André

Keeper! said:
We have been short of Midfield players for some time, the game is changing and our MF looks slow and slightly lethargic.

We need some pace and energy in there, and I am not sure Pep trusts Foden to go in there long term.

Kovacic was a stop gap and Nunes long term has question marks.

Andre at 30m is well worth a punt and is clearly a huge talent, Paulinho could come straight in and hit the ground running, Rodri needs help on the field and also needs to be playing less games.

Anything KDB gives us this season will be a huge bonus.
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If we have a fully fit squad,Pep will play 1 Dm 2 AM s, Paulinha wouldn't get in that team.
 
We are not signing someone like Paulinha for £60m/£70m to play 10/15 games a season.

Rodri's backup/ Phillips replacement is going to be someone up and coming like Andre who we can nurture, is happy to play backup for a season or two and we can cash in on a profit if need be.
 
blueparrot said:
If we have a fully fit squad,
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We haven't a fully fit squad and we have several players that have issues and sadly always will.

Stones, KDB, Doku and Kovacic all have poor injury records, that's a very big part of our squad.

Another long summer coming up for a lot of our players , so yet again little or no pre-season.

The days of Pep wanting a small squad of players for me has to be seriously looked at and changed.
 
Keeper! said:
We haven't a fully fit squad and we have several players that have issues and sadly always will.

Stones, KDB, Doku and Kovacic all have poor injury records, that's a very big part of our squad.

Another long summer coming up for a lot of our players , so yet again little or no pre-season.

The days of Pep wanting a small squad of players for me has to be seriously looked at and changed.
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We've one unregistered space in the squad as it stands. Doubt we bring more than 1 midfielder in tbh and the barco lad. (with Phillips going)
 
Keeper! said:
We have been short of Midfield players for some time, the game is changing and our MF looks slow and slightly lethargic.

We need some pace and energy in there, and I am not sure Pep trusts Foden to go in there long term.

Kovacic was a stop gap and Nunes long term has question marks.

Andre at 30m is well worth a punt and is clearly a huge talent, Paulinho could come straight in and hit the ground running, Rodri needs help on the field and also needs to be playing less games.

Anything KDB gives us this season will be a huge bonus.
Click to expand...
If we got the right Philips replacement, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Rodri could move further forward when attacking & drop back If needed when defending.

Regardless, as things stand our trusted central midfield is Rodri, Bernardo, KDB, & Foden. We're essentially 2 short at a minimum even if Kovacic (as a maybe) is included.

Kev being injured has left us cruelly exposed at times. At our best & strongest, the likes of Nunes wouldn't get a look in, & Kovacic would be struggling for game time.

We're a couple of signings away from rectifying this. The last thing we need is to limp through the next two seasons with Kova, Philips & Nunes, whereby we'd need major surgery to fix our midfield.

I'd have no issues axing 2-3 of the aforementioned & bringing in top quality replacements, regardless of how little time they've been here.
 
Keeper! said:
We haven't a fully fit squad and we have several players that have issues and sadly always will.

Stones, KDB, Doku and Kovacic all have poor injury records, that's a very big part of our squad.

Another long summer coming up for a lot of our players , so yet again little or no pre-season.

The days of Pep wanting a small squad of players for me has to be seriously looked at and changed.
Click to expand...
Pep's caught between the devil & the deep blue sea. He wants small & the highest quality for squad harmony. We see what happened with Sterling, Jesus, Cancelo, Laporte & Zinchenko wanting more game time even if their form suggested they didn't deserve it.

The problem with a small top quality squad is rest, rotation, injuries, suspensions, loss of form etc. It only takes 2-3 players to fall into those categories during our hectic schedule, & we're in trouble.

It's high a risky strategy, but one which has largely worked until now. The issue is, I think Doku & Gvardiol apart, we've traded down this summer, which limits us more than we've been used to.
 
Dribble said:
Pep's caught between the devil & the deep blue sea. He wants small & the highest quality for squad harmony. We see what happened with Sterling, Jesus, Cancelo, Laporte & Zinchenko wanting more game time even if their form suggested they didn't deserve it.

The problem with a small top quality squad is rest, rotation, injuries, suspensions, loss of form etc. It only takes 2-3 players to fall into those categories during our hectic schedule, & we're in trouble.

It's high a risky strategy, but one which has largely worked until now. The issue is, I think Doku & Gvardiol apart, we've traded down this summer, which limits us more than we've been used to.
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Euros this summer, Club WC the summer after, the rest and fatigue issues are and will be getting worse, Pep is going to have to change for me, otherwise we are going to have injury issues.
 
Keeper! said:
Euros this summer, Club WC the summer after, the rest and fatigue issues are and will be getting worse, Pep is going to have to change for me, otherwise we are going to have injury issues.
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CWC wont matter, pep wont be here as it stands.
 
Keeper! said:
The club will be and it will need addressing
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Gonna be hard pressed to sell the 'if/when we get injuries you can make the bench' angle for the quality we need and keep everyone happy. They'll fuck the cwc off and send the kids/fringe i reckon. its a stupid idea tbh
 
FMwkdsoul said:
CWC wont matter, pep wont be here as it stands.
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Pep has already spoken about how physically difficult the expanded CWC will be on "My players".

He's spoken of the importance of the Academy with not only providing crucial funds, but unearthing gems like Foden & Lewis, & that he hopes to see more make the grade.

He's also spoken of not wanting City to win the Champions League & disappear like many before us. He wants us to be there or there abouts in semis/finals, season after season like Real.

He's got everything he could wish for at City & recently said in an interview: "Everyday when I drive through the gates, it makes me fuckin happy".

His short-term contract extensions are just the way he likes to operate so that neither he, the squad or the club take each other for granted.
 
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Dribble said:
Pep has already spoken about how physically difficult the expanded CWC will be on "My players".

He's spoken of the importance of the Academy with not only providing crucial funds, but unearthing gems like Foden & Lewis, & that he hopes to see more make the grade.

He's got everything he could wish for at City & recently said in an interview: "Everyday when I drive through the gates, it makes me fuckin happy".

His short-term contract extensions are just the way he likes to operate so that neither he, the squad or the club take each other for granted.
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yeah, even if he extends I expect that CWC will be treated as a friendly tournament and most of the EDS will go,

we might get a couple of players in and out this window, but the squad wont ever be bigger than this imo. (22 or so, and then kids).
 
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Dribble said:
If we got the right Philips replacement, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Rodri could move further forward when attacking & drop back If needed when defending.

Regardless, as things stand our trusted central midfield is Rodri, Bernardo, KDB, & Foden. We're essentially 2 short at a minimum even if Kovacic (as a maybe) is included.

Kev being injured has left us cruelly exposed at times. At our best & strongest, the likes of Nunes wouldn't get a look in, & Kovacic would be struggling for game time.

We're a couple of signings away from rectifying this. The last thing we need is to limp through the next two seasons with Kova, Philips & Nunes, whereby we'd need major surgery to fix our midfield.

I'd have no issues axing 2-3 of the aforementioned & bringing in top quality replacements, regardless of how little time they've been here.
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This is why I'd take Paulinha now when I wasn't sure in the Summer, Rodri was very effective further forward early in the season when he had Kovacic helping him out. Paulinha can be the Nigel de Jong that lets Rodri become the White Yaya.
 
Dribble said:
If we got the right Philips replacement, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Rodri could move further forward when attacking & drop back If needed when defending.

Regardless, as things stand our trusted central midfield is Rodri, Bernardo, KDB, & Foden. We're essentially 2 short at a minimum even if Kovacic (as a maybe) is included.

Kev being injured has left us cruelly exposed at times. At our best & strongest, the likes of Nunes wouldn't get a look in, & Kovacic would be struggling for game time.

We're a couple of signings away from rectifying this. The last thing we need is to limp through the next two seasons with Kova, Philips & Nunes, whereby we'd need major surgery to fix our midfield.

I'd have no issues axing 2-3 of the aforementioned & bringing in top quality replacements, regardless of how little time they've been here.
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That may well be true, but it won't happen in January, that sort of squad changing will only happen in summer. Will just tinker at best in January.
 
FMwkdsoul said:
yeah, even if he extends I expect that CWC will be treated as a friendly tournament and most of the EDS will go,

we might get a couple of players in and out this window, but the squad wont ever be bigger than this imo. (22 or so, and then kids).
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I fear Pep will treat the expanded CWC as another trophy to be won.

FIFA are envious of the PL & CL, & wants in on the seasonly big tournament money.

Players need rest. Just today there's an interview with Bernardo saying how worried he is about overplaying, & having no time to rest & recover.

Screenshot_20231219_141455_Chrome.jpg

Bernardo Silva has warned football may pay a heavy price for the expansion of the Club World Cup to 32 teams from 2025 onwards, saying the quality of matches will dip amid an increasingly unmanageable workload and admitting the fixture list’s demands already leave him feeling tired.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-club-world-cup-expansion-amid-crazy-schedule
 
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