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

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

This best in the world tag is going to be used against us by detractors in the media and rags alike. Indeed many are talking us up so that (in their eyes) the fall will be harder should the CL not be delivered. "Pep fails to deliver AGAIN" etc

And of course, should we win the CL the response will be "well they were expected to win it given the investment blah blah blah"
Either way, they get their narritive in.

 

[Whether or not]

It is a bit like the GOAT debate, you are never comparing like with like. What I would say though, is that last night watching our centre halves calmly taking the ball on their chest and starting wave after wave of attack, away from home at a top six team from the strongest league in the world, we are pretty damn good by any yardstick.

 

[yankblue]

Ask again in 2 months. We haven't won a fucking thing yet.

 

[Hayley Croppers chopper]

We have to prove it by winning the CL.

That would only make us the best team in Europe.
I have never understood this best in the world phrase thrown about.
How do we compare against all the other leagues around the world.
When it was touted that Van Dyke was the best defender in the world, how do we know their isn't a better one in South America or elsewhere.

I would say we are quite a good team and leave it at that.

 

[Silva Is Magic]

Well we're the best side in the best league in the world. No question.

I don't regard the CL as a test of the best side because it's a Cup that rests on one-off games

Take your point.

But winning any competition we enter into IS what reinforces the argument for "best team in the world".

The argument of us playing in the best league has little impact on how good we should in a tournament format. One demands consistency, the other, quality in crucial moments.

 

[Gordyola]

One of the strongest squads with the best coach and a fantastic set-up The team is in form so yeah at the moment we probably are

 

[vmsuhail]

CL is the only barometer out there to decide that. At the moment I can only see Bayern/PSG on a similar level to us. So the performance in the CL semi-final will be the decider.

 

[vmsuhail]

I would make the same argument about the world cup, and the Euros. The best teams don't always win it. Thake Chelsea the team that won it was nowhere near even the best Chelsea team.

They still beat the best team - Barcelona over 2 legs and Bayern Munich on their home ground. Also beat a decent Napoli side (Hamsik-Cavani-Lavezzi front 3) in the quarter-finals. So very well deserved as are all the CL winners.

 

[Cobwebcat]

Yes we have been for a while. Absolutely zero doubt.

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It’s just that we need the CL for the man in the street to notice.

 

[starshipblooper]

Yes we have been for a while. Absolutely zero doubt.

It’s just that we need the CL for the man in the street to notice.

Agree on the main fact, but being able to close it out on the biggest stage is one of the key tools, and people are waiting to see that to have no more arguments left, but it IS a hole.

 

[Cobwebcat]

Agree on the main fact, but being able to close it out on the biggest stage is one of the key tools, and people are waiting to see that to have no more arguments left, but it IS a hole.

Yes is just a case of winning it once so we have the experience and belief to repeat but some of the teams that have won it are clearly not the best and there is a lot of luck in football as it’s a low scoring game. 538 in particular does a good job at stripping out as much luck as possible. There’s no trophy to prove it though and the CL IS the closest.

 

[Chris in London]

If there was a league consisting of the best dozen teams in the world, I think we would win it.

There isn’t though, there is our domestic league and a series of domestic and international knock out competitions.

Long May it stay that way.

 

[aguero93:20]

We're better than the rags anyway.

 

[hateutd]

Not we r not... not any trophy yet.

 

[Blue Til Death]

Best team in the land and all the world..... That’s a fact

 

[Millo]

We need to win the Champions League to be that!

 

[oakiecokie]

We're better than the rags anyway.

Yes but I picked this gem up from the Cafe :
"I DO NOT believe this team is that much inferior than City"
Fuck me talk about being deluded.

 

[Blue Til Death]

We need to win the Champions League to be that!

No we don’t..

 

[shemnel]

i think when you get to the very top teams, of which we're one, each can be the best on their day. Over a longer term....we'd have to be up there?

 

[blue b4 the moon]

Always remember leaving the ground seeing a teenager who must have had a shirt bought as a present with "The best team in the land or the world" on the back of it.

Still gives me a smile like my mate (Oldham fan) who I took to an evening game a few years ago who said "Can you smell gas?" As we passed the storage tank neat the fire station.