14 | Nico Gonzalez - 2025/26

[RayCTID]

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.

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.

We were still light without Rodri and if Pep was really impressed with what Nico G had to offer he would have gotten more playing time in his set up. Especially during the CWC earlier games.

 

[kingn6]

Nico started

Games Drawn/Lost

Real
Liverpool
Brighton

Nico benched

Games Drawn/Lost

Real
United
Southampton
Palace
Al-Hilal

When he does not play we lose points to very average teams. The dropped points when he has started has been against decent to excellent sides.

 

[citizen_maine]

We were still light without Rodri and if Pep was really impressed with what Nico G had to offer he would have gotten more playing time in his set up. Especially during the CWC earlier games.

Well, apart from the fact Pep said he would give everyone time in those first few games

 

[Blue2202]

It is not a ridiculous comment at all. Pep is still selecting Gundogan ahead of him for starters especially during last season's run in. His contract has been automatically renwed for this season and has stated he is here for the remainder of his contract. The issue is the squad still needs to be cut and we have a player who isn't being fully used who can still fetch good money, and are looking to bring in a younger midfielder in. It is a flip between Kovacic and Gonzalez but Pep seems to favour Kova too.

It absolutely is though, gonzalez signed a 4 and a half year deal 5 months ago and you’re saying get rid in order to keep a near 35 year old.

1. Why would the player move when he’s likely on a contract better than anywhere else would offer him?

2. Why would the club decide to take a loss after 5 months on a player who’s not even had a fair chance?

3. There’s at least 9 or 10 we should be getting rid of before gonzalez, gundogan and kovacic included.

You’re talking absolute nonsense as per, and if he does leave it only further highlights the disconnect at the club at the moment.

 

[mattcity5]

He won't tolerate criticism or negative views on his systems / tactics etc. That's why he surrounds himself with 'yes men'. That's why he's known to have offloaded a number of exceptional but opinionated players in the past.
He ditched Zinchenko because of something his missus said! As I understand it, one of the reasons he's ditching Jack Grealish is for questioning his instructions.

He's destined to end up like Malcolm Allison.

Weird how different people remember things differently.

I thought we sold Zinchenko because he wasn't that great and he thought he'd have a more important role at Arsenal.

I don't think it's rare though that managers don't want players who aren't on the same wavelength. Pretty sure ferguson was like that. Probably Jose too.

 

[MCFC1993]

Having watched how pep operates for 9 years or so it’s really obvious when he doesn’t rate or fancy a player.

I’ve been saying for a few weeks now I expect nico to leave. Pep just doesn’t want him for whatever reason and it’s pretty bloody obvious at this point. If you can’t see it your being very naive imo

Think it's the same with Khusanov as well. Harsh reality of top level football.

The January window was a 'we need bodies and we need to be in the CL' window.

They've had 6 months to assess both and I dont think they think either are good enough.

 

[Carrl]

Assume this is the incident…

Speaking after the win, Guardiola told the media: “It was an action that he should be more in a position and he jumped [forward] and he should not have done it. It was a tactical reason.

“Of course, in that age, if he complains to the manager then it’s a big problem, but it wasn’t the case…”

A bit cryptic from Pep but i take it as he didn't like his reaction. So Nico out and hopefully we can keep Kalvin.

 

[Lavinda Past]

Weird how different people remember things differently.

I thought we sold Zinchenko because he wasn't that great and he thought he'd have a more important role at Arsenal.

I don't think it's rare though that managers don't want players who aren't on the same wavelength. Pretty sure ferguson was like that. Probably Jose too.

Pep's attitude towards Zinchenko changed dramatically after Mrs Z went public with her views, his game time reduced and he was offloaded at the first opportunity.
You may think he 'wasn't that great', but we haven't had anyone as adaptable on the left until O'Reilly progressed, and he's still only at the 'potential' stage.

Man-management is key. You can either work with an assortment of different personalities, characters, etc, or you can't. Mourinho can do it, as could Ferguson and Mancini. It's confrontational and fiery but when it works, it can be great.

As I see it, Pep can't do that. He's never been able to. Pep doesn't like players who don't meet his requirements 100%. Nothing wrong with that... it obviously worked for him at Barcelona, Munich, and City.

However, he's been here longer than anywhere before, and (in my opinion) he's become more erratic, and his system is getting stale. His attitude towards certain players signed over the last couple of seasons is quite bizarre. He doesn't trust players that he himself has been involved iin signing, some at phenomenal cost.

It's not what I personally would expect of a good manager. It's certainly not what I would expect of a top / elite manager. While technically, I think he’s the best coach in the business, personally, I think he’s as good as done as a man-manager, and is close to packing it in altogether.

 

[Mr. Shush]

100% agree

This is Kalvin Phillips all over again, and in the same way Pep sort of refuses to give him game time.

The fact he barely touched grass at the CWC, even when Rodri wasn't playing, was incredibly telling.

I don't buy all the rhetoric that because Rodri didn't settle in his first season, give Nico G time. Rodri played in 52 games in first season at City and wasn't half as bad as many seem to remember. He has a shaky opening few months, then hit a rocket at Burnley away in December and didn't look back.

Nico G as of now will be lucky to play in 20 matches next season, of which will likely be 15-20 minutes stints.

I think he gets moved on.

Agree. Some suggested that Rodri was gradually worked in. He wasn't. With Rodri working his way back and with Reijnders playing well - and with Pep favoring Gundogan and likely Kovacic when he returns - Nico is probably left wondering about his place in the squad. I think he also gets moved on. Feel bad for him.

 

[mattcity5]

Pep's attitude towards Zinchenko changed dramatically after Mrs Z went public with her views, his game time reduced and he was offloaded at the first opportunity.
You may think he 'wasn't that great', but we haven't had anyone as adaptable on the left until O'Reilly progressed, and he's still only at the 'potential' stage.

Man-management is key. You can either work with an assortment of different personalities, characters, etc, or you can't. Mourinho can do it, as could Ferguson and Mancini. It's confrontational and fiery but when it works, it can be great.

As I see it, Pep can't do that. He's never been able to. Pep doesn't like players who don't meet his requirements 100%. Nothing wrong with that... it obviously worked for him at Barcelona, Munich, and City.

However, he's been here longer than anywhere before, and (in my opinion) he's become more erratic, and his system is getting stale. His attitude towards certain players signed over the last couple of seasons is quite bizarre. He doesn't trust players that he himself has been involved iin signing, some at phenomenal cost.

It's not what I personally would expect of a good manager. It's certainly not what I would expect of a top / elite manager. While technically, I think he’s the best coach in the business, personally, I think he’s as good as done as a man-manager, and is close to packing it in altogether.

Pretty clear you're against Pep now and obviously only time will tell if you're right in some of these things.

Whichever way you look at it though, no other manager has won 4 in a row in this country. Ever. For all United's riches and spending, they couldn't do it and ferguson had to do rebuilds of his squad. Jose never had to rebuild a squad because he famously always failed and/or fell out with everyone in season 3.

So now Pep is having to do a rebuild. The game moves on, and it's a big ask but if it's successful, it will be an incredible achievement - probably bigger than winning any of his other titles.

Serious question - who would you replace him with?

 

[WallyA]

Feels like some city fans have gone a little overboard.

Just because he hasn't played as much as some would like doesn't mean he is being sold.

People way too upset for what was just a pre season.

Wait until the season develops before concluding Pep hates him.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

We were still light without Rodri and if Pep was really impressed with what Nico G had to offer he would have gotten more playing time in his set up. Especially during the CWC earlier games.

The problem is “Who do you drop to add a second DM?” especially when you’re playing a counterattacking team.

When everyone is fit, we have the luxury of a high number of midfielders and attackers, and playing 2 central midfielders means either pulling your wingers back into midfield in a 4-4-2 (which is how we frequently played at the end of last season) or starting with a back 3 and stealing a defender to add a midfielder. This is why Pep liked the “step into midfield” defender so much. You get a 2 for 1 defender and it allows you to play the extra attacker.

 

[Dax777]

But do others fit better? That is highly debatable based on what we have seen over the past several months. I'm not saying you or I are Pep, but you do have eyes? I'm not being disrespectful, just saying most of us have spent our lives watching and playing football. The argument that Pep ALWAYS knows best falls apart when so many of his recent (at least 14 months) decisions have blown up in his face. When the results are there it means one is getting it right. But when the results are not there it means that one is getting it wrong more often than not. Pep needs to get back to his roots.

I think you are talking about something different now. My point us that its not Pep's job to fit any player in. Its his job to put forth his believed best team to try to achieve the most success.

Now if the higher-ups think he isn't doing that, then their role is to fire him and find someone who they think will do the job better.

That aside, my point still stands, so long as he is manager, he is under no obligation to play any specific player.

As it relates to Gonzo specifically, while I like him personally, i don't think his lack of game time is some huge error. He has been the most dispossessed midfielder while playing the 6. Three different times. Some of those leading to goals or major chances. We are kidding ourselves thinking Pep isn't aware of this.

He fixed the error at 6 with a double pivot ( primarily Kova/Bernardo). So while i feel for Gonzo, there are more than enough legit explanations for why Pep didn't play him.

 

[thomas1307]

Sorry mate, but Pep is ultimately responsible for everything the first team squad does.

If (as it seems) he's 'overlooking' Viana signings to play his own 'favourites', he's out of order. It's happened too many times for it to be anything other than arrogance on Pep's part.

If the Board are happy to let Pep effectively waste hundreds of millions worth of signings, then they're probably not fit to run a football club... They should stick to property development and entertainment venues.

not fit to run a football club yet in the last 17 years have built teams to win under 3 separate managers i'd rather take kaldoon judgement than some randomer on this app who probably reckons he can do a better job

 

[waspish]

He won't tolerate criticism or negative views on his systems / tactics etc. That's why he surrounds himself with 'yes men'. That's why he's known to have offloaded a number of exceptional but opinionated players in the past.
He ditched Zinchenko because of something his missus said! As I understand it, one of the reasons he's ditching Jack Grealish is for questioning his instructions.

He's destined to end up like Malcolm Allison.

It’s weird you don’t understand his way is why we won what we have!

Any other manager when we won something 1 out of 13 games wouldn’t have got us to third for me it’s his way of managing his players that got us that record from January! Seems you panicking looking more at the negatives after one bad season than the positives of how Pep turned it around after losing our best player and our back line to injury!

 

[OrigamiNinja]

I think you are talking about something different now. My point us that its not Pep's job to fit any player in. Its his job to put forth his believed best team to try to achieve the most success.

Now if the higher-ups think he isn't doing that, then their role is to fire him and find someone who they think will do the job better.

That aside, my point still stands, so long as he is manager, he is under no obligation to play any specific player.

As it relates to Gonzo specifically, while I like him personally, i don't think his lack of game time is some huge error. He has been the most dispossessed midfielder while playing the 6. Three different times. Some of those leading to goals or major chances. We are kidding ourselves thinking Pep isn't aware of this.

He fixed the error at 6 with a double pivot ( primarily Kova/Bernardo). So while i feel for Gonzo, there are more than enough legit explanations for why Pep didn't play him.

Pep might be bang on the money with his assessments on these players. Philips was 100% not good enough for us. Nico might not be good enough for us. As you say, Pep is not obligated to play them. However, I have to believe that Pep is heavily involved in which players we target and therefore I do think there is an obligation on him to not keep wasting £50m.

We are constantly told that buying players takes months of planning and no stone is left unturned, yet our manager is throwing £50m players in the bin after a handful of games. If he is able to determine so quickly that a player is not good enough, it would be really useful if he did this prior to the purchase. Someone needs to remind him that unfortunately in the football world, we don’t get to try-before-we-buy and 14 days to return an unwanted player.

I love the guy but not even he gets a pass on such woeful moves in the transfer market.

 

[thomas1307]

It’s weird you don’t understand his way is why we won what we have!

Any other manager when we won something 1 out of 13 games wouldn’t have got us to third for me it’s his way of managing his players that got us that record from January! Seems you panicking looking more at the negatives after one bad season than the positives of how Pep turned it around after losing our best player and our back line to injury!

he does understand but clearly likes over analysis things to suit his narrative

 

[Man_City_Loyal]

He won't tolerate criticism or negative views on his systems / tactics etc. That's why he surrounds himself with 'yes men'. That's why he's known to have offloaded a number of exceptional but opinionated players in the past.
He ditched Zinchenko because of something his missus said! As I understand it, one of the reasons he's ditching Jack Grealish is for questioning his instructions.

He's destined to end up like Malcolm Allison.

That the reason we got rid of zinchenko? first time I've heard that!

 

[Man_City_Loyal]

It’s weird you don’t understand his way is why we won what we have!

Any other manager when we won something 1 out of 13 games wouldn’t have got us to third for me it’s his way of managing his players that got us that record from January! Seems you panicking looking more at the negatives after one bad season than the positives of how Pep turned it around after losing our best player and our back line to injury!

very good point!!

 

[HelloCity]

But do others fit better? That is highly debatable based on what we have seen over the past several months. I'm not saying you or I are Pep, but you do have eyes? I'm not being disrespectful, just saying most of us have spent our lives watching and playing football. The argument that Pep ALWAYS knows best falls apart when so many of his recent (at least 14 months) decisions have blown up in his face. When the results are there it means one is getting it right. But when the results are not there it means that one is getting it wrong more often than not. Pep needs to get back to his roots.

Honestly, I know you won't appreciate this, but decision making is no where near as easy as people think it is. What's really easy is to watch from afar and say 'he got that wrong' - literally anyone can do that. Whether it's about reviewing a film, reviewing a game, or reviewing a football team.

What's mega difficult is the actual process and decision making which goes into making something great. Sometimes it requires experimentation and sometimes that experimentation doesn't pay off - but sometimes it will. Whenever it doesn't there will be people like yourself who will question the decisions and act like they know better. We saw this in early 2023 when Pep introduced a new formation and it took 2-3 months for this to really bed in. During that time various people on here wanted Pep sacked, including after a defeat at OT, because he was evolving from the tried and tested formula. What eventually happened though is that we won the treble because of it.

Pep won't always get things right (no manager does), but he has a track record of getting it right more than anyone else, and one bad season doesn't takeaway from the fact that he's one of the greatest manager's in history and one of the biggest legends in the history of the club.

For what it's worth, and because I like mocking people like yourself, I've looked at your post history and identified that you're constantly attacking and mocking Pep when we don't win. Even in the Treble season...

I guess there's just no pleasing geniuses like yourself :)