Some might call the Community Shield, the so called “Curtain Raiser”, the first game of the season. Yes it’s a fairly important fixture to pitch last season’s league champions against the F.A. Cup winners but I don’t see it as the opening game at all - more of a pre-season hors d'oeuvre with some silverware attached.
Gameweek 1 is the proper start of footy (in the ‘top flight’ that is – other fab leagues that start earlier are available) in this country.
Looking back a week…
Felt a bit bruising, didn’t it?
Due to a family event on the day, I was only able to listen to the whole of the second half on the radio and watched no live action. After the game, I listened to both fan and pundit opinion, read reports and then followed all of that up by watching 8-minute highlights.
We certainly had our chances, mostly in the first half, but taking nothing whatsoever away from their keeper; most of our shots were either at or near him.
Our defence was very poor for their goals and that includes our own man between the sticks. Deary me… 🫣🤨
The midfield is going to take some work and we can all see that’s being addressed by our club / new manager. Still, with more additions to come I think that’s going to take a while to gel in a very unforgiving league.
I used the word bruising and, for me, that was mostly due to the gulf on the day between the two performances. And let’s be honest Blues, it was a fairly strong line-up that we put out last weekend, albeit some of ‘em had only very recently returned to pre-season training after the World Cup; a competition that saw City provide the most players from one club in England.
In addition, I then had to put up with two slightly-mocking Manyoo fans (before the Hull City game that is 😂) and listen to overexaggerated talk on the radio for a few days. The buttons to switch channels was being used a lot for two or three days afterwards.
So moving on…
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| Etihad Stadium |
It’s going to take a some time for me to get my head around our new manager’s thinking processes but here goes…
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 2/11 in Pep’s last game of the season where he almost changed his entire starting 11; a moment where I should have gone with my instincts, as I had an idea that he would. 🙇♂️😳
A fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-2-3-1 / / 4-3-3:
_____________________Haaland(C)___________________
__Semenyo_______________________________Cherki__
_________________________________Foden__________
__________O’Reilly________________________________
_____________________Anderson___________________
Ait-Nouri____________________________________Nunes
___________Guehi(VC)_______________Khusanov_______
____________________Donnarumma_________________
Subs: Rulli, Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, Reis, Gonzalez, Kovacic, Grealish and McAidoo.
Gianluigi starts in goal.
Although I have other alternatives in my head for the back-4, I’m going for Rayan-A-, Marc, Abdukodir and Matheus to start this afternoon. Other alternatives, as I try to work out our new boss, are either O’Reilly or Gvardiol at left-wing back, which might then mean selection or positional changes further forward involving Semenyo and Cherki). Additionally, Enzo may well start with Dias instead of either Guehi or Khusanov but, especially against the potential direct pace of our opponents (more on that to come), I’d steer well clear of that idea if I was him.
In midfield I’m going for Elliot as the deepest player, Nico-O- slightly further forward and the most advanced of the three is likely to be Phil and…C’MON PHIL! Either side of that trio I think we’ll see Antione on the left and Rayan-C- on the right.
Erling up front.
Geronimo 🪂 get’s his first taste of league bench action as a City player (or did he make the bench when he was with us for the 2016-17 season?) as back-up keeper; Rico, Ruben, Josko and Vitor make up four defenders on the side. We have two midfielders in the shape of Nico-G- and Mateo, while wing / forward options are likely to be Jack and Ryan.
I do, however, also have a feeling that Claudio Echeverri might get a place on the bench instead of either Jack Grealish or Ryan McAidoo… 🤷♂️
Notable absences:
- Marcus Bettinelli – Not selected.
- Jeremy Doku – Out with a calf injury. Expected return is 2 to 3 weeks from 21st August 2026.
- Omar Marmoush – I’m going to suggest that with negotiations ongoing and a fee apparently agree between City and Spurs, the Egyptian forward won’t be included in today’s squad; as the rather obvious mass exodus continues… 🚕🚌🚡✈️
Do I agree with Enzo’s (predicted) line-up?
Yeah, that’d do for me.
Result?
Our opponents lost a crackin’ manager in the summer and new boss, Marco Rose, leaves us with something of an unknown element to face, which carries its own danger.
Apparently, his managerial coaching style is to be very direct with high-energy, vertical pressing in order to put early pressure on the opposition. Think Jurgen Klopp when he was at Liverpool and if that is indeed the case, I just hope we don’t start cold this afternoon.
They may have seen a big departure in manager Andoni Iraola but unlike the summer transfer window following the 2024-25 season, The Cherries have managed to retain most of their better players from last season; a team who drew many plaudits from many-a-pundit and neutral fan.
As I prep this piece in midweek, they’ve also added three players, all aged 22. A Portuguese international central defender, a Spanish Under-23 international right-wing back and a Spanish born, Uruguay Under-20 forward.
I’ve got a feeling that - and not for the first time against these I’m keen to add, albeit mostly at their place – today’s opponents are going to cause us some issues and we have to be prepared for that possible, high-energy drive.
As for us and from my perspective, there’s no doubting that this is now way beyond a third season of simple reconstruction – this is now a side undergoing an almost full rebuild; largely in the midfield and forward areas of the team. 🚧🏗️😲 The departure lounge at Manchester Airport will have seen many an ex-City player in the last few months and, especially, few weeks and days.
The scaffold is still up, Blues, and I think we all need to show some patience. Are you listening City fans of just the last 15 years?
As for today it’s simple for me - play like we did last Sunday afternoon and our young visitors, coached by a sure-to-be-keen new manager and his apparent direct style, will be our undoing. There’s little doubt about that in my mind.
Play to our potential – or as near to our potential as we can for the first proper game back – and we still have enough quality personnel remaining in our squad to beat these at home.
I think they’ll score, they might even score first, but I see a home victory here by a goal and possibly two. 🤞
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: Win
Result: Won
(Pre-match blog posting from that game)
Expected weather conditions during the game: Decent, without feeling like the temperature will melt your bones! 20/21C (around 70F in old money) and some sunshine between light clouds / slightly hazy skies and no breeze whatsoever. ⛅😎🍺🍕⚽💪
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| Solidarity |
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