25 | Manuel Akanji - 2025/26

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WRicko said:
Akanji was is good enough as part of the squad. When we where at our best winning everything just before this year.

I still think we should move on just from a squad planning point of view if we can but your making out like Akanji is the sort of player we had as transition from say top 6 to title winning when we first got money and had to get rid
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You honestly telling me that you think he's performing at the same level as he was 2-3 years ago? Okaaay. I'm not going to spend all day arguing with you; you think you're right. I strongly disagree.
 
jimharri said:
You honestly telling me that you think he's performing at the same level as he was 2-3 years ago? Okaaay. I'm not going to spend all day arguing with you; you think you're right. I strongly disagree.
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Look I agree with you in some respects I want a change I always want us to improve but am not going to judge the players too much based off last season.

What I object to is referring to the him as player not at our level it implies that he never was or that we are going to have to dramatically improve to do anything. Like we are going through the transition equivalent to the early takeover days where we were leaping up the league and had to keep ditching players who couldn’t meet the standards of moving from say top 6 to title winners

If we went into the season with the team as is and he was a squad player as he has always been that would be ok. As we look forward to be proving the Club World Cup
 
WRicko said:
Look I agree with you in some respects I want a change I always want us to improve but am not going to judge the players too much based off last season.

What I object to is referring to the him as player not at our level it implies that he never was or that we are going to have to dramatically improve to do anything. Like we are going through the transition equivalent to the early takeover days where we were leaping up the league and had to keep ditching players who couldn’t meet the standards of moving from say top 6 to title winners

If we went into the season with the team as is and he was a squad player as he has always been that would be ok. As we look forward to be proving the Club World Cup
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If you can show me where I said that he was never at our level, please do. The fact is, I said the exact opposite. Read my post again. "You honestly telling me that you think he's performing at the same level as he was 2-3 years ago?"
 
WRicko said:
Look I agree with you in some respects I want a change I always want us to improve but am not going to judge the players too much based off last season.

What I object to is referring to the him as player not at our level it implies that he never was or that we are going to have to dramatically improve to do anything. Like we are going through the transition equivalent to the early takeover days where we were leaping up the league and had to keep ditching players who couldn’t meet the standards of moving from say top 6 to title winners

If we went into the season with the team as is and he was a squad player as he has always been that would be ok. As we look forward to be proving the Club World Cup
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I think with the two young defenders we have, it ma
WRicko said:
Look I agree with you in some respects I want a change I always want us to improve but am not going to judge the players too much based off last season.

What I object to is referring to the him as player not at our level it implies that he never was or that we are going to have to dramatically improve to do anything. Like we are going through the transition equivalent to the early takeover days where we were leaping up the league and had to keep ditching players who couldn’t meet the standards of moving from say top 6 to title winners

If we went into the season with the team as is and he was a squad player as he has always been that would be ok. As we look forward to be proving the Club World Cup
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akanji falls into the “Thanks for the memories” category.

Absolute steal for the money we paid, but must be moved on now, let the young lads have a go.

BTW, he's one of a few of our CB’s that could fall into that category.
 
Dazzle84 said:
Odd that he was on the left for me. Dias looked impressive on the left for a couple of seasons.

Although i think his absolute peak (Dias) was next to Stones, which probably explains it
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That's because Dias is not comfortable on the left and passing.

He has never played LCB in a back 2 in possession.

He has in the past started at LCB, but then we made a back 3 where he became CCB.
 
WallyA said:
That's because Dias is not comfortable on the left and passing.

He has never played LCB in a back 2 in possession.

He has in the past started at LCB, but then we made a back 3 where he became CCB.
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So when stones played next to him and Zinchenko was wherever he was meant to be where did he play then? Or when Cancelo was elsewhere?
 
Dazzle84 said:
So when stones played next to him and Zinchenko was wherever he was meant to be where did he play then? Or when Cancelo was elsewhere?
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Zinchenko LB and Dias LCB didn't happen.

You are confusing the timeline of City defenders. I think when Ruben played a bit with Zinny at the end, he was RCB.

That was Laporte who played LCB with Zinny.
 
FromPollockToSilva said:
He's usually available. He's decently athletic (certainly quicker on the cover than Dias or Stones). He can play anywhere across the back. He's comfortable passing the ball with either foot, so can play LCB if we have an attacking LB (you really wouldn't want Khusanov doing that or even Dias against a team that presses well). He also clearly played through injury a lot last season when he needed him, and that should count for something

However, he's prone to lapses in concentration, he's poor in the air, he doesn't play line-breaking passes very often, and he doesn't seem to be a great communicator (which isn't great when we're bedding in new players/getting players used to new positions)

His versatility and availability make him a very appealing squad option, so I expect he'll stay, but he would also be towards the top of my list of expendable players if we're looking to cut anyone
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Perfectly put.
 
FromPollockToSilva said:
He's usually available. He's decently athletic (certainly quicker on the cover than Dias or Stones). He can play anywhere across the back. He's comfortable passing the ball with either foot, so can play LCB if we have an attacking LB (you really wouldn't want Khusanov doing that or even Dias against a team that presses well). He also clearly played through injury a lot last season when he needed him, and that should count for something

However, he's prone to lapses in concentration, he's poor in the air, he doesn't play line-breaking passes very often, and he doesn't seem to be a great communicator (which isn't great when we're bedding in new players/getting players used to new positions)

His versatility and availability make him a very appealing squad option, so I expect he'll stay, but he would also be towards the top of my list of expendable players if we're looking to cut anyone
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Serious question (not wumming); Akanji is 30 in three weeks' time. At this stage in his career, would he be happy being just a squad option? Particularly if he still wants to feature in the Swiss national team. Sitting on the bench will not help him in that regard.
 
jimharri said:
Serious question (not wumming); Akanji is 30 in three weeks' time. At this stage in his career, would he be happy being just a squad option? Particularly if he still wants to feature in the Swiss national team. Sitting on the bench will not help him in that regard.
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I think that would largely depend on how much rotation there is. You can be a squad option and still hit 40+ games across all comps if we change things up a lot and go deep in every tournament. But maybe not as many “big” games as he would want?

I suspect Pep will play him a lot if he’s around though, based on all available evidence
 
jimharri said:
Serious question (not wumming); Akanji is 30 in three weeks' time. At this stage in his career, would he be happy being just a squad option? Particularly if he still wants to feature in the Swiss national team. Sitting on the bench will not help him in that regard.
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He could literally not play a single second for City all season and still be the first name on the Swiss team sheet
 
jimharri said:
Serious question (not wumming); Akanji is 30 in three weeks' time. At this stage in his career, would he be happy being just a squad option? Particularly if he still wants to feature in the Swiss national team. Sitting on the bench will not help him in that regard.
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I think Akanji will play for Switzerland regardless of his squad status at City, as he's still their best defender and one of their captains.

My view on Akanji is that he's fine. He's a good option to have in the squad when we're playing potentially 60+ games this season. He can play all across the backline and step into midfield as an emergency.

He's not the best defender in our team but I would argue that if the squad place for next season is between him and a Reis who seems completely untested (and similarly can play all across the back and as a 6 potentially), then perhaps we loan Reis somewhere and have Akanji around. If the choice is between him and Khusanov then he goes. As a 5th choice defender, he's a godsend. Most clubs 5th choice defender is their 2nd best U21 player.
 
Can’t be forced into right back anymore. Hasn’t worked and will only work against few sides we will only have a handful of games against.

Needs to be him or Dias in the team because they have the same issues defensively.
 
Just what was the point of him at RB ? only Pep knows.
 
Chak19 said:
Just what was the point of him at RB ? only Pep knows.
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Nunes had a yellow, is my guess.

But we saw what happens when we sub Nunes out, the CBs at RB cannot do the movement Nunes does.

Pep also completely neutered both fullbacks anyways.
 
Yeah I'm happy with Akanji as a squad option but his performances have just not been great for a while. If he was on tonight, in part, because he's better on the ball than Khusanov then I'm questioning why on earth the tactic is to have him have so much of the ball. He's not exactly Beckenbauer. Such a strange sub as he's not offered enough defensively or attacking to justify his inclusion
 
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