It's Quiet 17 - Glory Thread

Dribble said:
The game was far from won on Saturday, but 8 minutes into the second half, he was about to make a double substitution.

That to me signifies that Pep felt he had fresh game-changers on the bench, as opposed to last season where many times he stuck by a clearly knackered starting 11.

Again for me that was more about Pep not having faith outside of his starting 11, that those on the bench could make an appreciable difference.

To illustrate the point, Jesus must have known what Haaland's signing would have meant for him, just as Zinchenko would have known Cucurella's signing would have relegated him to 3rd choice LB.

With £100m Grealish at the club, Foden preferred to Sterling & with the arrival of Alvaréz, Sterling must also have woken up & sniffed the coffee about his City future.

One thing I picked up from Sterling's recent interview is when he was talking about being furious that he wasn't getting the starts he felt he deserved.

Crucially he also slipped in about his contract being allowed to be run down. We all assumed it was Raheen stalling on fresh contract talks, with him looking to do a Milner, but if he was trying to do a Milner, why mention it as another one of his gripes?

When I stand back & survey the global picture, City have more or less got exactly what they wanted. A similar sized squad, but one of better quality across the forward line, at LB & a replacement for Fernandinho.

I'd argue that we've achieved all this without having to force players out, whilst being left with a sizeable amount of spare change in our pockets.

That's a successful window in my mind, & would have been the perfect dream window with a senior top class Left Back & Left footed Left Winger added to what we already have.
Click to expand...
Pep does change personal when it isn’t working, like he was about to on Saturday. However, when Bernardo scored, he gave them another 10 minutes to see if his words at half time had totally transformed the game in our favour or whether he needed to change personnel.

Sterling at Southampton springs to my mind where he was subbed after 55 mins as he was having a stinker. (Others will have done too, not digging out Raheem here)

We've added two far more clinical forwards than we’ve lost. That can only be a benefit in the long run. We have to adapt our press to accommodate them and that will be perfected with time.

As you elude, a left footed more defensive left back may have been a perfect end to the window, but we shall see how Gomez adapts. He may well be good enough. Just wish he was 5 inches taller.
 
On the face of it, pretty much perfect window for what we needed. Early signs are promising with Haaland and Alvarez shining so far and Gomez looking useful in the minutes he's had. Hopefully Phillips (when fit) and Akanji settle in as quickly.
 
Dribble said:
I've evidently got tougher standards to meet & would still have opted for a top class senior Left Back & left footed Left Winger.

Yes, agreed both Sterling & Jesus are right footed, but we've effectively played without a striker since Aguero's final injury-ridden season with us.

Crossing the ball into the box was futile & Jesus whilst busy with a high workrate, wasn't banging in the goals as we'd hoped from our main striker.

Now we have the Viking & Alvaréz who many reckon is cross between Tevez & Aguero. We now need to make to most of our transitions, & that means being able to cross early & accurately into the box, without a weak cross from our current wingers' weaker foot, or the need to lose vital seconds as they check back onto their stronger foot. We will still have our inverted wingers as options too.

This is just my personal take on matters & why I gave 8/10 & what would have prompted me to give 10/10.
Click to expand...
Don't get uppity on me now Dribble, lol. I do agree having a pure lefty wide left would be a great option. I would also say Little Phil has provided a couple sweet balls into Haaland off his left foot in each of the past 2 matches. With Foden it was a matter of adjusting to playing with Haaland. Otherwise he can put balls in with his left as well as almost any lefty I've seen. I'm not being belligerent, who would fit the profile that was actually available and a realistic option? Not righties who play on the left though, like Foden...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.