Glorified friendly or pride and first silverware? I personally
think it lies somewhere in between.
And the man who counts most, Manuel Pellegrini, says that, “…it’s not
a friendly match; it’s an important game against an important team as Arsenal”.
My opinion
For me this one
shouldn’t be dismissed as readily as a lot of modern-day footy fans seem to
but, on the other hand, nor should it be taken too seriously if your team loses
by a few goals. For me…yes it’s a final ‘barometer check’ on your team before
the big KO but you should also look at the personnel available on the day and
where they are ‘at’ in their pre-season workout and then take a balanced view
at the end of the game.
I also go along with the theory that winning
games becomes a habit AND walking up those steps to collect ANY trophy at Wembley in front of thousands in the stadium and
millions around the world must give your players a real buzz and lift a week
before their first game of the season.
 |
| Community Shield |
For us, going into
this one-off, trophy-winning fixture they’ll be no Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Vincent Kompany, Martin Demichelis, (Eliaquim Mangala?), Fernandinho, Frank Lampard, Sergio Aguero
or Alvaro Negredo (Injured) and most of them
would, of course, be first choice for our manager in most Premier League games. So yeah…that’s a heck of a lot
out and, so, must be taken into consideration whatever the result.
 |
| 2012 winners |
But as one newspaper recently published we have SUCH a good squad – even better than last season – we could quite easily field two VERY good ‘first 11s’ and I totally agree with that.
So, on the one hand
it could be difficult to predict my first ‘starting 11’ for this ‘curtain
raiser’ but on the other - and with so many players not featuring - it perhaps should be
quite easy.
v Arsenal
Formation: 4-4-2
_____________________Dzeko__________
__________Jovetic____________________
__________Fernando__________________
______________Caballero______________
From back to front…
I think our Engineer
will want to give Willy his first flavour of playing against Premier League
opposition and in an English stadium. What a perfect opportunity.
 |
| Experienced and experience |
With no Zaba or
Sagna the left and right backs pick themselves – Clichy
With so many central
defenders Matija certainly gets the nod; Karim, in my opinion, is the better of
the two in direct competition with Dedryck. Personally
I’d like to see Jason Denayer on the bench
ahead of Boyata with whom I (still) have concerns about…
Micah to, possibly,
be given a final, FINAL bow for the Blues.
 |
| The 5th defender... |
It certainly is
going to be a flimsy defence - as pre-season has proven - but certainly,
therefore, a very good workout for both Willy and Fernando. And so…
…Fernando indeed as
the ‘anchor’ and I‘ve gone for Yaya to blow an early, post-‘cake gate’ storm from
his system - I think his manager will
know that he’ll need to ‘get one out of the way’ ASAP.
I’ve gone for David
on the left as I’m not sure Samir Nasri has FULLY recovered from a pre-season
setback between Scotland and
the U.S.
 |
| In form and good season awaits... |
Stevan to continue
his predicted fine form and so partners Edin up front; playing slightly deeper
with fluid overlapping with Silva and Toure I’m sure.
As well as Joe on
the bench Dedryck will, I’m sure, get ahead of Denayer. I was going to go for
Sinclair to get another ‘shop window’ opportunity (and he might) but I’ve gone
for Pellegrini to possibly give Zuculini a flavour of playing on English soil.
Milner & Nasri
are almost certain ‘bench men’ and with no Alvaro or Sergio; John Guidetti is
automatic “subs” choice…a word that must haunt him almost as much as “injury”.
 |
| Great signing - Should have been a Blue... |
As for Arsenal…well
I’ve not looked TOO deeply into their preparations for this one but of the 4
pre-season signings made so far, the HUGE stand out one is, of course, Alexis Sanchez. He will certainly test our softer
centre [of defence] and being predominantly right-sided (although he can switch
and is versatile); Kolarov will have to forget his stronger ‘going forward’
tendencies for the most part and for once…DEFEND
LIKE CRAZY!
 |
| Needs to be sharp! |
It won’t help whinging Arsene that Thomas Vermaelen has all but left his side; being, as
he is, on the verge of joining Barcelona
(having had his route to Stretford Rangers
blocked by his boss).
They are short, in my opinion, of a couple of defenders (certainly one
good centre half) and an out & out striker in my opinion. But, like both us
and Chelsea, they have a phenomenal list of
players ‘across the middle’ when all fully fit. How close they all are to ‘full throttle’ I just don’t know…
Result? With both
defences a little weakened there should be goals aplenty. I’ve got a feeling
that it’ll be 2-2 or even 3-3 at full time and will be decided on pens…and going off pre-season I can only hope
that they’ve been putting in plenty of extra practice (and that they DON’T
allow Micah to take one until the very end if absolutely necessary)…
Update (1:56pm): Bruno Zuculini to Sunderland on loan (instead of Valencia)? That's the rumour...
Update (1:56pm): Bruno Zuculini to Sunderland on loan (instead of Valencia)? That's the rumour...
But will the game
go ahead?
The forecast, albeit still being assessed, is looking decidedly
dodgy for Sunday to say the least. Ex-hurricane Bertha
come tropical storm is heading our
way and the once-weakening storm is gathering more energy as it crosses ‘the pond’ and slams into the UK
The forecasters are still not 100% sure who’ll get hit the worse and exactly what time on Sunday it will
unleash its fury. But it will be mid-morning to late afternoon sometime when a
large part of the country will get rocked and, for me, there’s a small chance the game could well be
cancelled.
I hope not for the travelling fans of course; I’ve chosen to sit this
one out for several reasons and, in my place, is my season-card-holding friend
and his partner. Pete’s never been to Wembley to see City (or anyone for that
matter) and the 59-year old (sorry Pete)
is like an excited child in a toy store!
 |
| Last February - Hold on to your hats! |
If so, I can’t imagine anything other than a full (fan) refund – surely the game won’t get postponed
and played in midweek…
Jack
gone…Javi next?
So Mr Injury-prone
has left for Sunderland .
Although the man himself has said that he wasn’t injured for most of last
season - stopping just short of saying
‘I just wasn’t getting games at Manchester City’ but has, sort of, issued a warning to other young English stars
thinking of a move to the Etihad – I think
we’ve done well to get £10M for someone who clearly does struggle with
on-going niggles (or worse).
At just turned 23
time is definitely on the players side and if he can (or has) seen the worst of
his injuries behind him; The Black Cats do have an excellent player on their
hands and one, who, can play for England many times in the future, fortune
permitting.
I say, “Good luck fella”…
So, Garcia to follow
Rodwell out of the door? With Fernando, Fernandinho, Milner and Toure at the
club you’d flippin’-well think so, wouldn’t you?
Hope so too; even some improvement last season saw mostly
6/10 performances from the Spaniard. Just not good enough and if we can get
£12.5M from Zenit St Petersburg then that’s a
whopping income of cash from just two players with, possibly, Micah and Scott
at the very least to follow soon I’m sure.
Money in the bank / financial fair play appeased or are we lining up, as I’ve been banging on about recently, a bid for Isco or Manyoo-linked Di Maria?
Other incomings?
And what about these
(once again) persistent rumours about Falcao
joining us…on loan? Not sure what
that one’s all about…
As for the
never-ending saga that it Eliaquim Mangala, it turns out that it might not be his girlfriend’s living &
shopping location issues and that it might
not be an extended holiday (for someone who didn’t even make an appearance in
the World Cup in a team that came home after
the quarter finals).
No, instead the
latest story is that it’s been on-going discussions with his hard-nosed, difficult-to-deal-with
club, Porto , and our payment details.
Apparently we’ve now agreed £30M ‘up front’ with ‘add-ons’.
He SHOULD be
arriving Monday…or Tuesday. Huhhhh…
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