janpawel

On the topic of players suited to the counter / transition vs possession, I think it's important to have a mix of players, or players who can do both. City have Haaland and Doku who aren't exactly great in possession, Nunes that midfielder who doesn't get a game for them is more of a box to box etc. Chelses have Neto and Mudryk, who are rapid compared to Sancho and Madueke etc Having said that, we clearly don't have many/enough players suited to retaining the ball, partly due to players who are still here before the takeover I agree with TCD on Barnes and Tonali, both good players and we are yet to know how good they will be for us, and I'm hoping they do well. But they only reinforce our existing style of play

I think when he comes back he won't look so good. Like others have said, I thought he was noticeably worse last season, as if injuries have caught up. I also think his finishing was no where near what it was the couple seasons before, and this is his bread and butter with his age Happy to be proven wrong, love him as a player and he could, us loads

Why would you want him to?

Isn't he Chelsea's main RW? Think that opportunity will have passed now

Yeah thats my point, he 'seems' the type

The thing with Howe imo is that he seems exactly the type of manager to review, tweak and improve his systems and playstyle, he seems very intelligent, thoughtful and intentional, imagine having a chat with him, asking him about if he'd consider something different as evidence is showing something not working And him just saying 'no'. Just doesn't add up

I agree and it's ashame we've done it tbh

Yeah you're right, I just mean he was often dropping deep to get the ball and operating on the left hand side / our right side. But yeah he is a number 10 with a free role as you said

If Palmer plays, hopefully he plays on the left side so Joelinton can man mark him Think they preyed on the fact Tonali is new and Palmer would have easier access down that side of our midfield

Isak ain't a 10, he'd offer no defensive ability at all, and I don't see him as a odegard/Palmer type who can thread passes all game long, he's better when he's running with the ball I think he'd be better playing off a striker, Arsenal often play in a 4-4-2 style with Havertz as the target man

Absolutely And in turn, I think this is the weakest Man City have been for a good fear years, and I thought this even before Rodri did his ACL. A lot of their midfielders are getting older / slower No wonder they wanted Rice, Bruno etc

@brummieHow has Onana been for you guys?

Man City even with Rodri, still have someone support him in the middle, whether John Stones, Rico Lewis or a CM dropping in etc, it usually isn't just Rodri there left to defend that space all by himself, though when he is left to it, he is a lot quicker/stronger/taller than our Bruno Man City were even in for Declan Rice, now imagine a midfield 3 of Rodri/Rice and Silva/De Bruyne etc I guess my point is that even the best teams still value defensive stability and having someone in midfield who can do this Bruno is our best DM, AM, best everything until Tonali shows me otherwise imo. Howe clearly rates his ability to beat the press and dictate our play more than anything I'll probably get pelters for this as not many rate him, but I reckon Amadou Onana would have been great for us he's young with great potential. With Bruno as an 8, he could drop deep to support and help build up our play, then has more freedom in the final third when we have possession in their half. Would make the most of his abilities and he'd have someone huge and athletic to help him against counters

Absolutely. I miss when we were 'drawcastle utd' in our 22/23 season. We barely ever conceded more than 1 goal, even in the away games, always solid as a rock. And our defensive unit was quite like current Arsenal team, who I think are defensively excellent Now whether through poor coaching, or our tactics being figured out and we haven't evolved at all, we get sliced through like butter

3 years of the same midfield, RIP our aspirations In all seriousness, I'm sure you're thinking we would still sign young / cheap / potential players. I'm just thinking our midfield style is already looking unsustainable

The fact we paid £50-60m for someone who isn't as effective as Longstaff in the team Not saying he is or isn't BTW, just saying that would be a catastrophic error in terms of FFP

Thiaw and Guehi seem like total opposite players

I've been really impressed with Hall this season, after being a bit apprehensive on him for a while. It's shows through how much of our play goes through him how much confidence the players have in him, I'm sure his pass/touches stats are always top and near the top He reminds me of Luke Shaw for England a few tournaments ago, everything we did went started through him

No way we'd buy Hall and Kelly to revert to playing Burn at LB 😂

We have poor centre back depth and lots of centre mids, so I'd disagree

Surely that article about Longstaff is made up If we can't find a way to get Tonali in the starting 11 and get the best out of him, such is the need to play Longstaff instead, then it's been a complete failure of a transfer I'm sure it isn't a failure though, and hope he can be exceptional for us

I'd like to see us do this, but players who tick both boxes are probably the most in demand players going. Rice cost a fortune and you an argue he needs support to progress the ball, Rodri is probably the best example of doing both very well, imagine how much Man City would want for him.. Liverpool couldn't get Zubimendi Villa went with Onana, I'm one of the few people who rates him and think he'll develop well under Emery

To think I didn't want Madueke at the beginning of the last transfer window He looks great

Would love a player like Lavia for us

Not for me, Gordon is at his best running into space, and in general just being in a position where he can use his pace If he played as a 10 it'd be the most congested place on the pitch and we'd lose what he's good at