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

[Prater70]

For me, atm we play the best football on the planet. If we win CL being it's undisputable considering the quality of opponents on our side of the draw! No one can say we had a shoe-in to the final.

O

 

[balotellishaircut]

Maybe don't be so precious and you won't get so mad. Take all the petty bullshit away and for 18 months Liverpool were an exceptional football team and a ferocious opponent for City. I think for 12 of those 18 months they were better than us, definitely last season, but we were without Aymeric. A bit like them without VVD.

Still wouldn't want them in a champions league final. Klopp has something on Pep. At Dortmund and now in the Premier League. Thats just fact

Stop talking fucking shit then, you said a full strength Liverpool side “have our number” I just blew that out of the water by mentioning the 2018/19 season which you have conviently forgotten, they were at full strength and City were a Mahrez penalty miss away from doing the double over them.

They were better than City 2019/20 season, the season Var was introduced, for which there left back Robertson admitted they got a lot of Var decisions in there favour, and No Klopp hasn’t got Peps number, it’s all in your mind mate, that doesn’t make it real.

 

[Metalartin]

Stop talking fucking shit then, you said a full strength Liverpool side “have our number” I just blew that out of the water by mentioning the 2018/19 season which you have conviently forgotten, they were at full strength and City were a Mahrez penalty miss away from doing the double over them.

They were better than City 2019/20 season, the season Var was introduced, for which there left back Robertson admitted they got a lot of Var decisions in there favour, and No Klopp hasn’t got Peps number, it’s all in your mind mate, that doesn’t make it real.

Not forgetting how many games KDB missed when we pipped them to the title while they were at full strength. They were not better than us that season, they may have won the CL but so many teams had an off year, including Bayern who were nowhere near the level they were last year. They were better than us last season but that's just as much because we were not at our best. We struggled defensively without Kompany and Laporte and without Fernandinho in midfield.

 

[Pablo ZZZ Peroni]

Maybe don't be so precious and you won't get so mad. Take all the petty bullshit away and for 18 months Liverpool were an exceptional football team and a ferocious opponent for City. I think for 12 of those 18 months they were better than us, definitely last season, but we were without Aymeric. A bit like them without VVD.

Still wouldn't want them in a champions league final. Klopp has something on Pep. At Dortmund and now in the Premier League. Thats just fact

I agree in part with what you say.

They beat us 3 times on the bounce in 17/18 when they stopped our unbeaten run in the league with the 4-3 and the 2 CL wins.

We've played them 7 times since then - 1 CS and 6 in the league. Liverpool and Klopp have won just 1 of those games. VVD played in 5 of them.

 

[nmc]

Whose better than us??????

 

[nmc]

If not we’re pretty close.
I would think we have the best squad though.

Most expensive bench ; )

 

[OB1]

Incredible to say this, but even with all the great players and performances we've had since the takeover, this team, without Kompany, Merlin, Zabba and pretty much Aguero, this is the best football we have played. Great though our players are, the team is still somehow MORE than the sum of its parts.

I hear a lot of comments about "total football" - one of the concepts behind this was that the players could operate anywhere on the pitch. If a full-back makes a lung-busting run up the field, and is out of position, it doesn't matter because the players will rotate and fill the gap and he can operate up top for a while until he naturally returns to his starting position.

Surely this is the closest to the Ajax/Netherlands ideal that football has seen since the 70s? Hell, even Ederson could come into this "any position" lark and I'm pretty sure that even Ajax didn't even manage this!

Ajax didn't as I recall in their original heyday have a keeper with anything like the ball skills of Eddie but when Cryuff managed them, he did use a keeper who was definitely there for his ability to play with his feet rather then great technical goalkeeping ability.

At the end of Jonathan Wilson's book "Inverting The Pyramid - The History of Football Tactics" it discusses the possibility of the development of striker-less teams and 4-6-0 formations. The word universality is used a lot too; particularly in connection with Total Football. I wrote a few weeks ago that one of our striker-less formations was the closest thing to Total Football for many a year but maybe it is closer even than those Ajax / Netherlands sides of the '70's.

I was amused by Stuart Brennan's reference to inserted centre backs when talking about Laporte and Stones striding forward in recent games.

Pep may actually be close to creating a new zenith for Total Football. I truly hope that he is and that this team will become widely recognised as the best in the world but some interesting comments again from Wilson's book, which I'm paraphrasing here refer to quotes from Jorge Valdano about results not being paramount to what people remember about teams, fro example Sacchi's AC Milan are remembered more than Capello's more successful one and the Dutch side of the 70's being far more legendary that the West German one that beat them in the World Cup Final.

Hopefully Pep's City will become legendary for both how they play and for being record breakers.

 

[Brad mcfc]

We have always been the best team in the land and all the world.

 

[Esteban de la Sexface]

Stop talking fucking shit then, you said a full strength Liverpool side “have our number” I just blew that out of the water by mentioning the 2018/19 season which you have conviently forgotten, they were at full strength and City were a Mahrez penalty miss away from doing the double over them.

They were better than City 2019/20 season, the season Var was introduced, for which there left back Robertson admitted they got a lot of Var decisions in there favour, and No Klopp hasn’t got Peps number, it’s all in your mind mate, that doesn’t make it real.

Grow up you man child

 

[RobMCFC]

Ajax didn't as I recall in their original heyday have a keeper with anything like the ball skills of Eddie but when Cryuff managed them, he did use a keeper who was definitely there for his ability to play with his feet rather then great technical goalkeeping ability.

At the end of Jonathan Wilson's book "Inverting The Pyramid - The History of Football Tactics" it discusses the possibility of the development of striker-less teams and 4-6-0 formations. The word universality is used a lot too; particularly in connection with Total Football. I wrote a few weeks ago that one of our striker-less formations was the closest thing to Total Football for many a year but maybe it is closer even than those Ajax / Netherlands sides of the '70's.

I was amused by Stuart Brennan's reference to inserted centre backs when talking about Laporte and Stones striding forward in recent games.

Pep may actually be close to creating a new zenith for Total Football. I truly hope that he is and that this team will become widely recognised as the best in the world but some interesting comments again from Wilson's book, which I'm paraphrasing here refer to quotes from Jorge Valdano about results not being paramount to what people remember about teams, fro example Sacchi's AC Milan are remembered more than Capello's more successful one and the Dutch side of the 70's being far more legendary that the West German one that beat them in the World Cup Final.

Hopefully Pep's City will become legendary for both how they play and for being record breakers.

I’m a bit young to remember the Ajax team of the 70s and Holland in 74, but I remember being in awe of their 78 team (that didn’t actually feature Cruyff) watching my first World Cup.

I did learn quite a bit about Total Football reading a book called “Brilliant Orange” which I can recommend.

But watching Pep’s team this season has been brilliant. From the shaky early performances to how he has fine-tuned the team as the months have rolled on has been an education in not making hasty judgements.