If you want someone to blame for Bony then Tixki your man (again that is unwarranted as he delivered two of our current key players during that summer). As for Pellegrini he still got us to the semi final of the Champions League, which neither Pep (yet) or Mancini has achieved and beat Klopp in the League Cup final in his last year in charge. Not great achievements but still very good none the less.
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Kalidou Koulibaly
- Thread starter Matt Diablo
- Start date
If you want someone to blame for Bony then Tixki your man (again that is unwarranted as he delivered two of our current key players during that summer). As for Pellegrini he still got us to the semi final of the Champions League, which neither Pep (yet) or Mancini has achieved and beat Klopp in the League Cup final in his last year in charge. Not great achievements but still very good none the less.
Neville Kneville
Well-Known Member
John Stones and Otto have not been regulars at any point this season, and considering our No1 CB has missed 3/4 season , that says everything about what Pep feels about them.
It's clear that Otamendi is no longer capable of being a regular starter but Stones has had some kind of issues & also been either mentally or physically unfit. With Laporte's recent injury record & Fernandinho's age, City could easily find themselves with 2 brand new cbs, who have had about 2 weeks training, trying to do the most dufficult job in the league.
That could easily cause mistakes, which could ruin their City careers before they start.
Any new cb who costs us a game will become enemy no 1 on here for a start.
Stones should stay imo. If the new boys are settled, of course they play, if not, use the ones we know, until they are ready.
Denayer was treated badly and it must have affected the way some of our young players think about the club and their long term futures.The Denayer new contract and being told he would play, only to sign it and be loaned out with Demichelis having his squad place still stings to do this day. Denayer should have been a perfect Guardiola centre back in every way. We fucked his progression up big time
Same has happened with Angelino, never good enough to get into our team and only brought back to sell on at a later date, not something I like about our club.
It looks like a runner at the moment but I prefer to be cautious until it becomes obvious that the deal is very much more advanced.There is NO interest from other clubs, hence we hold the aces and the most important of all, the player wants to come here.
It's very much a buyers market, even if Koulibaly does not arrive(on our terms), there will be other quality deals available.It looks like a runner at the moment but I prefer to be cautious until it becomes obvious that the deal is very much more advanced.
I understand especially with Otto, age has caught up with him and he is no longer good enough, he has been a very good player for us, total respect for him.It's clear that Otamendi is no longer capable of being a regular starter but Stones has had some kind of issues & also been either mentally or physically unfit. With Laporte's recent injury record & Fernandinho's age, City could easily find themselves with 2 brand new cbs, who have had about 2 weeks training, trying to do the most dufficult job in the league.
That could easily cause mistakes, which could ruin their City careers before they start.
Any new cb who costs us a game will become enemy no 1 on here for a start.
Stones should stay imo. If the new boys are settled, of course they play, if not, use the ones we know, until they are ready.
John Stones we all know well, great talent, has everything to be a worldie, but he isn't and never will be. For me he has not got the mentality or desire and has a lot of self doubt.Goes missing far too often, gets bullied on the pitch and apparently off it as well.
Time to cut our losses with Stones, and maybe the best for him, a move may well do him the world of good and get his career and life back on track.
Hart of the Matter
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 23 Jul 2011
- Messages
- 5,180
We have actually conceded less than expected goals would indicate. Similar to Liverpool. In attack we are only in line with expected goals for the season. Liverpool are plus 9 above their expected goals = more clinical.Wow, as a ardent City fan even I’ve been conditioned to think our defense is trash but this statistic has shocked me. Is there some other statistic everyone goes by that shows we are way worse? Legit question there, I’m just truly surprised by that stat!
Don't know if there is a stat for unexpected goals ie Worldies...
Not many people were upset when we signed Bony.If you want someone to blame for Bony then Tixki your man (again that is unwarranted as he delivered two of our current key players during that summer). As for Pellegrini he still got us to the semi final of the Champions League, which neither Pep (yet) or Mancini has achieved and beat Klopp in the League Cup final in his last year in charge. Not great achievements but still very good none the less.
Looked a quality player at Swansea.
Neville Kneville
Well-Known Member
I love Vinny as much as anybody but I don't think it was entirely down to his leadership and reassuring presence, although that undoubtedly was a big factor. The biggest factor for me was the lack of options, even in the crowd we knew we were relying on a piece of individual brilliance to win us the games this season.
The two title winning seasons were different, we knew the passing and intensity, the speed and width (key elements missing without Sane) were always going to lead to opposition teams crumbling physically in the second half, so the games opened up naturally. Teams couldn't last 90 minutes against us, if they managed to get to the hour mark, you could see the fatigue creeping in and gaps opening up.
This season we haven't had the pace in behind or width, teams haven't had to shuffle one side then the other and back again, they've let us have the ball out wide because we haven't been a threat. They've been able to sit narrow and deep and all we've had is inverted wingers cutting in trying to shoot and fullbacks crossing from the halfway line, so opposition teams haven't had to do anywhere near as much running. I'd love to see the stats because it looks more clear and obvious from the stands than Silva's ignored VAR penalty at Bournemouth.
Combine that with the Spurs disallowed goal which everyone knew was a signal of what was to come from the corrupt bent twats in the VAR control room at Anfield and our confidence drained quicker than Rooney's bollocks in a residential care home.
I agree with most of that, but I also think it's doing the Premier League a bit of a disservice.
Imo they have realised that they can't stop us by 'normal' football, so, with the exception of Liverpool, they have given up with usual tactics, ditched their egos as players/clubs & are all willing to play like lower league teams in a cup game & actually have the whole team as spare goalkeepers if required.
They also know that if they manage the bus parking successfully, any 2 or 3 players going forward occasionally, can be enough to score a goal against us, then we need to unpark the bus twice & are still in danger of letting in a 2nd.
They have imo, hit the ball back over the net into Pep's court & it's his job now to smash a winner.
I'll be shocked if Klopp isn't presented with the same problem at some point in the next year.
If you want someone to blame for Bony then Tixki your man (again that is unwarranted as he delivered two of our current key players during that summer). As for Pellegrini he still got us to the semi final of the Champions League, which neither Pep (yet) or Mancini has achieved and beat Klopp in the League Cup final in his last year in charge. Not great achievements but still very good none the less.
Why would I blame Txiki for setting up a deal to buy Dybala only for the manager to make a massive deal over not wanting him and insisting on Bony instead?
Ditto with making the club drop a deal agreed for Alderweireld so he could get Demichelis.