balotelli's back pocket
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 12 Jan 2016
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The interesting question is, what happens to the EDS side which has just won the league back to back?
Palmer seems a fair bet to become a fully fledged first teamer next season, due to his versatility and the amount of trust Pep clearly has in him, but the likes of McAtee, Delap, Lavia and Mbete are far too good to be playing in the PL2 for a third season.
Loans? Or just kept around the squad? If they stick around, is room made for them to actually play?
Do we really need a new midfielder to replace Dinho in the squad when we have Lavia and McAtee, who we don't want to lose, don't want to loan out, and don't want to keep in the reserves? I could understand if we were looking at a specialist 6, someone like Kalvin Phillips. But the links so far have been to players who are predominantly more forward thinking, which seems bizarre when we have KDB, Bernardo, Gundo + Foden, Grealish, Palmer and McAtee who can all play that role.
Is Alvarez coming into the squad as a striker or a wide forward? What does his arrival mean for Delap? If Alvarez plays predominantly wide, surely Delap is the perfect understudy for Haaland in terms of profile?
Do we need to sign a new left back when Zinchenko, Cancelo and especially Ake can all play well there? If Ake plays more at left back, does that open up an opportunity for Mbete to establish himself?
It's a real failure if they don't all get the chance to stake a claim. Even if it's just a handful of cup games, or cameos in the league.
I also think City should be trying to convince Bazunu to come and play second fiddle to Eddie for a year. He'll play at least the cup games and probably a Champions League dead rubber or two, plus any Eddie can't. A year to see if he can learn the Pep way, and play at the highest level. Worst case scenario, it doesn't work out and we sell him for a decent fee. Best case, Eddie gets some real competition for a season and then we either loan Bazunu out or sell him for even more.
Palmer seems a fair bet to become a fully fledged first teamer next season, due to his versatility and the amount of trust Pep clearly has in him, but the likes of McAtee, Delap, Lavia and Mbete are far too good to be playing in the PL2 for a third season.
Loans? Or just kept around the squad? If they stick around, is room made for them to actually play?
Do we really need a new midfielder to replace Dinho in the squad when we have Lavia and McAtee, who we don't want to lose, don't want to loan out, and don't want to keep in the reserves? I could understand if we were looking at a specialist 6, someone like Kalvin Phillips. But the links so far have been to players who are predominantly more forward thinking, which seems bizarre when we have KDB, Bernardo, Gundo + Foden, Grealish, Palmer and McAtee who can all play that role.
Is Alvarez coming into the squad as a striker or a wide forward? What does his arrival mean for Delap? If Alvarez plays predominantly wide, surely Delap is the perfect understudy for Haaland in terms of profile?
Do we need to sign a new left back when Zinchenko, Cancelo and especially Ake can all play well there? If Ake plays more at left back, does that open up an opportunity for Mbete to establish himself?
It's a real failure if they don't all get the chance to stake a claim. Even if it's just a handful of cup games, or cameos in the league.
I also think City should be trying to convince Bazunu to come and play second fiddle to Eddie for a year. He'll play at least the cup games and probably a Champions League dead rubber or two, plus any Eddie can't. A year to see if he can learn the Pep way, and play at the highest level. Worst case scenario, it doesn't work out and we sell him for a decent fee. Best case, Eddie gets some real competition for a season and then we either loan Bazunu out or sell him for even more.