Toni Kroos

[Maldeika]

Thank you young lady.

Pep certainly raved over him in "Pep Confidential " but as you know that only covered the 1st season.

I think Pep in his first season - even if he told different - tried to make a Baycelona out of Bayern. All the ideas he had were mainly influenced from his Barcelona years. But I guess that in the last two years some of his views have changed with the player types he has available at Bayern - he learned from them the same way they learned from him. I remember that some said after the first season that you should not try to repair what is not broken. I think Bayern is back to emphasize its own strengths again - atleast then when we do not have bags of injuries.

I guess that is an advantage for you - that he did not come to City directly after Barcelona - but that he has the experience of coaching another team in another league now. He will still have his main idea - that his team wants to have the ball, ideas of clean passing, pressing etc., ideas how he wants his players to behave etc. - but I guess he is much flexible now.

 

[NQCitizen]

I honestly think he's a better buy than Pogba. A few of you might be disappointed by just how much of highlights player Pogba is, even though those highlights are excellent. Said it last summer, but if Marchisio and other hard workers around him I'm not sure Pogba will shine so bright.

Kroos is less spectacular but he offers control.

 

[BlueKlaude]

I honestly think he's a better buy than Pogba. A few of you might be disappointed by just how much of highlights player Pogba is, even though those highlights are excellent. Said it last summer, but if Marchisio and other hard workers around him I'm not sure Pogba will shine so bright.

Kroos is less spectacular but he offers control.

if we are signing Gundogan and Xhaka Kroos isnt needed at all. Both of them have the attributes of Kroos but perhaps less of his best. Pogba is on another level of making games by himself, kroos rarely is.

 

[NQCitizen]

if we are signing Gundogan and Xhaka Kroos isnt needed at all. Both of them have the attributes of Kroos but perhaps less of his best. Pogba is on another level of making games by himself, kroos rarely is.

I don't think we can act like gundogan and xhaka are absolute certainties though, still worth considering other candidates.

 

[BlueKlaude]

I don't think we can act like gundogan and xhaka are absolute certainties though, still worth considering other candidates.

yeah ofc

 

[Tugay One Cup]

I honestly think he's a better buy than Pogba. A few of you might be disappointed by just how much of highlights player Pogba is, even though those highlights are excellent. Said it last summer, but if Marchisio and other hard workers around him I'm not sure Pogba will shine so bright.

Kroos is less spectacular but he offers control.

But where would those highlights come from in a midfield of Kroos, Gundogan and Xhaka? I get what you're saying but Pogba will have grafters with him here as well.

Part of why our midfield has been so pedestrian this season is that Yaya just isn't capable of grabbing a game by the scruff of the neck. When Yaya was at the top of his game, I still wouldn't have described him as anything near a grafter; he had the likes of Gareth Barreth to do that.

On top of that, I doubt Pep would be willing to work with Pogba if he had any doubt as to whether Pogba will work for Pep.

 

[NQCitizen]

But where would those highlights come from in a midfield of Kroos, Gundogan and Xhaka? I get what you're saying but Pogba will have grafters with him here as well.

Part of why our midfield has been so pedestrian this season is that Yaya just isn't capable of grabbing a game by the scruff of the neck. When Yaya was at the top of his game, I still wouldn't have described him as anything near a grafter; he had the likes of Gareth Barreth to do that.

On top of that, I doubt Pep would be willing to work with Pogba if he had any doubt as to whether Pogba will work for Pep.

Which raises the question of where do Silva and KDB go? I don't think either of them are pep wingers.

I'd suggest ideally we get kroos and gundogan or xhaka and kev becomes our explosive midfielder - almost like Muller atm

 

[Viridian]

Which raises the question of where do Silva and KDB go? I don't think either of them are pep wingers.

I'd suggest ideally we get kroos and gundogan or xhaka and kev becomes our explosive midfielder - almost like Muller atm

If we get Xhaka and Gundogan then Silva takes a backseat, unfortunately. Our strongest forward line-up is unlikely to involve him or Yaya next season:

Team A:
Gundogan - Fernandinho - Xhaka
De Bruyne - Aguero - Sterling

Team B:
Yaya - Fernando - Delph
Nasri - Kelechi - Silva

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Which raises the question of where do Silva and KDB go? I don't think either of them are pep wingers.

I'd suggest ideally we get kroos and gundogan or xhaka and kev becomes our explosive midfielder - almost like Muller atm

I think De Bruyne won't hold a fixed position in the team. I've posted before about how I can see De Bruyne being given a role on the right during some games. Similar to where Muller has played for Bayern and Germany before.

He's got the best cross I have ever seen from a City player, his through balls and the variety of ways he plays them are outstanding, he's fairly quick and good on the break, has the skills to beat his man and I think his best moments come when he has very little time to decide what to do.

He doesn't have the ball keeping skills of Nasri or Silva and is prone to playing ridiculously shit simple passes (only once or twice a game but still too many for someone of his talents). I'd wager that, when Kevin starts in a central position, it will be just off the striker; like the role Muller has played more recently.

I really don't want to compare Kevin to Muller too much because they have different skill sets. However, I think their separate skill sets lend themselves well to similar positions. As well as this, I guarantee De Bruyne will play a whole number of roles throughout next season rather than being a permanent fixture anywhere.

I can see David playing a deeper role. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Kevin is the kind of player who makes things happen whereas David and Samir are the kind of players who wait until they see something happening. I believe that this is why we don't see the best of Silva when he plays a wide role and why Nasri has struggled to hit the heights of his Arsenal days.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

If we get Xhaka and Gundogan then Silva takes a backseat, unfortunately. Our strongest forward line-up is unlikely to involve him or Yaya next season:

Team A:
Gundogan - Fernandinho - Xhaka
De Bruyne - Aguero - Sterling

Team B:
Yaya - Fernando - Delph
Nasri - Kelechi - Silva

Yaya won't be here and Silva needs to be far more involved than to hold his position out wide. I'd be surprised to see David start in a wide position in any Pep team as he lacks the pace and directness required.

As much as I love Fern, I have my doubts as to whether he is positionally aware enough to hold down a regular starting spot in midfield. Besides, having Xhaka as an anchorman and Gundogan, who is more than willing to put a shift in defensively despite it not being his strong point, there really wouldn't be too much need for Fernandinho.