It's Quiet the £250m return

[Mad 4 It]

Doku possibly, Savinho you haven't seen nearly enough and that's just 2 players.

So you accept Doku isn’t going to improve. We should have flogged him as well this summer instead of wasting another year

 

[blueparrot]

So you accept Doku isn’t going to improve. We should have flogged him as well this summer instead of wasting another year

No I said possibly, but this years his last chance,we can all name one or two of the squad we think might not make it.
Thats not the point though you said becoming an average squad, the spine is as far from average as you can get as is the manager. We have others that have lots of potential that may also become far from average. Making any judgement on how our new younger squad will look 12 months from now or even 6 months is daft and based on very little . PSG fans were probably saying they had average squad this time and up until January last season.

 

[ysmsa]

Go on then. Also, when you say "make the grade", can you detail exactly what that means in your

We have players who we are not yet convinced with, too many for my liking.

You can’t be happy with the squad?

No full backs, injury prone defenders, inconsistent wide men, injury prone midfielders and 1 Striker.

Make the grade means commanding a place in a side that will challenge!

Doku, Savinho, Nunes, Khusanov, Marmoush, Nico G all still have to prove.

Stones, Ake, Foden, Kova have injury issues.

Rodri, RAN, Reijnders, Cherki, Donna remain unknown for this season.

That is a hell of a lot questions to be answered.

We have just lost 2 winnable games and appear nowhere near having a settled side!

 

[ysmsa]

The silence is deafening then from another expert !

I do have a life you know and have been out all day, ffs

 

[Sir peace frog]

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.

excellent post, last season happened ,we were always due a bad season after the years before, we dropped our levels,pep took it squarely on the chin, took the brunt, however cheeky and the rest should of insisted ,at the end of the day that was cheekys job.

Peps an emotional bloke , heart rules his head sometimes,he made a fuck up,cheeky should of put him straight, maybe being his last year cheeky took his eye off the ball

 

[citizen_maine]

We have players who we are not yet convinced with, too many for my liking.

You can’t be happy with the squad?

No full backs, injury prone defenders, inconsistent wide men, injury prone midfielders and 1 Striker.

Make the grade means commanding a place in a side that will challenge!

Doku, Savinho, Nunes, Khusanov, Marmoush, Nico G all still have to prove.

Stones, Ake, Foden, Kova have injury issues.

Rodri, RAN, Reijnders, Cherki, Donna remain unknown for this season.

That is a hell of a lot questions to be answered.

We have just lost 2 winnable games and appear nowhere near having a settled side!

But, you haven't mentioned anyone that 'won't make the grade' - just some that aren't there at the moment for various reasons

 

[ysmsa]

I don’t know what the other poster’s definition of ‘the grade’ is, but from my perspective it’s contributing regularly and being important to a successful, trophy winning side, like KDB, Fern, Walker, Vinnie, Gundo, Silva, Mahrez, etc have.

So for me I’m not sure whether Doku, Savinho, Nunes or Lewis will ever be at the level where they are indispensable and key to a trophy winning side.

That is what I meant.

Some people are too sensitive and refuse to see the drop off in quality in our squad

I personally don't mind Rico but when you are spending big on a player and they still look poor after 1 / 2 years, then that is a concern.

 

[ysmsa]

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.

That is the crux of it, the squad planning.

We have kept players who get injured, but that is probably because you can’t get rid without taking a hit.

We are at a point with too many players in our squad who "may" come good.

It's a massive gamble and a lot of money has been spent on potential.

A couple I fear are already at the point where the potential will not be fulfilled though.

 

[Dribble]

We have players who we are not yet convinced with, too many for my liking.

You can’t be happy with the squad?

No full backs, injury prone defenders, inconsistent wide men, injury prone midfielders and 1 Striker.

Make the grade means commanding a place in a side that will challenge!

Doku, Savinho, Nunes, Khusanov, Marmoush, Nico G all still have to prove.

Stones, Ake, Foden, Kova have injury issues.

Rodri, RAN, Reijnders, Cherki, Donna remain unknown for this season.

That is a hell of a lot questions to be answered.

We have just lost 2 winnable games and appear nowhere near having a settled side!

Aside from the fact several of the aforementioned players are nowhere near the peak of their careers, & several others haven't even celebrated their first anniversary with the club, who would you say was responsible for us having:

"No full backs, injury prone defenders, inconsistent wide men, injury prone midfielders and 1 Striker"?

The players who won't make the grade (in your opinion)?

 

[ysmsa]

Aside from the fact several of the aforementioned players are nowhere near the peak of their careers, & several others haven't even celebrated their first anniversary with the club, who would you say was responsible for us having:

"No full backs, injury prone defenders, inconsistent wide men, injury prone midfielders and 1 Striker"?

The players who won't make the grade (in your opinion)?

You are completely missing the point,

I am suggesting we have far more questions than answers.

Elsewhere you have suggested Doku is at the start of his City journey, he's been here 2 years!

Nunes the same.

Both can look completely out of place and Nunes is a fucking disaster tbh.

We needed players who would be good enough from the off and I don’t think we have bought that, probably since Gvardiol.

 

[Dribble]

Excellent post. Last season happened, we were always due a bad season after the years before, we dropped our levels, pep took it squarely on the chin, took the brunt, however cheeky and the rest should of insisted, at the end of the day that was cheekys job.

Peps an emotional bloke, heart rules his head sometimes, he made a fuck up, cheeky should of put him straight, maybe being his last year cheeky took his eye off the ball.

Something went seriously wrong over the last two years. Nothing evidenced this for me more than our CL elimination in 2023-24.

City have always had levels. Every time the opposition stepped up the pace, we matched them & went another level above. If they matched us again, rinse & repeat until they hit their ceiling.

That's when we'd go another level above, knowing we had another couple of levels above that if ever necessary. The first time in Pep's tenure since 2016-17 that I saw us hit a ceiling below the levels we'd come to expect & we had nothing left to give, was against Real in season 2023-24. The warning signs were as clear as day back then.

But what happened? Pep decided to stick & our only major signings were a returning Gundog & Savinho. Fatefully, Pep believed his treble winning warriors had another season in them, when it was clear after the treble we'd peaked & were only going to slowly decline.

Last season, injuries decimated us, which brought to a head conclusive proof that our treble winning team weren't at the elite level we once were. The problem we then faced, was what should've been an evolution after the treble, now became a desperate revolution.

Young players who needed time to adjust & bed in like the greats before them, were now thrust into the spotlight with unrealistic expectations placed on them. The new players hastily brought in were expected to replace our seasoned, time served greats. It was never gonna happen.

This almighty fuck up was all on City, but as you say, where was Txiki in all of this? As DoF, his job was to ensure squad continuity regardless of whoever was at the helm. The steely eyed look of anger in Khaldoon's face during his end of seadon address, was palpable.

Khaldoon knows we fucked up. But my feeling is he diplomatically said we should've started our rebuild last summer, when in reality, he knew we should've started it the summer before.

The unfathomable reasons for that are apparently down to Pep, but again his close relationship with Txiki probably blurred the lines between taking the manager's views into consideration, & what was best for Manchester City Football Club.

I have a feeling this won't be the case with Hugo. The sad thing is that his tenure will start with City being part of the chasing pack, with us looking lucky to even gain a top 4 finish. It should've never been like this.

 

[Dribble]

That is the crux of it, the squad planning.

We have kept players who get injured, but that is probably because you can’t get rid without taking a hit.

We are at a point with too many players in our squad who "may" come good.

It's a massive gamble and a lot of money has been spent on potential.

A couple I fear are already at the point where the potential will not be fulfilled though.

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.

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

I do have a life you know and have been out all day, ffs

Happy for you , hope you avoided the rain.

 

[Dribble]

You are completely missing the point,

I am suggesting we have far more questions than answers.

Elsewhere you have suggested Doku is at the start of his City journey, he's been here 2 years!

Nunes the same.

Both can look completely out of place and Nunes is a fucking disaster tbh.

We needed players who would be good enough from the off and I don’t think we have bought that, probably since Gvardiol.

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.

 

[Mad 4 It]

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.

Sane at 23 was light years ahead of Doku

 

[Ken92]

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.

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.

 

[kingn6]

It just says our recently extended member of the leadership group would likely get picked over Huijsen, which seems fairly evidently true.

Which RB that moved this summer that isn't frimpong or TAA would you start over Rico or Nunes?

Geertruida and Alberto Costa depending on what type of rb we need.

Costa is exactly what we needed in my mind.

 

[Xhavenjoe]

You are completely missing the point,

I am suggesting we have far more questions than answers

Does anyone have Johnny Nash's phone number?

 

[citizen_maine]

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.

Did anybody improve their game last season though? We'd expect him to improve in a functioning team, but last season wasn't one to hold up as fully functional

 

[Ken92]

Did anybody improve their game last season though? We'd expect him to improve in a functioning team, but last season wasn't one to hold up as fully functional

I expect him to get more assists or score goals ,when he beats his opponents down the wing or get in to shooting positions, yeah the team was bad most of the time ,but he didn´t do much to help.