The English Football Thread

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

9 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Unless ourselves or United go ballistic next summer and spend huge money like City do it's hard to see anyone stopping them for the next couple of years. I get the feeling that the embarrassment of seeing their Manchester rivals dominate like this will pressure United to spend like maniacs again next summer but I'm not sure we will.

We have the coach to compete with them and many of the pieces are in place. We just need about 3-4 top quality players (another attacking player, LWB, RWB, second striker) and we are on their level. That's assuming we keep hold of Hazard, of course.

Another central midfielder. We literally need Sandro, Meunier, Verratti, Neymar and maybe an Immobile type level as the second striker for solutions to seriously compete and overcome with this team.

[LAM09 6,572]

Maybe but in UCL luck play a big factor. If you watched how his Bayern team lost against rm, barca and atletico you will see that his team actually played quite well. Against rm, it was two set pieces. Against Barca, they dominated but Messi happened. They actually battered atletico team, I have never seen that atletico team got destroyed like that but they scored only one and Griezmann scored from counter. 

That's it. All his sides have been suspect at the back and this side are no different. The best will punish them

[Pizy 17,861]

When you really go player by player it isn't like City have world beaters in every position. They've go a brilliant coach and brilliant players in just the right positions. For example, the likes of Fernandinho, Otamendi, Delph, Mangala, Stones are good but not great players. I wouldn't swap any of those with our starting players. Hell, their two primary wingers Sterling and Sané are super talented but still very inconsistent. They benefit massively from the team and system they play in.

Like us, they've got between 2-4 genuine world class players mixed with a bunch of good ones. We need quality additions in key areas and we're there.

[manpe 10,857]

Just now, Pizy said:

Unless ourselves or United go ballistic next summer and spend huge money like City do it's hard to see anyone stopping them for the next couple of years.

Spending money needs to be done wisely though. United have splashed some insane money, but they have barely improved let's be honest. We spent ~100 million on Drinkwater, Bakayoko and Zappacosta, but did those buys really improve us greatly? Judging by this season, I'd say no. You look at the money spent and go "wow, they must have really invested in some serious quality". Then you see that every equal amount that City spent compared to us was aimed at improving their quality and depth. Every equal amount we spent compared to them was to replace somebody. We will never overtake them with this policy, never.

[communicate 2,703]

4 minutes ago, Pizy said:

When you really go player by player it isn't like City have world beaters in every position. They've go a brilliant coach and brilliant players in just the right positions. For example, the likes of Fernandinho, Otamendi, Delph, Mangala, Stones are good but not great players. I wouldn't swap any of those with our starting players. Hell, their two primary wingers Sterling and Sané are super talented but still very inconsistent. They benefit massively from the team and system they play in.

Like us, they've got between 2-4 genuine world class players mixed with a bunch of good ones. We need quality additions in key areas and we're there.

Agree to certain extent but in order to compete with city we need two really good wb and we have been searching for them for maybe 5 years now and we haven't found it.

 

[Ledg 639]

It’s mid-December and the season is already depressing. It’s not a marathon, but a sprint for City towards the title.

And the way team around us drop points, top 3 could be sealed very soon.

My only hope for some excitement atm is in the CL. If we can knock out Barca, then from QF onwards everybody has a chance.


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[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Also there goes the myth that Guardiola needs to work only with the absolute best to produce the best results.

Sane and Sterling are talented young players but they aren't one of the best. Even Silva and Aguero two PL legends still really good players but not the same players of 4 years ago. Gabriel Jesus is still a kid. Pep is just amazing. The haters will learn to give him his due. 

[communicate 2,703]

3 minutes ago, manpe said:

Spending money needs to be done wisely though. United have splashed some insane money, but they have barely improved let's be honest. We spent ~100 million on Drinkwater, Bakayoko and Zappacosta, but did those buys really improve us greatly? Judging by this season, I'd say no. You look at the money spent and go "wow, they must have really invested in some serious quality". Then you see that every equal amount that City spent compared to us was aimed at improving their quality and depth. Every equal amount we spent compared to them was to replace somebody. We will never overtake them with this policy, never.

Agree our net spend this season is actually close to 0. This summer we  improved our squad a little bit and made it younger but we also make our 1st 11 worse. 

[Pizy 17,861]

6 minutes ago, manpe said:

Spending money needs to be done wisely though. United have splashed some insane money, but they have barely improved let's be honest. We spent ~100 million on Drinkwater, Bakayoko and Zappacosta, but did those buys really improve us greatly? Judging by this season, I'd say no. You look at the money spent and go "wow, they must have really invested in some serious quality". Then you see that every equal amount that City spent compared to us was aimed at improving their quality and depth. Every equal amount we spent compared to them was to replace somebody. We will never overtake them with this policy, never.

I hate to sound like an Arsenal fan here but you have to look at net spend with us. True, we may have spent a lot on new players but they were almost entirely funded by player sales. City on the other hand already had a great squad and spent mega millions on top of it. They're also shopping in a completely different bracket than we are.

Whereas they can go and buy 5 different players for £50m each, it's like pulling teeth for us to spend that much even once. How long did it take to bring in our new striker? Months. Money is absolutely no object to a club funded by an entire country.

Unitl that changes and we're basically willing to pay whatever it takes to bring in top quality we can't compete.

[The Chels 2,502]

25 minutes ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

This is the best team we've seen till now. Not sure how 52/54 can be argued against. 

We had 61/66 points in the 05/06 season. Then as is virtually always the case with fast-starters we dropped off in the second half of the season. Won't be surprised if (when) that happens with City too, although they'll still win the league of course.

[Yeboii 1,844]

12 minutes ago, MrExcalibur100 said:

Also there goes the myth that Guardiola needs to work only with the absolute best to produce the best results.

Sane and Sterling are talented young players but they aren't one of the best. Even Silva and Aguero two PL legends still really good players but not the same players of 4 years ago. Gabriel Jesus is still a kid. Pep is just amazing. The haters will learn to give him his due. 

I think people mean that he has to get the player he needs to make his system work - if he doesn't the system is no good. Not that he needs the absolute best.

Guardiola is master for sure though. I was starting to think less of him last season.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

4 minutes ago, The Chels said:

We had 61/66 points in the 05/06 season. Then as is virtually always the case with fast-starters we dropped off in the second half of the season. Won't be surprised if (when) that happens with City too, although they'll still win the league of course.

The football they're playing right now is on a different planet to that team. We basically had no rivals that season. United were decent but had a young Rooney and Ronaldo and Arsenal were on a youth movement trying to save up for their stadium. That was basically a Bundesliga season

5-0 v Liverpool 1-0 v Chelsea 3-1 v Arsenal 2-1 v Man Utd 4-1 v Tottenham Man City have already won against all of the other teams to finish in the top-six last season. Aggregate score: 15-3

mAgainst teams managed by Mourinho, Conte, Klopp, Pochettino and Wenger. It's not even remotely as impressive

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

4 minutes ago, Yeboii said:

I think people mean that he has to get the player he needs to make his system work - if he doesn't the system is no good. Not that he needs the absolute best.

Guardiola is master for sure though. I was starting to think less of him last season.

That's true but even Conte does as well though he's less rigid. There's a reason why we go for the Bakayoko's and Drinkwaters' of this world instead of the Weigl's, Parades' and Aouar's. Pep won't even look at players like Bakayoko. 

[manpe 10,857]

6 minutes ago, Pizy said:

I hate to sound like an Arsenal fan here but you have to look at net spend with us. True, we may have spent a lot on new players but they were almost entirely funded by player sales. City on the other hand already had a great squad and spent mega millions on top of it.

I know, I mentioned that. But even then, when you spend 100 million on 3 players you expect them to improve you, in reality each of them is bench level at best. We didn't spend our money well enough, we could have done better and still kept net spend around 0 or a bit over. At least one of them could have been genuine starting material that would instantly improve us. It's infuriating to think that we scrimp on players who would actually take us to next level, but then some accountant with flawed football knowledge decides it's totally fine to sanction around 40 million on both Baka and Drinks.

[Pizy 17,861]

We really should get a head start on next season in the window next month. Rather than basically starting fresh next summer and taking who knows how long to bed in new players once the season starts we should bring in several new faces in January and bed them in this season. That way we can hit the ground running in 18/19. We'd theoretically see benefits this season and next.

Arsenal have absolutely no hope of winning the league and aren't even in the CL. Alexis' head is clearly elsewhere and Arse will certainly lose him for nothing in the summer. Why not test them with £50-60m in January? This is the sort of player we need to go up a level as well as convince Hazard of our ambition so he stays. We add an Alexis Sanchez who's revitalized after moving clubs and we can make a huge push in all competitions. Then he's settled after being in our team for 6 months and ready to go right away with Conte's ideas set.

[Fulham Broadway 16,436]

Citeh certainly playing some beautiful football

All hail the City Football Group  -Melbourne City, New York City FC and Manchester City all owned by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of United Arab Emirates.

Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team.....

[positivefootball 195]

Pep is the best

[Georgy 439]

Ambition wanting to win at all costs, meanwhile we are content with competing, keeping the same level of play each season. We're consistent but if you don't aspire for better you will never dominate.