Thought Alvarez played better than Haaland last season.
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In isolation, sure. But Feran Torres went through the same things a couple of years ago before abruptly leaving. Bernardo Silva has been voicing a desire to go somewhere else for about 3 years. Walker and De Bruyne have both raised the issue at least twice before this summer. You can probably include Sane in this. That is just off the top of my head and so Im sure there are more.
Fringe players who fancy themselves will often look to leave if they think they are being undervalued, but at City it is fairly constant that even important players express an vibe of being bored of it all. Whether that is Pep specifically (seemed to be in Canceloâs case) or the plasticness of City is to be debated, but it is unusual.
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Yeah but âits a bit rainyâ is a hell of a reason to leave one of the two best teams in the world over recent years (arguably only Real Madrid have been more successful). Language shouldnât be that big of a problem, almost everyone at City speaks Spanish.
I do think Guardiola is probably not a lot of fun to play for, especially as an attacking player. He has a habit of coaching the life out of them, taking an exciting young talent and turning them into highly effective but boring cogs in a well oiled machine. He visibly gets upset when someone âoff scriptâ. Maybe Alvarez just doesnât want that.
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Henryâs comments on him are fascinating. Itâs the sort of thing where seeing him say it reveals a different story than reading the words from a transcript. He ostensibly praises the intellectual aspect of it, but is visibly straining to not reveal the undercurrent of frustration he felt being such a explosively creative player handcuffed in such a rigid system. Itâs like âyeah, we all know itâs frustrating, but it is effective so what can you say?â
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I think thereâs a few strands to Alvarez leaving.
Guardiola has a way of exasperating players and squeezing them into his mold, thus sucking the joy and the life from them.
Alvarez is a borderline starter at Man City. He sees plenty of action donât get me wrong, but he would be more of a main man elsewhere.
The climate, language and culture in Spain might be more to his liking.
Thereâs a growing sense that, for all their success, the Man City players know they are not feted as they might expect. I know money and trophies goes a long way to assuaging their disappointment, but imagine winning so much and being met with a shoulder shrug? Or worse than indifference, a growing sense that the whole set up is corrupt, and a reckoning is on the way.
I can well understand why people would want out. The galling thing is plenty will also want in, so they wonât exactly struggle. They will just get someone else.
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Maybe he saw that âIf youâre here for the Champions, clap your handsâ video, and, like everyone else on Earth, died a little insideâŚ
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BREAKING: Man City and Atletico Madrid have agreed a deal for Julian Alvarez for up to ÂŁ81m 
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They bought him for ÂŁ14m in Jan 22 - nice uplift of pure profit for the sport washers. Theyâre getting ÂŁ64m upfront.
Smells like a ÂŁ50m full back in the offing.
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Quite a wild window for Atleti. Sørloth and Le Normand already, looks like Ălvarez, Hancko and Gallagher imminent, and possibly Guerra.
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Should be treason shouldnât it? They should be banned from entering the UK, especially Rodri.
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His propensity to sink a few too many is probably the most likable thing about him, to be fair. He often looks like the only City player whoâs actually enjoying himself.
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Thatâs a new way for me to think of it. Heâs probably done best for himself out of all the City players. Get the money, ride the bench. Not like he has enough talent to justify playingâŚ
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Not a very fashionable thing to say, I know, but I tend to thinking he has too much talent and Pep hasnât yet found a way to squash that pesky individualistic streak in him. Thatâs why he rides the bench.
All the state owned, financial doping aside, thatâs where weâve really been robbed by Pep and the bacillus of efficiency.
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Should have joined us.
No thanks.
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By 22-23 he seemed to figure out the balance Pep was asking for and became an important player for them. The fact he couldnât sustain that speaks to how unnatural the game he was being asked to play was. It wasnât that he was asked to sharpen a part of his game, it was that he was asked to be someone entirely different and so stumbled on the right combination of patience and attack more by luck than judgement and so hasnât been able to sustain it.
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The mighty Vancouver FC!!!
LOL