The break for the World Cup will inevitably have influenced our thinking, in my view, given the two month pause and the chance to work on deals or get players fit if we do get hit by injuries.
I also think that top players will be much more open than usual to moving in January. This will either be wanting to capitalise on the back of a good World Cup, or wanting a new challenge where currently they may have opted to stay put, not wanting to jeopardise potentially sitting on the bench at City ahead of a World Cup.
Obviously a bit of a risky strategy and the bench looked very thin on Saturday. But keeping our powder dry and having the pick of players in January could provide a huge boost to us at the business-end of the season.