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

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That is some shameless white knighting. He was absolutely dreadful in that PSG time. He did nothing. He defended nobody. He jogged around the pitch for 10 minutes while players who had played 80+ min did all the running to seal that victory. It was the game that made it obvious that Yaya has no place on this team as a super sub.

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I'm not denying knighting. You can't say he hasn't had his moments this year though. PSG wasn't a bad game for him but it wasn't good either. Like I mentioned, he wasn't bad against Chelsea and our play improved when he came on (granted, with KDB) against WBA.

He isn't 2011-12 Yaya but who would you keep, Yaya, Dinho, Fernando, Delph? Personally, I keep Dinho with Yaya a close second.

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Delph has played on the left multiple times this year.

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He has sucked there. Centrally, he's been much better.

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It's a losing proposition. It's Delph's responsibility to be there helping, and he knows that. He just completely fell asleep. It's not like I'm upset that he didn't stick to the sideline all game. I'm upset that he didn't perform one of his main defensive tasks. I don't think that it's too much of an ask.

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I get what you're saying, but Delph is an emergency wide mid player...it isn't his spot. If we're going by expectations, Kolarov should have cleaned up...Delph or not. He had a chance to clean up and at that point it's on him, not Delph. Take out Delph and look at how Kolarov handled it....it was bad.

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On a more upbeat note, I thought Mangala had a really good game. KDB also still awesome.

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Mangala has been pretty solid lately. He still scares me when he has the ball, but the winning of the ball has been there. His positioning has improved the last few matches...but that play on the ball still scares me.

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You can't say he hasn't had his moments this year though.

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I never made such a claim. I just said he's played one good game in months.

In my view, yaya was absolutely bad in the PSG game. He did nothing. City aren't a team where a player can do absolutely nothing, and still be said to have played okay. Making mistakes isn't the benchmark for being bad. In a moment where you're trying to go to the CL Semis and you're brought on to finish out a match, I expect you to do something to aid in that effort. By doing absolutely nothing, you've hurt the team. In fact, it would have been better for the team to be down a man because at least then they know not to rely on Yaya for help. Of course, based on Yaya's season, they probably know that already.

I have no idea how you can sit here and claim that Yaya is a close second to Fernadinho. Fernadinho is so much more valuable to this team than Yaya at the moment.

This is like spousal abuse at this point. Yaya does shite all for months, has one good game, and City fans are like Oh Yaya you're so wonderful. At some point you have to have consistency in play to achieve the goals this team has set. Tons of average players in the PL are capable of running a game. Doing it once every couple months doesn't warrant a position on City's team.

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I get what you're saying, but Delph is an emergency wide mid player...it isn't his spot. If we're going by expectations, Kolarov should have cleaned up...Delph or not. He had a chance to clean up and at that point it's on him, not Delph. Take out Delph and look at how Kolarov handled it....it was bad.

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I'm just tired of making excuses for shite play. Goals are rarely the fault of one person. It's a team sport and every player has responsibilities to the team. Delph's responsibility was to cover Kolarov and Yaya defensively, and he didn't. It's really not debatable that he played a large role in that goal. Blaming it solely on Kolarov will not help anything. The team can replace Kolarov, put another LB back there, and he'll still get burned 1v1 most of the time. It's something City struggled with in the past few years, and have been much better about this year. That's why Sterling and Navas are so important. Fernandinho does a great job on the right in place of Navas to do that job. Delph should be capable of doing the same on the left.

City Youth

ronaldo may miss the first leg? wouldn't mind seeing that

Btw, for those who care City u18s played cheslea u18 yesterday in the Youth FA Cup final. 1-1 draw. Wasnt a great outing, but Brahim Diaz looked great. Manu Garcia was underwhelming. Chealsea had a couple really talented guys that look close to ready for first team action. The completely abused the City LB. Looked like watching a first team game with Kolarov.

I think the return leg is on Wednesday.

I hate how stacked Chelsea's youth always seem to be. Especially when a majority of them will go on loan for the next decade.

Heard that about Ronaldo as well, I'd be absolutely shocked if he missed the match though.

Nacho, Nacho mannnnn
I've got to be a Nacho mannnn

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Even the Chelsea commentators spoke about how Chelsea's team had just overmatched all of their opponents, but that there wasn't much between these sides. And Chelsea's U18s are basically the best in Europe.

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Can't really disagree. Chelsea system is deep. I think the production we're seeing will lead to that eventually. I fully expect us to see the academy bear fruit over the next 2-3 years.

-Denayer will likely be 3rd or 4th option at CB.
-Celina has impressed me the few times I've seen him play.
-A. Garcia looks to have it all. Some of the passes I've seen him make in EDS games are soooooo sick. There was one assist he got to (I think) Barker that was just absurd. The timing was great, and power was great...everything. It was like he launched a pillow out of a cannon and it just fell EXACTLY where it needed to be.
-Roberts appears to be doing well at Celtic, horrible miss aside.
-I hesitate to list Nacho but my GOD he has been amazing.
-Tosin and Evans showing promise. Brahim has been great as of late from what I've read.
-Manu Garcia has had flashes as well.

I think we're heading in the right direction.

win win for both parties imo

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win win for both parties imo

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....ehhhhhhh

I don't think Pellers would do much at Everton. He's risk-averse and Everton is a club that needs an aggressive manager.