Why City's summer dealings could be very costly

That line about an ugly looking squad is extremely harsh and also disrespectful imo.

Where the full backs are concerned, perhaps we could look at the reasons why we didn't go into the market for some shiny new ones.

My belief is that with 3 of the 4 in the last year of their contracts and heading toward the twilight of their careers moving them on would probably have cost us money as compensation is paid up and peanuts are received in return. That's before we factor in the cost of the shiny new ones.

Like the article infers this could cost us this season, we've gambled but lest we forget whilst FFP has been loosened, it hasn't gone away.
 
I guess you had to make it more negative in order to get it published as you knew it had more chance the harsher you made it.
 
greasedupdeafguy said:
Tbh in the summer i was buzzing with our window, mainly due to being a Gundogan fanboy from watching his early dortmund days.

In retrospect its madness we haven't upgraded the full back positions since the the first title winning season. Kolarov is gash im sorry

Cant say Bravo has been a revelation, expected a lot, lot more if im being honest. Was on peps side on this one in the summer but I dont think anyone can say its worked out so far.

Nolito is a solid short term signing

Stones and Sane well overpriced clearly but I think I they will have good few years with us particularly the latter.

Zinchenko will be one those low cost signings where we sell him on I suspect, we just have so attacking options as it is.

Overall I thought it was a good summer of transfer activity, cant expect one window to solve all the issues in our current squad.
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Think you're wrong about Zinchenko mate. I've seen a few of his games this season and he is the business. Deffo replacement for Spanish dave and will be integrated in next season. He has everything Silva has, plus power and pace. A mix if de bruyne and Silva. Honestly, watch a few games of his when it's next on kodi. The boy really is class
 
total crap

yes this squad needed freshening up and it was the last 2 season under pellegrini and winning only 1 league cup that the real truth hit home that we are not what the media made us out to be. we looked short in all departments and the defence was shocking when kompany was out and the only world class striker we had in (aguero) was also out for long parts of the season

pep and city are not daft and the instant impact of new signings and cleaning out some players was the right thing to do for the long term. short term we can paper over the cracks with quality players in the squad and i don't think the board set pep any real targets other than top 4 this season. i was saying to my lad the other day how many of the line up vs arsenal are long term city and pep players. the back 4 will be changed next season the strikers will be changed and midfield could have a couple of new faces come next season

so city may look a bit of the pace right now but never in the premier league can you give out the medals at christmas
 
I think we were all so dazzled by the reality that Pep was our manager that we all thought we knew exactly what he was brought in to do. We never thought about the results of his meetings with the club's hierarchy. Now I think it's clear that the club's horizon was a great deal further away than ours. Pep's job was a great deal more far reaching: how we are going to play our football is of prime importance and brings along with it the question of who is going to play it for us. Pep is very fussy about who he will have in his team and rightly so - sow's ears will never make silk purses. Up front Pep seems to have concluded that the personnel formed the basis of the kind of front six he wanted though age was going to become a problem in the near future. Nevertheless Pep has begun the preparation for the integration of the next generation, either by loans or first team appearances. Players like Sané not only look "devastating" prospect, thy re being integrated as "Pep" players. At the back the problems were much greater. Pep soon came to appreciate the unique talents of Fernandinho but the back four was both ageing and not really the springboard to launch attacks. Joe was a particular problem - a club hero but not a Pep player. Out went Joe. The question is not about that decision but about whether Claudio Bravo was the right replacement. In central defence Laporte soon knocked us back and a deal for Bonucci could not be clinched. John Stones arrived just in time for the CL. With the fullbacks the question appears to centre around the availability of anyon Pep was prepared to take. The decision may have been to stick with what we'd got for a year and see how the two fullbacks from the academy develop, as well as our young CB.

So, I think We are playing much differently to the way we played last season and the team is getting younger. These processes will gather pace next season and every season. I don't think it's our purchases or nonpurchases which have cost us the title - if anything has - but the magnitude of the "Pep revolution" which has made enormous demands on City. And to fair to all at the clu, no-one has shied away from taking a good few bulls by the horns.
 
BluessinceHydeRoad said:
I think we were all so dazzled by the reality that Pep was our manager that we all thought we knew exactly what he was brought in to do. We never thought about the results of his meetings with the club's hierarchy. Now I think it's clear that the club's horizon was a great deal further away than ours. Pep's job was a great deal more far reaching: how we are going to play our football is of prime importance and brings along with it the question of who is going to play it for us. Pep is very fussy about who he will have in his team and rightly so - sow's ears will never make silk purses. Up front Pep seems to have concluded that the personnel formed the basis of the kind of front six he wanted though age was going to become a problem in the near future. Nevertheless Pep has begun the preparation for the integration of the next generation, either by loans or first team appearances. Players like Sané not only look "devastating" prospect, thy re being integrated as "Pep" players. At the back the problems were much greater. Pep soon came to appreciate the unique talents of Fernandinho but the back four was both ageing and not really the springboard to launch attacks. Joe was a particular problem - a club hero but not a Pep player. Out went Joe. The question is not about that decision but about whether Claudio Bravo was the right replacement. In central defence Laporte soon knocked us back and a deal for Bonucci could not be clinched. John Stones arrived just in time for the CL. With the fullbacks the question appears to centre around the availability of anyon Pep was prepared to take. The decision may have been to stick with what we'd got for a year and see how the two fullbacks from the academy develop, as well as our young CB.

So, I think We are playing much differently to the way we played last season and the team is getting younger. These processes will gather pace next season and every season. I don't think it's our purchases or nonpurchases which have cost us the title - if anything has - but the magnitude of the "Pep revolution" which has made enormous demands on City. And to fair to all at the clu, no-one has shied away from taking a good few bulls by the horns.
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Birds eye potato waffle
 
I think the squad is unbalanced. Too many older players and younger players and not enough players at their peak. I think it will cost us the title this year as I can't see us ironing out the problems we have in the space of a few weeks and in any case, Chelsea look really strong regardless.

I think it will be worth being patient though and this will be addressed. We are not far off seeing the end of Clichy, Sagna, Navas, Kolorov, Toure, Zabaleta and possibly even Kompany and these will all need replacing. I think it's possible Fernandinho may be off too if the Chinese fancy him and make him an offer that we can't compete with.

I am sure next year and the one after that we will have an excellent balanced squad with some young academy players breaking through to compliment it.

It's an exciting future but I don't think this season will be one full of silverware. If we win something it will be a bonus for me.
 
The-Dogs-Pollocks said:
Article spot on. SWP just changes his mind like the wind
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Tell me what I've changed my mind on relating to this article?

The article is harsh. The buys we made are fine for now and the future. Not buying full backs may be an issue but wasn't down to not enough cash (meaning the buys we made had zero effect on not buying full backs).
 
Good article in the main and well written. I don't care too much about the price of new players or whether or not we paid too much for them. What is important is that we get the right players in the right positions to play the system(s) we want to play. If for example, Stirling helps us to achieve that, then I don't care if he cost £50 million and I won't worry too much if we paid £5, £10 or £20 million too much. A scouser keeps reminding me we paid too much and I always reply that it hasn't been paid from my bank account (I wish!) and that whatever he cost, he now plays for us and not for them.....fact (Ha ha!).
 
It's not harsh, it's an opinion which whilst not fully endorsing I can see that the points made all have a basis which I agree with.

However after 10 games played we were going to walk the title, after 20 we were going to be lucky to make top 4. Neither are really correct, but for the odd refereeing decision, misplaced shot, or slip at a crucial moment we would be top.

The league, this season, is not beyond us. But I agree with the main thrust of the article in that we will get better next season and the season after.

The future is looking decidedly blue
 
One point behind a second place Dipper squad that are basically formed and set as a team
(i.e. Tactically and personnel wise)
7 points behind a completely formed well coached Chelsea team with no CL games and a chip on their shoulder from last year.
I don't think your take was harsh, I just don't think it broke new ground.Maybe it was all lipstick and no heart.
 
Aside from our fullbacks, the biggest mistake was not buying a DM.
The best in the premier League, N'Golo Kanté, was available in the summer and we let him go to Chelsea for £32m. Since the end of September he has been unbelievably good.
I'm led to believe that we, along with most of the best clubs in Europe, had talks but we weren't prepared to pay that amount + the wage demands for a player unproven in Europe.
It's the biggest mistake since backing out from buying Hazard due to the agent wanting his cut.
It's taken a while, but Pep has finally realised that you need a player who dominates the second ball situation in the Premier League. Kanté is sublime at this - what's more he gets the pass away quickly to a player further up the field.
 
BJL_City said:
we bought and strengthened positions we needed to, you can't buy for all 11 in one window.

Plus we bought players who wouldn't be on the market next summer because they'd go elsewhere. When Chelsea are resorting to buying Marcos Alonso you can tell it's not the season to buy fullbacks, we missed the boat the year before when the likes of Alex Sandro & Kurzawa were moving. We'll be buying fullbacks now but looking at the next gen as the current crop aren't very good across Europe.

What will cost us the title is established stars like KDB & Kun missing easy chances in games we should have won.
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Agree fully with the last sentence home games against EVERTON AND Chelsea PROVE THAT POINT CONCLUSIVELY
 
BlueAnorak said:
Not harsh at all Toma.
A high line defence with slow defenders and a keeper who is totally useless at closing down the long shot or on-on-one (the most common chance with give up from the combination of slow defenders and the high line) is just asking for trouble.
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I think you might be right Blue we really do lack pace at the back. Still not sure about Bravo but starting to believe he may be a liability and won't improve at his age.
Nolito has been good in patches but can you trust him to stay on the pitch? Gundogan was looking like a bargain! Sane and Stones will come good but yeah overpriced just like 90% of our purchases. As for Jesus who knows but realistically we can't expect him to win us the league this season. Happy Christmas everybody!!!!
 
BlueAnorak said:
Aside from our fullbacks, the biggest mistake was not buying a DM.
The best in the premier League, N'Golo Kanté, was available in the summer and we let him go to Chelsea for £32m. Since the end of September he has been unbelievably good.
I'm led to believe that we, along with most of the best clubs in Europe, had talks but we weren't prepared to pay that amount + the wage demands for a player unproven in Europe.
It's the biggest mistake since backing out from buying Hazard due to the agent wanting his cut.
It's taken a while, but Pep has finally realised that you need a player who dominates the second ball situation in the Premier League. Kanté is sublime at this - what's more he gets the pass away quickly to a player further up the field.
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Best in league? That will be Fernandinho - the reason we probably weren't in for Kante,despite 'what you're led to believe',lol.
 
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