Grealish, Echeverri, Rodri - Four things noticed in Man City training

Grealish, Echeverri, Rodri - Four things noticed in Man City training

Manchester City trained in front of their own fans on Tuesday and there were a number of issues to pick up on

Jack Grealish

Manchester City took part in a training session in front of fans on Tuesday as they continue preparations for the new season.

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The Blues have been back at the City Football Academy for a week and put on a session for their supporters in a week where they will travel to Palermo for a friendly.

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Pep Guardiola was present with his new assistants and the women’s team trained first in the afternoon before the men took centre-stage.

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With fans given a glimpse at how City are tuning up for the new season, here’s a look at some of the talking points from the session.

Bloated squad

It is slightly odd seeing more than 22 players on a pitch, and especially when some look like spare parts. City spent their time doing an attacking drill that left five players all on their own in another half of the pitch doing not very much.

Claudio Echeverri, James McAtee, Abdukodir Khusanov, Ruben Dias and Manu Akanji were all largely left to their own devices, with coach Kolo Toure occasionally going through a drill with them. Guardiola has said the numbers need to come down and it did look like that on Tuesday - even with five missing the session.

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Pep talks

Assistant Pep Lijnders led much of the session, taking a central role in the exercises that the players were being asked to do. Lijnders would set the tone and the expectations before the players started everything.

That left Guardiola to be in the middle of the pitch, among his players to feel what they were doing and the decisions they were taking. Naturally, it also allowed him to have regular talks with any player he wanted to as he looks to pass on what he needs from them.

Rodri takes part

Rodri has been doing plenty of individual work over the last week as his fitness is managed following such a serious injury. The City midfielder has been involved for some of some sessions but not as much as others. It was a positive then that he was involved as the Blues put on a show in front of their fans.

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Eyes will turn to Sicily to see if he features against Palermo and if so for how long.

Grealish draw

Maybe they were still thinking of the Club World Cup but City decided to introduce all of their players individually as they made their way out onto the pitch.

It meant fans could cheer for each individual and few players received a better reception than Jack Grealish did. City fans love him and, as he said at an Oasis gig recently, he loves them too.

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After the session was over, Grealish was wanted for signatures and selfies and - like the rest of the squad did - took plenty of time to do so. He may not be at the Etihad for much longer but will have felt the love again on Tuesday.

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