Palermo (A) | Post Match Thread

With Grealish apparently off and Marmoush and Ait-Nouri both absent for a key chunk of the season, then everything on that side then is going to fall on Doku. Neither Doku nor Marmoush look convincing yet, however, with the latter especially keen to drift infield to become involved. Going to be interesting to see how Guardiola gets balance out there.
Marmoush will be fine , he’s not our typical style of forward in that he lacks a decent first touch and isn’t that silky on the ball

But he’s a livewire, he’s also our only player that will have a crack from anywhere around the box

I don’t think him and Doku can play together though , especially with Ait Nouri at left back
Big season for Doku , he needs to have a breakthrough and get 20 g/a combined to cement himself as a first team regular

He’s got more to his game than Sterling except the off the ball movement that made Sterling a class above - not a skill that’s easy to teach though
 
Have to take the quality of the opposition into account, but Stones and Khusanov looked better as a pair than Dias and Akanji in my view. Khusanov in particular looked very sharp.

Marmoush didn’t do much, Savinho played well but miss a great chance as per.

Reijnders looks class and shows what some pace and mobility in midfield can bring to the team.

Other than that, again it’s difficult to tell given how limited the opposition was.

We will have 6 CB’s if Stones and Ake stay fit (which is a huge if of course) - Akanji is bottom of that list for me if everyone is fit.
 
Marmoush will be fine , he’s not our typical style of forward in that he lacks a decent first touch and isn’t that silky on the ball

But he’s a livewire, he’s also our only player that will have a crack from anywhere around the box

I don’t think him and Doku can play together though , especially with Ait Nouri at left back
Big season for Doku , he needs to have a breakthrough and get 20 g/a combined to cement himself as a first team regular

He’s got more to his game than Sterling except the off the ball movement that made Sterling a class above - not a skill that’s easy to teach though
I would prefer to see Marmoush putting pressure on Haaland rather than competing for a spot on the left, albeit that leaves Doku uncontested. Sterling never initially had that killer instinct and desire to attack the back post, so it can be coached, but I suppose it also depends on balls coming in from the other side. Lots of room for improvement.
 
We will have 6 CB’s if Stones and Ake stay fit (which is a huge if of course) - Akanji is bottom of that list for me if everyone is fit.
Agreed.

I think Ake will play at left back a fair bit this season, mostly away from home and against opposition where Ait Nouri could be exposed defensively.

Stones seems to be staying and Khusanov needs minutes, so Akanji would appear to be the odd one out.
 
Amazing how we were all over the place in the second half with Dias and Akanji in the middle.
 
Marmoush will be fine , he’s not our typical style of forward in that he lacks a decent first touch and isn’t that silky on the ball

But he’s a livewire, he’s also our only player that will have a crack from anywhere around the box

I don’t think him and Doku can play together though , especially with Ait Nouri at left back
Big season for Doku , he needs to have a breakthrough and get 20 g/a combined to cement himself as a first team regular

He’s got more to his game than Sterling except the off the ball movement that made Sterling a class above - not a skill that’s easy to teach though
Say that again !!!!
 
A useful workout, although we were always the better team ..... Palermo didn't really have much idea, but managed to make a game of it until the third goal finally knocked the stuffing out of them ... it was a decent fitness exercise for both clubs, but its the only friendly we've got lined up, and we'll certainly face much tougher challenges in the next nine months.

I did notice that we are still giving the odd ball away at times, or passing sloppily .... and that Doku is still as frustrating as ever.
 
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I was disappointed with the starting line up, I was expecting more of a *first team*

But put that to one side. First half team was very much a vibes team but second half was much more controlled but with good chance creation

Fuck knows who will start V Wolves!!
 
A lot more to like than not.

My concern surrounds Marmoush currently. He's not a winger, and we have better options out there. If Haalad is fit, he will play 9 times out of 10. I fear it's going to be tough keeping him happy, unless Pep decides to start dropping one of the attacking mids for him in Cherki/Foden, which opens another can of worms.
Push Ait-Nouri up, bring Marmoush inside problem solved.
 
Been out tonight but, 5 pages a couple of hours post match can only mean we’ve won, reasonably comfortably?
Had we lost, presumably we’d be on page 76!
City fans eh…
Lol, yeah, you're right ..... it was a comfortable 3-0 win, probably should have been four or five, but that's City for you, we'll always miss a few ...... nobody got injured that I know of , and Pep changed a lot of the players at half time, but it was a decent run out for both clubs.
 
A lot more to like than not.

My concern surrounds Marmoush currently. He's not a winger, and we have better options out there. If Haalad is fit, he will play 9 times out of 10. I fear it's going to be tough keeping him happy, unless Pep decides to start dropping one of the attacking mids for him in Cherki/Foden, which opens another can of worms.
Once Marmoush finds his spot inside left and Ait Nouri is on the overlap he will be mega. Gonna take some nurturing but he’ll be perfect for that position just behind on the left of Erl.
 
Marmoush will be fine , he’s not our typical style of forward in that he lacks a decent first touch and isn’t that silky on the ball

But he’s a livewire, he’s also our only player that will have a crack from anywhere around the box

I don’t think him and Doku can play together though , especially with Ait Nouri at left back
Big season for Doku , he needs to have a breakthrough and get 20 g/a combined to cement himself as a first team regular

He’s got more to his game than Sterling except the off the ball movement that made Sterling a class above - not a skill that’s easy to teach though
It’s gonna be Doku or Savinho this season imo. Make or break and rightly so
 

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