The are we allowed the "it's quiet" thread yet? thread.

[Jazzman]

The problem is that quite a few City fans have forgotten how football traditionally works & have become obsessed with spending money, every year.

Bringing players through or actually improving or rehabilitating players we actually have, or building a side over more than one season, has become some kind of ridiculous notion, rather than being the traditional way most top managers actually do it.

We expect to buy a largely new team every year, yet when we actually look at the City side, it's mostly the players who the team was built around in the first place, who learned to play together, who are actually still the people we rely on. Some of them signed for not much money.

If Pep can't improve the players, or bring players through, we have completely wasted 3 years waiting for him. And if we can't give him a season to suss his players out & rebuild the squad, without shitting our pants, we don't deserve him.

Very well said!

 

[OB1]

Decent stuff Billy, but 'panic mode' is way OTT

Maybe but you do worry to excess!

Not that I do not have some concerns about how we will cope with the physicality of the league. We do need to make changes to the squad to help Pep. I have consistently questioned the mental fortitude of the player he has inherited, who need to show the bottle and commitment to handle more physical sides; they also need technique of the highest order is they are to overcome the more aggressive sides by playing them off the park. So, however you look at it, the more changes we can make to the squad, the better.

 

[OB1]

The problem is that quite a few City fans have forgotten how football traditionally works & have become obsessed with spending money, every year.

Bringing players through or actually improving or rehabilitating players we actually have, or building a side over more than one season, has become some kind of ridiculous notion, rather than being the traditional way most top managers actually do it.

We expect to buy a largely new team every year, yet when we actually look at the City side, it's mostly the players who the team was built around in the first place, who learned to play together, who are actually still the people we rely on. Some of them signed for not much money.

If Pep can't improve the players, or bring players through, we have completely wasted 3 years waiting for him. And if we can't give him a season to suss his players out & rebuild the squad, without shitting our pants, we don't deserve him.

Maybe he will or has sussed some of them quickly and will want to replace them.

 

[TonyM]

 

[domalino]

Maybe he will or has sussed some of them quickly and will want to replace them.

And if he thinks they aren't good enough then he'll replace them.

Nevilles comment was in reply to the ridiculous amount of flapping and panicking about us not having bought Kroos, Pogba and Surez yet, or people saying that buying England's most promising defender in a generation, Germany's most promising talent, a world class centre mid and a winger who'll score 15-20 per season is a bad transfer window.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Maybe but you do worry to excess!

Not that I do not have some concerns about how we will cope with the physicality of the league. We do need to make changes to the squad to help Pep. I have consistently questioned the mental fortitude of the player he has inherited, who need to show the bottle and commitment to handle more physical sides; they also need technique of the highest order is they are to overcome the more aggressive sides by playing them off the park. So, however you look at it, the more changes we can make to the squad, the better.

Is it though, at this stage ?

He hasn't even met half of them yet.

Of course it's necessary & exciting to sign new players. But if he can get a large percentage of the ones we have now, playing 'his way' it might actually be a lot better than relying on 8 new signings to learn it, a week before the season starts.

Several players' contracts will be running out next season, leaving spaces for more signings.

I think, with the strongly rumoured signings to come, & the kids involved, we already have an almost perfect interim squad, which he can boost & fine tune next season.

 

[TonyM]

Several players' contracts will be running out next season, leaving spaces for more signings.

Would that not imply that we sell them this year?

 

[Neville Kneville]

Would that not imply that we sell them this year?

Depends if we can persuade them to go, or if people will pay their wages.

We don't have a lot of time & Pep hasn't met half his squad. What he wants them to do, is entirely different to the way they are used to playing.

Would make a lot of sense to get on with it.

 

[OB1]

Is it though, at this stage ?

He hasn't even met half of them yet.

Of course it's necessary & exciting to sign new players. But if he can get a large percentage of the ones we have now, playing 'his way' it might actually be a lot better than relying on 8 new signings to learn it, a week before the season starts.

Several players' contracts will be running out next season, leaving spaces for more signings.

I think, with the strongly rumoured signings to come, & the kids involved, we already have an almost perfect interim squad, which he can boost & fine tune next season.

It's been my opinion for quite some time that we'd ideally have 7 or 8 new players in our best XI for the forthcoming season. I stress ideally and accept that even if we signed the players to make that a reality, we would need time to integrate them; which could well mean persevering to begin with players that are used to playing with each other / have been through most of preseason. Whichever way you look at it, the preparation for the season cannot be ideal so when I talk about ideally, I mean in terms of squad composition.

This season is going to be very transitional, regardless of how many new players enter the first team squad but the more suited they are to the demands that Pep will make, the better.

I have no lack of faith in Pep but I do not trust a fair number of the players he has inherited. I hope I am wrong about them but I'd hate to wait and then find out that I am right.

 

[meeesh]

When is Sergio,Otamendi back,and Hart and Sterling for that matter does anyone know ?