Now for the departures?
Sven Goran-Eriksson was talking further today at the press conference introducing the new quartet, and was enthusing amongst other things about how the players have settled into the squad, and also regarding Petrov's debut at Shrewsbury.
Perhaps not fully finished with bringing players in as it seems he wants genuine competition with two players fighting for each spot, although I have a feeling that this could be it until January with only perhaps one more arrival between now and the end of the window but he did hint that there could now be players heading towards the exit door:“If it goes on like this we will need two training pitches!
Today we had 27 outfield players and three goalkeepers – that’s too much and we
have to think about want to do about that.”
I think Eriksson clearly had players in mind when he took the job but most certainly identified others once he got to grips with the squad and began to see who he did and didn't think could do a job or have a future.
All of the squad (apart from those who are injured) have tasted action during pre-season and it does not appear there is a log-jam at certain positions, with whilst short on overall quality depth is certainly not an issue in attack and central midfield also looks to be congested.
Rumours of departures for Samaras, Vassell and Mills & Mills have been mooted in the press recently. For me, I think Samaras warrants further investment in him and cutting him loose at this stage would be a mistake but Vassell and Mills & Mills don't offer anything in the 'new era'.
I also think that both Hamman and Dabo could be on their way if a bid came in for them - but does that really appear likely and they may get to hang around as squad depth, whilst the same fate probably awaits Dickov and possibly Sun-Jihai.
Young Kaspar Schmeichel has again been linked with a permanent move away, and Joe Hart looks to be the back-up to Isaksson at the moment with suggestions Eriksson could look to bring in another keeper. It would be disappointing to lose Schmeichel but from what I have read he is keen on playing regular football.
Whilst Eriksson has generally added young players to the squad, apart from Gelson Fernandes none appear to be long-term 'projects' so should all be competing for starting positions from the word go, which (although at an early stage) could spell the end for a number of the holdovers from the Stuart Pearce era.
5 comments:
I doubt Sun Jihai will leave - I mean Frank has clearly stated he intends to make city big in China and having the Chinese captain on our books can only help. Regardless of his marketing potential Sun is quite a talented player and extremely versitile playing in defence or midfield on the right and occasionally on the left. Who can forget the way he used to link up with swp and overlap - ahh those were the days.
To me, Samaras obviously had some level of skill that made City want him in the first place. He's still young, so maybe keep him around. I think Vassell is a good depth guy. He can drop back to midfield and his speed may allow him to be a big playmaker if he gets to stick around with an improved strike force. Dickov and Corradi to me are the most expendable. Old washed up vets. Corradi has had a good preseason, but still was utterly useless last year. Mills brothers are not needed anymore. Dabo could be a decent depth guy but not much more. Hammann is even more useless. I'd cut them, as we could probably get similar production by giving Fernandes and Logan some playing time. Sun-Jihai is borderline, I guess I don't mind him as depth given his versatility.
So sell:
Dickov
Mills 1+2
Hammann
Corradi
Dabo
This could all change with more players coming in.
Any speculative analysis of a possible team team seems almost impossible at the moment with 4 having joined in the last 24 hours and with a further 4 names being strongly linked for next week. I'm basing my assumption that we do not get two the the linked names (defender Giogio Chiellini and striker Santi Ezquerro) however it does appear increasingly likely that left sided Australian midfielder Mark Bresciano will have joined by Monday and the Italian keeper Marco Amelia is likely to follow fairly shortly after that. So what I have done is looked at two players for each of the 11 positions, as is the approach that Sven has stated he likes, and (given the aformentioned assumptions) I believe that the 'first eleven' will comprise: Isaksson; Richards; Corluka; Dunne; Garrido; Blumer; Gomez; Bresciano; Petrov; Bianchi and Mpenza. I believe their back up or 'second eleven' will be: Amelia; Sun; Onuoho; Logan; Ball; Fernandes; Johnson; Ireland; Miller; Corradi and Bojinov. So - who is left withou a chair when the music stopped? Well quite a few actually! In the Keepers dept there are Hart and Schmeichel - I think one will go, and it appears that Edinburgh club Hearts are willing to pay some decent money for him! In the Defenders department, I belive that Danny Mills and Matthew Mills will quickly find themselves at Championship clubs. The surplus to requirement in the Midfield are both Dabo and Hammann - both of which are being linked with offers by clubs in their respective homelands. Finally the 'oh so inept strike force' of last year, is where the axe is sure to fall. My guess is that Dickov will end up doing a good job for Blackpool; Preston; Burnley or some other Championship club in the North-West. Vassell will also be moved on - perhaps staying in the premiership if he is lucky - and that leaves Samaras of course. Now there are apparently clubs willing to pay money for him - but rather than selling at a huge loss, I genuinely belive that georgios may develop his shattered cnfidence and turn into the player that Stu belived! I know some of you out there will be thinking, until this final sentance, this report was very sensible and well thought through - but it's just left the rails!................No, honestly, I think City could do a lot worse than keep him and let the young kid develop without 47,000 fans screaming abuse at him, when most of his team mates were also failing in their positions last year! Whatever happens, I feel a lot more confident about this season, than the last. Finally (and just to add a little Tianese spice into the coments) What is all this abuse that these so-called Human Right campaigners are UNJUSTIFIABLY giving our new chairman? And even if they are correct,and thousands of drug dealers were mysteriously wiped-out - what a super policy to implement iaround Manchester to protect all our children! Anyway, WELL DONE AND THANK YOU Doctor Thaksin!
Id Like To Hear More On Diego :) Really Hope We Can Get Him Although Bresciano Seems More Likely Wilkipedia Says Diego Is More Likely .
Sven Wants 8 8 4 .. If We Were To Get Rid Of Dabo Hamann And Miller Then We'd Have Room For Two Midfielders Although If We Signed Both It Would Be Impossible To Keep The Midfielders Happy.. Come On Sven Get Diego
Nigel Blue
Absolutely spot on mate "Who can forget the way he used to link up with swp and overlap". Trouble is, everybody seems to have forgotten what a great contribution Sun made to SWP's success. As I've mentioned before, I reckon that half of the fee we got for SWP was due to Dun's contributions to those forward charges.
Meanwhile, I'm going to miss the big party - my first home match will be the rags. I've recognised the fact that I'm not going to recognise half the players (my eyes aren't too good at the best of times). So I've been onto eBay and invested in a pair of binoculars. Get GMR on a headphone, and I can see who's doing the business. I think Ball should be assigned to mark Tevez. If he can just get him to turn awkwardly and break a tarsal, that would probably finish old Rudolf off completely....
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