Hugo Viana | Director of Football

Yeah not having that Nico G is a dud, dragged us to a cup final, filled in when required and has done well despite never being a mainstay in the starting eleven. He'll come good and I feel as though we'll be talking about him in a different light before long.

Only gripe against him, needs to stop that random little hop he does after every pass! Noticed it once, can't not notice it now.
I agree with you on him,but he also needs to realise he doesn't have half of the amount of time he thinks he does. He always seemed to be a lick of paint away from giving up the ball in a bad position on Monday.
 
I agree with you on him,but he also needs to realise he doesn't have half of the amount of time he thinks he does. He always seemed to be a lick of paint away from giving up the ball in a bad position on Monday.
Likewise, I agree with you on this but his gametime has been limited. Getting up to speed does not just mean physically, but also mentally and getting back to doing things with precision and quickly. That does tend to come with more game time.

I'd be lying if I didn't occasionally wince when he was in possession and was getting pressed on Monday though haha.
 
Time will tell with both of them, but I wouldn't shocked if we ended up cashing in this summer. I get the feeling that Viana is going to be a lot more active in the market in general than Begiristain was, in terms of both outgoings and incomings.

It took two summer windows for Viana’s Sporting to get it right, they went from a team where their fans were attacking their players invading the training ground , to a dominant force in Portugal.

His second summer window at Sporting was where the big changes happend, he has no loyalty he buys what’s best for the team and looks at replacements months before the window opens. He pushed for Amorim who was a coach with potential when the actual Sporting board did not want to take the gamble, but ended up being one of the best in Portugal.

, I still think this summer will be bigger change than we are expecting. More departures and a lot more incoming. Like I said above he finds replacements for players before the actual players leave. So he already at this point knows who’s going and who the replacements are.

Also just to add Viana made eleven out of the twelve most expensive signings in Sporting history.
 
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I agree with you on him,but he also needs to realise he doesn't have half of the amount of time he thinks he does. He always seemed to be a lick of paint away from giving up the ball in a bad position on Monday.
Think he’s just rusty, he had it figured out first half of the season, albeit till he looked absolutely knackered and then Rodri came back in and he’s not had a sniff since.
 
Will Man City pay 100m for Anderson that’s the question?

Assuming there is no release clause then I am pretty sure we will have to. Fernandez, Caicedo, Rice, Wirtz etc have unfortunately set the bar for marquee central midfield signings in recent years and we will have to match it eventually.

I reckon we will likely end up with some form of player plus cash deal where it totals £100m+ but in reality is more like £80m + player (e.g Lewis).
 
Assuming there is no release clause then I am pretty sure we will have to. Fernandez, Caicedo, Rice, Wirtz etc have unfortunately set the bar for marquee central midfield signings in recent years and we will have to match it eventually.

I reckon we will likely end up with some form of player plus cash deal where it totals £100m+ but in reality is more like £80m + player (e.g Lewis).
So £81m then? Excellent deal if Viana can get it done.
 
In my time being a football fan I've seen a shift from individual player reputation shifting to a game by game basis, to managers, and now directors of football. A midfielder does an average job in an away draw and some fans want the director of football out of the job for hiring him lmao
 
In my time being a football fan I've seen a shift from individual player reputation shifting to a game by game basis, to managers, and now directors of football. A midfielder does an average job in an away draw and some fans want the director of football out of the job for hiring him lmao
Social media sprinkles fertiliser on fan emotion and encourages reactionary nonsense.
 
AKAIK Rodri will 100% be staying next season regardless of the outcome of contract talks.
Yep. Can’t afford to lose him now.
Do you think we should go all out and get Anderson and Enzo/Tonali alongside Rodri?

I think the defence is sorted, but midfield worries me big time without bernado in it
 
Bettenelli just signed a new deal till 27 recently but otherwise agree with the list.

The only first team players that we’d have replace from there are Bernardo, Kova, Savinho and Marmoush, rest good as gone or inconsequential.

Don’t think we’ll buy another centre half with Reis coming back but could be wrong.
Yeah, I wouldn't buy new CBs either, Reis to come back from loan to be Guehi backup is fine. If Khusa starts over Dias next season and Dias gets demoted as a backup I wouldn't mind it at all since Khusa proved he can start against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool while barely conceding 1 goal.
 
Oh here we go with Football Manager stuff.
The above is totally unrealistic
Did you say the same thing with Liverpool last Summer? Because guess what, it happened. And if we want to be winning the PL and seriously compete for UCL next season, we need all those players.
 
Right but, what's happened to Liverpool...
They went for mediocre injury prone players and it backfired. Last time we spent a record Summer amount, (Summer 2017) we went on to win 6 PLs in 7 years + UCL on top of it. Jota tragically passing away certainly didn't help the mood of Liverpool players.
 
They went for mediocre injury prone players and it backfired. Last time we spent a record Summer amount, (Summer 2017) we went on to win 6 PLs in 7 years + UCL on top of it. Jota tragically passing away certainly didn't help the mood of Liverpool players.
The players Liverpool signed last summer weren't considered mediocre or injury prone when they signed them. Kerkez, Frimpong, Wirtz, Isak, Ekitike - they all came with glowing reputations and big potential, lots of potential suitors in the market, and for big money. The same kind of transfer policy you're currently advocating for.

This City team is going to finish on about 80-83 points this season and potentially win a cup double. It doesn't need major surgery - just 3-4 additions to keep the team progressing and ticking along nicely. That'll be enough. We've had a year now of wholesale changes, it's time to settle and work with what we have.

We know Stones and Bernardo are going. Ake and Trafford's departures are open secrets. There's a small chance that maybe Reijnders, Lewis, and Marmoush leave if we can find the right buyer. We don't need to be shipping 10 players out and spending hundreds of millions on loads of new faces again, not from the position we're currently in.

Pep has, over the course of this season, built a solid central spine of Donnarumma, Gvardiol, Rodri, Cherki, Haaland. Obviously the likes of Nunes, Khusanov, O'Reilly and Doku have all improved significantly from last season in order to hold down regular starting spots as well. Why throw all that out of the window in one summer?

The team we have is finally settled after about 12-18 months of constant rotation and upheaval. The team we started on the opening day vs Wolves has potentially six players in it that won't be here next year (Trafford, Lewis, Stones, Bobb, Reijnders, Bernardo). We can't just keep chopping and changing on a short-term outlook.

Donnarumma
Nunes Khusanov Gvardiol O'Reilly
Rodri [Anderson]
Semenyo Cherki Doku
Haaland

[Charles]
[Fresneda] Dias Guehi Ait-Nouri
Gonzalez Kovacic
Foden Reijnders Savinho (Maza)
Mukasa

That's all that's needed. As others have said to you, you can't just apply Football Manager logic to real life and expect it to click. Intangible things like chemistry, atmosphere, and routine in the dressing room - that Football Manager tries to include but can't really quantify - are vitally important and if we spend willy nilly it'll never click like it should.
 

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