14 | Nico Gonzalez - 2025/26

Said a few months ago that I thought he needed a full pre season, training aimed at playing Premier league football, which I think is likely different to that in Spain or Portugal

Hopefully that is still the case, but the alarm bells are starting to ring given how little football he's played

As other have said, I thought he looked alright. Not great, but enough to work with if given a proper preseason
 
If we do get rid then you have to ask serious questions around our scouting.

Given that he’s neither rapid or a particularly physical presence in the middle of the park, you would think that he’d have to be really good on the ball and in terms of positional awareness for us to buy him. So if he’s failing to convince on the more technical elements of his game, then it’s just a case of really poor scouting.

I have always regarded him as a strange signing given that we paid his release clause on deadline day. I can only assume that someone we rate more highly has become available, if of course Gonzalez is moved on.
 
I actually think he's shown enough to be trusted. Tidy on the ball, comfortable throwing his weight around, blends in with the play nicely. Sometimes gets caught beyond the ball, which Pep won't like, but him next to Rodri with Reijnders and Cherki/Foden in attacking positions looks like it could be really effective next season.
 
super_city_si said:
Phillips was clearly never good enough and had a huge inferiority complex. Nypan has no chance of playung first team next season and he doesnt even play that role.
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Nypan is still midfield cover along with Gundogan. If he is talented as suggested he'll get his chance.
 
Had a great game against Newcastle. Got a yellow at Forest and was subbed later on. That seemed a seminal moment as he's hardly played since
 
If it’s true, serious questions need to be asked.

Philips and Nico is £100m on backup CDMs and if you can’t get a half-decent player as cover for £100m, you’ve got issues. I’d like to think that Pep would be able to spot a CDM on the TV or at a game. Spending £50m to almost instantly find you dont rate them is a luxury no manager should be afforded.

As fans, there’s no point lauding the “bargain” signings like Haaland and Cherki, if you spunk money elsewhere on shite that our manager discards at the drop of a hat.

£100m on backups that don’t play is a fucking atrocious business model and it can’t continue.
 
People have been dismissing me for months when I said they fell out after Spurs away . Amazing a journo hasn't asked Pep this yet .
 
Blue Hefner said:
I think he looks decent. Clearly, unfit, but decent
Was he worth 60mil, maybe/maybe not. But I think it’s fair to say he’s played reasonably well when the chance and he should(from what the fans have seen) have played a bit more
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Good player for sure - baffling he’s not getting more minutes when we paid £70m for him.
 
Thought we looked better with him in the team so add me to the list of those puzzled by his lack of minutes. If true and Rodri misses any games are we seriously expecting Gundogan or Kova to step in?
 
OrigamiNinja said:
If it’s true, serious questions need to be asked.

Philips and Nico is £100m on backup CDMs and if you can’t get a half-decent player as cover for £100m, you’ve got issues. I’d like to think that Pep would be able to spot a CDM on the TV or at a game. Spending £50m to almost instantly find you dont rate them is a luxury no manager should be afforded.

As fans, there’s no point lauding the “bargain” signings like Haaland and Cherki, if you spunk money elsewhere on shite that our manager discards at the drop of a hat.

£100m on backups that don’t play is a fucking atrocious business model and it can’t continue.
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Mistakes happen even at the best clubs. It's in the nature of football business. Mistakes are inevitable since nobody knows what the future holds. Nobody can guarantee that the new signings will be good enough.

Are you going to say: look, I prefer to have a less successful manager than Pep if he can find ways to use the new signings or avoids mistakes in the market?

Or you think Pep's success is based on money anyway and if another manager doesn't make mistakes with new signings he will be at least as successful as Pep?

Cancelo looked like a very expensive mistake in 19/20, then he helped us win 2 titles. Gonzales might be similar, he's a better player than Phillips.
 
alexmcity said:
Mistakes happen even at the best clubs. It's in the nature of football business. Mistakes are inevitable since nobody knows what the future holds. Nobody can guarantee that the new signings will be good enough.

Are you going to say: look, I prefer to have a less successful manager than Pep if he can find ways to use the new signings or avoids mistakes in the market?

Or you think Pep's success is based on money anyway and if another manager doesn't make mistakes with new signings he will be at least as successful as Pep?

Cancelo looked like a very expensive mistake in 19/20, then he helped us win 2 titles. Gonzales might be similar, he's a better player than Phillips.
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Of course mistakes happen but you can’t just keep throwing £50m at the new solution. Philips and Nico were bought to give Rodri a rest. They didn’t need to be anything sensational, just serviceable.

According to the internet, Philips played 16 games for us. Nico, so far 11. £100m for just 27 games and Pep has decided he definitely doesnt want Philips and seemingly doesn’t want Nico either. That’s £3.7m per game. Bear in mind, we will get nothing back for Philips and will likely take a massive hit on whatever Nico gets sold for. This is crazy business.

I think Pep is the greatest coach of all time but nobody can deny that this doesn’t half play into the false narrative of him being a chequebook manager.
 
OrigamiNinja said:
Of course mistakes happen but you can’t just keep throwing £50m at the new solution. Philips and Nico were bought to give Rodri a rest. They didn’t need to be anything sensational, just serviceable.

According to the internet, Philips played 16 games for us. Nico, so far 11. £100m for just 27 games and Pep has decided he definitely doesnt want Philips and seemingly doesn’t want Nico either. That’s £3.7m per game. Bear in mind, we will get nothing back for Philips and will likely take a massive hit on whatever Nico gets sold for. This is crazy business.

I think Pep is the greatest coach of all time but nobody can deny that this doesn’t half play into the false narrative of him being a chequebook manager.
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Who cares about a stupid narrative? Not a sane City fan anyway.

Phillips was bought due to being English. According to Pep, his passing was superior to Rodri's regarding long balls. But he couldn't get the role of the 6 in a Pep system...

Gonzalez is early days. The problem might be personal rather than one of quality. Let's see what happens next.
 
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OrigamiNinja said:
Of course mistakes happen but you can’t just keep throwing £50m at the new solution. Philips and Nico were bought to give Rodri a rest. They didn’t need to be anything sensational, just serviceable.

According to the internet, Philips played 16 games for us. Nico, so far 11. £100m for just 27 games and Pep has decided he definitely doesnt want Philips and seemingly doesn’t want Nico either. That’s £3.7m per game. Bear in mind, we will get nothing back for Philips and will likely take a massive hit on whatever Nico gets sold for. This is crazy business.

I think Pep is the greatest coach of all time but nobody can deny that this doesn’t half play into the false narrative of him being a chequebook manager.
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I must admit, this somewhat confuses me. He only joined at the end of January. At that point there were only 15 PL games left and he played in 11 of them. How is he not being played?
 
I feel like I'm living in a parallel universe here. He's looked fine to great every time he's played? And he played plenty last season when he arrived, until Kovacic started playing brilliantly in the 6, at which point he stopped starting games.

I'd be gobsmacked if he left this summer. Absolutely gobsmacked. And if we ended up letting him go and keeping the likes of Gundo and/or Kovacic? It doesn't even bear thinking about.
 
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