Some changes for the visit of Forest?

I think it’s fair to say that some of our players haven’t yet found traction 4-league games in and while some will escape ‘the chop’ for lack of experienced cover…some might not be so lucky under a manager who likes to rotate anyway, generally speaking.

Looking back…

Calamitous defending again against Crystal Palace! And if I could TRY ‘n’ keep it simple whilst attempting to explain why I think that might be happening (other games included both this season and the back end of last), I believe it’s a combination of injuries / rarely having the same central-defensive partnership; defenders who just haven’t yet found form this season so far as well as them-adapting to a new system this season; where our flanking defenders are being asked by their manager to dip into midfield at times. ‘Jack of all trades and master of none’, springs to mind with that last one.

 

And…here’s one that Ian Cheeseman pointed out at half time last Saturday: Including the Community Shield, we’ve gone 2 goals behind 5 out of the last 7 competitive games. Wow…that fact definitely tells a slightly-concerning story, doesn’t it?

 

Now, it would appear, we’re in for a new central defender who’s in his last year of his contract at Borussia Dortmund; in the form of Swiss international, Manuel Akanji. With Luke Mbete, who is currently injured anyway, looking likely to sign for Huddersfield Town on loan for the rest of the season and with every one of our central defenders seemingly prone to an injury or two every season; clearly this £15M bid is an attempt to bolster that department with a player who has 41-full international caps for Switzerland and having made 119 league appearance for the German side since January 2018. He’s just turned 27 and stands at 6’ 2” tall.

Further up the pitch, I don’t think everyone is exactly ‘firing’ as yet either and are largely being carried by the usual class suspects, Bernardo Silva & Kevin De Bruyne; possibly more-so the former of the two at the moment. Ilkay Gundogan is playin’ really well too, whenever he ‘gets the minutes’.

The Manchester Evening News actually described Erling Haaland’s display before he scored last Saturday afternoon as, “…rubbish”, which backed up exactly what my mate text me not long after the game. Then…BANG! ‘The Terminator’ engaged his target. He too is adapting to a new system; new colleagues and a new league as well and whenever he’s given the correct supply, he’s just a colossal, powerhouse-killer of a striker!

But, of course, despite some of the negative observations that I’ve mentioned there, we still sit 2^nd and just 2 points off the top so imagine how we’ll be when they all ‘click’!

Now, looking forward…

v Nottingham Forest

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

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

Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (possibly 2-7-1 at times):

____________________Haaland___________________

 

 

Foden__________________________________Alvarez

_____________________________Silva_____________

__________Gundogan____________________________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Cancelo__________________________________Walker

____________Dias______________Stones___________

 

 

____________________Ederson_____________________

Subs: Ortega, Gomez, Wilson-Esbrand, Lewis, Gomes, De Bruyne, Knight, Mahrez, Palmer.

Ederson keeps his place ‘in-between the sticks’.

Same back-4, I’d say, with Joao, Ruben, John & Kyle.

Rodders to ‘go again’ as ‘the anchor’, with Phil, Ilkay, Bernardo…and Julian all in attack mode. I’ve just got a feeling that the Argentine forward will get his starting chance tonight and if my ‘gut feeling’ is correct; I might then go with my ‘spider sense’ once more and suggest that he may then get a starting place once again against Aston Villa on Saturday but ‘up top’ in place of Erling Haaland. Mmmmmm…we’ll see soon enough, of course.

As for this game, Erling to start as our central striker once again and I’ve just got a feeling also that Kevin might be taken out for a little reset-rest but that we could see him play some part later on in the match.

Stefan is the reserve stopper; Sergio, Josh & Rico are the 3, very-young defenders on the side. Claudio, Kevin, Ben, Riyad & Cole make up the midfielders & wingers in ‘the 9’. By the way, I hope that rumour which circulated the other day about Cole Palmer being loaned out for the season was a horrible one being stirred up by someone…or that, should it be true, Pep insists that the 20-year-old Manchester lad is going nowhere this season.

A little bit extra that I don’t usually do in this section and in line with my opening subheading…

·         I think Ederson hasn’t had a good start to the season, as he appears to be doing his best to give validity to the argument of those who have already been expressing doubts about the Brazilian’s goalkeeping ability; beyond being a good passer, that is. However, on the strength of Stefan Ortega’s lack of Premier League experience, he survives for now at least, I’d say.

·         Now, this might not necessarily be their fault but both our flanking “defenders”, Joao & Kyle, have also had pretty rotten starts to the season; in a defence that’s conceded 5 goals in the last 2 games. There’s a possibility, therefore, that Pep might view newly-promoted Forest at home as an opportunity to give a start to new signing, Sergio Gomez, and should he do so; he has the option of dropping Cancelo to the bench or moving him over to his more-natural position of right-wing back and dropping Walker instead. However, I think our manager will resist this change for now and will want both Joao & Kyle to practice their new roles until they can (hopefully) perfect them. As I’ve suggested, I do have a little sympathy for the pair – I’m not sure even the most observant Manchester City fan knows where their positions should be at the moment or can track their in-game whereabouts most of the time and I’m guessing the two players themselves are a little confused and have feelings of doubt.

·         What’s wrong with Ruben Dias? Fair enough, he had injuries last season that I believe he was feeling something building with his hamstring before he eventually broke down but he’s not really been playing that well since his first season, 2020/21, up to / including the beginning of last; where his performances then-slowly started to ‘tail off’ as I say. His current partner, John Stones, is very slowly ‘getting there’ following his pre-season injury / lack of match fitness. Both should survive, however, with Aymeric Laporte out for another 4 to 6 weeks and with Nathan Ake trying to recover from a recent groin issue.

·         Riyad Mahrez…AGAIN with Riyad Mahrez! I just can’t figure this fella out at all – full of talent; highest scorer in all competitions last season with a lot of assists too and yet he seems to choose when to turn all of that on! When he’s not doing a complete invisible man impression, he can be so frustrating and wasteful and, unfortunately for us, he’s going through one of those spells yet again. I’d be shocked if he got a starting place against Forest ahead of other options we have in that position.

·         Phil seems to be playing a little within himself at the moment, don’t you think? He doesn’t ever really have BAD games, as such, and his season rating so far from me stands at a “good”, 7/10. He never, EVER lacks desire but he just doesn’t appear to be expressing himself quite the same as we’ve seen him do so many times before and, yes; he’s had two glorious chances this season to get two additional assists with Erling Haaland SCREAMING for Phil to tap the ball to him on both occasions. One City fan when interviewed after the Palace game said that Phil Foden was, once again he notably added, “…a passenger”. I wouldn’t go quite that far. I’d have him there any day of the week ahead of Jack Grealish and I’d say he’s gonna get another chance to shine tonight.

Notable absences:

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Aymeric Laporte – Recovering from a knee injury / surgery. Expected return at the end of September / early October.

-       Nathan Ake – Reportedly back in training but it sounds like he won’t be risked for this game.

-       Jack Grealish – For Jack, read Nathan.

-       Kalvin Phillips – For Kalvin, read Nathan also.

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

Yep.

Result? There are transitions and there are TRANSITIONS! Newly-promoted Forest did not mess around in clearing out those who they felt just wouldn’t ‘cut it’ in the top flight and brought in a heck of a lot of new blood who they believe will, at the very least, help them survive their first season back in the Prem. A whopping 19 have arrived at the City Ground so far while an even MORE whopping 29 have departed!

Of course, that brings with it the risk that the ‘new lot’ will need time to adjust & gel but their manager, Steve Cooper, is a decent boss with tonnes of coaching experience behind him prior to moving into management full time.

And they’ve started okay too, registering a win and a draw alongside 2 defeats. In those 4 league outings they’ve “only” conceded 5 goals too, which suggests to me that the Welsh manager has already got ‘em organised quite well. They have only managed to find the net twice in the league though.

Therefore, I think we’ll find our hosts well organised and tough to break down and while we push forward, as we do, we of course have to be mindful of ‘the counter’. I haven’t looked to see if they have any pacy players who could damage us with counter attacks but we might want to be mindful of 6’ 3” forward, Sam Surridge, whenever they get the chance to pop the ball over to him.

However, that’s a very strong 11 that I’ve suggested there and I think it’s one that will grab us all-3 points. It’s a home win for me.

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

Prediction: N/A

Result: N/A

Expected weather conditions during the game: Pleasant for the 7:30pm (BST) KO. Around 17 or 18C and whilst it’s still hanging in the sky, the sun could well poke out from time to time. Might be worth some fans taking a light jacket for the journey home depending on how far they have to walk as there will be bit of a breeze too…

Solidarity

 

Will Eagles Dare?

Dare, that is, to take more points off us this season? They managed to deny us 5 points from a possible 6 last season and have had games in other recent campaigns where they deservedly grabbed points too.

We have been warned.

Quick word on the Newcastle game…

…a match I was able to watch in full surrounded by loads of Newcastle fans and just three other Blues, wife included, whilst on holiday.

Crackin’ game and a share of the spoils was fair, in my opinion, which would sum it up just fine, I think. A bit more detail would be to say that I thought we didn’t do enough to try ‘n’ take a hold of the game once we’d scored the opener to quieten the home crowd. And once we’d let ‘em back in and, furthermore, grab the momentum; they tore us to pieces at times. They had the better of the first half for sure.

Although a little jolted when they grabbed a third to make it 3-1 early in the second half, I was strangely-also instantly confident that we’d fight back and I was proud of the attitude from our lads when they did so. We could have won it too in, what would have been, a familiar 3-4 score-line at St. James’ Park (that’s one for folk of a certain age and / or those who know their City history).

I’m a bit concerned about the use of this occasional 2-7-1 formation where we push the wing-backs narrow and practically into midfield. Pep said, recently, that it’s a system he’s used before when playing with a ‘number 9’ but admitted also that he will…only use it against sides / team-systems he deems it right to do so. Did you think it was appropriate away at a Newcastle side with the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin in it and on the attacking flank (that’s not said in hindsight, by the way)? I didn’t. We looked really, REALLY exposed down the sides and Pep needs to think long & hard about when & where to use it in future, in my humble opinion.

Still, there’ll be a lot of sides who will come away from St. James’ with nothing this season so I suppose a point is not too bad - it’s just that I felt 3-points was there for the taking last Sunday, especially having taken the lead.

Anyway, moving on…

v Crystal Palace

Etihad Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game which, for me blog-wise, was our home game against Bournemouth: 11/11).

Fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 (possibly 2-7-1 at times):

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Foden____________________________________Mahrez

_____________________________De Bruyne_________

____________Silva_______________________________

 

_____________________Rodri______________________

Cancelo___________________________________Walker

____________Dias______________Stones____________

 

 

____________________Ederson_____________________

Subs: Ortega, Gomez, Wilson-Esbrand, Lewis, Mbete, Gundogan, Grealish, Palmer, Alvarez.

Ederson has the gloves.

I think it’s a safe bet to suggest that we’ll see a back four of Joao, Ruben, John & Kyle this afternoon (3:00pm KO BST).

Rodders is the deeper-lying midfielder with Phil, Bernardo, Kevin & Riyad ahead of the Spaniard, I’d say (Gundogan could get ahead of either Bernardo or Riyad).

Erling is the man ‘up top’.

Stefan is the reserve stopper; Sergio, Josh, Rico & Luke are the 4 defenders on the side (will our manager put two left-wing backs on the bench?). Ilkay (possibly), Jack & Cole are the midfield replacement options on the side while Julian is the striker in reserve. A quick word on Jack - he was not part of the squad in our last league game, with Pep informing us that he had some niggles. Based on that and with no injury updates in yesterday’s pre-match press conference; I’m gonna assume that the ‘little niggles’ have been dealt with but that the 26-year-old is only fit enough for the bench.

As I say, Pep was somewhat guarded when asked what the state of play was with regards to available personnel; simply answering by saying, “We train this afternoon (Friday). Then I will know the situation of everyone. I don’t know at the moment”. That was all in the first half of the pre-match press conference, which I read the report on. Since then in the embargoed section, our manager decided to-then give reporters some detail but it's pretty much as I thought anyway, SO…

Notable absences:

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Aymeric Laporte – Recovering from a knee injury / surgery. Expected return sometime at the end of September / early October.

-       Nathan Ake – Presumably still injured following his withdrawal at Newcastle on 21 minutes with a groin issue. I’m sure he’s had that specific injury more than once before…

-       Kalvin Phillips – After being a doubt with “niggles” prior to our trip to the north east last Sunday, where he eventually made the bench at least; the England international midfield is a doubt once more after suffering an arm / shoulder injury in our midweek charity match in Spain.

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

Sure do.

Result? As I’ve suggested in my opening gambit, this is most-definitely a tricky one for us, history suggests.

Bringing it to the present, their opening 3 league games reads, L D W - F4 A4, which is so Crystal Palace – unpredictable. But it also both suggests improvement and a fairly tight defence, especially when you consider the fact that they’ve faced both Arsenal & Liverpool already.

It might sound strange to say this but I think our little ‘bloody nose’ last Sunday will do us a favour going into this fixture and the next few matches that follow; a little ‘wake-up call’ in general, perhaps, and possibly resulting in close analysis by Pep and his team to see if they can fix / tweak their new system(s). That – and if we take these seriously and don’t leave sloppy gaps at the back – should see us grab ‘all 3’ this afternoon.

It’s a City win for me.

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

Prediction: Win

Result: Lost

(There was no pre-match blog-posting ahead of that game back in October 2021 due to me-being away on holiday).

Expected weather conditions during the game: Lovely. Perfect in fact. 70F, sunny intervals and a light breeze. Certainly no need for a coat and shades would be useful.

Solidarity