Gingers Dad
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Maybe but Newcastle will also have been on an international break. If we have key players fit then there should be an upgrade from the Villa game. Unless we wear that fckin awful kit.
Is it just me or does it feel like Pep has cracked the code?
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Bobby the blue
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I’d say just relax for the time being.
There’s definite improvement and we look a lot more fluid in our play. It’s been good looking at the development and progress of Gonzalez, doku snd o’reilly and to a certain degree nunes.
Donnarumma is a fantastic keeper and haaland is just a beast.
Will still need to integrate marmoush and cherki and foden although improving still has a way to go before being back to his best. Ait-nouri and Kushanov are still to continue back too.
Savinho and bobb need to step up and could be make or break time for this season.
As the villa game showed we will still be prone to the odd blip along the way and even Bournemouth had there moments against us.
I think it’s an exciting time and for once there is no pressure on us. It’s all on arsenal so let’s see how they cope with it.
One thing I do know is that with pep in charge is we ain’t going away, up the blues.
There’s definite improvement and we look a lot more fluid in our play. It’s been good looking at the development and progress of Gonzalez, doku snd o’reilly and to a certain degree nunes.
Donnarumma is a fantastic keeper and haaland is just a beast.
Will still need to integrate marmoush and cherki and foden although improving still has a way to go before being back to his best. Ait-nouri and Kushanov are still to continue back too.
Savinho and bobb need to step up and could be make or break time for this season.
As the villa game showed we will still be prone to the odd blip along the way and even Bournemouth had there moments against us.
I think it’s an exciting time and for once there is no pressure on us. It’s all on arsenal so let’s see how they cope with it.
One thing I do know is that with pep in charge is we ain’t going away, up the blues.
Then you don't know Pep.
Making unreasonable changes to the starting XI doesn't win you 4 titles in a row.
Pep knows the importance of having momentum and stability. If the players are fit, he isn't likely to make any changes in defence. The midfield will depend on whether Rodri is fit enough to start. Can see Cherki being replaced with Reijnders. Think at least 9 from the first XI vs Bournemouth and Liverpool will start vs Newcastle.
Scaring Europe to Death
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Mate!
It was a tongue in cheek response to somebody who was suggesting (quite rightly )that City's starting XI at Villa was nowhere near as strong as the starting XI v Liverpool
Wish I had the same feeling, a lot of these players I am unsure are at the level of previous City teams.
Donnarumma - Very happy with, the kind of keeper who wins you big trophies
O’Reilly - Doing really well, but still a young kid playing out of position, don’t think we could ask anymore of him, but to stay consistent for a whole season is a big ask
Dias - Was surprised we offered him a new contract, based on form. Has a bit to do
Nunes - Great attitude and effort, but has a mistake in him
Nico - Big upturn recently from being destinctly average, players improve under Pep and his improvement is probably the biggest. Need to see it over a longer period
Bernardo - Not quite the player he was, still good but needs to be used right.
Foden - Love seeing him when he is at his best. Still below a couple of seasons ago for me, but last 2 games looked like he was getting there
Doku - Still think he’s going to be inconsistent, but seems to be offering something most games. Need more from the right hand side, to make it so they cannot double up on him and make us play down the right.
Haaland - Looks like he will have his best season to date. The one player everyone would want in their team.
I have us as better then last season, but a fair bit of the treble season.
Could we win something, depends how the players improve, if Rodri could come back, we get the right hand side functioning, how other new players improve (Mahmoush, Rejinders, Khusanov) and for me the 2 players you didn’t highlight could be huge, arguably the potential there for best defender and most creative forward.
We look to be improving and we’ve been good at home recently against teams who play open football. However, we won’t get to play teams like this every week. Tactically, Pep has shown up Kovac and two good up-and-coming coaches with a lot of hype around them in Iraola and Slot. Great set of performances and results, and tactically Pep has shown that he’s still got innovative and evolving ideas well above that of other coaches.
But there will be many different styles of football we come up against that won’t suit our players as much as the last few weeks.
Look at Villa away; we only put together two decent attacks that ended up with a chance at the end of it, all game.
At Brentford, we played very well first half but it was only 0-1 (when it deserved more), then second half we had an xG of 0.03 because struggled to string a decent attack together all half.
In both games, their formations and tactics were harder for us to play against.
We need to be patient with this team. There’s a lot of inexperience in our squad and I’ve said it a lot, that, with inexperience comes inconsistency.
Trafford, Gvardiol, Khusanov, O’Reilly, Lewis, Nico, Doku, Savinho, Cherki and Bobb are all 23 and under.
Marmoush, Nico, Khusanov, Reijnders, Cherki, Trafford and Donnarumma have all played under two-dozen PL games.
Trafford, Reijnders, Marmoush, Cherki, Ait-Nouri, O’Reilly and Khusanov… have never won a major trophy in their careers.
Ortega, Bettinelli, Savinho, Nunes, Phillips, Doku, Bobb and Lewis… weren’t key players in a team where they have won a major trophy.
That’s a lot of the squad who lack experience, have no key experience of winning anything or who have never won anything.
You could see last Sunday that Cherki (the recent signing I’m most excited about) had never played a game at the pace and intensity of that before in his career. He’ll get better with that but it will only come with experience.
We haven’t played particularly well away from home yet really and, even in the more decent performances, it’s only been in spells or for one half and we haven’t put in a full 90-minute performance yet. And even in our better games away from home, we haven’t been ruthless enough in front of goal and others other than Haaland haven’t stepped up. Other than Erling, only Bernardo Silva has scored a PL/CL goal away from home since 16th August so it becomes a case of needing Haaland to outscore the opposition.
The positive with points is that we are doing better in comparison to the same fixtures as last season. However, we have won an average of 2pts per game so far with over a quarter of the season gone, so we are currently only on course for a 76 point season. A consistent run over the Winter will be needed but, as I said, having patience with this team is more important than expecting long winning runs with so many young faces, players new to the PL and many of both of those groups who’ve never won a major trophy.
But there will be many different styles of football we come up against that won’t suit our players as much as the last few weeks.
Look at Villa away; we only put together two decent attacks that ended up with a chance at the end of it, all game.
At Brentford, we played very well first half but it was only 0-1 (when it deserved more), then second half we had an xG of 0.03 because struggled to string a decent attack together all half.
In both games, their formations and tactics were harder for us to play against.
We need to be patient with this team. There’s a lot of inexperience in our squad and I’ve said it a lot, that, with inexperience comes inconsistency.
Trafford, Gvardiol, Khusanov, O’Reilly, Lewis, Nico, Doku, Savinho, Cherki and Bobb are all 23 and under.
Marmoush, Nico, Khusanov, Reijnders, Cherki, Trafford and Donnarumma have all played under two-dozen PL games.
Trafford, Reijnders, Marmoush, Cherki, Ait-Nouri, O’Reilly and Khusanov… have never won a major trophy in their careers.
Ortega, Bettinelli, Savinho, Nunes, Phillips, Doku, Bobb and Lewis… weren’t key players in a team where they have won a major trophy.
That’s a lot of the squad who lack experience, have no key experience of winning anything or who have never won anything.
You could see last Sunday that Cherki (the recent signing I’m most excited about) had never played a game at the pace and intensity of that before in his career. He’ll get better with that but it will only come with experience.
We haven’t played particularly well away from home yet really and, even in the more decent performances, it’s only been in spells or for one half and we haven’t put in a full 90-minute performance yet. And even in our better games away from home, we haven’t been ruthless enough in front of goal and others other than Haaland haven’t stepped up. Other than Erling, only Bernardo Silva has scored a PL/CL goal away from home since 16th August so it becomes a case of needing Haaland to outscore the opposition.
The positive with points is that we are doing better in comparison to the same fixtures as last season. However, we have won an average of 2pts per game so far with over a quarter of the season gone, so we are currently only on course for a 76 point season. A consistent run over the Winter will be needed but, as I said, having patience with this team is more important than expecting long winning runs with so many young faces, players new to the PL and many of both of those groups who’ve never won a major trophy.
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Saddleworth2
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good realistic analysis that. I wasn't surprised at Cherki's performance vs Liverpool albeit Bournmouth gave us more of a challenge and he was excellent vs them. I think this season he will be inconsistent as he learns. Hopefully he retains his confidence through that. O'Reilly is the big surprise for me this season. I knew the lad was good but so far he seems to be able to up his game every time he is faced with a new/more difficult challenge. Heaven knows what his ceiling is. I think with the spine of the team highlighted in the original post we will remain extremely competitive albeit we may have a few results against us. Injuries will be the biggest concern. For me, this season is still about rebuilding and anything on top of that is an unexpected bonus.
That’s the big difference with us now compared to 2017-2023.
Kompany missed most of our record breaking winning run in 2017-18 and we didn’t miss him.
De Bruyne missed a lot of the 2018-19 season and the long unbeaten run in 2020-21 and we didn’t miss him.
Sané missed most of the 2018-19 season and we didn’t miss him.
Fernandinho missed a lot of the second half of the 2018-19 season and we didn’t miss him.
Agüero missed most of the 2020-21 season and we didn’t miss him.
In 2018-19, we could have had Kompany, Mendy, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Sané and Agüero out injured and still chosen to rest Otamendi, Danilo and David Silva and still put out this XI:
Ederson
Walker—Stones—Laporte—Zinchenko
Gündoğan
BSilva—Foden
Mahrez—Jesus—Sterling
Only 18 months ago we rested all these lads and still beat Chelsea:
We may well get to that level again with the group of players we have now, but they all need to grow as players and gain experience. We are still at a stage where we can’t do without a few first choice players.
In 2023-24, we didn’t win a single game that Rodri missed. And with a few players missing at Villa last month it really affected our performance and the other players couldn’t step up to win/draw the game and make us not notice those who were missing.
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We are getting there. Patience is needed while the team develops
and creates its groove where players know what their colleagues are going to do and patterns become automatic. Slightly surprised that the stubborn old bald fraud has changed our style so readily. I am completely optimistic.
and creates its groove where players know what their colleagues are going to do and patterns become automatic. Slightly surprised that the stubborn old bald fraud has changed our style so readily. I am completely optimistic.
Gorton_Tubster
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I think leaders don't crack codes they just have that skill. Ferguson had it, klopp can inspire his teams. Pep is amazing too at inspiring players to give 110%.
But on top of that, he has insight into the workings of the game, the tactics and technical side.
Given enough time those managers always succeed. I was never in doubt about it.
The only worry for me was those silly type of fans who start demanding he be sacked for losing a season! They're the enemy of all clubs.
But on top of that, he has insight into the workings of the game, the tactics and technical side.
Given enough time those managers always succeed. I was never in doubt about it.
The only worry for me was those silly type of fans who start demanding he be sacked for losing a season! They're the enemy of all clubs.
ninjamonkey
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The players are interchangeable, Its the system that is key. He finally switched us into a 2 man base in midfield, something we've needed for a long time, now we see whether he sticks with it and fits players in around the system or whether he does a villa away again and sets us up to lose games before kick off.
Looks like a home game that from 2022/23. 18 months?
Cobwebcat
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Wait until the next game we lose. BM will be full of posters saying Pep has been “found out” and “it’s time he moved on”
Tuearts right boot
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If we win at least 2 major comps then I would say....possibly, bearing in mind football itself is very fluid and there are no real right or wrong ways to suceed.