United (A) - Sat 14th Jan, 12:30 | Pre-Match Thread

[jimharri]

Its our defence that worries me. A back 4 that includes akanji and cancello isnt good enough

Akanji has been perfectly fine in the vast majority of games he's played in. Is he a first choice CB? No, of course he isn't. But I wouldn't have any great concerns about him playing tomorrow.

 

[Manc123]

Is Stones that quick?

i dont think i explained myself right, i ment stones being one of our better defenders. Hes faster than laporte and i kind of think pep would have gone without laporte for this game if stones was fit.

 

[1974Blue]

17/24; 5 wins, 2 draws, 1 defeat, Newcastle now looks a belting draw so Villa aside, a cracking return and more than acceptable

The 5 pts dropped at home to Brentford and Everton makes the tally look below our usual standard, as a win tomorrow (which I think we’ll gain) makes the mean average approaching the half way mark, no different to the previous 4/5 seasons; too much emphasis on isolated performances; which reality says hasn’t impacted the way it’s been reported… we are nicely placed, which granted could be distorted with the upcoming games; however, when have we seen us fail to react accordingly? We are so spoilt at out our high standards that a mere 5 pts is causing panic;

3-1 tomorrow and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a masterclass, reinforced by a Haaland hammer show!

But when have we ever chased down 5 points or more. :-)

 

[Bluesince1979]

Akanji has been perfectly fine in the vast majority of games he's played in. Is he a first choice CB? No, of course he isn't. But I wouldn't have any great concerns about him playing tomorrow.

I think along side a dominant CB hes ok , but , and much as i think hes ok , ake isnt that dominant CB

 

[Blu3m00n91]

I think Rico Lewis plays left back tomorrow. Pep trusts him and would allow him to play inverted. Not a chance Walker doesn’t start.

Ederson; Walker Akanji Laporte Lewis; Rodri Bernie; Mahrez KDB Foden, Haaland

 

[MadchesterCity]

please pep, don't use a frankenstien formation!

—-——-Haaland——Alvarez————
———————————————————
————Foden—Bernardo———
Cancelo——Gundogan—————-KDB
——-—Laporte—-Rodri—-Lewis
———-Walker (runny keeper)—————

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

I think these fuckers will actually have a go tomorrow, as long as we defend well and don't gift them anything it should suit us. Think we score at least two.

 

[Gary James]

Bit nervous about tomorrow but I had to do some filming today for Scandinavian TV at Hotel Football explaining the history of the derby (it’ll be shown before the game in Norway for any Blues based over there) and it got me buzzing a bit. I heard a few Reds milling around OT talking as if they were going to walk it and it reminded me of those days like the 5-1, the FAC semi and so when they seemed to think it’d be an easy win. I’m still a bit nervous (as I guess we should be on derby day) but I’ve also had a read of some of the 55 separate articles all tagged Manchester Derby on my website to get me in the mood. If you want to look back at past derbies take a look at the stuff here:

Manchester Derbies – Page 2 – Gary James' Football Archive

Posts about Manchester Derbies written by garyjamesfootballarchive

gjfootballarchive.com

Cmon City! You know we can do it!

In the past I wrote this piece on bragging rights, firsts etc. Well worth reading if you want ammunition to fire at them. It’s free to read: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2022/09/27/the-pride-of-manchester/

 

[meeesh]

And this is what he said……..

 

[citymad]

please pep, don't use a frankenstien formation!

Yeah, we don't want a horror show.