HIGH PRAISE INDEED BOLLOX
One never tires of reading praise for City and – while three games in a week would always herald plenty of discussion – the manner of the Blues’ trio of triumphs has left football fans and journalists pleasingly loquacious.
A Sergio Aguero hat-trick inspired Pep Guardiola’s men to their most recent rout – Saturday’s 6-0 thrashing at Vicarage Road – with Gabriel Jesus, Nicolas Otamendi and Raheem Sterling also on the scoresheet.
Many have dubbed the performance the best since Guardiola’s arrival, including ESPN’s David Mooney.
He wrote: “Could the team that battered Liverpool 5-0 last Saturday and then strolled to a 4-0 victory against Dutch champions Feyenoord the following Wednesday get any better?
“You bet it could: A third stunning performance in seven days, this the best of the lot, laid down a marker for the season for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
“This was probably the club's best showing since he arrived (and for a good while before that), and things really look to be clicking into place.
“Make no mistake, Watford didn't play badly -- City just didn't let them play at all.
“There are so many plus points Guardiola will take from this victory. Of course, the scoreline was emphatic and it demonstrates how the team are finding the solution to last season's problems of missing chances, but the performance with it was ridiculously good.
“Watford were chasing shadows when City had the ball, as through-balls found their targets time and again, while out of possession the visitors were able to pin their hosts back with an excellent high press.
“Maybe the biggest result of the last three games, though, is just how well Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus are linking up. Their partnership could be one of the most destructive in Premier League history.”
The Mail’s Adam Crafton agreed: “In Spain, they use the phrase ganar sin despeinarse to describe victories as handsome as these.
“It translates as to win without messing your hair up, and Manchester City's magnificence here was such that you might imagine some players were able to exit Vicarage Road without breaking into the merest sweat.
“This was a masterclass, the kind of orchestral exhibition for which Pep Guardiola is famed.
“At times here, City made it appear so easy, so straightforward that you might believe it all to be a choreographed show; so pinpoint were the passes, so rehearsed seemed the movement. But this is not effortless football, this is a fine-tuned blend of art and graft, beauty and industry.
“On the days it all comes together, it is a bewitching experience. We have seen this from Guardiola teams at Barcelona and Bayern Munich and the evidence of the past week suggests it may now become the norm at City, too.
“Three games against Liverpool at home and Feyernoord and Watford away have yielded 15 goals in favour and not one against.
“The doubters will point to a similarly blockbuster start from City last season and the manner in which it all fizzled out as winter approached but this was an ominous demonstration of their qualities.
Harry Pratt of the Express echoed: “Pep Guardiola’s men are simply unstoppable right now. With Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus plundering goals wherever they go, they are way too hot to handle.
“They have not lost in 15 league games and have smashed 15 goals in their last three outings.
“This trip was supposed to provide a stern examination of the theory that Pep’s pacesetters are a far stronger unit than in the Spaniard’s opening year at the helm. But City dominated possession and camped in their opponents’ half.”
Paul Doyle’s review for the Observer read: “Manchester City have blasted their way to the top of the Premier League and only an exceptional team will be able to challenge them.
“Watford, watched by Elton John and unbeaten before Pep Guardiola’s men rocked up here, fancied their chances but were blown away by a three-goal salvo before half-time.
“City did not relent and struck the same number again in the second half, bringing their tally to 15 goals from their past three matches, this demonstration of their attacking power coming after the demolitions of Liverpool and Feyenoord.”
The Mirror’s Mike Walters admired City’s rampant firepower.
“Pep Guardiola's exotic assortment of forwards is the most powerful nuclear arsenal in the Premier League,” he stated.
“Look at the names before you hide behind the sofa for a quick prayer: Aguero, Jesus, De Bruyne, Sterling, Silva.
“If there is a more exciting front five in the country, let's see them.”
Elsewhere, Pat Nevin was particularly impressed with Sterling’s display.
As the BBC report, the former Chelsea winger raved: “He was up at the level of the rest of them for the technical play, as well...
"He was fabulous today, but you could say that about just about every player."
As is becoming the norm, Kevin De Bruyne was also singled out for praise by John Brewin of ESPN.
“The attacking talent that Pep Guardiola has at his disposal at Manchester City was too much for Watford,” he purred.
“With Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva pulling the strings in midfield, Sergio Aguero grabbing a hat trick and Gabriel Jesus also scoring, an awesome six-shooting display of attacking quality fired the Vicarage Road visitors top of the Premier League.
“De Bruyne's talent has never been in much doubt, give or take Jose Mourinho's sidelining of him at Chelsea, but his conversion into City's deep-lying playmaker reveals a new dimension to his excellence.
“It also has solved the conundrum of fitting him and David Silva into the same team and, when City enjoy the dominance of possession they exerted here, using two players with eyes for a through ball makes perfect sense.”
Manchester City looking to add Robert Lewandowski to already-potent attack
Deadline day has come and gone, and all the latest deals and potential deals can be found here, but there's plenty brewing in the market as clubs begin to look toward January.
Man City eyeing Bayern's Lewandowski
They've just thrashed Watford 6-0 but Pep Guardiola is never satisfied, and after efforts to sign Alexis Sanchez this summer, Manchester City now want Robert Lewandowski to join their all-star attack, according to the Mirror.
Quite where the Bayern Munich star fits in remains unclear, with Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus combining for 11 goals this season already.
The 29-year-old is reportedly questioning FC Hollywood's ambition with Carlo Ancelotti linked with an exit, which means reuniting with Guardiola at the Etihad could become an option.
The former Dortmund hit man is thought to prefer a move to Real Madrid, though Los Blancos are not currently in the market for another No.9.
Manchester City's frozen-out Yaya Toure 'still does not know what he needs to do to get a game'
Boss Pep Guardiola claimed in midweek he'd told former Blues talisman why he has yet to pick him this season
Yaya Toure is bewildered about being frozen out of the Manchester City first team.
The midfielder, 34, has not played a single minute for City this season and has been left out of the last three match-day squads by Pep Guardiola — including for Saturday's 6-0 thrashing of Watford that put the Blues top of the table.
The City boss claimed, ahead of the midweek Champions League win at Feyenoord, that he had explained to Toure why he has been sidelined — hinting that he is unhappy with his commitment in training.
The 34-year-old midfielder hasn't even been in Guardiola's last three match-day squads (Image: Getty)
City ready to hand De Bruyne huge new deal after 'world-class' praise from Guardiola
But Sunday Mirror Sport understands that, while the pair remain on speaking terms, there has been no discussion about what the former Barcelona ace has to do to be included.
A source close to the player said: “Yaya is fit and ready to play. Pep picks the team and it is his right to leave Yaya out of the team.
“But Yaya was surprised to hear him say that there is a sporting problem and that he has been made aware what the issue is.
“Yaya’s relationship with Pep is good, but he has not been told anything in detail about what he needs to do to get back into the squad.”
Manchester City ready to hand new £200,000-a-week deal to Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester City are ready to hand Kevin De Bruyne’s a bumper new contract worth £200,000-a-week after the Pep Guardiola described the 26-year-old as one of the world’s best players following the midweek demolition of Feyenoord.
De Bruyne will receive an extra £50,000-a-week on top of what he currently earns according to Simon Mullock of the Sunday Mirror, with the club wanting to reward the midfielder for his outstanding performances and maturation into one of the best midfielders in football.
The former Chelsea and Wolfsburg man still has three years remaining on his existing deal, but City plan to open talks in the coming months to ensure he will spend the best remaining years of his career at the Etihad Stadium.
City are wary that if De Bruyne’s contract is allowed to run down much further, top clubs from across Europe will begin to make moves to lure him away, despite the playmaker being happy and settled in Manchester.
De Bruyne has been a phenomenon since his club record £54million move from Wolfsburg in 2015 and is now recognised as one of the Premier League’s finest players, creating chance after chance and topping the assists charts last season.
Blues chiefs hope that his new contract can be sorted before next summer’s World Cup where he will represent Belgium at Russia 2018.
WINDFALL BOLLOX
Denis Suarez made his 40th appearance for Barcelona on Saturday and Manchester City reportedly stand to receive €800,000 (£703,000) as a result.
Spaniard Suarez moved to Barcelona from City in 2013 after two years in the Sky Blues' youth academy.
According to Goal, on top of the €3.2 million Barca paid up front for Suarez, they are obliged to pay City an extra €800,000 for every 10 appearances he makes up to 100, so following his showing in Barca's 2-1 win over Getafe on Saturday, another payment is now due.
The report explained that, should Suarez reach 100 appearances for Barca, they will end up paying City a total of €11.2 million for him.
He could be worth every penny. The 23-year-old only played 45 minutes in the defeat of Getafe—he replaced Andres Iniesta at half-time—but he netted the 62nd-minute equaliser hour before Paulinho scored a late winner.
Given the abundance of creative midfielders currently in City's squad—Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling—it is unlikely Suarez would get much game time at the Etihad Stadium had he stayed there.
But the better he does for Barcelona, the more appearances he earns and the more money City receive in a deal that looks to be benefitting all involved.
Meanwhile, City have reportedly been keeping an eye on Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
According to SportItalia (via Calciomercato.com), City scouts watched Serbian Milinkovic-Savic play for Lazio against Vitesse Arnhem in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday at the request of Sky Blues manager Pep Guardiola.
The 22-year-old has started 2017-18 in impressive fashion for Simone Inzaghi's side. He played brilliantly as Lazio thrashed AC Milan last weekend, per Squawka:
Meanwhile, his goalscoring display against Chievo last month earned him a man-of-the-match award from WhoScored.com.
Milinkovic-Savic is a hugely talented prospect and looks to have the physicality and ball-playing acumen that could make him a success in the Premier League.
However, the Sky Blues are unlikely to be the only club keeping their eye on the youngster.
Netflix and Amazon woo top-flight clubs including Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool
Video streaming giants are competing for clubs’ fly-on-the-wall documentaries
Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are believed to have been approached
Liverpool were the subject of a behind-the-scenes documentary series in 2012
Video streaming giants Netflix and Amazon Prime have demonstrated their ambition to break into football by competing for Premier League clubs’ fly-on-the-wall documentaries.
Both subscription services are known to have asked clubs in the top flight to afford them the access in all areas required to make such sports programming, which has proved very popular in the United States.
The clubs approached are believed to be Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, although no deal has yet been signed. Liverpool were the subject of a behind-the-scenes series produced by Fox Soccer and Channel 5 in 2012.
The project will probably concentrate on the pre-season build-up as current TV rights deals would make documentary filming more problematic once the season gets under way.
Money is certainly no object, with Netflix claiming this week they had the budget to commission new programmes costing £15million an hour to produce — even more than the £11m Sky pay for each live Premier League game — as part of their drive for more subscribers.
Amazon Prime have already entered the sports market by buying the rights to ATP tennis tournaments.
The Premier League will also be desperate for either of these two digital behemoths or both to enter the live TV match auction later in the year.
Meanwhile, Manchester United are the one club set against inviting Amazon or Netflix behind the scenes, saying if they wanted such a programme, it would be produced in-house.
WAG OF THE DAY
OTHER BOLLOX
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, 25, interests Barcelona,Real Madrid and Juventus.(Mirror)
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has started talks with 28-year-old Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez over a possible move. (Don Balon via football.london)
Tottenham are interested in Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes, 24, which could put any move for Everton's Ross Barkley, 23, in doubt. (Sun)
Watford are interested in Olympiacos right-back Omar Elabdellaoui, 25. The Norway captain is out of contract next summer. (Mail)
Leicester are set to complete the £22m signing of Sporting Lisbon midfielder Adrien Silva after approval from Fifa. (Mirror)
Manager Jose Mourinho says Manchester United's spending power persuaded striker Romelu Lukaku, 24, to move to Old Trafford rather than Chelsea. (Telegraph)
Nice midfielder Jean Seri has vowed to stay until at least the end of the season. The 26-year-old interests Barcelona. (ESPN FC)
Real Madrid midfielder Isco, 25, turned down a move to Barcelona because of striker Lionel Messi. (Diario Gol via Express)
Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale, 28, was told by team-mate Luka Modric to consider a move to Manchester United.(Don Balon via Express)
Stoke and England goalkeeper Jack Butland, 24, says he welcomes speculation linking him with a move to Manchester United.(Mail)
Manager Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool did not sign another centre-half after missing out on Southampton's Virgil van Dijk, 26, because he could not find the right alternative. (Metro)
Paris St-Germain are looking to offload up to five players in January with wingers Julian Draxler, 23, Angel di Maria, 29, and Lucas Moura, 25, all said to be heading for the exit. (Mundo Deportivo via Sun)
Everton have stepped up their interest in Uruguay winger Federico Martinez, 21, who plays for Liverpool FC in Montevideo. (Sun)
Manchester United fear midfielder Paul Pogba could be out for longer than first thought as he faces being sidelined for up to 12 weeks with a hamstring injury (Times - subscription required)
Jose Mourinho has urged Manchester United fans to give "legend" Wayne Rooney a warm welcome when he returns to Old Trafford with Everton on Sunday. (Independent)
Everton defender Phil Jagielka, 35, says the club's players "need to look in the mirror" as they prepare to face Manchester United and former striker Romelu Lukaku on Sunday. (Telegraph)
Paris St-Germain defender Marquinhos has revealed his team-mate Neymar is struggling to get to grips with the French language after his move from Barcelona. (Sun)
Real Madrid defender Marcelo's eight-year-old son netted a hat-trick on his Real Madrid youth team debut. (Sun)
GOLDEN BOLLOX
On this day in 2012
Arsene Wenger says playing Manchester City will test Arsenal's title credentials
Arsene Wenger believes a trip to reigning champions Manchester City will provide an early indication of Arsenal's chances of challenging for the Premier League title.
Arsenal have enjoyed a positive start to this season, in sharp contrast to 12 months ago, and have followed up opening 0-0 draws with wins over Liverpool and Southampton.
Wenger will take his team to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday above City on goal difference before Arsenal face current leaders Chelsea the following weekend.
The Gunners boss feels his side have a chance of being in title contention this term and expects to learn more about his players after facing City.
"We will know that after 10 games," said Wenger of Arsenal's title chances. "I think we have a chance. But do we develop well, do we keep our attitude?
"I think we have a chance but at the moment I don't know how strong our opponents are. We've not played against any of the title contenders yet.
"We won the championship in 2004 and we played against Chelsea in November the following season and I finished the game thinking: 'We've just played against the new champions'.
"It will be important to see how we do against the bigger teams. It will be interesting.
"It will be a test next Sunday but for us the most important part will be to maintain our level of performance that we showed against Southampton and go from game to game."
Arsenal lost Robin van Persie over the summer and Wenger suggested his side are starting to cope without the presence of last season's leading scorer.
He added: "We are famous for having good passing and team play.
"Sometimes an individual grows up and becomes the main charisma and carrier of the team and then people notice only him, but we've always built around the team player.
"Van Persie scored 30 goals and when you score 30 goals everyone gives you the ball. That's as simple as that.
"Our game at the moment is a little bit more diversified but let's see how we deal with that in the big games.
"We have to go from game to game. The last two games were interesting."
Paris St-Germain to sign Mario Balotelli?
Magnifique! French media seem to be getting all the best scoops these days. First, some sleuthing French gloss-sheet revealed that Kate Middleton has breasts. And now some Seine-side organ has discovered that Paris St-German are planning a big spending spree. While the first of those scoops had the additional merit of exposing the hypocrisy of the seedier sections of the British media ("how dare they breach a lady's privacy like that!?" mewled many while simultaneously carrying ultra-zoomed stills of ladies' skirts riding high as they step out of a car), the PSG news flash has the merit of helping to comply with the official European Union quota of Mario Balotelli stories, Brussels having issued a directive stipulating that every media outlet must mention the Italian striker at least once a day for the rest of his natural born life.
Some media have fallen short of that requirement recently, with Eurocrats said to be alarmed by the British publications' sudden refusal to carry reports of Balotelli going to the toilet, eating in a restaurant or buying a hat. "It's political correctness gone mad!" howled one Luxembourg MEP. "Do those workshy British hacks honestly expect us to believe that Mr Balotelli doesn't need to empty his bowels any more?!" bellowed a senior German diplomat. Fortunately the Mill is always ready to do its duty so today can happily regurgitate the claim that Paris St-German are preparing a January swoop for Mr Balotelli, who, we can add exclusively, is expected to use a lavatory at some point this morning.
Assuming they are still in Champions League contention come January, PSG will also splash out on Santos's automatic headline generator, Neymar, and a 21-year-old Colombian by the name of Pedro Franco. He's a defensive midfielder currently on the books of Millonarios Bogotá, according to top insider Wikipedia.
With PSG buying up players like there's no tomorrow and as if buying up players would be a sensible thing to do if there were no tomorrow, Manchester City are starting to fret that they may come after more than just Balotelli. Which is one of the reasons why there readying to tie David Silva down to a new contract worth £200,000 per week. Another of the reason is that Real Madrid are also nosing around the Spaniard. Guardian
Silva strikes gold at City with £200k a week deal despite Real interest
Manchester City are on the verge of agreeing a new £200,000-a-week contract with forward David Silva.
The club have been negotiating with Silva all summer as they look to tie one of Europe's hottest properties to a deal for the next five years.
As reported last month, talks reached a worrying stalemate during pre-season as City struggled to deal with the Spaniard's wage demands.
However, it is understood the arrival of Spanish chief executive Ferran Soriano has given the issue fresh impetus and the club are hopeful of agreeing terms within two weeks.
Tuesday night's Champions League opponents Real Madrid have been tracking Silva's situation at the Etihad Stadium and have asked the 26-year-old's representatives to keep them informed of any problem with his negotiations with City.
Silva is aware of Madrid's interest and has been tempted by a return to Spain.
However, he now looks certain to commit himself to City for the best years of his career.
The club have structured Silva's new deal to give him a basic wage that puts him around the pay levels enjoyed by top earners Carlos Tevez, Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure.
The incentives are such, though, that success in the Premier League and Champions League over the coming seasons will see his pay tip the £250,000-a-week mark.
MCF.net THREAD: http://mancityfans.net/mcfnet/viewtopic ... 19&t=44002
Peter Crouch has admitted he handled the ball in the build-up to his goal against Manchester City on Saturday. Guardian
Jose Mourinho questions players ahead of Real Madrid v Man City
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has questioned his side's commitment just two days before they meet Manchester City in the Champions League.
The Spanish champions have slipped eight points behind leaders Barcelona after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Sevilla.
Mourinho said: "We have only really played well in the Spanish Super Cup. Nowhere else. I am worried that in this moment I don't have a team.
"There are very few heads who are committed and concentrated."
Nine-times European champions Real play host to City in their opening group game of this season's Champions League on Tuesday.
Mourinho added: "When you don't have people who are committed, it's tough.
"But I am the coach, and if there are people who aren't committed it is my fault."
Barcelona, who Real beat to win the Spanish Super Cup in August, cruised past Getafe 4-1 to maintain their 100% league record this season.
Real, who began their campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Valencia before losing to Getafe and beating Granada, conceded a goal after only two minutes against Sevilla when Piotr Trochowski volleyed home.
And Mourinho had no complaints about the result.
"Congratulations to Sevilla, they deserved to win without any doubt," said the former Chelsea boss. "We got the prize we deserved considering how badly we played.
"At the break, I changed two players but I wanted to change seven.
"The image of my team at this moment is a team without concentration, without the willingness to compete.
"For Sevilla, every ball was the last one in their life. They played with perfect aggression in everything. They wanted to play quickly, move the ball quickly.
"My team did it against Barcelona and haven't done it in any other game."
Mourinho refused to blame Cristiano Ronaldo for his side's early-season wobbles. The world's most expensive player said he felt "sad" for "professional reasons" following the win over Granada.
"It's got nothing to do with the rumour of the last two weeks," said Mourinho. "I don't think today was any different to the games we played against Getafe or Granada. To me, it's to do with the collective spirit."
Manchester City legends paid tribute to Heroes
City legends paid tribute to the country’s real heroes with a game at Hyde to raise more than £1,000 for charity Help the Heroes, writes Matt Cunningham.
More than 1,000 fans saw a Joe Corrigan XI win 4-1 to lift the Ken Barnes Community Cup. It was awarded by June Barnes, widow of Ken, in honour of the former chief scout who won the FA Cup with City in 1956Stars who featured included former skipper Richard Edghill, Ian Bishop, Asa Hartford, Jeff Whitley, Steve Redmond and Ken’s son, the former City winger Peter.
Gold medal-winning Paralympians Sarah Storey and her husband Barney were guests of honour.
PUMA KIT BOLLOX
Puma chief hails Manchester City signing
Puma chief executive Franz Koch has hailed Manchester City and Argentina striker Sergio Aguero as “an incredible performer” and the perfect expression of the Puma brand.
Aguero, who signed a multi-million dollar deal with the German sportswear company in September, has become the centrepiece of Puma’s soccer marketing strategy.
The company has become renowned in recent years for sponsoring a variety of African national soccer teams, but has signed a string of high-profile personal endorsement deals in the sport over the last year.
Koch, who became chief executive last summer, described the process that Puma undertakes when signing brand ambassadors in an exclusive interview with SportsPro.
Performance is important, Koch explained, but not nearly as important as personality. “Everything we do has to have a joyful component, be it product or be it marketing, no matter what,” he said. “And I think you see that reflected also in our sports marketing ambassadors. Usain Bolt is obviously the perfect expression of that with his high performance but also his light hearted and joyful attitude.
“You can also copy and paste that in other areas; take football as another example – Kun Aguero, an incredible performer; he just decided the Premier League in the last minute, but he’s such a nice, light-hearted person at the same time; he’s very social, very funny and there’s always a smile on his face. And that’s incredibly important for us when making a choice on particular sports marketing teams or athletes, that they express what Puma stands for as a brand, because that needs to carry through to consumers at the end of the day.”
Koch explains that he personally is involved with all Puma’s major marketing deals. Local company executives will feed information back to Puma HQ in Herzogenaurach, Germany, where the Puma sports marketing team will draw up a long-list of targets in various sports categories. The list will be narrowed down before Koch himself steps in before any deal is closed.
“It wasn’t difficult with Aguero really,” he says, “because his talent is undisputed. But what was really smart with Aguero was his connection to Maradona, through his wife. That was an obvious story for us, having been the long-term partner of Maradona in the past. This was a great story for us to tell, and he’s an incredible performance athlete at the same time and it’s paying off – you can see that.”
