The Official Manchester City Thread

[Jack Hna]

Or to put it another way.

 

League defeats between last season and this season.

 

10

 

Percentage of losses over last ,40 games.

 

Roughly 25%

 

Peps worsts stats since becoming a a manager. Highly likely

 

Let's not forget pep was being consulted on signings whilst the gentleman was still boss

 

But to lay any blame to the door of Pep is completely unthinkable he is doing a splendid job . Bravo pep. Ohhh yes.

 

4 years on and he has not completed the puzzle and I think it is fair to say he never will.

 

 

 

 

 

[wilai]

1 hour ago, Bredbury Blue said:

5. Current Season:
Rúben Dias - CB - €68m (Otamendi going the other way for €15m)
Nathan Aké - CB - €45.3m
Too early to consider if good buys or not.
= €65m

Am I missing something? 68 + 45.3 = 113.3 - 15 = 98.3.........Not sure where the 65m comes from? 

[Herewe]

19 minutes ago, wilai said:

Am I missing something? 68 + 45.3 = 113.3 - 15 = 98.3.........Not sure where the 65m comes from? 

He's been learning maths off the accountant !

Edited September 30, 2020 by Herewe

[3 minus 2]

that was a long winded responce.....

...  He's still spent 400 mil  and the ONLY player that's improved.. and he's still a knuckle brain is walker... When pep bought him. Tbh I was surprised a manager of such high repute would sign such a poor defender.. .but hey ho .and since then  his defensive signings have ALL eventually disapointed = graveyard for defenders..

[Bredbury Blue]

1 hour ago, wilai said:

Am I missing something? 68 + 45.3 = 113.3 - 15 = 98.3.........Not sure where the 65m comes from? 

Thanks for spotting that (genuinely)

 

CORRECTION:

 

Net Spend during seasons 1-4 = €328.3
Net Spend during season 5 (as of today) = €113.3m
= TOTAL OF €441.6m

 

Pep's seasons

5. Current Season:
Rúben Dias - CB - €68m (Otamendi going the other way for €15m)
Nathan Aké - CB - €45.3m
Too early to consider if good buys or not.
= €113.3m

 

[wilai]

^ No probs.

[Bredbury Blue]

20 minutes ago, 3 minus 2 said:

that was a long winded responce.....

...  He's still spent 400 mil  and the ONLY player that's improved.. and he's still a knuckle brain is walker... When pep bought him. Tbh I was surprised a manager of such high repute would sign such a poor defender.. .but hey ho .and since then  his defensive signings have ALL eventually disapointed = graveyard for defenders..

We disagree, as I expected. Moving on.

[3 minus 2]

What's there to disagree with he's spent 400 mil  and there's a trail of failed defenders... beside that opening with pep doesn't get he players he wants,  it's hardly a surprise NO ONE agrees with you... next up you'll be trying to convince us  he doesn't have enuf money.. 

Edited September 30, 2020 by 3 minus 2

[jellydog]

No Carabooboo TV coverage of City today. Instead I get Everton vs. West Ham. Go figure.

[BlueScouse]

A game worth watching.

[wilai]

[Bredbury Blue]

6 hours ago, 3 minus 2 said:

What's there to disagree with he's spent 400 mil  and there's a trail of failed defenders... beside that opening with pep doesn't get he players he wants,  it's hardly a surprise NO ONE agrees with you... next up you'll be trying to convince us  he doesn't have enuf money.. 

There's no disagreement on money spent, that's fact. I disagree with you that Pep alone selects the defenders to buy and your grave yard comment.

[Bredbury Blue]

5 hours ago, jellydog said:

No Carabooboo TV coverage of City today. Instead I get Everton vs. West Ham. Go figure.

Had to watch on a nabbed beIN live stream in arabic (muted), on my phone, so not ideal.

 

Enjoyable game. City eased past Burnley. Missed lots of chances, scored 3 nice goals, their young goalie saved well. Looked way better with Laporte back. Torres stood out. Debut academy player Cole Palmer played the 90 and played well; looks a player. Interesting that when Ake came on for Rodri and Dinho moved in to midfield that he played left side and Laporte moved right side.

 

We needed that!

 

[3 minus 2]

39 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

There's no disagreement on money spent, that's fact. I disagree with you that Pep alone selects the defenders to buy and your grave yard comment.

Listen to yourself......your saying pep guardiola doesn't have the final say on which players  arrive.. BEHAVE..... And denying there are a trail  of expensive defensive failures... Come on even the outrageously  expensive and widely coveted laporte looks doomed for a life of coming of the bench.atm  It's developed into  a GRAVEYARD  for defender's. Simple.

[Bredbury Blue]

42 minutes ago, 3 minus 2 said:

Listen to yourself......your saying pep guardiola doesn't have the final say on which players  arrive.. BEHAVE..... And denying there are a trail  of expensive defensive failures... Come on even the outrageously  expensive and widely coveted laporte looks doomed for a life of coming of the bench.atm  It's developed into  a GRAVEYARD  for defender's. Simple.

Why do clubs have a Director of football to oversee such things as transfers?

So I listed honestly the players and my opinion on them so let's have yours and we can discuss the ones we disagree on.

Your comment on Laporte shows how little you know about City and is embarrassing.

 

[singasong]

18 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Why do clubs have a Director of football to oversee such things as transfers?

So I listed honestly the players and my opinion on them so let's have yours and we can discuss the ones we disagree on.

Your comment on Laporte shows how little you know about City and is embarrassing.

 

Spot on Bredbury, Citys D of F would oversee transfers after Pep has chosen his man.Why would Pep let a D of F choose players for him ?

[wilai]

Sightly different at LFC. Firstly, JK and his coaching staff identify which positions need adding to. Then, literally thousands of players world wide are looked at by a committee (for want of a better word) via a number of databases to see if they are suitable and fit the team's needs,

 

A shortlist (normally three) is then provided to JK and he has the final word. Obviously if there are others JK and staff particularly like, they can be included and compared as well.. A good example of this is Diogo Jota. He was a championed by Pep Ljinders who knew and actually played with him at Porto. Following Pep's recommendation, he was watched for two years and made the shortlist of three before we made a bid.

 

In fact, Michael Edwards and his team are normally looking two or three transfer windows ahead when looking at prospective purchases. Very few are spur of the moment although when a gem (like Alcantara) becomes available at the right price we will move in. It is a process that has served us very well over the past few years as both our success and 'net-spend' proves!

 

As JK stated on joining when asked about working with a transfer committee (something Rodgers had difficulty dealing with)."As long as I have the first word and the last word, I am fine with that"

[RickG16]

4 hours ago, wilai said:

We earn more than anyone else so that net spend can be expected.

 

The only anomoly here is City.

 

This is over a ten year period, so probably incorporates their 'glory days' before FFP. 'Party on the Dunes'.

[RickG16]

16 minutes ago, wilai said:

Sightly different at LFC. Firstly, JK and his coaching staff identify which positions need adding to. Then, literally thousands of players world wide are looked at by a committee (for want of a better word) via a number of databases to see if they are suitable and fit the team's needs,

 

A shortlist (normally three) is then provided to JK and he has the final word. Obviously if there are others JK and staff particularly like, they can be included and compared as well.. A good example of this is Diogo Jota. He was a championed by Pep Ljinders who knew and actually played with him at Porto. Following Pep's recommendation, he was watched for two years and made the shortlist of three before we made a bid.

 

In fact, Michael Edwards and his team are normally looking two or three transfer windows ahead when looking at prospective purchases. Very few are spur of the moment although when a gem (like Alcantara) becomes available at the right price we will move in. It is a process that has served us very well over the past few years as both our success and 'net-spend' proves!

 

As JK stated on joining when asked about working with a transfer committee (something Rodgers had difficulty dealing with)."As long as I have the first word and the last word, I am fine with that"

Looks like a sound structure, but I think this comes down to JK's confidence in his own coaching ability - if you look at the profile of players you have bought, and the level he has got them performing to.

[wilai]

8 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Looks like a sound structure, but I think this comes down to JK's confidence in his own coaching ability - if you look at the profile of players you have bought, and the level he has got them performing to.

I agree. No doubt that JK has the knack of improving any player under his tutelage, but they must meet the right profile initially. That is where Edwards and the rest of the 'backroom' staff come in using statistics and other means to identify suitable candidates.

[RickG16]

20 minutes ago, wilai said:

I agree. No doubt that JK has the knack of improving any player under his tutelage, but they must meet the right profile initially. That is where Edwards and the rest of the 'backroom' staff come in using statistics and other means to identify suitable candidates.

The annoying thing from my perspective is that he seems to be well grounded and unlikely to fall for the temptation of a job offer from say Real Madrid.

 

What could catch you out in 3-4  years time is failure to blood youngsters. 

[wilai]

1 minute ago, RickG16 said:

The annoying thing from my perspective is that he seems to be well grounded and unlikely to fall for the temptation of a job offer from say Real Madrid.

 

What could catch you out in 3-4  years time is failure to blood youngsters. 

There will be a plan in place for when he leaves. Although the media are championing Stevie G, I think it will be Pep Ljinders who'll get the job.

 

As for blooding youngsters, we move them up when ready. TAA is proof of that with Curtis Jones and Neco Williams next in line. Man U may have blooded a couple more, but that was out of necessity rather than by choice at the time.

[mrbojangles]

2 hours ago, singasong said:

Spot on Bredbury, Citys D of F would oversee transfers after Pep has chosen his man.Why would Pep let a D of F choose players for him ?

 

Got to disagree with that. Pep doesn't have time to watch thousands of players play and critique. That's what our scouting department is for. Transfers are a combined effort of many people in the club. They look at a whole heap of players and do an initial sift. Pep may have a preference on a certain player but that's all at that point. 

 

Pep and his coaches will come up a wish list of positions they want to fill. More importantly, they will advise on the type of player they want. i.e. for City at the moment, it has to be 100% a player who can distribute and comfortable on the ball. A huge criteria nowadays is the personality of a player. Never used to be an issue in the olden days but nowadays they want a team player and someone who fits in with the rest.

 

Txixi and co will already have agreed a transfer budget with Mubarak and will then look at the positions to be filled. They will then instruct the scouts to come up with a short list of candidates that suit the criteria given. This will then be put in front of all the coaches to come up with a preference and taking into account affordability and permission to talk to the club/agent/player etc. And so it goes until a transfer is done. Whether it be with your preferred choice or another. Dias for instance, allegedly wasn't our first choice but Napoli were holding out for money that City didn't value Koulibaly at. Therefore, we stepped up with choice number 2 and got a deal including Otamendi going the other way. We have shown time and time again that we will not be held over a barrel for transfer fees and will walk if it doesn't make financial sense.

[Jack Hna]

4 hours ago, RickG16 said:

The annoying thing from my perspective is that he seems to be well grounded and unlikely to fall for the temptation of a job offer from say Real Madrid.

 

What could catch you out in 3-4  years time is failure to blood youngsters. 

Jones is going to spawn a wave of new local blood. As good as any player to make it at LFC in the last 20 years. 

[wilai]

10 minutes ago, Jack Hna said:

Jones is going to spawn a wave of new local blood. As good as any player to make it at LFC in the last 20 years. 

Hope so......we have a lot of promising kids in the 16-18 age bracket so I am quite confident Rick G's 'concerns' are unfounded.????

[RickG16]

16 minutes ago, wilai said:

Hope so......we have a lot of promising kids in the 16-18 age bracket so I am quite confident Rick G's 'concerns' are unfounded.????

Let's not go over old ground. It's not about having 16 to 18 year olds with potential, it is about taking the risks associated with actually playing them in big games, letting them make mistakes, and putting more senior players out of joint in the process.

 

Now you have a successful team of more senior players, this (or maybe even next season) is actually the perfect time to introduce a crop of youngsters (sound familiar?), but you are going to have to ruffle some feathers in order to do so. I'm not talking about run outs in the Carabao Cup. 

[wilai]

4 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

22 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Let's not go over old ground. It's not about having 16 to 18 year olds with potential, it is about taking the risks associated with actually playing them in big games, letting them make mistakes, and putting more senior players out of joint in the process.

 

Now you have a successful team of more senior players, this (or maybe even next season) is actually the perfect time to introduce a crop of youngsters (sound familiar?), but you are going to have to ruffle some feathers in order to do so. I'm not talking about run outs in the Carabao Cup. 

 

Good job....cos you didn't play many of your youngsters last night!????

 

Chucking more than a couple of kids into any team, successful or not, would be an extremely foolish thing to do. As far as I'm concerned, LFC's methods are sensible and still give youngsters a chance a breaking into the first XI. TAA being an example. No cover at right midfield or right back has been looked at in this window to allow Neco Williams and Curtis Jones the next opportunities to stake a claim. I don't see what you can gain by deliberately putting senior players noses of joint! And to do that to a Title winning team would be pure stupidity.

[RickG16]

2 hours ago, wilai said:

Good job....cos you didn't play many of your youngsters last night!????

 

Chucking more than a couple of kids into any team, successful or not, would be an extremely foolish thing to do. As far as I'm concerned, LFC's methods are sensible and still give youngsters a chance a breaking into the first XI. TAA being an example. No cover at right midfield or right back has been looked at in this window to allow Neco Williams and Curtis Jones the next opportunities to stake a claim. I don't see what you can gain by deliberately putting senior players noses of joint! And to do that to a Title winning team would be pure stupidity.

Introducing a crop, like the class of 92, allows you to build a dynasty. Do you remember the outcry when Kanchekskis, Ince and Hughes were let go?

 

If you don't think your kids are that good then fair enough. Stick with you senegalese and egyptians 

[singasong]

6 hours ago, mrbojangles said:

 

Got to disagree with that. Pep doesn't have time to watch thousands of players play and critique. That's what our scouting department is for. Transfers are a combined effort of many people in the club. They look at a whole heap of players and do an initial sift. Pep may have a preference on a certain player but that's all at that point. 

 

Pep and his coaches will come up a wish list of positions they want to fill. More importantly, they will advise on the type of player they want. i.e. for City at the moment, it has to be 100% a player who can distribute and comfortable on the ball. A huge criteria nowadays is the personality of a player. Never used to be an issue in the olden days but nowadays they want a team player and someone who fits in with the rest.

 

Txixi and co will already have agreed a transfer budget with Mubarak and will then look at the positions to be filled. They will then instruct the scouts to come up with a short list of candidates that suit the criteria given. This will then be put in front of all the coaches to come up with a preference and taking into account affordability and permission to talk to the club/agent/player etc. And so it goes until a transfer is done. Whether it be with your preferred choice or another. Dias for instance, allegedly wasn't our first choice but Napoli were holding out for money that City didn't value Koulibaly at. Therefore, we stepped up with choice number 2 and got a deal including Otamendi going the other way. We have shown time and time again that we will not be held over a barrel for transfer fees and will walk if it doesn't make financial sense.

The above might apply to lower level players and youth players etc but certainly not first team players and i think your over complicating things to be honest if you think that there are thousands of players that need to be looked at for a club like CIty to improve a position in the team, Pep would know all the top players in Europe that fit what he is looking for and that certainly doesn't run in the thousands more like 6 at max, i doubt very much scouts had to sift through 1,000s of players to come up with Rodri, Mahrez, Dias, Cancelo, Laporte etc, are you saying that they paid 60 odd million for Dias and that he wasn't Peps choice ?

[wilai]

 

37 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Introducing a crop, like the class of 92, allows you to build a dynasty. Do you remember the outcry when Kanchekskis, Ince and Hughes were let go?

 

If you don't think your kids are that good then fair enough. Stick with you senegalese and egyptians 

Class of 92 was a one off and will never be repeated. This is the City thread so a bit out of order we two hogging it; I'll just leave you with a quote from Ljinders relating to 17 year old Billy Koumetio, who may get a game tonight.  This is the Liverpool way!

 

Pep Lijnders has urged caution over the progress of Billy Koumetio at Liverpool - reiterating that the Reds will take care with how they integrate the teenager into the first-team squad.

Jurgen Klopp's assistant, taking media duties ahead of the Carabao Cup clash against Arsenal on Thursday night, refused to reveal whether or not Koumetio would be featuring at Anfield after he was not present for the U21's defeat to Tranmere in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.

Lijnders explained: "Billy has a clear pathway in this club but it is still a start and someone we really take care of. He is still a very young kid - humble but with big potential.

"He has his own process and we are really happy with how things are going so far so there are still decisions to be made today. We will see [if he is picked against Arsenal]."