Citizens in the Confeds Cup

Yesterday night the world witnessed a fantastic rematch between Italy and Spain in the Confeds Cup semis. David Silva featured in Vicente del Bosque's starting XI. He didn't play particularly well but I don't think that he was a burden for the Spanish side. The player who really impressed last night was the new player in Manchester, Jesus Navas. Entering the game for Silva in the middle of the second half, Navas provided Spain with some much needed energy and pace off the bench. He carried the team going forward, combining well with Iniesta. Though it never resulted in a goal, his play created several scoring opportunities, and he fired off a couple of nice shots of his own. Not to mention he was cool as could be under pressure, slotting home the final spot kick to advance Spain to the finals. Overall, Navas's performance was brilliant and City fans everywhere should be excited about what he will bring to the Etihad next year.

Greetings from Honduras

Sorry that there have not been any posts recently as I have been in Honduras on a medical/dental mission trip since June 14th. This is actually the first time I have had internet in these past 12 days. Anyway, I´ll be back posting regularly starting either tomorrow or the next day.

Leave a comment about some topics you might want me to cover when I return.

Cheers

Why we should keep Edin Dzeko

The one player whose status I am truly confused about is Edin Dzeko's. He proved his worth this year, leading the team with 14 goals in the Premiership. There are always rumours swirling about when it comes to him, but will one ever come true? I hope not. Unlike all of the other attackers that City have, Dzeko is not a diminutive figure. Standing at 193 cm (6'4") he is a strong force in the air for set pieces, as well as distributing the ball out from goal kicks or Hart's punts. Not to mention he is one of the worlds best at holding the ball up while the rest of the attackers get forward; however, he is quick enough and has decent enough pace that he is a threat on the counter attack as well. Something else he posses which not many players on the squad have is his dominant left foot. This isn't to say that we have a bunch of players who can't use their left foot at all, but other than Silva and Kolarov, who doesn't play too much, City lacks a left footed set-piece option. More than that though, it is just helpful to have a player who can make runs behind the defense and be a dual threat with either foot. In the final analysis, I think that Dzeko is a quality player who can offer a lot of goals to City. Furthermore, I don't think that any team would pay as much as his quality on the field is worth at his age, even if City were willing to accept the bid. Truthfully, the only scenario where I could see Dzeko moving and me not being upset to lose one of my favorite players is if he were swapped to bring down the price of Gareth Bale. The potential for that deal I will discuss later as well, but for now, I think City should seriously consider keeping Dzeko aboard for at least another year.

City's starting XI for 2013-14

Considering that we have millions to spend, a 4-3-3 formation to implement, and are in need of more quality if we want to win anything next year, I'd say that there will be quite a few more signings and departures to come this summer. I will go into detail on them later, but for now, here are what I think our XI could look like:

 

 

 

What do you think? Leave a comment down below on who you want City to have next year!

Pelligrini

Alright, even though it isn't official, it looks like a done deal that Manuel Pelligrini will be joining City this summer. Sources say that he has asked the front office for two wingers and a defensive midfielder. With Fernandinho signed and Navas surely on his way it seems like he is somewhat calling the shots even though he isn't contracted yet. Other supposed transfer targets include Di Maria, El Shaarawy, Pepe, and Rami. Personally I would go for Di Maria and Rami if I had to take two of those four.

Here is a list of ten targets that Pelligrini reportedly has in mind: http://app.caughtoffside.com/?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caughtoffside.com%2Ftags%2Fla-liga%2Fbarcelona-la-liga%2F#article/caughtoffside-147829

OFFICIAL: Fernandinho to City

 

 

Leave a comment about how you think he will do at City next year!

It's official, Fernandinho will be a blue next year

Based on the feed back that @MCFC has gotten on twitter it appears that most people are excited about the signing. But with a confirmed price of 30M pounds, well it just seems a bit ridiculous. All of these moves without a manager too. What happens when our manager is hired and he decides that Fernandinho is not good enough to break through at the Etihad, or that he simply doesn't work well in the system he is trying to implement? What then huh? 30M pounds down the drain? Of course we know that if he has a poor season next year then we are stuck with him. Think about it. I'm sure he's been offered wages that are too much for his quality, nobody will want to match them, even if his fee is low, and even if he doesn't flop we will surely lose money on the deal because who will pay 30M pounds to us for an aging, not particularly amazing central midfielder? Maybe I'm being overly pessimistic about this deal, but to me he just does not seem like a good 'get' for the club.

Let me know what you think about Fernandinho and his 30M pound price in the comment section below!