Re: txiki, soriano and mancini please take note.

[bluetonium]

An announcement would have been nice this week, to take the shine off the title being sealed. Though to be fair even SSN had relegated that news to below Wimbledon prize money news, Milwall vs Blackburn and of course the Champions League by noon yesterday. They are the Fiat Cinquecento to our Lamborghini Diablo. Steady and reliable, but ugly and boring as fcuk.

The main lesson we have to learn is do business early wherever possible. Yes, we need to shift some players on, but we can either b here in August moaning that we didn't get who we wanted because nobody woudl take our players until the last minute, or satisfied that we have our targets and can work on letting others go. Should never let first teamers go unless the replacement is better, and already signed up, imo.

Though I admit that is much harder to do than say - Gotze is an exception as he evidently wanted to go to Bayern. Would love for us to announce someone the day before (or after, if we were to win) the cup final now, get some momentum and excitement building for the future. We went manic after we heard SWP was back after winning in the Europa League game against that team from eitehr Faroes or Denmark, imagine what we woudl be like if we heard that Cavani, Falcao, Bale or Eriksen was to be announced after winning the FA Cup!

Unlike some of you, I don't think for a minute that we will walk the league next season, even if we do bring in Bale, Falcao and Cavani. I mean, do you really think that United will start giving penalties away at the swamp and not getting that last minute offside decision go their way? Plus, players take time to settle, Cheslea and United won't sit on their arses either. But we will be much closer, should win it, and will get much further in Europe too. And play good football doing it. Overall, progress.

We know what we are doing. Last summer was a lesson learnt. My advice, get some beers in and some meat for the BBQ - B&Q have some jack Daniels flavoured woodchips in stock now which will go great with a pack of sizzlers - and sit back as our competition squirm at every signing we make. Five to eight in I bet, four regardless and up to four more depending on who wants out. But not one will see us weaken or stand still.

 

[coulsonblue]

I don't agree that we need a high quality replacement for every position.

No one else in the Premier League does yet when they get injuries you just get on with it. Not wanting to sound like a Mancini "outer" but he complains about a lot of stuff instead of getting on with it.

Teams get injuries, you adapt the team and move on.

If Yaya gets injured then we should play Garcia and adapt how the midfield works, maybe drop Milner in alongside him, if we have no Aguero and Tevez then we play Dzeko but play with Sinclair and Milner as wingers or even Kolarov.
I know it is incredibly easy to say what I am typing here but it just seems so simple to just change players around and managers do it every week. Its not like we have a team of 11 players and the rest of the squad is made up of 18yr olds.

If you think we should be able to play Garcia, Kolarov, Dzeko, Sinclair etc... in games and still win then you are deluded.

How do we play Premier league/Champs League/PremierLeague sat-tue/wed-sat/sun with only a best 11 with poor replacements.

 

[mcfc_paul]

I don't agree that we need a high quality replacement for every position.

No one else in the Premier League does yet when they get injuries you just get on with it. Not wanting to sound like a Mancini "outer" but he complains about a lot of stuff instead of getting on with it.

Teams get injuries, you adapt the team and move on.

If Yaya gets injured then we should play Garcia and adapt how the midfield works, maybe drop Milner in alongside him, if we have no Aguero and Tevez then we play Dzeko but play with Sinclair and Milner as wingers or even Kolarov.
I know it is incredibly easy to say what I am typing here but it just seems so simple to just change players around and managers do it every week. Its not like we have a team of 11 players and the rest of the squad is made up of 18yr olds.

Completely agree with this. We are seemingly far to rigid in terms of our set up and tactics. Whether that is the players not following instructions or management not instructing, something is wrong be it poor communication or poor tactics. If players aren't following instruction, which Mancini seems to suggest when it goes wrong, players should be dropped and replaced. Players should not only have skills they should be able to implement certain tactics.

 

[onceabluealways]

Rumours are rife again today-
Apparently Chelsea have virtually done the deal with Falcao
PSG have now got the upper hand with Cavani
Goetz to Bayern done

With the emergence of PSG and our abject performance in the CL last season we are still not in the place we need to be to be first option for a lot of players.

Best thing that could happen is Chavs miss out on CL spot.

Bayern show us the way again as with Martinez - get the deals done as early as possible.

Woudn't surprise me if we got Bale - he fits the full criteria for what we need - pace - can play on left or through the middle, probably already has the status as one of top 10 players around. Also papers reporting RM getting Ronaldo to re-sign.

Anyone writing off the rags at this point is stupid - they will get another big wedge of money next season with the new deal and winning the league keeps them top of the tree for pulling power

 

[Neville Kneville]

I don't agree that we need a high quality replacement for every position.

No one else in the Premier League does yet when they get injuries you just get on with it. Not wanting to sound like a Mancini "outer" but he complains about a lot of stuff instead of getting on with it.

Teams get injuries, you adapt the team and move on.

If Yaya gets injured then we should play Garcia and adapt how the midfield works, maybe drop Milner in alongside him, if we have no Aguero and Tevez then we play Dzeko but play with Sinclair and Milner as wingers or even Kolarov.
I know it is incredibly easy to say what I am typing here but it just seems so simple to just change players around and managers do it every week. Its not like we have a team of 11 players and the rest of the squad is made up of 18yr olds.

If you think we should be able to play Garcia, Kolarov, Dzeko, Sinclair etc... in games and still win then you are deluded.

How do we play Premier league/Champs League/PremierLeague sat-tue/wed-sat/sun with only a best 11 with poor replacements.

Well we wouldn't want to play those players all at once, but Bayern Munich just beat Barca, the best passing side in the world, with 2 wingers plus Gomez & Muller in the team & somehow managed to block their attacks. Their defenders operated as a unit, their wide players tracked back & pushed Barca inside & the whole thing was a triumph for their manager. Then they countered at pace & were dangerous at set pieces, all the stuff which managers organise & coach.

We can't even play one winger or 2 up front without being torn to pieces by no marks. Gareth Barry had to do the work of ten men v Spurs because we cannot organise into a tight defensive shape & leave huge gaps in the midfield.

We are lucky that we face shit teams most weeks.

If our manager learns to get the best out of his players & organise them into a hard working, effective unit, then even if we can't beat Barca with a few 'squad' players in our side, perhaps we can manage 3 points at QPR, Southampton or Sunderland & take it from there ?

 

[decmancity]

I don't agree that we need a high quality replacement for every position.

No one else in the Premier League does yet when they get injuries you just get on with it. Not wanting to sound like a Mancini "outer" but he complains about a lot of stuff instead of getting on with it.

Teams get injuries, you adapt the team and move on.

If Yaya gets injured then we should play Garcia and adapt how the midfield works, maybe drop Milner in alongside him, if we have no Aguero and Tevez then we play Dzeko but play with Sinclair and Milner as wingers or even Kolarov.
I know it is incredibly easy to say what I am typing here but it just seems so simple to just change players around and managers do it every week. Its not like we have a team of 11 players and the rest of the squad is made up of 18yr olds.

If you think we should be able to play Garcia, Kolarov, Dzeko, Sinclair etc... in games and still win then you are deluded.

How do we play Premier league/Champs League/PremierLeague sat-tue/wed-sat/sun with only a best 11 with poor replacements.

WTF are you going on about.
Your telling me those players aren't good enough to as part of a team win a premier league game?
That's odd because we have won games with those players playing so how am I deluded?
My point is that Mancini is not fully maximizing the team and squad of players.
He complains about injuries instead of getting on with it and changing the team to adapt and suit the players he has.

Well the rest of Europe seems to cope, Malaga got to the QF of the Champions League and their squad is pretty bare with the amount of players they have sold. Every week we have a better bench than 90% of the top teams in Europe. Arguably only Real, Barca and Bayern are stronger.

You don't need a team of 11 players and 7 world class players on the bench to win games. You need a strong best 11 which we have and good squad players which we have but they are not being properly utilized as I mentioned earlier.

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

Rumours are rife again today-
Apparently Chelsea have virtually done the deal with Falcao
PSG have now got the upper hand with Cavani
Goetz to Bayern done

With the emergence of PSG and our abject performance in the CL last season we are still not in the place we need to be to be first option for a lot of players.

Best thing that could happen is Chavs miss out on CL spot.

Bayern show us the way again as with Martinez - get the deals done as early as possible.

Woudn't surprise me if we got Bale - he fits the full criteria for what we need - pace - can play on left or through the middle, probably already has the status as one of top 10 players around. Also papers reporting RM getting Ronaldo to re-sign.

Anyone writing off the rags at this point is stupid - they will get another big wedge of money next season with the new deal and winning the league keeps them top of the tree for pulling power

I've just been browsing the BBC gossip column and, without reading the 'newspaper' articles which are the source of these rumours, United are set to go on a £50m 'spending spree' with a list that includes Baines, Lewandowski, AND Falcao. As Falcao alone is being rated at £46m [to us], the others must be on offer at Poundland prices! As for Bale, Spurs are being offered money AND either Di Maria or Higuain so if that is true, he won't be coming here.

Just to add a little cynicism to this column [from me? ... never!], City are one of the clubs being linked with Rafa Benitez, the others being Real, Spurs and Monaco. The rumour mill is suggesting that he has already had an offer from Monaco but he is waiting to see what happens with the other clubs mentioned first. I wonder what the Mancini 'outers' will make of this if the rumour is true.

 

[coulsonblue]

I don't agree that we need a high quality replacement for every position.

No one else in the Premier League does yet when they get injuries you just get on with it. Not wanting to sound like a Mancini "outer" but he complains about a lot of stuff instead of getting on with it.

Teams get injuries, you adapt the team and move on.

If Yaya gets injured then we should play Garcia and adapt how the midfield works, maybe drop Milner in alongside him, if we have no Aguero and Tevez then we play Dzeko but play with Sinclair and Milner as wingers or even Kolarov.
I know it is incredibly easy to say what I am typing here but it just seems so simple to just change players around and managers do it every week. Its not like we have a team of 11 players and the rest of the squad is made up of 18yr olds.

If you think we should be able to play Garcia, Kolarov, Dzeko, Sinclair etc... in games and still win then you are deluded.

How do we play Premier league/Champs League/PremierLeague sat-tue/wed-sat/sun with only a best 11 with poor replacements.

WTF are you going on about.
Your telling me those players aren't good enough to as part of a team win a premier league game?
That's odd because we have won games with those players playing so how am I deluded?
My point is that Mancini is not fully maximizing the team and squad of players.
He complains about injuries instead of getting on with it and changing the team to adapt and suit the players he has.

Well the rest of Europe seems to cope, Malaga got to the QF of the Champions League and their squad is pretty bare with the amount of players they have sold. Every week we have a better bench than 90% of the top teams in Europe. Arguably only Real, Barca and Bayern are stronger.

You don't need a team of 11 players and 7 world class players on the bench to win games. You need a strong best 11 which we have and good squad players which we have but they are not being properly utilized as I mentioned earlier.

Did you not see how poor we were with the likes of Kolarov, Dzeko, Garcia against Wigan when we were lucky to win?

They aren't good enough. Against Spurs, we had 0 options from the bench. Apart from Aguero, Silva and Rodwell we were at full strength.
Yet we had to make do with Kolarov coming into midfield.

 

[munster]

How about Lewandowski as a straight swap for Dzeko?

Isco in.

Erikssen - he's usually saying 'no thanks City' in every window but all is strangely quiet this time round which could be significant, plus Ajax have got another Dane coming through their ranks who's supposed to be quality (Fisher I think).

New centre back - the chap from Ajax who scored against us.

Out:

Sinclair
Dzeko
Kolorov
Kolo
RSC
Bridge
Lescott

Oh and new deals for Tevez (2 years) and Gaz Baz (1 year)


Happy?

 

[bugsyblue]

How about Lewandowski as a straight swap for Dzeko?

Isco in.

Erikssen - he's usually saying 'no thanks City' in every window but all is strangely quiet this time round which could be significant, plus Ajax have got another Dane coming through their ranks who's supposed to be quality (Fisher I think).

New centre back - the chap from Ajax who scored against us.

Out:

Sinclair
Dzeko
Kolorov
Kolo
RSC
Bridge
Lescott

Oh and new deals for Tevez (2 years) and Gaz Baz (1 year)


Happy?

He said last week he is looking to move to City or PSG if Ajax look to sell him.