Android22:
You rate a player based on what his role was and how he executed it. It is futile using your own basis for the assessment as it will not make sense.

Similar to the way Keepers and Defenders are not rated based on their number of assists or goals scored as important as those are. They are rated on the specific role meted to them by the manager. If Ederson has a 95% save rate but did not help with the build up of play, you can bet your bottom dollar that Pep will seek a replacement because Pep expects those of his keepers sometimes maybe even more than making saves.

To that end, Grealish was actually more important to City's success last season than both Gundogan and Bernardo Silva put together. I'll even say Pep trusted him much more than KDB but that is talk for another day. His role was not to rack up assists and goals - City scored a ton of them the season prior. He was to provide vent and control for a team that was transitioning into a different playing style than previous seasons. One in which, City could not afford to be overly chaotic in attack like Pep had dictated in the past. He also helped alot in tracking back and making life difficult for opposing wingers and fullbacks alike, something Mahrez could never do regardless of his goal or assists tally.

How did Grealish fair compared to his RnRs? He scored a solid A and would have been A+ if he had chipped in more goals or assists. That is about it. Unlike some other players who overdribble because they have no where to go or due to the fact that they never see the whole field at play, Grealish needed to dribble in and out of channels as a pressure relief system for City. You either fouled him or he went past you and that was instrumental to how City played.

Some people may need to rewatch Bayern Munich and Real Madrid against City to understand the impact Jack made. In the 2nd leg of the Bayern tie in particular, Pep specifically asked him to dribble City out of Bayern's press and he never missed a beat. As soon as the ball was given to him we knew Bayern would either foul or Grealish would have his way. Trust me, you may never appreciate his role until you are supporting the team he is doing it for.

I hate to quote the man but Mourinho put it best when he said football has been ruined by people who judge every single player on stats. Some aspects of the game are intangible. End of.

Aptly written 👍

TrebleChamp:
Ley.qute sabi drop weird takes no be today 😁, him/they can write crazy stuffs to defend their fav players or Manager.

And if Ronaldo shat on a stool, you would gladly lick it up.

Leyqute:


And if Ronaldo shat on a stool, you would gladly lick it up.

You and weird takes is like 5 and 6 😁.

Android22:
You rate a player based on what his role was and how he executed it. It is futile using your own basis for the assessment as it will not make sense.

Similar to the way Keepers and Defenders are not rated based on their number of assists or goals scored as important as those are. They are rated on the specific role meted to them by the manager. If Ederson has a 95% save rate but did not help with the build up of play, you can bet your bottom dollar that Pep will seek a replacement because Pep expects those of his keepers sometimes maybe even more than making saves.

To that end, Grealish was actually more important to City's success last season than both Gundogan and Bernardo Silva put together. I'll even say Pep trusted him much more than KDB but that is talk for another day. His role was not to rack up assists and goals - City scored a ton of them the season prior. He was to provide vent and control for a team that was transitioning into a different playing style than previous seasons. One in which, City could not afford to be overly chaotic in attack like Pep had dictated in the past. He also helped alot in tracking back and making life difficult for opposing wingers and fullbacks alike, something Mahrez could never do regardless of his goal or assists tally.

How did Grealish fair compared to his RnRs? He scored a solid A and would have been A+ if he had chipped in more goals or assists. That is about it. Unlike some other players who overdribble because they have no where to go or due to the fact that they never see the whole field at play, Grealish needed to dribble in and out of channels as a pressure relief system for City. You either fouled him or he went past you and that was instrumental to how City played.

Some people may need to rewatch Bayern Munich and Real Madrid against City to understand the impact Jack made. In the 2nd leg of the Bayern tie in particular, Pep specifically asked him to dribble City out of Bayern's press and he never missed a beat. As soon as the ball was given to him we knew Bayern would either foul or Grealish would have his way. Trust me, you may never appreciate his role until you are supporting the team he is doing it for.

I hate to quote the man but Mourinho put it best when he said football has been ruined by people who judge every single player on stats. Some aspects of the game are intangible. End of.

One of the reasons I believe Antony will come good.
Unfortunately the mob thinks it’s all about goals/assists.

ChristineC:
I think this is a very subtle way of taking a holistic view, which is not a bad thing. Grealish is no flop, he was nothing special either.

same can be said of Jordan Henderson or Roberto Firminho under Klopp - good fit and all in the SYSTEM. the team's collective success meant he had some worth because he was actively involved for specific duty. every team needs this to function. still will not worth 100m in anybody's books. when you get to the fulcrum of that success, you beam flashlights at Salah, Mane, VVD, Alison Becker, TAA, Andrew Robertson; before glancing at the periphery.

Henderson and Firminho are no flops. when you look at the system in unitary mode, you appreciate their roles; yet they are no difference makers or elites of the game.

Just check sites where they rated City players last season. You'll get your answer.

TrebleChamp:
Ley.qute sabi drop weird takes no be today 😁, him/they can write crazy stuffs to defend their fav players or Manager.

The matter weak me.

olril17:

One of the reasons I believe Antony will come good.
Unfortunately the mob thinks it’s all about goals/assists.

Antony that had poor stats even in Eridivise. But ETH was ready to get him by all means. They think football's all about stats.

ChristineC:
en zo whot?

off point,Enzo is better than all Manchester united midfielders put together

Afrodoc2

Do you know this guy?

Seems we might be getting Onana and Holjund..

Wish we would get one more midfielder..

4 whole seasons and egbon adugbo no dey top 6 of this list. But he saves us tho

CrystalTiger:
Seems we might be getting Onana and Holjund..

Wish we would get one more midfielder..

What is the latest?

I really don't like ten hang obsession of onana. Is not like am saying onana is not a good keeper but man u is broke. Why don't we use dean herdeson and Tom Heaton. Groom them to be the type of player you want. Then use that money to buy players to cover for other areas.

Kane , a proven 25- 30 league goal scorer will take this United team from good to exceptional.

dostr4:
Kane , a proven 25- 30 league goal scorer will take this United team from good to exceptional.

💯

delkuf:
I really don't like ten hang obsession of onana. Is not like am saying onana is not a good keeper but man u is broke. Why don't we use dean herdeson and Tom Heaton. Groom them to be the type of player you want. Then use that money to buy players to cover for other areas.

Apparently a ball passing goal keeper is the most important player in a team that wants to keep possession. The confusing part is that we just signed a midfielder that does not exactly help keep possession. Confusion everywhere

Android22:
You rate a player based on what his role was and how he executed it. It is futile using your own basis for the assessment as it will not make sense.

Similar to the way Keepers and Defenders are not rated based on their number of assists or goals scored as important as those are. They are rated on the specific role meted to them by the manager. If Ederson has a 95% save rate but did not help with the build up of play, you can bet your bottom dollar that Pep will seek a replacement because Pep expects those of his keepers sometimes maybe even more than making saves.

To that end, Grealish was actually more important to City's success last season than both Gundogan and Bernardo Silva put together. I'll even say Pep trusted him much more than KDB but that is talk for another day. His role was not to rack up assists and goals - City scored a ton of them the season prior. He was to provide vent and control for a team that was transitioning into a different playing style than previous seasons. One in which, City could not afford to be overly chaotic in attack like Pep had dictated in the past. He also helped alot in tracking back and making life difficult for opposing wingers and fullbacks alike, something Mahrez could never do regardless of his goal or assists tally.

How did Grealish fair compared to his RnRs? He scored a solid A and would have been A+ if he had chipped in more goals or assists. That is about it. Unlike some other players who overdribble because they have no where to go or due to the fact that they never see the whole field at play, Grealish needed to dribble in and out of channels as a pressure relief system for City. You either fouled him or he went past you and that was instrumental to how City played.

Some people may need to rewatch Bayern Munich and Real Madrid against City to understand the impact Jack made. In the 2nd leg of the Bayern tie in particular, Pep specifically asked him to dribble City out of Bayern's press and he never missed a beat. As soon as the ball was given to him we knew Bayern would either foul or Grealish would have his way. Trust me, you may never appreciate his role until you are supporting the team he is doing it for.

I hate to quote the man but Mourinho put it best when he said football has been ruined by people who judge every single player on stats. Some aspects of the game are intangible. End of.

Lmao. Grealish stunk up the joint so bad in his first season, Pep had to create some vague role to at least squeeze some value out of a 100m signing. Same way Newcastle converted a record signing in Joelinton from a striker to something of a B2B/ wide midfielder or when ten Hag turn Almighty Weghorst to pressing iron

Grealish did OK last season, but it stops at that. Any attempt to overblow his performances will be met with strong rebuttals He was good in spells, same as Mahrez, Gundogan and Bernardo. The only consistent players on that City team last season were Haaland, Rodri and probably Dias, when he wasn't injured.

Wetin Grealish play against Bayern in the second leg, person wey dey jonze as Coman was running rings around Ake. You must be referring to the 2nd leg vs Real where he was taking the mickey out of Carvajal, doing nothing of note and winning cheap fouls. I'm not surprised at your fervent defence of Grealish, you once claimed he was worth full value for 100m, even when everyone saw he was a flop.

In the some of the crucial games at the tail end of last season, when Haaland and KdB were off, Rodri, Bernardo and Gundogan all stepped at various times to save the day. Left to Jack Swagger, na so so shakushaku e go dey do till City fall.

delkuf:
I really don't like ten hang obsession of onana. Is not like am saying onana is not a good keeper but man u is broke. Why don't we use dean herdeson and Tom Heaton. Groom them to be the type of player you want. Then use that money to buy players to cover for other areas.

Why are you concerned about the money? Let them borrow

eph12:

Apparently a ball passing goal keeper is the most important player in a team that wants to keep possession. The confusing part is that we just signed a midfielder that does not exactly help keep possession. Confusion everywhere

can Tom Heaton or dean hederson be a ball passing goal keeper. What is the whole obsession about a ball passing goal keeper.

eph12:

Apparently a ball passing goal keeper is the most important player in a team that wants to keep possession. The confusing part is that we just signed a midfielder that does not exactly help keep possession. Confusion everywhere

can't Tom Heaton or dean hederson be a ball passing goal keeper. What is the whole obsession about a ball passing goal keeper.

John Murtough has held extensive talks with Atalanta officials and has discussed a possible deal to sign striker Rasmus Hojlund and loan Greenwood to the Serie A club [@samuelluckhurst]

CrystalTiger:
Seems we might be getting Onana and Holjund..

Wish we would get one more midfielder..

I would love 1 more midfielder like a Lavia for example. Shame the club are not very smart at selling because there is enough to raise funds in the squad but I think limited funds will mean after a keeper we might not have anymore money to spend even for a badly needed striker.

eph12:

Apparently a ball passing goal keeper is the most important player in a team that wants to keep possession. The confusing part is that we just signed a midfielder that does not exactly help keep possession. Confusion everywhere

Apparently, the "possession football" quest is looking like something that is only existent on the pages of Nairaland

ChristoBam:

Antony that had poor stats even in Eridivise. But ETH was ready to get him by all means. They think football's all about stats.

Does it by any means imply that it's okay to go all out for players with poor stats

delkuf:
I really don't like ten hang obsession of onana. Is not like am saying onana is not a good keeper but man u is broke. Why don't we use dean herdeson and Tom Heaton. Groom them to be the type of player you want. Then use that money to buy players to cover for other areas.

we rather keep de Gea then. why downgrade to save pennies? there's no grooming that will make Henderson better than de Gea.
Man United isn't broke, just incompetent.

Leyqute:
Afrodoc2

Do you know this guy?

Nah but I know of his cousin the great Brian O’Driscoll.

Hopefully getting such a highly reputable doctor in means we no longer need any doctors amongst our players.

delkuf:
I really don't like ten hang obsession of onana. Is not like am saying onana is not a good keeper but man u is broke. Why don't we use dean herdeson and Tom Heaton. Groom them to be the type of player you want. Then use that money to buy players to cover for other areas.

The type of fans the Glaziers love.
All our rivals went for good goalkeepers when they needed one. Some like Allison and Ederson were even super expensive.
E reach our turn, you want make we settle for nonsense.

Make Greenwood just sponsor like 100 girls to school for one year. Set up one small foundation.

Opari.

Think like a politician.

odizeey:
Make Greenwood just sponsor like 100 girls to school for one year. Set up one small foundation.

Opari.

Think like a politician.

then take some pictures, pay media to publicize it

afrodoc:


Nah but I know of his cousin the great Brian O’Driscoll.

Hopefully getting such a highly reputable doctor in means we no longer need any doctors amongst our players.

LoL.

I'm hoping for the same thing. Maybe this guy can help Martial's career, and also help us manage core players throughout the season. We can't afford long term injuries to Martinez, Bruno, Casemiro or Martial next season.

Mrviktor:
Date | Opponent | City (Country)
------------------------------------------------
Jul 12 | vs. Leeds United | Oslo (Norway)
Jul 19 | vs. Lyon | Edinburgh (Scotland)
Jul 22 | vs. Arsenal | East Rutherford, N.J. (USA)
Jul 25 | vs. Wrexham | San Diego, Calif. (USA)
Jul 26 | vs. Real Madrid | Houston, Tex. (USA)
Jul 30 | vs. Borussia Dortmund | Las Vegas, Nev. (USA)
Aug 5 | vs. Lens | Manchester (UK)
Aug 6 | vs. Athletic Bilbao | Dublin (Rep. of Ireland)

8 games

Feels as if this is the highest number of games we've played in a preseason in recent years.