THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 46

Author

Howard Hockin
June 27, 2025

Hello, and welcome to Issue 46 of the 93:20 Newsletter. It’s the height of summer, and City are playing football, and it’s all a bit weird, but hey, let’s embrace it. Plenty to talk about, as always, so let’s end the waffle and crack on.

And just to confirm – the 93:20 Newsletters book will be out in JULY! Full of all the content from the last year, looking at City, the footballing world, off-pitch stuff, media moans aplenty (naturally), but mostly laughing at United, plus a bunch of new content. Look out for it. Here’s a mock-up cover, which does not remotely represent what the actual cover will look like, hopefully. Hey, I’ve been busy, cut me some slack.

It seems I may have overestimated the disparity in world football – maybe. The South American teams in the Club World Cup are “up for it”, as we should have expected, and there is plenty of skill on show, from them and other less-fancied teams. There may be caveats – teams from outside Europe have hardly had their feet up for a few months, but playing mid-season may be more beneficial than at the end of a nine-month slog. And it really does mean more for South American teams, a chance to test themselves against some of Europe’s elite. For the European giants, there is the feeling they are all trying to ease their way through the tournament for as long as possible, and this is predictable, and necessary. There was a reason Pep fielded two separate teams for the first two games – the fitness of the players, and games played in oppressive conditions.

With some cracking games and a scattering of shock results, some of the media have slightly changed their tune on how they view the competition. For me they have gone too far, as I am still not convinced one iota, but time will tell. It does not help when a football competition has to halt matches on a near-daily basis, which was very easy to predict. If you want to watch a sport that stops for bad weather, you may as well watch a cricket match in England. Oh, hang on, England v India have just played out a brilliant test match in glorious sunshine. Ah well, not every country can have England’s wonderful climate.

The one regret for me as a City fan is that City may go deep in this competition without meeting a South American team. But hey, the City players may get spooked by the large crowd, so probably for the best.

As for the Juventus game, all I can say was that it was fun! And, it’s not often you can say a game is fun. Well, I can't anyway, there's too much at stake to truly usually, unless City are four goals up going into injury time – and even then I’m clock-watching. Too late to change my ways now. We cannot read too much into the game – I certainly would not if City had been underwhelming, but boy, there were some great signs there, and beyond the three very exciting new signings. A revitalized Phil and the old Rodri, who finally made a start, are like two new signings, and we feel stocked going forward. Doku has scored two goals, and if he and Savinho add the final product we all know they need to, then the future is ridiculously bright. They’re young enough to do so. I still don’t know what season this counts as, so perhaps Savinho’s thunderbastard of a shot may be the first to win Goal of the Season for two different seasons.

A quick word on Matheus Nunes. Let’s cut to the chase – if City really want to be the best in the world again, a right-back purchase is a near-must. The reasons are obvious.

BUT. I doff my cap to Nunes. I stereotyped him from an early stage, for which I am suitably shamed. A lightweight, not a fighter, this is a player who could easily have faded from the squad in ignominy like Phillips. But no, he has improved and improved and improved, in a position unnatural to him. Look, he can never be THE answer to our right-back issue. But he’s also no longer a liability in that position, far from it. He's no worse defensively than Liverpool's new right back. 
Or their old one, to be honest. 

As for Juventus, an old lady hasn’t taken such a thrashing since Wayne Rooney was in town.

On Thursday, news emerged that Ederson was staying.

This I what I wrote prior to the Juventus game. 

This is great need even if you think he is overrated, in my very humble opinion. The last thing City need in the middle of an outfield rebuild is to have to replace the No. 1 keeper also, especially when I have doubts about the keeper most commonly linked as his replacement. 

A lot of players with a year to remain on their contract are, not surprisingly, keen to stay before moving on for one last huge payday. City can't give players to leave, so it remains to be seen if Pep is left with the headache of a bloated squad. Other managers might welcome such a dilemma, but for Pep, this is migraine territory. 

And this is what I am writing after.

Oh Eddie. Timing is everything, and that horrendous error in the first half was not well-timed. When would such an error ever be? Look, it’s pre-season of sorts, many players are showing rustiness, and he made a key save in the 2nd half that prevented a comeback, and was generally fine apart from one moment. Let’s not overreact. But last season, Ederson looked at times like a player whose mind was elsewhere. Like he expected it to be his last season, and I certainly did. So I am fine with him staying, in fact I welcome it, but he must show that he is committed to the cause in what will now surely be his final year. His style of play means the odd clanger is almost inevitable, but there were far too many last season. Hopefully he can cut them out in the coming season, because if City are to get back to the top, he needs to.

 As for Ortega, his comments make his future much less certain. This is less of a bind to City financially should he have to be replaced, but in many respects, replacing a No. 2 is harder than replacing a No. 1, at a wealthy and successful club like City. For the latter, you source the best out there and make an offer. A back up keeper is harder as you cannot promise them game time outside domestic cup games, but they must be of a quality to step up to the plate when required, and injuries may see them needed for many a big game. City have done brilliantly in recruiting deputies over the past decade, and Ortega is no different, so I hope he stays. 

Popbitch

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

THE HUB:- EPISODE 38

Per-Atle Karlsen joins Bailey to discuss Sverre Nypan moving to Manchester City. The qualities he has as a midfielder, his sense of goal at an early age, and how his tactical curiosity has seen him progress quickly at Rosenborg.

THE 93:20 REVIEW:- PLAN B

Ahsan and Ste talk Al Ain, Foden, Cherki and loads more besides!

FROM THE ARCHIVES – NO HISTORY:- KITS

Howard and Joe take a fascinating look at the history City’s kits, from the good to the very bad, and the icons who wore them.

THE HUB:- EPISODE 39

Ishdeep joins Bailey to talk about the role of data engineers in football. Event, tracking and physical data. The difference between what is publicly available and what the clubs are working on.

THE WEEKEND SHOW

Ahsan is joined by Lloyd and Jordan to purr over a scintillating performance in the heat against Juventus.

If you are not a subscriber to our player shows, then enjoy some free samples of what we are about. Every show we do will have a 15 minutes sample on Soundcloud, along with a full, free weekly Friday show, jam- packed with content. Give it a try!