Our regular Q&A this week looks at the form of Phil Foden, the ticketing issues annoying Manchester City supporters and a stronger backline for Pep Guardiola.
Nico O'Reilly of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Fulham at Etihad Stadium
Nico O'Reilly was on target as Manchester City beat Fulham in the Premier League last week
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There's no shortage of Manchester City topics to discuss as Pep Guardiola's men look to compete in four competitions this season after the disappointment of last year. We've got every game and press conference covered for you but we also know that there is so much more going on around that.
That's why we are holding regular Q&A sessions with our chief City writer Simon Bajkowski. The day of the week it comes out on may change depending on what City's schedule looks like, but essentially this is your chance to get an answer on anything you want - simply pop your question here at any time of the week and Simon will pick them all up and wrap everything up in one place.
This week has questions on Nico O'Reilly and Phil Foden, how City's defence will look next season and some of the ticketing issues that have been angering supporters of late. Stay tuned this week for more on tickets.
Are we winning prem? Amir
A nice short one to start and straight to the point from Amir - I like it. Obviously I can't say if City are winning the league but it has been a very positive week for them with the comeback at Anfield backed up by a comfortable win over Fulham and Arsenal dropping points at Brentford. Four points is not very much at all when there are 12 games left, both teams are in four competitions still and Arsenal have yet to travel to the Etihad.
Because other competitions are coming into play more in the final months, there are actually only four league games for City before they face Arsenal: Newcastle at home, Leeds away, West Ham away, and Chelsea away. Much will depend on form and City still have to prove they have the consistency to go on a winning streak but it is hard to imagine that the gap will be drastically different by the time Arsenal come up to Manchester. There's also momentum and fatigue, which will be two big factors that will make a big difference. The winners of the Carabao Cup final will take momentum from it and the Champions League and FA Cup draws can also distract from or boost chances in the league.
What is certain is that City feel they can win the league, and there is renewed life and energy in the squad after gaining ground on Arsenal in the last week and how they did it. Guardiola has that glint back in his eye and - unlike most of his squad - he knows exactly what they need to do to win things.
Hi Simon, Nico O’Reilly has been impressive this season at both left-back and in central midfield. I personally believe his versatility and ability to play multiple positions could help take him to the World Cup, but at the same time, I’m concerned that he might struggle to settle into one specific role and instead move between positions, similar to what happened with Foden and Rico Lewis earlier in their careers. Do you think this versatility will ultimately benefit his development, or could it make it harder for him to establish himself in one position? And which position do the club ultimately see him settling into in the long term? I believe the club’s perspective could influence their approach in the summer transfer window. TJ
Hi TJ, what to do with Nico O'Reilly? I was having a conversation about him with somebody the other day because he's an incredible athlete and his physicality seemed what City were crying out for in their midfield last season - but if he had played there last season I don't know if he'd have been swallowed up by City's sinking ship and maybe he is better in midfield for having played left-back.
City did see him as a midfielder at the beginning of the campaign but then the early defeats and injuries saw Guardiola pivot back to last season's recovery plan of O'Reilly and Nunes on the wings and flooding the middle of the pitch further forward. After City's recent wobble, the introduction of the box/diamond midfield has allowed O'Reilly to step up and it has been great to see him thrive as a No.6 or a No.8.
I can see the concerns about versatility, and maybe him playing in midfield prevents him from nailing down a spot as England's left-back at the World Cup, for instance. Thomas Tuchel has fairly clear ideas about where he wants to play people though and he will like O'Reilly's ability to play not just different positions but different game states. I also think he will end up in City's midfield in the long-term. More so than Foden and Lewis, he has that physicality that stands him out in the current game but he is also exactly the kind of box-crashing midfielder that Guardiola loves.
Are City aware of the ticketing issue or are they planning on making some changes starting from the next season? Steve
Do City employees at a high enough level know about the hardcore match-going fans' disenchantment with the ticketing policies? Do they not know at all? Do they know but think they are still on the right track & it's just moaners and a minority? Dave
Two questions on ticketing that I've put together because they have some crossover. I know there has been a lot of tension around tickets and we haven't done enough to give that frustration a voice this season but hopefully will be doing a few pieces over the next few weeks to talk about it. I think the employees that Dave speaks of know about the issues with disenchantment to some extent but possibly not all the details.
It is only in the last few weeks that there have been visible patches of empty seats around the ground so attendances have still been very good this season and the club obviously wouldn't have built 6,000 extra seats in the North Stand if they did not think they could fill them. The club could see the latest annual survey of supporters done by 1894 and see that their measures to improve fan safety - the biggest concern on last year's issue - has been a success and that is at least in some part down to the stricter rules on membership and ticket transfer.
However, ticket transfer is now the biggest issue so work needs to be done there. To answer Steve's question, what I would say is that the club introduced Flexi-Gold tickets instead of season tickets, heard all of the criticism, and then made considerable changes to Flexi-Gold as a result; it still isn't perfect, but it is far better.
I would be surprised if they didn't look at ticket transfer and pricing and other aspects before deciding on their plans for next season - nobody knows, for instance, what will happen if season ticket holders do not meet the minimum threshold for games - but they will definitely want to see attendances and atmosphere up for the big league and Champions League games to come or alarm bells will really be ringing.
Who out of Gvardiol, Guehi, Dias and Khusanov is most likely to be phased out next season, should they all be fit? Is Khusanov worried about his starting spot? He recently said in an interview that he prefers a CB role. Mike
I had to chuckle at the idea of any of these four being phased out, Mike. I'd expect them to all have strong involvement in a team that is going for all four competitions. City had five centre-backs at the beginning of last season and ended up buying three in the January window (they did loan one out) and then had five at the beginning of this season and ended up buying one in the January window and recalling another. For the modern game, you need five strong centre-backs in your squad - as City had for the Treble.
Nico Gonzalez is the only City player to have started more consecutive games than Khusanov so he should be confident going into next season that he will get plenty of minutes; as will Guehi, Ruben Dias is part of the leadership team and Josko Gvardiol will hopefully come back from his injury without issues. The bigger question is who will add to the list of centre-backs: can a young player like Alleyne or Vitor Reis take it, could Nathan Ake and John Stones spring a late surprise and stay, or will the Blues look to sign another experienced player that will only add to the competition for a starting spot?
Foden has been in indifferent form for around a year and a half. At what point does this stop being seen as a blip and instead become something viewed as more permanent? Rob
A fair question, Rob, after at least six weeks of underperformance. There can be no denying that Foden looked back to his best in the first part of this season. Coming into the team for the Manchester derby in September, he had plenty of promising performances that didn't make headlines and then started to get regular goals and assists that did. But by the time he was (fairly) nominated for the December Player of the Month award he was already into a January rut that he is yet to get out of.
Obviously his issues last season are well documented. It felt to me that he was played too often in November and December and, unlike Dias or Gvardiol, for example, never got injured to get the rest he needed. I'd like to think that a proper rest over the next two weeks will see him lift himself again and he needs to do that if he wants to make the World Cup squad - whether he gets picked for the March internationals will be interesting.
If he can't do that, you are entering Jack Grealish and John Stones territory where if one poor season can be excused, two in a row make it difficult for you to keep your position. The next few months are important for how Foden wants to be seen as a footballer.
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