Manchester City face Chelsea today in the Community Shield at Wembley as Pep Guardiola continues fine-tuning his squad ahead of our Premier League opener away at Arsenal next week.
And the showpiece encounter means City have commanded plenty of column inches in newspapers and online this morning.
Let’s start with the Manchester Evening News’ Simon Bajkowski, who has tentatively predicted City’s lineup this afternoon.
He believes we could again see a young City side at Wembley, with the youngsters who impressed on the Club’s US Tour likely to be involved.
“Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane were cast into friendlies less than a week after starting training with the squad so it is not inconceivable that some of City’s World Cup stars could feature in the Community Shield,” he writes.
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“But if Guardiola follows the same pattern he used on tour, it is unlikely many of them will start. With that in mind, young players Luke Bolton and Eric Garcia deserve a Wembley reward after impressing on tour and if Douglas Luiz can’t sort his work permit in time then Ilkay Gundogan could get the nod.
“Phil Foden could push for minutes at Arsenal if he impresses here and Aleks Zinchenko could be the beneficiary of Benjamin Mendy taking his time to work up to full fitness. There’s no need to risk Mahrez either.”
In a fine column for ESPN, tactical expert Michael Cox describes Guardiola as a “revolutionary manager” who he believes remains top of the game.
Cox says it’s remarkable that ten years after his incredible treble-winning season at Barcelona, Guardiola remains at the forefront of tactical thinking.
“Other revolutionary managers find themselves washed up 10 years after their “defining” campaign, as Guardiola‘s 2008-09 season should probably still be considered,” he writes. “Either they’ve become weighed down by the stress of football management, like Arrigo Sacchi, or they’ve discovered their methods have been replicated and improved upon, like Arsene Wenger found. Guardiola, a decade on, is still the most revered manager in Europe, having avoided the Sacchi problem by taking a sabbatical year after his Barcelona stint, and avoided the Wenger problem by continuing to evolve his approach and keep his rivals guessing.”
And, finally, Tosin Adarabioyo has admitted it feels strange to be at West Brom.
The Blues defender, who has been at City since he was five-years-old, has joined the Baggies on a season-long moan move in order to gain more first-team experience.
“It feels very strange considering the amount of time I’ve been at Manchester City,” said Adarabioyo.
“I think it’s the time in my career where I need to play as many games as I can.
“The challenge of the Championship of playing two games a week so it’s about adapting to that.”
That’s all for this morning’s roundup. Stay with us throughout the day as we bring you all the action from the Community Shield at Wembley this afternoon.
