Lopes didn't play much because he had the u20 World cup already this summer.I'm disappointed in the random way they were used pre season. I wish we would have put out some balanced sides, & had a serious look at how some of the kids performed under those circumstances. Denayer has had a bit of a sensible workout, & to a lesser extent Kelechi, but the rest have just been fucked about.
I expect we are about to sign DeBruyne, but I would love to have seen how Marcos Lopes looked doing his job, in a strong, balanced side, just in case, or even as an alternative.
But we are.
Bony and Nacho are better than Dzeko and Jovetic who offered nothing last season.
Lampard was poor save for one goal against Chelsea and half a dozen games off the bench early doors. Delph will get far more game time, and has the legs that we were missing in midfield.
And Sterling is a huge upgrade on Milner.
All of that ignores Lopes, Garcia and Roberts.
If you can't follow the logic above then I can't really spell it out any simpler for you.
(And I still think we will add at least two more players before September 1st anyway)
Lopes didn't play much because he had the u20 World cup already this summer.
I disagree with your idea that they've been used randomly. Garcia got a lot of good minutes in solid teams. Iheanacho played 5 games, with some of our strongest line ups, and Denayer got tried out next to Kompany and Mangala.
Not sure how else you expect Pellegrini to play them.
Bar the official statement to the media that he was staying at Villa and then the U turn a week later, he was solely focused on signing for City ;)
I'm disappointed in the random way they were used pre season. I wish we would have put out some balanced sides, & had a serious look at how some of the kids performed under those circumstances. Denayer has had a bit of a sensible workout, & to a lesser extent Kelechi, but the rest have just been fucked about.
I expect we are about to sign DeBruyne, but I would love to have seen how Marcos Lopes looked doing his job, in a strong, balanced side, just in case, or even as an alternative.
Barker was a good example. Played out of position once, wasted up front, and then used for half a game in a proper odd-job team too. Lopes never really got concerted minutes in anything approaching a relatively representative team. Not sure we needed to know if Navas can work with Yaya or Silva. That's obvious. Barker and Lopes however, give them a go from the start properly...could have found ourselves some potential first teamers.
Lopes didn't play much because he had the u20 World cup already this summer.
I disagree with your idea that they've been used randomly. Garcia got a lot of good minutes in solid teams. Iheanacho played 5 games, with some of our strongest line ups, and Denayer got tried out next to Kompany and Mangala.
Not sure how else you expect Pellegrini to play them.
Well if Garcia gets anywhere near the first team, then using him ahead of other kids could be seen as a good thing. I recon they will drop him like a stone. Kids like Barker, Lopes, even Patric Roberts, are all possible first team alternatives if given enough opportunity, & much more similar to the game DeBruyne would play, so it would give us the chance of practicing a system. We don't seem to have been interested in any of that. Just exercise.
I don't think there's any guarantee with regards to Lopes yet. There's lots of rumours about French teams wanting him and his deal expires in a year. If he gets used marginally as a squad player he won't sign a new contract and we'll lose him in 12 months. He was used like one of the kids on this tour, not necessarily like one of the first teamers. Coming on as a late sub etc while the 'big' players started initially.