Confused? Understandable, so let’s try and make things clearer...
First we go north of the border where loanee striker Patrick Roberts scored two fine goals in Celtic’s 5-0 win at Partick Thistle.
Afterwards Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers spoke in glowing terms about the 20-year-old, as reported by the Club’s official website.
“Brendan Rodgers believes Patrick Roberts has the talent to reach the top of the game after the winger capped off a stellar showing tonight against Partick Thistle with a brilliant brace,” the report reads.
“The 20-year-old, who is approaching the end of his 18-month loan spell from Manchester City, terrorised the Jags throughout the 90 minutes at Firhill, finding the net with two stunning strikes and also winning the penalty which Leigh Griffiths converted to open the scoring in the 5-0 rout.
“Speaking after the game, the manager said: ‘He’s a top, top talent. You can see him benefiting from playing within a structure, and the idea of how we play will be very similar when he goes back to Man City.
“’Over the course of this season, first and foremost, he has learned how to press the ball, to be in the right positions and be intense and aggressive when he doesn’t have it. That element of his game has improved, and the rest is about positioning and where to be on the field, and that last third of the pitch, the incisive phase, is about his magic.
“‘He scored two goals tonight and created the penalty.
“He is a brilliant young player and there still a lot of education and training required for him. But, from having worked with big talents, such as Sterling and Coutinho, he certainly has all of the qualities.”
Another 20-year-old striker who is already dazzling Etihad Stadium crowd is of course Gabriel Jesus, and he has been named one of the season’s “break-out” stars in a feature on Sky Sports
They scribe: “It didn’t take long for Gabriel Jesus to show what all the fuss is about. In the space of an eight-minute Manchester City debut against Tottenham in January, the Brazil international almost created a goal with his first touch, sent a header narrowly over the bar, and had an effort ruled out for offside.
“Pep Guardiola was so impressed that the 20-year-old immediately replaced Sergio Aguero in City’s line-up. He scored on his first start against West Ham and followed that up with two more goals against Swansea. His progress was cruelly stalled by a foot injury in February, but he picked up where he left off when he returned to the team in April.
“Jesus has now been directly involved in nine goals in as many Premier League games, leaving City to wonder what might have been had he been available all season. ‘His impact has been huge,’ said Guardiola recently. ‘He wants to become a great player, a better player, and he is willing to take advice and work hard.’ It seems the best is still to come.”
To the other end of the pitch now and skipper Vincent Kompany - so impressive again against West Brom - believes the seeds of major success have been sown this season even if nothing has been harvested yet.
Daily Mirror journalist David McDonnnell reports: “Vincent Kompany insists Manchester City will be the team to beat next season – despite ending this campaign empty-handed.
“Pep Guardiola has ended a season without a trophy for the first time in his decorated managerial career, despite his much-heralded arrival at City.
“But City skipper Kompany believes former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola has City moving in the right direction, ready for a major push for trophies next term.
“‘I think we’ve got a manager who has come in with a very specific vision of how he wants the game to be played,’ said Kompany.
“‘We have a team that will try everything to implement that.
“‘On certain areas we’ve been doing extremely well and no result or ranking will ever be able to translate that properly.
“‘We’ve dominated games, been organised, tried to play in a certain way that I always think is the beginning of something better, something special.’”
Finally to Man City Women ace Carli Lloyd, who has given an interesting interview in the New York Post, partly about her view on Manchester life.
Lloyd says: “Being in Manchester, the culture is all football. It’s what they live and breathe over there. To be a part of Manchester City with the unbelievable facilities that they have is world-class. I mean, you don’t get that anywhere else in the world. So, in that regard, it’s obviously different because we don’t have that culture here entirely. It’s there, it’s popular, but it’s nothing like it is in England.”
Plenty more worth reading in that one! That’s your lot for today, we’ll be back here same time, same place tomorrow!
