They might have pipped city rivals United to a space in the top four, but by Manchester City’s (recent) standards season 2015/16 wasn’t all that great.
But hey, who needs Premier League and Champions League glory? Two of City’s players have been ranked among the 20 most accurate passers of a football in the entire Premier League. A real cause for celebration, right?
Well, certainly not as far as Franny Lee is concerned, anyway….
As revealed by the following tweet, the two players in question are Eliaquim Mangala (ranked 18th) and Fernando (11th).
https://twitter.com/MCFClnfo/status/737698660889300992
Having seen the tweet, Lee, now 72, left a reply which suggested he isn’t all that impressed with the pair.
If Fernando and Mangala are topping the passing stats it only underlines the uselessness of bringing maths into football tactics!
— Franny Lee CBE (@FrannyLee7) May 31, 2016
Ouch.
To quote my late Mother "They would struggle to pass a message on"
— Franny Lee CBE (@FrannyLee7) May 31, 2016
French defender Magala, who signed for the club from Porto for a reported £31.8m in 2014, is yet to convince some (anyone) that he’s worth the money City forked out on him.
With Vincent Kompany missing several spells of last season with injury, Mangala’s displays when standing in for the City skipper were frequently criticised.
With Pep Guardiola due to officially start his role as City manager at the start of July, the futures of Mangala and Fernando are unclear.
For Franny Lee’s sake, let’s hope Pep doesn’t pay too much attention to these stats.
