Raheem Sterling | Joins Chelsea for £50m

[domalino]

He was impatient and knew we wanted to also sign Mahrez was it?

Sanchez

 

[Gaz (FMwkdsoul)]

Lavia will be good enough in a couple of years, so we need to be mindful that bringing in any top midfielder to rotate with Rodri in a six would push Lavia further down the order and also give him something to think about.

There has to be a happy medium somewhere, as that's how we lost Sancho. He was impatient and knew we wanted to also sign Mahrez was it?

Sancho backed his talent and, unlike Foden, had no loyalty to City, in terms of the waiting game.

Hes a better fit next season than Bellingham would be or just a pure 8 with the squad as is. If Barcelona only have swaps to offer he'd be my choice tbh.

 

[daztrueblue91]

Yep, that's the dilemma, we have Lavia, McAtee (worried on that issue) and Palmer, all who should/could be incorporated into the next first-team evolution.

Gundo, Fern, Mahrez and Sterling are all coming to the end of this cycle, so we will have wiggle room to still add quality from outside.

De Bruyne is hopefully going to perform to a high level until 32/33, but I have my own concerns that his peak might have already come and gone in terms of his physicality.

Any reason why you’re worried about McAtee? I think he looks a phenomenal prospect and I got Foden vibes when I watched him play in preseason.

Feel it would be a huge disappointment, maybe even Sancho level, if we lost him.

 

[Gaz (FMwkdsoul)]

Any reason why you’re worried about McAtee? I think he looks a phenomenal prospect and I got Foden vibes when I watched him play in preseason.

Feel it would be a huge disappointment, maybe even Sancho level, if we lost him.

Not signed a new contract yet despite the offer, contract up 2023.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

If I remember correctly, last season you wrote a few posts very certain that Pep had decided Rodri was in no way good enough to be the new Fernandinho and was looking to offload him already.

Have you heard anything about him changing his mind? Or are we going to buy another big DM and see Lavia sidelined?

Seems ridiculous Pep would not be all in on Rodri, but it was only a few months ago he dropped him for the CL final.

I can respond in terms that Rodri and Bernardo were both on the way out.

The club were convinced Bernie would not recover his mindset and had asked to leave, while Rodri was struggling with the physicality and it still remains the case that City are looking at another quality DM, although I don't quite share the huge opinion Pep has for Declan Rice, very good player that he is.

I really like Lavia and hope the hurdle we might want to bring in isn't a deterrent to his progress.

 

[CWMCFC]

I really like Lavia and hope the hurdle we might want to bring in isn't a deterrent to his progress.

I said it in another thread, but I do fear this situation. Like McAtee, contracted until 2023.

You would assume City will have already tried to tie him down alongside Palmer/Delap?

Bring in another top DM, no doubt under 25, and Lavia suddenly has two youngish £60m+ players ahead of him to play in one position.

Lavia would be in an even worse position next summer than he currently is (with 36 year old Fernandinho) if we go and sign someone like Rice or Zakaria on a free, so why would he commit to a long term contract in that situation?

If the club really do rate Lavia, it's time to take a gamble and give him the back up DM role next season alongside Gundo, who's been more than serviceable there in the past.

I think Zinchenko would also be very capable at DM for us, but hasn't really been given a shot in the past. Perhaps also tie down Fernandinho on a player/coach contract as emergency depth (although I think his playing days for us should have ended last summer, in all honesty)?

 

[Gaz (FMwkdsoul)]

Could see Zakaria in with Lavia given a solid loan somewhere. The #6 is a vastly key position for Peps system, he barely trusted Rodri there at first, he's not starting a 17 yr old where he has to be flawless as backup.

If he excels in a loan or two. Flip Zakaria for profit as he' a free and recall him. (same with the development of THB & Ake at the min.)

 

[balotelli's back pocket]

Pulling out of 50/50 challenges now.

That's not on.

Sorry mate, but that is just bollocks and insulting to boot.

He's not pulling out of 50/50 challenges at all, and certainly not because he thinks he's leaving. It's laughable. Is nobody allowed to tackle him in training either?

He's severely lacking in confidence in the final third, and his decision making is poor, but to suggest he's not trying is not on, and frankly is insulting the intelligence of Pep and his team.

In your defence, it's a criticism I see pretty often, but it's a lazy and outdated one.

Every time a player avoids a heavy challenge or doesn't chase a lost cause, he's a shithouse. But that's not how it works. This isn't the 20th century.

Sterling is probably above average among wingers for his defensive contribution and physicality. He won a throw in last night by out muscling a much bigger player off the top of my head.

I appreciate that you've heard he's on the way out, and I think you're probably watching the game from that perspective, looking to confirm your suspicions. But it's not fair to accuse him of something without any basis whatsoever.

 

[mcfcstu]

Sorry mate, but that is just bollocks and insulting to boot.

He's not pulling out of 50/50 challenges at all, and certainly not because he thinks he's leaving. It's laughable. Is nobody allowed to tackle him in training either?

He's severely lacking in confidence in the final third, and his decision making is poor, but to suggest he's not trying is not on, and frankly is insulting the intelligence of Pep and his team.

In your defence, it's a criticism I see pretty often, but it's a lazy and outdated one.

Every time a player avoids a heavy challenge or doesn't chase a lost cause, he's a shithouse. But that's not how it works. This isn't the 20th century.

Sterling is probably above average among wingers for his defensive contribution and physicality. He won a throw in last night by out muscling a much bigger player off the top of my head.

I appreciate that you've heard he's on the way out, and I think you're probably watching the game from that perspective, looking to confirm your suspicions. But it's not fair to accuse him of something without any basis whatsoever.

I wouldn't take too much notice in his Sterling's on his way out comments!!

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Sorry mate, but that is just bollocks and insulting to boot.

He's not pulling out of 50/50 challenges at all, and certainly not because he thinks he's leaving. It's laughable. Is nobody allowed to tackle him in training either?

He's severely lacking in confidence in the final third, and his decision making is poor, but to suggest he's not trying is not on, and frankly is insulting the intelligence of Pep and his team.

In your defence, it's a criticism I see pretty often, but it's a lazy and outdated one.

Every time a player avoids a heavy challenge or doesn't chase a lost cause, he's a shithouse. But that's not how it works. This isn't the 20th century.

Sterling is probably above average among wingers for his defensive contribution and physicality. He won a throw in last night by out muscling a much bigger player off the top of my head.

I appreciate that you've heard he's on the way out, and I think you're probably watching the game from that perspective, looking to confirm your suspicions. But it's not fair to accuse him of something without any basis whatsoever.

He has a 50/50 ball mate, perhaps even a 55/45 in his favour, before the end of the first half near the left-hand touchline.

He starts to run and would be clear favourite because of his pace, before putting the brakes on three yards from the player in question Masuaka.

I'm not looking for it, something like that just takes me aback, regardless of the player it may be.

As I said sarcastically suggested in my original post, I only hoped it was because he was trying to avoid injury as a prelude to him leaving.

His confidence is just fine, he's a big boy who has known what he has wanted throughout his career and this downturn in form doesn't coincide with telling the club he does not want to be here.

His poor form has been evident for 18 months, well before Foden was an established starter and clearly a talent he doesn't want to now compete against, let alone with the addition of Grealish.

There can be no greater display of confidence in him than Pep selecting him for the biggest game in the club's history.

Raheem is coming up short, he lacks, for whatever reason, the motivation to prove both Pep and people like me wrong every time he steps on the pitch.

I just find it incredible that some people (not accusing you), believe any fan is so set against a player, they are literally wishing him to fail for the team they support.

He's not failed in my eyes, he's won three Prem titles, five League Cups, one FA Cup, two Community Shields.

I'd take that failure from anyone. I don't need to accuse him of not trying.

Let me diplomatically suggest he has long been trying all the wrong things.