Tuesday, 8 June 2021

Reinforcements – Part 2

Following my last piece, here’s the continuation looking at both attacking flanks, the defensive midfield position, attacking / creative midfield and the striker department.

Do we need a new left winger adding to our 1st team next season?

No. Even if a decision is made that it’s best for Manchester City & Raheem Sterling to part company before September 3rd I’d say, once again, no.

We have so many options otherwise, which makes it clear that Raheem isn’t one of those players who ‘steps up his game’ when he has other players snapping at his heels to take his place. Phil Foden & Gabriel Jesus are the two prime candidates to take on that role, I would say, if Raheem departs this summer. But under the category of, “can do a job there” but, in most cases I would suggest, a flippin’ decent one; I’d include:

-       Oleksandr Zinchenko

-       Ferran Torres

-       Kevin De Bruyne

-       Riyad Mahrez

In addition to those 6, we also have youngsters Adrian Bernabe & Filip Stevanovic.

Would I like to see us sign a left winger for the 1st team? No.

Chances of signing a new left winger for the 1st team: 0/10

Any names? Not necessary.

Right wing?

For this one, I’m just gonna say, “Read left wing write-up”…but swap the name Raheem Sterling for Riyad Mahrez.

There’s a small chance, I would say, that Manchester City & Riyad Mahrez could part company in the coming months but still, should that happen, we have so many options; most of which are players I’ve just mentioned but include also Bernardo Silva.

Would I like to see us sign a right winger for the 1st team? No.

Chances of signing a new right winger for the 1st team: 0/10

Any names? Not necessary.

Central, defensive midfield.

Now, here’s a little bit of a minefield.

Does Fernandinho stay on? If he does, does Pep and his backroom team use the opportunity of the Brazilian staying on another season to cash in on Rodri and bring in better to rotate with / learn off our skipper?

Does Fernandinho leave and Rodri stay and, if so, do we then bring in a new defensive midfielder as competition for Rodders or do we promote from within our youth ranks?

Whatever the scenario – and even if both players stay – I think this is an area that needs closely monitoring at the very least and, I would suggest, improving.

Would I like to see us sign a defensive midfielder for the 1st team? Yes, I would actually.

Chances of signing a new defensive midfielder for the 1st team: 7/10

Any names?

No links to us – certainly not recently – but Yves Bissouma certainly ticks a lot of boxes. Highly rated by many; lots of Premier League experience, only 25-years of age in August and has only 2 years remaining on his Brighton contract. I’m gonna suggest the word…“ideal”? Arsenal & Liverpool are apparently very keen on the Ivorian.


Denis Zakaria is a name that pops up from time to time in the same sentence as Manchester City and has even less time remaining on his Borussia Monchengladbach contract, which expires in June 2022. He too turns 25 later this year, in November.

I suspect that neither player will be at their respective clubs after the September transfer deadline but whether either of them will be wearing a Manchester City shirt next season I just don’t know, of course. There’s a decent chance I would say.


Then there’s ex-City player – who never played for us due to permit issues – Douglas Luiz. It’s well known to fans of both clubs that we have a buy-back clause for the Aston Villa defensive midfielder but we’d have to make a decision soon if we want to reclaim the Brazilian, as it expires at the end of this month!

Should we engage that clause for the just-turned 23-year-old, he would apparently cost us a pre-agreed £27.5M. I think this is largely up to how Pep feels after listening to our scouts who, I presume, have been monitoring his progress at the midlands club.

There have been recent reports suggesting that we’re no longer interested in activating the clause and bringing the Brazilian back to Manchester (not that he was ever really here) but those could be stories stoked up at ‘that end’ in the hope of keeping the player for themselves.

Attacking / creative midfielder?

Right…this one gets tied up with another position in the side, for me at least anyway.

IF we sign a flippin’ good striker in the summer then I’m going to say, no; we don’t need a goal-scoring, attacking / creative midfielder to add to our ranks just yet.

However, if the intension is to go with “just” Gabriel Jesus & 18-year-old Liam Delap for the entire 2021-22 campaign – possibly bringing Lukas Nmecha into the frame also - then I think despite the talent we have across the middle in the creative / attacking department; we need to seriously consider bringing in an additional, quality, central midfielder with goals in him.

Why? Two reasons:

1.    For all our attacking qualities, any Manchester City fan ‘worth their salt’ will tell you that we can, all too often, waste so many created chances. So, IF we don’t bring in quality firepower ‘up top’ then I think we need goals to come, even more so, from midfield.

2.    I look at our current crop of attacking / creative central midfielders this way:

-       Bernardo Silva: A very good player indeed. I like him – good work rate, skilful and a great age at 27 in August. Prone to playing, sometimes, ‘within himself’ a little I think but that might be down to being in & out of the team fairly often, which is largely down to his manager.

-       Ilkay Gundogan: Good midfielder and had his best season for us last season, I think all would agree. But he’s 31 in October and sometimes still has to be ‘game managed’ so that injury niggles don’t come to haunt him; especially wanting to avoid a reoccurrence of a major setback he suffered a few seasons back; something that he admitted still had to be monitored & managed. It’s a long hard season for a player in that situation, I would suggest.

-       Kevin De Bruyne: Star player – world class. But believe it or not, the still-fresh-faced Belgium international turns 30 in a few weeks and I’m sure I don’t need to tell any Manchester City just how often Kevin breaks down most seasons. We seem to lose the player for at least 2 months per season through various issues and although his biggest injury last season seemed to spark the rest of the team into life; it’s an anxious time to see Kevin depart the field in pain and not to return for weeks at a time. He’s not getting any younger, is the obvious statement from me.

-       And lastly, Phil Foden. Wow! What a young talent we have. And yes, he’s an attacking, creative, central midfielder that could probably run & run most games and every game until you told him to stop. But he’s also proven that he can, more often than not, be more effective on the left-flank and if that’s to be considered more the case; then that puts him out of the central midfield frame, in a way.

Hugely talented department but when you ‘drill down’, one that’s a little aging and injury prone too. I think it needs freshening up and I’ll mention some names soon.

But…does it need freshening up with a new signing? There are quite a few EDS attacking midfielders who continue to get ‘rave reviews’ in Premier League 2 and so if one or two of them are, like Liam Delap, deemed ready to make the ‘step up’ this season, then I’d say we don’t need to go looking outside of the club to add to this department of the 1st team. Adrian Bernabe, Ben Knight, Cole Palmer, Felix Nmecha, James McAtee & Tommy Doyle are the ones I’m largely thinking of here. It’s all up to Pep and his advisers, of course.

Would I like to see us sign an attacking / creative, central midfielder for the 1st team? ‘All depends’…and I’ve said all on that.

Chances of signing a new attacking / creative, central midfielder for the 1st team: 5/10

Any names, should we decide to bring someone in from outside the club?


One fairly recent link really did excite me and came a little ‘out of the blue’, really. Could be just ‘utter tosh’-talk but Jude Bellingham’s name cropped up as a possible Pep signing. What a young, hard-working, talented player the ex-Birmingham City lad is and I was surprised to see that he “only” has 2 years left on his Borussia Dortmund contract. He’d still cost a bit, I’m sure, but this one is definitely worth considering.


Jack Grealish’s name is put into the same sentence as Manchester City SO many times I sometimes think he’s one of our players!

It’s been debated whether the fledgling England international is better as a left-winger than a central player but I’ve stuck him in this section regardless. I think Pep is a big admirer and that’s why we’re linked so often. However, surely…surely, we’re not going to attempt to prize this lad away from Villa having 4 years left on his current deal – he’d cost a fortune! For me, it’s money best spent elsewhere for now and I agree with a LOT of City fans who say we just don’t need him; not at £100M+ anyway. I’ve also got serious concerns about his ‘head issues’ – at 25 I still think he displays a lot of signs of immaturity both on & off the pitch. Bit of a diver to say the very least too. Personally? Don’t need him; don’t want him.


Fabian Ruiz is a 25-year-old who sort of falls in between a defensive & attacking midfield – an intelligent player with good vision, passing and ball control who sounds like the kind of player that links the defence & attack up well. There’s almost a David Silva-sounding quality about him…just a 6’ 2” version.

Not only linked with us but, according to recent reports, the player’s representatives are already in talks with City about a possible, summer move. A Spanish international with 12 caps; he’s entering the last 2 years of his contract at Napoli and I think this link could have some legs in it, which might also ease the need for a new defensive midfielder depending on how he’d fit into the team set up.

And finally…a striker?

Thankfully, I’ve already covered some on this and I suppose the reverse applies.

If we are to run with Gabriel, Liam and possibly Lukas too as strikers but also add to our central midfield a player who can score aplenty as well as create then, no. If not, then abso-flippin’-lutely we do!

Would I like to see us sign a striker for the 1st team? As I say, all depends.

Chances of signing a new striker for the 1st team: 9/10

Any names?

Huh…off course.

“He’s not one of our own”…but Harry Kane does seem itching for a move in an attempt to gain some winners’ medals while he still has time and, so, he might just be one of ours come September.

Clearly a talented, top-class goal-scorer and would cost an absolutely packet to sign him out of his 3-year-remaining contract; especially with Daniel Levy to deal with.

I have got big concerns about this one despite the goals he should bring to the club – we’ve just lost a 33-year-old, injury prone legend so do we really want to sign a 28-year-old (in July) striker with glass ankles? There’s a reason I’ve largely stopped putting him in my Fantasy Football team

Then there’s ‘the big man’ – all 6’ 4”, broad-shouldered Erling Haaland'; a player I was SCREAMING at the computer for us to sign before Borussia Dortmund snapped him up in December 2019 for around 20M Euros!

Now, like Harry, he’d cost £100M+ and although I think he’s a red-hot striker and a young one at that (just 21 in July), I’ve just got some little doubt now about whether it makes good business sense just right now in uncertain market times during a fluctuating Covid situation; where income may become, once again and at any given time, limited.

And, in fact, myself and a fellow football fan were discussing just the other day, whilst talking about the disappointing season Timo Werner has had for Chelsea, whether the Bundesliga is ‘all that’. Better informed fans of German football could tell me how they rate that league against the Premier League (and perhaps Championship?) but we were wondering whether impressive-looking stats of players in the Bundesliga COULD be misleading to those on the outside. Food for thought at least…

A very strongly-linked player is one I hadn’t heard of before; I have to admit. It’s come a bit ‘left field’ has this one, since it was first muted a couple of months ago.

Andre Silva is his name and it’s another Bundesliga-based player, so this comes with a bit of what I’ve already said in mind. But he seems to have ‘the lot’ – looks equally comfortable scoring with both feet, scores with his head (he’s around 6’ 1”); has nice control, alert in the box as well as about those around him with nice-little-lay-offs AND…he can score penalties!

Suggestions are that we’re already in talks with his club, Eintracht Frankfurt, and I reckon that if we’re going to bring in a striker, this 25-year-old fella looks ideal for us and the situation likewise with regards to possible cost when compared with both Harry & Erling.

But finally, I’m going to throw in a player who was once heavily linked to us about a year ago but, for whatever reason, has gone silent in terms of being linked to our club (but not others).

If Manchester City fans are yearning for a Sergio Aguero-style replacement then Lautaro Martinez could be that man. Standing about an inch taller than Sergio, this Argentine has a similar style to our departed hero in that he has that ‘low centre of gravity’ about his game. A very good goal-scoring ratio at a very good level of football too; both for his club, Inter Milan, and country.

Apparently both he and his club were up for parting company at the end of last season, for whatever reason, and that’s seemingly the case once again a full year on; with other top European clubs wanting his signature. His wages will, no doubt, be very high but with just 2 years left on his contract, I think transfer-fee-wise he’d be somewhere between Andre Silva and both the Harry Kane & Erling Haaland estimates.

All things considered regarding these 4 at least, I think it’s Silva for me (leaving decent money still to spend elsewhere on the team) and Lautaro second if not.

Phew…that’s all on the player speculation front, I’d say, and thank you for your time once again!

I’d like a bit of a break from footy so that I’m fresh for next season, if I’m honest, but there’s the Euros that start this-coming Friday!

Bog-wise, I’ll probably only post something on, say, an opinion on any new kits (fingers crossed for some good ones, especially away kits) and maybe something as the transfer machine starts churning out results.

Have a great but safe summer…



Monday, 7 June 2021

Reinforcements – Part 1

Worst thing you can do after a title-winning season is to sit back and go into the next season feeling chuffed with yourself and not properly refresh / strengthen the squad.

It’s something I think a lot of football fans have come to realise more and more over the last decade as ‘the standard’ seems to get higher & higher season on season; something that, perhaps, wasn’t quite recognised by those ex-pros of title-winning sides in the past who, when looking back now, often scratched their heads at the time wondering why ‘second seasons’, I’ll call ‘em, were so-particularly difficult.

I think it’s something we’ve been guilty of in our recently-successful years; seasons where we’ve just not quite strengthened enough or in the areas much needed while all around us were adding further high quality to their teams.

Surely not this time – I think we’re at the point now where if we get this summer right, we can truly consider ourselves as-having arrived at the very ‘top table’.

So, where do we and don’t we need to strengthen this summer?

Goalkeeper?

I’d say no. Ederson, Zack Steffen, Daniel Grimshaw, James Trafford and Gavin Bazunu should be enough quality to say the very least to see us though another long season ahead. Scott Carson may even sign up after being out of contract with his parent club, Derby County. I’ve not mentioned Mikki van Sas or Aro Muric there but I reckon the former will go out on loan again while the latter may well be moving on permanently this-coming season.

The only reason we might see incoming movement in this department is if Scott doesn’t sign up for another season and Pep insists on a veteran as 3rd choice; something he appears to like.

Would I like to see us sign a keeper for the 1st team? No, not really.

Chances of signing a new keeper for the 1st team: 1/10

Any names?

Can’t think of any.

Left-wing back?

Erm…YEAH! We were recently informed in the local press that they understand Manchester City’s stance is that they have no intensions of signing a left-back in the summer (when I read up to that point my heart skipped a beat)…unless Benjamin Mendy is sold, the article continued. So, I appeal to all Manchester City fans for us to set up an account and plough money into it so that we can buy the player ASAP and then sell him on to whoever, on a non-profit basis. Anyone up for that?

We seriously need to get a specialist left-wing back in this summer and to-even contemplate the possibility of Benjamin Mendy still being with us next season and for us not to strengthen that area of the team next season makes me feel a little anxious to say the least.

Would I like to see us sign a left-wing back for the 1st team? YES!

Chances of signing a new left-wing back for the 1st team: 8/10

Any names?

The name mentioned most over the months and once again very recently is a Portuguese player who’s just about to turn 19. Despite his young age, Nuno Mendes is apparently highly sought after and having protected their asses by getting the youngster to extending his contract to June 2025 just 6 months ago, Sporting CP’s player comes with a very big price tag and minimum cost / buyout clause of £60.25M! I’m sure the Primeira Liga side will see that as a ‘starting bid’ too and would do all they can to start a bidding war between top-European clubs.

We’re no mugs, of course, and we’ve seen in the past that we won’t be held to ransom.

However, one thing in our favour is the amount of young talent that we’ve amassed over the last few seasons who are out on loan and what comes with that is the possibility of-us-using one of those players as a cash-swap bargaining tool. And here’s the thing on that, one of those young players is right-wing back Pedro Porro who is on loan at, yes, you’ve guessed it, Sporting CP…

“Sources” say that Pep has made the signing of Mendes his top priority and while it delights me to hear that about a position that’s been in desperate need of attention since the departure of Gael Clichy in 2017; that’s a lot of dosh in times of high scrutiny spending-wise for a teenager.

However, as is the case with wing-backs these days, he is, apparently, just as adept as a left winger as he in the left-wing back position and, therefore, depending on what happens otherwise with comings & goings, that could make for very shrewd business. He’s risen through the international ranks very rapidly – stone-skipping his way from the Under-16s to Portugal’s first team in just 3 years; gaining 4 international caps for ‘A Seleção’, which certainly adds weight to how much he is, indeed, highly rated.

Within our ranks in the EDS left-wing back-wise is Oscar Tarensi & Joshua Wilson-Esbrand but only better informed than me, including Guardiola and his staff of course, will know whether either of ‘em are ready to step up and compete with Oleksandr Zinckenko for a place...

One player who HASN’T been linked with us recently but I’ve included him because he has been strongly linked in the past, is Argentine Nicolas Tagliafico. Described as an intelligent player with good technical ability; the footage that I’ve seen of him around a year ago and again more recently shows him to have a tireless doggedness too. A good combo!

After been strongly linked with us last summer, he then ‘put pen to paper’ on an extended contract at Ajax but only to 3 years, which now sees him with just 2 years left again. At 29 in August, he is both 10 years older than Nuno Mendes but also at the beginning of his ‘prime footballing age’, as a lot of experts continue to say.

A whole host of Premier League sides have been linked with him as well as some top European clubs and recent reports state that he wants to move in the summer with one report suggesting that the Ajax boss is almost resigned to seeing his left-wing back leave in the summer.

Personally, I think that if any move for Mendes – talks for which won’t be happening until Portugal’s participation in the Euros is over, we are told - is unsuccessful or ‘drags on’; this would be a far-cheaper option and a very experienced upgrade for a very needy position in our side.

Right-wing back?

If Joao Cancelo stays then no, we have both the Portuguese international as well as Kyle Walker and there would be no room for a 3rd purchase. However, if that WAS the case, personally I’d still like to see us keep a young, up & coming right-wing back close to the 1st team; nurturing a future first-team player and popping him into the side in certain domestic competitions when appropriate this-coming season. Alpha Dionkou or Yan Couto are two youngster who could play that role. There’s Pedro Porro too but we agreed for him to stay at Sporting CP until May 2022 when we sent him on loan last year.

If, for some reason - and I say that because I still get the feeling that Joao is still not completely sure of himself since his move from Juventus – Cancelo pushes for a move, then I’d say that if we’re not going to bring in Yan Couto, for example, then we most certainly need to strengthen this area as much as we need to do so on the opposite flank.

Over to you Joao & Pep…

Would I like to see us sign a right-wing back for the 1st team? I’d certainly like to see better than Joao competing with Kyle this-coming season, unless Cancelo himself steps up to a level I think is in him, deep down somewhere. If he does ‘step up’ then no, I’m fine with what we have for now.

Chances of signing a new right-wing back for the 1st team: 2/10

Any names?

Can’t think of any non-silly / reasonable shouts…

Central defence?

I would say almost certainly, no; not needed.

Why only “almost” certainly? Well, there’s a small chance that Aymeric might come back from the Euros and put in a transfer request to rock the foundations at Manchester City Football Club – there have been whispered rumours that he wasn't too happy with the amount of game time he got last season.

Even if that horrible situation should occur and he does move; there’s always the option of adding Taylor Harwood-Bellis to the first team and together with John Stones, Nathan Ake & Ruben Dias; those 4 should see us fine for the coming campaign, I would say. I’m sure already-respected Harwood-Bellis comes back to us an even-slightly better player after his 4-month loan at Blackburn Rovers.

But if Aymeric does leave and the coaching staff at Manchester City see another loan move a better option for 19-year-old Taylor, then Pep might just go looking for an experienced veteran defender to add to the ranks.

Would I like to see us sign a central defender for the 1st team? No, not unless absolutely necessary.

Chances of signing a new central defender for the 1st team: 1/10

Any names?

Well, in the scenario painted where Laporte leaves and Harwood-Bellis goes out on loan again, there is a certain Sergio Ramos who is about to be out of contract at Real Madrid and apparently isn’t interested in signing a new deal. That has, apparently, alerted Manyoo as well as many others, I’m sure, and I’m fairly confident that we might be…“monitoring” the situation. I think it’s unlikely but not totally outrageous if the situation arises and suits both parties.

That’s the end of part 1.

Part 2 to be released either later today or, possibly, tomorrow morning and looks at positions higher up the pitch.

Thank you, as always, for taking the time…

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Taxi?

Time to have a look at who might be leaving us this summer and whether I’d like to see ‘em stay or not.

Scott Carson?

Well…his 1-year-extended, loan contract with us is up once again but, then again, so is his main contract with his ‘parent club’, Derby County. He’s not a number, he’s a free man!

If he does stay, I just wonder if it’ll be in the same role – being registered as a player, which will no doubt see him on the bench from time-to-time next season and especially in at least one of the domestic cups, as well as helping out in the keeper-coaching department. If he does stay and sign a contract with us it could be in a 100% coaching-capacity role; adding to what we already have in the backroom department. Either way, I think he’s liked & appreciated at Manchester City and I reckon there’s some desire by the club to keep the ex-England international.

If the club wish to keep Scott / give him a contract, then I suppose it’s-then-all down to the player himself – at 36 in September he’s certainly still young enough as a keeper to find a club at some level and become their main stopper, so it all depends on whether he wants that or would be happy with the role at Manchester City that I’ve suggested.

Chances of him leaving or, more accurately in this situation, not being given a new contract in the summer in my opinion: 5/10

Would I like to see him stay? I think as a coach then, yes, but I think I’d like to see an-even-younger-than-Zack keeper get third choice next season – James Trafford or Gavin Bazunu perhaps. But seeing as Pep seems to like an experienced veteran as third choice, then I’d be happy for Scott to be than man for another season.

Aymeric Laporte?

I’m shocked to have to include the Frenchman as a possible departee but there have been rumours of late – slightly fuelled by the way Aymeric answered certain questions in at least one interview – about him wanting to leave. If true, the reason is straight forward – the surprise and vast improvement by John Stones has seen the 27-year-old get far less time on the pitch than expected.

If he does have a desire to leave then I can fully understand his situation – he’s been frustrated to say the very least at international level and as an excellent central defender approaching his prime years, he’s yet to feature once for France in competitive competition above Under-21 level. So much so, in fact, that he’s recently changed his international allegiances to Spain!

So, what does he do in order to-now-force his way into the Spain squad and, hopefully, first 11? Work hard in training / wait patiently at Manchester City or move to a club & situation where he’s likely to get a first team place right from the off?

Should he make it clear to Manchester City that he does want to leave then I have little doubt that Pep will do all he can to persuade Aymeric to stay – I’m sure Guardiola wouldn’t want to see such a big talent leave us and he’ll know that, should it happen, it’s another big hole to fill; despite the signing of Nathan Ake last summer.

Chances of him leaving in the summer in my opinion: 3/10

Would I like to see him stay? Absolutely!

Benjamin Mendy?

Regular readers will know my feelings about this fella. Do we know what Pep thinks of him? Of course we don’t.

However, I don’t think I’d be far off the mark by suggesting that our manager has finally had enough now; would like to move him on and possibly bring in better quality at left-wing back to compete with Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Two things to consider regarding any departure is…

1.    We’d be making a massive loss, of course, despite the fact that he still has 2 years remaining on his contract.

2.    Who’d have him?! Who have an injury-prone, left-wing back who’s lost some pace since his signed / suffered bad injuries and who can’t defend?

Chances of him leaving in the summer in my opinion: 9/10

Would I like to see him stay? NO!

Joao Cancelo

An obvious choice to include in a piece about players who MIGHT leave in the summer, seeing as there were very strong rumours that he wanted to leave just 5 months after signing for us.

I’m really not that enamoured with fella most of the time. SOME of the time he’s decent; sometimes he’s really quite good. But it’s all-too-often in-between really underwhelming performances and I just don’t know what that is. A lack of focus? A lack of determination / positive attitude?

Pedro Porro & Yan Couto are supposed to be very exciting, young right-wing backs signed fairly recently and loaned out abroad and if there’s a belief within the club that at least one of them is good enough and ready to be the back-up to Kyle Walker, then there’s a big opportunity to off-load, for decent money, a player whose heart may still not be in Manchester. If there is an underlying lack of desire in the Portuguese international to be here then I don’t think there’s enough talent nor consistency in the player for Pep to stand in his way, unlike Aymeric.

Chances of him leaving in the summer in my opinion: 5/10

Would I like to see him stay? Not really, as long as we have plans in place to cover that position.

Nathan Ake

Similar to the Laporte situation, it saddens me to feel the need to include Nathan in this blog-posting. Like Aymeric, he’s here simply because of recent rumours that he wants to move on to get more game time.

I suppose, as he was putting pen to paper, he looked at 2 central defender positions and saw “only” John Stones who, up to this season, looked like his City career may have been coming to an end and Aymeric Laporte; an excellent defender but one, who, had received a bad injury in recent times. Then there was the left-wing back slot too; a position that was being largely filled by a makeshift player. Nathan probably saw opportunities aplenty to get regular football in a Manchester City shirt.

So, he signs and just a few weeks later Ruben Dias arrives; John Stones turns from Clark Kent into Superman and Oleksandr Zinchenko puts in mostly fine performances. Chuck in an injury or two and Nathan suddenly finds an exciting move not exactly going to plan.

There’s a chance, yes, at 27 next birthday Nathan won’t want to see himself slip out of the reckoning of the Dutch Manager through a lack of gametime and COULD, therefore, request a move; even if that was to be on loan. But I think he’s got the type of character to want to fight for a place next season and then have a look at the situation once again next summer.

Chances of him leaving in the summer in my opinion: 2/10

Would I like to see him stay? Definitely.

Fernandinho

Well, he is 36 years of age and out of contract in a few weeks – why wouldn’t I include him?! This one is quite simple in that…if he and, perhaps, the medical staff at Manchester City feel like he has another half-season in his legs and he WANTS to stay then, for me, he stays.

He might still have the legs (he does appear to keep himself very lean & fit) but he might feel that he’s contributed enough now; might want to either ‘put his feet up’ or play a season or two for a club in South America or perhaps Spain; where the weather might be kinder on his well-used joints.

Chances of him leaving in the summer in my opinion: 4/10

Would I like to see him stay? Yes.

Raheem Sterling

Now here’s a tricky one. Being blunt…as our team & club have, generally speaking, been getting better & better over the years, this clearly-talented player has slowly regressed season by season. Alarmingly though, that slow, steady decline over the previous 2 seasons - where we saw the brilliant, the inconsistent and the poor Raheem - turned into a proper slump in the second half of the season just gone; a baffling downturn that continued right to the very end of the season. It’s pretty damming that, isn’t it, which is something that gives me no pleasure at all to write.

I think this is one where, given the chance with the Euros looming, he and his manager might have to have a sit down to try ‘n’ work out what the issue might be; the issue being that he is a top-quality player but there seems to be some blocking mechanism in his head that stops him making the right, on-the-pitch decision; often causing him to run down blind allies or make frustratingly-poor decision when ‘in on goal’.

If we are to push on and not stand still after another Premier League winning season, as our chairman recently said in his usual post-season interview, then we can’t afford to have our attacking left flank stutter ‘n’ splutter like that for big chunks of the season. We need to either move Phil Foden over there more-permanently and add to our attacking / creative central midfield (more to come on that in a blog-posting about new, summer signings) or simply get a new left-winger; something some City fans were calling for when we lost Leroy Sane.

Chances of him leaving in the summer in my opinion: 4/10

Would I like to see him stay? Depends which Raheem you’re talking about. The Raheem I know can rip defenders apart and score goals aplenty as well as create goals for his teammates? Definitely. The other one? No.

Riyad Mahrez

Seems a little strange to include Riyad in this piece at the end of this season; his best season for us in my opinion.

Those good performances and that good form did take a little while to come but once it did, it stayed for a reasonably long period and his contribution was excellent during our best run and congested fixtures.

But, in the main and since he signed in July 2018, there has been a lot of inconsistency and underperforming and he most-definitely splits opinion. There were rumors a while back that PSG were glancing over at him and that Riyad himself was open to a move away. So, at 31 next birthday and with just 2 years remaining on his current deal (the twitchy time for a lot of clubs) I just wonder whether the club will have a think and a chat with the Algerian and consider letting him talk to other clubs? After all, we do have a player ‘chomping at the bit’, in Ferran Torres, to become a regular on the attacking right flank; there’s Bernardo Silva, of course, and we’re about to be joined by two 18-year-old South American right wingers in new-signings Dario Sarmiento & Kayky; although it’s highly unlikely they’ve been brought in to feature for our first team this season coming.

Chances of him leaving in the summer in my opinion: 5/10

Would I like to see him stay? I’m right on the fence with this one – I’d been pleased to see him stay and would hope that he can largely maintain good levels of performance but, at the same time and as long as I was confident that position was well covered, I wouldn’t exactly be crying into my beer as he disappeared over the horizon.

Rodri

“Mr Marmite”, as I’ve recently referred to him as. Decent, without being brilliant; sometimes doing a very good job ‘under the radar’ which, perhaps, doesn’t always get spotted or appreciated by a lot of City fans. Capable of really good games but, all too often, doesn’t exactly fill you with a lot of confidence; certainly not as much as Fernandinho often does. Capable of a few too many errors, I would say, and a little slow / slow to turn is something often levelled at the Spaniard. That’s a sort of ‘school report’ that comes with a, “6/10 – Could do better”.

But I think Pep likes him and wouldn’t want to off-load him just yet…and I do have to remind myself that he does only turn 25 in a few weeks’ time (looks older to me, sorry Rodders).

Chances of him leaving in the summer in my opinion: 3/10

Would I like to see him stay? If Fernandinho is leaving us then yes; we’d need his familiarity with the team & system while we also, then-hopefully, bring in a young defensive midfielder to compete / rotate with him. However, if Fernandinho stays on another season then no; I’d be happy to get some money in for the player who has 3 years left on his contract and get a much better defensive midfielder in his place to rotate with Fernandinho; whether than be from within the club or in the transfer market.

Gabriel Jesus

It seems every summer there’s talk of the Brazilian moving on. But do you know what I like? None of the rumors ever seem to come from the player himself; a player who has only JUST turned 24 and who simply keeps his head down and works hard.

It’s another player who splits a lot of City fans but from what I can gauge, that split has been growing over the last couple of years and is about 70/30 in favour of him moving on now. Pep will love his work rate, as most City fans appreciate too, but how many times have we seen our manager spin around with his head in his hands when perfectly good goal-scoring opportunities ‘go begging’; not just from the Gabriel but, still

If there’s a feeling amongst management that it might be time to cash in on the forward who has 2 years left on his current deal then one thing that might change their mind is-if Raheem Sterling moves in the summer, which would leave a tantalising position on the left flank; a role I’ve seen him enjoy in the past. Also, if Gabriel does leave us that’ll leave an-already thin department practically barren; despite Liam Delap being promoted to the first team for season 2021-22.

Chances of him leaving in the summer in my opinion: 3/10

Would I like to see him stay? Yes…but I would like to see him tried more on the left wing when situations / other personnel considerations allow.

Thank you, as always, for taking the time to read.

Next up, a look at positions that need filling together with some possible names to suggest (that might be some time next week now).

Tuesday, 1 June 2021

Season predictions – results

Around the start of every season but only when the summer window closes, I try to predict how the final league table will look; how we’ll do in the cups and even a league-match result prediction, both at the start of the season and pre-match.

Here’s how I did…

The (predicted) league table…

1st        Liverpool                                2 places out in 3rd

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2nd       Manchester City                    Just 1 place out and champions

3rd        Arsenal                                   5 places out in 8th

4th        Everton                                  6 places out in 10th

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5th        Manyoo                                  3 places out and runners up

6th        Chelsea                                  2 places out in 4th

7th        Tottenham Hotspur              SPOT ON!

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8th        Leicester City                        3 places out in 5th

9th        Leeds United                         SPOT ON!

10th      Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 places out in 13th

11th      Southampton                        4 places out in 15th

12th      Sheffield United                    8 places out; bottom side/relegated

13th      Newcastle United                  Just 1 place out in 12th

14th      Aston Villa                             3 places out in 11th

15th      West Ham United                  9 places out in 6th

16th      Brighton & Hove Albion       SPOT ON!

17th      Crystal Palace                       3 places out in 14th

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18th      Burnley                                  Just 1 place out in 17th

19th      West Bromwich Albion        SPOT ON!

20th      Fulham                                   2 places out in 18th & relegated

Any comments to be had there?

Well, ‘me of little faith’…and it’s not the first time that I’ve got the league winners wrong. Having said that, after ‘Game Day 8’ had played out, which saw us come out of our initial run of games with a W L D W D W D L, I felt sadly confident that I had predicted correctly us-not winning the league…and had a deep-down concern that we might not even finish runners up!

Fast-forward and who could have, then, predicted such a wonderful unbeaten run coinciding with such an incredible slump / implosion on the red side of Merseyside? Other sides ahead of us at the time struggled to gain form / consistency and the rest is history.

I’ve been surprised by how well Manyoo did in the league by finishing 2nd – I genuinely didn’t have them down as-only suffering 6 league defeats - the same number as us in the end! Too many draws were their failing but I’ve even had Manyoo fans agree with me since the end of the season that they won a fair number of games that they didn’t really deserve to win over ‘the 90’ – they just had players who could nick a goal in the end to turn a game in their favour against the run of play. I think that’s a long-winded way of saying they were, in fact, slightly fortunate to finish as high as 2nd

I think I owe David Moyes an apology – I suggested, after a struggling start, that it might be a good idea to keep the Scottish manager out of the West Ham club; after he was in Covid-19 isolation and, where, his Assistant Manager then-managed to put 2 back-to-back wins together after an indifferent start. David came back and they put a largely consistent run of wins & draws together over the whole season; enough to see them finish in a Europa League spot!

Bit shocked how both Arsenal & Everton underperformed a lot of the time and I was even more surprised to see such a contrasting Sheffield United side from the previous season. The high work-rate was still largely there but not only could they just not score but there seemed an inevitability about them that they would concede in most of their matches. Gave us a hard time though, I thought, on ‘their patch’ but, eventually, they even lost that one 0-1.

I think 4 SPOT ONs is decent, if I can be so bold; as is getting 3 just 1 place out and 3 just 2 places out.

Looking at our fixtures both pre-season and then pre-match?

Pre-season: 55.26% of results predicted correctly.

Pre-match: 65.79% of results predicted correctly.

As for the cups…

League Cup                -           Final and, therefore, possible winners again.

SPOT ON!

F.A. Cup                      -           Final and, therefore, possible winners.

Just 1 round out

Champions League     -           Semi-final stage.

Just 1 round out and runners up

So close to getting all-3 right!

Thank you, as always, for taking the time…