8 | Mateo Kovacic - 2023/24

[Dax777]

Thats true but there was no need for all of them to go in the one transfer window.
All were experienced serial winners and used to Pep and his requirements.

You quote a constant cycle of rejuvenation.
Losing 4 senior players plus Palmer is not a constant cycle.
That is more like start all over again.

You mean like last year when we lost 5 senior players (Sterling, Jesus, Zinchencko, Fernandihno, and Joao Cancelo) then proceeded to win the Treble and our first Champions League trophy?

Again, too many are being victims of the present moment and narrative.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

When you consider we’ve bought Phillips, Nunes and Kovacic for central position some serious questions need to be asked about why so much money has been wasted on basic players who add no value to starting 11. It’s much worse when you consider we lost Lavia and have missed on many quality targets due to there additions. We’re normally on the ball, but these three have been terrible signings

It’s maybe a bit soon for that, but you do have to look at our previous midfield purchases in terms of profile. Fernandinho was arguably a gamble, but Toure, Gundo and KDB were all amongst the best in their leagues when we brought them in. The two Silvas were among the world’s most sought after young players when we signed them. Rodri perhaps wasn’t of the profile.

But when you look at the more recent signings, I feel like Phillips is a typical ‘did well for the national team’ signing. The warning signs were all there. 20 games played the season before we bought him. 29 the season before that. And all Championship before that. I get the Kovacic signing in principle, although I’m not sure he’s the sort of player that fits our system, given his lack of passing range. Nunes, on the other hand, is another weird one. Playing for Wolves and not exactly shown he’s head and shoulders above everyone there. We’re so used to genuinely world class players taking a while to bed in, that we assume that anyone struggling just needs more time. But sometimes we do just make shite purchases.

I hope they all prove me wrong. Nunes looks like the most suited to our system, so I hope he can get a run of games and perform. But let’s be honest, if you’re 25 years old and playing for City, you’ve gotta become world class fast.

 

[MadchesterCity]

Kovacic will go down as a forgettable midfielder like fernando and garcia

I don’t think he’s as good as those mentioned

 

[Middedon]

Thats true but there was no need for all of them to go in the one transfer window.
All were experienced serial winners and used to Pep and his requirements.

You quote a constant cycle of rejuvenation.
Losing 4 senior players plus Palmer is not a constant cycle.
That is more like start all over again.

I would certainly love Gundo here and at his best. Losing him is a loss any time anywhere. But I do think some of the others have somehow been deified a bit due to our recent troubles. They were all hugely important at certain points and I enjoyed them all as players but if KDB and Stones were here, we wouldnt be talking about them.

 

[Dax777]

But how much of that lack of consistency is precisely because of the players we’ve lost? Rodri suddenly having to take more responsibility for playmaking meaning he’s less focused on the defensive side? Dias then being exposed by this? Haaland becoming easier to mark because there are fewer goal threats to mark?

Lots of it. But not because of the players we lost in transfers, but rather because of the ones we've lost to injuries.

Rodri's support in defensive midfield is John Stones (he has been lost for significant portions). Rodri is taking on more creating, partly because we are clunkier in midfield with Akanji rather than Stones as his midfield support (and Akanji is far less comfortable in the position) and, more importantly, because we've primarily lost Kevin (the ultimate creator) to injury.
The Kevin loss is also by far a bigger reason why Haaland is easier to mark. But still, Haaland is not finishing a higher number of easier chances either. Which has nothing to do with the chances being created. We are far less explosive on the counter because of the absence of Kevin.

Defensively, we are far more solid when Akanji plays the Walker role while Stones plays his normal position. Passing and Cohesion is better with Akanji or Lewis at RB, and Central Midfield is way more solid making decisions with Rodri and Stones and they protect Dias, Akanji, and Ake better, and those guys are able to showcase their defensive prowess better with those two in front of them.

Again, if we had everyone at the rates we had them last season, barring those who left, we'd be a far better team because we've added explosiveness to the left wing that wasn't there before and this has made our attacking far better than it was last season. Granted we'd have had a slight drop in cohesion from Gundogan to Foden/Alvarez but the uptick in creation and attacking makes up for it. What we have lost is defensive and midfield cohesion. Which is down to John not playing enough and Akanji/Walker playing either too much or in the wrong position?

Again, we are creating chances at a higher clip than we did last season, and scoring at a higher clip too. We are just shipping in more goals. Albeit, we aren't particularly giving up more chances, but we are giving up better chances to the opposition.

 

[Xhavenjoe]

You mean like last year when we lost 5 senior players (Sterling, Jesus, Zinchencko, Fernandihno, and Joao Cancelo) then proceeded to win the Treble and our first Champions League trophy?

Again, too many are being victims of the present moment and narrative.

5 was too many then too.
Fernandinho was retiring and Cancelo left during the season, due to differences between himself and Pep.
The other 3 players suposedly wanted to leave
Our incoming players were excellent but you can't get away with replacing 5 players every season

 

[MadchesterCity]

5 was too many then too.
Fernandinho was retiring and Cancelo left during the season, due to differences between himself and Pep.
The other 3 players suposedly wanted to leave
Our incoming players were excellent but you can't get away with replacing 5 players every season

you can't get away with replacing players with worse players

 

[Dax777]

5 was too many then too.

The trophies we amassed suggest you are wrong

Fernandinho was retiring and Cancelo left during the season, due to differences between himself and Pep.
The other 3 players suposedly wanted to leave

Same is true of the four that left this season: Larporte, Gundogan, Mahrez, and Palmer. They all wanted to leave. Frankly, so did Walker and Bernardo. But we convinced, forced, or bribed them to stay. So we lost five last year and four this year. Won a treble last year. Proves your theory is shaky

Our incoming players were excellent but you can't get away with replacing 5 players every season

Nah, just Haaland. Akanji was a last-minute pickup who was an unexpected good addition (The kind of addition many claim Nunes currently is, i.e., "a panic buy" whatever that is). Just like this season, we also added Gomez, Perrone and Phillips. None of them made a significant impact. Similarly, we added Doku and Josko this year, who have added significant value, like Haaland and Akanji last year, and then Kova and Nunes, who have yet to add much value. So in a lot of ways, we are very similar to last year.

And just as a matter of comparison, we are conceding fewer chances this season so far and creating more chances than we were doing at this point last year. True we've conceded more goals now but based on chances conceded, that will dry up eventually if we keep the pace of conceding or reduce it when John and Ake are fully healthy and Pep starts rotating out Walker for non-supertar opponent games.

I am not saying we'd win or return last year's results. But folks need to chill with the constant bashing of our signings and false narratives. They simply don't track reality.

 

[Bluesince1979]

Not even remotely true. Maybe in the future but clearly not right now.

I agree.
Our signings in the summer were 6/10 at the mo.
Doku and gvardiol will be ok once the rawness has gone.
Nunes… who knows. Strange buy.
Kovacic is a puzzle because of his age.

 

[Dax777]

I agree. w
Our signings in the summer were 6/10 at the mo.
Doku and gvardiol will be ok once the rawness has gone.
Nunes… who knows. Strange buy.
Kovacic is a puzzle because of his age.

At the moment, who would you say they have signed a better set of players for their team this season than City.