It's Quiet the £250m return

I am still thinking Akanji goes and Stones stays. Stones on his day invaluable. So Dias/Guardiol/Stones/Ake/Khusanov for 4 spots with Ake also covering Nouri? We just have too many CBs even after Ries and Akanji (if he leaves).
 
Attack is fine, one of the best in the league, defence is a weakness,will be shown as a weakness against the top teams.
 
Gumzy97 said:
Attack is fine, one of the best in the league, defence is a weakness,will be shown as a weakness against the top teams.
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Unfortunately agree. If Stones, Ake and Akanji are fit and can stay fit then CB is fine but need a top RB asap.
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
Why wouldn’t he want to keep stones? World class on his day and even if he does only play say 15 league games that could win us the league.
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15 league games is optimistic. Stones himself came out and said the club and third party doctors and physios didn't know what was wrong with him last season. He obviously thought this was somehow redeeming but it's pretty concerning that experts in the field don't know why you are permanently injured.

I love stones and when fit he is easily our best centre half... But that's just not realistic in the slightest.

I'd sit him down and have a very frank conversation - with your injury problems you have two options;

1. Retire from England duty and accept that you are a break glass in emergency player for city. You come on later in games to sure things up which helps maintain match fitness with lower intensity and you only start 1-2 games a month with full focus on preventing injury unless there's a crisis.

2. If you want to continue playing for England and compromising your club career, then your club career can be somewhere else.
 
alexmcity said:
This is how Pep sees him, as evidenced by Pep's decisions: and it's not like those decisions didn't win us the Treble and 4 in a row. The collective bias against Akanji is weird, he is not the reason why we didn't compete last season.
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He ball watches way too much, did it at Dortmund that's been his main criticism his entire career ball watching and lapses of concentration its why Dortmund fans wanted him gone, now its starting to happen again here. Doesn't watch the striker movements just watches the ball. Juve club world cup for an example, ball over the top was just watching the ball instead of Vlahovic movement. Treble year he did it in the Champions league final luckily Martinez couldn't finish the 1v1.

On his day a great defender but he has lapses of concentration. Fulham another one we won the game 2 nil but most of Fulhams attempts came from Akanji side of not watching the runner or Jimenez movement.

You can get away with it against the teams outside of the champions league and top 5 but against the best they will take advantage of it. Arsenal targeted him in the 5-1. If you go through most of the games against the top teams last season, Liverpool anfield , Tottenham 4 nil most of the through balls , balls over the top are on Akanjis side.
 
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Gumzy97 said:
He ball watches way too much, did it at Dortmund that's been his main criticism his entire career ball watching and lapses of concentration its why Dortmund fans wanted him gone, now its starting to happen again here. Doesn't watch the striker movements just watches the ball. Juve club world cup for an example, ball over the top was just watching the ball instead of Vlahovic movement. Treble year he did it in the Champions league final luckily Martinez couldn't finish the 1v1.

On his day a great defender but he has lapses of concentration. Fulham another one we won the game 2 nil but most of Fulhams attempts came from Akanji side of not watching the runner or Jimenez movement.

You can get away with it against the teams outside of the champions league and top 5 but against the best they will take advantage of it. Arsenal targeted him in the 5-1.
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He has weaknesses. If he didn't, he would be one of the best defenders in the world.

Yet Pep benched Walker for him in the Treble season, and then benched both Stones and Ake in the final months of the 4 in a row season. Akanji helped us achieve the biggest success in our history between 2022 and 2024.

I don't say he should start. Again, he has weaknesses. But he is good enough to be a squad player, as he is versatile and mostly fit: can play in 3-4 positions, which is invaluable from Pep's perspective.
 
alexmcity said:
This is how Pep sees him, as evidenced by Pep's decisions: and it's not like those decisions didn't win us the Treble and 4 in a row. The collective bias against Akanji is weird, he is not the reason why we didn't compete last season.
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Pep can see what he likes, he is fine when everyone is going great but when the chips are down he goes missing

For such a physical specimen I’ve never seen anyone get bullied so much in the air or in a one on one. Passing can be erratic, pass percentage boosted by 10yrd passes backwards and sideways.

For the money we paid and his contributions he’s been a success but doesn’t change the fact he’s the weakest CB we have imo.
 
decmancity said:
Pep can see what he likes, he is fine when everyone is going great but when the chips are down he goes missing
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Pep or Akanji goes missing?

Because Pep benched Walker for Akanji in the Treble season, and then both Stones and Ake for Akanji when we were winnning 4 in a row.

Also, you are entitled of your opinion, but you are not suggesting it is as valid as Pep's, right?
 
alexmcity said:
He has weaknesses. If he didn't, he would be one of the best defenders in the world.

Yet Pep benched Walker for him in the Treble season, and then benched both Stones and Ake in the final months of the 4 in a row season. Akanji helped us achieve the biggest success in our history between 2022 and 2024.

I don't say he should start. Again, he has weaknesses. But he is good enough to be a squad player, as he is versatile and mostly fit: can play in 3-4 positions, which is invaluable from Pep's perspective.
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I like Akanji a lot and have done since the day he walked through the door. Unfortunately it seems almost every single one of our squad is being judged on last season alone.
 
Sibierskii said:


Looks like we’re stuck with these two
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Obviously Stones is the far superior player BUT at least Akanji is available most of the time and able to get on the pitch....

For me its Stones we should have made a real effort to move on for that reason. If by some miracle he can manage to play more than 3 games in a run we have got a world class Rolls Royce of a defender who drastically changes the way we can set up a team - if only!
 
alexmcity said:
Pep or Akanji goes missing?

Because Pep benched Walker for Akanji in the Treble season, and then both Stones and Ake for Akanji when we were winnning 4 in a row.

Also, you are entitled of your opinion, but you are not suggesting it is as valid as Pep's, right?
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Akanji.

If you’re having to go back three seasons to justify his place then there’s no point having this conversation. He played well in the treble season, so did 99% of the squad which is why we achieved it.

Pep can have blind spots and make mistakes, he’s human. We can list them off all day alongside his achievements if you want.
 
mdj0520 said:
15 league games is optimistic. Stones himself came out and said the club and third party doctors and physios didn't know what was wrong with him last season. He obviously thought this was somehow redeeming but it's pretty concerning that experts in the field don't know why you are permanently injured.

I love stones and when fit he is easily our best centre half... But that's just not realistic in the slightest.

I'd sit him down and have a very frank conversation - with your injury problems you have two options;

1. Retire from England duty and accept that you are a break glass in emergency player for city. You come on later in games to sure things up which helps maintain match fitness with lower intensity and you only start 1-2 games a month with full focus on preventing injury unless there's a crisis.

2. If you want to continue playing for England and compromising your club career, then your club career can be somewhere else.
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Fucking spot - I get that every player wants to play for their country but he needs to show commitment to the fans and the club who pay his wages - if he fucks off to England meaningless friendly and gets injured then for me its kick in the teeth for all fans and the club....A world class player BUT he needs to realise which side of his bread is buttered!
 
decmancity said:
Akanji.

If you’re having to go back three seasons to justify his place then there’s no point having this conversation. He played well in the treble season, so did 99% of the squad which is why we achieved it.

Pep can have blind spots and make mistakes, he’s human. We can list them off all day alongside his achievements if you want.
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Akanji helped us to win 4 in a row 15 months ago. That's not 3 years. By your logic Dias, Stones, and Ake are the same, they haven't been good since the 23/24 season, Stones maybe since 22/23... Last season, Haaland was far worse than in 22/23. He's past it, isn't he?

Akanji is 30. He's not 35. CBs are in their prime in that age. He hasn't had bad injuries. We'd be happy with our CBs if some of them weren't injury prone.
 
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