Are we really "the best team in the world" right now?

oakiecokie said:
High praise indeed from Ancelotti but are we really the Best Team in the World right now.
Yes I know we`ve been singing about it for decades but are we really.
Based on the number of wins in all competitions is remarkable and I`ve always maintained we have the best in the world .. Pep.
So do we deserve that merit ?
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no.
Ask the question at the end of the season and may change answer
 
Cobwebcat said:
To sum up we almost certainly are but nobody will care looking back at us if we don’t turn that superiority into a CL win at some point.

Here‘s an example...how many people think Brazil 1970 was the best National side ever? Lots. However the 1982 Brazil team were better I think but never get mentioned because they went out to a lucky Italy 3-2.
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Not sure about Italy being “lucky” that day. I loved that Brazil side but on the day the best team won (Italy had a fourth wrongly disallowed too). And they battered the Germans in the final
 
manchester city are the best team at the moment ? but like pep keeps saying never look to much into it until the trophies and medals are handed out then party

keeping a level head and players feet on the ground must be hard. but all pep as to do is say united at home and your back on the first floor again. we have this turn off switch in the big games in europe and like united at home you wonder what the fuck is happening

all city can do is win the next game and go from there take one game at a time and see and in the summer what we can all talk about
 
geoff hammond said:
Not sure about Italy being “lucky” that day. I loved that Brazil side but on the day the best team won (Italy had a fourth wrongly disallowed too). And they battered the Germans in the final
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at the time of the brazil-italy game no one I knew backed italy, I did, I saw it coming, a true classic game, and italy deserved to win it.
 
geoff hammond said:
Not sure about Italy being “lucky” that day. I loved that Brazil side but on the day the best team won (Italy had a fourth wrongly disallowed too). And they battered the Germans in the final
Click to expand...
Italy came good at the right time but they were very lucky to qualify from the group stage, having drawn all 3 games and only going through ahead of a Cameroon side who drew their 3 games too and went out by virtue of having scored 1 fewer goal than Italy.

The '82 Brazil side was arguably the best team never to win the World Cup, and were a far more entertaining team than Italy into the bargain. I'd even argue that Poland were more entertaining to watch than Italy that year too. That's not to take anything away from Italy's achievement by the way and Tardelli's goal celebration in the final will always be an enduring memory.
 
why me? Blue Manchester said:
Still baffled how we let them cun#s beat us
Best team in the world? Not yet
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Yes well that wasn't the team persay, It was Peps' team selection and subsequent failure to change it when even Stevie Wonder could see that we were achieving nothing. That was also the worst line up over this great period which kind of underlines this theory. ;)
 
Cobwebcat said:
To sum up we almost certainly are but nobody will care looking back at us if we don’t turn that superiority into a CL win at some point.

Here‘s an example...how many people think Brazil 1970 was the best National side ever? Lots. However the 1982 Brazil team were better I think but never get mentioned because they went out to a lucky Italy 3-2.
Click to expand...

By the same token, how many think the Dutch side of the 70s was one of he best ever?
 
No. The sad truth is the UCL is the only competition that takes you in that conversation. Funny thing is if we win the quadruple this will go down as the best City side of all time even though we all know 17/18 City is better than this.
 
The other thing is it depends who you ask. If you were to ask a top club and they had to answer objectively there would be no conversation as they all have the data showing who is performing the best and right now that is City. That’s why you have rival Managers like Klopp and Ancelloti stating it like it’s a fact rather than a debate, they know where their own team stands and, as a result, who is top. Interestingly if you ask Google it normally refers you to Satista and Statista refers you to the 538 rankings.

If you ask a supporter most will say whoever wins the CL. Most of the time that’s wrong but it’s what most people believe even if the club that won it 11 months ago has had a terrible run since.

On a related point I see City are going head to head with Liverpool in the data stakes.

trainingground.guru

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A PhD in computational astrophysics, developing trading systems for a £30bn hedge fund and policy advisor for the British government: not your typical CV for a member of backroom staff. However, these are just some of the credentials of Laurie Shaw, who has been appointed Lead AI Scientist by...
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Cobwebcat said:
The other thing is it depends who you ask. If you were to ask a top club and they had to answer objectively there would be no conversation as they all have the data showing who is performing the best and right now that is City. That’s why you have rival Managers like Klopp and Ancelloti stating it like it’s a fact rather than a debate, they know where their own team stands and, as a result, who is top. Interestingly if you ask Google it normally refers you to Satista and Statista refers you to the 538 rankings.

If you ask a supporter most will say whoever wins the CL. Most of the time that’s wrong but it’s what most people believe even if the club that won it 11 months ago has had a terrible run since.

On a related point I see City are going head to head with Liverpool in the data stakes.

trainingground.guru

Training Ground Guru | Man City land big signing in quest to be the best in data science

A PhD in computational astrophysics, developing trading systems for a £30bn hedge fund and policy advisor for the British government: not your typical CV for a member of backroom staff. However, these are just some of the credentials of Laurie Shaw, who has been appointed Lead AI Scientist by...
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Click to expand...
And the Geeks shall inherit the earth
 
Bayern's level has dropped a bit this season but they're still the only team who can be considered the best in the world. So yeah, at worst City are the second best team in the world but it will mean nothing if you don't win the CL soon.
 
Bayern have 6 trophies in the last year, we have 1. They are still in the champions league and are top of their league too, what makes us better than them?...Because they've lost 4 and we've only lost 3 this season?...Save this talk for the end of the season.
 
Vialli98 said:
Bayern's level has dropped a bit this season but they're still the only team who can be considered the best in the world. So yeah, at worst City are the second best team in the world but it will mean nothing if you don't win the CL soon.
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From a performance point of view the CL is just a high standard knock out cup and doesn’t prove much... for instance are the runners up the second best team? Are the last 16 the top 16 in the World? In what order? ClubElo once calculated that the best team only won the CL 55% of the time and often didn’t win their own domestic league in the same season.

From a historical point of view, which is what the vast majority of people care about, you are entirely correct.

Pep often refers to the above saying he knows that he will be judged by others on if he wins the CL but it’s not how he judges himself knowing that one bit of bad luck and you are out.

If not winning the CL gives the press and opposition fans something to shout about then so be it. I used to do the same when United never won it!
 
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