Who now then?...

On a positive note, this might mean we will field more of our academy players. If Gundogan drops to DM, that could give Foden or eventually Diaz more chances. If Stones is used as a DM, we could maybe see Eric Garcia in cup games etc.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Pep will turn John Stones into a world class defensive midfielder. He has all the attributes needed.
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the one bit that worries me about stones is receiving the ball with his back to play in the central midfield area....watch Dihno etc and they have the technical ability and awareness to turn out of trouble....but does stones....Pep talked about it just now and said he isn't sure about it as he hasn't really tried it in training.
No doubt stones has the other attributes necessary however
 
pavelsrnicek said:
We have a terrific squad of players with one glaring weakness- a single DM who is 33 and ironically averages 33 league games a season. He has also been swamped the last 3 matches against our most likely rivals this season.

It’s definitely a concern considering the two senior players most likely to cover- Delph isn’t a good enough passer to play there and Gundogan has a habit of going missing when we’re swamped- especially at Anfield.

The fact that we can add players to the Champions League should mean we only have to get by until January as long as Dinho doesn’t get badly injured.
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Gundogan didn't play DM at Anfield. He was stuck out on the right during the period we were over run. That was definitely an experiment that backfired and not a great indicator of Gundogan's ability at DM. He helped us boss games as a deep lying playmaker last season and i think Kovacic would be no more use at DM against teams like Liverpool than Gundogan would be tbh. I'd have liked a fernandinho type player to come in this summer but I'd rather wait than just go for Kovacic for the sake of it. Not sure he offers anything different to what we already have.
 
No question we'll be fine and squad is good enough...from a transfer policy standpoint the only thing I can say is that the club identified a weakness in the squad and has been trying to fill it for the last 7 months and failed to do so. The fact that Pep himself confirmed he has no specific players to cover for Fern shows at the very least he has a concern heading into a new season. Lets hope Stones or Luiz (if he gets a work permit) can ease his concerns.....

City Watch‏Verified account @City_Watch 37m37 minutes ago
Pep on John Stones the holding midfielder: "John, for the qualities he has, I think he can play there - but I dont know, we have never tried him there."
 
Bakayoko looks like he's going to Milan so at least that bullet will truly be dodged if it ever was fired
 
Delphinho said:
On a positive note, this might mean we will field more of our academy players. If Gundogan drops to DM, that could give Foden or eventually Diaz more chances. If Stones is used as a DM, we could maybe see Eric Garcia in cup games etc.
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I agree it will give these lads more game time which is a good thing.

My only concern is if we get turned over in a CL semi due to lack of a proper DM then Pep will not be a happy man.
 
robbieh said:
I agree it will give these lads more game time which is a good thing.

My only concern is if we get turned over in a CL semi due to lack of a proper DM then Pep will not be a happy man.
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Fernandinho and Gundogan will hopefully be enough
 
simon23 said:
the one bit that worries me about stones is receiving the ball with his back to play in the central midfield area....watch Dihno etc and they have the technical ability and awareness to turn out of trouble....but does stones....Pep talked about it just now and said he isn't sure about it as he hasn't really tried it in training.
No doubt stones has the other attributes necessary however
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You're spot on. And as much as I love him. It's a no for me playing john as DM. Let the kid fully develop into his defensive role. Momentum wise he is on a roll. Why on earth would we start fucking with that. I love pep but i hope he's playing games because hes allaover the shop on this. One minute were trying to bring someone in the next weve got enough Then it's douglas luis subject to permit. Now John stones when last month all the talk of jorghinio s press resistant abilities were crucial to who plays dm. Like I said I'm full on team pep, but to city and pep don't take the piss out of the fans.
 
Stones may well turn out to be an able midfield option, but it’ll be completely different to what he’s used to playing centre half. Yea he’s good on the ball and has a decent passing range, but receiving the ball with his back to the game and being pressed from behind will be something he’s never experienced before and he could struggle with. Not overly convinced he’s right for the role, but also not worried about the lack of Dinho cover and think it’s being blown way out of proportion just because of the Liverpool games last season. Gundogan proved he can play there, and in some big games too (Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Napoli).
I don’t know why there’s so much doubt in his ability among this fan base.
Delph, Zinchenko, Danilo can all fill in there too, and we already know Peps planning on using a back three more often now Mendys back. We possibly wouldn’t even need a natural defensive midfielder in a system like that.
This is without even thinking about the kids who could be given a chance like Gomes & Luiz.
Also worth mentioning all this is hypothetical and Dinho could well have another injury free, top class season.

Wish people would stop panicking. We have enough.
 
Delphinho said:
Don`t think he has the ball control or passing abilities to play there, but it`s an interesting suggestion
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He is deceptively good on the ball and has been used as a DM before he joined City. It would be more of a stop gap though
 
Mahrez is a great signing but another window gone without solving our biggest issue..a DM.It's clear that Pep isn't happy with the situation there and has made it known to the management..An issue running into the January window now since the Fred chase..A whole calendar year.
He's just said on Sky that he doesn't like playing Gundogan there because he wants him as an 8 as he has a 'smell' for arriving in the box according to him.The options Stones,Delph or whoever is just him trying to deflect and downplay the issue and being 'forced' to accept the situation as it is although less than ideal the way he wants it.
 
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