Will we win the league this season?

Charlesfarsbar said:
The right players need to be available and it seems they aren’t or we aren’t willing to spend over the odds to get them

Who do you think we should sign to address the right back issue ?
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A right back - from somewhere in the world of football that actually defends.
Id have the majority of right backs from the prem league over either of our options so lets start there.
 
Charlesfarsbar said:
Refer to my second and third lines

Rome wasn’t built in a day or two transfer windows
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How is building a city state comparable to the managed decline of a football team?

You can put together a team of the worlds best players in a few weeks if you have the right funds, where it would take 3 years to build one house. Very similar.
 
Charlesfarsbar said:
Yes, mistakes have been made but we will be back

Our owner will ensure that
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Think you misunderstand football and how it works in cycles. It will take years to get back to where we were and the other teams will keep improving as well....its not always as simple as that

Look what happened to the rags when they let it sliip...top players dont want to go there. We got CL by the skin of our teeth last year - lost on on Wirtz who was the ideal to replace KDB - thats is a huge miss and sets a tone. We cant seemingly attract a right back either.

We are now again fighting for top 4 in the hope we can continue to attract the very best...since we bought Haaland when have we attracted the best or even second best. You could argue Reijnders but Scott Mctomminay excelled in his league as well!!
 
Way too early to know how this season will pan out. Usually takes Pep a while to work out how to get the best out of the team. Even in our disappointing last season he still got us playing well enough to finish 3rd despite obvious flaws in the team.

I watched Saturday’s game and to be honest I couldn’t be too angry because it’s Spurs. For some reason despite their form, their manager, their injuries, general spursiness, they have consistently got results against Pep. Almost always ultimately meaningless as they never win anything as a result and have finished ahead of us once in Pep’s first season. Trafford made a mistake alright but the almost the only similar mistakes Ederson made were also against Spurs. I can’t explain it but Spurs have some weird mojo against us. So for me worrying about what this means for the season is pointless.

We are clearly going through some transition and our most important player is only just easing himself back. Added to that there is still done transfer business to be done. If we can get settled and most importantly got our best players onto the pitch after the international break, then we are going to get some idea whether we can compete at the top table.

On Saturday the match turned on Ait Nouri’s injury and Marmoush’s miss. Marmoush had Porro on toast when he had Ait Nouri overlapping. Once Ake came on we lost that overlap and they could double up on Marmoush. It may have been better to bring O’Reilly on but we’ll never know.

We were decent for the first 30 minutes or so, perhaps we’ll be better for longer next week.
 
There was a symbolic collective gasp when Kyle Walker outpaced and dispossessed Vinicius Junior at the Etihad in 2023

Walker was at the height of his sprinting power, but within a year it was evident that his pace was starting to decline, and that he didn't have the football nous to compensate
Even when we won 3-2 at Newcastle it was Walker who was exposed for both of their goals.
Of course it helped that we still won the League, but that was 23-24 and last season his loss of pace was a microcosm of the whole season with so many players having one season too many.

So what have the management done to replace such an outstanding performer?

There is still time, but if the transfer window closes, and we're still arguing over which substandard midfielder is more suited to filling Walker"s shoes, then no, we won't win the league

Ditto the goalkeeper situation
 
I think we have too many new players needing to gel for us to win the league this season. Several times we've had to go on a winning run at the back end of the season. And we have won several league titles by having the desire, hunger, belief harmony and a resilient never say die collective mental fortitude we don't have right now.

We're in transition and rebuilding, and it will be very difficult to get back to being the dominant force in world football again. That's if we can climb those heights again. I think we blues need to accept where we are right now. Harder for some than others.
 
Father Paul said:
Both arguments have some merit, particularly Dias I was astounded to hear we are going to buid our defence around him for the next five years. Haaland has to put the ball in the net at least 30 times a league season to justify his place imo. He seems capable of doing this most of the time so it seems wise to play him even if he contributes little to general play. While I think we have made the right decision in backing him I would be far from devastated if we sold him for a very large fee moving forward.
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Thats utter crap and you know it. Lol.
 
simon23 said:
Think you misunderstand football and how it works in cycles. It will take years to get back to where we were and the other teams will keep improving as well....its not always as simple as that

Look what happened to the rags when they let it sliip...top players dont want to go there. We got CL by the skin of our teeth last year - lost on on Wirtz who was the ideal to replace KDB - thats is a huge miss and sets a tone. We cant seemingly attract a right back either.

We are now again fighting for top 4 in the hope we can continue to attract the very best...since we bought Haaland when have we attracted the best or even second best. You could argue Reijnders but Scott Mctomminay excelled in his league as well!!
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So your beef is that you don’t like the signings we have made and don’t think they’re good enough quality?

We are following our usual blueprint of signing up and coming players sprinkled in with the odd ready made world class player

Sane
Sterling
Ederson
Mendy
Stones
Dias
Laporte
Bernardo
Walker
Rodri

I could name more but these were all up and coming players that hadn’t achieved at the very highest level until they came to city

Add in KDB , Mahrez , Haaland as world class players ready to go

I think we’ll come good following the same plan l , you don’t

Time will tell
 
Boris Yeltsin said:
'A flat-track bully is a term used in sports for a player or team that performs exceptionally well against weaker opponents but struggles against more challenging, top-level competition.'

Am I missing something? It sounds very accurate to me. Just cos it doesn't fit with your drivel doesn't mean it's drivel.
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So you understand it but you still used it wrongly.

Haaland is not a flat track bully, to suggest he is one is drivel
 
Charlesfarsbar said:
So your beef is that you don’t like the signings we have made and don’t think they’re good enough quality?

We are following our usual blueprint of signing up and coming players sprinkled in with the odd ready made world class player

Sane
Sterling
Ederson
Mendy
Stones
Dias
Laporte
Bernardo
Walker
Rodri

I could name more but these were all up and coming players that hadn’t achieved at the very highest level until they came to city

Add in KDB , Mahrez , Haaland as world class players ready to go

I think we’ll come good following the same plan l , you don’t

Time will tell
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Never said I dont rate the signing we have made

its the signings we havent made that are a huge issue and they should have been the priority

Where are the genuine world class players outside of Rodri and Haaland that you are seeing in our squad by the way?

A couple who are just below in the next bracket that could make the jump (Foden, Reijnders for instance) but we have some bang average players as well (Akanji, Dias, Rico, Nunes, Phillips, Doku) ad some who were there but have fallen off that top level (Stones, Ake, Gundo) . Some others who are just potential (Bobb, Cherki) and nothing more .

Khusonov is the outlier for me - he looks absolute class but cant get on the pitch most of the time. Even in the CWC

Our spine (especially when Rodri is out) is weak as piss.

Where is the Kompany of the group?
Where is the Zabba of the group?
Where is the Yaya of the grouo
Where is the David Silva?

Yes none of these players were as good as they finished when they first stepped on the pitch BUT from the first moment they did you could absolutely see it -they had the mindset/desire/killer insticnt and drive...A lot of our group of players now are soft and dont have this. Look at Grealish - he couldnt handle it- he was for the vast time here bang average whereas Sterling for instance stood up to be counted despite all the shit he took. Its about mindset.
 
simon23 said:
Never said I dont rate the signing we have made

its the signings we havent made that are a huge issue and they should have been the priority

Where are the genuine world class players outside of Rodri and Haaland that you are seeing in our squad by the way?

A couple who are just below in the next bracket that could make the jump (Foden, Reijnders for instance) but we have some bang average players as well (Akanji, Dias, Rico, Nunes, Phillips, Doku) ad some who were there but have fallen off that top level (Stones, Ake, Gundo) . Some others who are just potential (Bobb, Cherki) and nothing more .

Khusonov is the outlier for me - he looks absolute class but cant get on the pitch most of the time. Even in the CWC

Our spine (especially when Rodri is out) is weak as piss.

Where is the Kompany of the group?
Where is the Zabba of the group?
Where is the Yaya of the grouo
Where is the David Silva?

Yes none of these players were as good as they finished when they first stepped on the pitch BUT from the first moment they did you could absolutely see it -they had the mindset/desire/killer insticnt and drive...A lot of our group of players now are soft and dont have this. Look at Grealish - he couldnt handle it- he was for the vast time here bang average whereas Sterling for instance stood up to be counted despite all the shit he took. Its about mindset.
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A sobering post that. I hope you're wrong.
 
The season before Pep arrived City had finished fourth in the PL and he was charged with rejuvenating an ageing squad. In his first season we finished third, Pep and the club continued the task of rebuilding the squad and that season the team raced to 100 points and won the title by a record margin, losing only twice. That doesn't mean we'll repeat the 2017-8 season it does show what Pep is capable of. And for those who write off our chances after Saturday's dismal display and result I would counsel thinking back to the early stages of 2020-1. After a very promising win at Wolves (!) (and a league cup win at home to Bournemouth) a City team patently not match fit and unable to run after a very short lay off got massacred 5-2 at home by Leicester. After 10 games we were in tenth place. At the end of the season we were champions by 12 points! Personally, I can't see us winning the title this season, but you never know. The rebuild may take a season or even longer to bear fruit, but I think we have good reason for optimism.
 
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