Dale’s new man fired up for crack at League One
NEW Rochdale signing Stephen Dooley is hoping to get supporters at the Crown Oil Arena perched on edge of their seats next season.
The Irish midfielder penned a two-year deal last week and is already preparing for a crack in the English Football League.
“I just want to make sure I’m not lagging behind anyone when I come in, so I just want to have a good few weeks before pre-season training and get myself in as good a shape as possible,” he said.
“I know it’s a very good league, a very physical league and there are a lot of good quality players, so there’s a lot of work to do to live up to that.
“I want to be one of those players who can excite fans and hopefully get them off their seats.
“I can’t promise I will score 40 goals a season – all I can really promise is work rate, I will give my all and hopefully that will be enough to do well at the club and have an impact.
“I think it will be incredibly tough, but it’s something I have always wanted to give a go, to see if I was good enough.
“Every young player when they are growing up aspires to be in the Premier League and the system filters down.
“I have always wanted to give the English league a shot and this seems like a brilliant club to do that.” PEP Guardiola is happy to take inspiration from anywhere and one of his greatest innovations at City came in Brussels in 2016.
Belgium thrashed Estonia 8-1 but it was Roberto Martinez’s use of Kevin De Bruyne as a holding midfielder that caught the eye of the Blues boss. After a few months of player and coach tinkering while they tried to work out his best fit, everything clicked last season and the 26-year-old drove his team to Premier League and Carabao Cup success.
For a manager not inclined to stand still, the challenge for next season will be how to improve a City team that reached heights no English team has previously managed in a domestic campaign. As he hinted at in the immediate aftermath of reaching 100 points, that will be attempted through individual rather than collective goals.
“Can we improve the numbers? No, we cannot be better in terms of numbers,” he said.
“In terms of playing football, yes. Because the players can do better.
“The manager, the group, the team, we can do better.”
Plans are whirring away to improve the attack, and not just by bringing Riyad Mahrez in from Leicester.
With the anticipation that more teams will sit deeper next season to try and frustrate the champions rather than beat them, Guardiola needs as many attacking options as possible.
Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero could strike their partnership back up and the false nine in a rolling front three worked successfully in certain games last season, but there could be more ideas waiting at the World Cup – specifically in the England camp. Gareth Southgate is expected to use three central defenders and wing-backs in Russia, which should mean Raheem Sterling taking more of a central role on the pitch. The 23-year-old has been given the No.10 shirt for the tournament, fulfilling a childhood dream of his and matching a tattoo he has on his arm from his days at QPR. Guardiola had both the formation and Sterling’s role firmly in his mind this time last year, describing the player as ‘so dangerous’ behind the striker as he tried him out in the position in pre-season and the opening part of Premier League campaign. Benjamin Mendy’s long-term injury put an end to the approach before it had been fully tested, but the City manager will be a keen viewer of England’s games in Russia. However successful or not it is for the Three Lions, it should be an invaluable opportunity to help Guardiola shape his attacking options for next season. Pep Guardiola on Manchester City