Gab & Juls Show: Maresca’s Mission Impossible

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0:35Hello, welcome to the Gab and Juul show. No Gab today because he's at the Champions League draw in Monaco. So look who's here, Don Hutchinson. Hello, mate. It's so good to see you. I like that. I know, Bombi. I thought you might like the colour, you know. We don't have the sun today in London, but it's only on the Bombi shirt. Thank you so much, man, for coming down. There's a lot of things that we want to talk about. There'll be a lot of transfers. There'll be a bit of Champions League qualifiers. there's a lot of really good stories in the quick hits but we thought as a main segment we will look at Manchester City and the summer that they had because it's been a really busy summer in the Premier League especially in terms of transfers yeah and nobody then more than City have really made that transfer busy in the ins and in the outs the players that they let go the players that they bore and so quickly before I asked you if you felt that that was needed this kind of big overhaul and rebuilding of the squads.

1:28Let's remind everyone that John Stones, Bernardo Silva, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, James Trafford, Nico Gonzalez, Rodri, Tijani Rinders, Savio, Omar Mamouche and potentially Jack Grealish have left the club for around 400 million euros, let's say. And in return, City Bo, Geronimo Rulli, Jeremy Monga, Matisse de Tourbe, who they've loaned to Monaco, Ayubouadi, Elia Anderson, and Alan will be done, and potentially Enzo Fernandes. So, did you expect a summer like that from City?

2:02Don Hutchison:I didn't expect so many outgoings, in truth. It doesn't really match up when you talk about the bodies that are coming in, to how many is left. There's a lot of bodies left, and I think what strikes me is they've lost a lot of good players, but characters. You know, the likes of John Stones, Nathan Ake, Rodri, obviously. I think guys that can manage that dressing room when Mureska probably wants to lean on them that little bit more so you're seeing about 9 or 10 players leave and only 4 or 5 coming in that there's work to be done obviously Enzo Fernandes one is a very interesting sign-in to me because some of his best work has done as a number 10 he's versatile, he can't play as an 8 so Boadi you would imagine is going to be the 6 unless there's a double pivot but if he plays as a 10 what does that do to Cherki or Phil Foden?

2:47Don Hutchison:so he's going to have to play as an 8 but they definitely need him. So in terms of the overhaul, I've sort of seen it coming, but I didn't expect that many. So it was the end of the Guadalajal cycle, obviously after 10 great years, a bit of an aging squad when you think of the age of Bernardo over 30, Stones over 30, Rodri to 30. So in a way you could say, okay, they wanted to go a bit younger. Maybe they wanted to refresh the squad for Maresca or because Maresca was coming. Whether we think Maresca is there for the long term or not, you and I are not too sure. Me neither. And let's see how he does.

3:20And we wish him, obviously, good luck for the season. But that need certainly, despite losing leaders and characters, as you mentioned, to go a bit younger, that was also probably a need?

3:30Don Hutchison:I think so, mate. I think once you lose, and it's all the Guardiola effect, isn't it? The way he probably hung on to Rodri for another year and Bernardo Silva. And then what do you do? You can't go and buy a Rodri, so you have to go down a different route, a different model. You can't really just flick the switch and buy a Bernardo Silva. the characters like John Stones you're going to lose and Nathan Aki in the dressing room, but they can be replaced whether you're by experience or youth. So, Bwadi coming in makes sense. At the same time, when you argue with yourself having the conversation, that's a young kid who's been brought in for a lot of money.

4:03Don Hutchison:I know he's got games behind him. He's got a little bit of experience, but he's still a teenager, and you've got to be the new Rodri. That is that's hard. So, if people are going to watch Bwadi thinking, right, he's just going to step in and do what Rodri does, impossible in the short term. in the medium to long term, of course you can get there. So they're going to have to fix up and look pretty sharp early on because they were terrible in the community shield. I commentated on the Bournemouth game at the weekend. There was no spark about them. They were lucky to get the win. It probably looked like they were going to get beat or best case scenario, 1-1 draw.

4:35Don Hutchison:So they snuck out of there with a 2-1, which will give them a little bit of a spark going at the next game. But I just wonder what the direction of travel is on what this Man City team is actually going to look like and how they're going to play and what the philosophy is going to be. Yeah. And certainly, as we said, we expect the Omar Mahmush deal to Spurs to happen between now and the end of the transfer window. See, that's a funny one for me because I've been saying for a long time when they sold Julian Alvarez, you're leaving Erland Harland as your only number nine. Now if Mahmush goes and God forbid Harland ever gets injured, they are knackered.

5:07So you expect more incomings then? So they've already, if you add a potential Enzo Fernandes transfer around 120 million, let's say. They pretty much have spent what they've earned with all those sales that we mentioned, around 400 million euros. If you add up Bouadi, Anderson, potentially Enzo and Haaland, you already are 400. It's very close. Do you need to sell Marmouche then? For what, 50, 60 million?

5:33Don Hutchison:Are you not just worth keeping him? Yeah. Just in case Haaland never got injured. Yeah, unless you go and sign somebody like Gakpo who can play as a backup nine and also Wad, although I don't think he's a CTO or a Mariska player for position. It's a funny one because the market's sort of suggesting that, you know, the elite players that Man City want to buy, they're too much money. You know, the Killians of this world and the Harry Canes of this money, they're 100, 150 million quid. Unless you've done a deal for someone like Oli Watkins before he went to Al Halal and asked him to be a backup number nine.

6:02Don Hutchison:That's a difficult topic because he's obviously going there for the money. So unless, I mean, personally, if I was in Man City's shoes and I'm looking and thinking, right, what's the market looking like to bring a backup striker in? Don't sell Marmoush. Ask him to do one more year. I don't know if you agree. Yeah, I agree. I found the Marmoush deal a bit, not that he was amazing for them, but there's a good player there as a backup. Certainly he can play some of the cup games to give out Haaland some rest. It seems like they're looking for another winger too on top of Haaland. So the Brazilian who's coming from Palmeiras who's really interesting because he almost defends as much as he attacks.

6:38He's that kind of hardworking. So I think that could fit well. Ily Manendia is a name that I think they like as well as Gakpo I'm surprised Ndi hasn't gone to a massive club but gone to a top six club so this could happen but again this is£80 million that's a lot and they've still got

6:54Don Hutchison:Semenyo and Doku yeah yeah you know if I'm Liverpool and I'm here and they're interested in Gakpo I say give us Doku then I mean it's not going to happen but what I'm saying is they need backup to Doku and Semenyo who should be the two starters but why should Liverpool fund Man City why should they strengthen a rival by selling Gakpo. I think they need the Gakpo money to do Barcola, who we'll talk about in a bit. Right. But I think there's also those kind of moving pieces. The jigsaws. Massive transfer window jigsaw. Yeah. Right, mate. Let's go a bit more into this because this is like a discussion that I think a lot of City fans will have like us.

7:28It's a good pub discussion, isn't it? Exactly. Perfect. Before looking at if this squad is better than the last one and it'd be hard anyway, the last one won everything and, you know, the longevity, everything. But if you, were Maresca and you were getting the team ready for this weekend or like a weekend when everybody's fair and you've got all the options all the players available. For a big game. Yeah for a big game. What would be your starting line? Where would you think about for a starting line?

7:53Don Hutchison:I'm looking at now and I'm thinking obviously Donnarumma in goal it's Nunez or Kusinov at right back so you've got two options there. Diaz, Gerhi, your centre-backs Vardial at left back or O 'Reilly so you've got competition O 'Reilly's versatile, so is Vardy also. The back line's not really a problem. Midfield's interesting, but Wadi six, Enzo and Elliot Anderson. Yeah. And then Harland nine, Doku Semenyo. The problem with that is Foden's on the bench, Cherky's on the bench, Kovacic is on the bench, Aitnori's on the bench, Rico Lewis is on the bench. Yeah. And Phil Foden does not want to spend another season on the bench.

8:30No. And we talk about Foden and Cherky in a bit. I think, and we again assume that Enzo Fernandes deal will happen. We think that the talks are really positive so far that we see this one happening. From what we know, if it doesn't happen, obviously you can replace him with somebody else. You could slightly play differently. But let's say that Enzo is a City player. I think on paper this team looks great. You've got different options, different profiles, some versatility, some who complement each other quite well. I think the Boadi, Enzo, Anderson midfield could be a really good midfield. I mean, when you spend that kind of money £350 million on three midfielders you hope that that midfield will be solid right

9:09Don Hutchison:and efficient and coherent and works well but I think Foden and Cherky have to be in a Man City team with the players they've got and the system that they've played and the wingers that they've got and Semenyo and Doku how do you get them in yeah so we know that wingers are very important for Maresca remember at Chelsea that was the case in all the positional play they seem to be now the prime players all around the world all around the world but so then you're right Does that take away some of the focus on your 10? So for me, it's Cherky or Foden. You can play one of them wide if you wanted. And he tried that at the weekend against Bournemouth.

9:41Don Hutchison:Phil Foden played on the right wing. It never suited him. And I thought the fix was, Cherky put me in 10. Ask him and Phil Foden to get close together. So you think they can play together? I think they can play together. It's not ideal for Phil Foden when he was on the right-hand side, but you can play it because, you know, you can get your right back if it's Nunes or Kusunov to try and bomb on on the outside. So you can get a little bit of width. they didn't really have it in the Bournemouth game because Foden was trying to stay there but trying to drift all over the place and the full-back just couldn't get high enough up the pitch on that right-hand side but I think if you ask Phil Foden to play right side with a little bit of sort of the mentality if you're going to be inverted when we've got the ball you can get Cherky as the number 10 and you're all close at the Haaland but that knocks Semenyo in, Doku as wide players at the team and just looks a little bit sort of lopsided it's alright putting them in and go go on play but you can't ask Doku to be a sort of inverted player.

10:32Don Hutchison:He's a winger. Semenyo we've seen can play as a sort of number nine. Every nine again he can play that role but he's predominantly a winger. So it depends on how you see it. If you're someone like me and I think it poses problems then that's the way I look at it. If you're a Man City fan and you look at the team and the subs you go, well that's really good. It's a good squad. It's a really good squad. Apart from maybe the backup to Haaland like we said but let's say he's fit and stays fit. I think it's a really good squad. The problem I have is that Enzo Maresca, who, by the way, has known since March he would take over Guardiola.

11:06City have known since March he would take over Guardiola. I think a lot of the players knew he was coming. And yet when I hear him after the Bournemouth game saying like, I don't know what my best team is. I don't know what my starting line-up is. I'm like, hang on a minute.

11:19Don Hutchison:I mean, you'd be sitting on the beach doing what we're doing now, sketching out what your team's going to look like. I know. And how come we are like end of August? And I know some of those new players have been late arrivals, Boudic especially. but for the rest that's a worry exactly it was a worry the way he rocked up dressing like Guardiola at the weekend in a suit in a little blue t-shirt that weren't a good look we didn't like that did we and even all that business with Shecky at the end like what you know Prime Guardiola would do with his players some of the opposition players of Mariska is no Guardiola no and Foden when he got took off worn out he went straight down the tunnel so there's little problems that he needs to iron out the biggest problem that I see is you need to find your formation your philosophy and put all the pieces in the right places if you don't want to play Foden on the right hand side that's not what you see don't play them there yeah yeah I agree don't try to show home players exactly don't put Cherky out on the left hand side because you want to get them in the 11 play them in the best positions what's a good season for City for you?

12:16Don Hutchison:they have to compete for the title I don't think they will but they have to compete and show that they're close because then you can progress next year if they finish second or third done well in the Champions League and won a domestic trophy Guardiola's always been quite heavy on the domestic trophies he's shown those trophies lots of respect so I think in my opinion if they ran Arsenal pretty close and finished I don't know five points behind let's say won a domestic trophy and finished in the Champions League spots first season for Mureska I don't think that's too bad I agree no I agree with you I don't think they'll finish second though I think they have I've got Chelsea I've got Chelsea I think they have too many issues so that's what you think is a good season for them I think so what do you think the season will look like do you think they might struggle at times do you think he will take Mareska will take a long time to get this team clicking to find the right formula I think all of that I think he will find or will take his time young players like Bawadi are going to take a little bit of time Elliot Anderson is going to take time because the Community Shield again talking about putting players in different positions you played them sort of on the right hand side where all Elliot Anderson the majority of things that he does in Nottingham Forest is having a million touches on the ball.

13:28Don Hutchison:So I play them centrally. So that never worked. How I see it panning out, I think they'll finish third behind Chelsea. I think they are stacked at the top end of the pitch and looking good. I do think they might win a domestic trophy. I do think a lot of people have been quite pessimistic, think they won't be at the top four. Well, our coefficient is pretty strong, so it'll be five. I can't say, can you finish at the top five? No, I agree with you. I think people, you're right, pessimistic is a good word. I think a lot of people have written them off already. I think it's because, and it's natural, because, right, we've lost potentially the best manager that's ever lived in Guardiola.

14:01Don Hutchison:We've lost him. Genius. And then you lose Rodri. Yeah. Genius. And you lose Bernardo Silva. And then you lose guys like Nathan Ake. Yeah, great squad members. And John Stones. Great squad players. And then that's where I think our pessimism comes from. Because you're going away from what Guardiola's built for the last seven or eight years, nine years. So it's natural to be pessimistic. but I think when you take a deep dive into it and you look at the personnel they've still got still very impressive I mean they've got Harland stays fit he's going to bang them towards Champions League football yeah he should I just I do wonder how difficult maybe it's even Mission Impossible to come after Guardiola and the void I would have left to fill not even just the style of football it's the intensity I mean you've probably been like me you've probably been sort of binge watching or seeing it on social media some of the stuff behind the scenes like he's standing there Guardiola like crying in his team talks how much he loves his players and his personal life that's like that's very unusual for managers to go but that's the way Pep is he's very emotional so as a player you're going to give your all for him you see your manager crying delivering a team talk because he's struggling with his personal life you are going to run for him do you think one of the biggest risks for Marlis guy is to try to be too much like Pep and you said on a joke he went how he was dressed for that Bournemouth game gotta be your own man I think you have to be your own man I don't think you can go in there and try and dress like Pep or do little mannerisms like getting players after a game in front of the cameras and it might have been genuine, it might have been but it's very much a Guardiola trade isn't it I would like to think that Maresca can be his own man and should be his own man Well let's see, the second game in the league is on Friday night so if you listen to this before that we might get a bit of an answer already on what Maresca is going to try to do for that second game of the team.

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17:17It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivGuardMyWay.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T MyWay.com. And talk to your doctor about VivGuard Hattrulo. Brought to you by Argenics. Right enough, Manchester City. What about some quickies, Don? Let's do it! Chelsea won the derby against Fulham on Monday night. That was, Don. were you impressed by the blues front three of JP Morgan? I mean, other banking groups are available if you want to invest all your millions like Don Hutchinson. Joe Pedro, Copamer, Morgan Rogers. Amazing. You look pretty good.

17:49Don Hutchison:Don't forget Esteval as well. I mean, I've got this team because of no European football finishing second because of the players that you've mentioned. I mean, Joe Pedro to me, I just think he's, and it's a bold statement, he's one of the best number nines, I think, in world football. When Barca were chasing all these sort of number nines, I'm thinking like, he's the man you buy. if you've got like unlimited money he's your man he knits it all together he's a bit fiery don't get me wrong but sometimes you don't mind that but Cole Palmer to me I don't know if you agree I agree he looked unreal I know he looked fit he looked lean he looked sharp he was silk he was confident bit of arrogance thrown in there as well I hope it doesn't hinder the development of Esteval no you're right I mean anyone watching Chelsea the other day must have been impressed surely because I thought they were brilliant very exciting yeah they were great talk to you about Kylian's hat-trick another one yeah first one of the season on Wednesday night against Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu as well remember the first game they won in the last in the last minute not too convincingly either I think this was much better from him and Real Sociedad and our friend Matarazzo were maybe a little bit naive they played some decent football at times but how did it look so Kylian through the middle Diamande left no Diamande on the bench on the bench so he came on and looked great yeah So Vinicius on the left.

19:07I think this is going to be the idea of Mbappe, Bellingham behind Mbappe, Vinicius on the left, Arda Gouler on the right, with a bit of freedom to let that right-hand side to Dumfries bombing forward, basically. Trent on the bench, and I don't think Trent will play too much unless Dumfries gets injured. And then your double pivot, it was Bernardo and Valverde because Truameni is out. It's an injury. You could have Bernardo, Truameni, Truameni, Valverde. Some team. And then your back four. if this works and it seems I think it seems that this is Mourinho's idea going forward is that this could work together quite well and to be fair I thought even out of position they did okay I mean

19:44Don Hutchison:La Liga this year is like Hollywood this year isn't it it would be great I mean it's going to be a great season it would be great I think it would be really good Bruno Fernandes won the PFA Player of the Year on Tuesday night Don so the players the Premier League players votes basically do you agree with those votes 100 % and I I like the team of the year. You're not too keen on maybe one or two players, so let's go through them. But first, Bruno. Bruno, 100 % deserved. I mean, breaking the assist. More than Rice, more than... Yeah, it depends how you see it. I mean, you know, Declan Rice and Gabriel, I think, are the two most important people for Arsenal.

20:17Don Hutchison:When I watch them, if they're going to drive them to multiple titles, they are super, super important. I just think you can't knock what Bruno's been doing at Man United for a long time. He's carried that club on his back for a long time. On his own. And then last season, he's breaking all sorts of assist records. and the way he played, I think it's deserved. A couple of positions I would have swapped. Yeah, so the team was Raya in goal, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel O 'Reilly as your back four. Yeah. Semenyo, Bruno, Rice and Sheki, let's say in your midfield four and then Haaland and Igor, Thiago up front.

20:47So I would have swapped,

20:48Don Hutchison:I think he's the best in the division. I would have swapped Matty Cash for Timber at right back. I think Matty Cash is a very underrated fullback. I think maybe he's the, I don't mean to sound disrespectfully because there's not a great dearth of top quality right backs in the Premier League. I think he's the best for me. So I'd have swapped that. And I would have swapped Morgan Rodgers for Cherky. Okay. So Cherky, kind of really good last six months. Yeah, a bit like bits. Like, don't get me wrong. He's one of these players you pay to watch. You put your TV on, you go and watch him live and you go and entertain me.

21:20Don Hutchison:And he's incredible. He's like a Harlem Globetrotter. He's amazing. Love him, love him, love him. I just think if I'm splitting hairs, I think Morgan Rodgers was a little bit more consistent only a tad but I mean I'm splitting hairs but definitely Bruno Bruno 100 % Bradley Barcola to Liverpool is getting closer yeah he's getting close how close does it want to be I know and how long does it want to be it will happen I think it will happen now we reported on the website on Tuesday night that the three parties were really positive and Tuesday was quite a key day I think you know me Jules I like a percentage yes you do give me a percentage I think now he's on his way give me a number yeah you know I'll give you like 99 transfers I would give you 90 % but give me 99 yeah it won't be too far from that by the time a lot of the listeners or people watching us get through the show I think he'd be there probably we're talking 120 to 130 million pounds the fees have gone nuts everywhere so we don't care do we do you think it's a good signing for Liverpool I think it's an amazing signing it's exactly what they've needed I agree and if you're being really positive it might help Kerkes at left back because Kerkes can just go here you go mate there's the ball if Florian Vert wants to cut in there and he's got two players because he's going to attract attention.

22:32Don Hutchison:Flo and Virts might get a bit of space. He's got to be on the right-hand side as well. He's got to be a good sign-in. Yeah, I agree. He's super speedy. It's expensive, I know, but... It is what it is. Yeah. Yeah, I think we live in a world now where you just say the fees have got to be paid. You can't say we're not signing a player because we're not going to pay another five million quid. Yeah, I agree. I absolutely agree. So I think Barcola on his way to Liverpool very likely. So if you're a Liverpool fan, you can be very, very chuffed. The Champions qualifiers happened in midweek. What happened to Celtic away in Austria against Linz?

23:04Don Hutchison:Just an absolute disaster. I mean, how can you be three in a look going into the game, score to make it four, you think absolutely cruising. 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, lose 5-4. Incredible. I mean, damage is their pride, but economically, that's going to be terrible for Celtic. 20 million pounds around that to qualify for the Champions League. But it's an awful look because imagine the revenue when they draw in the Champions League all the big boys out. That's without those games even. Exactly. And you imagine the kudos of playing against the top teams in the Champions League at Celtic Park and away from home.

23:36Don Hutchison:I mean, it's embarrassing. Yeah, it's actually embarrassing. It actually really, really is. Jules, what do we need to know about the qualifiers then? Yeah, so there was a lot of really interesting things. We'll talk about Lyon and Fenerbahce in a little bit but we had Viking who won the Norwegian League who also qualified so we'll have two Norwegian teams with Bodoglim to also qualify through the qualifiers. And Viking, we had Yaya Toure in his first job as a manager with Slovan Bratislava, also making it to the league phase of the Champions League, which is great. And we had Sabah FC from Azerbaijan, the first as every team to qualify in this new format of the Champions League.

24:14They'd never qualified before. By the way, Viking, the last time and the only time they were in Champions League was back in 1992. So it's been a long time since they waited. They won their first title after 36 years last year. So there's two Norwegian team, a team from Azerbaijan. Yeah, yeah, Toure will be back, certainly on the bench. And I think this is good. This is why we also like this new form of Champions League. Yeah, definitely. Because you've got teams that you're not getting to see at that level.

24:37Don Hutchison:Totally agree. Hearts, though, talking about Scottish team, were in the Champions League qualifiers, which they lost. Yeah. Then that meant they went into the Europa League qualifiers, which they also lost. So that meant they went down to the Conference League qualifiers and they almost lost that as well. Oh my God. What's going on with Scottish football? I mean, this is crazy. I mean, if you're a fan, I mean, the heart's been ripped out of hearts with losing your best players and manager. There's still a good football inside, don't get me wrong. I've watched a few of their games at the start of the season, but my God, Jules, it's nervy.