The Squad planning thread

On the back of last night’s comments, people might have to dampen their expectations. Fewer people will leave than anticipated (de Bruyne/McAtee/Walker/Phillips/Grealish?) and fewer people will arrive. If people cannot be shifted, then they may have to accept a change in their roles (Ake, Stones, Gundogan), and we may even see some winter signings (Reiss/Khusanov?) loaned/sold with buy-back clauses.

Silva’s comments at the weekend about the big bosses and now Guardiola’s comment last night sound as if they’re from the same hymn sheet: new players need to be first-team ready.
 
Skrastins said:
Reis most likely will be loaned out, same goes to Echeverri

i have a feeling Kovacic will be sold to KSA
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I would be sad to see Echeverri loaned. I think he offers something different and would be a good option in the squad.
Its difficult to see how Pep is going to rebuild and strengthen the squad whilst keeping it small. We need at least a couple of full backs and a couple of midfielders so some pretty brutal decisions do need to be made. Too many are still in contract and its difficult to see how we could sell/loan them. Some of our youngsters might need moving on.

Out:
Grealish (not that I think he is poor but Pep clearly doesn't fancy him)
McAtee
Savinho (sorry)
Kev
Ake
John Boy
Nunes (harsh as he has come on and would be a good versatile squad player but likely to sit on the bench)

Thats only seven and if Pep wants to bring in 3 or 4 new players and cut the squad by approx 5 or 6. The cuts will need to run deeper. Gundo and Bernie are under contract still and unlikely to go.

Getting the creative midfield right and the full backs is key as is either getting Haaland fit/motivated or finding a better way to utilise his skills.

Are our CB's really good enough now to get us back to elite? Guardiol yes. Dias is the natural partner but I havent really been convinced this season. Khusanov has to prove he can play Pep ball. Hopefully Reiss will come on but lots of questions and unknowns. Akanji has regressed a little from his best. His distribution is painfully slow and he isnt getting any quicker. Ake has been a great addition but is too injury prone.

In attack I would listen to offers for Savinho. The lad has plenty skill but I have been unconvinced by his mentality (and end product) from the start and nothing I have seen since he arrived convinces me he will provide goals and assists. Doku has shown improvement but has a way to go.

Phil is a big question. He cannot afford another season like this one. He is now a senior squad member and should be shouldering a great deal of responsibility for our overall performance and contributing more. Hopefully, whatever has held him back this season can be resolved and if its health related then it is fixed.

Very interesting close season to come.
 
mancboy said:
so it would seem pep hasnt learnt anything from this season at all then
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Nope he doesn’t. Typical ego shit again. Knowing him he is trying to loan/ sell the younger ones and keep all the „uncs“ just for the sake of it. In my opinion the club has to intervene and tell him that the future depends on this summer and that we have even more games next season + WC.
The players who should leave should only be the older ones. Selling/ loaning out Reis, Echeverri and Khusanov wouldn’t make any sense since they started learning the language and getting used to the country.

Akanji, Stones, Grealish; KDB, Bernardo, Gundogan, Walker , Philips and McAtee + Lewis loan and Nunes sell should be possible. Stones wants to play the WC26 I guess so he should look to start elsewhere

Pep telling us that he won’t sub more than 2 times a game next season again.
Sometimes I feel like we are trying to make pep more happy so that the next manager will start from the ground again with players he might not need/ like or having the trouble to get rid of players who overstayed their welcome
 
It's why we have had no left-back for years, and we have centre-backs who can play left-back, right-back, and why our midfielders are stuck on the wings like Foden for most of his 300+ games! What we need is 20 top-class players, better players if we have to have a smaller squad that Pep wants, and what Pep wants, Pep will get, I have no doubt!
 
King Jay said:
Nope he doesn’t. Typical ego shit again. Knowing him he is trying to loan/ sell the younger ones and keep all the „uncs“ just for the sake of it. In my opinion the club has to intervene and tell him that the future depends on this summer and that we have even more games next season + WC.
The players who should leave should only be the older ones. Selling/ loaning out Reis, Echeverri and Khusanov wouldn’t make any sense since they started learning the language and getting used to the country.

Akanji, Stones, Grealish; KDB, Bernardo, Gundogan, Walker , Philips and McAtee + Lewis loan and Nunes sell should be possible. Stones wants to play the WC26 I guess so he should look to start elsewhere

Pep telling us that he won’t sub more than 2 times a game next season again.
Sometimes I feel like we are trying to make pep more happy so that the next manager will start from the ground again with players he might not need/ like or having the trouble to get rid of players who overstayed their welcome
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I think we can all agree its churlish to argue with pep, his trophy cabinet obviously shows that he knows what hes doing BUT as much as you know you can always learn, change and adapt, the only thing constant is change and if he thinks 18 players , a few of which are going to be older players are going to be able to cut it next season with very little break due to the cwc then he is setting us up for a very tough season.
 
waspish said:
It's why we have had no left-back for years, and we have centre-backs who can play left-back, right-back, and why our midfielders are stuck on the wings like Foden for most of his 300+ games! What we need is 20 top-class players, better players if we have to have a smaller squad that Pep wants, and what Pep wants, Pep will get, I have no doubt!
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Pep as good as he is, isnt infallible, this season should teach him that certain lessons need to be learned in terms of playing players in their correct positions and having reasonable cover when they are not available, the guy is amazing we all know that but absolutely no one is perfect and everyone can learn and grow.
 
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mancboy said:
Pep as good as he is, isnt infallible, this season should teach him that certain lessons need to be learned in terms of playing players in their correct positions and having reasonable cover when they are available, the guy is amazing we all know that but absolutely no one is perfect and everyone can learn and grow.
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It’s not just this season, though, and that’s where Guardiola is on stickier ground. His insistence on a small squad cost us a shot at back-to-back Champions League finals last year, and we then threw away an FA Cup final because the players were exhausted. We crawled over the line in the League, thankfully, but the writing was already on the wall.

If the problem is that Guardiola doesn’t like being the man to deal with the inevitable fall out of unhappy players, there are solutions. For example, they could promote Gundogan to a player-coaching role and have him speak to players- he could also deputise in some media duties, or they could tell players, such as Ake/Stones, that they’ll be excluded from the first Champions League squad and only play domestically. There has to be flexibility from both parties and an appreciation that neither approach in itself is long-term perfect.
 
Gabriel said:
It’s not just this season, though, and that’s where Guardiola is on stickier ground. His insistence on a small squad cost us a shot at back-to-back Champions League finals last year, and we then threw away an FA Cup final because the players were exhausted. We crawled over the line in the League, thankfully, but the writing was already on the wall.

If the problem is that Guardiola doesn’t like being the man to deal with the inevitable fall out of unhappy players, there are solutions. For example, they could promote Gundogan to a player-coaching role and have him speak to players- he could also deputise in some media duties, or they could tell players, such as Ake/Stones, that they’ll be excluded from the first Champions League squad and only play domestically. There has to be flexibility from both parties and an appreciation that neither approach in itself is long-term perfect.
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While i agree with you in theory, the reality is that pep is paid almost 20 million a year to deal with situations like these, he cant just put the team and the club in detriment because hes afraid of upsetting a player, he wasnt afraid of axing kev, he hasnt been afraid of upsetting khusanov or nico, he wasnt upset about leaving rico and mcatee out of the cup final squad, so he is capable of doing it and after saying so many times this season that this season has been a learning season for him and he understands that he cant operate with so few players over such a long season, to walk that back and not learn is slightly disingenuous, every other club and manager knows about squad rotation and so does pep, or at least he should.
 
Ederson(if he wants out)
Stones
Bernardo
De Bruyne
Grealish
Nunes
KDB
Gundogan
Mcatee
Reis (loan)

These should be sold/released/loaned if possible as the squad number isnt the problem, we need a refresh of hungry younger players who are desperate to win? I cant help thinking the comments last night are Pep basically saying if you sell my favourite boys then i`ll quit.
 
mancboy said:
While i agree with you in theory, the reality is that pep is paid almost 20 million a year to deal with situations like these, he cant just put the team and the club in detriment because hes afraid of upsetting a player, he wasnt afraid of axing kev, he hasnt been afraid of upsetting khusanov or nico, he wasnt upset about leaving rico and mcatee out of the cup final squad, so he is capable of doing it and after saying so many times this season that this season has been a learning season for him and he understands that he cant operate with so few players over such a long season, to walk that back and not learn is slightly disingenuous, every other club and manager knows about squad rotation and so does pep, or at least he should.
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That’s true, and I’m not convinced he’s that bothered about putting a nose out of joint. In his interview, he stressed the point about having to speak to multiple players, each time for 45 minutes, suggesting that he finds the procedure mentally draining and unnecessarily time-consuming, which is why I’m suggesting Gundogan be given a role.

I also think there is a difference between having a larger squad of first-team players and a squad that is stacked with a clutch of ‘prospects’.
 
If it were possible, I would say the following should leave for one reason or another:

Stones
Ake
Walker
Philipps
Gundogan
Bernardo
KDB
Grealish
McAtee
Lewis

Loans for one of Bah or Reis.

I would have also said Akanji but Guardiola seems to like him and he is generally fitter than Stones and Ake.

Even then most of them are homegrown, so it still limits who we can bring in.

It's highly unlikely that we can find an interested club for all of those though.
 
City64! said:
Looks like Pep has already made Viana's job harder by saying he wants a small squad or he'll quit. Puts Hugo on the back foot a bit
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Feels like Pep and Viana have different agendas. Pep has pretty much already rejected Viana’s January signings and now he’s publicly pushing back against what he perceives the June plans to be. Will be interesting who the ‘bosses upstairs’ back in these differences of approach.
 
nmc said:
Feels like Pep and Viana have different agendas. Pep has pretty much already rejected Viana’s January signings and now he’s publicly pushing back against what he perceives the June plans to be. Will be interesting who the ‘bosses upstairs’ back in these differences of approach.
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It has to be Hugo in this situation? The comments last night smack of Pep having too much power over the club imo.
 
richards30 said:
It has to be Hugo in this situation? The comments last night smack of Pep having too much power over the club imo.
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It would be absolute insanity to back an unproven (at top level) Viana over the manager that is widely known as the best in the world and has dominated English football while winning everything because of a bad season.
 
PragueBlue said:
If it were possible, I would say the following should leave for one reason or another:

Stones
Ake
Walker
Philipps
Gundogan
Bernardo
KDB
Grealish
McAtee
Lewis

Loans for one of Bah or Reis.

I would have also said Akanji but Guardiola seems to like him and he is generally fitter than Stones and Ake.

Even then most of them are homegrown, so it still limits who we can bring in.

It's highly unlikely that we can find an interested club for all of those though.
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I would keep Bernardo, you still need that winning mentality in a squad.
 
Vester said:
It would be absolute insanity to back an unproven (at top level) Viana over the manager that is widely known as the best in the world and has dominated English football while winning everything because of a bad season.
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The tail cant wag the dog though mate? I wonder if this is why Txiki is being kept on until the end of the transfer window? I got dogs abuse a few weeks ago when i mentioned i felt there maybe issues this summer between Pep and Viana with who leaves and after January only Marmoush has seen regular game time while the favourites consistently played?
 
PragueBlue said:
If it were possible, I would say the following should leave for one reason or another:

Stones
Ake
Walker
Philipps
Gundogan
Bernardo
KDB
Grealish
McAtee
Lewis

Loans for one of Bah or Reis.

I would have also said Akanji but Guardiola seems to like him and he is generally fitter than Stones and Ake.

Even then most of them are homegrown, so it still limits who we can bring in.

It's highly unlikely that we can find an interested club for all of those though.
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We would need to replace with quite a few English players
 
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