FIXING MANCHESTER CITY 2025
DISCLAIMER: THIS WAS WRITTEN BEFORE ANY CURRENT TRANSFERS AND I STILL RATE MY WINDOW OVER CITY’S CURRENTLY (I’M JUST A SLOW EDITOR EVERYONE)
With this being the first season without a trophy for Pep (not counting the illustrious Community Shield) since his first in England, there is work to do. The squad finds itself in a similarly precarious but not insurmountable position, to climb back to the top, and challenge for the title. A reminder to all non-City fans that City won 100 points in Pep’s second season (17/18) and the domestic Treble in his third (18/19). The squad is still strong and although there are problem areas, it is not as far away as it looked this past season.
Although we have all heard how Pep likes a small squad, I think this gets overblown. Most seasons he has had two players for every outfield position, as is standard in the Premier League. He also has three keepers, and a few young players not counted in the first 20 outfielders, who occasionally contribute (mostly in dead rubber games and the Carabao cup which Pep apparently got tired of winning after his first few seasons). If we look at the last era of City dominance, it was mostly built on the same core of players who were purchased early in Pep’s tenure, and at similar ages to each other, so they could "grow up" together. In this I count, Ederson, Stones, Walker, KDB, Bernardo, and Gündoğan, who have all been part of the core since they were bought.
Similar to Pep's first season, this team is still good, albeit slightly older with an average age of 26.7, which is eighth oldest in the league. In 16/17 it was fourth oldest at 28.4. Being middle of the pack this season does surprise me but as we sort by position, it will start to make more sense as to why they looked so old. The other two factors to consider is the wages and injury proneness of players. These three will be the main factor when determining who stays, and who goes. Performance is a given but as it’s more obvious to keep good players and sell bad ones these three are the keys to me building a new core.
I expect Pep to play a 4-3-3 ish, so from here we will analyse by position using the above factors. The player order has been determined by minutes played this season as that is a fair indication of depth and injury proneness.
