Xavi is a big no. Just because he played in midfield for Barca does not make him a good manager.

I’ve liked that Bournemouth manager since last season when they outplayed us in the second half at their place.

 

[blueparrot]

I posted this in the Title Race thread but it probably fits in this thread better…

…the only players in their prime years in our current squad even when everyone is fit are:
Akanji
Aké
Dias
Foden
Grealish
Haaland
Nunes
Rodri
…8 the 25 man squad, 32%, not even ⅓

I always think the very best teams have a majority of players in the squad in the 24-29 age bracket, with youngsters and ageing players supplementing that major group of players in their prime. Unless you have a situation where there are players over 30 who are still performing at the peak of their prime like Kompany, Fernandinho and David Silva did. And then they had De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Kun Agüero, Mahrez, Sterling, Stones, Walker, Ederson, Otamendi, Laporte, even Delph, all around them who were in their prime years.
That was 14 of the 25 man squad either in their prime or still performing at the level of their prime.

Youngsters and ageing players are over ⅔ of our entire squad, and the ageing midfield trio yesterday remind me more of the ageing four full backs we had under Pellegrini/Pep’s first season that really affected the way we played (and midfield is a more crucial area of the pitch than full backs) more than it did Fernandinho and DSilva in their 30s.

The average age of our midfield of Bernardo, Gündoğan and Kovačić was over 31 (31.3). Add de Bruyne to that midfield and the average age goes up. Then the average age of our outfield bench options (taking out de Bruyne who was never coming on) was under 20 (19.8).

The only players not available from all of the 24-29 year olds we have in the full squad are Dias, Grealish and Rodri but even just having those three out, that leaves us with just 5 players/20% of our entire squad being in their prime.

That sort of issue will be a factor with any squad. We don’t have enough players who are at the peak of both their ability+physicality combined to make a player the best they’ll be in their career.

Not only is either getting Pep to sign or finding his replacement important, but getting the balance of the amount of players in their prime in the squad is just as important. Unless we are aiming to build a young squad and forgo winning as much for a few years as De Bruyne, Gündoğan, Bernardo, Kovačić, Walker, Stones etc. all get older, unfortunately get worse and then leave/retire and we have a young crop of players who’ll take a few years to develop? But I thought we would manage our squad better than that to be more consistently elite.

Lewis Savinho, Doku, Bobb Stones Ederson Ortega Gvardiol all in their prime years or getting to them when fit. So 16 whats usually a 23 man squad

 

[WRicko]

Think we need to make Akanji a full-time RB. Better than Walker and Lewis in that position.

Why not go for a RB

 

[citizen_maine]

Why not go for a RB

It's radical, but it just might work

 

[1961_vintage]

Why not go for a RB

Radical thinking.

 

[eastmanc]

If only they were fit enough to stick to

True.

 

[Shazza458]

I think our period of dominance has come to a natural end. I feel we've had our time. Not a wind up, just my feeling.

I see where you coming from, but I’d be more inclined to agree if we’d spent in the summer.

The fact we didn’t really add or refresh means we let things go stale. New signings could’ve given the team fresh impetus

 

[Gumzy97]

Lewis Savinho, Doku, Bobb Stones Ederson Ortega Gvardiol all in their prime years or getting to them when fit. So 16 whats usually a 23 man squad

Notice a trend that the players that are not in their prime or heading into it are midfielders the main part of a Pep team. Apart from Rodri the midfield needs a major rebuild. Get some young players there to give us energy.

I’d put Foden as a midfielder but he’s playing more as a winger again. Rico similar as he’s playing right back mostly. No idea why McAtee doesn’t play.

 

[Twisted-wheel]

Notice a trend that the players that are not in their prime or heading into it are midfielders the main part of a Pep team. Apart from Rodri the midfield needs a major rebuild. Get some young players there to give us energy.

I’d put Foden as a midfielder but he’s playing more as a winger again. Rico similar as he’s playing right back mostly. No idea why McAtee doesn’t play.

Macatee is not at this level to compete against the top teams in prem and Europe, looks like a car crash in his position

 

[Mancini’s Pastilles]

Right back target should be Pedro Porro. Viana would know him obviously and he was ours previously

 

[Semper aggressus]

I think our period of dominance has come to a natural end. I feel we've had our time. Not a wind up, just my feeling.

Not if we get our next couple of transfer windows right. Just need the ambition to aim for a centurions season again.

Does the club have that ambition to dominate, or does it just want to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Villa and win maybe one title in four or five? I seriously hope it’s the former. But we need a proper spend on some real players, no fucking about baulking at fees or bottling it if rags or someone try to outbid us.

 

[Scottish Cityzen]

Think we need to make Akanji a full-time RB. Better than Walker and Lewis in that position.

I’d prefer that the replacement for Walker (good chance this will be his last season) is an outstanding out and out RB who is signed to be first choice (no idea who) but think right now a back four of

Akanji
Two from Stones / Dias / Ake
Gvardiol

Would be a stronger back four and we need to get back to showing we have the capability of keeping a few clean sheets.

Rico is a wonderful player but not sure he’s got all the attributes to be a top class RB on the defensive front. In his defence where he’s viewed as at fault for a lot of goals it is because Pep’s requirement for his role constantly takes him miles out of position.

 

[blueparrot]

I see where you coming from, but I’d be more inclined to agree if we’d spent in the summer.

The fact we didn’t really add or refresh means we let things go stale. New signings could’ve given the team fresh impetus

Still will.