Injuries 2024/25 | Ake & Bobb return to training

Ric said:
I have an outlandish theory, which is probably almost certainly not true, that the injuries to Dias, Stones and Ake are actually relatively minor. They could have played in the last few games if they really had to, but Pep decided not to so they could pull out of international duty. He’ll use the next two weeks to work on a new defensive system for the rest of the season in training to mitigate the loss of Rodri, and we’ll see all three appear against Spurs. Wishful thinking, I know.
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Yep. We'd never think to do things like this because we're City fans who want to win every game - but, as much as Pep loves the club, he's been in the business long enough to know that sometimes you do need to give certain underperforming players enough rope. Dias, Stones, Akanji, and Ake will all be back in the team for the Spurs game and we'll be playing a lot deeper than usual to stop counters. The goals we have scored in recent games have all been very different to our usual methods and he's clearly using these games to work something out that will pay dividends down the line. He's done this every year - like persisting with the inverted RB during the autumn/winter of 2022 even though it wasn't working, then suddenly in February/March it clicked and we were unstoppable - and he's doing it again.
 
So the following are not away with their international sides:

Akanji
Nunes
Dias
Stones
De Bruyne
Doku

Have I missed anyone?
 
Scaring Europe to Death said:
I'm not expecting sympathy from the media but perhaps an acknowledgement that our current injury situation is pretty dire and leaves the Manager with few options

Compare this with the BBC's report of "injury ravaged" and "understrength" Liverpool winning the Carabao Cup Final last season

Salah Nunes and Jota were all out, but our entire defence from the CL Final Starting XI are all injured plus Rodri and Grealish are all out

All we're asking for is a little balance
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You won't get balance from the nonce protecting grief monkey loving BBC
 
Scaring Europe to Death said:
I'm not expecting sympathy from the media but perhaps an acknowledgement that our current injury situation is pretty dire and leaves the Manager with few options
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“I’ve got no sympathy for City with their squad” is just the latest buzz phrase repeated non stop.

It was quite satisfying hearing a player (IIRC Andros Townsend) on 5Live come out with it on Saturday and the journalists on the panel immediately reply that it doesn’t really matter how good your squad is if you’ve only got 13 fit players.
 
bobbyowenquiff said:
The ridiculous expansion of international football (most of it meaningless games) is undermining domestic leagues.
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The number of international games in the calendar hasn’t materially increased for 30 years.

England played 66 games over 5 years 1995-1998.

England played 77 games over 5 years from 2019-2024.

9 of the 11 extra games are all from just going further in tournaments.
 
bobbyowenquiff said:
The ridiculous expansion of international football (most of it meaningless games) is undermining domestic leagues. I can't believe the clubs have allowed themselves to be bullied into this absurd situation. The players are paid by the clubs and the clubs make virtually all the money which circulates around the entire sport. FIFA and UEFA are commercial rivals who are just milking the clubs for their own purposes. This farce can only hasten the arrival of some sort of Super League. The clubs own the product (content) and have to have more control over their own products. International football used to be an elite level which was seen as the pinnacle of the sport. The number of matches was restricted and that's why it was elite. Now it is mostly pub-league football.
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Its why we will get a European Super League at some point, ridiculous the amount of injuries all teams get at these shite waste of space games.

Only plus point is that we will probably be in National League North soon so wont have to worry about it unless we have a few Bermudan lads in the squad.
 
domalino said:
The number of international games in the calendar hasn’t materially increased for 30 years.

England played 66 games over 5 years 1995-1998.

England played 77 games over 5 years from 2019-2024.

9 of the 11 extra games are all from just going further in tournaments.
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They didn't shut down domestic leagues for multiple breaks in the past. The matches used to be spaced through the calendar on midweek dates. Certainly in the 70s and 80s. The Nations League has been brought in to replace friendlies. Under the current situation the PL is totally disrupted, especially before Christmas.
 
bobbyowenquiff said:
They didn't shut down domestic leagues for multiple breaks in the past. The matches used to be spaced through the calendar on midweek dates. Certainly in the 70s and 80s. The Nations League has been brought in to replace friendlies. Under the current situation the PL is totally disrupted, especially before Christmas.
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Agreed. These breaks in the season are nonsense.
 
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