It's Quiet 18 - Wanna ring the bell?

[supercity88]

As is the point he wasn't really playing for Leeds in the run up to his departure.

It's not 12 months on the sidelines, it's quite a bit longer, owing to his poor injury record in second part of his last season with Leeds.

If Kalvin was showing any uptick in training, Pep would not be keeping him on the bench for Cup games.

Rodri is being flogged, AGAIN!

And Rodri is now a nailed on starter for Spain too. Busquets generally played ahead of him under Luis Enrique (until he then became a CB for the WC). Looking at their current squad I can't see how Rodri doesn't start both games which is a shame, he could do with a rest more than anyone. Positively he played just over 60 mins against Leipzig and Burnley so managed to have an hour off the pitch across the two games. If we can keep winning well and only giving him 60 minutes it will help.

 

[Manc123]

And Rodri is now a nailed on starter for Spain too. Busquets generally played ahead of him under Luis Enrique (until he then became a CB for the WC). Looking at their current squad I can't see how Rodri doesn't start both games which is a shame, he could do with a rest more than anyone. Positively he played just over 60 mins against Leipzig and Burnley so managed to have an hour off the pitch across the two games. If we can keep winning well and only giving him 60 minutes it will help.

Agree with you here..... I think in terms of Phillips and minutes we've not been able to risk taking rodri off on games because we've not been winning comfortable a lot of games were going to the last minute. So if we can start winning a little more comfortably I'd assume Phillips probably gets onto the pitch

 

[waspish]

Every time Phillips plays he drops an unnecessary clanger that nearly costs us a goal, one of those ones that no one including Pep obviously are going to ignore, just plain lazy slackness.

Yeah maybe but it might just be down to he has hardly played any games

 

[OB1]

West Ham asked for him on loan in Jan but, unless they stay up or keep Moyes, that option will be lost.

I think Pep was shocked at how lack of switched on he was in our Cup defeat to Southampton?

We don't know how badly the injuries have set him back, both mentally and physically.

I refuse to believe, however, that an England international, is not good enough to be utilised as a squad back-up in any case.

I'm a sucker for decent people and Phillips looks of good stock. If he asked to leave and Pep/City were open to it, than that's a different matter.

Perhaps Leeds or Newcastle would be more attractive than West Ham right now.

I rated Phillips before he arrived and a Leeds S/T I know well told me he needs game time to get back to his best after injury so the very long time out he has had is likely to have had a major impact. He is also trying to learn the City way. And then Rodri is just so damn good.

He could yet be one of those players that really starts to bloom in his second season under Pep.

Of course, if we can move him on for decent money and get an immediate upgrade to replace him, that would be business worth doing but we should not give up on him.

 

[Gaz (FMwkdsoul)]

I'd love Gavi, he's technically brilliant a work horse as well, but he's an absolute dickhead on the pitch. He's wound up that madrid team so much that today there's info coming out that the Madrid players want the Barcelona staff to have a word with him about is attitude.

Real Madrid players have sent messages to Barça heavyweights asking them to speak to Gavi about his behaviour. [Más que Pelotas]

Good.

 

[OB1]

Can only hope that FDJ is a possibility.

We just don't seem interested in him.

I do get the feeling that if you turn us down, you don't get a second invitation.

I wonder if that is a deliberate policy so that when City go in for a player, the player knows that it is now or never.

 

[Blue Smarties]

West Ham asked for him on loan in Jan but, unless they stay up or keep Moyes, that option will be lost.

I think Pep was shocked at how lack of switched on he was in our Cup defeat to Southampton?

We don't know how badly the injuries have set him back, both mentally and physically.

I refuse to believe, however, that an England international, is not good enough to be utilised as a squad back-up in any case.

I'm a sucker for decent people and Phillips looks of good stock. If he asked to leave and Pep/City were open to it, than that's a different matter.

Perhaps Leeds or Newcastle would be more attractive than West Ham right now.

Everton wanted him at the end of January. Not sure if the new manager changes that?

 

[John Wayne]

We just don't seem interested in him.

I do get the feeling that if you turn us down, you don't get a second invitation.

I wonder if that is a deliberate policy so that when City go in for a player, the player knows that it is now or never.

Fair point, I think the last player we went back for was Laporte and that's more than five years ago.

 

[Legal Alien]

As is the point he wasn't really playing for Leeds in the run up to his departure.

It's not 12 months on the sidelines, it's quite a bit longer, owing to his poor injury record in second part of his last season with Leeds.

If Kalvin was showing any uptick in training, Pep would not be keeping him on the bench for Cup games.

Rodri is being flogged, AGAIN!

Which, to me, makes it even more annoying that we got rid of Lavia.

Watching Lavia this season, he could've stepped in to give Rodri a rest.

 

[domalino]

Which, to me, makes it even more annoying that we got rid of Lavia.

Watching Lavia this season, he could've stepped in to give Rodri a rest.

I like Lavia but some Southampton supporting friends of mine say he's getting the treatment a lot of players at struggling clubs get where anything he does good makes it to MOTD or twitter and anything he does bad gets overlooked because he's an 18 year old in the worst side in the league. When his mistakes cost them a goal people just blame the team or the manager.

It's a very, very different propositon to playing back up to Rodri.

The problem is that we might have to buy him back this summer because he's too good for the Championship and other PL clubs are lurking.

I think the best case for us is Southampton stay up and he stays there for at least 1 more season.