Why is it inevitable? I don't remember Chelsea signing anyone in January to cover fatigue, injuries, suspensions and loss of form. And I don't remember us signing anyone in January in either of the two seasons we won the PL.
They played 25 games after January 1st, we played 27.
So you’re planning to go out of the CL in the round of 16 again?They played 25 games after January 1st, we played 27.
Could be Rodney Marsh all over again, shuddersToo slow and old.
On the money.If we sign him, great. He's a fantastic player who knows the league and Pep.
If we don't sign him, great. We have a fantastic squad and attacking players waiting for more chances to impress in Bernardo and Foden.
Never thought I'd be this ambivalent about signing a world class player!
And over the course of the season?They played 25 games after January 1st, we played 27.
What I would say is this. We had a limit on transfers last season and obviously Pep had a suck it and see season in which he got to know the PL and what was involved. He quickly saw that all of our full back options were nowhere near what he wanted, so tell me what did he do at his earliest opportunity?Guardiola signed Nolito on a 3 year deal thinking he'd be our wing solution.
Guardiola decided the 4 over 30 fullbacks could go an extra year last season.
Guardiola said not to rush Dani Alves' signing because it could wait until August.
Guardiola decided to sign Bravo instead of Ederson in 2016.
I love Pep, I've been frequently accused of liking him too much on here, especially last season, but he's not infallible in the transfer market. So I don't think it's unreasonable to say that we need reinforcements elsewhere before Sanchez, and question whether the Guardiola-Txiki transfer team will get it right.
It was always repeated that Pellegrini got the players he wanted & we could afford at the time. This was generous anyway considering he was a staging post between Mancini leaving & Pep arriving. However, after his second season Manuel was a dead man walking even with a 12 month extension in his pocket, and it's been mooted since that KDB & Sterling were signed with Pep's approval in readiness for his arrival.Technically it was as much under the stewardship of the current incumbent Txiki, given he is our DOF and supposedly in charge of player transfers. That said I have no doubt Pep arrived with a few hard truths about much of our squad of the time.
11 fewer. Effectively 3 months of extra midweek games. And that’s whilst going out of CL in round of 16.And over the course of the season?
You could be onto something. Surprised it’s not been mentioned tbh. :-)Could be Rodney Marsh all over again, shudders
Some people are just a bit slow, I find as I get older I lose the pace I used to haveYou could be onto something. Surprised it’s not been mentioned tbh. :-)
Neither of us know, but I'm not in the business of presupposing either as many on this thread are. How many times have we seen players given time off because they've suffered a bereavement? By your metric that player should still be OK to perform because he's still physically fit.Who knows, neither of us know 100% do we, the fact remains regardless of the reasons we are signing someone in their worst form for a few years. If he played like this last season would we be in for him? Not sure, you can be unhappy about what has happened but it shouldn't affect your performance. Look at Aguero for example.
Exactly! Thanks for helping him out, I await his response. :-)11 fewer. Effectively 3 months of extra midweek games. And that’s whilst going out of CL in round of 16.
I would say it was more like the board said to Pep: 'This is all you can have this season unfortunately. However, do the best you can with this lot and properly see how the land lies in the PL and what you need to correct it. THEN next summer Pep my boy, it's BONANZA time for you baby!' :-)As for the fullbacks, I find it hard to believe Pep would have told them we could make do with the ones we had. It's more likely the board failed to deliver on that one surely?
So @Tom_mcfc there you have your answer. I suppose this had no bearing on needing transfers either, ESPECIALLY as we had Dad's Army populating our defence with the effervescent Toure ahead of them forming a protective barrier.So you’re planning to go out of the CL in the round of 16 again?
We’d also played 9 more games by January 1st.
So 11 in total. Or nearly three additional months of Saturday Wednesday Saturday.
You joke, but outside of Ederson, we should really sign the restWe should probably sign another goalkeeper then, just in case Ederson gets injured. And another left back in case Delph gets injured. And another centre half in case Stones and Otamendi get injured. And definitely another DM in case Fernandinho gets injured.