Do City really need a new defender?
4 Aug
Manchester City appear to be inching ever closer towards a deal for Everton defender John Stones according to the latest transfer rumours, but with such a plethora of talent already at the Etihad – and Pep Guardiola’s love of “total football” - could it be that the ‘missing pieces’ are already in Pep’s squad?
There is no doubt that the signing of a specialist centre-back would be a welcome addition to the squad and if City don’t secure their English target they may look to sign the Italian star, Leonardo Bonucci. Guardiola has targeted these two players because of their technical skills and their ability to dictate the play from the back. Should City manage to sign either player they will no doubt feel secure at the back, as new customers do with bet365′s bonus.
Although Stones was a primary target of Jose Mourinho at Chelsea last season, the 22-year-old is still a work in progress rather than a finished product. He didn’t have a successful campaign with Everton last time out, but there is the feeling that a manager like Guardiola, who has coached Gerard Pique and Jerome Boateng, can turn the player into a world-beating defender.
Even so, the price of £50million that The Toffees are asking for the player that didn’t feature at Euro 2016 is quite steep when other players at the club could fill the role.
Guardiola, a man, obsessed with possession football, has stated that he would love to have ten midfielders on the pitch. He has already signed a few midfielders since taking over at the Etihad, and there is much debate about where all these players are going to fit into the side. It will be intriguing to see how Guardiola’s team lines up when City host Sunderland on August 13th, and those who want to see the tactician at work in this first Premier League game in charge can buy tickets at Ticketgum.com.
Previously at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Guardiola has converted traditional midfielders, Javier Mascherano and Javi Martinez into defenders. He also briefly used Yaya Toure as a centre-back at Camp Nou.
There is a chance the two-time Champions League winner may decide to do something similar at City. It looks as though Toure will stay now, and with Vincent Kompany out injured, may be voted as captain by the players. The Ivoirians penchant for barnstorming runs from the centre of the park may not sit too well with the new manager, though, who may decide to play him once again at centre-back. Guardiola has also made it known that he is impressed with Fernandinho’s ability to play in some positions and has indicated that he too could be used at the back. Certainly, with new signing Ilkay Gundogan and Fernando also fighting it out for the two central midfield positions in Guardiola’s likely 4-2- 3-1 formation, one or two players may need to adapt to a new role.
The signing of a new defender would unquestionably add depth to the squad and help across all the different competitions, but there is also an abundance of talent at the club that could flourish under the management of Guardiola and solve the problems at the back. In summary, if the deal for Stones doesn’t go through, it’s not the end of the world.
This is a post written by Peter Holmes.
It would certainly not be the end of the world if we didn’t sign stones, far from it.
I may be biased towards it because I view stones as totally overrated, I think we have enough to cope without a new centre half, hopefully kompany will be fit but I also think Otamendi may be better this season after being a bit wild at times last time out.
I also have faith in Mangala he has everything to be a top defender, strength, power, pace, his decision making leaves a lot to be desired and so does his passing at times but I felt he looked like he was working on that last season, I think he has also shown himself to be capable of being a defensive rock, if pep can prove he has the ability to improve players then there would be no better a player to do it with than Mangala.
I would be happy to see him promote the young lads, Tosin has looked a talent for years and years now and seems to keep progressing and it’s time to see if Denayer is going to make the grade as well.
I agree with you Gary about Mr mangala – city fans need to cut certain players at our club a bit of slack…..more communication between the defenders is an obvious place to start…..I like stones but not for that money, according to John Giles stones is the best c.b he’s seen since Mr b Moore …….mmmmmm Paul McGrath????? A young lad at Celtic eoghan o O’Connell is the man to watch, give him 2 years we with luck, injuries etc & he’ll be 18 mil max…. I’ve said it before I don’t like the way people talk about kolarov & navas in particular…..they earned our thanks & appreciation for the efforts they put in for us & have the medals to show for it…..navas is a crap finished doooohhhhh – he has for a “shit player” created 155 chances in 3 seasons. Respect to Mr j.n please – welcome to the new guys exciting times ahead eh??? Sane & G Jesus look decent.
No we do not need Stones. He is an overrated English player who was nothing but average last season. I am not here to question Pep and I do believe he has to be supported all the way even if it means to sign Stones but in my humble opinion we do not need Stones. Now we have a coach that knows about defending, there is pretty good chance that Mangala and Denayer improve greatly under his coaching
There are quite a few players who can play CB including Sanga, Yaya, Denayer and as Pep indicated Fernandinho can be used in CB.
I think one area we need to strengthen is full back preferably left side.