Injuries 2024/25 | Dias ruled out for a month

[Tico Warrior]

Pep plays footballers in positions that aren’t often their positions because he sees the game differently. All his career he’s played midfielders as full backs so why wouldn’t he see Lewis as a RB. Gvardiol was bought as a left back as he had 4 centre half’s.

We were top of the league & the only beaten team in Europe with Lewis RB, Gvardiol LB & Kovacic as DM. We started dropping points once we lost all 4 centre half’s, the position we arguably had the most cover.

Pep only gave Mcatee 1 min v Ipswich because he likes a 3 goal lead before bringing on the replacements. We got the 3rd in the 88th minute. If he didn’t like him he’d have fucked him off.

I can’t argue that it’s not gone wrong but what I’m saying is Pep has managed the squad no differently to any other year we’ve been successful.

I get that he plays people in different positions, but they generally can play those positions. Like Gundogan played up front for a season and did well, but he can't play this dm role at all but still gets picked every game. Lewis really seems to be struggling in any defensive position as he is short, slow and seems to be weak, yet he is picked all the time.

We need more cbs if we are also relying on them at lb, rb and dm cover. I get the 3 goal lead thing to make changes but when we went 3 up vs forest on 60 mins, and their manager took off their 3 best players, he bought on Lewis right away and gave McAtee 1 minute again. He clearly doesn't trust him.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I suppose it's a good question which we want:
(a) a small squad of world beaters
(b) a larger squad of slightly less good players?

(a) has served us incredibly well for the past 4 seasons ... but once you pick up a few injuries, it means the rest of the squad have to play more / no rotation / play through njuries ... and it all has the danger of spiralling & falls apart.

Surely, it’s a small squad of world beaters PLUS a small number of slightly less good players, who realize their job is to be ready to give everything in training and get 15-20 mins on a regular basis, plus a run out in the cup competitions, no?

Pep’s problem is TRUST! He needs to trust that you will NEVER lose the ball in a position where we are too vulnerable to recover. Sadly, that’s about 75% of the time, as we commit 8 players forward to create the much heralded “overload!”

Personally, I think this season has, in contrast to some opinions, only served to PROVE just how important it is to have highly technical players who can play inside a system that requires all of them to understand the movement and recover the ball quickly when lost.

THAT has been the genius of Pep…to create that set-up and keep it at the very top of the game for so long!

We are not BAD, we are having a period of normalcy for other clubs, even though it’s the worst run we’ve had in donkey’s years!

YES…THAT is how good this team has been!! Records broken at every turn and some of them possibly unbeatable in the future!!!

 

[cheekybids]

I get that he plays people in different positions, but they generally can play those positions. Like Gundogan played up front for a season and did well, but he can't play this dm role at all but still gets picked every game. Lewis really seems to be struggling in any defensive position as he is short, slow and seems to be weak, yet he is picked all the time.

We need more cbs if we are also relying on them at lb, rb and dm cover. I get the 3 goal lead thing to make changes but when we went 3 up vs forest on 60 mins, and their manager took off their 3 best players, he bought on Lewis right away and gave McAtee 1 minute again. He clearly doesn't trust him.

He can play the DM role if we had stones, Akanji & Dias playing.
Lewis isn’t struggling, the team is struggling. He isn’t slow or weak but if he’d have played Sunday he’d have been blamed. He wasn’t slow or weak when he was MOTM for first few games of the season.

Haaland is looking slow & weak ATM, he isn’t but if the team is struggling it’s going to make him look ineffective.

I’ve had similar arguments with R kid. Who he fuck can Pep pick ahead of Gundo & Lewis we’ve been missing

Stones, Dias, Akanji, Ake & Walker, Rodri & Kovacic. That’s the teams muscle so of course we look lightweight without them.

 

[toffee balls]

He can play the DM role if we had stones, Akanji & Dias playing.
Lewis isn’t struggling, the team is struggling. He isn’t slow or weak but if he’d have played Sunday he’d have been blamed.

Ok then, what exactly does he bring to the table.

I will start and finish this off

He is neat and tidy and can receive the ball in tight situations

Any thing else, am i missing something

 

[M23 Citizen]

At this point you really need to be asking questions of our medical and fitness teams as to why we are constantly picking up these injuries.

It’s the same all over Europe.

Four of Spain’s Nations League and European Championships winners (therefore have played most games possible there have been available to play over the last two years) have done their cruciates.

In the PL, Brentford Brighton Chelsea Fulham Leicester Spurs and Wolves have more injuries than we do at the moment, and Palace Ipswich Newcastle and Southampton have as many injuries as we do. Arsenal have had a load this season n’all. Chelsea and United had just as many last season. In one game last season Chelsea had none of their first choice XI available.

There’s simply far too much football!

International football has grown too big, too many teams are in tournaments now making them too big with too many games, there’s the Nations League which is a joke, qualifiers for the WC+Euros, warm-up games before WC+Euros and astonishingly the odd friendlies still exist.

International football is shit! It should be cut in half how many games there are. I’d personally go as far to make international football for Under 23s only and leave real football (club football) for the established senior players.

The CL expansion that no player, coach or fan was consulted over, means there will be more games to come. Two more group games that nobody asked for and two more games in a qualifying round when the reason a fair few of the teams are in 9th-24th place is because they’ve got a load of injuries and results have been worse, will now have to play even more games.

The 2004-2024 CL was perfect the way it was. The only reason it was changed was because greedy clubs were being greedy cunts. It needs reverting back to how it was.

Every free midweek seems to be filled with a game. Coaches don’t get to coach their teams.

I’ve loved the two-leg semis and finals at Wembley for the EFL Cup but I think it’s time that competition was scrapped now. At least for teams competing in Europe. France were the only other team with two domestic Cup comps but they ditched their lesser one a few years ago.

What we don’t want touching is the number of teams in the PL and the FA Cup. Leave them alone. 20 teams in the world’s biggest, oldest and most prestigious league competition is perfect. Leave it be. And the FA Cup is the oldest Cup competition in the world. Leave it be.

But the rest for me can get ditched, reduced or reverted.

Our medical team do not need questioning.

 

[leighton]

Our injuries cause more problems than most as we have generally a smaller squad compared to others. We have sold how many and not replaced them. Our academy players have bulked up the squad. Rico has been good but he isn't reliable yet he will make rash decisions at times. He will be the player like Foden who will play many games if he progresses as he is. McAtee the jury is out still also a fit Bobb if he gets back fit and playing injury free will add loads. Bobb be like a new signing when he returns but we can't expect miracles from him.

 

[Vic]

You can’t say that without criticising the small squad was at fault last year & all the other seasons. The small squad has enabled us too keep a happy, rotated team & I was telling a Chelsea fan last season their squad is too big, giving him stories of Joe Royle & 50 pros spread over 2 changing rooms.

The irony is we’ve got 1 striker, that was the area we probably gambled & yet he’s played every game.
City have managed small squads, keeping them fit & rotating the players finding solutions. Never before have we lost so many players all at the same time making rotation impossible. Hindsight is a wonderful thing & we’ll learn from it but not forgetting how well smaller squads have served us.

And even with a small squad Alvarez and Palmer wanted to leave. I didn't mind their leaving, it's replacing them with inferior players that's (part of) the problem.

 

[M23 Citizen]

I get that he plays people in different positions, but they generally can play those positions. Like Gundogan played up front for a season and did well, but he can't play this dm role at all but still gets picked every game. Lewis really seems to be struggling in any defensive position as he is short, slow and seems to be weak, yet he is picked all the time.

We need more cbs if we are also relying on them at lb, rb and dm cover. I get the 3 goal lead thing to make changes but when we went 3 up vs forest on 60 mins, and their manager took off their 3 best players, he bought on Lewis right away and gave McAtee 1 minute again. He clearly doesn't trust him.

Gündoğan never played up front for a season. Total myth.

It was Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling and even Bernardo Silva who played up front as Proper9s or False9s that season.

Pick any game from that season and look at the line-ups. You’ll see Gundo was in attacking midfield and never once up front.

 

[cheekybids]

Ok then, what exactly does he bring to the table.

I will start and finish this off

He is neat and tidy and can receive the ball in tight situations

Any thing else, am i missing something

You said that like that skill is negative, he plays in pockets linking the play between defence, midfield & attack. You can make out I know fuck all but your up against Pep.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Ok then, what exactly does he bring to the table.

I will start and finish this off

He is neat and tidy and can receive the ball in tight situations

Any thing else, am i missing something

He moves the ball forward, makes himself available for the pass, scored a vital goal recently, covers two or three key positions given our injury and form situations and, not to put too fine of a point on it, is a KID who is playing in one of the best teams in the world, plugging gaps that no-one else seems capable of filling at the moment.

Now, I’ve said plenty about SOME of his performances, but his effort, work rate, ball movement have been excellent. My biggest problems with him are that he has no cutting edge and is muscled off the ball too easily.

That said, tidy and not wasteful are two traits I wish a few more, more senior players had had recently!