Manchester City FC Thread - Champions of England, Europe & The World

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Might see this kid in the first team before too long.


Remember when he joined, there was talk that Barca considered him ready for their first team at 16. But he was tiny. Filled out, and looks a footballer now. And of course, can do stuff like the above at 16 against one of the best U18 teams in the country.
 

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when you show up psg and ibra as the frauds that they really are.
 

Brahim in our 9-0 U18 win over Liverpool. Not 17 until next August. Something tells me he won't be playing U18's for much longer though.

[Edit]Was a 2-0 win. U16's won 9-0.
 
How are Sagna and Kolarov still on this list? Neither of them have been particularly good lately and there's some actual quality home grown talent available for the fullback positions. City persisted with these two dinosaurs and brought in a scrubber like Delph to fill the home grown quota, not realizing how thin the English talent pool is for midfielders.

Come the Summer Window, Navas, Demichelis, Kolarov and Sagna should be out the door, and three of the replacements should be home grown; maybe something like Stones, Trippier and Cresswell. That alone gives City an additional 4 foreign players to register, making room for a strong reload.
 
sagna has been one of the best in the league. strange comment. stones and cresswell i'd like, trippier can't get ahead of kyle walker.

delph will be fine as depth if he's allowed to play in centre mid, not this absolute dogshit left wing nonsense.
 
NFGKizza said:
sagna has been one of the best in the league. strange comment. stones and cresswell i'd like, trippier can't get ahead of kyle walker.

delph will be fine as depth if he's allowed to play in centre mid, not this absolute dogshit left wing nonsense.
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I'd say one of the best in the league is a bit of an overstatement, but I'll take your word on that. You've probably watched him a lot more than I have.

Even then, having two non-home grown players like Zabaleta and Sagna competing for the right fullback position is strange. You only get 17 non-home grown players in your squad so they should be used to optimize the first team as much as possible. Delph might be an alright player, but you can't tell me there wouldn't be far better alternatives available if they weren't restricted by the home grown quota.

[edit] Also as far as fullbacks go, it's not like he has to be a world beater, just good enough to be a backup. Trippier is a quality fullback who happens to be behind an even better one.

If Danny Simpson can be part of a title winning team, then it's safe to say backup to the fullback position isn't something that should be high on the list of priorities, especially if it means losing a home grown player slot.
 
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Moldova said:
I'd say one of the best in the league is a bit of an overstatement, but I'll take your word on that. You've probably watched him a lot more than I have.

Even then, having two non-home grown players like Zabaleta and Sagna competing for the right fullback position is strange. You only get 17 non-home grown players in your squad so they should be used to optimize the first team as much as possible. Delph might be an alright player, but you can't tell me there wouldn't be far better alternatives available if they weren't restricted by the home grown quota.
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sure, there are better alternatives, but someone like barkley would cost 40 mil. delph was what, 8? the good home grown players are basically unattainable or you're paying through the nose. ideally, clyne and shaw would've been the fullbacks i would've wanted. shaw went to utd for a lot of money and is unattainable while clyne would be a lot of money too. spurs' players are well set there. cresswell would be an ideal signing and keep clichy who is home grown as backup. right back is harder. zaba looks unfit/finished this season and sagna is 33 but hanging on. but they're both a serious injury away from it being all over. if all went to plan it would be micah entering his prime at right back right now, but it just doesn't.

i mean, who do we even get at right back? danilo has stunk it up massively at madrid and carvajal is unavailable. do you go all fm and hope on someone like bruno peres, mario fernandes or mario gaspar? or do you get denayer in as right back for next season, or even maffeo back from girona and take a massive punt on him?
 

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NFGKizza said:
sure, there are better alternatives, but someone like barkley would cost 40 mil. delph was what, 8? the good home grown players are basically unattainable or you're paying through the nose. ideally, clyne and shaw would've been the fullbacks i would've wanted. shaw went to utd for a lot of money and is unattainable while clyne would be a lot of money too. spurs' players are well set there. cresswell would be an ideal signing and keep clichy who is home grown as backup. right back is harder. zaba looks unfit/finished this season and sagna is 33 but hanging on. but they're both a serious injury away from it being all over. if all went to plan it would be micah entering his prime at right back right now, but it just doesn't.

i mean, who do we even get at right back? danilo has stunk it up massively at madrid and carvajal is unavailable. do you go all fm and hope on someone like bruno peres, mario fernandes or mario gaspar? or do you get denayer in as right back for next season, or even maffeo back from girona and take a massive punt on him?
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You missed the point. If City had brought in a home grown fullback in for a Kolarov or a Zabaleta, they'd be able to bring in a foreign midfielder instead of dipping into the limited english talent pool and picking up Delph. Never mind Barkley, think Verratti, Koke, Pogba, Vidal, Hamsik, Pjanic, etc.

As for right back, as I edited in my post, it's not like you need a world class player for backup, just get a solid home grown player (like Delph was). It makes much more sense for the fullback position than it does for central midfield.
 
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Moldova said:
You missed the point. If City had brought in a home grown fullback in for a Kolarov or a Zabaleta, they'd be able to bring in a foreign midfielder instead of dipping into the limited english talent pool and picking up Delph. Never mind Barkley, think Verratti, Koke, Pogba, Vidal, Hamsik, Pjanic, etc.

As for right back, as I edited in my post, it's not like you need a world class player for backup, just get a solid home grown player like Delph. It makes much more sense for the fullback position than it does for central midfield.
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yeah but that would make far too much sense for a transfer regime that hadnt really gotten much right until getting kdb and sterling.
 
Wasn't too impressed with Sagna last season but he's been important this season. I'm fine with him and Zaba, although I suspect one (probably Zab :cry:) will be moved on next season.

Also fine with Delph as a good backup/squad option, just need to play him in his best position.

Really think the home grown thing is less of an issue than people make out. If anything I'd be looking at a home grown backup keeper instead of Willie to free up a space. But if we were to get another midfielder in it would have been at the expense of Fernando or someone like that.
 
Anyway, a piece on some of our kids. I've not heard his name before but I think the McAtee kid might be the one that got United all salty and start talking about refussing to play against us. Also knew the Doyle kid was in our academy but wasn't aware he was rated. Here's hoping, would be a great story.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...bal-scouting-mission-pays-off-with-mind-blow/

They wonder privately at Manchester City if it will prove to be their “Ryan Giggs moment”. Giggs, of course, began his career at City but ended up joining Manchester United on his 14th birthday and the rest, as they say, is history.

James McAtee has a long way to go to reach that level and the pathway is strewn with pitfalls but, less than two years after swapping red for the blue of Manchester, this fleet-footed No  10 has become one of Europe’s most talked about young talents and a shining light at City’s burgeoning academy.

McAtee will not be involved in the first leg of City’s FA Youth Cup final against Chelsea on Friday evening, when the under-18 sides from both clubs meet at this stage of the competition for the second successive season. He is not 14 until later this year, after all. But he is one of a posse of players hardening opinion at City that, in time, their rich investment in youth could ultimately spawn a generation of youngsters that is not flattered by comparisons with the Barcelona, Ajax and United movements of the recent and more distant past.

McAtee is not alone, albeit the youngest of a select group escaping no one’s attention in football circles. Tommy Doyle, Brahim Diaz and Jadon Sancho are creating their own buzz. Diaz, a 16-year-old playmaker firmly in the David Silva mould, is expected to feature against Chelsea on Friday night. Signed from Malaga for an initial £200,000 fee that could rise sharply, he is an example of City’s ability to entice the most sought-after youngsters as part of an ambitious global scouting programme. But City are just as determined not to miss out on the best of British, even if their critics complain about aggressive recruitment strategies, and Sancho, a 15-year-old winger, was signed from Watford for around £500,000 and is developing at the sort of pace with which he skips past defenders. He scored twice in City Under-16s’ 9-0 thrashing of Liverpool’s Under-16 team at the weekend, the latest in a series of demolitions inflicted by the club’s increasingly dominant youth sides.

Doyle is only 14 but the midfielder’s surname will be familiar to many City supporters. The late Mike Doyle, one of the greatest players in City’s history and winner of a league title, FA Cup, European Cup-Winners’ Cup and two League Cups during a glittering career with the club in the Sixties and Seventies, was his paternal grandfather. Another City legend, Glyn Pardoe, is his grandfather on his mother’s side and ever present at the teenager’s matches. Tommy was part of the City Under-14s team who humiliated United’s Under-14s 9-0 last September and, for many observers, is the best midfielder of his age in the country.

Strong, energetic and a powerful runner with a wide passing range, fierce shot and even fiercer will to win, the comparisons, in terms of attitude, application and ability, with Steven Gerrard are already being made. He is widely coveted but remains wedded to City.

McAtee also comes from sporting stock and, crucially, like Doyle, has a stable, close-knit family around him to guide and keep him grounded.

England’s 1966 World Cup winner, Alan Ball, a former City manager, is uncle to his mum, Gill, and McAtee’s father, John, played for St Helens rugby league team aged just 16 and knows plenty about pressure. McAtee’s parents felt their son’s interests would be better served by moving to City from United, which he did at 11, since when Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and most of the rest of Europe’s elite have been monitoring his progress.

He came to Barcelona’s attention when he ran the show in a game against them and scored a goal that left even Catalan jaws agape with astonishment.

Receiving a high ball with his back to goal and a clutch of defenders around, he controlled it deftly on the volley before swivelling and spearing a 20-yard volley over the goalkeeper without even glancing up. Playmaker, predator and dribbler rolled into one, City are intrigued to see how his body develops. Jason Wilcox, City’s Under-18 manager, said: “When you look at the Class of ’92 [at United] and the Barcelona players, they were very lucky to have so many players in the same age bracket, but when I look around the academy now, we’ve got some real bright shoots coming through.

“You watch some of the younger age groups and you’re blown away by the level of their understanding and technical ability.”

The big question at City is whether youngsters will be given the opportunity in the first team, although the impending arrival of Pep Guardiola, a champion of youth, will doubtless help with that.

The tendency of the club to distance themselves from the pre-Abu Dhabi policy that promoted youth and produced players of the calibre of Daniel Sturridge and Micah Richards has never made much sense. But until striker Kelechi Iheanacho forced his way into Manuel Pellegrini’s thinking this season, City’s record on promoting youth since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s takeover in 2008 was dismal.

Centre-halves Tosin Adarabioyo and Cameron Humphreys, both of whom will play against Chelsea on Friday night, are among a promising group featuring Bersant Celina and Aleix and Manu Garcia who are knocking on the first team door. Adarabioyo impressed when more senior players floundered in the 5-1 FA Cup defeat by Chelsea in February. Manchester-born Humphreys played against Roma and Real Madrid at just 16 on City’s pre-season tour last summer.

Whether they can blaze a trail for the McAtees and Doyles remains to be seen but Wilcox is adamant the cream will always rise to the top. And City would appear to be swimming in it.
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FWIW I think this might be the start of a bit of a PR campaign by the club to talk up the kids and our commitment to them. Apparently a few of our U16's have their doubts and are holding off signing contracts. Wilcox has said that we'll be playing young sides in the league next year and that might a big heads up to some of the doubters.
 
U18's clinched the national championship last night. U16's are unbeaten and also national champions. I've seen that U13's, U15's and U11 are also national champions but not confirmed on that.

Next season we've decided to go young, so U16's will be pushed into the U18's, U18's to U21's etc. Hopefully also a few from the underage to the senior team on a semi regular basis. But we might not see the success of the last couple of years as a result.
 
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