Toure is still a hero to me, Sagna and Clichy went with my blessing after time served (was far more upset losing Sagna than Clichy at the time, although Clichy has had the better career at City).
Adebayor and Nasri were - and still are - utter bastards. Nasri in particular is a total prick, should never have quit Arsenal and is now a fat little chancer with shit hair, very lucky to be rescued by a club like Sevilla.
Nasri started 27 (played 31), 22 (28), 29 (34), 18 (24) and had a bad 5th year. Won two Premier Leagues and a League Cup during a five year stretch. Not everybody has the quality and/or the mentality to stay for 10 years at the biggest clubs. For what exactly should he have stayed at Arsenal?
@Powderfinger your arguments in pre-season were persuasive enough to make me doubt at least a little bit something I considered, at the end of last season, as much of a lock as any title choice before a season in as long as Iāve been following the premier league, but I feel silly for even the little doubt I indulged in. It is and was simple:
Pep + Cityās somewhat flawed but still rather talented squad + Premier League Level of Competition/Quality/Tactics= City wins title
Has to be seen if they can keep it up, but at least with todayās performance they would have beaten anyone in the Premier League and most teams in the CL. Some really good movement and transitional play paired with some good passing. The most entertaining English team Iāve seen so far this season.
This City team are raw like when Pep initially took over Barcelona. The intention was there but execution wasnāt always spectacular. Eventually - it became spectacular. I feel like this City team will dominate the league for the entire three years of Pep.
I donāt actually give him too much credit. What heās done is implant a tactical system and strong mentality in probably what was leagueās best squad on paper even before their dealings this summer.
A greater test of his ability would have been to drop down a level to Arsenal and try to implant his ideas at a club with finite resources and a limited existing squad. Would have been interesting to see how heād done here.