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14 | Nico Gonzalez - 2025/26
- Thread starter Kippax Kidd
- Start date
If Pep doesn't make use of the players signed by the club, he's not doing his job.
He's the head coach. It's reasonable to assume that he has input into signings / promotions from EDS etc, alongside Viana and previously Bergiristain. He then has a responsibility to get the best out of those players.
Viana/Bergiristain provide the tools for Guardiola to work with. If he doesn't use them, he's not doing his job.
If he subsequently thinks that certain players don't fit the bill, his job is to work with them to develop/improve their performance.
He's picking his favourites over expensive new signings. Hugo Viana would be right to wonder why he bothered applying for the job.
The Board needs to rein Guardiola in.
Pep is allowed to say "these tools aren't good enough", or " these tools might be good enough once they've been refined a little". You basically said that second part yourself.
As for "picking his favourites" - they're his favourites for a reason. They understand what he's after and generally carry the job out well. I strongly suspect that Viana knew he wasn't buying finished articles and expected it would take time. Nobody knows what discussions they've had, so I think you're jumping the gun a little.
Lavinda Past
Well-Known Member
Now write a balance view why we should give pep next 2 seasons to coach another title winning team!
It’s easy to pick on anything negative from an average season to our standards..
The balanced view is in my final paragraph. If Pep holds onto and/or relies on too much deadwood, we'll be one season further on from the much needed rebuild, and one season closer to him walking away...
Pep needs to trust Viana's signings more than the old guard.
The balanced view is in my final paragraph. If Pep holds onto and/or relies on too much deadwood, we'll be one season further on from the much needed rebuild, and one season closer to him walking away...
Pep needs to trust Viana's signings more than the old guard.
Be interesting end of the transfer window who we have go rid of or sold and yep the worry is we don’t get rid of the players we want to pep will edge towards them other than the newer younger players.
For me I’ll still trust pep to get it right this season as in challenging for the title trophies we might not win anything but being there to the end is fine by me or you heading towards entitlement as a supporter.
Lavinda Past
Well-Known Member
Pep is allowed to say "these tools aren't good enough", or " these tools might be good enough once they've been refined a little". You basically said that second part yourself.
As for "picking his favourites" - they're his favourites for a reason. They understand what he's after and generally carry the job out well. I strongly suspect that Viana knew he wasn't buying finished articles and expected it would take time. Nobody knows what discussions they've had, so I think you're jumping the gun a little.
Pep's 'favourites' have been letting us down quite a bit too often in the last year or so. If he hasn't seen that, he's blind.
Assuming that he isn't, his stubborn reluctance to change things, either tactically or players, when opportunities have arisen, is baffling.
Perhaps, like many City fans, he too has convinced himself that he is some sort of infallible god...
He does have some of Rodri's qualities but not quite good enough for what Pep is after as a midfielder in his set up. It was telling that he picked an aging Gundo ahead despite the need for younger players. Just call this a write off. We will get good money.
ChicagoBlue
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While I’ve generally agreed that, as a coach, he’s being given top class talent on the rise and it’s his job to polish the diamonds, because we are not buying Galacticos.Pep needs to trust Viana's signings more than the old guard.
That said, trust is a very difficult thing, much as me saying “Don’t think about elephants!” You can’t control it, it just happens!
Pep has players who can do what he asks without him having to spend hours on the training ground explaining it and then getting frustrated in games when they forget it or simply can’t perform. Trust is like pregnancy…it either is or it isn’t…and it’s hard to fake!
All of that said, Pep has enough talent at his disposal (more talent than the rules allow atm!) to make a very very good squad of players for the upcoming season, as long as he is not blinkered by trust he had last year creating talent he needs this year.
As players age, there is always that year where they drop off the cliff. We can’t afford that this year, even though last year was mainly due to injuries at the back, not just aging out of players. However, of note, that Venn diagram would have had about an 80% overlap.
The speed and strength of modern football has made it a young man’s game. We need to create a young team, with a touch of experience to get us through the tough times. That doesn’t require an “old guard” that he trusts, but it does require team leadership and a message the players believe in.
ChicagoBlue
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I feel like some of his stubbornness is born of “That old guy is still doing a better job for me than that young guy!”Pep's 'favourites' have been letting us down quite a bit too often in the last year or so. If he hasn't seen that, he's blind.
Assuming that he isn't, his stubborn reluctance to change things, either tactically or players, when opportunities have arisen, is baffling.
Perhaps, like many City fans, he too has convinced himself that he is some sort of infallible god...
The problem, of course, is the lack of opportunity that creates for the young guy to show he can improve, he can grow, he can produce as much if not more than the older guy! Sadly, the margin of victory (!) has been so tight recently that there has simply not been the luxury of blooding youngsters for 15-20 mins here and there.
The older guard still have their footballing brains and could still add something along with the players who can run. That is why Pep still trusts them players first and foremost. But it is a question of balance. Gundo shouldn't have been signed on his own and an extra midfield should have been brought in (perhaps Gonzalez would have been better signed in that summer rather than mid season)
ChicagoBlue
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I don’t agree with this narrative. Pep chose Reijnders to slot into the DM position, rather than Gundo, who played advanced on the left.He does have some of Rodri's qualities but not quite good enough for what Pep is after as a midfielder in his set up. It was telling that he picked an aging Gundo ahead despite the need for younger players. Just call this a write off. We will get good money.
However, once Gundo moves on and Rodri is fit, Gonzales has the ability to slot in in either position, as needed, and especially when we need some extra defensive power in there.
Personally, I see Reijnders as Pep’s first choice replacement for Rodri, but if he wants to leave Reijnders in a more advanced position, then he could slot in Gonzales.
I see NG as an easy twofer, who can provide cover for the DM, play second DM, or play his more natural role as a more advanced defensive minded midfielder who can provide defensive cover…which is the player we bought.
He is young and only had a few months to bed into a key area of Pep’s system. It is unfair to judge him during a season where he was new, he was expected to step into the key role in the team held by the current Ballon D’Or winner, and the defence behind him was a sieve and the other two midfielders often covered about 65 yrs between them!
City need to set up as a 4-5-1 next season and then build forward from that base, ensuring we are never left 3 on 2 or 2 on 1 at the back, as that has been our downfall. Then, upfront, we need to put away 10-20% more of our chances.
If we can do both of those, we are unstoppable.
A 4-5-1 transitioning to a 3-1-3-3, culminating in a 2-1-2-5 while encamped inside the opposition’s last third.
Gonzales is more than capable of playing in that system, be he the 1 or part of the 2 supporting the 5.
HolisticJim
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Did you forget the whole of last season?Pep is allowed to say "these tools aren't good enough", or " these tools might be good enough once they've been refined a little". You basically said that second part yourself.
As for "picking his favourites" - they're his favourites for a reason. They understand what he's after and generally carry the job out well. I strongly suspect that Viana knew he wasn't buying finished articles and expected it would take time. Nobody knows what discussions they've had, so I think you're jumping the gun a little.
They might 'understand' what he's been after but it's not getting us anywhere is it!!
Pep's 'favourites' have been letting us down quite a bit too often in the last year or so. If he hasn't seen that, he's blind.
Assuming that he isn't, his stubborn reluctance to change things, either tactically or players, when opportunities have arisen, is baffling.
Perhaps, like many City fans, he too has convinced himself that he is some sort of infallible god...
Funny those players that let him down came good once fit got us to third and best team in premier league from January! This my problem with people posting on here no balance all negative after one poor season maybe we have to just put up with some fans that see the negative first moan about it call out the best manager ever who has delivered your dreams! If you can’t see that well carry on being negative!
Bournemouth Blue
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For me, from what I have seen, Gonzalez is a huge upgrade on Phillips. Maybe won’t be given much time in tricky games unless he can develop and adjust to our system.
AshtonBlueMooner
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Whoa, whoa.Funny those players that let him down came good once fit got us to third and best team in premier league from January! This my problem with people posting on here no balance all negative after one poor season maybe we have to just put up with some fans that see the negative first moan about it call out the best manager ever who has delivered your dreams! If you can’t see that well carry on being negative!
Be careful.
Any support of the manager makes you a happy clapper.
Don’t you realise we have some of the best ever managers in the world that have never managed a team.
We could have won so much more over the years if we just allowed these keyboard warriors the opportunity of managing the team.
The world has honestly gone absolutely mad.
In the meantime, I’m with you, my glass is half full and I’m loving life being a blue.
CTID
No smoke without fire.
I’d love to know what happened, he was in favour then suddenly - after Spurs away when he played well as an 8 - fell dramatically down the pecking order and hardly got a game behind a midfield getting run ragged most weeks.
I’d love to know what happened, he was in favour then suddenly - after Spurs away when he played well as an 8 - fell dramatically down the pecking order and hardly got a game behind a midfield getting run ragged most weeks.
Whoa, whoa.
Be careful.
Any support of the manager makes you a happy clapper.
Don’t you realise we have some of the best ever managers in the world that have never managed a team.
We could have won so much more over the years if we just allowed these keyboard warriors the opportunity of managing the team.
The world has honestly gone absolutely mad.
In the meantime, I’m with you, my glass is half full and I’m loving life being a blue.
CTID
Problem with this forum is it’s fair on sign ups and straight into the nitty gritty of the threads! Also we don’t know who they support because of that! But I know one or two city supporters who wouldn’t be bothered if pep left. So weird all clubs have these fans..
Like your optimism but Liverpool had the league won with about 6 weeks to go and consequently their form dropped…and we failed to beat any of the top 4 apart from Newcastle at home.Funny those players that let him down came good once fit got us to third and best team in premier league from January! This my problem with people posting on here no balance all negative after one poor season maybe we have to just put up with some fans that see the negative first moan about it call out the best manager ever who has delivered your dreams! If you can’t see that well carry on being negative!
In a number of games we won to enable Champions league qualification we had the good luck that we didn’t get earlier in the season….with the opponents either hitting the woodwork or missing easy chances.
There is room in the squad for some of the old guard….but a starting 11 that includes all of Silva, Gundogan and Akanji is certainly not going to win us the league, I’m afraid !
Like your optimism but Liverpool had the league won with about 6 weeks to go and consequently their form dropped…and we failed to beat any of the top 4 apart from Newcastle at home.
In a number of games we won to enable Champions league qualification we had the good luck that we didn’t get earlier in the season….with the opponents either hitting the woodwork or missing easy chances.
There is room in the squad for some of the old guard….but a starting 11 that includes all of Silva, Gundogan and Akanji is certainly not going to win us the league, I’m afraid !
When it so hard to win league titles trophies this take after one season is so easy to have this thinking! I had doubts but I look what we won look how at one point there was a lot of fans think we wouldn’t even get top five and I was one! Pep said he wanted his player fit and back once he had look at the run we had to get 3rd. Yes pep made wrong choices but don’t you think he deserves his last two years to put it right?
HelloCity
Well-Known Member
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 .
Wasn’t that one of our better performances?