5 Things you need to know about Man City ahead of the Premier League season
Next up for the previews is Man City who are entering the post-Guardiola era with Enzo Maresca in charge for the upcoming season, last season was full of ups and downs for City who pushed Arsenal all the way in the title race but dropping points against Everton and Bournemouth in the run-in ultimately cost them the Premier League title. The Champions League was a complete disaster for City who went out to a heavily depleted Real Madrid side in the Round of 16 after a battering at the Bernabeu in which Federico Valverde scored a hat-trick, the game at the Etihad wasn’t much better as Bernardo Silva picked up an early red card which all but extinguished Cities hopes of getting back in the tie. The domestic cups went much better for Guardiola winning both the FA and Carabao cups against Arsenal and Chelsea respectively, overall I think it was a successful end to Pep’s tenure at City and he’s undoubtedly left a very strong squad for Enzo Marseca to inherit.
What has Cities transfer window looked like so far? The big signing for City came early in the window with Elliot Anderson coming in to bolster a midfield that has lost Bernardo Silva and is about to lose Rodri in the next few days, they have also signed Jeremy Monga from Leicester who is an exciting winger but at 17 years old I wonder if he’ll get many minutes this season. The other outgoings include John Stones on a free transfer to Inter, Nathan Ake to Fenerbache whilst James Trafford has moved to Leeds United. The rumours around Ayyoub Bouaddi who starred for Morocco in the World Cup have intensified over the last couple of weeks with most sources saying that the deal will get done by the end of the window, the final midfielder could very well be Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea who Marseca will know very well but it looks like Chelsea want upwards of £120 million to let him go so it’ll be interesting to see if City put a bid in close to what Chelsea are looking. Only time will tell but Cities squad is looking very strong ahead of the new season.
How has Cities pre-season gone so far? City have played their pre-season in Asia with the first game coming against Inter which ended 1-1 with youngster Divin Mubamba getting on the scoresheet, their next game came against the K-League All Stars where City ran out 3-1 winners on the day with Ait-Nouri, Reijnders and Mubamba scoring for Marseca’s side. The final pre-season game in Asia was up against Atletico Madrid with City winning 3-1 yet again with 2 goals from Marmoush and a late one from Ait-Nouri, one key theme throughout their pre-season has been the way the wingers play in Maresca’s system which was constant at Chelsea with both wingers staying high and wide looking to constantly take on their full-backs and find runners in the box. A player that has benefitted from the change in system has been Antoine Semenyo who has looked a menace on the left-wing in pre-season, under Pep at times last season he looked uncomfortable playing centrally but so far in pre-season he looks back to his best and is looking to start the season strong on Sunday in the Community Shield.
Who are the players to watch for City this season? As I said above I think the wingers are going to get a new lease of life under Marseca but there is a few players that have to perform this season if they want to stay at the Etihad, the first one being Omar Marmoush who is coming off a horrific World Cup campaign for Egypt but with Erling Haaland having an extended break after the World Cup can he step up and lead the City frontline at the start of the season? The next player is Tijani Reijnders who was a bit-part player at best last season but is a player I’m a big fan off so I would back him to get back to form this season, apparently Nottingham Forest are sniffing around for the Dutchman’s signature so he might not even be at City by the end of the window. Last but not least if Phil Foden who City have shown huge belief in handing him a new contract but he has to start performing again for City or I would imagine three below average seasons in a row would spell the end of his City career if he doesn’t perform again this season, who are your players to watch for City this season?
Predictions for City this season? This is a tough one as on paper they should be challenging for the league but can you expect that from Enzo Marseca in his first season? I think they will just come up short in the league possibly finishing in 2nd place but I would definitely expect a title challenge of some sort, I do think Cities team is more suited to the Champions League where I would back them to make a deep run in the competition making possibly the semi-finals. The cups are a hard one to predict especially after winning both last season but Marseca is someone who takes them competitions seriously so again I would expect City to go far in both the Carabao and FA cup, one thing that isn’t hard to predict is their top scorer who will undoubtedly be Erling Haaland yet again. Will he lead City to more trophies this season? You wouldn’t bet against him.