Are we Having a Transition Season?

[shevtheblue]

I know the top brass will blame us going late into the CL, but they have to take most of the shit on this one. Gundo should have been cleared up well in advance, everyone in the world knew that Barca were interested and he made it clear he was up for staying if the offer was right. Either way it should have been straightened out and we should have known one way or another. We went all in on Rice, had no alternatives and in the end we have panic bought in Kova & Nunes but kept Phillips who was never, ever going to play. On paper the buys look good, adding Doku in to replace Mahrez is a wildcard which you can even argue gambling on is crazy. Knowing the strengths of the guys we have now, Pep has gone back to Walker at RB & even though i think he's having a good season personally, it's not working out for the team. I think Alvarez, where he (and Walker) showed promise early in the season it is now working against us. The answer, imo, is to go back to what we had last season with the box formation, get some stability back and some 1-0, 2-0 wins to start grinding back some form.

 

[LangleyBlue1970]

I know the top brass will blame us going late into the CL, but they have to take most of the shit on this one. Gundo should have been cleared up well in advance, everyone in the world knew that Barca were interested and he made it clear he was up for staying if the offer was right. Either way it should have been straightened out and we should have known one way or another. We went all in on Rice, had no alternatives and in the end we have panic bought in Kova & Nunes but kept Phillips who was never, ever going to play. On paper the buys look good, adding Doku in to replace Mahrez is a wildcard which you can even argue gambling on is crazy. Knowing the strengths of the guys we have now, Pep has gone back to Walker at RB & even though i think he's having a good season personally, it's not working out for the team. I think Alvarez, where he (and Walker) showed promise early in the season it is now working against us. The answer, imo, is to go back to what we had last season with the box formation, get some stability back and some 1-0, 2-0 wins to start grinding back some form.

Fuck rice.

 

[Bournemouth Blue]

I’m not transitioning for anyone

 

[Bluesince1979]

For me it’s too early to piss and moan. Too early in the season and far, far too early for the players we’ve recruited to be moaned at. As someone above said, Rodri was shit to some when he first came. Now he’s irreplaceable.

I get disappointment, but some posts and comments are just flabbergasting in their negativity and you have to question if it’s rags infiltrating the site to piss people off.

The worry for me personally was the summers recruitment. And yes i take on board what you say about rodri.
But … kovacic is such a massive down grade on gundo(who isnt) and ive no idea why we bought nunes my uncles brother in law is a wolves fan and hes equally puzzled.
Last season we knew we had the players who could step up and be counted , now im not so sure.
So as a match going fan for over 40 years if i feel like a moan ill have one and a fans forum seems as good a place as any

 

[Bluesince1979]

Some people would still be happy clapping if we were in the bottom 3 with minus 25 goal difference, 7 Kovacic own goals, and still saying Phillips will come good.

Unfortunately wether we like it or not, winning a shit loads of trophies - our expectations rise. It's natural.

So fans will moan when we play shite or when we buy a player that we don't think is at the required level.!!

Yep agree. And there will always also be fans who berate you for daring to question and have a moan.

 

[Semper aggressus]

Recruitment been abysmal in the summer.

Sick of hearing give players time.

Phillips been here nearly 3 years now. And never plays as Pep doesn't rate him. How long do we give him? Another year? 2?

Same with Gomes.

Kovacic and Nunes are prem proven and they look Miles away from elite level required at this club.

How can a club of out stature be so reliant on one player (Rodri). If he did a De Bruyne and was out for a long spell, is that it. We chuck the towel in?? Criminal.

Heads upstairs need a hard look at themselves as well as some of our players and coaching staff.!!

It just seems to be down to poor recruitment, although admittedly there really weren’t that many midfielders available last summer that would have improved us. Only Bellingham who for some reason thinks football is still in the 90’s, and Rice, whom I believe we should have gone absolutely balls deep for.

And therein lies our problem in my opinion - for a club that’s posted record turnover yet again, ahead of rags, Chelsea, etc we are far too reticent to use our financial power. As Treble winners, with the added draw of Pep, an almost guarantee of at least one trophy every season, we should be at the pinnacle of our attractiveness to almost any player.

We should be using our financial power to get further ahead, not slipping down to the level of Villa, rags and Spurs by making mediocre signings because another club had the temerity to bid for the top ones. We should be blowing every fucker away in the transfer market like the rags did in the 90s and Bayern do in Germany.

We should have tested Spurs’ resolve with a huge bid for Son, and kept outbidding Arse for Rice. That’s the level we needed, not bothering with the likes of Kovacic or Nunes.

 

[Keeper!]

I know the top brass will blame us going late into the CL, but they have to take most of the shit on this one. Gundo should have been cleared up well in advance, everyone in the world knew that Barca were interested and he made it clear he was up for staying if the offer was right. Either way it should have been straightened out and we should have known one way or another. We went all in on Rice, had no alternatives and in the end we have panic bought in Kova & Nunes but kept Phillips who was never, ever going to play. On paper the buys look good, adding Doku in to replace Mahrez is a wildcard which you can even argue gambling on is crazy. Knowing the strengths of the guys we have now, Pep has gone back to Walker at RB & even though i think he's having a good season personally, it's not working out for the team. I think Alvarez, where he (and Walker) showed promise early in the season it is now working against us. The answer, imo, is to go back to what we had last season with the box formation, get some stability back and some 1-0, 2-0 wins to start grinding back some form.

"he made it clear he was up for staying if the offer was right"

Rubbish, that was just PR talk, he and the club knew he was off to Barca long before the summer.

WE put a lot into Bellingham , and then the Paqueta deal collapsing put us into panic mode.

 

[HoneyMonster89]

The 3 draws in a row killed City.

It would have been better to lose 1 game and win the other 2 games instead of 3 straight draws. United have lost 6 PL games this season, yet are within reach of CL spots due to rarely ever drawing games.

Losing away at Villa can happen. Emery has turned Villa Park into a fortress. Failing to beat Liverpool and Spurs at home is the issue. City should have won both games, but failed to get the job done.

City were 5 points behind Arsenal at this stage last season. It's 6 points this season. That means that Arsenal are still catchable. But only if Pep can make the necessary tweaks to find the right winning formula. He settled on his 3-2-4-1 system last season after The World Cup. He'll need to find a new system moving forward, as teams are now starting to get to grips with the 3-2-4-1. It doesn't work as well without the influence of Gündoğan and KDB.

Stones, Gündoğan and KDB haven't been available for most of this season. They were key players last season.

Maybe switching to a back four will beef up the defence.

 

[feedmpenzaandhewillscore]

The worry for me personally was the summers recruitment. And yes i take on board what you say about rodri.
But … kovacic is such a massive down grade on gundo(who isnt) and ive no idea why we bought nunes my uncles brother in law is a wolves fan and hes equally puzzled.
Last season we knew we had the players who could step up and be counted , now im not so sure.
So as a match going fan for over 40 years if i feel like a moan ill have one and a fans forum seems as good a place as any

We’ve lost Gundo, Mahrez and won’t see Kev till January. Neither Kovacic or Nunes have made a dent in the amount of goals and assists those players created. When we’ve brought in players to learn the system in the past eg Grealish and Mahrez we knew there would be an adjustment period but there was enough talent elsewhere to ensure there wasn’t a drop off in standards. Last night there was nothing on the bench to change it and the subs made us worse.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

We have lost a couple of quality players its hardly a transition , but we are coming off a historical treble winning season and our players are human beings not robots and there will be a drop off from the highs of last season. Pep's management skills are going to be severely tested this season , apart from Doku the players we have signed are not up to the quality to the players who departed at the moment, so we have nucleus of 13/14 players to cover 60 games this season , a really tough ask.