Fabian Delph - Signed for Manchester City

[kippaxvilla2]

Going back to the alleged release clause.  Delph must have known we weren't going to be CL contenders anytime soon which makes it even more bizarre that he would commit himself so wholly with the magnitude of the statement that he issued.  He could have played it down, and still been loved for staying.  I simply refuse to believe this rumour.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

You're right, we never recovered from losing Milner, he was a power house for us and it annoys how the media see him as a utility worker type player, he is far better than that. Delph is our driving force for right now, on his day (and that's most days) he would be a massive loss for most teams.
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Moving him to CM was a master stroke/gamble that worked.

He thrived and flourished in that role and he developed as a much more balanced and influential player. (which is probably why ManCiŁy bought his services)
The team played better because of it. When he left he was a very big loss to that midfield area and we have really struggled to replace him - in fact, we haven't replaced him and have struggled as a consequence.

I think (hope) Fab will stay.
   

[pauliewalnuts]

Going back to the alleged release clause.  Delph must have known we weren't going to be CL contenders anytime soon which makes it even more bizarre that he would commit himself so wholly with the magnitude of the statement that he issued.  He could have played it down, and still been loved for staying.  I simply refuse to believe this rumour.

In which case, there's nothing to worry about.






















*gnaws nails*

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Sorry, fu**ed up the quote thing.

[silhillvilla]

Agree, we still lack that natural leadership persona on the field. Delph good player but doesn't have it, neither did vlaar .

[eamonn]

When Milner went off in that late summer West Ham game I was gutted. He'd scored a beauty was MOTM and it was all over.

I fucking love the bloke. I'd swap Benteke AND Delph to get Milner back, without pausing to think about it.

Now that's just silly.

[pauliewalnuts]

When Milner went off in that late summer West Ham game I was gutted. He'd scored a beauty was MOTM and it was all over.

I fucking love the bloke. I'd swap Benteke AND Delph to get Milner back, without pausing to think about it.

Now that's just silly.

Genuinely, I would.

[ozzjim]

When Milner went off in that late summer West Ham game I was gutted. He'd scored a beauty was MOTM and it was all over.

And he looked gutted when he'd scored, too, sad that he was offski.

I fucking love the bloke. I'd swap Benteke AND Delph to get Milner back, without pausing to think about it.

Instant heart transplant. We lost a lot of that from Petrov (after his first season of struggle), and more with Milner. An injection of heart into this side would make a huge difference.

I have never been so close to welling up over a player as the day he was taken off and Villa Park rose as one to applaud him from the field. He was fucking awesome that day. I would love him back. Hate that he is at fucking Liverpool.

[PeterWithesShin]

I loved Milner, but not in a million years would I swap him for Delph and Benteke. In a CM role I don't think there is much to choose between Delph and Milner anyway, we just have better memories of Milner as he had Stan, Young, Ratface etc to help him look so good, Delph has had to do it with the likes of Zog, Weimann and the shit version of TC.

[Dave]

The bold bit is the important bit, they could sign some of the top rated youngsters in europe to be the squad squad filler without having to name them in the 25.  By reserves I mean lads that have been there for a few years and not broken through but are moving out of the academy age group.  They may as well keep a few of those types of players around for now having backed themselves into a hole with the squad, if you need filler is it better to keep those guys or sign players like Sinclair who end up fed up and looking to get away?

Keep those guys. Obviously. What you seem to be completely ignoring though is that in Man City's case "those guys" don't exist. When I said that the only people currently on Man City's books who meet the necessary criteria are Hart, Clichy and Wright, I didn't mean "Hart, Clichy, Wright and a bunch of other players from their reserves". It's literally those three.

I don't know the options they have but I think this idea that they'll 100% be going out to buy in 5 players to fill the quota just feels like bullshit to me but I've seen it used as justification for all kinds of nonsense rumours this summer.

You don't think that they might be written by people who DO know the options that they have and therefore know that this is an actual thing?

They might not go out and buy five more home-grown players, but like I said - if they don't they'll be submitting a squad of fewer than 25 players. Which is fine, there's no problem in them doing that. But those are literally the only two options available to them.

[ciggiesnbeer]

I agree about Milner being the biggest loss. He genuinely was that rare player that could lift an entire team on a regular basis and change the game from midfield. With all due respect to Petrov he was never really in that class, Delph could be, I hope, but he has a ways to go yet before he approaches Milner in that regard. Benteke doesn't really fit into the comparison as he is a striker.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Milner seems to have been played out wide by all of his teams and was/is by England  & ManCiŁy. But MON moved him to CM and he showed how he could influence a game by using the good players around him - Young etc.
Delph seems to do much more of the work himself - not a criticism of him - because he hasn't got the players around him he can trust to carry the game forward. With a few shrewd purchases I'm hoping we'll have a few MFs who can influence and dominate games as a unit.
Under Sherwood TC was released to do some of that attacking stuff with Fab doing the donkey work. We obviously need to completely reorganise midfield and I'm pretty convinced (by myself) that's what TS is doing in this window.
Delph is the player to build the team around, as it was with Milner a few years ago.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Agreed. One thing I liked about Cleverly was his first thought was always to speed up the tempo of the game not slow it down, just like Delphs first thought is always to drive forwards. I thought that was a good pairing of football styles. A high tempo midfielder would help us I think.

[Toronto Villa]

There's a good article in article in The Guardian I think as to Milner and where Liverpool will play him. And talks quite liberally about his time with us and how superb he was in the middle. And then since has been shunted all over the place. I think if they play him in the middle he's fit enough and talented enough to really make a difference up there. As much as it pains me to say it.

[OCD]

He's the most natural replacement to Gerrard (how he used to play) that they could have got - if they play him in the centre.