Goal fest?

I’ve just got a feeling this is gonna be a crackin’ game with both keepers seeing quite a bit of action.

v Leicester City

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 8/11).

Fluid 4-2-3-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-6-0:

______________________________________________

 

____________________Sterling___________________

 

___Foden_____________________________Torres___

___________________De Bruyne__________________

______________Rodri___________________________

_________________________Fernandinho__________

Mendy___________________________________Walker

 

______________Ake­___________Stones____________

 

 

____________________Ederson___________________

Subs: Steffen, Garcia, Laporte, Doyle, Nmecha, Mahrez, Delap.

Ederson reclaims the gloves following midweek domestic cup action.

Having played most of and ALL of Thursday night’s game respectively; Benjamin & Kyle are likely to be asked to ‘go again’. I know that we potentially have returning [from injury] players in October but this is a situation that really does need sorting out in my opinion; especially on the left-hand side. Anyhoo...in-between those, I’m going for Nathan & John to resume their partnership from last Monday.

Although it means asking Rodders to ‘go again’ (he was withdrawn on 61 minutes 3 days ago), I’ve got a feeling that our manager will deploy the same ‘central-midfield 2’, with rested Fernandinho partnering the Spanish defensive midfielder.

Take it either way, but we then have a fluid quartet – or ‘a 3’ behind a more-advanced ‘false number 9’ – of creative / attacking players that should put the fear in any defence. Causing the Foxes all sort of problems this afternoon is likely to be Phil, Kevin & Ferran, with Raheem in a slightly more advanced / central role.

Zack slips back onto the bench; Eric likewise as defensive cover and I think we might also see Aymeric being given a place on the side; as he moves closer towards match-fitness (I could well be wrong there – his boss might be looking at our midweek cup match to bring the French centre-back in slowly and we could see Taylor Harwood-Bellis ‘in there’ instead). Tommy, Felix, Riyad & Liam are the likely names making up the more creative / threatening midfield / wing / striking replacement-choices from ‘the 7’.

Notable absences:

-       Joao Cancelo – Out until about mid-October with a foot injury.

-       Oleksandr Zinchenko – Out until about mid-October with a muscular injury.

-       Bernardo Silva – Out until about mid-October with a quadriceps strain.

-       Ilkay Gundogan – In Covid-19 isolation up to and including 30.09.2020.

-       Gabriel Jesus – Out until at least mid-October with a muscular injury.

-       Sergio Aguero – Training alone / recovering slowly from knee surgery. Expected to return around early-to-mid November.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

For regular readers, I am somewhat boring myself explaining the same defensive concerns that I have about both Mendy & Stones either side of new-signing Ake, who is still getting used to us. And I get the feeling that our visitors might just exploit that today. I think it might be a case of by how MUCH will Leicester both test and get the better of us in that area of the pitch.

But I do very-much like that predicted 11 in a lot of ways – especially with both Rodders & Fernandinho ahead of those as well as that ‘attacking diamond’ further up the pitch; with-presumably Benny & Kyle also ‘bombing on’ as our 2-defensive midfielders ‘sit & protect’. Yeah…looks quite good, especially considering the very hefty injury list we’re currently carrying.

Result? As my headline and opening sentence may suggest, I think this is going to be a tough fixture for us this afternoon.

I think what’ll go for us, aside from having exceptional players and following a really hard-working performance / well-deserved win in our league opener, is the fact that not only did Leicester fade so badly post-lockdown, where they lost 5 and conceded 14 goals in 10 games; but they’ve also started this season by conceding 4 goals in 3 games (league & cup) already. Put another way, they do very much “leak” at the moment and that’s definitely something we can, and I’m sure will, exploit.

But they weren’t top of the league after 2 games for nothing – they have a side packed with creativity & goal-scorers (7 in their first 2 league games) and that includes their assisting wing-backs too.

We really do have to be ‘on our toes’ at the back for this one but, if I’m right with my prediction, I think that ‘new ploy’ / middle pairing of ‘Rodders & Fern’ will certainly help to control the game better and quell some of the Foxes’ attacks at least.

I do think they’ll be goals at both ends in this one but I think we’ll come out of a potentially high-scoring game with more goals than our visitors. I’m going for an entertaining, perhaps nail-biting home win.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

Prediction: Win

Result: Win

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: A northerly breeze – nothing too bad – does make this a chilly late afternoon / early evening for the players, staff and officials. As the game kicks off (4:30pm BST), anything left of the sun will have already disappeared behind the Colin Bell Stand and 13C will probably feel more like 8 in the shaded bowl of the stadium. Still…it’s gonna be a dry one at least.

Squad management – changes – priorities

Pep, largely to his credit, has most certainly treated the League Cup with a lot of respect; deploying strong teams with just a sprinkling of youth players in some rounds both in ‘the 11’ and on the bench. Winning the competition 3 years in a row; 4 times in 5 seasons is most-definitely testament to that!

But I think our manager could be forgiven if he changed that policy slightly this season.

Reasons?

·         The ‘fixture squeeze’. Games in 4 competition are gonna fly at us as a RAPID rate and as much as I personally love domestic cup competitions, something’s gotta give this season…and perhaps next season too. ‘Top clubs’ who are vying for bigger trophies do - and I think quite rightly - see the League Cup as the lowest priority of the season and so in our case this time round; we might just start to see a few new, young faces in the starting 11.

 

·         The club, manager and players’ desire to regain the Premier League title and, therefore perhaps, not-wanting to let this competition potentially get in the way with regards to possible injuries & fixture fatigue.

 

·         The club, manager and players’ desire to finally get their hands on the Champions League trophy [and then ditto the above sentence]…

 

·         And for this round / fixture in particular, the fact that we only played our opening league fixture last Monday night; we have another Premier League game less than 72-hours after this cup game and are likely to have 7 first-team players either out injured or Covid-19 restricted!

Bring on the kids then…

v AFC Bournemouth

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome (wish me luck!):

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).

Fluid 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

_____________________Delap_____________________

 

 

Torres___________________________________Mahrez

 

____________Bernabe_________Doyle______________

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Ake______________________________________Couto

 ________Harwood-Bellis_____Otamendi____________

 

 

_____________________Steffen___________________

Subs: Carson, Mendy, Walker, Laporte, Fernandinho, Foden, Jesus.

New bloke between the sticks comes in the form of USA stopper, Zack. Welcome and good luck fella!

Now, it has been suggested in some quarters that Eric Garcia might take part this evening but I’m thinking…really?! A recent head injury requiring 16 stiches and a player who still yearns to play his football for Barcelona? I could be wrong, of course, but I’m just not having that…and not least because I think it would be disrespectful to other central defenders. So, for me, the pairing at the back tonight will be Taylor & Nicolas. I think Nathan might get another run out and a chance, of course, of facing the club he’s just moved from but this time being given a left-sided role in the defence. Now I know that some may question the lad I’m predicting may play right-wing back because there have been stories very recently that he is to join Aro Muric & Pablo Moreno on loan for the rest of the season at Girona FC…but unlike his two City colleagues I don’t think he’s gone quite-just-yet. I’ve just got a feeling that with one right-wing back needed to be game-managed and one out injured, Pep might be canny enough to retain Yan for this fixture at least before sticking him on a plane to Spain.

Rodders might have to ‘go again’ to provide some experience and protection for the defence.

Although it’s not his natural / preferred side, I think we’ll see Ferran on the left wing against The Cherries…but I do expect him to roam / swap from time to time. “Old man” of the team, Riyad, on the right and in-between the flanking players is a very young duo of Adrian & Tommy.

What a night it would be for Liam if he was to be given a starting place in a lone-striker role at the Etihad Stadium against a side who were very recently playing their league football in the Premier League. That’s what I’m predicting.

Scott, who was recently given another 1-year loan deal, is likely to be given the reserve keeper job on the bench; Benjamin & Kyle might be joining him just in case there’s a change of left & right-wing backs required. I think we’ll see Aymeric being given a spot in ‘the 7’ following recent Covid-19 isolation and I think-also we might see him being given a run out ahead of the weekend league game. Captain Fernandinho might be another on ‘in there’ as cover and-could-well-be rotated with Rodders at some point in order to keep ‘em both fit & fresh. Phil certainly has ‘the legs’ to be on the subs bench in case needed and I’m going for both him & Gabriel to be our more attacking change-options should they be needed.

I could be well wrong with-all-that-lot…

Notable absences:

-       Ederson – Not selected / rested / protected.

-       Eric Garcia – Not selected / not risked following another head injury & stiches.

-       Joao Cancelo – Out until about mid-October with a foot injury.

-       John Stones – Not selected / rested / protected.

-       Oleksandr Zinchenko – Out until about mid-October with a muscular injury.

-       Bernardo Silva – Out until about mid-October with a quadriceps strain.

-       Ilkay Gundogan – In Covid-19 isolation up to and including 30.09.2020.

-       Kevin De Bruyne - Not selected / rested / protected.

-       Raheem Sterling - Not selected / rested / protected.

-       Sergio Aguero – Still training alone / recovering from knee surgery. Expected to return around early-to-mid November.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Yep, definitely. And I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing ‘em in action…if I can find it on somewhere.

Result? Some may argue that with SUCH a changed squad we could be leaving ourselves open to possible defeat. Not for me.

Not only are we at home (does that even matter much anymore with no fans in the ground?) but that’s ‘an 11’ packed-full of talent…and certainly enough to beat a team who lost big names in the summer and who have conceded 3 league goals in their opening 2 games (EVEN MIDDLESBROUGH HAVE SCORED AGAINST ‘EM!) and failed to score in ‘the 90’ in the last round of this competition; eventually going through 11-10 on penalties.

It’s a City win for me.

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Damp, chilly and a little breezy. Yuk.

 

Delayed kick off

The ‘crazy times’ continue.

 

First of all, the very serious pandemic put a pause on the season that lasted for months; the resumption then saw fixtures flying at us at a rate most of us have never seen before, leading to a league campaign that didn’t finish until 26^th July!

 

The Champions League then took ‘centre stage’ and, for us at least, didn’t finish until 15^th August; resulting in our agreed delayed start, along with our neighbours from the borough of Trafford, of the 2020-21 season to give us the same break-period as the rest.

 

Then, as the Champions League came to a conclusion, the preliminary rounds of the very-same competition for the 2020-21 season had already begun in some countries! Weird.

 

For us, we now kick off the season a full 9 days, 7 hours and 45 minutes after the first Premier League game of the season kicked off and we’ll-already find ourselves 2 games behind most other teams as we start our opener.

 

Additionally, we now face 4 games in the first 13 days in both the league as well as the League Cup; 5 in the same amount of time if we progress past AFC Bournemouth in the League Cup on the evening of 24^th September.

 

It’s most definitely ‘a sign of things to come’ over the next 2 seasons and I will TRY to keep up and produce all pre-match blog-postings - some may be basic / short ones.

 

And I get the feeling that those clubs with no more than average-size/quality squads are really gonna struggle over the next 2 seasons as the ‘fixture squeeze’ takes it affect; especially those involved in European competition as well as 3 domestic trophies…and not to mention players involved in international friendlies & competitions.

 

v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Molineux

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).

Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

_____________________Jesus____________________

 

 

Sterling__________________________________Mahrez

 

__________De Bruyne__________Silva_____________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Mendy___________________________________Walker

 _____________Ake____________Stones____________

 

 

____________________Ederson___________________

Subs: Steffen, Zinchenko, Garcia, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Foden, Torres.

Ederson to resume between the sticks.

I think there's little doubt over the selection of our wing-backs, so for me Benjamin & Kyle 'get the nod' there. Circumstances should see new-signing Nathan get his debut...and I'll speak in more detail shortly about how I 'ummed & ahhed' over who would partner him. I've gone for John to be picked by his boss on Monday night.

Rodders to 'sit' ahead of those and ahead of him, a dangerous quartet of Raheem, Kevin, Bernardo & Riyad, I'd say (I might be wrong and we could see boss-favourite Gundogan instead of Bernardo somewhere there abouts).

Gabriel 'tops the lot' up front.

Having returned from-being on loan last season, Zack takes his position on a City bench for the first time since we signed him way back on 11th December 2018...and is likely to get a start in the League Cup on Thursday, I'd say. Oleksandr, want-away Eric & Fernandinho can all provide various defensive cover from 'the 7'. Ilkay, Phil and exciting talent / new signing Ferran provide more attacking / creative options from the bench.

Notable absences:

-       Aymeric Laporte – Has only just resumed training following isolation due to Covid-19 and, so, is not deemed fit enough for this game.

-       Nicolas Otamendi – Not selected.

-       Joao Cancelo – Hasn’t been seen training with the rest of the squad; haven’t heard his name mentioned otherwise and so I’m assuming that he’s not ready to start on Monday night. Not selected / not fit & ready.

-       Sergio Aguero – Still training alone in his slow recovery from knee surgery.

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Well, I’m certainly not going to hide my true feelings about concerns with regards to the flakiness, at times, in defending of both Benjamin Mendy & John Stones. And, with that in mind; I might-therefore be tempted to deploy 3 central defenders with the absence of Aymeric Laporte in a fluid, 5-4-1 / 3-6-1-type formation in order to ‘swell the defensive ranks’, although Pep’s experiments with 3 central defenders haven’t exactly worked for him in the past…at our club at least.

Other than that, that’s about as strong-a-side (and it is strong) we can possibly muster at the moment with the personnel available.

I was dithering at lot about who our manager might go with to partner new signing, Nathan, at the back…

·         Garcia – Still wants to leave and perhaps he’s a little on the slow & small side for this potentially fast & physical game when partnered with Nathan for ‘the opener’?

·         Fernandinho – Certainly experience enough and perhaps a good choice to ‘hold the hand’ of Nathan in his first competitive game for City…but perhaps not enough pace himself these days to be able to cope with a starting place in this type of away fixture.

·         Nicholas Otamendi – Just too unpredictable and not disciplined enough at times to go with our new signing for this fixture, I would suggest.

…and, so, it seems to me that Guardiola might just put his faith in our rested / fresh England international.

Result? No City fan who watches every game needs telling by me that the men in gold & black have become a bit of a bogey side for us lately…and that’s not to say they haven’t deserved some of their points against us in recent seasons.

I do recall very clearly, in fact, when I went away to Wolves in our opening away game of the season 2018-19 season discussing, in our group as we walked to the ground, what we thought the outcome would be. There must have been about a dozen of us and apart from myself and the friend who got me my match-day ticket; everyone had us down for a win.

It was The Wanderers’ first game back in the top division after being promoted and both myself and my mate were being a little more cautious. In fact, we both said, “…a draw”, which turned out to be the correct result; despite their goal coming from a Willy Boly handball / fake header.

We didn’t look very sharp that day and I think the Wolves smelt that about us 15 minutes or so into the game; stepped up their intensity and gave us a really good game…as well as a few sneaky bruises I seem to recall.

But since then, despite beating a largely 10-man Wolves on our patch, they have most-definitely had the better of us.

All things considered – and that’s our hosts already-having ‘game time’ under their belts; them very recently losing winger / forward Diogo Jota to Liverpool…but also us-missing both Laporte & Aguero and not-having-yet ‘kicked a ball in anger’ this season – I’m going for a draw, I’m sorry to say Blues.

I hope I’m wrong in the RIGHT way of course…

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result…

Prediction: Win

Result: Lost

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: Decent - nothing much happening. 17 / 18C, no rain and no breeze is about all you can say on the subject. Fine evening for football and the players with no weather issues affecting the game.

New kits – opinion.

And for me, it’s the same ol’ story as of the previous season…and probably the season or two prior to that as well.

 

And that story is?

Decent home kit, poor / appalling 2^nd & 3^rd strips.

The good…

In the past, my reviews of our new kits have sometimes drawn comments from some readers; specifically, suggesting that I only like ‘boring kits’ in terms of both colour & style. I like feedback on my blog-postings and appreciate any viewpoint, as long as it’s at least fairly constructive and not abusive of course.

And this isn’t a delayed reaction to that suggestion as if to prove that’s not the case with me; I actually like this innovative…most-certainly, “different” design.

Good shade of sky blue with a bold, mosaic pattern on the shirt.

But do you remember the days where new kits were released WITHOUT an explanation of what it “represents” (silly me thought that kits were supposed to “represent” the football club and its history)? Well, not these days folks. All THREE come with ‘explanations’ and...‘reasons for’.

This one:

The pattern of the Home jersey, which will be worn by our men’s, women and youth teams, has been inspired by the famous mosaics located in the creative hub of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

And it pays homage to a city brimming with football and creativity.

Art, industry, football, music, fashion, noise, and colour are all woven into Manchester’s DNA and the mosaics displayed are a celebration of our city’s proud and diverse culture.

The new Manchester City Home jersey features the mosaic pattern in classic City blue and white, with navy trim. The kit is completed with white shorts and light blue socks.

Mosaics have also been an important part of Manchester City’s proud history, stretching back almost 100 years to when the original City mosaic first adorned the gates of our former Maine Road home.

Today, the mosaic tradition continues with many club legends having been immortalized as mosaic artworks at the City Football Academy, helping to inspire the next generation of players.

Okay.

But, as I say, I do like it and we’ve already seen both the men & women’s teams play in it, which hasn’t changed my opinion of it-being a nice kit. Although there are 'tones' of navy blue in it – the biggest being the name & number on the back, which is fair enough – it’s not enough, otherwise, to ruin it for me.

Rating: 8/10

…the bad

Well…the best thing I can say about this, is that it’s not as bad as I was led to believe it might be with the ‘rumoured leaks’ that all-too-often circulate these days.

I’m gonna get the explanation for this strip out of the way first…

The new Away jersey features a striking all-over pattern inspired by Castlefield and the Bridgewater canal, an area symbolic of Manchester’s past, present and future. 

Whilst Castlefield’s history dates back to Roman times, it is most celebrated as the heart of Manchester’s industrial past having once been the terminus of both the world’s first industrial canal, the Bridgewater canal, and first inter-city railway. The area has now been transformed into one of the city’s most vibrant art and music hubs, as well as home to Manchester’s multi-cultural youth scene, and has flourished into a region brimming with creativity and collaboration.

“With this kit we wanted to celebrate the culture of the city," said David Bremond, Head of Teamsport Licensed Apparel. "We looked for places where people come together to explore their creativity through art and music. Castlefield is rich with history and significance to the city; it truly connects with cultural youth scene and creative roots. The bridge over the canal is an iconic design, which inspired us to bring this classic structure to life through the pattern and the color palette of the new jersey. We wanted the jersey to feel special and unique to fans, and celebrate Manchester’s rich culture." 

The new Manchester City Away shirt features an all over pattern printed tone on tone, influenced by the structures and patterns of Castlefield and the Bridgewater canal in dark blue and black, with copper detailing.

Lovely.

And that’s all ‘well & good’. But…first of all, the Bridgewater canal runs from Runcorn to Leigh. If we’re gonna celebrate ‘our bit’ of the water, shouldn’t we ‘give a nod’ to those areas and all in between too? After all, without ‘their bit’ there wouldn’t be ‘our bit’.

Comes with a second sock...

Secondly, they’ve chosen Castlefield as inspiration of the pattern of the shirt and while Castlefield is only around 2.5 miles away from the Etihad Stadium, the ‘trendy area’, which also houses the Science & Industry Museum, is ONLY around 1.8 miles away from Scaffold Trafford! Yeah, well done there…

As for the colours, "dark blue" nothing to do with Manchester City, "black", which has connections to our club dating back to St. Marks times and has been used in our classic red & Black away kit as well as other, classy 3^rd strips many years ago when kits represented our football club and…"copper". Yeah okay, whatever.

It also comes with kind of dusky, light blue socks, which surely brings up some questions with regards to-them-not-exactly-being all that different from our home strip’s sock colours, doesn’t it?

Rating: 4/10…and some of that scores is born out of a certain amount of relief that it wasn’t quite as bad as I was bracing myself for; nor is it as hideous as other away kits relased in recent years.

…and the downright UGLY.

Oh, deary me. What the fffff…fudge is this all about?! Well…I’ll let them tell you, shall I?

City's new third kit has a white base with sky blue Paisley floral patterns on the front and sleeves, a tribute to Manchester's iconic music scene.

Oh God, they’re off again…

"The new Manchester City Third Kit celebrates the rich music and fashion culture of the city by creating a bespoke paisley pattern that features details of the club’s crest," the club website reads.

"The pattern is synonymous with artists from the ‘Mod’ and the ‘Brit Pop’ eras of the 1990’s and was a staple of youth fashion in the 1960’s, influencing fashion and music culture in Manchester for generations."

The full kit is completed by navy shorts and white socks, although the club website is also selling white shorts as an option ahead of any possible kit clashes next season.

I mean…just, huhhh…for Pep’s sake. Absolutely hideous!

This one in particular, in fact, as drawn some funny comments from many, not least someone liking it to wallpaper his gran used to have in the 70s, whilst someone else said that it’s something James May would wear.

Buy one get one free!

Funnier still, with the club & Puma trying to be all trendy-like and linking it with music, fashion & culture from Manchester, was Liam Gallagher’s reaction, where he tweeted:

"Who ever is responsible for that new Man City kit needs putting on the nxt flight to WUHAN and who ever buys it needs to be on the 1 after…”.

And in response to a fan asking whether he likes the kit, he later replied: "Keep it simple mate, it's not hard."

Couldn’t agree more.

Rating: 1/10...and just for being mostly white

I like us in a white, 3^rd kit and we’ve had plenty that have ticked a lot of boxes. Sadly, this one just 'ticks me off' (see what I did there?).

James May

I’ve said this before and I’m sticking to it – I fully appreciate the club trying to incorporate ‘all things Manchester’ in their kits; hoping to appeal to ‘true Mancunians’ and planting our flag firmly in the centre circle of Manchester. But please, MCFC / Puma / future kit suppliers, keep it on our other shop stuff like t-shirts, jackets, and hats etc.

The football strip is supposed to represent our football club and its history.

I mean, just to finish off, if this is going to be a running theme season after season, what happens when they start running out of ideas?

Vimto?

An Alan Turing theme perhaps; with a picture of the Manchester Mark 1 computer on the shirt in a rust or mustard-yellow pigment?

Maybe something that would be a little trickier to depict, which would be the strong smell of urine often endured by many as they walk around Piccadilly Gardens and surrounding back streets.

OH! Or…here’s one before it gets knocked down - the grey, WWII-like wall in Piccadilly Gardens…although our players might say that they can’t see each other when they wear ‘em.

Not quite sharp enough for some...

Thanks, as always, for ‘taking the time’.