Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany has said that the team is well aware that they could seal their Premier League title win this term with victory against Manchester United.
Kompany Hoping City Win Pl Against United
CLICHY AND ADEBAYOR TO LEAD BASAK IN EUROPA LEAGUE
Former Manchester City and Arsenal men Gael Clichy and Emmanuel Adebayor would pair up once more as they are set to help Turkish Super League side Istanbul Basaksehir overcome Portuguese side Sporting Clube de Braga, Bulgarian side Ludogrets Razgrad, and German side Hoffenheim in Group C.
The four sides are set to do battle from next month in the group stage of the Europa League.
Sevilla recently saw off competition from the Turkish side in the Champions League qualifier while Liverpool knocked out Hoffenheim to move on.
In Group A, Spanish side Villareal will battle Maccabi Tel Aviv, Astana and Slavia Prague while Dynamo Kiev, Young Boys, Partizan Belgrade and Skenderbeu will clash in Group B.
Group D consists of AC Milan, Austria Vienna, Rijeka, and AEK Athens. Everton would have a field day playing French side Lyon, Serie A side Atalanta and Cyprus clubs Apollon. Group F has Lokomotiv Moscow, Sheriff Tiraspol, Zlin and Copenhagen.
DID NASRI END UP BETTER AWAY FROM ARSENAL?
A look at Samir Nasri anytime he is on the pitch shows a player who asides facing the business of the day – helping his team mates beat an opponent – loves enjoying football in the basic sense akin to the type you will find on a beach.
Dribbling, feints and fakes, sometimes joggling at the amateur level do often take the high seats in any gathering of fans. The higher you go though, the more you are admonished on the need to drop such act and focus entirely on getting the business of winning matches done.
When he left Marseille in 2008, Arsenal’s accommodation of flashy stunts within their ranks would’ve no doubt further convinced the French man that the Gunners were a group he could thrive in without much friction.
One thing he may not have realized is the fact that as players grows towards the twilight of their careers; they tend to see some sense in the need to be business minded throughout encounters because the pressure to have their name associated with a trophy kind of trumps every other desire.
MANCHESTER DERBY IS HIGH STAKES GAME
As Manchester City get set to clash with Manchester United on Thursday, the game is all to fight for.
The high stakes match at the Etihad Stadium would heavily influence how the table would look like at the end of the season with six games left.
Many expected this season to be a showdown between both Manchester club coaches but it turned out far from expectations as Chelsea boss Antonio Conte impressed in his debut season. The dynamics since they last met in the league has since changed. Pep Guardiola was the victor in September but that was when City were running riot at first.
Manchester United have not been in top four since September but they could re-enter with a victory as they are a point behind City. Chelsea lead Spurs by seven points after their recent victory but they have played a game more. Liverpool in the third spot have played two matches more than both Manchester teams.
MAN CITY AND CHELSEA ARE FAVOURITES TO LIFT THE FA CUP
Manchester City join Chelsea as the favourites to lift the FA Cup this season.
The top English sides will battle Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur respectively for a place in the final. While it a difficult task, they hold a slight advantage ahead of the clash next month.
The bookies favour both sides to move ahead but Chelsea are still the likely club to do the double – with their Premier League advantage.
Pep Guardiola’s men booked their spot in the last four with a big victory away at Middlesbrough. They have not won the tournament since the 2010/11 season; in fact, they are reaching the last four for the first time in four years. Betfair places them 2/1 in the odds of beating the Blues to the title in May.
GUARDIOLA ADMITS FEAR OF LOSING JOB
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola – who only joined this summer – has admitted fear of losing his job, as results have not been in his favour.
He disclosed that he is not immune to sack due to the poor run of the team, even as many believed he would have mentioned this to his employers during talks.
Guardiola supervised ten victories in all competitions but the same side has struggled to get four wins in 15 games of recent. Saturday’s 4-2 loss to Leicester City hurt the team’s record, forcing many to scrutinize the coach’s methods. The loss sent them seven points behind log leaders Chelsea.
Man City are poised to face Watford on Wednesday in the Premier League, then face the Gunners on Sunday. The manager admits that the club’s management are still on his side but added that things really need to quickly change before it all comes apart.
Pep Guardiola is excited about his return to Camp Nou
On October 19 of 2016, Manchester City will be travelling to Camp Nou in order to face off with Barcelona in a Champions League group stage match and this encounter will be particularly special for the head coach of Manchester City Pep Guardiola as the Spanish manager is going to be making his return to the club where he gained major notoriety and made a name for himself as one of the best tacticians in the world of football.
It was during his time spent in charge of Barcelona where Guardiola was able to lift a number of huge titles including: UEFA Champions League, La Liga, UEFA Super Cup and many other pieces of silverware.
After winning and accomplishing just about everything there is to win at a club level with Barcelona, Guardiola embarked on a new journey as he became the new coach of Bayern Munich and once again was a huge success with Bayern Munich and now his latest challenge is to do the same thing but with Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola has already labeled this upcoming brawl between Manchester City and Barcelona as a ‘’beautiful return’’ for him as he returns to the place that he is regarded as a savior, as a legend, as the man that was the mastermind behind the complete domination that led to Barcelona becoming the undeniably strongest club in the world.
Nicolas Otamendi could be dropped from City?
For a fee of around €28 million, Manchester City secured the services of Nicolas Otamendi in a transfer that was completed on August of 2015. The Argentine defender went on to make 30 appearances during his debut season as a player of the Premier League club, Manchester City.
Otamendi didn’t take long to make his presence felt in Manchester City as he quickly became a regular starter in the English team but there is a big chance that the Argentine player could be dropped entirely despite having an impressive debut season.
On August 16 of the ongoing year,Manchester City played against Steaua Bucharest and the English outfit came out on top with a dominating 5-0 victory and Pep Guardiola gave Nicolas Otamendi his first appearance of this new season of 2016-17.
This appearance of Nicolas Otamendi against Steaua Bucharest might be one of the few limited ones for the Argentine player as Pep Guardiola delivered a warning to the 28 year old defender and stated that he needs to perform better in order for him to get a consistent spot in the first team of Manchester City.
Howard Happy To Be Back
Howard has made his entry to the United States after 13 years in the football league.
He would be playing for the Colorado Rapids, the winner of MLS Cup in 2010 in a stadium in the suburbs of Denver. Tim Howard, who played for Metro Stars has made his appearance in over 100 matches for the national team. He has a record for being a good goalkeeper and also worked as a spokesman for soccer. Howard had worked as a commentator for some of the telecasts of premier league and was indeed brilliant.
Howard was replaced by Joel Robles at mid season at Everton who fired Roberto Martinez, the coach. There were only 2 matches started by Howard of the final 18 matches. The contract of Howard has been extended through 2019 and he is eagerly waiting to prove that he can achieve the league. He is confident and has the ability of showing his world class skills. Howard said that there were only a few talented performers in the football league but now there are a whole lot of them that are becoming successful at a younger age. You can see some of the teenagers playing the major roles in the league today, which was not there when he left the league.
Manuel Pellegrini believes he made a mistake in announcing the arrival of Pep Guardiola
Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini has stated that he made a mistake in announcing the arrival of Pep Guardiola.
He believes that this announcement has had an impact on his team, and he would think twice before taking such decision again. Indeed, Manchester City failed to mount a serious challenge this year and only qualified for the Champions League in the last game of the season.
He said that he took the decision to protect all the other managers. There were news that Guardiola was going to Arsenal, was going to Manchester United or Chelsea. For him, it was the best thing to do in order to protect all the other managers and remove the pressure on their shoulders.
Manuel Pellegrini believes that this has had a serious impact on the players, and that was evident with the players losing 3 games in a row. This was the end of their title challenge and caused the players to lose focus. He said it was difficult to motivate the players afterward and that the team did not fully recover after this announcement.