We begin our weekend Scout Notes not with Saturday’s Gameweek 34 action but rather the first FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
A jaded-looking Manchester City squeaked past Chelsea – and they did it without their star forward.
HAALAND INJURY LATEST
As you’ll no doubt be aware by now, Erling Haaland (£14.2m) missed out on City’s victory altogether.
The Norwegian striker had been rated a doubt for this tie because of muscular niggles sustained in midweek.
There’s no guarantee he’ll be back for Thursday’s clash with Brighton and Hove Albion, either.
“He is injured. I don’t think it’s much but he’s not able for today.
“I don’t know [if he will be back for the next game].” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland, ahead of kick-off
There was nothing new on Haaland in the broadcast section of Guardiola’s post-match press conference.
But there is an embargoed section to come at 22:30 BST on Sunday, while there’ll be a pre-match presser in midweek ahead of the clash at the Amex.
We should have more information on the Norway international long before next Saturday’s deadline, then.
Kevin De Bruyne (£10.4m) and Manuel Akanji (£5.0m), the two other City players who requested to be subbed off against Real Madrid on Wednesday, completed 90 minutes at Wembley.
POCH DOWNPLAYS PALMER CONCERNS
Cole Palmer (£6.2m) seemed to be struggling early on in Saturday’s semi. He was also sighted with a strapping on his thigh.
The surprise Golden Boot contender went on to finish the game, however, and his manager seemed to have few concerns after full-time.
“No, it’s normal. He’s tired. But I don’t believe he has a problem. We need to check of course tomorrow but I don’t believe. I hope there’s nothing more wrong than him being tired.” – Mauricio Pochettino on Cole Palmer, in his post-match press conference
“He’s OK, he’s OK. Normal. We were talking yesterday in the press conference about how he needs to deal and to manage now things are completely different. He’s living in a different way, you know, than was before but of course, he’s doing a fantastic season.” – Mauricio Pochettino on Cole Palmer, in a post-match TV interview
TIRED CITY?
There were a few tactical notes from the match from a City perspective.
Despite John Stones (£5.3m) being in the starting XI, it was still Akanji who was inverting into midfield. He ended up getting forward to create three chances, while Stones was hooked at the break. Ruben Dias (£5.5m), more used to operating in the more static centre-back role, came on to shore things up.
With Haaland out, Julian Alvarez (£6.4m) leading the line and Bernardo Silva (£6.2m) on the right, Guardiola went with both De Bruyne and Phil Foden (£8.2m) in the two central attacking midfield roles.
It was an exciting prospect on paper but we didn’t really see the best of either player. Foden registered just one shot all game.
In truth, this wasn’t really the match to make sweeping judgements of City. They were visibly pooped after their midweek exertions against Madrid, which occurred less than 72 hours earlier.
“I don’t understand how we survived today. People cannot imagine the punch in our face to be out of the Champions League, the way we were out.
“Why they don’t give us one more day for the health of the players to arrive on Sunday? Because Coventry, Chelsea, Manchester United, they didn’t play Champions League or Europa League in midweek.
“The game was tight. Chelsea had incredible chances in transitions, we didn’t control well. We lost some easy balls because we were tired. Some players made an incredible effort.
“What they have done today was one of the greatest things I have ever seen in a group of players [after] 120 minutes against Madrid, [with their] physicality and the emotion. The day after recovery then yesterday, we just say ‘hi’ and you can’t prepare anything.” – Pep Guardiola
They’ve got a decent rest period now until Thursday, with another quick turnaround after that.
Beyond Gameweek 35, however, the schedule is more forgiving. Even the fixtures in Double Gameweek 37 aren’t too bad, on Saturday lunchtime and Tuesday evening.
Fatigue, and rotation, should be less of an issue.
WASTEFUL JACKSON
Chelsea, like City, will feature prominently in many Fantasy managers’ Gameweek 35 Wildcard teams.
No one has more fixtures remaining than the Blues (six), with two Double Gameweeks still to come.
After sticking six past Everton on Monday, Chelsea reverted to early season profligate type here.
The chief culprit, you won’t be surprised to hear, was Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m).
The striker does so much right elsewhere on the field but god love him, he’s just not that clinical in front of goal. Another glorious double chance went begging against City.
It’s a bit of a shock to see him on a creditable 10 league goals for the season, although three of those came against the ten men of Spurs.
Quite aside from the yellow card issue, there will be unease about now ditching proven performers like Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) for a raw greenhorn like Jackson, merely because he has two extra fixtures.
Palmer recovered from his early fitness scare to rack up a game-high four shots. One lovely bit of penalty box trickery led to a low effort that Stefan Ortega (£3.7m) did well to repel.
This was a decent overall display from Chelsea, minus the goals. They’ve frequently gone toe to toe with the big guns this season, taking points off all of the top seven bar Aston Villa, who they have still to meet. That’s encouragement for Double Gameweek 35, when they face the sides in fourth and fifth.
