Putting a rating on this season seems to be near impossible. In terms of trophies obviously it was disappointing, but in terms of style of play I thought we were given an absolute treat this season. I, like the majority of supporters was completely consumed by the untamed expectation levels when Pep was announced but looking back that was hardly fair.
The bigger picture is we have gone from a side who plays a set 4-4-2 to a side who experiments with inverted full backs and false 8s. And obviously this takes some time to learn, especially with many aging players at the end of their careers struggling to adapt. But yet again we were all aware of these problems at the beginning of the season, however I think all of them being in the final year of their contract made them impossible to move out.
For us to move forward I think Willy, Zaba (confirmed), Sagna, Clichy & Navas need to be moved on. And if Pep isn’t going to give them a run there is no point having Fernando or Nolito on the books. This with the probability of selling Hart, Mangala, Nasri & Bony means the wage budget for incoming players looks very juicy.
The young signings we made were absolutely incredible. Gabriel Jesus is almost too good to be true at that age. And Sane is quickly becoming my favourite player, every time he gets a sniff of a 1 on 1 he has you on your feet in anticipation. Stones took a little longer in a struggling defence but still think he will come right. The way Gundogan was playing and adding goals from midfield you can only imagine the difference if he had been able to stay fit the entire season. Sterling looked the kid we bought for 49mil and was clearly our best player the first half of the season. Aguero having his best goal scoring season should definitely go some way to convince him to believe in Peps methods as well.
The highlight as a South African fan was obviously getting to come over and watch us dismantle West Ham at the Etihad. And will be the first of many games I make the trip to watch.
All I can say is if Pep gets who he wants we are in for a massive year next year!
