It is worth noting that the defending Premier League champions unpicked the opposition on Unai Emery's debut without Gabriel Jesus, Fabian Delph, Leroy Sane, David Silva, Nicolas Otamendi and Kevin De Bruyne in the starting lineup. In other words, six of their 11 most frequently used players from last season were missing, when they set a new Premier League points total with 100.
The scary bit for rivals is the seamless way in which Pep Guardiola can change personnel and not miss a beat. Such depth of talent, traditionally, is a double-edged sword: You gain in terms of alternatives and competition keeps players motivated. You lose regarding chemistry and the ability to keep guys who want to play all the time happy.
Guardiola -- yes, it's early, but there's also evidence from last season -- appears to have mastered the chemistry part, and in terms of keeping folks happy, thus far at least he seems to have a handle on his squad in terms of man-management.
It will be particularly interesting to see how Bernardo Silva develops. He played most of the past three years wide -- for Portugal, City and Monaco -- but his natural position is inside. He is not lightning-quick and can suffer physically on the wing when not in possession (not usually a problem with City). In the middle, he can be the heir apparent to his namesake David Silva; you would expect Guardiola to rotate De Bruyne and the two Silvas in that position this season.
As for Arsenal, the good news is they won't be playing City every week, but new manager Unai Emery has a ton on his plate in pretty much every area of the pitch.
Up front, they look frightfully narrow. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil coming inside is fine, but then you need full-backs to attack effectively, although playing 55 minutes with Stephan Lichtsteiner on the wrong flank doesn't help. And in midfield, Matteo Guendouzi has a lot to offer but, maybe, this wasn't the right game for a kid who just turned 19 in April.
Goalkeeper controversy at the Bernabeu?
The arrival of Thibaut Courtois means that Real Madrid have five goalkeepers, with Keylor Navas, Kiko Casilla, Luca Zidane and Andriy Lunin also on the books.You would imagine Casilla will go on loan if he cannot be sold, as will one of the two youngsters, just to get them playing time.
However, based on what he said last week -- "The advantage is that we have some great competition, and that's ideal in every position" -- new manager Julen Lopetegui appears to want Navas and Courtois competing for the starting job.
Time will tell whether he means it. It is hard to see Madrid committing substantial funds to Courtois if he is not going to start. Equally, why he would have accepted the move from Chelsea if there was a risk of being benched, when the alternative would have been moving as a free agent next summer.
As such, the European champions might be better off shifting Navas now if they can find a home for him at the right price.
Pogba and Mourinho must work together.
Continue reading at http://kwese.espn.com/football/blog/marcottis-musings/62/post/3595872/manchester-city-impress-at-arsenal-real-madrid-keepers-paul-pogba-vs-jose-mourinho
No comments:
Post a Comment