Iceland Friendly Preview: Manchester City v West Ham United
- Thread starter Tudor
- Start date
Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
Yes and on TV, as Rising pointed out Eurosport 1. Friday 3pmish
Skoorb
Alert Team
Manchester City v West Ham United - 3pm BST (2pm Local) Fri 4th Aug - The Super Match, Reykjavík
City take on Premier League rivals West Ham United in the Laugardalsvöllur Stadium, Reykjavik, Iceland on Friday - the first time Premier League sides have played been hosted in the country.
Originally called the Thomas Cook trophy - City's shirt sponsors back in 2004 when the competition was initiated - this will be the sixth time this pre-season friendly will have been played away from the Etihad....coinciding when the name of the fixture changed as presumably Thomas Cook's sponsorship deal ended. In the first ever match under Kevin Keegan in August 2004, City defeated Lazio 3-1 with goals from Anelka, Macken and Sibierski.
City will be looking for their first win in the match since they won 2-0 against Arsenal in the Birds Nest stadium, Beijing in 2012 when it was called the 'Winoly Cup'. No, I have no idea what a Winoly is either. Since that victory City have managed to lose each successive outing in Helsinki (Arsenal), Stuttgart (Stuttgart) & Gothenburg (Arsenal).
Pep will be looking for a victory to finish his team's very short pre-season preparations - this will be only the fourth pre-season match. Having finished second in the USA section of the International Champions Cup after creditable victories over Real Madrid and Spurs, the squad will want to end their travels on a high....and avoid any injuries. Apart from long term absentee Ilkay Gundogan and new arrival Benjamin Mendy, Pep will have a full squad to select from and we can perhaps expect to see something of the Other Silva, Bernardo who has joined the squad after extended leave following his participation in the Confederations Cup.
The match presents the first opportunity for ex-City stalwart and living legend Pablo Zabaleta to make his first ever appearance against the Blues - and THAT is going to be weird both for him and City supporters. Of course there is every likelihood that this may well get overshadowed by the potential sight of Joe Hart in goal for the Hammers - his loan deal is unlikely to preclude appearing against his home team in a pre-season friendly - although with the Neymar transfer this week one suspects that the back page editors might have other fish to fry. Bilic's side are also likely to feature new signings Arnautovic from Stoke and ex-rag Hernandez (Chiquitita to his friends- https://youtu.be/p4QqMKe3rwY ).
Further outings are possible for City youngsters Foden, Diaz, Adarabioyo & Duhenny and possibly Muric or Grimshaw at some stages. Also this provides a final pre-season opportunity for Nasri and Mangala to appear in the transfer shop window although the announcement of a further friendly fixture in Spain against CFG sister club Girona on 19th August means that they may yet get a further run out to impress suitors. Despite showing what he is capable of on the US tour, Nasri is toast as far as I can read between the lines but, whilst I have not seen all the minutes played by Mangala on the USA, I didn't think he played badly and surely has shown enough promise to merit another shake at the club although Pep's inferences in a recent press conference about looking to bring in another centre back ("if there is enough money") would seem to indicate that Elaquim's future lies away from the Etihad.
Will Pep stick once again with the three at the back with flying wing backs or revert to a traditional back four for this encounter? I think he has seen enough in his first season in the Premier League to realise that he has to be flexible in deploying his resources and adapting his selections and tactics to the opposition so I would expect him to mix things up a bit and wouldn;t be surprised for him to deploy a traditional back four against Bilic's men tomorrow.
The forecast for the game is around 11C, overcast with light wind.
Possible Starting XI
Ederson
Walker, Stones, Kompany, Danilo
Sterling, Silva (Bernardo), De Bruyne, Roberts
Aguero, Jesus
Subs -
Muric, Otamendi, Mangala, Duhenny, Toure, Silva (D), Diaz, Foden, Nasri, Sane
The game will be available live on Eurosport
Come on City!!!
City take on Premier League rivals West Ham United in the Laugardalsvöllur Stadium, Reykjavik, Iceland on Friday - the first time Premier League sides have played been hosted in the country.
Originally called the Thomas Cook trophy - City's shirt sponsors back in 2004 when the competition was initiated - this will be the sixth time this pre-season friendly will have been played away from the Etihad....coinciding when the name of the fixture changed as presumably Thomas Cook's sponsorship deal ended. In the first ever match under Kevin Keegan in August 2004, City defeated Lazio 3-1 with goals from Anelka, Macken and Sibierski.
City will be looking for their first win in the match since they won 2-0 against Arsenal in the Birds Nest stadium, Beijing in 2012 when it was called the 'Winoly Cup'. No, I have no idea what a Winoly is either. Since that victory City have managed to lose each successive outing in Helsinki (Arsenal), Stuttgart (Stuttgart) & Gothenburg (Arsenal).
Pep will be looking for a victory to finish his team's very short pre-season preparations - this will be only the fourth pre-season match. Having finished second in the USA section of the International Champions Cup after creditable victories over Real Madrid and Spurs, the squad will want to end their travels on a high....and avoid any injuries. Apart from long term absentee Ilkay Gundogan and new arrival Benjamin Mendy, Pep will have a full squad to select from and we can perhaps expect to see something of the Other Silva, Bernardo who has joined the squad after extended leave following his participation in the Confederations Cup.
The match presents the first opportunity for ex-City stalwart and living legend Pablo Zabaleta to make his first ever appearance against the Blues - and THAT is going to be weird both for him and City supporters. Of course there is every likelihood that this may well get overshadowed by the potential sight of Joe Hart in goal for the Hammers - his loan deal is unlikely to preclude appearing against his home team in a pre-season friendly - although with the Neymar transfer this week one suspects that the back page editors might have other fish to fry. Bilic's side are also likely to feature new signings Arnautovic from Stoke and ex-rag Hernandez (Chiquitita to his friends- https://youtu.be/p4QqMKe3rwY ).
Further outings are possible for City youngsters Foden, Diaz, Adarabioyo & Duhenny and possibly Muric or Grimshaw at some stages. Also this provides a final pre-season opportunity for Nasri and Mangala to appear in the transfer shop window although the announcement of a further friendly fixture in Spain against CFG sister club Girona on 19th August means that they may yet get a further run out to impress suitors. Despite showing what he is capable of on the US tour, Nasri is toast as far as I can read between the lines but, whilst I have not seen all the minutes played by Mangala on the USA, I didn't think he played badly and surely has shown enough promise to merit another shake at the club although Pep's inferences in a recent press conference about looking to bring in another centre back ("if there is enough money") would seem to indicate that Elaquim's future lies away from the Etihad.
Will Pep stick once again with the three at the back with flying wing backs or revert to a traditional back four for this encounter? I think he has seen enough in his first season in the Premier League to realise that he has to be flexible in deploying his resources and adapting his selections and tactics to the opposition so I would expect him to mix things up a bit and wouldn;t be surprised for him to deploy a traditional back four against Bilic's men tomorrow.
The forecast for the game is around 11C, overcast with light wind.
Possible Starting XI
Ederson
Walker, Stones, Kompany, Danilo
Sterling, Silva (Bernardo), De Bruyne, Roberts
Aguero, Jesus
Subs -
Muric, Otamendi, Mangala, Duhenny, Toure, Silva (D), Diaz, Foden, Nasri, Sane
The game will be available live on Eurosport
Come on City!!!
Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
Courtesy of the OS
The travelling party is: Ederson, Grimshaw, Muric, Walker, Danilo, Kompany, Stones, Sterling, Aguero, Mangala, De Bruyne, Sane, Silva, Bernardo, Fernandinho, Roberts, Otamendi, Jesus, Zinchenko, Y Toure, Adarabioyo, Diaz, Foden.
The travelling party is: Ederson, Grimshaw, Muric, Walker, Danilo, Kompany, Stones, Sterling, Aguero, Mangala, De Bruyne, Sane, Silva, Bernardo, Fernandinho, Roberts, Otamendi, Jesus, Zinchenko, Y Toure, Adarabioyo, Diaz, Foden.
Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
Looking at the party going and having seen the travellers unlike Skoorb who has made an educated guess, not surprisingly Nasri does not make the plane.
My guess is Pep will stick to this 3-5-2, he tried to get it working last season and failed imo, but he is stubborn like most managers.
Ederson
Otamendi. Kompany, Stones
Walker, KDB, DS21, Danilo, Touré
Jesus Aguero
subs obviously the rest of the squad, Muric, Grimshaw, Sané, Bernardo, Mangala, Sterling, F25, Roberts, Zinchenko, Diaz, Adarbioyo, Foden
Bravo and Gundogan not travelling, but picking a team and keeping every happy, is going to be a nightmare, especially when everyone is fit.
so if Pep sticks to this formation it means picking three midfielders and you would think one of those has to be a defensive midfielder, which means, two out of the rest
My guess is Pep will stick to this 3-5-2, he tried to get it working last season and failed imo, but he is stubborn like most managers.
Ederson
Otamendi. Kompany, Stones
Walker, KDB, DS21, Danilo, Touré
Jesus Aguero
subs obviously the rest of the squad, Muric, Grimshaw, Sané, Bernardo, Mangala, Sterling, F25, Roberts, Zinchenko, Diaz, Adarbioyo, Foden
Bravo and Gundogan not travelling, but picking a team and keeping every happy, is going to be a nightmare, especially when everyone is fit.
so if Pep sticks to this formation it means picking three midfielders and you would think one of those has to be a defensive midfielder, which means, two out of the rest
kennyclementstache
Vital Football Legend
As you say, keeping everybody happy (if/when fit) is a potential nightmare and one that won't be made any easier in the event of Sanchez joining (fingers x'd he stays at Highbury).
If we play three at the back plus two wing backs and have Aguero and GJ33 up front then presumably wide men Sane and Sterling will be on the berti and the midfield two would be chosen from Gundogan, Kipling, Merlin, Silva, F25 and KGB not forgetting that Fodden and Diaz will be chomping at any available bits. And I've not mentioned Roberts, Nasri or Zinchenko who will presumably be kicking their heels or else playing three and in with jumpers for goalposts in the car park.
It's great that we have all these fabulous players but good players all want to play. How to keep the whole 'group' focused and 'on message' all the time. Might need some blue sky thinking from PG . . .
If we play three at the back plus two wing backs and have Aguero and GJ33 up front then presumably wide men Sane and Sterling will be on the berti and the midfield two would be chosen from Gundogan, Kipling, Merlin, Silva, F25 and KGB not forgetting that Fodden and Diaz will be chomping at any available bits. And I've not mentioned Roberts, Nasri or Zinchenko who will presumably be kicking their heels or else playing three and in with jumpers for goalposts in the car park.
It's great that we have all these fabulous players but good players all want to play. How to keep the whole 'group' focused and 'on message' all the time. Might need some blue sky thinking from PG . . .
Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
It maybe the starting side that will open at Brighton, team news soon
Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
City XI:
Ederson,
Kompany (C), Stones, Otamendi,
Yaya Toure,
Silva, De Bruyne, Sane,Danilo,
Jesus, Aguero
Subs: Muric, Grimshaw, Walker, Sterling, Mangala, Bernardo, Fernandinho, Roberts, Zinchenko, Adarabioyo, Diaz, Foden
Ederson,
Kompany (C), Stones, Otamendi,
Yaya Toure,
Silva, De Bruyne, Sane,Danilo,
Jesus, Aguero
Subs: Muric, Grimshaw, Walker, Sterling, Mangala, Bernardo, Fernandinho, Roberts, Zinchenko, Adarabioyo, Diaz, Foden
Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
Harty and Zaba start for the Hammers
Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
Apart from Bama (who actually went to the Spuds match)I think that goes for everyone.
Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
We dont appear to have a right/left back Danilo can play both positions, so the formation is anyones guess, best guess is
3-5-2, with Toure playing the def midfielder
3-5-2, with Toure playing the def midfielder
Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
I said earlier that this may be the starting side- It isn't
Johnny Baguette
Alert Team
Bonjour Blues!
That's an exciting City side right there, let's paste these.
That's an exciting City side right there, let's paste these.
Johnny Baguette
Alert Team
Cheers Rising! City looking good!
