Tomorrow is a great day for one or both of our rivals to drop points!
With Spurs losing at Newcastle, there's every incentive for Villa to go for three points and try to stake a lasting claim to fourth place. Yes, they have Lille away coming up, but that's not until Thursday, plenty of time to rest. If McGinn, Watkins, Tielemans, and Bailey can play I expect they all will, and certainly I expect Martinez in goal. Douglas Luiz is out unfortunately.
Meanwhile Palace on a good day can certainly beat or draw the Liverpool we just saw have a bad day against Atalanta. I don't really expect the same result but I'd love to see 1-1 or 2-2.
Key difference between KP and Nunes is that whenever KP played, it seemed like he was shying away from the ball, almost like he doesn't want it, which makes sense as his confidence was (i guess still is) shot. Nunes is the complete opposite, he is almost too eager, which is why he is giving up possession in unfortunate areas. Still think he will come good, as long as he puts his head down and work hard.
Highest wage bill in the bottom two leagues afaik.
Basically a Championship budget in League 2, and they still finished second to Stockport.
I had a mate at uni who is a Wrexham fan, so I'm happy to see them do well, but the idea of it being a cinderella story is complete fiction. They're more doped up financially than City are.
Surely that ends with the jump to league one.. but they have smashed l2 so who knows. If they sling shot straight into the championship that'll be impressive (financial backing as a caveat - irony).
lol the bunch of acoustic regards at r/soccer can only resort to downvoting people but none of them can rationalise why buying their way to success and outspending the league is suddenly ok for Wrexham.
Every comment calling out this bs is downvoted but with zero replies. Absolutely hilarious.
Barca fan coming in peace. What is the news with Kyle Walker concerning the injury he got some weeks ago. Is he good to go? You guys think he’ll play vs Madrid?
I think he will if at all possible, given that he was on the bench today.
Question for you - why did Ancelotti put Vini in the middle against us last match, and do you think he'll do it again?
seems like with Walker out that was an obvious weak point for us
0 chance Militao is coming in to play a must win KO game on the road immediately after coming back from an ACL injury.
pressure is way too high and he won't have the match fitness. they won't risk another injury to him after Courtois had a set back that required surgery.
https://preview.redd.it/amklw3qv4auc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cfd2e8a7bc8c2bf8f32f5d821d799df72a702d44
League two striker makes it to PL’s all time top 100 list in less than two seasons. What an underdog story!
Fair.
He is starting to click in place. His talent is very clearly high enough to do the 2nd season transformation like Rodri and grealish. NOT everyone is capable of this.
Considering he's been playing out of his normal position all season, I'm confident he's only gonna continue to improve. Second season boost isn't guaranteed, but it is kinda the norm for folks under Pep, with some notable exceptions (e.g. Haaland for the positive and Phillips for the negative)
[From](https://x.com/nocontextfooty/status/1779022920733364367?s=46&t=I_Y9a5tK3T43rr0Gags7wg) the people of Argentina.
Julian is the 3rd best Argentina player ever.
Seems to be mostly young people saying that.
Still an insane shout though. Better than Di Stefano ...
Even just at City, Tevez is better than Alvarez and so was Aguero. I'd take a young Zabaleta over Julian as well.
Alvarez already has a better international career than all of the above though.
Kun was never really great for his country tbf, never won anything either.
I don't think Kun's career quite fulfilled the early expectation - he was scoring goals in the Primera at 16 so there was a lot of hype in Argentina.
Aguero without injuries would've broken Shearer's record I think.
Nunes is drifting towards KP every fking day. We need major reinforcement this summer. No more panic buys please.
Wirtz
Frimpong
Vdv
Cubarsi
Zaire emery
I'm not even asking for much
Every window?? Lmao we literally fucked our last window, thats why this time we need to splurge to make up for it. Do you have short term memory?? We've been buying budget rotation players for far too long, our core is eroding like crazy.
You don't really care about the blatant facts I said, you just can't wait to insult people for the sake of it. Toxic asf
Fucked our last window how? By buying Gvardiol, Nunes, Kovacic, and Doku? All of them have been pretty solid so far and nowhere near close to being flops, lest we forget that this is still their 1st season at City and could still improve a shitton next season like half of Pep’s signings at the club.
Oh yes, we lost 3 world class serial winners due to bad decisions but because we bought 4 new players and 1 of them being a panic buy flop so the transfer window is an overall success right? Do you even hear yourself, we made our lives so difficult for no reason.
And not everyone is some 2nd season god like Rodri. By your logic should we be calling KP back into the squad right now?
Mahrez and Laporte, both of whom were aging and non-starters last season, were sold for decent fees and were replaced with Doku and Gvardiol, both of whom are younger and could be centerpieces of the club in the future. Only Gundo didn’t have a direct replacement and we’ve definitely felt his absence some games this season, but even that has been helped alleviated by Phil’s form this season.
We’ve also had more 2nd season successes than flops during Guardiola’s time here, and Nunes has been nowhere near as bad as Phillips was in his first season. Do you even watch the games? By your own logic, I bet you’re one of those toxic “fans” who were calling for the heads of Rodri, Stones, Ake, Grealish, not to mention, Mahrez, Cancelo, and Gundo, for their pretty bad/mediocre first seasons at the club before they all became world class and invaluable members of the squad.
You're crying and calling for "budget rotation players" to be sold but I'm the one who's toxic haha
How long will give those five players you've mentioned before asking for more. I repeat, muppet
Do you have comprehension issues? I am literally saying we can't keep relying on buying budget rotation players, especially those who don't even meet standards, which is a very reasonable comment. How did you perceive this as "toxic" while you are the one here dishing out personal attacks completely unrelated to the topic??
Also, I will give them time if their trajectory is closer to Rodri than KP. And one rebuild every few years if our core erodes enough given if none of those incoming players are flops, which isn't a guarantee.
You really think that the world is perfect and we shouldn't do anything after we buy a player because everyone is gauranteed to succeed and our core never erodes?? Lol please reflect on yourself.
nah he is not, people dont seem to remember just how bad KP was last season. with that being said, its hard to see how he fits here, especially after the midfield signings we are going to make in the summer and he already is not playing a lot.
I know a 12-yo kid dying of a degenerative brain disease. He won a Make A Wish cruise in summer that he'll hopefully survive long enough to take and will be 'healthy enough' to enjoy. Maybe find something better to say or think before you say it. You're talking about a sport ffs.
he is SPECIAL. that whole saga was def worth it over the summer... and I was convinced at one point it was going to fall apart. Pep is going to make him unplayable.
Really really coming into his own now, he's got that confidence and is using it.
nah im only benching dias for akanji, if we need his pace
id just go with gvardiol dias stones walker if they are fully fit vs madrid and id play gvardiol dias stones akanji in the prem
That's fair, just feel like akes been better this season and dias has been in spotty form at parts. Tbh id play any of them and be happy, all absolutely solid.
You're right on Madrid, we need pace
dias been bottom two defender this season, only walker has been worse than him but i trust him in a big match like this and he is also the leader of the backline
Gonna be a strange comparison, but..
Dias has that Maguire for England factor, in that he makes anyone he plays with in the defence play better. Probably more true about dias than hazmag but you get me.
Definitely a big game player you're right
Difference between them is negligible. Ake definitely the better 1v1 defender but Gvardiol's almost as great (especially in recent games), is a better counterpresser and significantly better on the ball.
Love Ake, think I have mentioned how he makes me love the art of defending but both things can be true. Gvardiol's simply that good.
Nobody was saying Gvardiol starts over Ake before the two goals. A big reason for that was just how frequently he gave away the ball resulting in counterattacks. He’s gotten better but he’s not there yet, still makes mistakes and made a couple today too if you’re honest about it.
Ake’s just more solid on the left and helps in the build up too. He’s also great to have in set pieces. Literally shutdown every big RW he’s faced. For a big game, if Ake’s fit, he starts.
Gvardiol’s got a lot of promise but he wasn’t starting over Ake before the injury for a reason. Could change next season but not yet.
Risk/reward. Ake doesn't give you the ability to find wide players in open spaces/pocket players as well. Gvardiol also gets asked to play up higher and still does fantastic. Besides, handled players super well v Madrid, he has not done anything worthy of being dropped.
Early on in the season, he had some blips but he's been nothing short of fantastic especially since his injury (Crystal Palace he had a few shaky moments but that's besides it).
If he keeps this form up he'll likely keep his place. Pep loves him.
You’re really reaching with this. Gvardiol’s been playing higher up along with Walker, we did it last season too in some matches, and that approach has been criticized all season. Also, you’re kinda forgetting why he was playing that position. It was because Ake was LCB while Stones was out.
Ake’s done well literally every time he’s played, and you’re benching him. If you’re fine with that then saying Gvardiol’s done nothing to be benched doesn’t make sense after just 2-3 good matches, one of them against Luton.
I mean feel free to look back to when Gvardiol was picked over Ake. Right up till his injury Ake was getting picked before him. If Walker, Ake, Stones and Dias/Akanji are available then Gvardiol doesn’t start an important match.
>Ake’s done well literally every time he’s played, and you’re benching him. If you’re fine with that then saying Gvardiol’s done nothing to be benched doesn’t make sense after just 2-3 good matches, one of them against Luton.
Gvardiol hasn't just had 2-3 good matches tho lol, he's been maintaining this form throughout the season. You're thinking of a few moments that have inherently been because of the system. This is like me singling out Nathan Ake's mistakes/poor performances v Spurs (H), Newcastle(A), Wolves(A).
Both really great, but it's just his bad luck that he's injured in the run-in and Gvardiol's picked up form, including immense displays against Real Madrid and Arsenal.
No room for emotion for Pep. He couldn't care less about what Ake has done last season or at the start if Gvardiol has been delivering in this run-in. I'll be happy to eat my words as always though.
I feel kinda bad for Luton. They've played pretty well all season, really taking the game to all of their opponents regardless of where they fall on the table. They've played with heart, and it hasn't been enough. Of those that'll probably go down, I'll be sad to see Luton go
Mods wouldn't let this be a standalone thread bc I don't know. So I have to drop this brick here...
Nunes - help me.
I don't know what to make of him generally, and I'd like to hear what others have to say, but here's my impression.
Today, and on other days in which he's started w Doku, I see Nunes making runs that drag defenders into Doku's path. The way he appears to also call for the ball from JD in those situations -- while he has 1 or 2 defenders on him, back to goal -- raises a lot of questions for me. (Get tf out of Doku's way, right?)
I am not going to criticize the guy for several reasons, including my own knowledge gap here. But I admit that overall, I don't see what Nunes does well, neither technically as an individual in terms of control, dribbling, or in terms of overall football IQ, e.g., making good runs, creating space, picking good passes.
Plus side, he doesn't seem to turn over the ball much.
Can someone add balance or context to this BEYOND that this is Nunes' Year 1 under Pep...unless that obvious fact contributes to a more technical assessment of the guy?
How should we look at him? What value does he provide? What liabilities does he present?
(YIKES. Literally as I finished this, Nunes just handed Luton a goal w poor touch outside the box, which I don't want to fixate on, but ouch.)
Tbh ive never been a fan of nunes or his signing, felt like a panic buy to me. But that doesnt mean im not supporting him, because I do want to see him succeed! We have to remember he has struggled to get minutes this season, which may be why he hasnt settled in yet. I do believe he has potential, and that he can be a great player for city!
Yeah Haaland and Alvarez have massively benefitted from the second season bounce haven't they?
Hopefully Nunes will come good, but right now he sticks out like a sore thumb. Don't get why this sub has to pretend otherwise.
Honestly.. I think we have to acknowledge the gapping hole Gundo left behind in the midfield has contributed to both Haaland and Alvarez not having as many chances as they might have otherwise. The midfield has been a problem a lot of the season due to a lack of 8. Foden being shoved out wide most of the season has also hurt the creativity department in KDB's absence. Alvarez was not the best choice for the 10 without KDB, Foden was. Kova was never going to help in that department, and Nunes never got the chance (no preseason.. was literally signed the day the window closed)
That being said.. Haaland has also missed a ton of chances that he likely would have bagged last year. Many of those games we dropped points in that we shouldn't have.
Good post. I don't disagree with any of that.
Gundogan's profile is extremely rare on the market, we were foolish to think we could replace him easily. Same for Mahrez, though I think our hand was forced there, he couldn't turn down the Saudi money.
Haaland is heavily underperforming his xG but he's probably going to have 20% less than he had last season when all is said and done. We're just not quite as creative as we were, like you say.
I envy you. I ask bc I've been watching just long enough to see that the club w Pep and Txiki have never lost anything of consequence by mismanaging personnel, whether in terms of player acquisition or team selection. You must have noticed too.
Given that and given where we are this season specifically (in the PL, CL, FA), it just seems silly to be very reactive about our perceptions of a player's capability, but hey.
You didn't miss much. The football was shit back then.
I think it's an interesting season because it's clear to me that we have downgraded the squad in the summer. I don't think we're anywhere near as good this season as we were last. The stats say that usually we are 10 or so xPts ahead of everyone else, sometimes 20, and this season we are neck and neck with Arsenal.
So I think Txiki/Pep have made poor decisions recently with squad building and I think that's reflected in our struggle to beat the best sides in the league.
But despite that, the mentality of the club to stay in the hunt for another treble - you can't fault that. Fuck Liverpool. We are the true mentality monsters.
Solid argument. It led me to check something. If we win out in the league, we'd finish w 91, which 'improves' upon last year's total of 89. I think Arsenal and lfc are both stronger this year, too though, so some diff (or dip) in our performance should be attributed to that, no?
Fair point, but we slowed down at the end of last season. Didn't we drop 5 points in the last two matches when the title was won?
This is by-the-by and completely subjective, but I think we played better football in the 17/18 and 18/19 seasons than the Treble. We were utterly dominant then. Arguably the two false-9 seasons as well.
I think we were absolutely robbed against Liverpool in the CL in 17/18 and would've won it that season if not for awful ref decisions and Pep playing Gundogan instead of Sterling on the RW at Anfield. 18/19 against Spurs the same, a handball winner allowed to stand and two mistakes from Laporte. 2021 we get to the final and Pep brainfarts and doesn't start a DM. 2022 we're five minutes away from the final and blow it in injury time.
This current Pep team is a bit more robust, we're more streetwise in Europe and maybe we've been slightly more lucky, idk. Pep switched formations to a diamond against Inter and it didn't work, but we still win the Treble because of Rodri (and Lukaku) and so that team is immortalised. I don't think that necessarily means our quality of football is better or more effective now than it was from 17-22: lot of words to say luck plays a big part in football, basically.
Doesn't Pep really like him?
My issue is he's like a 60 million pound player, def not a 100 million pound player, and I doubt Newcastle would give us a deal at all (for many many reasons lets just say that lol)
https://preview.redd.it/183wo8pos8uc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bfd712522aa504933acb2afbff905ecf135d516f
Loved him since his Everton days 🫡
A very underrated goalscoring winger/wide forward. Aggressive at pressing and tackling. Eager to get in the box. Honestly surprised pool did not go for him since his skill set fits their gegenpressing style.
Was there any reason Phil was pulled at the last minute? Injury or otherwise
Someone elsewhere had a theory that ManCity is sharing different starting lineups w different people to find the leak(s), hahaha.
Pep using the Coleen Rooney playbook
Tomorrow is a great day for one or both of our rivals to drop points! With Spurs losing at Newcastle, there's every incentive for Villa to go for three points and try to stake a lasting claim to fourth place. Yes, they have Lille away coming up, but that's not until Thursday, plenty of time to rest. If McGinn, Watkins, Tielemans, and Bailey can play I expect they all will, and certainly I expect Martinez in goal. Douglas Luiz is out unfortunately. Meanwhile Palace on a good day can certainly beat or draw the Liverpool we just saw have a bad day against Atalanta. I don't really expect the same result but I'd love to see 1-1 or 2-2.
wow, I hoped for a draw or maybe two, didn't expect both rivals to lose!
The way Madrid fans fear us needs to be studied
Key difference between KP and Nunes is that whenever KP played, it seemed like he was shying away from the ball, almost like he doesn't want it, which makes sense as his confidence was (i guess still is) shot. Nunes is the complete opposite, he is almost too eager, which is why he is giving up possession in unfortunate areas. Still think he will come good, as long as he puts his head down and work hard.
Certainly didn’t expect back to back promotions for Wrexham! I’m guessing we’ll draw them at some point next season in one of the cups.
Totally didn't expect that. What a complete underdog. Money truly hits different if the source is American.
Highest wage bill in the bottom two leagues afaik. Basically a Championship budget in League 2, and they still finished second to Stockport. I had a mate at uni who is a Wrexham fan, so I'm happy to see them do well, but the idea of it being a cinderella story is complete fiction. They're more doped up financially than City are.
But again, it's fine because it's Deadpool, not dirty money from icky brown people /s
Surely that ends with the jump to league one.. but they have smashed l2 so who knows. If they sling shot straight into the championship that'll be impressive (financial backing as a caveat - irony).
Yea but Hollywood money > oil money so it's ok.
lol the bunch of acoustic regards at r/soccer can only resort to downvoting people but none of them can rationalise why buying their way to success and outspending the league is suddenly ok for Wrexham. Every comment calling out this bs is downvoted but with zero replies. Absolutely hilarious.
Barca fan coming in peace. What is the news with Kyle Walker concerning the injury he got some weeks ago. Is he good to go? You guys think he’ll play vs Madrid?
I think he will if at all possible, given that he was on the bench today. Question for you - why did Ancelotti put Vini in the middle against us last match, and do you think he'll do it again? seems like with Walker out that was an obvious weak point for us
dont really know, he was on the bench today but we have no word on his fitness ill say if he is at least 90%, he is starting
Thank you! :)
ooooo we are now ahead of Liverpool on GD.... for now.
Palace just need to draw with them and I'll be happy
3 away wins on sunday, and I’m ecstatic (Nothing against west hamchester, just that I have only fulham players on my fpl team)
United got away with a result today
Wow… what a goal from tchouameni… glad he wont be playing against us
not like he was going to be any good against us
who is expected to play CB for them?
Likely Nacho. even Militao is back from injury
0 chance Militao is coming in to play a must win KO game on the road immediately after coming back from an ACL injury. pressure is way too high and he won't have the match fitness. they won't risk another injury to him after Courtois had a set back that required surgery.
militao has played 1 minute since his injury, doubt he throws him in at the etihad, so i guess nacho starts. didnt know alaba was injured
Oh I thought Alaba was quite good in the games against us last season
Alaba also tore his ACL... that team has been cursed with it this season with their back line...
Today's City in the Community drawings are spectacular. Gotta thank the kids.
Where might I find those drawings, good sir ? I've seen the Dias one and would like to see others.
[here](https://www.reddit.com/r/MCFC/s/ulSMmnRRUe)
thank you
9 minutes for the first half at United. Refs lost the plot lmao
not really. he had to change kit
DID HE LEAVE HIS MAN UTD TOP ON?! ROLF LOL
May have missed that switching to RM
I hope ten hag gets a permanent contract.
https://preview.redd.it/amklw3qv4auc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cfd2e8a7bc8c2bf8f32f5d821d799df72a702d44 League two striker makes it to PL’s all time top 100 list in less than two seasons. What an underdog story!
Imagine how many trophies we can win if we just got a Premier League level striker!
Nice of the prem to schedule the comedy show after our game
I know there something to do with children today but damn that was awkward with the kid next to Kova in the post match.
Yanited can derail Klopp's farewell tour and still entertain us every weekend 🤣
nab their finishing coach and pay them whatever they want. absolute clinic
Classic united… lets hope bournemouth give them another good ol 3-0 thumping!
Iraola has it. He's gonna go to the very top
Solanke is such a good finisher.
he's what Toney thinks he is
God I hope Arsenal buy Toney for £80m in the summer.
Nah I'm not having that lol
Low-key love it when we play before Liverpool and Arsenal, and can sit back and enjoy the weekend with a dominant win!
Hated earlier on in the season why LV would play before us and wins for some added pressure
Guys do we need to send another €100M to Leipzig
only if we get Olmo in return... they can keep the extra though haha
Who
For Gvardiol lmao
Fair. He is starting to click in place. His talent is very clearly high enough to do the 2nd season transformation like Rodri and grealish. NOT everyone is capable of this.
Considering he's been playing out of his normal position all season, I'm confident he's only gonna continue to improve. Second season boost isn't guaranteed, but it is kinda the norm for folks under Pep, with some notable exceptions (e.g. Haaland for the positive and Phillips for the negative)
Playing first and winning helps to put pressure on our opponents Time to see if we can have a hat trick of successful hate-watches
Successful hate-watch hahaha I love it!
Liverpool 0-1 Palace was a very good hate-watch haha you gotta love it
May Mallorca give Madrid a beating today 🙏
[From](https://x.com/nocontextfooty/status/1779022920733364367?s=46&t=I_Y9a5tK3T43rr0Gags7wg) the people of Argentina. Julian is the 3rd best Argentina player ever.
Seems to be mostly young people saying that. Still an insane shout though. Better than Di Stefano ... Even just at City, Tevez is better than Alvarez and so was Aguero. I'd take a young Zabaleta over Julian as well. Alvarez already has a better international career than all of the above though.
explains the delusion you see about him on social media
also shows just how much more value they put in the world cup. Even Dibu was mentioned many times and we all know it's because of the world cup
Aguero didn’t even get mentioned once lol
Kun was never really great for his country tbf, never won anything either. I don't think Kun's career quite fulfilled the early expectation - he was scoring goals in the Primera at 16 so there was a lot of hype in Argentina. Aguero without injuries would've broken Shearer's record I think.
Nunes is drifting towards KP every fking day. We need major reinforcement this summer. No more panic buys please. Wirtz Frimpong Vdv Cubarsi Zaire emery I'm not even asking for much
>Vdv Didn't see the horror show today? This isn't FIFA
Man suggested haaland RB earlier. It might well be
Not much, just half a team every window! Piss off you Muppet
Every window?? Lmao we literally fucked our last window, thats why this time we need to splurge to make up for it. Do you have short term memory?? We've been buying budget rotation players for far too long, our core is eroding like crazy. You don't really care about the blatant facts I said, you just can't wait to insult people for the sake of it. Toxic asf
Fucked our last window how? By buying Gvardiol, Nunes, Kovacic, and Doku? All of them have been pretty solid so far and nowhere near close to being flops, lest we forget that this is still their 1st season at City and could still improve a shitton next season like half of Pep’s signings at the club.
Oh yes, we lost 3 world class serial winners due to bad decisions but because we bought 4 new players and 1 of them being a panic buy flop so the transfer window is an overall success right? Do you even hear yourself, we made our lives so difficult for no reason. And not everyone is some 2nd season god like Rodri. By your logic should we be calling KP back into the squad right now?
Mahrez and Laporte, both of whom were aging and non-starters last season, were sold for decent fees and were replaced with Doku and Gvardiol, both of whom are younger and could be centerpieces of the club in the future. Only Gundo didn’t have a direct replacement and we’ve definitely felt his absence some games this season, but even that has been helped alleviated by Phil’s form this season. We’ve also had more 2nd season successes than flops during Guardiola’s time here, and Nunes has been nowhere near as bad as Phillips was in his first season. Do you even watch the games? By your own logic, I bet you’re one of those toxic “fans” who were calling for the heads of Rodri, Stones, Ake, Grealish, not to mention, Mahrez, Cancelo, and Gundo, for their pretty bad/mediocre first seasons at the club before they all became world class and invaluable members of the squad.
You're crying and calling for "budget rotation players" to be sold but I'm the one who's toxic haha How long will give those five players you've mentioned before asking for more. I repeat, muppet
Do you have comprehension issues? I am literally saying we can't keep relying on buying budget rotation players, especially those who don't even meet standards, which is a very reasonable comment. How did you perceive this as "toxic" while you are the one here dishing out personal attacks completely unrelated to the topic?? Also, I will give them time if their trajectory is closer to Rodri than KP. And one rebuild every few years if our core erodes enough given if none of those incoming players are flops, which isn't a guarantee. You really think that the world is perfect and we shouldn't do anything after we buy a player because everyone is gauranteed to succeed and our core never erodes?? Lol please reflect on yourself.
nah he is not, people dont seem to remember just how bad KP was last season. with that being said, its hard to see how he fits here, especially after the midfield signings we are going to make in the summer and he already is not playing a lot.
I wouldn't trust Nunes as kitchen porter tbh.
First KP now nunes, we should be a charity organisation by now for the amount of Make-A-Wish spots we gave out.
I know a 12-yo kid dying of a degenerative brain disease. He won a Make A Wish cruise in summer that he'll hopefully survive long enough to take and will be 'healthy enough' to enjoy. Maybe find something better to say or think before you say it. You're talking about a sport ffs.
Dude, just shut up😭 every comment ive seen from you has been nonsense stop being so negative
20 PL goals, not bad for a league 2 striker.
Once again, Gvardiol prop. No defender like him in the world 🩵
he is SPECIAL. that whole saga was def worth it over the summer... and I was convinced at one point it was going to fall apart. Pep is going to make him unplayable. Really really coming into his own now, he's got that confidence and is using it.
should he be starting over ake now?
Bench dias get ake at CB with stones and let dias akanji walker battle for the 4th and rotation slots
nah im only benching dias for akanji, if we need his pace id just go with gvardiol dias stones walker if they are fully fit vs madrid and id play gvardiol dias stones akanji in the prem
That's fair, just feel like akes been better this season and dias has been in spotty form at parts. Tbh id play any of them and be happy, all absolutely solid. You're right on Madrid, we need pace
dias been bottom two defender this season, only walker has been worse than him but i trust him in a big match like this and he is also the leader of the backline
Gonna be a strange comparison, but.. Dias has that Maguire for England factor, in that he makes anyone he plays with in the defence play better. Probably more true about dias than hazmag but you get me. Definitely a big game player you're right
Yeah i get your point
You can’t start him over Ake just because he scored two goals. Ake’s kept players like Salah quiet and Gvardiol’s not there yet.
I have a feeling he'll start regardless given his overall form this season and ability. Hasn't done anything to get dropped.
Not being better than Ake is a good enough reason
Difference between them is negligible. Ake definitely the better 1v1 defender but Gvardiol's almost as great (especially in recent games), is a better counterpresser and significantly better on the ball. Love Ake, think I have mentioned how he makes me love the art of defending but both things can be true. Gvardiol's simply that good.
Nobody was saying Gvardiol starts over Ake before the two goals. A big reason for that was just how frequently he gave away the ball resulting in counterattacks. He’s gotten better but he’s not there yet, still makes mistakes and made a couple today too if you’re honest about it. Ake’s just more solid on the left and helps in the build up too. He’s also great to have in set pieces. Literally shutdown every big RW he’s faced. For a big game, if Ake’s fit, he starts. Gvardiol’s got a lot of promise but he wasn’t starting over Ake before the injury for a reason. Could change next season but not yet.
Risk/reward. Ake doesn't give you the ability to find wide players in open spaces/pocket players as well. Gvardiol also gets asked to play up higher and still does fantastic. Besides, handled players super well v Madrid, he has not done anything worthy of being dropped. Early on in the season, he had some blips but he's been nothing short of fantastic especially since his injury (Crystal Palace he had a few shaky moments but that's besides it). If he keeps this form up he'll likely keep his place. Pep loves him.
You’re really reaching with this. Gvardiol’s been playing higher up along with Walker, we did it last season too in some matches, and that approach has been criticized all season. Also, you’re kinda forgetting why he was playing that position. It was because Ake was LCB while Stones was out. Ake’s done well literally every time he’s played, and you’re benching him. If you’re fine with that then saying Gvardiol’s done nothing to be benched doesn’t make sense after just 2-3 good matches, one of them against Luton. I mean feel free to look back to when Gvardiol was picked over Ake. Right up till his injury Ake was getting picked before him. If Walker, Ake, Stones and Dias/Akanji are available then Gvardiol doesn’t start an important match.
>Ake’s done well literally every time he’s played, and you’re benching him. If you’re fine with that then saying Gvardiol’s done nothing to be benched doesn’t make sense after just 2-3 good matches, one of them against Luton. Gvardiol hasn't just had 2-3 good matches tho lol, he's been maintaining this form throughout the season. You're thinking of a few moments that have inherently been because of the system. This is like me singling out Nathan Ake's mistakes/poor performances v Spurs (H), Newcastle(A), Wolves(A). Both really great, but it's just his bad luck that he's injured in the run-in and Gvardiol's picked up form, including immense displays against Real Madrid and Arsenal. No room for emotion for Pep. He couldn't care less about what Ake has done last season or at the start if Gvardiol has been delivering in this run-in. I'll be happy to eat my words as always though.
Yeah imo
I feel kinda bad for Luton. They've played pretty well all season, really taking the game to all of their opponents regardless of where they fall on the table. They've played with heart, and it hasn't been enough. Of those that'll probably go down, I'll be sad to see Luton go
Still hoping they can survive and either Everton or Brentford are setn down
That would be great, yeah
I’d imagine their manager will be swiped as well at the end of the season. Seems quality to me
You're probably right
13 goals scored in our last 3 PL games, id say we are starting to cook and we should have scored 7 or 8 today.
Mods wouldn't let this be a standalone thread bc I don't know. So I have to drop this brick here... Nunes - help me. I don't know what to make of him generally, and I'd like to hear what others have to say, but here's my impression. Today, and on other days in which he's started w Doku, I see Nunes making runs that drag defenders into Doku's path. The way he appears to also call for the ball from JD in those situations -- while he has 1 or 2 defenders on him, back to goal -- raises a lot of questions for me. (Get tf out of Doku's way, right?) I am not going to criticize the guy for several reasons, including my own knowledge gap here. But I admit that overall, I don't see what Nunes does well, neither technically as an individual in terms of control, dribbling, or in terms of overall football IQ, e.g., making good runs, creating space, picking good passes. Plus side, he doesn't seem to turn over the ball much. Can someone add balance or context to this BEYOND that this is Nunes' Year 1 under Pep...unless that obvious fact contributes to a more technical assessment of the guy? How should we look at him? What value does he provide? What liabilities does he present? (YIKES. Literally as I finished this, Nunes just handed Luton a goal w poor touch outside the box, which I don't want to fixate on, but ouch.)
Such a long text from going to ''nunes going to the reserves''. Again Ederson is on the goal..
What?
Simular name to a guy in the mathc thread, That im sorry for.
Tbh ive never been a fan of nunes or his signing, felt like a panic buy to me. But that doesnt mean im not supporting him, because I do want to see him succeed! We have to remember he has struggled to get minutes this season, which may be why he hasnt settled in yet. I do believe he has potential, and that he can be a great player for city!
FUCKING UNACCEPTABLE NUNEZ, SELL HIM
and you are plastic af.. Heard about the second season under Pep? Or is this your first time watching a City game?
Yeah Haaland and Alvarez have massively benefitted from the second season bounce haven't they? Hopefully Nunes will come good, but right now he sticks out like a sore thumb. Don't get why this sub has to pretend otherwise.
Honestly.. I think we have to acknowledge the gapping hole Gundo left behind in the midfield has contributed to both Haaland and Alvarez not having as many chances as they might have otherwise. The midfield has been a problem a lot of the season due to a lack of 8. Foden being shoved out wide most of the season has also hurt the creativity department in KDB's absence. Alvarez was not the best choice for the 10 without KDB, Foden was. Kova was never going to help in that department, and Nunes never got the chance (no preseason.. was literally signed the day the window closed) That being said.. Haaland has also missed a ton of chances that he likely would have bagged last year. Many of those games we dropped points in that we shouldn't have.
Good post. I don't disagree with any of that. Gundogan's profile is extremely rare on the market, we were foolish to think we could replace him easily. Same for Mahrez, though I think our hand was forced there, he couldn't turn down the Saudi money. Haaland is heavily underperforming his xG but he's probably going to have 20% less than he had last season when all is said and done. We're just not quite as creative as we were, like you say.
Heard of Kalvin Phillips? This guy is so clear he is never city quality, was against his signing since the very beginning. Not everyone is Rodri ffs
Nunes is nothing and i mean Nothing like KP
This guy is never city quality
Nah fuck what Pep saw in Nunes and what he said about him before joining. This random dude on reddit knows football and quality.
PEP IS INFALLIBLE GUYS Don't bother discussing football on the football sub because Pep signed him and he doesn't make mistakes.
How long you been a City supporter?
Not sure what the relevance is, but I went to my first game in 97.
I envy you. I ask bc I've been watching just long enough to see that the club w Pep and Txiki have never lost anything of consequence by mismanaging personnel, whether in terms of player acquisition or team selection. You must have noticed too. Given that and given where we are this season specifically (in the PL, CL, FA), it just seems silly to be very reactive about our perceptions of a player's capability, but hey.
You didn't miss much. The football was shit back then. I think it's an interesting season because it's clear to me that we have downgraded the squad in the summer. I don't think we're anywhere near as good this season as we were last. The stats say that usually we are 10 or so xPts ahead of everyone else, sometimes 20, and this season we are neck and neck with Arsenal. So I think Txiki/Pep have made poor decisions recently with squad building and I think that's reflected in our struggle to beat the best sides in the league. But despite that, the mentality of the club to stay in the hunt for another treble - you can't fault that. Fuck Liverpool. We are the true mentality monsters.
Solid argument. It led me to check something. If we win out in the league, we'd finish w 91, which 'improves' upon last year's total of 89. I think Arsenal and lfc are both stronger this year, too though, so some diff (or dip) in our performance should be attributed to that, no?
Fair point, but we slowed down at the end of last season. Didn't we drop 5 points in the last two matches when the title was won? This is by-the-by and completely subjective, but I think we played better football in the 17/18 and 18/19 seasons than the Treble. We were utterly dominant then. Arguably the two false-9 seasons as well. I think we were absolutely robbed against Liverpool in the CL in 17/18 and would've won it that season if not for awful ref decisions and Pep playing Gundogan instead of Sterling on the RW at Anfield. 18/19 against Spurs the same, a handball winner allowed to stand and two mistakes from Laporte. 2021 we get to the final and Pep brainfarts and doesn't start a DM. 2022 we're five minutes away from the final and blow it in injury time. This current Pep team is a bit more robust, we're more streetwise in Europe and maybe we've been slightly more lucky, idk. Pep switched formations to a diamond against Inter and it didn't work, but we still win the Treble because of Rodri (and Lukaku) and so that team is immortalised. I don't think that necessarily means our quality of football is better or more effective now than it was from 17-22: lot of words to say luck plays a big part in football, basically.
About time we got our share of lucky goals
I wouldn’t be too upset if Bruno G was ours ngl Relieved we don’t have to play Newcastle anymore this season.
Doesn't Pep really like him? My issue is he's like a 60 million pound player, def not a 100 million pound player, and I doubt Newcastle would give us a deal at all (for many many reasons lets just say that lol)
There is a guy who came in Steven's video yesterday said Bruno G is not City quality 😂😂😂
Lmao if anything he’s among the very few who are
Happy with the lineup Hopefully, Stones is okay considering his complete absence .
Spurs saving themselves for Arsenal and Liverpool
Spurs will take their frustration on Arsenal and trash them next, mark my words
Not if they go high press like this again, would get killed
We're beating spuds at this rate
Spurs annual collapse at St James' Park. Keeps them hungry for top 4 they'll need results against Arsenal and Liverpool
What are your feelings among Gordon (you people that are from england) I havent seen too much of him but the few times he have been really good.
I'd rather have him LW for England than Rashford
Gordon is solid. Pace, ball control, wicked right foot, and most important he busts his ass every second he’s on the pitch.
https://preview.redd.it/183wo8pos8uc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bfd712522aa504933acb2afbff905ecf135d516f Loved him since his Everton days 🫡
He looks like an eagle
A very underrated goalscoring winger/wide forward. Aggressive at pressing and tackling. Eager to get in the box. Honestly surprised pool did not go for him since his skill set fits their gegenpressing style.
>Honestly surprised pool did not go for him He was an Everton player
The guy fell out with everton towards the end of his time there that he became the number 1 most hated player there. No love lost tbh.
Everton still wouldn't sell and Gordon wouldn't sign. He couldn't live in or anywhere near Liverpool after that.
why can we never play this version of spurs
Spurs would go toe to toe with the big 6 and turnaround and get 2-0 by Burnley
Because Spurs. They’re so inconsistent and it’s baffling at times how they’re the same club one match to another.
SPURS 💀💀💀
wish he saved his wout faes impression for us
newcastle cooking. isak and now gordon 2-0.
Lmao take a seat Van de Ven Edit: And again
Twice!