It's Quiet 18 - Wanna ring the bell?

[Goldust]

He really isn't.....

He's pony ..... absolute pony

You will be wanting Nani next ffs

Just because he played for them doesn’t make him pony, didn’t pep want him last season ? Are you telling me rice is better than Pogba ? Not saying we will get him as I think he will be on the gravy train to Saudi, just think he could be an option. Nani no thanks, he was OK 15 years ago.

 

[MCFC ISRAEL]

That will only happen when Mahrez decides what he`s doing?

I agree with you that it will probably only happen if Mahrez leaves but the truth is I think there is a need for such a player even if he stays. In the decisive stages of the season we played with Bernardo on the right side and Grealish on the left, both playing with the opposite foot and going inside, which is even more crowded. We need players who will play wide, who will can beat their defender one on one and be able to cross balls or find a free player inside the box with a smart pass

 

[ken tali]

We need a winger. Most of the teams that play against us park the bus. It's so difficult to find space in the middle, we need at least one player with a foot on the line with pace and 1 on 1 skills. I really think it will upgrade our team even more

Yep, that´s my hope also.

 

[richards30]

I agree with you that it will probably only happen if Mahrez leaves but the truth is I think there is a need for such a player even if he stays. In the decisive stages of the season we played with Bernardo on the right side and Grealish on the left, both playing with the opposite foot and going inside, which is even more crowded. We need players who will play wide, who will can beat their defender one on one and be able to cross balls or find a free player inside the box with a smart pass

Well Barca Want Cancelo on loan, maybe we could look to loan Dembele in return and see how he does for a season?

 

[Goldust]

He really isn't.....

He's pony ..... absolute pony

You will be wanting Nani next ffs

Just because he played them doesn’t make him pony, didn’t pep want him last season ? Are you telling me rice is better than Pogba ? Not saying we will get him as I think he will be on the gravy train to Saudi. Nani no thanks, he was OK 15 years ago.

 

[Tony - MCFC]

At start of the window I predicted 4-5 in and same out. May have one over coming in.

Personally I don’t see the out and out winger happening (especially not Sane).

This summer was more about who goes (then replaced). The squad size in terms of the trusted group won’t increase, perhaps by one.

 

[Centurions]

I hope so too but I don’t think he’s got good enough defensive instincts to be a DM for us.

Gaughan’s article is clearly a brief from the club and to be truthful is hugely disappointing. Without sounding like a couch expert it doesn’t sound like there’s any clear plan. Gvardiol would definitely be a good signing. Obviously the way we play means we don’t need to replace Cancelo. We have 2 good strikers.

At the same time we don’t know whether either of our normal right wingers will be here next season. Also we were willing to spend £100m on midfielders but according to Gaughan (therefore the club) because we didn’t land either we don’t need a midfielder.

I appreciate that sometimes we have to react to changing circumstances but you also have to plan and make contingency plans.

We’ve just had our best season ever and invariably some players will be burned out and some may still move on but we should be ruthless in our dealings.

Instead we briefed Gaughan to say everything is fine and under control but the article inadvertently makes us look slapdash and lacking in any clear strategy.

You're making the assumption that everything that Gaughan writes is based purely on a detailed brief from City, I suspect that's nowhere close to being true. City might as well as put a statement out to the press if it was.

 

[samuelyeboah]

He sort of is though. We still don’t have a left back. We have one senior right back. We have limited options out wide. We have just lost our captain.

Our bench is topped up with players Pep does not trust to play meaningful minutes - 1 of those players being a £40m signing. KDB is now 32 and cannot play 90 mins in a game of any intensity.

In addition, we laugh at Arsenal bottling the league, but had they not dropped stupid points, the sales of Jesus and Zinchenko would have looked horrific. We won the league despite spending just a couple of weeks at the top. There’s not a chance in the world we planned for that.

Every team around us is significantly strengthening this summer and they are doing it quickly so the gap is likely going to close. Waiting on outgoings is so risky and a bit baffling after we have publicly tried to sign Bellingham and Rice for fees in excess of £100m. So on one hand, our need in midfield is so great that we need to spend £100m, yet on the other, we can also get by without doing anything? It makes as little sense as the Kane fiasco did two years ago. Some people will point out that that turned out OK, which it did, but for me it’s closer to fortune than it is to good planning. And fortune doesn’t last forever.

I am rubbing my eyes in disbelief. There are genuinely people here who think winning 5 out of the last 6 titles, winning a treble, is "closer to fortunate than it is to good planning". Just absolute insanity, I don't know what to say.

"We don't have a left back, we have one senior right back" - not only are both of these false (Nathan Ake, Rico Lewis, Kyle Walker), we are also adding Gvardiol to it, and we also don't even PLAY with left backs.

"We have limited options out wide" - I would venture a guess almost any team in the world would kill to have Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez as their "options out wide".

"Our bench is topped up with players Pep does not trust to play meaningful minutes" - let's take the 11 that played the most minutes this season. They are, sorted by minutes played - Rodri, Ederson, Haaland, Gundogan, Akanji, KDB, Bernardo, Grealish, Dias, Mahrez, Ake.
That means that our "bench" is - Kyle Walker, John stones, Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez, Aymeric Laporte, Rico Lewis, Ortega, Palmer, Gomez, Phillips.
Yeah, full of untrusted players.

"If arsenal hadn't dropped stupid points, we wouldn't have won the league" - yeah, welcome to every season in every league in history! We won the league with 89 points, and that's because we let it go after winning it officially. We were on course for a 95 point season. This DOESNT HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT. It would be, what, the 4th or 5th highest point total in PL history? Yeah, so lucky to have won it.

"Every team around us is significantly strengthening" - and so are we. Kovacic, Gvardiol are magnificent additions. More will come through the door. The team is being refreshed. Countless times we've missed out on the first target and didn't regret it one bit. I am baffled some people think it's always due to luck and not because of our superior financial planning AND refusal to pay over the odds, leaving us with more money to invest in the organization.

 

[Centurions]

Someone said Pogba and to be fair it is a great shout, wouldn’t cost the earth bar his wages and would have a point to prove. Forget his time at UTd when he’s on it he’s a different level of player than rice.

That's the problem though, he's not "on it" often enough to be considered. Why would anyone "forget" his time at United, did it not happen? If we "forget" all his crap games where he couldn't be arsed then he makes Messi look like a donkey.

 

[Blue warrior]

Why would this season be any different though?

Philips has a point to prove, he will have a full pre season, he said he now finally understands what Pep is asking for it’s his second full season. Saying all that I would love a shiny new toy :)