Chelsea (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

Dribble said:
Agreed. I think we all know this'll be Ilkay's final season as a player at City, & my hope is he'll become a player coach from next season. An outfield version of Scott Carson.

I actually thought yesterday was one of his better games, which to be fair I could count on one hand since he returned. But still, Pep's taken responsibility for not acting more decisively last summer, even when given the opportunity from the higher ups.

We shouldn't be in a position where we have to rely on a 34 year old Gundog, because we're desperately short of player options.
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agreed...but we still havent got any midfield cover and there is a week left of the transfer cover.....unless the idea is to use one of the original/older defenders in to cover Rodri (Stones or Gvardiol) - issue with this is Stones is never regularly fit (though he is perfect for the role) and Gvardiol might be deemed by Pep as not having enough experience yet (though Peps comments over the weekend about him being too technically good to play a centre half are very intersting....i do think Gvardiol could play that 6 role
 
Kinkys Left Foot said:
I'm not sure why certain of our fans want to engage in a bit of Palmer bashing. Let's be honest hes been fucking magnificent for Chelsea and single handedly dragged them to the brink of the top 4 with his goals and assists. He simply would not have had the game time at City to improve at the rate he has under Chelsea, rightly or wrongly under Pep.
He wanted to move as he was no doubt guaranteed more playing time than we were prepared to give him. We got what was considered a sizeable and fair fee and the move has suited everyone all round. He hasn't openly dissed the club since he left AFAIK. As a product of our academy I can be pleased with his achievements (when hes not playing us obviously). I don't get the animosity if i'm honest.
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I just said he was shite against us and if my memory serves me right, he was!
Not mentioned anything other than that and the fact that I’ve not seen him rip it up against better teams
 
simon23 said:
agreed...but we still havent got any midfield cover and there is a week left of the transfer cover.....unless the idea is to use one of the original/older defenders in to cover Rodri (Stones or Gvardiol) - issue with this is Stones is never regularly fit (though he is perfect for the role) and Gvardiol might be deemed by Pep as not having enough experience yet (though Peps comments over the weekend about him being too technically good to play a centre half are very intersting....i do think Gvardiol could play that 6 role
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His comments about Gvardiol were very interesting, however I'd still rather him use his ball playing skills to step forward from CB into central midfield if needed. Oh how I long for rapid overlapping FB's who know how to defend.

Having versatility helps Pep keep his squads small, but as we've seen, our elite players have been rinsed until they've literally got nothing left.

As I said yesterday, & without sounding like Captain Obvious, I think the quality of our incoming midfielders will be our paramount concern. If they're not available for transfer, I can see us hanging on until the summer. We've made far too many mistakes in that area over the last 2-3 seasons. We need to make our next 3-4 midfield transfers count.
 
Dribble said:
His comments about Gvardiol were very interesting, however I'd still rather him use his ball playing skills to step forward from CB into central midfield if needed. Oh how I long for rapid overlapping FB's who know how to defend.

Having versatility helps Pep keep his squads small, but as we've seen, our elite players have been rinsed until they've literally got nothing left.

As I said yesterday, & without sounding like Captain Obvious, I think the quality of our incoming midfielders will be our paramount concern. If they're not available for transfer, I can see us hanging on until the summer. We've made far too many mistakes in that area over the last 2-3 seasons. We need to make our next 3-4 midfield transfers count.
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Agree on all of that.

Pep has also commented on how he prefers Stones in the back 4 as he reads the game so well....so Iguess that puts pay to that idea unless he absolutely has to....also referencing the fact that him and Ake cannot play every 3 days....Stones is a Rolls Royce of a footballer but Im thinking that he needs to start showing he can be physically relied on or we might just get rid of him and Ake

Completely agree on the midifielder.....we have to replace KDB, Gundo and the replacements for them need to be absolute top draw - Wirtz for me is as close to KDB as you can get. Musiala is another that falls into the very top bracket....Every player and club has their price...we need to find it.
 
simon23 said:
Agree on all of that.

Pep has also commented on how he prefers Stones in the back 4 as he reads the game so well....so Iguess that puts pay to that idea unless he absolutely has to....also referencing the fact that him and Ake cannot play every 3 days....Stones is a Rolls Royce of a footballer but Im thinking that he needs to start showing he can be physically relied on or we might just get rid of him and Ake

Completely agree on the midifielder.....we have to replace KDB, Gundo and the replacements for them need to be absolute top draw - Wirtz for me is as close to KDB as you can get. Musiala is another that falls into the very top bracket....Every player and club has their price...we need to find it.
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We can but dream about Wirtz & Musiala. These two, Tchouameni, Hakimi & Alphonso Davies would be my dream 5 elite players transfer window.

This is the level that City should be shopping at. It would provide us with 2 world class FB's & 3 world class midfielders. We would have adequate competition & cover for Rodri, have replacements for Walker & Mendy, & could finally start the phased transition from the Gundog & KDB era, to the Wirtz & Musiala one.

However, Davies is nailed on for Real in the summer like TAA. Real are building another Harlem Globe Trotters Galacticos team. We need our own, but very coherent version of that. Also Hakimi has apparently just signed an extension at Paris.
 
Dribble said:
We can but dream about Wirtz & Musiala. These two, Tchouameni, Hakimi & Alphonso Davies would be my dream 5 elite players transfer window.

This is the level that City should be shopping at. It would provide us with 2 world class FB's & 3 world class midfielders. We would have adequate competition & cover for Rodri, have replacements for Walker & Mendy, & could finally start the phased transition from the Gundog & KDB era, to the Wirtz & Musiala one.

However, Davies is nailed on for Real in the summer like TAA. Real are building another Harlem Globe Trotters Galacticos team. We need our own, but very coherent version of that. Also Hakimi has apparently just signed an extension at Paris.
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For me Witrz is the one...with Musiala a close second. When you are looking at replacing KDB, Gundo you have to shop at the very top....fullback wise yes we need better in the future BUT even in Peps system you dont have to have the best - he has shown that with the likes of Delph, Zinchenko - even Ake who is really a centre half and Gvardiol.....even Nunes is looking ok in that position and he has only played a few games there....yes we need better than him but fullback isnt as integral imho
 
simon23 said:
For me Witrz is the one...with Musiala a close second. When you are looking at replacing KDB, Gundo you have to shop at the very top....fullback wise yes we need better in the future BUT even in Peps system you dont have to have the best - he has shown that with the likes of Delph, Zinchenko - even Ake who is really a centre half and Gvardiol.....even Nunes is looking ok in that position and he has only played a few games there....yes we need better than him but fullback isnt as integral imho
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I honestly think we'd have progressed even more with another Kyle on the left, with raiding, overlapping FB's as competition & cover.

Playing without FB's wasn't so much Pep's master plan, it was done to ensure game time to the squad & stop dressing room unrest. It just so happens we had CB's with the versatility to play there.

However, IMHO, I think we'd have been even more potent if we had Hakimi & Walker as RB's & Davies & another top LB as our FB options.

Agreed with Wirtz. Musiala isn't a bad 2nd option either. If we collectively pray for both, we might just get lucky! ;-)
 
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