It’s Quiet 20 - What is the Wirtz that could happen?

[supercity88]

We don't need to worry too much about last night because our CL squad is going to be different now. Looking at the Chelsea game, we were so much more effective with the movement of Gvardiol, Marmoush and Haaland and we packed the middle to be a bit more robust against the counter. I would anticipate Pep looks to implement that system moving forwards.

If we can add Douglas Luiz and a RB too we'll be in great shape for the rest of the season. With the added depth at the back we can ensure our defence is in better shape for the big games as well.

Eddie, Gvardiol, Dias, Stones, Cambiaso, Luiz, Kovacic, Bernardo, Foden, Marmoush, Haaland would give us the perfect balance. And we'd have Savinho, Doku, De Bruyne as options to make it more attacking or tweak things if we didn't want the width to come from full backs.

 

[LeonardoDaVnci]

For every Rogers or Palmer, we have several other EDS players who've evaporated into the ether. Some we win (Foden, Lewis, Bobb), some we lose. It's the chance we take.

However, in terms of Palmer, he was played 26 times during his last season with us, with 14 starts & he was distinctly underwhelming. At Chelsea he essentially has a free role which allows him to star in a £1bn team who aren't currently challenging for anything.

Rogers was never going to break into our star studded midfield at the point where he needed first team football. The stars just didn't align for him & City, so he was moved on & eventually became a star at Villa. If he'd stayed at City, it would probably have stunted his development.

As for McAtee, he was seen as this biggest talent of the lot. Like Palmer, I've seen glimmers of talent here & there, but not enough to break into this weakened squad. We've a serious decision to make with Jimmy.

Alas, some things just weren't meant to be.

If we trade Jimmy eg in exchange for Wirtz then fair enough, but we have to be mindful of the 17 foreign player limit and iirc that may be going down to 16. Of course Leverkusen would have to stump up a considerable fee to make up for the difference...

 

[Dribble]

If we trade Jimmy eg in exchange for Wirtz then fair enough, but we have to mindful of the 17 foreign player limit and iirc that may be going down to 16. Of course Leverkusen would have stump up a considerable fee to make up for the difference...

Wirtz for Jimmy is a trade I'd make in a heartbeat. However the feeling is Wirtz will either follow Alonso to Real, or trod the well worn path to the German Rags.

Wirtz is THE one!

 

[Blue Bogey]

For every Rogers or Palmer, we have several other EDS players who've evaporated into the ether. Some we win (Foden, Lewis, Bobb), some we lose. It's the chance we take.

However, in terms of Palmer, he was played 26 times during his last season with us, with 14 starts & he was distinctly underwhelming. At Chelsea he essentially has a free role which allows him to star in a £1bn team who aren't currently challenging for anything.

Just to correct your stats above re: it was 25 games in total, only 7 starts (2 PL, 1 CL, 3 EFL Cup, 1 FA cup). Averaged 34 mins across his 25 appearances, mostly playing off the left.

 

[wolviedinho]

Reading between the lines, I take this to mean players returning from injury. The issue is that many are at, or beyond 30 years old, & we've broken them that badly that they keep breaking down within a couple of matches of their comebacks.

I highlighted a situation with Stones last night. A ball was played to the Brugge left winger that John stood a 50% chance of winning if he busted a gut & got a tackle in. This is what a fully fit & confident Stones would've done, but this injury hit iteration didn't make the challenge, leaving the clumsy Nunes to make an agricultural challenge that was just on the right side of a yellow.

Our players being physically unable to perform at the highest level, even if available is the root cause of our recent issues. We've rinsed them dry, as highlighted by Rodri 18 months ago & by Foden last week!

I agree with this. We took the piss out of Klopp for running the dopers into the ground. City have done the same with a small versatile outstanding squad.

That squad has peaked, leaving noticeable problems and huge holes to fill.

It’s was a decision that worked well. So we can have no complaints.

Need to go again.

 

[Shazza458]

don't think any single midfielder is tbh, we have a few issues in the middle, not just one or two.

I agree but I feel we should be making a better start on rebuilding the midfield. Luiz doesn’t represent that for me

 

[Dribble]

I agree with this. We took the piss out if Klopp running the dopers into the ground. City have done the same with a small versatile outstanding squad.

That squad has peaked, leaving noticeable problems and huge holes to fill.

It’s was a decision that worked well. So we can have no complaints.

Need to go again.

This is all on City. I think we all universally agreed, the time to go big was after the treble. It pained & worried me to see Rodri dead on his feet after 60 minutes in several lower grade matches, where Pep would leave him on until 15 minutes to go.

Our players aren't machines, & now that we've broken several of them, we're paying the cost.

 

[Gaz (FMwkdsoul)]

I agree but I feel we should be making a better start on rebuilding the midfield. Luiz doesn’t represent that for me

yeah, he's definitely a short term thing as evident by the club pushing to not get lumbered with him. Dont think anyone long term targets are getting here this window.

 

[Cobwebcat]

For every Rogers or Palmer, we have several other EDS players who've evaporated into the ether. Some we win (Foden, Lewis, Bobb), some we lose. It's the chance we take.

However, in terms of Palmer, he was played 26 times during his last season with us, with 14 starts & he was distinctly underwhelming. At Chelsea he essentially has a free role which allows him to star in a £1bn team who aren't currently challenging for anything.

Rogers was never going to break into our star studded midfield at the point where he needed first team football. The stars just didn't align for him & City, so he was moved on & eventually became a star at Villa. If he'd stayed at City, it would probably have stunted his development.

As for McAtee, he was seen as this biggest talent of the lot. Like Palmer, I've seen glimmers of talent here & there, but not enough to break into this weakened squad. We've a serious decision to make with Jimmy.

Alas, some things just weren't meant to be.

I wonder if we could have loaned Rogers to a PL team then, when he comes back, we add him to our squad or sell him at a much higher figure.

Rogers is worth around 40 x what we sold him for now and Palmer about £50 million more than when we sold him.

I get what you are saying about can’t win the all but that’s a lot of money!

 

[Cobwebcat]

Wirtz for Jimmy is a trade I'd make in a heartbeat. However the feeling is Wirtz will either follow Alonso to Real, or trod the well worn path to the German Rags.

Wirtz is THE one!

I’m hoping that we will be the highest bidder. We still have money to burn and the competition that could match our bid like Real already have good players in that area. We could outbid Bayern easily and Leverkusen don’t want to sell him to Bayern.

 

[decmancity]

I wonder if we could have loaned Rogers to a PL team then, when he comes back, we add him to our squad or sell him at a much higher figure.

Rogers is worth around 40 x what we sold him for now and Palmer about £50 million more than when we sold him.

I get what you are saying about can’t win the all but that’s a lot of money!

PL loan!? Christ.

Did you see his performances at Lincoln and Blackpool?
City were probably pretty buzzing to shift him to Boro for a nominal fee and sell on.

His resurgence at Villa has come from nowhere, it's a one in a million.

 

[Dribble]

I wonder if we could have loaned Rogers to a PL team then, when he comes back, we add him to our squad or sell him at a much higher figure.

Rogers is worth around 40 x what we sold him for now and Palmer about £50 million more than when we sold him.

I get what you are saying about can’t win the all but that’s a lot of money!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing mate. The club has to take an educated guess at these things. We obviously had high hopes for Foden, Lewis & Bobb, hence they remained. The others, we wanted to have a look at from a distance to see how they fared.

We've sold some solid EDS performers for decent money, & the value of a couple has blown up since selling them. Palmer we wanted to remain, but he wanted to leave for first team football. Funnily enough, I seem to be one of the few who's not too fussed about Cole.

Rogers was never given a chance, & looking at how he's developed, I'm more gutted about losing him tbh.

 

[oldius]

I agree with this. We took the piss out if Klopp running the dopers into the ground. City have done the same with a small versatile outstanding squad.

That squad has peaked, leaving noticeable problems and huge holes to fill.

It’s was a decision that worked well. So we can have no complaints.

Need to go again.

Without injuries to Kev, Phil, Grealish, Dias, Akanji, Ake, Doku, Rodri, Bobb, and John Stones, those holes wouldn't exist to anything like the same extent. Did the small squad cause it? Possibly. Perhaps the small close-season, or the silly international games. We can have no complaints - correct - we are the champions and we need, as you say, just to go again.

 

[billblu]

I wonder if we could have loaned Rogers to a PL team then, when he comes back, we add him to our squad or sell him at a much higher figure.

Rogers is worth around 40 x what we sold him for now and Palmer about £50 million more than when we sold him.

I get what you are saying about can’t win the all but that’s a lot of money!

No premier league club would of taken him he never stood out in the eds and only did ok when he was out on loan i honestly thought he would probably more likely drop down divisions than go up to the premier league

 

[Dribble]

I’m hoping that we will be the highest bidder. We still have money to burn and the competition that could match our bid like Real already have good players in that area. We could outbid Bayern easily and Leverkusen don’t want to sell him to Bayern.

Wirtz is the player we really must break the bank for. My thoughts on the Chelsea game is that we looked far less effective when KDB replaced Moose, & last night King Kev was wading through treacle & looked absolutely fucked after 60 minutes,.

We have to replace him with a top class operator & the closest I've seen to KDB is Wirtz. Wanting him & getting him are two different things though.

 

[Stoned Rose]

I agree with this. We took the piss out if Klopp running the dopers into the ground. City have done the same with a small versatile outstanding squad.

That squad has peaked, leaving noticeable problems and huge holes to fill.

It’s was a decision that worked well. So we can have no complaints.

Need to go again.

Bph is a ****.

 

[wolviedinho]

This is all on City. I think we all universally agreed, the time to go big was after the treble. It pained & worried me to see Rodri dead on his feet after 60 minutes in several lower grade matches, where Pep would leave him on until 15 minutes to go.

Our players aren't machines, & now that we've broken several of them, we're paying the cost.

Yea but everyone wins. The players got paid and won. The club got huge commercial contracts and won.

The injury and age problems is certainly highlighted more with a small squad. The time to strengthen was defo after the treble. That didn’t mean going out and spending millions necessarily. Palmer, Morgan should have been involved more. It’s a mistake and timing issue. No on is perfect and we got it wrong.

Now let’s put it right with some top signings over the summer.

 

[wolviedinho]

Without injuries to Kev, Phil, Grealish, Dias, Akanji, Ake, Doku, Rodri, Bobb, and John Stones, those holes wouldn't exist to anything like the same extent. Did the small squad cause it? Possibly. Perhaps the small close-season, or the silly international games. We can have no complaints - correct - we are the champions and we need, as you say, just to go again.

Doku has always been hit and miss, same with Ake and stones so we did know on a few players.

I honestly have no complaints. All this blame game leads to know where. We didn’t act decisive enough and got some decisions wrong. The club is trying to fix it now which is all we can ask.

I’m trying to enjoy the rebuild. It’s easier said than done watching the games tho but that’s just emotions.

 

[oldius]

Doku has always been hit and miss, same with Ake and stones so we did know on a few players.

I honestly have no complaints. All this blame game leads to know where. We didn’t act decisive enough and got some decisions wrong. The club is trying to fix it now which is all we can ask.

I’m trying to enjoy the rebuild. It’s easier said than done watching the games tho but that’s just emotions.

I am really excited to watch the rebuild.
When we look at Savinho, 20; Bobb, 21; Doku, 22; Erling, 24; Foden, 24; Khusanov, 20; Reis, 18; Lewis, 20; McAtee, 22; and the potential emergence of players like Mfuni, McAidoo, Heskey, and Mukasa, these are potentially thrilling times. There is so much talent there.
With players like that alongside real leaders like Rodri and Dias, there is every reason to be very positive about the future.
We haven't made perfect decisions 100% of the time, but what a ride it has been. Every other fan grudgingly accepts that we have been the team of the decade, and probably the best run club in sport.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I am really excited to watch the rebuild.
When we look at Savinho, 20; Doku, 22; Erling, 24; Foden, 24; Khusanov, 20; Reis, 18; Lewis, 20; McAtee, 22; and the potential emergence of players like Mfuni, McAidoo, Heskey, and Mukasa, these are potentially thrilling times. There is so much talent there.
With players like that alongside real leaders like Rodri and Dias, there is every reason to be very positive about the future.
We haven't made perfect decisions 100% of the time, but what a ride it has been. Every other fan grudgingly accepts that we have been the team of the decade, and probably the best run club in sport.

Bobb on this.