Well Mourinho is also a moaning tart so I’m still not convinced.
He did actually:
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/che...very-chelsea-player-to-get-prem-medal?src=com
I think Pep sees Bernardo as a winger for the time being, especially with Gundogan signing that contract extension.
Except that Gundogan is likely to be more of a backup to Rodri this season (especially if Pep is going to be playing Fernandinho at CB at times) and Bernando is needed at CM to compensate for the (likely) reduced role that D.Silva is going to play this season.
Mahrez, Sterling, Bernardo and even Jesus can play wide so he's probably assuming we're good.
Judging by the fact that Pep is rotating the ST position between Aguero & Jesus so far this season, I would not count Jesus as an option on the wing (even if he can play there). So there is definately a case for signing Mikel Oyarzabal (the Spanish winger who was linked to City as a Sane replacement) in January considering the release clause he has (which is in City's current price range) and the fact Sane is basically out for the entire season (and will likely take some time to return to his best form next season).
Bernardo is a winger full stop. That's how I see him anyway. He's at his best when he is out wide. Such a skilful player, plays direct and aggressive and is so good 1 v 1.
Not saying that is a bad RW (far from it in fact), its just that I feel that he is better as a CM. Similar to how D.Silva & KDB where decent Wingers who turned out to be even better Central Midfielders.
I reckon we might see Cancelo get the odd game on the RW too.
Except the problem of depth is not really at RW, but rather at LW (With only Sterling being able to play there).
Can't imagine Pep has spent that much on him purely to compete with Walker, I'm assuming he has other plans for him.
Why not? Especially when the price paid for him was the going rate for any sort of decent FB, the fact that Walker last season clearly needed some proper competition for his place (especially when his mistakes midway last season almost cost City the League) and the fact that he and Walker are pretty much the only RB's you have at the moment.
Jesus can do a decent job on the LW but I wouldn't want him there for a full game, he's fine as an option to float out wide during games, perhaps swapping with Sterling in the middle to keep the defence guessing.
Agreed.
Ederson is firmly established as City's GK and is in no danger of the drop.
Which is why he (likely) feels he can get away with stupid mistakes like he did against Tottenham in the PL recently (and against the same team in the CL). And for the record I would say the same about De Gea as well (who in his last game help concede a goal from a guy who had scored 2 goals in his 2 seasons before that game...while playing as a striker for the whole time).
Bravo is in the last year of his contract and 99% will be on his way then. He's actually done well after that horrible first season but that's what everyone remembers.
Bravo was indeed far better in his second season than he was in his first (and played a big part in them winning the League Cup that season), but despite this fact its clear that Pep would be foolish to drop Ederson in favour of him.
The Number 2 spot next season will probably go to Muric who is currently on loan at Forest.
I feel it would make more sense to keep him on loan for a few more years (to develop as a player) instead, besides there is also a chance that Zack Steffen (depending on how well he does at Fortuna Düsseldorf) might end up filling that role himself.
Ederson is a great asset for City in their general play and the odd mistake is only human.
Don't get me wrong, Ederson is certainly one of the best keepers that is out there (only Oblak, Ter Stegen and maybe Neuer & Allison can all can claim to be better than him), but it is clear to me that he needs more competition for his place to reduce the number of mistakes he makes. Because while you cannot entirely remove mistakes altogether (because we are human), there is no excuse whatsoever to be mistakes against the likes of Fernando "Own Goal" Llorente
Why does he need to be moved? He can currently do a great job both on the wing and CM. City fans can't decide which position is his best.
Because he is needed to take the place of D.Silva (who of course also started out as a winger), that's why. Especially when D.Silva is no longer going to be at City come next season.
We currently have Sterling, Bernardo, Mahrez, G Jesus, Sane (when he returns he may decide to stay) plus a lad called Correia who's currently on loan in Portugal for the wing, pretty well stocked.
Sane is basically out for the whole season (and will be quite some time till he is back to be best), Jesus is needed at ST (and is better as one), B.Silva is needed at CM and it will be several years before Correia will be ready for the first team (asumming he turns out to be good enough). So there is a pretty strong case for City to sign another winger for January, even if Sane ends up staying.
Loaned out to who?
Will they play regularly? Will the receiving team play a similar system to City?
Most people give the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton as destinations but those teams have spent considerable money on incoming players and have good prospects of their own to give game time to.
Do you feel that both Eric Garcia and Taylor Harwood-Bellis are ready for Premier League Football? Because while I feel that both of them have a lot of potential, I don't think they are quite ready for that level of football just yet and thus they should be loaned out to a Championship Club playing a similar system to City instead (before looking to play at the top-tier of English Football afterward).
There didn't seem to be a lot of top CB's on the market this summer except for De Ligt and Maguire who went for silly money.
Well the trouble is that (thanks to the vast amount of overinflation in todays transfer market) any CB that anything like (or has the potential to be) decent is going to cost silly money anyway. And regardless of how stingy your club has become (when it comes to transfers) and despite the money the club has spent on defensive players under Pep (which was needed by the way); there was more than enough evidence last season that showed that there was a need to invest in CB this season (heck Laporte's performances alone against Spurs in the CL in both legs is enough evidence).
The fact that Kompany has left and the fact Nicholas "Error Prone" Otamendi still calls himself a Man City player only strengthens the case to invest in this area during January.
We have a couple of good prospects who could probably do a job at a push and will get some time in early domestic Cup games
Are they going to be challenging for a place against the likes of Laporte, Otamemdi & Stones (in the PL/CL games) though?
plus Pep seems intrigued with the idea of Fernandinho at CB.
He has a lot of the qualities to be a decent CB, the only problems are his height and the fact he's 34.
It will be better in the long run to use the resources we have and only buy if there's a player out there at a realistic price who is exactly what we are looking for.
The problem is though, any prospects at CB that have the potential to be decent are going to costly anyway, that is the reality of the trasnfer market today.
They'd have signed both De Ligt and Maguire but for their finances being investigated.
Surely having a defence that can win the CL should be a bigger priority than yet another failed attempt at pleasing UEFA over FFP (honestly at this stage they are better off taking them to court over FFP).
Would have been scary to be honest. If Stones improved they'd have the CB position locked down for at least 5 years.
Which hopefully would result in the rest of the Top 6 be more willing to invest in their defence, as well as other clubs being more incentivised to develop defensive players.