Skoorb
Alert Team
Pep Guardiola's learning curve may get a little steeper this Saturday as he takes his charges to the Brittania Stadium for face one of the sterner tests in the Premier League.
Although not the 'Land of the Giants' so often a feature under their former manager Tony Pulis, and perhaps no longer as brutal under Mark Hughes, an away game against Stoke remains a benchmark for progress in the Premier League. One of those "if you can win there, you can win anywhere" games and a "robust" style of play remains a feature under their current manager. It maybe being played early in the season rather than on a wet and windy night in February, but nevertheless Guardiola may find out a bit more about the resilience of his squad by the time the full time whistle is blown in Saturday's early kickoff.
With the Stretfords Galacticos being handed the first Friday night fixture in the Premier League era there is every possibility that the hacks could be gushing over Maureen's team by the time Saturday dawns and declaring that they will be "difficult to catch" should they defeat Southampton......... :040: :024: Listening to the BBC's Jonathan Pearce commentating on their victory over Bournemouth at the weekend nearly had me reaching for the bucket.
Buoyed by the partisan support that is generated at the Brittania, Stoke continue to offer a decent threat as City found to their cost last season. Delivering one of their more lethargic displays under Pelegrini the City players sleepwalked into a 2-0 deficit within the first 15 minutes, a situation from which they never recovered. However one feels that even after only two competitive fixtures, City will not roll over quite so easily under the beady eye of their new coach.
I am sure Guardiola will be very aware of the threat offered by Aranutovic, Shaqiri & Bojan. The latter especially will feel that he has a point to prove against his former boss at Barcelona. Bojan Krkic began his professional career with Barcelona, having his character and skills nurtured by the Catalan club’s famed La Masia when he was nine-years-old. A prolific scorer for the youth academy sides he made his first team debut aged 17 years but feels his form nose dived under Guardiola and seems to nurse a grudge over an alleged broken promise to give him some game time in the Champions League final against the Stratford Galacticos in 2011. Hey ho, that's football. Let's hope he doesn't play out of his skin on Saturday - I am sure the media will have this as a meaty little theme running through their commentary.
The flexibility and fluidity of players interchanging positions has been an eye opener already and will be the cause of much discussion as well as taxing the abilities of the City players. Witnessing the full backs pushing into the middle to receive the ball has been interesting to say the least and will certainly challenge them. On top of this Guardiola has shown that he is prepared to make big calls and take responsibility for them. Joe Hart's appearance on the bench has overshadowed Yaya Toure's total absence from either of his first two competitive team selections - something which previously would have dominated the media's attention. As it is I suspect we will witness a "poor Joe Hart, the victim of a brutal, ruthless manager who will risk trashing England's No 1's career" narrative develop over the coming days.....from the very same sources that ripped the guy to shreds over his performances in the European Championships. Joe Hart has been a great player for Manchester City. He has saved the team's bacon on more than one occasion and pulled out some outstanding saves and there is nothing yet to suggest that his career at City is definitely over. But it seems he will have to adapt or risk having to move on if he wishes to retain his position in goal for England - it is rare for a keeper to get picked for the national side if he's not getting games for his club. He is a link with the past having joined under Stuart Pearce before the ADUG takeover and has been and remains a strong ambassador for the club. But this is football and sentiment rarely adds much weight to these decisions. We will have to wait and see. If he is on the bench on Saturday I personally think the dye will have been cast.
A difficult one to call this fixture. A City squad still adapting to their new coach's philosophy and demands against a solid, experienced Premier League side that rarely takes prisoners managed by a manager who will always desire to give his former employers a bloody nose. But City have already demonstrated a willingness to run and press and respond to the new world they inhabit and I think they will have enough in the locker to come away with the three points and not allow Maureen's Galacticos to stretch too far ahead :103:
Come on City!!!
Although not the 'Land of the Giants' so often a feature under their former manager Tony Pulis, and perhaps no longer as brutal under Mark Hughes, an away game against Stoke remains a benchmark for progress in the Premier League. One of those "if you can win there, you can win anywhere" games and a "robust" style of play remains a feature under their current manager. It maybe being played early in the season rather than on a wet and windy night in February, but nevertheless Guardiola may find out a bit more about the resilience of his squad by the time the full time whistle is blown in Saturday's early kickoff.
With the Stretfords Galacticos being handed the first Friday night fixture in the Premier League era there is every possibility that the hacks could be gushing over Maureen's team by the time Saturday dawns and declaring that they will be "difficult to catch" should they defeat Southampton......... :040: :024: Listening to the BBC's Jonathan Pearce commentating on their victory over Bournemouth at the weekend nearly had me reaching for the bucket.
Buoyed by the partisan support that is generated at the Brittania, Stoke continue to offer a decent threat as City found to their cost last season. Delivering one of their more lethargic displays under Pelegrini the City players sleepwalked into a 2-0 deficit within the first 15 minutes, a situation from which they never recovered. However one feels that even after only two competitive fixtures, City will not roll over quite so easily under the beady eye of their new coach.
I am sure Guardiola will be very aware of the threat offered by Aranutovic, Shaqiri & Bojan. The latter especially will feel that he has a point to prove against his former boss at Barcelona. Bojan Krkic began his professional career with Barcelona, having his character and skills nurtured by the Catalan club’s famed La Masia when he was nine-years-old. A prolific scorer for the youth academy sides he made his first team debut aged 17 years but feels his form nose dived under Guardiola and seems to nurse a grudge over an alleged broken promise to give him some game time in the Champions League final against the Stratford Galacticos in 2011. Hey ho, that's football. Let's hope he doesn't play out of his skin on Saturday - I am sure the media will have this as a meaty little theme running through their commentary.
The flexibility and fluidity of players interchanging positions has been an eye opener already and will be the cause of much discussion as well as taxing the abilities of the City players. Witnessing the full backs pushing into the middle to receive the ball has been interesting to say the least and will certainly challenge them. On top of this Guardiola has shown that he is prepared to make big calls and take responsibility for them. Joe Hart's appearance on the bench has overshadowed Yaya Toure's total absence from either of his first two competitive team selections - something which previously would have dominated the media's attention. As it is I suspect we will witness a "poor Joe Hart, the victim of a brutal, ruthless manager who will risk trashing England's No 1's career" narrative develop over the coming days.....from the very same sources that ripped the guy to shreds over his performances in the European Championships. Joe Hart has been a great player for Manchester City. He has saved the team's bacon on more than one occasion and pulled out some outstanding saves and there is nothing yet to suggest that his career at City is definitely over. But it seems he will have to adapt or risk having to move on if he wishes to retain his position in goal for England - it is rare for a keeper to get picked for the national side if he's not getting games for his club. He is a link with the past having joined under Stuart Pearce before the ADUG takeover and has been and remains a strong ambassador for the club. But this is football and sentiment rarely adds much weight to these decisions. We will have to wait and see. If he is on the bench on Saturday I personally think the dye will have been cast.
A difficult one to call this fixture. A City squad still adapting to their new coach's philosophy and demands against a solid, experienced Premier League side that rarely takes prisoners managed by a manager who will always desire to give his former employers a bloody nose. But City have already demonstrated a willingness to run and press and respond to the new world they inhabit and I think they will have enough in the locker to come away with the three points and not allow Maureen's Galacticos to stretch too far ahead :103:
Come on City!!!
