we spent big in January because we made huge mistake not doing it in the summer before. and yes maybe not 7 but 4-5 serious players need to arrive in the summer too to continue the huge rebuild front of us. and it wont be the fans deciding this but Soriano and Khaldoon.
there will be 4-5 players leaving this squad in the summer at least the obvious ones the very least and the jury is out on some more like Grealish, Bernardo, Ederson etc, surely we cannot let the squad be that much thinner for next season. neither we cannot allow lesser players replacing them. so if 4-5 is leaving indeed like Gundo, KDB, Walker at the minimum, we need new ones in. otherwise we are back to square one and same thin squa
Absolutely on the money! If you want to compete with the Madrids, you have to buy best in class, and that’s not happened since Haaland.It's been a dogshit season, no doubt about that but remember that we are at the end of the cycle with most of the squad. Ederson, Walker, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Bernardo and maybe Stones could and really should be moved on at the end of the season. All have played a massive part in our success but time and injuries have caught up with them and they are now becoming detrimental to the team and at an alarming rate. But it is not only players who need to be moved on, it's also some of the backroom staff who need to be shown the door as well. Review, Remove and Replace. That's is what's needed. A major rebuild but a rebuild built on quality and spanning a couple of seasons and not a rebuild of panic buys and substandard players.
We need to address the issue of continuous injuries and the effectiveness of our medical staff dealing with them. I don't think we've brought back the likes of Dias, Ake, Stones, Akanji etc to the team fully fit and still carrying injuries. We can say we're unlucky but we should always be prepared for those situations occurring and have good enough players to cover those eventualities. Which leads us to my next point.
We need to seriously look at the underwhelming recruitment of players during the past 2/3 seasons and question our scouting system. We have replaced players leaving with players that are not consistent enough (Kovacic, Doku, Grealish) or not good enough to meet the challenge (Nunes, Phillips, Gomez) Or we have not even replaced those players who left at all. The sale of Alvarez and not replacing him immediately was bordering on criminal. Hopefully with the signings of Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez and Khusanov are portents of better days ahead but we need more players coming in and players of equal or better quality than the ones that need replacing.
Maybe we should start giving more game time to McAtee, O'Reilly, Vitor Reis and other promising youngsters as well.
We are in for a lean time in respect of winning titles but we also need to ensure the gap that is going to occur over the next season or two is not going to be a chasm that will leave us with little or no hope of catching up.
And your suggested replacement is who? Ten Hag perhaps?No one's denying that Pep is one of the top 5 managers of all time alongside Cruyff, Michels etc
But tonight was fucking embarrassing.
This was a team with Ederson, Dias, Gvardiol, Foden, Gundogan, Stones, Bernardo, Savinho, Marmouch, Nico and Kusanov.
Most clubs would kill for that talent. But we were humiliated by not the best Madrid team.
Pep can no longer put the Lego together. It's time to go. All of you people who expect him to resurrect this sinking ship are seriously misguided. He was a serious upgrade on Mancini and Pellegrini but like them he's done
Get a grip.And your suggested replacement is who? Ten Hag perhaps?
We are missing one key player along with others at the end of their glittering careers or missing chunks of the season through injury. Not much Pep or any other manager can really do with that.No one's denying that Pep is one of the top 5 managers of all time alongside Cruyff, Michels etc
But tonight was fucking embarrassing.
This was a team with Ederson, Dias, Gvardiol, Foden, Gundogan, Stones, Bernardo, Savinho, Marmouch, Nico and Kusanov.
Most clubs would kill for that talent. But we were humiliated by not the best Madrid team.
Pep can no longer put the Lego together. It's time to go. All of you people who expect him to resurrect this sinking ship are seriously misguided. He was a serious upgrade on Mancini and Pellegrini but like them he's done
Maybe when he was like 10? He’s been a defender since at least the U16 levels.Also Gvardiol isn't a defender. He played youth football as a striker and you can tell. We need to buy proper defenders who can defend.
Aiming for Haaland ?His corners were as bad as anyone else's mate
There have been many wank seasons since 1982 when I first watched City. Since 2011 it's been a fantastic period, especially since Pep arrived. This team has just reached the end of their cycle. I have every confidence we will be successful in the future.Shocking performance. Again.
Hiding to nothing with Gundogan and Bernardo stinking out the midfield. Think questions need to be asked of Pep for picking those 2.
Wank season.
It is not the case of not being bothered but down to being mentally burnt out after previous seasons exploits on top of losing Rodri.the hope is that part of the malaise is a lack of being bothered and if we clean out the dead wood it will be refreshed
ederson we know wanted to go, ortega will be planning his exit after sticking around reluctantly and probably under false assurances
de bruyne is one foot out the door, so perhaps is bernardo despite his protestations at the decline
Walker was our captain ffs and has pissed off embarrased
Foden isnt a leader in fact he shirks
Gundog knows the past is gone
rodri is not even here
what you are left with is two leaders (Dias and Haaland), a sicknote (Stones), then Akanji and Ake who werent exactly the senior guys anyway and then a collection of new guys/youngsters looking for guidance
When your line manager at work doesnt give a fuck its kind of demotivating and the stink spreads.
They hail Madrid as being better than sliced bread & cheer them on in both legs and then go to town on us for having the temerity to get knocked outWe were poor admittedly but BBC McNulty tearing us a new one…..never get this sort of poisonous reporting about rags demise…….****
I’m sure this is something that he’ll always regret saying. I mean, if your boss doesn’t believe in you you’re in trouble from the start.When Pep said in the Press we had a 1% chance of winning tonight I didn’t realize that was also his pre match team talk to the players