The rebuild has started. Who goes?

youngbob said:
Ederson - jury's out, would keep him if he can be committed
Ortega - time to go, think he knows he'll never be #1 here
Carson - safe

Walker - already gone
Dias - safe for me
Stones - jury's out, so good but just can't stay fit
Akanji - safe for me, clearly not fit right now
Ake - jury's out would love him to stay but can't stay fit
Gvardiol - safe for me
Khusanov - safe, obviously
Reis - safe, obviously
Wilson-Esbrand - needs to go for his own development
Simpson-Pusey - needs to go for his own development

Rodri - safe, obviously
Gonzalez - safe, obviously
Lewis - deserves one more season, so safe for now
Nunes - has to go, sadly
Kovacic - deserves one more season, was very good in 23/24
De Bruyne - could we get one more season out of him with more legs behind him?
Bernardo - time to go, sadly
Gundogan - time to go, sadly
Foden - should be the safest out of anyone
Grealish - jury's out, if he can stay fit and focused he can stay but...
Doku - deserves one more season
Savinho - safe
Bobb - safe
McAtee - needs to go for his own development

Haaland - safe, obviously
Marmoush - safe, obviously

So that leaves us with:



Not bad.

Then the summer after that it'll be time for Akanji, Kovacic, and De Bruyne to move on together.
Click to expand...
Good assessment overall...but...why would you keep a jury out on players that just can't stay fit?...we're not running a rehab clinic here!...
 
Longballutd said:
Need to trim a few from the squad for sure. Quite a few on the wane and others who will never reach the required level.

I would move on Gundogan and Kovacic and Bernardo due to best years being behind them. Walker obviously needs to go permanently.

Lewis, Grealish, Akanji, Phillips and Nunes just not of the standard required.

I would keep both Stones and Ake if they are fit they are both brilliant players. Risky but think they are worth keeping based on that.
Click to expand...
Kovacic is fine for a couple of years, but he has had to cover in the absence of Rodri, Stones, and the loss of Gundogan’s legs, not to mention that most of the season, our main defenders have rarely been able to stay fit for more than three games in a row, apart from Gvardiol. He needs to stay. Disagree about Akanji and Lewis, and Nunes shows flashes of brilliance but rarely played in his best position. Grealish is a good player but I think Pep has lost faith in him, and the arrival of Savinho and Marmoush might signal an opportunity to cash in during the summer. Apparently City have given Kev the option to determine whether to stay or go, and maybe Gundogan could be groomed as an occasional player and future coach. Walker and Phillips have gone for good, we might get a few quid in the summer. But in perspective, we have a lot of young players home-grown and bought in, alongside the likes of Foden, Haaland, Gvardiol, etc, so whilst things seem gloomy because of the disastrous run in the autumn, combined with the dismal PSG and Arsenal results, we are still in the top five, and Haaland is still in contention for highest scorer. Think positive, we are in transition, but still up there
 
Haven't read a post I agree with yet.
Nothing new there.
Haven't got time to play God at the moment, but from what I've been unfortunate enough to read - I can see I'd be a lot more ruthless with the average players some have taken to their hearts and more benevolent to those currently out of Pep's huggy wuggy circle.
Pep and Pep alone will ultimately decide, and whether he still has the touch and appetite remains to be seen.
 
Last edited:
Resurrection Joe... said:
if theyre not fit enough to play, then they might as well not be there....would love to keep them, but these things rerely improve with age no?
Click to expand...
Most of them are not fit enough to play, simply because a combination of too many games and injuries have created the perfect storm. It is obvious that a handful have probably gone past their peak or never got there, but age isn’t everything, experience counts so don’t rush to get rid of ageing players, Walker walked, but I think that was more about his complicated personal life, and he was shite this season anyway. The others might have struggled but that is because they have to play every three or four games. If we get knocked out by Real, that will give Pep time to reassess the squad, get a balance between experience and youth. It might be a good thing, as long as we can get back into the Champions League next season.
 
Judging by recent policy we will sell:
McAtee, O’Reilly, Lewis, Heskey.
 
I'd just start with:

1. Whoever wants to go.
2. Whoever can no longer be relied on to stay fit.

After that, let's see what we have left and work from there ..
 
There seems to have been a bit of a sea change in relation to the attitude of some posters concerning the rebuild job. A few months ago it was "1 or 2 at most" or "a few tactical tweaks and we'll be back". I guess that's what happens though when people see the inevitable after the team gets took to the cleaners all too often. Who stays and who goes is anyone's guess really. If possible, we may as well try and complete the job as much as we can come summer. Sentimentality can be put to one side for me.
 
SELL
Walker gone
Dias-Sell- unable to keep fit
Stones-Sell-unable to keep fit
Ake-Love him, quality but can't stay fit.
Akanji-Another one who has dropped off
KDB - Release
Bernardo - Sell
Gundo- Release
Phillips- Sell
Nunes- Sell
Grealish-Sell. Unfortunately not worked out. Would love to see him in number 10 roll but doubt it happens.

KEEP
Ederson
Ortega - Good 2nd choice but no way a number 1 for me.
Gvardiol-Shining Light for me after a tricky spell
Doku-Needs to keep fit or move to the above list
Kova keep- Legs clearly ageing but great option to come on when we need to tighten midfield.
Savio
Marmoush
Bobb-Keep
Kusanov
Reis
Gonzales - He is class you know :-)
Rodri
Haaland
Simpson Pusey-Loan for full season
Rico-Loan for full season
Mcatee-Loan for full season
O'reilly-Loan

Just my opinion. Probably going to take another 2 windows.
 
The PL is changing. Football always evolves.

The 3-4-2-1 formation is challenging better teams at the moment, especially ones with low energy.

We need legs and lungs alongside a slight change in formation balance.

I expect KDB, Ederson or Ortega, Carson and Gundogan to go. Grealish on loan too.

Lewis will stay as he doesn’t take up a squad place.
Can’t see Nunes going either. He’s got the versatility that Pep likes.
 
It’s possible with some shrewd signings to replace the ageing / tired / injured legs of KDB Gundog Silva Stonesy et al but you can’t replace the leadership they bring in and around the place every day. We have to keep some of them.

Bernie and Kev can still excel for us if we manage their game time properly and use them sparingly. Maybe Stonesy and Ake won’t be quite so brittle if they’re not hurried back too soon in the future.

Get rid of the obvious flops, the never gonna make its and those whose heart may no longer be in it.

Nunes, Phillips (please God), Rico, Mcatee and sadly for me Eddie and Jack
 
blueparrot said:
Pep will do 2 years, the rebuild is half done.
Click to expand...
For someone else?

I don't get how that works. Manager A building a team for Manager B.

The answer would be along the lines of "The club builds the team, the manager uses what's given"

But that's not what happens with pep is it? You can buy a player for pep but if he don't like him, he ain't playing.

It's a critical point.

Who are we rebuilding for?
 
Isn't this just the squad planning thread?

As I said there, the widespread changes most seem to predict will not happen. Teams never make that many changes at once. Continuity is needed, we've just signed 4 players, savinho is in his first season too. That leaves a couple more changes max in the summer, can't have more than 6/7/8 that have less than 12 months experience here and expect to hit the ground running and be consistent enough to challenge.

Walker is gone in the summer, I still think only 1 of kdb and gundo leave with the other staying for an extra year ad the squad option to limit the changes. Grealish I suspect will be made available but I can't see there being any interest, we'll either be stuck with him until his contract is done or we ship him out on loan last minute if the squad is full and there's no spaces. Then we allow for those that may ask to leave for whatever reason and that's already practically half the squad.

Some of the names thrown around like bernardo, kovacic, ake, stones are ridiculous, it's not football manager.
 
Axel Freed said:
It’s possible with some shrewd signings to replace the ageing / tired / injured legs of KDB Gundog Silva Stonesy et al but you can’t replace the leadership they bring in and around the place every day. We have to keep some of them.

Bernie and Kev can still excel for us if we manage their game time properly and use them sparingly. Maybe Stonesy and Ake won’t be quite so brittle if they’re not hurried back too soon in the future.

Get rid of the obvious flops, the never gonna make its and those whose heart may no longer be in it.

Nunes, Phillips (please God), Rico, Mcatee and sadly for me Eddie and Jack
Click to expand...
I agree having that title winning experience around a new squad is vital. So for me that’s Stones, Dias, Rodri, Bernardo, Ake and maybe another year of KDB. Ederson too hopefully. A group of 6 or 7 that understand what it takes mentally to get over the line.
 
I'm absolutely astounded by the number of people who believe Ederson isn't anything other than one of the best keepers on the planet. Almost every player has had an utterly wank season, and as a keeper, any mistakes he makes will always come under more scrutiny. But he's an elite player, we are unlikely to get anyone better without taking a risk and spending huge money. Ederson, and Ortega for that matter, are definitely not the reason we are where we are this season. If the defendera are shite we will concede more chances, if we concede more chances we concede more goals. IMO goalies are the last thing we need to worry about
 
Mr Grumpy said:
For someone else?

I don't get how that works. Manager A building a team for Manager B.

The answer would be along the lines of "The club builds the team, the manager uses what's given"

But that's not what happens with pep is it? You can buy a player for pep but if he don't like him, he ain't playing.

It's a critical point.

Who are we rebuilding for?
Click to expand...
We are rebuilding for Pep for 2 years , if he stays longer great if he doesn’t he’ll have built a team for somebody else, somebody that will have a similar philosophy thats the whole point of a DOF. There isn’t a club in the world that knows for sure who their manager will be in 27/28 season,so worrying about 2 1/2 years down the road is pointless.
Whats your alternative, do nothing until Pep leaves ?
 
Moss Side's Finest said:
I'm absolutely astounded by the number of people who believe Ederson isn't anything other than one of the best keepers on the planet. Almost every player has had an utterly wank season, and as a keeper, any mistakes he makes will always come under more scrutiny. But he's an elite player, we are unlikely to get anyone better without taking a risk and spending huge money. Ederson, and Ortega for that matter, are definitely not the reason we are where we are this season. If the defendera are shite we will concede more chances, if we concede more chances we concede more goals. IMO goalies are the last thing we need to worry about
Click to expand...
Don’t think anyone has said different, people just going off he seemed to want to go last summer and hasn’t extended. More about Ederson than what fans think or want.
 
Alan Harper's Tash said:
The PL is changing. Football always evolves.
Click to expand...
Yes I agree with this.
You can have players who aren't that good as individuals excelling in a system now with good coaching, moreso than ever I think.

I look at Bournemouth and people saying Ryan Christie is their best player. Or Justin Kluivert, he was never that good until recently.
Brighton the last few seasons doing really well with the likes of Milner, Welbeck and Enciso to name but a few.

Fulham another example.

Its all about high energy now and pressing
 
blueparrot said:
Don’t think anyone has said different, people just going off he seemed to want to go last summer and hasn’t extended. More about Ederson than what fans think or want.
Click to expand...

I take your point mate but there are so many posts in many threads about him being a liability, similar posts about Ortega too. We should be doing everything possible as a club to keep them both
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

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

SIGN UP
Back
Top