Let’s pick at the carcasses

Oh, now they're rather different players. Should he sign, Aouar will pick up more of the minutes left by Silva. He's better up the park, more adept at finding that space between the opponent's defensive line and midfield line. He also has a sublime touch and excellent peripheral vision which enable him to play on the half-turn, something which very few players can do.
Nothing wrong with a bit of summer greed, so let's have both. ;-)

Think Foden just told you to piss off :)
 
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Think Foden just told you to piss off :)

Silva has played 2,415 minutes this season and Foden has 1,514. Plenty minutes to go around even if Aouar signs. With the lack of a genuine break for some time to come, we're going to have to use the 5 substitute rule and rotate regularly both to save players from burn out and sharpen our competitive edge. Foden will have dips in form and injury as he grows, as will Aouar, but I reckon we can use them both as I see them as having complementary skill sets.
 
Silva has played 2,415 minutes this season and Foden has 1,514. Plenty minutes to go around even if Aouar signs. With the lack of a genuine break for some time to come, we're going to have to use the 5 substitute rule and rotate regularly both to save players from burn out and sharpen our competitive edge. Foden will have dips in form and injury as he grows, as will Aouar, but I reckon we can use them both as I see them as having complementary skill sets.
But those figures include Sane 0 minutes, and it does look like we are fairly close to Torres
 
But those figures include Sane 0 minutes, and it does look like we are fairly close to Torres

Most of those minutes are midfielder minutes, and I still expect us to add competition to the win/striker department, too. This season has been highly peculiar for us in that none of the four 'attacking midfielders' have experienced injuries that saw them sidelined for long periods, though one could argue that Bernardo has seen a drop in form. If Bernardo/de Bruyne picked up a long-term injury, then we'd be overly reliant on Foden, so I'd be surprised if we went into the season knowing that risk and didn't address it. Always thought that the fact that Aouar never went anywhere last summer nor in the winter break was indicative that someone had come to an agreement, hopefully with us. Should find out soon.
 
Most of those minutes are midfielder minutes, and I still expect us to add competition to the win/striker department, too. This season has been highly peculiar for us in that none of the four 'attacking midfielders' have experienced injuries that saw them sidelined for long periods, though one could argue that Bernardo has seen a drop in form. If Bernardo/de Bruyne picked up a long-term injury, then we'd be overly reliant on Foden, so I'd be surprised if we went into the season knowing that risk and didn't address it. Always thought that the fact that Aouar never went anywhere last summer nor in the winter break was indicative that someone had come to an agreement, hopefully with us. Should find out soon.

Bernado was used a winger a lot of the time, and the little short arse might be magic but he ain`t no winger, there is also Gundogan?
 
Bernado was used a winger a lot of the time, and the little short arse might be magic but he ain`t no winger, there is also Gundogan?

Fully expect Bernardo to push inside as well. De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, and Aouar gives us a good balance of players. You have the two technically more intricate players, Bernardo and Aouar, coupled with the more explosively powerful players, de Bruyne and Foden. Depending on how you want to attack or opponents deploy, you can use two safe pickers or two safe blowers, maybe a combination of both.

Gundogan is better with the chessboard in front of him. Unless we buy someone on the left who will run in and then through, as Sane did, then Gundogan needs to work more with Foden on delivering those dinks over the defence, as from open play Foden arguably carries the greatest direct threat of our midfielders.
 
Fully expect Bernardo to push inside as well. De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, and Aouar gives us a good balance of players. You have the two technically more intricate players, Bernardo and Aouar, coupled with the more explosively powerful players, de Bruyne and Foden. Depending on how you want to attack or opponents deploy, you can use two safe pickers or two safe blowers, maybe a combination of both.

Gundogan is better with the chessboard in front of him. Unless we buy someone on the left who will run in and then through, as Sane did, then Gundogan needs to work more with Foden on delivering those dinks over the defence, as from open play Foden arguably carries the greatest direct
threat of our midfielders.

5 players for 2 positions is what Pep did this year so there is a good chance, but he only had 2 wingers for 2 positions last year and as with the 2 strikers only Sterling has pace, Torres who we look like signing is about the same as Marhez, Pep will have noticed especially in the Bournemouth game, the opposition pushing up as we had no counter threat
 
5 players for 2 positions is what Pep did this year so there is a good chance, but he only had 2 wingers for 2 positions last year and as with the 2 strikers only Sterling has pace, Torres who we look like signing is about the same as Marhez, Pep will have noticed especially in the Bournemouth game, the opposition pushing up as we had no counter threat

Can't read too much into the recent league games. Only the Liverpool game looked properly meaningful, to us, and the rest looked more like training exercises. This evening's fixture and the Champions League games should give a clearer indication of where we are at.

I agree that Torres looks more as if he could turn into another de Bruyne than another Sane. Then again, that might not be a bad thing, keep him and Mahrez on their toes, too.
 

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