Premier League

[Blow-in]

They need to offload 8-9 players, they have consistently bought badly over the last 10 years, There is basically nothing salvageable from the current first team maybe Mainoo, Bruno (would need a team built around him).

 

Not sure this is something that can be fixed in the next 10 years no matter the manager, short of rovers getting promoted this is the main source of foolball pleasure I see for myself on the horizon.

[riverholmes]

On 23/11/2024 at 19:43, RoverDom said:

City have a squad where you could put out two starting 11s and both should compete for the title. There's no hiding behind injuries when you have the squad thay City have and the money they have spent. 

There could well have been financial imperatives to it but letting Palmer and Delap go is increasingly looking like something like (but not on the level) of Mourinho letting Salah and De Bruyne go at Chelsea. (Again, don't know the precise reasons that they went).

Away from any financial issues that might've affected player dealing, my complete guess is that Guardiola is not being challenged by pragmatic voices at the club. He wants cosmopolitan aesthetes but also needs rugged players, which he seems to overlook often. Moreover, just maybe, the thrall of negative possession football is waning, and his team are being challenged with more direct football these days.

The paradox of Guardiola teams, I think, is that they are based on his rigid collectivist vision and micromanagement - but the times they come alive, is when players like De Bruyne or Foden, have got into a roll and started to express themselves as individuals. There is a balance to a system and individualism and my guess is that City have got lost. But, of course, because of the players they have - and the manager - they will surely bounce back with avengeance.

Edited 4 hours ago by riverholmes

[RoverDom]

32 minutes ago, riverholmes said:

Moreover, just maybe, the thrall of negative possession football is waning

It's dull isn't it. I saw a clip on Facebook of one of their forest goals where they did 4000 passes in a row, the first 80% of the clip was being shown at 2x speed and I was still bored. 

[simongarnerisgod]

16 minutes ago, RoverDom said:

It's dull isn't it. I saw a clip on Facebook of one of their forest goals where they did 4000 passes in a row, the first 80% of the clip was being shown at 2x speed and I was still bored. 

if you watch the big match revisited on a saturday morning,football from the past is far more enjoyable