Premier League - Hughes to trim City squad

Eurosport - Wed, 18 Mar 20:42:00 2009

Mark Hughes has admitted that he will have to let some of his players leave Manchester City, although Robinho remains a key figure in his long-term plans.

FOOTBALL 2008-09 Premier League Manchester City Mark Hughes - 0

Hughes has been able to strengthen his squad considerably since being appointed as manager last June.

He brought in a number of new faces last summer and added further reinforcements in January.

City's spending power means Hughes is likely to once again venture into the transfer market at the end of the season, but he is also concerned about the dangers of having too many players at his disposal.

"When I first got the job I thought the squad was imbalanced. I think it is better now, but there are some issues we have to address," he said in The Guardian.

"Although we have bought players in, we haven't shed a great deal. We will have to do that because we have to have a manageable squad..

"Ideally, you would want 23 or 24 and then have academy players of sufficient quality to back them up.

"If you have more than 25 it is difficult to have a meaningful training session and I have never been a manager to tell players that because they are not involved, they can train in the corner with the reserves."

One player to be linked with a move away from the club is record signing Robinho, who has struggled of late after an excellent start to his City career.

The Brazilian was again below his best in the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday but Hughes hopes to keep him for a long time to come.

"He is a key player and to say he that he is not in our long-term plans is simply to be mischievous," said Hughes.

"He is a great player and he wants to be successful."

Hughes concedes Robinho does need to improve his performances on the road but feels the same could be said for most of his team-mates.

He said: "Away from home we have to find a way of getting the best out of the team and the best out of Robbie. In Europe we have got away with it, in the Premier League we have not."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 17 of 17

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. this jennifer d must be the most annoying spammer on­ this site - buzz off!

    From sanchez.santos, on Wed 18 Mar 9:29PM

  2. Darius Vassell is not past his best - he never got­ there in the first place.

    From Andrew, on Wed 18 Mar 2:07PM

  3. Now you are talking of trimming. Later i dont want to­ hear you complaining about injury to your team.

    From cynthadel, on Wed 18 Mar 12:53PM

  4. Cheers Chris W. I think there are arguments in favour­ of getting rid of a few others: Dunney- poor this­ season until recently, Richards woefully out of form­ and a bit of a liability this season. Elano,­ inconsistent, moody etc, Bojinov, always injured,­ Petrov too one dimensional drifters in and out of games­ to much, lazy. Personally I would keep hold of all­ these but want their issues addressed. I would like to­ see more of the youngsters given a chance like Weiss,­ Mee etc. In terms of transfers a big name hold up­ striker, defensive cover and perhaps a replacement for­ Dunnie!

    From kingghouter, on Wed 18 Mar 12:50PM

  5. Man City are buying themselves deeper and deeper into­ trouble. Adding more "stars" (= overpaid­ primadonnas) to their squad will only make the task­ more difficult for Mark Hughes, who lacks the­ motivational skills of say Ferguson, Mourinho or­ Wenger, to get the best out of his players. A team of­ champions doesn't make a champion team.

    From Peter, on Wed 18 Mar 12:34PM

  6. jennifer davies88 is a @#$%

    From DOREEN B, on Wed 18 Mar 12:24PM

  7. KINGGOUTER excellent analysis...i agree all of those­ should go.

    From Chris W, on Wed 18 Mar 12:21PM

  8. torres

    From jonathan j, on Wed 18 Mar 12:08PM

  9. I agree the squad needs trimming. I suggest the­ following are surplus and should be moved on: Danny­ Mills (Free Transfer), Darius Vassell (1mill)- past his­ best, Ched Evans (3mill) - Good young player but not­ quite enough I'm afraid, Ben Haim (3 mill) - should­ never of bought him, Glauber Berti (Free Transfer) seen­ nothing off him, Michael Ball (Free Transfer), Dietmar­ Hamann (Free Transfer) - past his best, Michael Johnson­ (8mill) - really rate him but attitute and persistant­ injury problems, Jo (10 mill - Everton) - potentially a­ great player but think City should go a different­ route, Benjani (2mill) - should never of bought him.

    From kingghouter, on Wed 18 Mar 12:07PM

  10. I agree the squad needs trimming. I suggest the­ following are surplus and should be moved on: Danny­ Mills (Free Transfer), Darius Vassell (1mill)- past his­ best, Ched Evans (3mill) - Good young player but not­ quite enough I'm afraid, Ben Haim (3 mill) - should­ never of bought him, Glauber Berti (Free Transfer) seen­ nothing off him, Michael Ball (Free Transfer), Dietmar­ Hamann (Free Transfer) - past his best, Michael Johnson­ (8mill) - really rate him but attitute and persistant­ injury problems, Jo (10 mill - Everton) - potentially a­ great player but think City should go a different­ route, Benjani (2mill) - should never of bought him.

    From kingghouter, on Wed 18 Mar 12:04PM

  11. hughes should be the first to go, than think about­ others

    From dragan_9, on Wed 18 Mar 11:43AM

  12. Who do they think they are these prima donna's,­ most of them are not fit to lace the boots of the­ football players of the past. This game is no longer­ about football its about who can get the most money and­ which manager can score the most points against other­ managers. Rename the game Moneyball or get back to the­ basics and get some home grown talent into the game­ because at the moment all it does is create violence­ and hatred among players and supporters alike.

    From SHEILA R, on Wed 18 Mar 11:30AM

  13. i think people should remember its Robinhos first­ season in the hardest league in the world, remember­ ronaldo and Drogber in their first seasons here not as­ good as Robinhos, give the lad a chance to settle hes­ far and way a better player than Ronaldo all you ave to­ do is watch them both, stiff legged stuttering Ronaldo,­ doesnt match up to the flowing moves of Robinho.­ we'll all see next season when City have bought­ somemore top players, then we'll all see

    From Christopher, on Wed 18 Mar 11:27AM

  14. Robbie feels a litle out of place here in the cold.­ Hughes should arrange for a latin themed carnival to be­ held to help make Robbie play better away from­ Eastlands. Problem solved!!

    From phil_kasteel, on Wed 18 Mar 11:04AM

  15. yeah plant some palm trees in manchester ..... that may­ help

    From andrew, on Wed 18 Mar 10:56AM

  16. As a neutral I think the "stars" aren't­ actually taking the games seriously. Flashy doesn't­ always equal effective and all I've seen in recent­ weeks is a succession of clever flicks landing at the­ oppositions feet. If I was their MC teammate I'd be­ pulling my hair out. They just don't seem to apply­ themselves.

    From Andrew, on Wed 18 Mar 10:54AM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Sell Robinho! He obviuosly came for the money, but­ suddenly seems disillusioned. Maybe its the weather? Or­ could it be his crappy team mates?

    From Hotshot, on Wed 18 Mar 10:12AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account