A good performance & brilliant goal from Erling! We looked dominant & VERY threatening with him on the pitch & his goal is the type of opportunity we kept squandering the last few seasons, because no one had that strikers instinct to be in the right place at the right time.
The stop start nature of the match due to lightning & the constantly changing info about how long the match would be, made it difficult for me to get into the rhythm of the game, but it was a good display by us & we look a lot fitter than I thought we would be.
Esbrand played very well! Well enough to be relied upon as understudy to a new LB for a season? I dunno. BUT if we do get Cucurella, I wouldn't be averse to Esbrand being his backup, because we've always got Cancelo who can move to LB if needed.
Talking of Cancelo, he had a good game too, as did Grealish. Grealish seriously needs finishing practice though!
Good to see Dias back. KDB was my MoTM after another dominant display. I'll be gutted to lose Bernardo. He was his usual effervescent self & always seemed to be there when needed.
Alvarez got a few more minutes under his belt, but seems more of a No10, than a clinical No9. Rodri was imperious & dominated the midfield from deep & brilliantly protected Aké & Dias throughout.
I'll be gutted if Aké goes, as he's shown his qualities this pre-season, especially how good a footballer he is. The youngsters look a promising bunch for us & I was gutted that both Palmer & Lewis didn't get on the score sheet.
If we get the LB situation sorted, hold onto Bernardo & get a world class replacement for Sterling (which I think we badly need), we'll be fuckin frightening!
Finally, what the fuck's happened to Sané? :-| He was totally anonymous tonight & a pale shadow of the emerging Superstar who left us 3 years ago! No wonder Bayern are looking to move him on. I caught sight of him & Pep talking at the end & it wouldn't surprise me if Sané was apologising to the Boss & begging Pep to take him back!
It's been a short, weird & fractured pre-season, but we've acquitted ourselves very well, albeit being without Stones, Laporte, Foden & Gundog. Does anyone know the "Red Tape" which stopped all apart from Laporte (apparently he's at the Etihad recovering from injury) from travelling?
The only thing I could think of was no covid jabs or recent criminal convictions....