Recruitment issues

[ws01]

Thiago going for pennies to the candle lighters and not seeming to be in the hunt for Aaour says it all to me - our focus is wrong.

 

[VOOMER]

Anyone else feel like our recruitment strategy is starting to hold us back?

We’re now losing players like Silva and Kompany, while the likes of Fernandinho and Aguero aren’t getting any younger. The thing is, the players we’re bringing in aren’t at the same level and often it feels like a case of ‘we don’t really know how they’ll turn out, but let’s hope they’re good’. Players like Aguero, Silva and Yaya were top class when we bought them and even Kompany was really highly regarded but held back due to his injury record.

Buying proven big players often DOES work. I’d argue our two biggest names purchased since Garry Cook left were De Bruyne and Sterling but based on the last few years you just know that Aguero’s successor is going to be some mid-range player who ends up struggling to get 15 goals a season.

This will upset some but we SHOULD be in for players like Sancho. His record at Dortmund is phenomenal. I don’t care about the past - let bygones be bygones. He’ll be a star in the top flight for the next 10 years when he comes back.

Don’t get me wrong I do think there are good deals to be had with lesser known talent, I just think you need a strong core of top class players and then you build around them.

I have stated this since we signed Sergio, every transfer window is the opportunity to strengthen. This hasn't happened.

 

[mancity1]

Anyone else feel like our recruitment strategy is starting to hold us back?

We’re now losing players like Silva and Kompany, while the likes of Fernandinho and Aguero aren’t getting any younger. The thing is, the players we’re bringing in aren’t at the same level and often it feels like a case of ‘we don’t really know how they’ll turn out, but let’s hope they’re good’. Players like Aguero, Silva and Yaya were top class when we bought them and even Kompany was really highly regarded but held back due to his injury record.

Buying proven big players often DOES work. I’d argue our two biggest names purchased since Garry Cook left were De Bruyne and Sterling but based on the last few years you just know that Aguero’s successor is going to be some mid-range player who ends up struggling to get 15 goals a season.

This will upset some but we SHOULD be in for players like Sancho. His record at Dortmund is phenomenal. I don’t care about the past - let bygones be bygones. He’ll be a star in the top flight for the next 10 years when he comes back.

Don’t get me wrong I do think there are good deals to be had with lesser known talent, I just think you need a strong core of top class players and then you build around them.

Beyond starting IMO , we need some world class DM , LB/RB , Strikers if we are begin to be a serious contender again.

Lets see how Laporte and Dias shape up as a pair that will spearhead our European campaign this season.

Kun and Jesus are not up to what is required to score the goals needed to win the big games anymore.

Ferny and Rodri well enough said.

Mendy lost all confidence since his major injury and not a defender

Ederson a poor shot stopper.

Mahrez - too inconsistent we see more his worst and its a big gap to his best.

Gundy - Would you back him in against the top clubs in Europe and at home ?

Fragile as glass at the back when the press collapses and it does more often now.

Decent awareness and sharpness to cover at the back even their 4 goal and Leicester score nought which would have been the case against a quality defensive set up instead we concede 5 at home FFS.

You can go on for example Pep doesn't rate Bernardo

You can quickly drop off the perch now more so than ever.

the good news is you can get their again and we can we just need to get much better at bringing in the quality we need to compete.

If we cannot do that with what we have the owner will move on the culprits , they are loyal and patient but they have standards and we are miles below that now.

No one should be indispensable and that includes Pep.

 

[SleepingBlueTiger]

I would just bring out a general theme that has been a recipe for our slow but steady decline.

We don't sign the top talent, we sign the players one or two grades below that (and overpay for them usually). This transfer window will be exactly the same, settling for option 3 or 4 and hoping, not expecting, that it will work out. You can get away with this approach if you already have world class players present but we are down to 1 (KdB) as Aguero hardly ever seems to play anymore. We sign players who complement the world class players, not players who are ones themselves.

I would love the club move from 2 50m range players in a position to 1 100m player and a cheap backup for key positions.

 

[Woody13]

The signing’s we’ve made this window, for me, are very encouraging. Nathan Ake I think will be an excellent purchase. He can’t transform the defence on his own but he’s got all the attributes to be an integral part of our defensive unit. The other two I haven’t seen as much of, Ferran Torres and Ruben Dias (if it goes through of course), but these are two players that the very biggest clubs in Europe were following closely and have already produced enough quality to suggest we’ll get more substance from them rather than them just being signed because of their vast potential.

Does it address all our issues and deficiencies ? No, we still have areas that we’ll have to make do with and Pep will need to find a formation that masks our weaknesses and that’s the challenge right now. We need to figure out how to stop teams breaking our initial press and effectively getting straight at our back line. Somehow stop letting Mendy get isolated when he looks vulnerable one on one. We need to find a striker for the next 4-6 weeks as all we have is an academy player (albeit a highly rated one).

I’m sure we’ll look back on this window and be delighted with the business we’ve done here but it doesn’t complete us just yet.

 

[Del_Bosque]

We’ve spent way over £200m on 5 players

Stones £50m
Mahrez £60m
Cancelo £60m
Mendy £54m
Rodri £65m

They should be the spine of the team now, in truth they are much worse than what came before and we are better when they don’t play

 

[King KdB of Belgium]

Just one week left and the transfer window closes. Yet we are down to 13 squad players left and we still sell Nick without having a replacement ready to bring in. We need a CF but none likely to come in. Also needed is a CB down to bones with the squad on this yet sell one.

I am really starting to wonder if Pep has lost bite so to speak. If we don't bring anyone in soon, I fear we will struggle to qualify for a Champions League place. Maybe also a Europa League spot as well, this season.

Pep needs to get of his high horse and apologise to Jason and ask him to come back, because we sure could do with him right now. We can ill afford to get any injuries at this moment, but probably will have to play all the academy players against Burnley.

 

[Woody13]

We’ve spent way over £200m on 5 players

Stones £50m
Mahrez £60m
Cancelo £60m
Mendy £54m
Rodri £65m

They should be the spine of the team now, in truth they are much worse than what came before and we are better when they don’t play

There is no guarantee with any signing that they’ll become a guaranteed starter for the next 5/10 years. Completely understand the Stones signing at the time, we weren’t to know he’d still be having lapses at the back and making these individual errors years later without developing into the kind of player he looked capable of.

No one can foresee the terrible knee injuries Mendy has had to endure and now unfortunately looks a shadow of his former self.

Agreed that some of the prices on the other players do look inflated, but Rodri is still developing, Mahrez seems to split opinion and I do think Cancelo can be important for us this season.

 

[Del_Bosque]

They are 5 of our 6 most expensive signings and they’ve all made us worse

Stones was inconsistent at Everton
Mahrez same at Leicester
Mendy had a bad injury recored before he joined
Cancelo flopped at Valencia
Surely someone looked at how fast Rodri could run before he signed?


It’s shocking business

 

[ChicagoBlue]

One of the problems with recruitment is that we buy players who are considered, statistically, the best in the world for what they do, then Pep changes them into what he wants from them.

In some instances, Sergio for instance, it upped his game. However, for others, it has blunted the sharp edges of their game,

We need Aouar in midfield, because we are not a defensive team and need some strength and speed in there.

KDB is being asked to carry the team on his shoulders, but we are ONE HAMSTRING FROM OVER USE away from missing him for a month and 11 games!

Rodri is getting panned on here, but I like him. The two players who were AWOL yesterday? Sterling & Foden!

Two players who played shit in a side built for them to succeed? Walker & Mendy!

I text back and forth with my brother during these pandemic games and we agree on most everything, front to back...and the one thing we simply cannot understand is why Pep has not discovered that THE ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD KNOWS HOW CITY PLAY AND SIMPLY SET OUT TO BLUNT IT, YET WE KNOW TEAMS HIT US ON THE BREAK AND JUST FUCKING ACCEPT IT!!

And, stick a fucking foot in every now and then OUTSIDE THE BOX! It might give away a free-kick (esp if you “don’t teach the tackling!”), but that’s better than the only touch your keeper has with his hands is picking the ball out of the net...5 times!!!

We looked wank and waaaay short of ideas! Teams string 5 across the back and 4 in front of them, then stick their CF on our pivot DM. YAWN!!!

Books have been written on how Pep plays and books WILL be written on how it was blunted and defeated in an era of big, strong, powerful super athletes who were also brilliant technicians. We have ONE of those...KDB!

He is the ONLY PLAYER we have who can attack at pace under control!

Aguero - No real pace
Jesus - Makes bad decisions too often
Sterling - Blind alleys, bobbling balls, the control of a hot potato
Mahrez - One trick pony (who pulled a worldie out of his arse)
Foden - Young, hardworker, possibilities, but like Jesus...nowhere near finished article
Torres - unknown
Bernardo - Out of favor and always looks to be almost there. Should be our teams next David.

So, what do we need?

SOLIDITY. We need to solidify the teams core and make us a hard team to score against...which is where I thought we were after the break last season, as we came out flying and not conceding!

But, Walker isn’t a ball playing midfielder and if I see one more floated full cross field pass get cut out I might come through the TV!

Mendy can whip the ball into the 6 yard box every now and then, but if no one gets on the end of it, or everyone’s waiting for the cutback or he hits the defender, or he loses the ball, we are fucked, because he can’t defend! To be fair, I honestly don’t know if he could EVER defend, or whether his knee injury crocked him, or what...BUT in England you have to be decently quick and know how to defend as a full back! Looks like Ake will take his place once Laporte and Dias start playing together.

Midfield needs 4 players, with at least 2 mobile enough to go both ways. I like Aouar and it would be a BIG, FUCKING EPIC MISTAKE to allow Arsenal (Arteta) to nick a player we have lusted for 3 years...and he’s still young! Dinho is gone after this season and we need KDB, Rodri & Aouar across the middle with a Foden or Bernardo floating around in front of them, with KDB & Aouar having some license, BECAUSE they can play box to box.

Upfront, Jesus and Sterling seem to be our future, with Aguero, Mahrez and Torres as ready made replacements. Aguero is done at the end of this season, so how he is replaced will be very telling. Haaland looks tailor made, but this is City, so that sounds too expensive!

This is not the end, of course, but another run out ANYTHING like that against a Leeds team that is licking its lips at playing 6 on 2 against us at the back, and you might be able to see the beginning of the end.

Pep is not exactly convincing anyone he really does want to stay, and Pochettino’s Spurs pay out ends at the end of this season, so....

As a City fan, the notion of “may you live in interesting times” seems almost quaint and insufficient, but it certainly feels like Phase III of The Project is winding down. Who knows what Phase IV looks like?!

 

[Semper aggressus]

I keep saying it and I'm sticking to my belief that if we don't sign top level stars then we'll end up average. Too much penny pinching, or embarrassment almost to really go for it in the transfer market.

We are one of the top 5 richest clubs in the world, with revenue and fantastic commercial deals negotiated by Soriano and co. Regular CL income every season. Yet we seem to refuse to sign players of the caliber to match prime Yaya, prime Fern and Kun and Vinny. Players of KDB's level.

We need to be going for the likes of Sancho and Haaland to provide the next world class core of the first team for the next 5 or even 10 years.

Mahrez, Cancelo, Rodri, etc they're all Spurs/Everton level signings.

Why do we not reach for the real stars? It must be obvious we need players as good as Vinny and Kun and David Silva, not fill the squad with average joes. Just fucking spend on the best or we will endure years of scouse trophies and no CL which I thought is the trophy the board want most? Rodri and Gundog and co won't win us that. It feels like we have no confidence or self-belief to really go out and buy the best. What was the point of winning the CAS appeal if we don't enjoy the fruits of that victory?

Need some real ambition in the market, and fuck ffp, we took uefa to court once, they won't do anything now. Hasn't stopped chelsea or psg why should we be meek and suffer decline because we're hamstrung by a corrupt, rag loving cartel?

 

[I'm With Stupid]

We’ve spent way over £200m on 5 players

Stones £50m
Mahrez £60m
Cancelo £60m
Mendy £54m
Rodri £65m

They should be the spine of the team now, in truth they are much worse than what came before and we are better when they don’t play

The other issue is that seemingly none of them have resale value. If we wanted to get rid, we'd probably loan them out to some cheapskate club for a few years and then let them run down their contracts and get maybe a £10m token payment for them in their last year. £20m for Stones, maybe at a push.

Although it's worth mentioning that the Cancelo figure was clearly bollocks at the time, and that price was based on Juventus paying €37m for Danilo. Obviously some accounting trick, because there's no way we'd really pay £60m for a full back that's not going to play every week.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

I think the problem we have had recently is we arent finding those gems like we used to. Spending 50m on a left back for example doesn’t guarantee a great player.

Zaba and Vincent barely cost anything and turned out to be world class.since the Spanish guys have come in we are reliant on big money signings.

Robertson for Liverpool is the perfect example of someone we’d never have gone for.

better scouting and buying one or two world class players is what we need

Our scouts must be constantly on the piss. We’ve over paid for to many players over the past few years. Stones, Cancelo, Mendy, Rodri, Mahrez. £250m+ worth of players there and neither have proved their worth. If Dias turns out to be a disaster then it’s time for a change somewhere down the line. We can’t keep paying £50m+ for players that don’t fit in. Replacing Aguero is the biggest challenge the board have faced since the takeover. Can’t be fucking about haggling over a few million, just pay top dollar for a class striker.

 

[nmc]

I keep saying it and I'm sticking to my belief that if we don't sign top level stars then we'll end up average. Too much penny pinching, or embarrassment almost to really go for it in the transfer market.

We are one of the top 5 richest clubs in the world, with revenue and fantastic commercial deals negotiated by Soriano and co. Regular CL income every season. Yet we seem to refuse to sign players of the caliber to match prime Yaya, prime Fern and Kun and Vinny. Players of KDB's level.

We need to be going for the likes of Sancho and Haaland to provide the next world class core of the first team for the next 5 or even 10 years.

Mahrez, Cancelo, Rodri, etc they're all Spurs/Everton level signings.

Why do we not reach for the real stars? It must be obvious we need players as good as Vinny and Kun and David Silva, not fill the squad with average joes. Just fucking spend on the best or we will endure years of scouse trophies and no CL which I thought is the trophy the board want most? Rodri and Gundog and co won't win us that. It feels like we have no confidence or self-belief to really go out and buy the best. What was the point of winning the CAS appeal if we don't enjoy the fruits of that victory?

Need some real ambition in the market, and fuck ffp, we took uefa to court once, they won't do anything now. Hasn't stopped chelsea or psg why should we be meek and suffer decline because we're hamstrung by a corrupt, rag loving cartel?

Regardless of fees - the players you bring in generally have to be better than the players you lose. In our case the replacements for Yaya, Silva, Kompany and Sane either don't exist or are nowhere near good enough. We are also at a point where we have a glaring weakness at LB that has not been addressed for 3 seasons and we urgently need understudies to plan for the inevitable decline and departure of both Kun and Fern. For all our talk of succession planning and planning ahead our management of something as strategic as the spine of the team has been woeful. We are presently an injury to KDB away from mid table obscurity.

 

[blueswede21]

If you think the problem with our recruitment strategy is that we aren't (seemingly) interested in the "big names", you only have to look at Manchester United to see why that simply isn't a winning formula either. Football transfers in general are difficult to get right. There are so many things that can go wrong, and I feel people are overreacting and forgetting that this season, so far, and last season have been played under extraordinary circumstances, and therefore our assessment should be adjusted somewhat. Our squad, when fully fit, is still the best in the league in terms of starting quality, depth and winning experience. We've not had a pre-season, players like Silva and Laporte are not in the team yet, and both Kun and Jesus were out yesterday. Surely some extenuation is allowed here?

 

[Keeper!]

If you think the problem with our recruitment strategy is that we aren't (seemingly) interested in the "big names", you only have to look at Manchester United to see why that simply isn't a winning formula either. Football transfers in general are difficult to get right. There are so many things that can go wrong, and I feel people are overreacting and forgetting that this season, so far, and last season have been played under extraordinary circumstances, and therefore our assessment should be adjusted somewhat. Our squad, when fully fit, is still the best in the league in terms of starting quality, depth and winning experience. We've not had a pre-season, players like Silva and Laporte are not in the team yet, and both Kun and Jesus were out yesterday. Surely some extenuation is allowed here?

United under Fergusson always bought quality, the best players available, not always worked out but the vast majority did.

The United of today have bought badly, players coming for money, ego, past their best, hence why the rags have slumped.

City under this owner at the start bought the best available, sometimes weakening their opponents , buying early and quickly.

We now no longer do that, especially under Tixki's command, overpaying , buying mediocrity, not getting our primary targets.

Our scouting is now second rate, paying 50 million for poor fullbacks, CB's and MF, what is going on?

This club had a reputation of always buying the very best, no longer. We are happy to buy mediocrity, until that changes we won't get that title back.

 

[Northernstorirs]

I did wonder is recruitment an issue but as posters have mentioned, buying big isn't the answer. You only have to look at the swamp and possibly Chelsea to see that spending the cash doesn't guarantee an improvement in form.

We are also looking at replacing the likes of Kompany and Silva and soon Aguero and Fernandinho. These are all top quality players who can't easily be replaced in one window.

 

[Del_Bosque]

Read the other day we’ve only signed 1 left back in 9 years and he did his cruciate after 3 weeks

Compare that to the amount of wingers we’ve signed and it’s crazy

 

[brummie blue]

Our scouts must be constantly on the piss. We’ve over paid for to many players over the past few years. Stones, Cancelo, Mendy, Rodri, Mahrez. £250m+ worth of players there and neither have proved their worth. If Dias turns out to be a disaster then it’s time for a change somewhere down the line. We can’t keep paying £50m+ for players that don’t fit in. Replacing Aguero is the biggest challenge the board have faced since the takeover. Can’t be fucking about haggling over a few million, just pay top dollar for a class striker.

Spot on, you start to wonder how much Pep is having to do with transfers, or if he's getting players he actually wants. Stones, Mendy, Rodri and Mahrez haven't particularly improved since arriving (I'd excuse Cancelo as he's hardly played). It seems to be like Watford, players arrive and the coach is told that's what he's got, get on with it. The incestuous relationship Pep has with the Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain is all nice and cosy but I don't see helping matters with the inadequacy of the squad.

Pep inherited the best players in the squad, Kompany, Fernandinho, Silva, Aguero, KDB, Sterling, Yaya. Now this group have started to break up the replacements have been poor/cheaper options and it's not worked. Other than Gundogun I can't remember any reference to us signing a player because that's who Pep wanted. Of course credit has to be given for getting players like Sane, Bernie Silva, Walker and Jesus, but we've had really poor transfer windows for 2 seasons now, maybe more I'd love to know if it was the board saying to Pep we can't replace Kompany, or Pep thinking he could convert Fernandinho into and centre half. The board seem to under instruction to buy average cheaper players.

We should have been buying Sergio's replacement this season, he's in his final year, more injury prone than ever, but I fear we will wait until next summer or even the summer after, and buy average again.

 

[Keeper!]

Read the other day we’ve only signed 1 left back in 9 years and he did his cruciate after 3 weeks

Compare that to the amount of wingers we’ve signed and it’s crazy

And the RB's we sign, Walker has proved his worth, but Danilo and Cancelo crazy, lazy poor buys.