“City in crisis”

[Tricky_Trev]

It’s a blip, a particularly bad one but still just a blip due mainly to tiredness and injuries I feel. The lads deserve to be cut a bit of slack after what they’ve done the last four years!

We’ll still be fighting for trophies come the end of the season! Keep the faith!

The root cause of this is not injuries, it’s woeful recruitment and squad planning over the last few years. That is therefore not a blip, it’s been on the cards and it will take a complete u-turn in recent transfer window performance to rectify it. There needs to be a clear strategy with this squad overhaul. Viana had better be good at his job.

 

[ancoats]

We’re gonna have some cracking behind the scenes clips from this period when we win the league this year

Pep with his Cigar and a glass of bubbles

 

[johnnytapia]

Pep with his Cigar and a glass of bubbles

And a bandaged noggin

 

[Didsbury Dave]

The ageing squad is a bit of myth and media crap, The Real problem is the squad is too small for a major injury crisis like we have had this season, It has always been Pep's way of having 17 or 18 players to work with, But there is a major problem when you lose 7 or 8 key players.

Also, the squad is top-heavy with central defenders and lacks firepower upfront and midfield-holding players
I don't think we have had a pair of fullbacks and cover. forget Mendy he never played enough.

The first thing we need is a balanced squad and then bring the squad up to 20 to 25 players

"Aging squad" is perhaps a cliche but what I mean is that several of our most important players are on the decline and we haven't replaced them. We are sort of saying the same thing.

 

[bitterblue78]

That’s the spirit.

He has a point

 

[bitterblue78]

If it came to it. Would you rather have europa league/conference league or no european football what so ever

 

[pavelsrnicek]

Yes to the injuries and fatigue, yes to the slack, but this is more than a blip. This is a team in decline due to aging players and poor signings.

The team needs a rebuild definitely but it’s feels far worse because we’re in a perfect storm. Losing Stones, Dias, Ake for large parts of the season, playing an unfit Akanji, losing Rodri, Kovacic, Foden and Silva are struggling for form, KDB struggling with fitness and Doku and Grealish having injury issues while Walker is effectively finished all at the same time has made a difficult period feel something far more existential.

Dias, Stones and Kovacic in that team last night would not have fixed all issues but would have given us a far more solid base and some more leadership. Ake going off last night was huge as he’s a defender first and foremost. Last night’s subs removed Gundogan and our key defender. That’s a lot of nous removed, probably unfortunately by necessity due to Ake’s fitness and Gundogan’s age. Another issue is that Akanji is probably our worst centre back defensively but an excellent defensive full back but we can’t play him there due to injuries elsewhere.

Yes our squad issues are due to poor planning and poor recruitment, especially in midfield, has left us with few options and with Pep’s preference for a smaller squad some players have to play regardless of form or fitness. This has also exacerbated the injury issues as players are getting injured through fatigue.

If we add a defensive midfielder and a defender in January that fixes some issues but next summer we need to replace KDB and Silva which is going to be very very difficult.

 

[wolviedinho]

It’s all down to recruitment.

Relying now on the new players instead of club legends like kdb, silva, stones, walker, Rodri, Foden.

The bedrock of our success has been allowed to erode. I can understand why but it don’t make it ok.

A huge kick up the arse this run and long overdue. Give the man top quality players. IMO we need at least 5.

Perfect shit storm.

In summary, don’t care if it’s Jan or summer. Release the purse strings with a £300m overhaul of midfield.

 

[Blue2202]

It’s a blip, a particularly bad one but still just a blip due mainly to tiredness and injuries I feel. The lads deserve to be cut a bit of slack after what they’ve done the last four years!

We’ll still be fighting for trophies come the end of the season! Keep the faith!

Is the trophy you are referring to the net spend cup?

We could easily be 20 points off top and outside the top 6 by Christmas.

 

[ancoats]

"Aging squad" is perhaps a cliche but what I mean is that several of our most important players are on the decline and we haven't replaced them. We are sort of saying the same thing.

We are on the same page.

What could be happening is burnout and that holds no age barrier, Playing far too much football without proper rest in the summers and then missing pre-seasons you are always chasing your tail, Pep likes his small squad of players to work with and when fully fit they sort of pick themselves and play every week.

Pep needs to rethink the setup and the size of the squad to work with because at this rate I don't see how it can change, More games we are involved in the more players we need to rotate and manage the rest and downtime the players need.

A Balance Squad is needed and all the bases covered and start all over again