re: Manchester City 2015-16 thread "The Pepectations are high"

I hope the rumors of Mangala to Valencia on loan aren't true. I feel like he was on track with his development so far this year.

Man City has looked great in the first two matches.

Kun, Silva and Ya Ya seem to be in top form and, more importantly, Kompany, Mangala and Fernandinho have all looked really strong.

Still have some doubts about the same midfield tactics when they face the absolutely top tier European sides in CL but they sure look to be the class of the EPL out of the blocks at least.


However, I'm not really sold on Sterling though I know he's young and more of a prospect than an established top player.
He's certainly fast and helps them with his constant willingness to make runs off the ball.

However, when he actually has the ball in buildup (aside from his nifty signature cutback to the endline and draw a foul move) he gives it away far too easily and picks the wrong pass almost every single time.



Otamendi would seem an excellent addition.

Not sure that De Bruyne won't fall into the category of top EPL clubs buying too many fancy attackers at the expense of more well rounded midfielders.

Anyone notice the City fan in the stands with the Reuben Randle "smile" after the Kompany goal? Too funny.

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However, I'm not really sold on Sterling though I know he's young and more of a prospect than an established top player.
He's certainly fast and helps them with his constant willingness to make runs off the ball.

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What he does off ball is better than what he does on right now. Look at the space he creates for Silva and yaya. He's opening things up in ways Milner, navas, and nasri don't.

KDB, while I agree he's a "fancy signing" gives depth, tracks back better than any other outside mid we have, and is a big upgrade over navas. I would rather spend big money on a splash signing that helps than spend it on another Sinclair.

I think he can. He has at times before and looked as good as navas/nasri at the worst. Plus he's a solid backup for Silva and yaya. He's not an out and out winger but he could fit if we see some 4-3-3 this year.

that someone immediately down votes every single post in this thread.

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What he does off ball is better than what he does on right now. Look at the space he creates for Silva and yaya. He's opening things up in ways Milner, navas, and nasri don't.

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Yeah, he's certainly an entirely different threat to deal with than Milner or Nasri and I agree that it opens up space for Kun and Silva which is the last thing an opponent is wanting to do.

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KDB, while I agree he's a "fancy signing" gives depth, tracks back better than any other outside mid we have, and is a big upgrade over navas. I would rather spend big money on a splash signing that helps than spend it on another Sinclair.

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I may not be as familiar with KDB as many but my impression is that he would be very similar to Nasri in terms of attacking dynamics, ie always wanting to drift central to playmake in a #10 type role. That seemed the exact set up that already didn't work out all that well.

Not arguing that he wouldn't be a bit better (and younger) that Nasri but I also think Nasri is a bit underrated (more because he's so universally disliked) and that it's his characteristics which are the issue at times with City and not his quality, if that makes sense.

I think KDB is more an expensive backup/ insurance policy if Silva is out than someone who's going to be able to operate around Silva and Kun.

Not a bad luxury to have but I still think a monster signing in the midfield (to rotate with Fernandinho and/or spell Yaya) would make City a lot more threatening in Europe if they are making a "splash" buy.




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I don't want to sign De Bruyne unless Nasri or Navas are leaving. I'd also like Otamendi to join without seeing Mangala leave, and just play Demi/Komps in the DM role a bit. (I'm not positive on the foreign player numbers though. They may be maxed out.) I'm less concerned this year about the CL midfield tactics since so far they've dropped the 442. When they play the 4231, their off/def balance is nearly perfect. Signing KDB could screw up that entire balance though.

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Seems we think similarly about DeBrunye. I agree about the midfield but only when Yaya plays like he did today and last week.

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I may not be as familiar with KDB as many but my impression is that he would be very similar to Nasri in terms of attacking dynamics, ie always wanting to drift central to playmake in a #10 type role. That seemed the exact set up that already didn't work out all that well.

Not arguing that he wouldn't be a bit better (and younger) that Nasri but I also think Nasri is a bit underrated (more because he's so universally disliked) and that it's his characteristics which are the issue at times with City and not his quality, if that makes sense.

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When he's on, Nasri is ABSURD. Problem is, he might be the most inconsistent player on the squad. KDB can, IMO, bring a Nasri skillset with some piss and vinegar and consistency.

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I'd also like Otamendi to join without seeing Mangala leave, and just play Demi/Komps in the DM role a bit.

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Kompany won't play DM. He is too prone to go forward as it is and he doesn't have the pace for it. He's a brute. We've tried him at DM but it doesn't work. DeMichelis MAYBE but honestly I think he goes with Otamendi coming in. That gives you Kompany, Mangala, Denayer, and Otamendi. Solid rotation. We need a player like Otamendi for when Kompany goes down.

ETA:

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that someone immediately down votes every single post in this thread.

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Yeah I've been joining in on the fun from time to time. Butthurt pool fans.

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When he's on, Nasri is ABSURD. Problem is, he might be the most inconsistent player on the squad. KDB can, IMO, bring a Nasri skillset with some piss and vinegar and consistency.

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Yeah, I agree about Nasri. I kind of toned down my previous assessment.


I've seen Nasri play three times in person. Just from watching his ridiculous skills without any other context he'd likely be the first player you'd pick even when surrounded by all the other Man City stars and those from the other teams he was up against like Chelsea or AS Roma.

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Stelring I think hasn't been that bad, but he certainly hasn't been great. The one thing I do think he's done well so far is the defensive cover he's been able to give Kolarov.

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He was pretty shaky the first match, but I think seemed to settle in against Chelsea.

Otamendi supposedly having his medical in Manchester today. New reports out that Mangala won't be included as a loan, but City will have to pay more than if he was included.

A CB rotation of Kompany/Mangala/Otamendi would be extremely stout.