DOYLE NEXT IN LINE
REMEMBER the moment: Tuesday, November 21, 2017 – the 75th minute of Manchester City’s Champions League tie at home to Feyenoord. Phil Foden, 17 (left) came on as a sub and the boy wonder fans have christened “The Stockport Iniesta” took his place in history on debut. But Foden, followed on to the pitch 15 minutes later
PETER REID finds it hard to sit still when he is watching Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at full tilt.
Having played for, coached and managed City, he knows the culture of a club he also competed against as a player and a boss.
But this current City squad are something different, insists the former England midfielder. How good are they?
Reidy said: “It’s the best City team I’ve seen.” But he is quick to add: “Let me qualify that, because they haven’t won anything yet.”
But Reid, 61, who has done it all and seen it all in football, is confident that is about to change, starting with this season’s Premier League title.
City go to Huddersfield today and the likeable Scouser said: “They get me off my seat. They’ve got so many players who can win a game.
“Look at Bernardo Silva and David Silva – and they are on the bench sometimes.
“They were open a wee bit in certain games last season but this season – breathtaking.
“The new goalkeeper, Ederson, has been one of the reasons for the improvement. He’s been absolutely fantastic.
“And that has bred confidence throughout the side. We all know how Pep wants to play, but before they couldn’t do the pure way he wanted to play from the back.
“But the goalkeeper has been massive in that respect and I love goalies. The best player I ever played with was Neville Southall at Everton.”
Reid (below) – now a consultant at League One promotion hopefuls Wigan – stresses that Spaniard Guardiola is benefiting from the Brazilian blend of Ederson, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus.
He said: “Ederson and Fernandinho have been massive influences and the Brazilian kid up front – what a player he is.
“Fernandinho has been brilliant. He breaks up the play, he’s got energy, touch and he reads the game.
“Nemanja Matic and
N’Golo Kante do that job for Manchester
United and Chelsea, but no one does it better than
Fernandinho – and he hardly gets a mention!
“I relate to what he does because I played in