It's Quiet the £250m return

Ken92 said:
what matters is ,have you seen Doku improve his game in the last 2 season with us? I think not really and thats why there is no reason for people to think that he will suddenly become world class winger. I still have more hope for Savinho ,but only if i see an improvement over the current season. Definetly neede a good and proven winger ,who can provide assists and goals ,don´t have it currently and Bobb also definetly isn´t the answer.
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I've said it previously & I'll say it again. Both Sterling & Sané had over/underlapping FB's in support, so again you're not comparing like for like.

Pep's inverted FB tactic is hanging all our wide players out to dry. At what point do you stop looking at our FB's & wide players & start looking at a system that doesn't play to their strengths?

I refer you to Doku on RAN's debut in the CWC.
 
Dribble said:
I've said it previously & I'll say it again. Both Sterling & Sané had over/underlapping FB's in support, so again you're not comparing like for like.

Pep's inverted FB tactic is hanging all our wide players out to dry. At what point do you stop looking at our FB's & wide players & start looking at a system that doesn't play to their strengths?

I refer you to Doku on RAN's debut in the CWC.
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To be fair I don’t think it was full backs wise why Sane was so good. It was David Silva him and Sane had a telepathic connection.

Sane even saying in interviews he never had that connection with any other player.

I think Fullbacks over and underlapping would help Doku and Savio but I think we need a creative player that can spot their movement more.
 
Gumzy97 said:
To be fair I don’t think it was full backs wise why Sane was so good. It was David Silva him and Sane had a telepathic connection.

Sane even saying in interviews he never had that connection with any other player.

I think Fullbacks over and underlapping would help Doku and Savio but I think we need a creative player that can spot their movement more.
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Every winger we have is left marooned & surrounded without support. This is the bigger problem we face, hence why I believe we need to press the reset button & revert to Pep's famed Barça 4-3-3 formation with over/underlapping FB's. We saw the effect this had during the CWC with RAN & Doku wreaking havoc.
 
Dribble said:
Mate, we've always been at a point where we have players who "may" come good. Rodri, Bernardo, Gundog, Mahrez, Stones & many others being a case in point. However, the difference between the past & now is we had a squad of elite players as the foundation who were at the peak of their careers. This is no longer the case.

The issue now, is we've left the start of our succession planning for too long, meaning that we have a squad full of ageing, injury-prone players at one end of the scale, with a squad full of brilliant youngsters who've yet to enter their peak playing years, with little in between.

When you look at the amount of players who we'd normally have in their peak years, you can see where our massive squad issues lie. This negligent succession planning came down to Txiki & Pep.

One had always planned to leave this summer. The last one standing is still here & looking to be in an increasingly precarious position, unless our fortunes do an about turn lickety split.
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You are correct, apart from the brilliant youngster line.

I've watched footy long enough to know "brilliant youngster" means absolutely fuck all.

If we are pinning our hopes on brilliant youngsters, we are fooked.

I hate to say it and it's been done to death, but cashing in on Alvarez and Palmer was a fucking disaster.

Those players you mentioned, I agree they took time to settle in.
I honestly remember Adrian Durham on TS referring to Saint Bernardo as "a lottery winner" after his first game.

However, we now have players that have played near or more 30 odd games and they still look fucking shite.

Fuck it, let's just stuff the Rags and let the suits and "smart casual designer wear" people worry about the squad.
 
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Dribble said:
In the cases of Gundo, Silva, Mahrez etc, they never started off as being indispensable, they worked toward that status, plus they were older when they arrived at City than Doku, Savinho & Lewis, so I don't see that you're comparing apples with apples.

In terms of Mahrez, at the same age he was playing lower league football in France, & throughout his City career, many on this forum referred to him as FFS! Riyad still remains the most underrated City player of recent times imo, & his true value was only felt after he left.

Again, being "indispensable" is subjective. Did many class Gareth Barry as indispensable? Not to my recollection, but like Mahrez, when looking back he definitely was, again imo.

Many will also associate being indispensable with being a superstar. The two are totally different things. Many players who're viewed as indispensable often only reach that status after they leave.

However, whilst they were here, they were the glue that gelled the team together, which allowed the likes of KDB etc, to flourish & shine. Most of that unsung work goes unnoticed, until it's missed.

Back to Doku, Savinho & Lewis etc. They're at the beginning of their City journeys & I feel it only fair that like for like comparisons are made. Mahrez was 27, & had already been crowned PFA player of the year by the time he arrived at City.

A better comparison would be; at what stage was Mahrez in his career when he was 20, 21 & 23? We need a sense of perspective. It's not the fault of Doku, Savinho & Lewis that they have to be heavily relied upon because of our frankly poor succession planning.

Instead of blaming our young players, I'd say you'd be better off looking toward whoever it was who allowed our injury-prone squad to age, without starting our rebuild when it was plainly obvious it was needed.
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If the succession planning was done properly Lewis wouldn’t get anywhere near the team
 
For the life of me I cannot understand people's insistence in repeating what we all know to be true, and relentlessly pawing over former greats and the failure to replace with equivalent quality. I find it utterly boring.

We have a talented, young squad. We have several players at the very highest level of world football. We have a number of prospects ready to ensure continuity.

The club has admitted that we delayed replacing former greats for probably one season too long. It is done. Enjoy what we have, relish the journey, support the players, and don't forget that those players you are now celebrating as icons from the recent past were also continually castigated on these very pages.

Most of all, we have a big game later - the biggest - enjoy it and good luck. We are better than them and just need to step up and show it.
 
Dribble said:
It doesn't matter how long Doku's been here, he's 23 years old & nowhere near the peak of his career. Why're you comparing him to Mahrez who was playing in the French lower leagues at the same age & came here as a 27 year old PFA player of the year? Again, you're not comparing like for like.

As for Nunes, on that point we can agree. He was entering his peak years when we bought him, but he was an underwhelming player beforehand arrived here, & he's still an underwhelming player now. This panic transfer still perplexes me to this day.

As for needing players at the peak of their careers, how is that 21 year old Jeremy Doku's fault? I think you need to be looking at Txiki & Pep mate.
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Saka is 24 and when 23 was miles better than Doku. He just isn’t good enough and better players at his age are out there
 
Gumzy97 said:
To be fair I don’t think it was full backs wise why Sane was so good. It was David Silva him and Sane had a telepathic connection.

Sane even saying in interviews he never had that connection with any other player.

I think Fullbacks over and underlapping would help Doku and Savio but I think we need a creative player that can spot their movement more.
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Well you hit it on the head. David Silva. Best player of his type in my book. Almost impossible to replicate. Anyone of our wingers would be better if he was still around . . .
 
Mad 4 It said:
Saka is 24 and when 23 was miles better than Doku. He just isn’t good enough and better players at his age are out there
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Can you name those better wingers who are 23 and better then Doku? If you can 3 that are also AVAILABLE I will give u credit for making me mute.
 
Wingers look shite in our system cos of our ridiculously high line and our insistence with inverted fullbacks.

There’s literally no space in behind, and they get doubled up on, in Doku’s case, tripled up on.

When we do play overlapping fullbacks, Doku and Sav miss out to Marmoush and Foden anyway cos like we saw towards the end of last season, he’ll play inverted forwards.
 
ysmsa said:
His career changing injury at City did for Sane.

Tragic but that's football.

No way we let him go for what we did without the injury and long time out
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Sané was subject of a bid from Bayern & then his injury struck. The season before, he was in & out of the team for inconsistent performances. It happens. He was a brilliant young player, yet to fully mature.

Sterling peaked young & then began to decline before his peak years & now his once stellar careeer is drifting. It happens.

Mahrez was playing lower league football in France, & like a fine wine he matured & got better with age.

Mate, players develop & peak at different rates & ages. Doku, Savinho & Lewis are still maturing, are nowhere near the peak of their careers & all have serious potential.

You disagree. You believe they should be elite players now. I totally disagree, so let's wait & see hey...
 
Northmanc68 said:
If the succession planning was done properly Lewis wouldn’t get anywhere near the team
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Maybe not, but it wasn't & he is. Given all the youngsters we've sold previously, I doubt City would've given Rico a 5 year extension if the club thought he had little by way of top level potential.

Even at this young age, I can see that potential even if you can't mate.
 
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