…once again, ‘THAT’ kit
reappears in midweek and we see yet ANOTHER second half, City collapse. 😧
And it was all starting to
look better in recent games, wasn’t it? Damn that
Noel Gallagher… 😡
v Chelsea
Call me bold; call me stupid…call me
NAÏVE! But I’m going with this as my predicted starting 11…
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct
from the starting line-up in the last game which, for me blog-wise, was our away victory at Ipswich Town last Sunday: 7/11).
A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:
____________________Haaland____________________
__Marmoush___________________________Savinho__
________De
Bruyne_______________Foden__________
_____________________Stones____________________
Gvardiol____________________________________Reis
____________Akanji____________Khusanov________
____________________Ederson____________________
Subs: Ortega,
Lewis, Simpson-Pusey, Gundogan, Kovacic,
McAtee, Nunes, Silva and Grealish.
Ederson has the gloves.
This is
where the audacious suggestions come in…
Three new signings all to start?
Three debutants despite them-hardly having time to train with their new
teammates? Really?!
Well for one, with the
defensive injury situation as it stands and with the need for some pace in the
defence generally, then why the heck not, hey? I’m going for a back-four of
Josko, Manuel, Abdukodir and Vitor - four central defenders with two covering
the flanks. 🤪
One established City central
defender who has just, once again, returned from injury and who COULD
start is John. If he does, I’m predicting that he’ll be parachuted into the
defensive midfield position.
Ahead of the England
international I’m going for an attacking four of new-signing Omar, a striker
whose main secondary position is left-wing; Kevin, Phil and Savinho.
Erling up front.
Stefan to provide keeper insurance;
Rico and Jahmai are two defenders on the side. Ilkay, Mateo, James, Matheus and
Bernardo are FIVE midfielders in ‘the 9’, while Jack is a wing option from the
bench.
Notable absences:
-
Nathan
Ake – Out once again with a muscular issue.
-
Ruben
Dias – Out once more, this time with an abductor
injury.
-
Rodri
– Out for the season with an Anterior Cruciate
Ligament injury. Surgery was completed months ago and the slow road to recovery
continues.
-
Jeremy
Doku – Out with another undisclosed
injury he acquired at the very end of our clash with Ipswich Town; his third
injury spell of the season.
- Oscar Bobb – Continues his fitness comeback on the training pitch
following a fractured leg last August. A February return appears to be the
target.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Yeah, that looks pretty decent ‘on
paper’, providing John is capable of seeing out at least 60 minutes of a game.
Of course, it would be a big risk
blooding so many new signings all at once, particularly two new very young
defenders, but with our options so limited then, at home, why the hell not?!
Result?
I really don’t understand Chelsea this season and their last
6 games in the league which reads, D L L D D W, supports that confusion. I regularly listen to a
Chelsea-supporting radio presenter and he too often bemoans a befuddled team…and
club.
Mad transfers both in and out have been part of the ongoing
pantomime situation yet they still find themselves sitting one place above us
in 4th, so they clearly have enough about them to beat teams quite
regularly; with talent in their squad such as former City player, Cole Palmer. They’ve won half of their 22-league
games, drawn 7 and lost just 4, which is 2 less than we’ve suffered in
the league.
Then there’s us.
Defeats started to turn into draws; draws into wins. We were
still looking softer in the middle than days of old and we continued to be
flaky and nervous at the back. But we were getting there and WOW did we let Ipswich Town know it last weekend!
Then came Wednesday.
I have read so many post-match City fan comments and one
overriding theme was that while the club appear to be fixing the issue of an
aging, slow and clearly injury prone
central defence; the wing-back areas appear to hardly, if ever, get looked at
by the City Management Team in terms of fresh blood. I’ve joined many Blues
who have been screaming about the left flank of our defence for longer than I
can recall. In midweek also, so many of our fans were lamenting our
soft-central, Rodri-lacking midfield that keeps getting overrun time and time
and time again.
Of course, we can’t scoop up EVERY available player for EVERY
area of the pitch in a January transfer window and at least the club are
now-finally starting to do what should have been done last summer. Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?
But those City fans
are correct in my opinion. A lot of us were saying before the start of the
season – and even at the start of the PREVIOUS campaign – that areas of the
team which were / are now starting to creak and crack needed fresh personnel.
And, so now, we’re suffering for it, especially whenever we face strong
opposition; whether that’s a side containing top talent or a team with pace,
energy, determination along with a good action plan.
Before Wednesday I
was still riding high on an improving side that put a fellow Premier League side to the sword on their own
patch. Now I’m not quite so bullish. Add to that the fact that we’re facing a
team who I have no idea which face it will show on Saturday evening and it
leaves me feeling even more uncertain.
Therefore, I’m
going for a draw.
After this fixture, we’ve got just 15-league matches to secure a top-4
place. Just FIFTEEN! If you get those binoculars out that you know are in a
draw at home somewhere which you bought years ago; you’ll start to see the end
of the season on the distant horizon…
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match
prediction and result:
Prediction: Win
Result: Drew
(There was no pre-match blog posting for that game
due to being away on holiday)
Expected weather conditions
during the game: After Storm Eowyn battered parts
of the country the day before, not least the west and north regions…calmness
descends in the area for the match 🕊.
With the sun having been out all-day Saturday and with nothing more than a very
light, southerly breeze; clear evening skies during the match brings
temperatures of just 3C above freezing, with a “feels like” forecast of just 1
or 2C. Perfect for the players to run around and, I would say, for the fans to
watch too…if they dress sensibly for the occasion. 🧥🧣☕🥧🍺⚽
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| Solidarity |
