Everton (A) - Sun 14th May, 14:00 | Pre-Match Thread

[Tolmie scores]

24 hours on and I still think this will be the team.

We don’t really have a replacement for Akanji, Bernardo, or Rodri—the latter being the most disappointing situation, given Phillips is healthy—so they all need to play, unfortunately.

Phillips does seem the strangest buy. I couldn,"t see a fit at City for the reason my dad pointed out even when at Leeds. He just doesn't ever look comfortable playing a first time pass. Hips too rigid, takes an age to get his body in right position. Far too slow at being able to recycle the ball in key CM area. I think Pep has thought ..sht this was just a rare mistake. So however fit he is he will not look a fit at City i think. Hope im wrong but its linger than usual slow start.

 

[Dobsy]

Do you think Villarreal would beat say liverpool in a league season? Their PL equivalent this year?

No but tbf that's not what you said, you said Bayern and Real wouldn't finish top 4 in England.

Sorry but got to agree with others on that point. Arsenal and Newcastle aren't anywhere near as good as those teams, they're just well organised.

 

[Roachy]

We need to beat RM, we don’t need to beat Everton. That being said if we don’t then MardArsenal get a boost going into the Brighton game. But what a position we are in Final of FAC, semi final of CL and top of PL and we are only little old City !! Enjoy blues these are the days we could only dream of - c’mon City let’s get the job done and if we do fail on 1,2 or even 3 fronts we have watched the greatest PL team of all time playing the purest and most beautiful football ever seen in the PL.

I think Sunday falls into the "must not lose" category, where as the RM game is obviously must win. What a boost though for the whole squad, if whatever team plays Everton gets the win. I think this would be an absolute tonic at just the right time.

 

[richards30]

Still think pep will go strong to start with, one game at a time now.

Ederson
Lewis
Akanji
Dias
Laporte
Rodri
De Bruyne
Bernardo
Grealish
Foden
Haaland

 

[Dobsy]

Ederson

Lewis
Akanji
Laporte
Gomez

Phillips
Bernardo
Grealish

Mahrez
Alvarez
Foden

Second tier has to step up. It's always necessary in a title run in and ahead of Wednesday we need them.

 

[pee dubya]

Ederson

Lewis
Akanji
Laporte
Gomez

Phillips
Bernardo
Grealish

Mahrez
Alvarez
Foden

Second tier has to step up. It's always necessary in a title run in and ahead of Wednesday we need them.

Sorry but not Gomez or Phillips, not now.

I actually quite rate Gomez but he's way too soft defensively, an accident waiting to happen. Phillips has zero confidence at the best of times, in such an important match keep him well away I'm afraid.

I get the principle, but for me we go strong and just pass them to death.

 

[Haaland94]

No but tbf that's not what you said, you said Bayern and Real wouldn't finish top 4 in England.

Sorry but got to agree with others on that point. Arsenal and Newcastle aren't anywhere near as good as those teams, they're just well organised.

Correct, anyone saying PL is superior is missing the point. CL is the most prestigious club competition in the world, so Premier League is second in prestige. If Real. Bayern, Barca, PSG, Napoli, Inter, AC Milan, and Atleti were in the Premier League, it would be something like 1. Man City, 2. Real 3. Bayern 4. Barca 5.PSG 5.Napoli 6.Inter 7. AC Milan 8. Arsenal 9. Atleti. You get the point, Arsenal lost to bloody Sporting Lisbon before anyone says they are so great. Otherwise, Barca lost to United, but United got smashed by Seville later on, so...
To conclude, the best teams are in the CL, not the Premier League. Pep agrees, and the players agree. In fact, we signed Haaland for that very specific reason, he also has a CL anthem as his alarm clock. Some people don't care about the Champions League, but if they hope to have the best player in the world in the future they better start because Pep is not going to be here forever. The best clubs in the world are the ones winning the CL, and they have the strongest pull factor, something we might find out with Bellingham AND we still have Pep right now. We better start winning this competition because if we can't we will struggle to attract the very best young players in the world beyond the Pep era. It's not about pissing off mates at work who support the dippers, rags, etc. This is small-time thinking. Something like needing to have a bigger house than neighbours. Like it or not, our owners don't care what people in Manchester, or even England think. We are striving to create a global team with a global reputation, not just in England. The only way to achieve this goal is by winning the Champions League, repeatedly.

 

[BringBackSwales]

Given Real play Getafe who are third from bottom BUT level on points with Valencia, 1 point behind 2 other teams and 2 points behind another, I assume senor tebas will be reminding them of their responsibility to the integrity of La liga and the relegation battle and not resting players wholesale? I thought not

 

[AndyP68]

Ederson

Lewis
Akanji
Laporte
Gomez

Phillips
Bernardo
Grealish

Mahrez
Alvarez
Foden

Second tier has to step up. It's always necessary in a title run in and ahead of Wednesday we need them.

No chance of this line up. Far too many changes and lack of experience

 

[chickaroon]

Correct, anyone saying PL is superior is missing the point. CL is the most prestigious club competition in the world, so Premier League is second in prestige. If Real. Bayern, Barca, PSG, Napoli, Inter, AC Milan, and Atleti were in the Premier League, it would be something like 1. Man City, 2. Real 3. Bayern 4. Barca 5.PSG 5.Napoli 6.Inter 7. AC Milan 8. Arsenal 9. Atleti. You get the point, Arsenal lost to bloody Sporting Lisbon before anyone says they are so great. Otherwise, Barca lost to United, but United got smashed by Seville later on, so...
To conclude, the best teams are in the CL, not the Premier League. Pep agrees, and the players agree. In fact, we signed Haaland for that very specific reason, he also has a CL anthem as his alarm clock. Some people don't care about the Champions League, but if they hope to have the best player in the world in the future they better start because Pep is not going to be here forever. The best clubs in the world are the ones winning the CL, and they have the strongest pull factor, something we might find out with Bellingham AND we still have Pep right now. We better start winning this competition because if we can't we will struggle to attract the very best young players in the world beyond the Pep era. It's not about pissing off mates at work who support the dippers, rags, etc. This is small-time thinking. Something like needing to have a bigger house than neighbours. Like it or not, our owners don't care what people in Manchester, or even England think. We are striving to create a global team with a global reputation, not just in England. The only way to achieve this goal is by winning the Champions League, repeatedly.

I couldn't agree more.