Silly Season

[sean the sailor]

Jota played when Bobby was fit at times. Totally agree his general play was poor but scored sone vital goals.

Pep said we wouldn’t see the best of Grealish till this season. Interesting to see how that works out

Not missing the point about Haaland. His primary job will be to score goals and he will when a team creates so many chances. Not sure were you get he has a poor touch from mate? Ball sticks to him like glue. His link up play is very good aswell. I think he will fit seemingly into how city will play.

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[threeps]

Fine to disagree. Please take a read of this however. I just found it and hadn’t used it to form my own opinions but a lot of what’s said I already mentioned.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2022/may/10/erling-haaland-to-manchester-city-is-a-tactical-gamble-that-might-just-pay-off

This sums it up

The point here is simply that one side of this equation will have to change. Either Haaland adapts to fit the style, and there is no reason to assume he can’t (or indeed, as yet, no reason to suggest he can either). Or City successfully adapt a system that, while it lacks a pure finisher, is based almost entirely on working that overload of passing players in midfield and attack.

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[Mikus LFC]

How much did Pep really want or need Grealish & Haaland? Is it not more the case that City have money and ambitious owners who want the best players and managers like Pep can’t really say, no I don’t want them. Grealish struck me as a statement signing and to some extent Haaland is perhaps the same. I remember when Utd sort of started doing this when buying players like Veron who didn’t work out. I think it happens when clubs can get ‘drunk’ on success. That’s not to say Haaland won’t bang in goals, just that I’m not necessarily convinced Pep was the one who made these moves happen. Of course you can counter argue that the best managers can accommodate and adapt the best players into their systems. But I think it can cause them a headache.

Hence I’d say is that it’s probably better for managers to buy unfinished articles so they can complete their training more quickly in their own mould rather then working with more of an established player who you have to spend a longer time to retrain and rework.

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[Editor]

Don’t forget Pep tried to sign Lukaku who has similar strengths (and weaknesses) to Haaland so he may just want to switch things up a bit. It seems unlikely but there must be a reason he’s started to go for this kind of striker. Kane would have arguably suited City better but I’m sure Haaland will score loads anyway there.

I do remember last season though a similar situation at Chelsea where everyone was saying “look how many chances Chelsea create. If they only had a striker to finish them, they’d be challengers.” The problem with that (in both cases) is that they no doubt create so many chances because of a lack of a big number 9, not in spite of it. It clearly had a negative effect on Chelsea’s output so it’s going to be really interesting to see how it affects City’s output. City will have a better finisher on the pitch but they will also, without question, have one less creative player.

Any thoughts on where Poch goes now after PSG? I can’t see a job out there for him so he’ll probably wait around and see who gets sacked. He’ll be there like a cloud hanging over ten Hag if he doesn’t get off to a flyer.

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[sean the sailor]

Ye interesting points threeps.

Let’s wait and see

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[Brian blue]

Strange, I think, City have been lambasted for the last two seasons for not having a “striker”. now we have one, it is said he will not fit or does not do the defensive bit. The latter comment I also find odd because the last 2/3 times I have watched Haaland he was doing some very good defensive work, however, we shall see how it all transpires. The only uncertainty is how long it will take him to settle, he is young and from his interview keen to learn. Ed..Sterling, Jesus were not creative players either but did work hard, although I was never a fan of Sterling you could not fault him for effort

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[nine nine nine]

Haaland is an out and out goal scorer I will be surprised if he doesn’t hit the ground running. Frightening to think what City might have won in the last couple of seasons with Haaland in the team thankfully he wasn’t.😊

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[Adlab]

I wonder why there are so many negative comments about Haaland before he has kicked a ball?
Will he fit in, City will lose creativity, he doesn’t defend etc etc. The guy hasn’t had one training session yet.
Liverpool have acquired Darwin Nunez. Looks pretty good to me. But does he defend, is he creative!?
It’s nonsense of course. He hasn’t kicked a ball. But we don’t see such questions in the media.

Let’s all look forward to it…

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[Editor]

Nobody’s writing him off Adlab. People just enjoy debating the big transfers. Look how many have already written off Ten Hag. The easy thing to do is to say Nunez and Haaland will hit the ground running but it’s always refreshing to get different takes. I do think City will lose creativity by going with a traditional number 9 but I don’t think it will hurt their trophy challenges one bit. City already hammer the smaller teams. Where Haaland will probably make a difference will be, I’d imagine, in the big CL knockout games which Pep has continued to falter in at the final hurdle with City. The only thing left other than questioning whether someone is a perfect fit or saying he’ll hit the ground running is to say nothing but then we wouldn’t need forums any more 😄

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[Nike19]

Ed, I have so say I’m with Adlab on this. In my experience too, I’ve found the more tendency of ‘green eyed’ monster comments (definitely not here) on platforms online and it will come naturally from opposition fans or rival supporters.

I don’t experience no longer just innocent expression of happiness. Maybe that’s too boring in our existing society. Certain mediums will try and deliberately cause a stir with a split down the middle try and generate debate.

Personally, I’ll admit to not watching football outside the Premier League, so I wouldn’t have knowledge of these players. People will go to lengths though with theories and research, but the reality is down to time.

I’m personally excited about our new signing, but keeping my feet on the ground. There’s a long summer ahead of us, and I’m sure there’ll be a lot more activity in these coming weeks.

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[Editor]

Liverpool have acquired Darwin Nunez. Looks pretty good to me. But does he defend, is he creative!?
It’s nonsense of course. He hasn’t kicked a ball. But we don’t see such questions in the media.

Adlab, you can hardly say Nunez isn’t being questioned in the same way Haaland is. There have been comments on here, even from Pool fans like Sean, re his supposedly questionable first touch. I even questioned our supposed potential signing of De Jong. Nobody’s out to get City, Adlab 😄

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[Editor]

Bissouma to Spurs for 26mil looks like an absolute bargain. They’re really not hanging about in the market.

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[threeps]

I don’t think anyone has been disrespectful to City in any way on here. I think Haaland will score loads but there may be questions if he at this moment fits exactly to Pep’s philosophy.

For the record I’ve questioned Nunez also, as he is more of a tradional no 9 than we’ve played with for some time so does that signal a change? Or has the player got more to his game than I know? It’s not disrespectful to discuss if a players style compliments a managers tactic.

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[threeps]

Bissouma still has the charge over his head right? Big risk for anyone to buy him. Not sure on the details of his case but even if he avoids jail time there could be sponsor repercussions if found guilty.

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[Editor]

Yeah, I believe that’s still pending Threeps, hence why I’ve always been wary of my own team going for him. I can only imagine that would be the reason for the low fee or you’d have expected lots of clubs to be in for him at that price.

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[Mikus LFC]

Any thoughts on where Poch goes now after PSG? I can’t see a job out there for him so he’ll probably wait around and see who gets sacked. He’ll be there like a cloud hanging over ten Hag if he doesn’t get off to a flyer.

Or…Man Utd appoint Conte after Ten Hag fails to deliver & Poch goes back to Spurs. Then, harmony can return to the universe 😉

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[Nike19]

You have to place faith and trust on the scouting and the recruitment team. 85million etc is no gimmie of loose change to be throwing about. This is serious money and FSG without question will want to be ensuring there are player sales to finance this season and other future deals should there be.

Of course, there will be adjustments and adaptations, but it’s not entirely for the 10 on the pitch to fit around 1 player. It’s a two-way street.

There are choices of formations to choose from. If we’ve underpinned one that doesn’t mean 4-3-3 is set in stone for life. We can change, mix it up and still apply attacking football intent.

I am excited gladfully because we are now taking the steps we need to be taking in modifying our squad. There are players beyond their prime playing age and provisions/contingency plans need to be in place rather than to leave it for a full-blown transition which in the now industry is a real uphill battle.

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[nine nine nine]

Bissouma only had one year left on his contract too which would have played a part in his price. Football wise he’s a very good signing by Spurs.

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[nine nine nine]

Bissouma only had one year left on his contract too which would have played a part in his price. Football wise he’s a very good signing by Spurs.

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[Adlab]

I’ve just watched some clips of Nunez. Looks quite dangerous.

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