An opinion piece on City’s progression, the Player of the Decade poll and gossip surrounding the England squad call-ups all feature in today’s media watch!
First up, after picking up a point against Wolves following our 1-1 draw at the weekend, Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News believes that Saturday’s match against Newcastle is the perfect opportunity to bounce back.
READ: Preview | City v Newcastle
READ: Which TV channel is City v Newcastle on?
“City’s upcoming match with Newcastle is unlikely to make many adverts for the competition,” the MEN journalist writes. “Jamie Carragher branded the league a joke and an embarrassment when the teams met at St James’s Park last season such was the lack of adventure shown by the hosts, and Rafa Benitez’s side received more criticism at the weekend for shutting up shop from the off against Chelsea.
“But while Wolves gave it a go and got their rewards for it, they still defended in numbers and City are likely to face a similar challenge when they attack Newcastle.
“Guardiola was far more pleased with the way his team set about breaking Wolves down than their defensive effort. They may have only scored one goal but it is rare the manager comes out and declares himself satisfied with the number of chances created.
“It has been a target for the squad since City were nearly ground down last winter as Newcastle, Huddersfield, West Ham, Southampton and others all attempted to shut the Blues out.
“If the players impressed on Saturday but did not do enough to get three points, the next game brings the opportunity to show even more progression and pick up the win to show for it.”
On to the player of the decade now, as City’s supporter clubs voted for their best Blue since our takeover 10 years ago.
And the winner? None other than El Mago!
“David Silva picked up 393 votes, or 53 per cent of the total, when PA Sport polled City’s supporters clubs, ahead of the tenth anniversary of Sheikh Mansour’s takeover on Saturday,” Stuart Brennan writes in the MEN.
“Silva won by a distance, with Sergio Aguero in second place on 24.3 per cent (180 votes), and with Vincent Kompany third on 9.6 per cent (71).”
Finally, with the England squad set to be announced on Thursday afternoon, the papers are speculating who might be called.
The Mirror claim that a number of youngsters will get the nod from Gareth Southgate ahead of the Nations League opener to Spain and friendly at home to Switzerland.
“Gareth Southgate will call Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho into England’s senior squad next week,” Neil Moxley writes. “The Three Lions boss is fast-tracking the two 18-year-olds as he is anxious to expose them to life in the goldfish bowl.
“Manchester City’s Foden and Sancho, who left the Blues for Borussia Dortmund last summer, are seen as the next generation who could break through to the full side.
“Southgate – building on his success of steering England to this summer’s World Cup semi-final – wants to see how they cope, ahead of back-to-back fixtures against Spain and Switzerland next month.
“The pair are just on the cusp of breaking through for their clubs.
“Foden played in the Community Shield earlier this month and should see his chances to play for Pep Guardiola’s side improve following the injury to Kevin De Bruyne.
“Southgate is understood to have spoken already to the Spaniard about Foden’s potential and development.”
That’s all for today’s round-up, but we will be back tomorrow with all the latest headlines from the back pages!
