Where do people think we sit in terms of club football and the top squads in the world?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pam
  • Start date Start date
on paper the squad is now up there with the best
in reality
domestically - top 2
internationally - not in the top 10, yet, only the roma away game showed the potential we have, all our bayern wins were when it didn't matter to them
big champions league season for us coming up, we have to perform, we can do it, we just have to show it
 
1st Barca
2nd Real Madrid
3rd Bayern
4th City
5th Atletico
6th PSG
7th Chelsea
8th/9th/10th Juve/Arsenal/Roma/Dortmund
 
Best team in the land and all the world...

Apart from Barca, and at a stretch Madrid.
Bayern have a stronger mentality in Europe but if we were in the Bundesliga I think we'd be giving them a run for their money.
 
Damocles said:
Our first choice if one of our starting midfielders is injured is Fernando or Delph.
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But we have the capability of changing the system and still performing well and getting results with either of those players. If Fernando and Delph played centrally we'd be more compact defensively and would still have enough attacking talent to win games.

Look at Real Madrid last season when Modric was injured... in the CL against Juve they played Ramos in the centre in the first game and as that didn't work they then played a ridiculously attacking lineup and had very little balance.

Barca without Messi are just nowhere near the same level. Who comes in if one of their centre backs are injured? What do they do if Suarez is injured? I think Bayern have the best squad - that's to say that they can cope the best if they have injuries.

In terms of starting 11, well that's altogether different. We're a much better side than we were and on the face of things so far, we're up there defensively as one of the best, better than Real and Barca in terms of options in defence. In the attacking sense we're not as good because we don't have Ronaldo/Messi. I'd say we're as good a threat as Bayern now and could go toe to toe with Real. The Messi, Suarez, Neymar combination is the best attacking threat anywhere, but at 20/24 - Sterling, De Bruyne, Aguero can certainly flourish over the season and beyond... especially with Silva and Yaya behind it.
 
aguero93:20 said:
Every team has a problem like that in at least one position.
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I'd argue center mid is the most important position to have real squad depth and comparably our backups are not even EL level.

Said to a mate the other day that I'd probably never say this on here because of the amount of dummy spitting that will occur, but due to our first four games and our excellent options at attacking mid we've become overrated as a squad.

The problems we had in terms of lack of quality don't just disappear in 3 months due to a great start.

Kolarov and Sagna are still not good enough for us in the long term. We still lack top quality up front if Aguero were to become injured, we still have poor depth at centre mid. We still need at least 5 to get to the very highest levels of the Barcas of the world and be covered for all eventualities.

We've got an embarrassment of riches in our attacking mid, a solid backup at center back and had a good start so people have gotten carried away
 
to be fair it has been bothering me how 10 of the 11 from last season seem to be 'so much better' at the start of this season - maybe i'm ignoring the last six games of last season I don't know but fundamentally the 11 on the pitch has barely changed the odds on us winning the league has shortened unbelievable in that time
 
We are in the top 4 for attacking talent.

Suarez
Neymar Iniesta Messi

Benzema
Ronaldo James Bale

Lewandowski
Ribery Muller Robben

Agüero
Sterling Silva De Bruyne

I would personally rate it as followed.

1. Barcelona by a landslide.
2. City/Madrid tied. Aguero is better than Benzema, Silva is better than James. Bale and Ronaldo are excellent though.
4. Robben and Ribery both in their 30's and injury prone. Agüero is better than Lewa. Muller is a class player though.
 
I think we are in the bracket below the current top 3 - Bayern, Real, Barcelona.

Having said that, we have a deeper squad than Barca. But you can't argue with their front 3.

I was at the Bernabeu on Saturday night and got to watch Real in the flesh. They won 5-0 but they didn't really look anything special. The player who most impressed me was Ramos. He looked unbelievable for a centre back. So good with the ball. Isco is also a little tank. He is made for the Premier League. He's little but stocky like Aguero and he protects the ball so well.

Under Benitez I don't see them being clearly better than us but maybe just marginally.

I think we fit in with the likes of Atletico and PSG and probably Chelsea - and I would have said Juve before their exodus this summer.

We play a different style to all of them mind, but quality wise I don't think there is too much in it. It comes down to philosophies as well. We have more talented players than Atletico but they work better than us off the ball and have a more solid system that suits their players.
 
I think this question is skewed by the presence of Ronaldo and Messi at Madrid and Barca. Two freaks of nature both playing at the same time.
 
Damocles said:
I'd argue center mid is the most important position to have real squad depth and comparably our backups are not even EL level.

Said to a mate the other day that I'd probably never say this on here because of the amount of dummy spitting that will occur, but due to our first four games and our excellent options at attacking mid we've become overrated as a squad.

The problems we had in terms of lack of quality don't just disappear in 3 months due to a great start.

Kolarov and Sagna are still not good enough for us in the long term. We still lack top quality up front if Aguero were to become injured, we still have poor depth at centre mid. We still need at least 5 to get to the very highest levels of the Barcas of the world and be covered for all eventualities.

We've got an embarrassment of riches in our attacking mid, a solid backup at center back and had a good start so people have gotten carried away
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Centre mid is important but tbh I really don't think Barca, Real or Bayern's backups are anywhere near the standard of their first team either. The difference between ourselves, Real, Barca and Bayern is that they can coast their domestic leagues to a certain extent and keep their top notch players fresher for big Champions League games and the like. Bayern still have glaring weaknesses at centre half and only one senior striker, Barca have no depth up front outside their outstanding front 3 ( as shown by Rafinha Alcantara playing up front for them in matches this season with Neymar missing), they have Adriano covering their full back positions who isn't even at Sagna's level and Mathieu/Vermaelen covering their centre halves, hardly depth in quality their either. Madrid have Modric and Kroos in a central midfield badly lacking in balance and were reduced to playing Ramos and Isco there last season as their back ups were too poor in quality for Ancelotti to trust, they only have Benzema up front and are reduced to playing attacking mids there when he's injured which has already cost them points this season domestically, they're in the same boat as us, an embarrasment of riches in attacking midfield and good depth at centre half, decent backup full backs but any major injuries to Modric, Kroos or Benzema could wreck their season.
 
While there may be still doubts about our European pedigree we are currently 1/2 to win premiership after 4 games. Chelsea and Arsenal next at both 5/1.
 
We now join the best three in Europe as contenders for the CHampions League. I'd say we are now third having arguably overtaken Bayern.
 
Difficult to answer until we actually do something in the Chumps league but still a long way behind Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona imo.
 
Didsbury Dave said:
We now join the best three in Europe as contenders for the CHampions League. I'd say we are now third having arguably overtaken Bayern.
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See Bayern still a bit ahead of us. Not really in terms of players, but they got Pep. If he should leave them next summer, I can imagine they will have a slump, losing the best coach and players like Ribery, Robben and Lahm.
 
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