The Squad planning thread

Poor from txiki in the summer imo, Rodri at some point was alway going to grab an injury unfortunately (although never thought this serious) Walker 34/35, KDB 33 heading to 34, Gundo looks his age and was probably as a dressing room influence and a look to maybe joining the coaching staff as much as the player. The club are just scared to spend it seems but have to in January
 
richards30 said:
Poor from txiki in the summer imo, Rodri at some point was alway going to grab an injury unfortunately (although never thought this serious) Walker 34/35, KDB 33 heading to 34, Gundo looks his age and was probably as a dressing room influence and a look to maybe joining the coaching staff as much as the player. The club are just scared to spend it seems but have to in January
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I agree but wonder if the Club were inhibited waving the cheque book because of the 115 witchhunt and the optics of spending big. I would have said fuck them and buy top quality to stay top.
 
richards30 said:
Poor from txiki in the summer imo, Rodri at some point was alway going to grab an injury unfortunately (although never thought this serious) Walker 34/35, KDB 33 heading to 34, Gundo looks his age and was probably as a dressing room influence and a look to maybe joining the coaching staff as much as the player. The club are just scared to spend it seems but have to in January
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Totally agree.
Rodri was never gonna be able to play 50 games plus, even without an injury.
Kova, Kev and Gundo are all in their 30s, so it was always going to be tough for them to play 2 games a week (hopefully!) for the entire season.

We have let so many kids go that we have to play senior players in the CC. I get the exchange is we've brought fortunes in, but it's putting extra pressure on a small squad.

Today we had 8 subs and two of them were keepers. Honestly. that's p**s poor planning.
 
Mancini’s Pastilles said:
Probably no one. We dont need anyone remember
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The more you think about the more it’s a total fuck up not getting players into cover our main 2 players and now in feel we are gonna reap what we sow as we are that transfixed by net spend that we’ve actually forgot to pull the trigger and buy players to keep evolving in mean when you think about how can you keep going season after season with the same key players who are getting older and more injury prone and now we have a team of over 30 s who are getting slower and injury prone plus haven’t got the same hunger as players who haven’t won anything . Big season coming up and a big January aswell .
 
We can't buy everyone and we don't seem to do understudy recruitment well. That said we have produced Phil, Rico and Oscar. It's the Bellends, Vinicius, A Davies and Mbappe we haven't identified. It's easy to use the RM attraction to explain why when we buy one of the best center half out there in Josko and not follow it.up by buying at least 1 left back to match.
 
Not only do we have quite a few players 30 or older (KDB, Gundogan, Bernie, Kovacic, Walker, Stones), we play a lot of football compared to most teams, cover a lot of ground, and have a smaller squad. Grealish and Akanji will be 30 soon too, and Rodri might not be the same after such a significant injury.

We’ve still got an unbelievable squad with a great young core, but we need a big refresh over the next 2 seasons.
 
The last thing City will do is panic because we lost Rodri for the season, have drawn 3 matches in a week & because Cole Palmer scored 4 for the Chavs.

Our bench today was immense & I get why Guardiola went with the starting line-up he chose. But If there's one lesson to be learned, it's that Gundog is not up to speed yet & that we'd have been better off with Foden & Silva as No's 10 & 8, & with Savinho on the right.

We've got Kev, Aké & Bobb to return before Christmas which will give us even more options. Several of our senior players (Walker, KDB, Aké, Kovacic, Stones, Bernardo) must also seriously consider if their priorities lie with playing for City or their countries, as doing both in their 30s is too much of a stretch considering City's domestic, European & World Club Cup ambitions. ESPECIALLY because Pep likes to work with a smaller squad.

Rodri's a massive loss, but we knew the risks we were taking by not buying a player who could provide serious competition & rotate with him. The spotlight is also on Haaland, as he's now our only specialist striker. I know we played a false 9 for two seasons, but it doesn't detract from the risk of not having a top class, ready made replacement to rotate with our Viking.

Our current situation also puts Nunes & McAtee in the spotlight. It's now make or break for both imo. Thankfully Jack behaved professionally during the summer break, because we're gonna need him at his very best, as opposed to the player he was last season.

I still wouldn't swap our squad for anyone else's, but the bell is tolling for several players, as I have the feeling there will be BIG changes come next summer, regardless of how the season pans out.
 
I understand how good a player Rodri is but I do feel it becomes an easy excuse for players and manger if we don’t win,

The media certainly don’t help as they magnify situations to hysterical levels, but we have won leauge titles and domestic cups before Rodri signed for the club,

I don’t believe we’re a one man team, although Rodri is an important cog in the wheel, despite his injury there are 10 others players on the pitch who are gonna have to step up to the challange, and not take the easy excuse of saying it’s because of Rodri why we did not win today,

If we do win the leauge this year then the 2 players who will get us over the line are grealish and Haaland, I say this because they are the 2 Players who have had the most rest, it’s as simple as that
 
richards30 said:
Poor from txiki in the summer imo, Rodri at some point was alway going to grab an injury unfortunately (although never thought this serious) Walker 34/35, KDB 33 heading to 34, Gundo looks his age and was probably as a dressing room influence and a look to maybe joining the coaching staff as much as the player. The club are just scared to spend it seems but have to in January
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I don't know what the result of the trial is going to be, but I hope the ownership is prepared to back whoever replaces Pep. I won't say the squad needs 'a lot' of work, but we undoubtedly need more top-shelf quality.
 
I think a big issue for us is that when you carry a small squad (as we do), you can't afford any passengers. We are simply going to have to get a tune out of McAtee and Nunes at some point. You can't afford to make bad signings with a small squad. The case in point is our Rodri backup currently being on loan at Ipswich.

I do feel, however, that City are holding money back for a big splurge at some point. My own feeling is that summer 2025 will be our biggest ever spend. This time next year, the following players will be aged 30 and above:

Ederson
Ortega
Carson
Walker
Stones
Akanji
Ake
Bernardo
De Bruyne
Kovacic
Gundogan
Grealish

You can perhaps discard the goalkeepers because it is a unique position, but there's nine outfield players in that list. My own feeling is that Walker, De Bruyne and Gundogan will move on, as well as a few others who haven't yet hit the 30 mark.

Who comes in? Well, we know Echeverri is on the horizon. Perrone will be back from his loan. Are we really in line for Musiala? Time will tell.
 
Why don’t we just go shit or bust and bring back Perrier and see if it works in centre mid because kobbie Mainoo was given the chance at Utd and he hasn’t looked back .
 
John Wayne said:
I think a big issue for us is that when you carry a small squad (as we do), you can't afford any passengers. We are simply going to have to get a tune out of McAtee and Nunes at some point. You can't afford to make bad signings with a small squad. The case in point is our Rodri backup currently being on loan at Ipswich.

I do feel, however, that City are holding money back for a big splurge at some point. My own feeling is that summer 2025 will be our biggest ever spend. This time next year, the following players will be aged 30 and above:

Ederson
Ortega
Carson
Walker
Stones
Akanji
Ake
Bernardo
De Bruyne
Kovacic
Gundogan
Grealish

You can perhaps discard the goalkeepers because it is a unique position, but there's nine outfield players in that list. My own feeling is that Walker, De Bruyne and Gundogan will move on, as well as a few others who haven't yet hit the 30 mark.

Who comes in? Well, we know Echeverri is on the horizon. Perrone will be back from his loan. Are we really in line for Musiala? Time will tell.
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big majority of them will have no problem playing another 2-3 years though, only 2/3 need to be seriously looked at being replaced/moved on,
 
nellyonthewing said:
I agree but wonder if the Club were inhibited waving the cheque book because of the 115 witchhunt and the optics of spending big. I would have said fuck them and buy top quality to stay top.
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It may not be that straight forward.
(Rodri has been discussed to death, no-one the same and any player even close wasn't joining to sit on the bench in the biggest games.)
I wonder how many players we talked to who said "yeah I'm interested but I want a ridiculous release clause in the event you're relegated to league x or below" now the case has actually started.
Alternatively - Pep's leaving at the end of the season (hope not), and we're leaving money spare for a manager who might want different players. God forbid we end up in Chelseas situation where the manager is actively stating "he's not a player I want playing winger, cb, fb etc..."
We'll never know as it's not how we do business.
Our summer looks far worse due to early injuries - but Pep has always suggested he doesn't want huge squads as he can't guarantee keeping everyone happy (and look at what ended up happening with Cancelo).
As supporters we've witnessed far worse imho
 
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WesthoughtonJohn said:
It may not be that straight forward.
(Rodri has been discussed to death, no-one the same and any player even close wasn't joining to sit on the bench in the biggest games.)
I wonder how many players we talked to who said "yeah I'm interested but I want a ridiculous release clause in the event you're relegated to league x or below" now the case has actually started.
Alternatively - Pep's leaving at the end of the season (hope not), and we're leaving money spare for a manager who might want different players. God forbid we end up in Chelseas situation where the manager is actively stating he's not a player I want playing winger, cb, fb etc...
We'll never know as it's not how we do business.
Our summer looks far worse due to early injuries - but Pep has always suggested he doesn't want huge squads as he can't guarantee keeping everyone happy (and look at what ended up happening with Cancelo).
As supporters we've witnessed far worse imho
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I seem to recall our aim was to have 2 good players for each position. It feels like the aspiration of winning another European Cup this year has dropped off the radar and if the League is achievable then that will be a bonus.
I agree the dynamic of the 115 stitch up together with the uncertainty of Peps future and replacement is impacting on this campaign.
 
I think people are getting a bit giddy, getting to 30 isn’t an end of career thing for most players, for sure Kev, Kyle and Gundo might be close to the end of their PL careers, but Ake, Akanji, Stones still have maybe three more seasons after this one, maybe more. i agree Bernardo will probably go at the end of this or the next season, but don’t lose sight of the fact we have some solid and promising young players. Obviously we need to spend next summer, but we have the means to do that, sanctions aside.
 
nellyonthewing said:
I seem to recall our aim was to have 2 good players for each position. It feels like the aspiration of winning another European Cup this year has dropped off the radar and if the League is achievable then that will be a bonus.
I agree the dynamic of the 115 stitch up together with the uncertainty of Peps future and replacement is impacting on this campaign.
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I think they have the money and are willing to spend it, but not failing FFP/ PSR was already making us lower from 22 players to about 18.

Then 115 came along and for whatever reason it spooked our targeted players.. and the recruitment has slowed.

I mean just think about it.. Kane wanted to join.. Haaland joined and then after 115 we've gotten savinho who we already had sorta.. kovacic and nunes.

Even if we beat the charges the 2 year recruitment gap has damaged us whether we like it or not.. and Pep doesn't think he wants to leave but he's probably keeping options open till it's settled.

That 115 case is basically an elephant sitting on the club's backside!
 
Blue_Lightsaber said:
I think they have the money and are willing to spend it, but not failing FFP/ PSR was already making us lower from 22 players to about 18.

Then 115 came along and for whatever reason it spooked our targeted players.. and the recruitment has slowed.

I mean just think about it.. Kane wanted to join.. Haaland joined and then after 115 we've gotten savinho who we already had sorta.. kovacic and nunes.

Even if we beat the charges the 2 year recruitment gap has damaged us whether we like it or not.. and Pep doesn't think he wants to leave but he's probably keeping options open till it's settled.

That 115 case is basically an elephant sitting on the club's backside!
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Which sums up the uncosted collateral damage the Club is suffering at the hands of our noxious accusers. I'd love it if we cleaned out the whole bunch of them but we'll probably settle for sending them a slightly miffed memo.
 
Blue_Lightsaber said:
I think they have the money and are willing to spend it, but not failing FFP/ PSR was already making us lower from 22 players to about 18.

Then 115 came along and for whatever reason it spooked our targeted players.. and the recruitment has slowed.

I mean just think about it.. Kane wanted to join.. Haaland joined and then after 115 we've gotten savinho who we already had sorta.. kovacic and nunes.

Even if we beat the charges the 2 year recruitment gap has damaged us whether we like it or not.. and Pep doesn't think he wants to leave but he's probably keeping options open till it's settled.

That 115 case is basically an elephant sitting on the club's backside!
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missing Doku and Gvardiol, we still spent 225m last summer.

agree on that first part, just felt they had the right player at the right price so they didn't. Gonna be interesting to see how/where they go next couple of windows.
 
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