If you’re not a fan of international football, this first pause in the Barclays Premier League schedule of the season is probably a frustrating time for you.
But never fear, there’s league football back on the horizon, with our trip to the Emirates restarting this fledgling campaign in grand style on Saturday lunchtime.
Six days to wait then which probably explains the paucity of City-centric stories in this morning’s news outlets both on and offline.
However, one story which hasn’t failed to escape the media glare is MCWFC’s historic win over Chelsea Ladies in yesterday’s Continental Cup semi-final.
David Lynch of the Manchester Evening News reported: “Manchester City Women secured a place in their first ever cup final with a 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.
“Toni Duggan grabbed the only goal of the game, netting from the edge of the area with 51 minutes gone to put the Blues ahead against the runaway WSL leaders.
“Nick Cushing's side then almost doubled their lead when Duggan clipped the post late in the second half.
“But the England international's goal proved enough to seal the victory at Hyde, and a place in the WSL Continental Cup final.
“City will now hope to claim their first piece of silverware when they meet Arsenal, who have won the trophy in each of the three years since its inception.”
For a more in-depth read, club journalist Caroline Oatway’s verdict on the victory is here.
Elsewhere, David Silva has been giving his thoughts on Spain’s recent World Cup flop.
The City playmaker has insisted that the deposed world champions do not need to change anything and will stick by their philosophy in their quest to retain the European Championships in 2016.
“We’ve won a lot like this and Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and many of us are used to it, I believe we should go on with it,” he is quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror.
“Very important players have left, but those of us who are here are important and the newcomers are too. We just have to put the pieces together.
On 19-year-old Barcelona forward Munir, Silva added: “He’s a great player, he’s doing things well, he’s in the Under-21s and that’s why they called him up.
“We are going to try to adapt the best way possible and he’ll be excited.”
Spain are missing Chelsea striker Diego Costa for tonight’s game against Macedonia after he suffered a hamstring injury but David is confident La Roja will cope with his absence.
Silva added: “We will try to manage without Costa. Our success comes from keeping hold of the ball and that will continue.”
Finally, there’s an interesting line in the Sun, linking Southampton star Jay Rodriguez with a move to the champions in January.
Of course the striker suffered a serious injury at the Etihad in April but it’s thought that Manuel Pellegrini is a fan of the Burnley-born player and will move for the 25-year old to help with City’s English quota requirements.
Kompany: City's summer is big statement of intent
Blues skipper says the club have shown stability and ambition with their business during the summer transfer window.
Vincent Kompany believes Manchester City have made a huge statement this summer, both in the transfer market and by agreeing new deals with key players.
City signed Willy Caballero, Bacary Sagna, Fernando, Eliaquim Mangala and Frank Lampard during the transfer window.
They also announced extended deals for Kompany, David Silva, Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko, Sergio Aguero and Aleks Kolarov.
The Belgian defender, 28, believes City have assembled a 'world class' squad as they look to defend their Premier League title and make progress in the Champions League.
And he says agreeing new deals with current players is proof of the stability at the Etihad Stadium.
Kompany said: "I think the club has made a statement this summer, not just with the players we have brought in, but also with the new deals that have been made.
"I am not talking about myself when I say this, but we have signed a group of players who are absolutely world class. They are guys who have already won stuff for City and you can’t buy that kind of experience.
"Am I happy to know that David Silva, Kolarov, Nasri, Dzeko and Aguero are going to be in my team? Of course. I would hate to play against these guys. I am sure the fans are delighted with what they have seen this summer.
"They have seen us strengthen the squad, but they have also seen that there is continuity here. There’s a plan for the future."
Jovetic suffers hamstring injury
The Blues forward is expected to miss his country's clash with Moldova on Monday and could be a doubt for the upcoming Arsenal game.
Stevan Jovetic is set to miss Montenegro's clash with Moldova after picking up a hamstring injury.
According to Montenegrin outlet Vijesti.me, the Blues striker limped out of training clutching his leg and is now unlikely to feature in Monday's game.
The 24-year-old could also be a doubt for Manchester City's meeting with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Jovetic missed almost the entirety of the 2013-14 season with a combination of calf and hamstring injuries.
But he has been in fine form in the early part of the new campaign, starting all three games and scoring twice in the win over Liverpool.
Following the sale of Alvaro Negredo, the Blues would be down to Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko as their striking options should Jovetic be out
Joe Hart in 'nut attack' on Manchester United's Wayne Rooney
Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart had a way to alleviate the boredom at the national team's hotel in Basel this weekend. Swiss newspaper Bild caught the Manchester City player throwing nuts at his national team captain Wayne Rooney, who was stood on his balcony alongside Liverpool's Raheem Sterling.
Monday night sees the important qualifier between England and Switzerland, how the match turns out will be important for both countries and set something of the stage for their qualifying campaign. There's a lot of tension around the England camp following a poor World Cup campaign and the team's lacklustre performance last week against Norway only served to increase that.
Wayne Rooney scored a penalty to help his country to a narrow victory and Manchester City's Joe Hart was able to keep a clean sheet. The goalkeepers playful launching of nuts shows there's still a bit of fun among the under pressure players and also shows there's no special treatment of Rooney since he became national team captain. It's a little harder to imagine Joe Hart chucking nuts at Steven Gerrard.
Reports claim both Manchester City and Manchester United tried and failed to sign the midfield prodigy with bids in excess of £14m.
The Billionaire investment tycoon bought Gomes' economic rights in January for £11.8m, and swiftly loaned him to his own side Valencia.
As with any third-party dealings, the price of securing the player's signature becomes vastly inflated and it would have cost roughly 30 per cent more to buy Gomes.
Gomes is expected to flourish in La Liga, and will almost certainly become a regular figure for the Portuguese national side.
The midfielder has featured at every national level bar the senior side, and contributed seven goals in Benfica's impressive title winning season.
Its also reported that Lim's other Benfica acquisition Rodrigo, who was a target for Liverpool, Arsenal and United, was subject to transfer interest - but the same issues led to his loan deal with Valencia
Why Manchester City Will Not Regret Letting Alvaro Negredo Go
City fans really loved Negredo for the short time that he was the club's best player.
Manchester City will not regret letting Alvaro Negredo go because, no matter how well Negredo plays for any of his subsequent clubs, the decision to sell Negredo was the right decision when City made it.
City bought Negredo from Sevilla in the summer of 2013 for a reported fee of "£16.4 million plus add-ons of up to £4.2 million" per Ben Curtis of the Mirror.
Negredo's only season in a City kit started very brightly and ended very badly:
The fate of "the Beast" may have been sealed by the metatarsal fracture he picked up in a July friendly with Hearts of Midlothian. The injury, which will continue to sideline Negredo into next month, cost Negredo in two significant ways.
First, Negredo would be unable to prove to City manager Manuel Pellegrini that his unproductive and injury-riddled 2014 to date could be overcome. Second, forgotten man Stevan Jovetic received almost all of the minutes Negredo would have played in City's remaining preseason matches.
Neither Negredo nor Jovetic likely knew how the Montenegrin would seize on that opportunity.
Jovetic was prolific through the summer, but the real splash came with his brace against Liverpool that led the Sky Blues to a 3-1 victory on Aug. 25.
Jovetic's emergence may have hastened Negredo's departure.
No one associated with City would ever admit or even suggest that the emergence of Jovetic led directly to Negredo becoming expendable. City really did not need to say it.
Further enhancing City's desire to move Negredo was the fact that there was still a live market for the striker's services. Per the Daily Mail's Jack Gaughan, Sami Mokbel and Simon Jones, Negredo's transfer was worth "£25 million plus add-ons of £2 million" to a club with widely known Financial Fair Play problems.
No advanced mathematical skills are required to see that City thus turned a profit on the sale of a player who was injured when they sold him and unlikely to feature even after he healed.
Supporters who fear things that bump in the night point to the iffy health of City's primary striker, Sergio Aguero, as well as the fact that Jovetic was limited with assorted knocks for much of last season. Keeping Negredo would be insurance against an injury to the others, they reason.
But there is another transfer window coming in a few months, and Negredo was not likely to be fully fit or to reclaim a place in Pellegrini's rotation before the end of 2014 anyway.
Perhaps the primary factor clouding the wisdom of the deal for City supporters is how fond they were of Negredo when he was in the midst of his goal binge through the end of 2013.
We learned, though, that as much as the blue side of Manchester may have loved Negredo, the feeling may not have been so mutual.
"Negredo and his family have struggled to settle in England and his form became affected by homesickness and a shoulder injury to such an extent that he failed to hit the target in the final four months of the campaign," reported Simon Mullock in the Mirror.
Summing up, then, City sold a player whose form had left him and whose commitment to living in Manchester was in some question. City sold that player while he was injured and for a profit.
The key to successful management of any enterprise, be it a football club or any other competitive endeavor, is the ability to make difficult decisions intelligently and then not to look back.
City should never regret selling Negredo because, for all of the foregoing reasons, it was the right thing to do when they did it.
Watch as Manchester City star Aleksandar Kolarov’s amazing strike earns Serbia draw against France
http://metro.co.uk/2014/09/08/mancheste ... e-4860272/
Paris St-Germain are poised to offer cash plus midfielder Adrien Rabiot, 19, in a bid to sign Roma's defensive midfielder Kevin Strootman, 24, who is also a target for Manchester United. (Daily Express)
Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock will send defenders Paddy McCarthy, 31, and Peter Ramage, 30, and midfielders Jimmy Kebe, 30, and Owen Garvan, 26, out on loan to balance the books. (Daily Mirror)
Wolves, who made a £1.25m bid for Leicester's Premier League striker Chris Wood, 22, last month, are now making a fresh move to sign the striker on loan. (DSSC)
Manchester United have not abandoned the idea of signing Juventus's Arturo Vidal and will make another effort in the winter transfer window for the 27-year-old Chile midfielder. (Tuttosport)
Several European clubs, including Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus are keen to recruit 23 year-old German midfielder Christoph Kramer, currently on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach from Bayer Leverkusen. (Bild)
Sergio Ramos has reminded Cristiano Ronaldo that Real Madrid players must respect the rules of the club, after the Portuguese criticised Real's summer spending. (L'Equipe)
Goalkeeper Iker Casillas is set to start Spain's opening game of Euro 2016 qualification against Macedonia, despite making some high-profile errors during the World Cup. (Marca)
Manchester United have rubbished claims that new signing Radamel Falcao, 28, lied about his age, after reports surfaced that the Colombian striker was actually 30. (DSSC)
Former Red Devils manager David Moyes says the extra responsibility of captaincy could make Wayne Rooney an even better player. (The Sun)
Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic says his side are "level with England" and will have no fear when they take on Roy Hodgson's team in Basel on Monday. (Daily Telegraph)
Meanwhile, Switzerland defender Philippe Senderos says his Aston Villa team-mate Fabian Delph deserves his England chance as the two sides prepare to face one another in Euro 2016 qualification. (Birmingham Mail)
Scotland manager Gordon Strachan says he would love to see referee Svein Oddar Moen's assessment of his own performance after the Norwegian made a number of controversial decisions against Scotland in their 2-1 Euro qualifying defeat to Germany. (Daily Record)
Wales have no fears over playing on Andorra's controversial 3G artificial pitch, according to winger Gareth Bale. (Independent)
Graeme Souness says Manchester United face a "long and painful transition" if manager Louis Van Gaal continues to persist with his favoured 3-5-2 formation. (Daily Express)
But England defender Phil Jones, 22, says Louis van Gaal's three-man defence will prove a success at Manchester United despite a disappointing start to the season. (Manchester Evening News)
Former Blackburn striker DJ Campbell admits he considered quitting football after being charged with match-fixing. (Daily Express)
Captain Wayne Rooney, 28, reveals he showed England team-mate Raheem Sterling, 19, videos of Dutch legend Marc Overmars because the Liverpool player "reminds me of him". (Guardian)
Striker Daniel Sturridge, 25, is facing a race against time to be fit for Liverpool's return to the Champions League next week after sustaining a thigh injury while on England duty. (Liverpool Echo)
Former Tottenham and England star Darren Anderton, 42, has told Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, 22, not to let injury ruin his career. (Daily Star)
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, 59, may lose his number two Neil McDonald, who is set to become the new manager at League Two outfit Carlisle. (Daily Star)
Uefa president Michel Platini has threatened now-retired former France playmaker Franck Ribery, 31, with a suspension if he is selected for his country and refuses to play. (Daily Telegraph)
Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith, 33, believes his old club have no chance of competing with Chelsea and Manchester City for the Premier League title. (Talkshit)
Germany midfielder Toni Kroos, 24, has "no regrets" about joining Real Madrid from Bayern Munich this summer, and says the Spanish club are "a small step ahead". (Sky Sports understands)
Injured Scotland winger Robert Snodgrass, 27, makes his feelings clear after the narrow Euro 2016 qualifier at the hands of Germany, posting: "Some poor decisions from the ref, but great effort from the lads, ran the World Cup champions close."
Hull and Republic of Ireland midfielder David Meyler, 25, was smiling after the 2-1 win in Georgia and paid tribute to the man who secured it, tweeting: "Fantastic three points away in Georgia. Took a moment of magic from McGeady to win it but fully deserved!"
Fantasy football managers have been spooked by Wayne Rooney's loss of form - with more players of the Sun's Dream Team game picking Stoke's Mame Biram Diouf than the Manchester United captain. (The Sun)
Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, 27, has beaten arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo to another coveted prize ... this time in the new Fifa 15 game. (Metro)
Chelsea's 2014 calendar is starting to look a bit out of date - Mr October is Juan Mata (now at Manchester United), Mr November is Fernando Torres (AC Milan), while Mr December is Manchester City's Frank Lampard. (Daily Mirror)
Gibraltar's starting XI against Poland boasted two policemen, a fireman, an admin clerk and just two pro footballers. (DSSC)
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