Wreckless Alec said:supercrystal7 said:The Chelsea team was weaker than in the years prior, but was still incredibly strong and in my opinion stronger than any of the current teams. The early Mourinho team and most notably the 2005/6 team was the best the Premier League has ever seen. Chelsea had problems with the manager and Mourinho was sacked, but the players were still virtually the same as before. There are only so many top players to go aroubd. Europe being weak means more top players were attracted to the Premiership. You only need to look to see that Robben, Ronaldo, Mascherano and Alonso all left the league in their primes. No notable world class player was brought in and United just continued to play the same aging team as did Chelsea. It's only City who actually injected new quality in the Premiership.AwayDay said:I dont think 2008 was a golden age for english football, The champions league results were helped a lot by barcelona and bayern munich being in the early stages of rebuilding and real madrid being a shambles.
United had an excellent team, but the chelsea team then was far weaker than the one they had under mourinho the first time, and our team that led the table for 24 out of 38 weeks relied too much on injury prone players like cesc rvp and diaby and mentally weak ones like gallas, adebayor,hleb,eboue. We lost 4-0 at united in the fa cup and 5-1 at spurs in the carling cup, as well as 4-2 at liverpool in the quarter finals of the champions league. That would've been our weakest squad to win the premier league, as will this one be, but what we have now is mentally tougher players and more experienced players at the right age, even if we lack a bit of quality in the strikers department. I would definitely go with this squad ahead of that one that had so little fight in them, both are still not up to scratch and we will probably fall short again, but its nice to be spoken of as title challengers again.
For me the Arsenal team of 08 was more talented, but as you said they lacked fight and mental strength. This Arsenal team has actually had good bit of fight and mental strength for a while. They simply did not have the quality. The run to get fourth in the last two seasons was quite impressive.
As for this season City are the stand out team and it's their title to lose. I don't see much difference in the quality of first teams between Chelsea, United and even Liverpool really. Chelsea and United have the better squads and more experience, whilst Chelsea have the best manager and United probably the worst.
City's title to lose ?? Yes thank you Brendan. What a pathetic piece of deflection. On what basis can that claim be true ? Must be the first time ever that a team has had the title in its hands without actually being top of the league at any stage.
Wreckless Alec said:Not harsh at all. Simply stating the obvious that it is not now, nor has it ever been "city's title to lose". This is a phrase that is becoming common currency through repetition. It suits our closest rivals to propagate the myth so it makes it appear all the more amazing and against the odds should they win it. In fact, City have by far the hardest run in, league cup semi finals, two games against Barca and who knows what else. We do have a very fine squad when they are all fit. Sadly we haven't yet had that privilege.
Blue Coop said:John Cross has just come from Wenger's presser for tomorrows match:
Ramsey out 3 weeks.
Ozil out 2-3 weeks.
Wilshere doubtful.
Giroud out tomorrow.
Gibbs out tomorrow with calf problem.
Walcott doubtful.
Rosicky doubtful.
Vermaelen is ill.
Monreal is ill.
Shame they've got a game they should win.
Well as it stands at the moment it literally is City's, Arsenal's and Chelsea's to lose. All three teams have the title in their hands. They win the remainder of their games and they are crowned champions.Wreckless Alec said:Not harsh at all. Simply stating the obvious that it is not now, nor has it ever been "city's title to lose". This is a phrase that is becoming common currency through repetition. It suits our closest rivals to propagate the myth so it makes it appear all the more amazing and against the odds should they win it. In fact, City have by far the hardest run in, league cup semi finals, two games against Barca and who knows what else. We do have a very fine squad when they are all fit. Sadly we haven't yet had that privilege.
supercrystal7 said:Well as it stands at the moment it literally is City's, Arsenal's and Chelsea's to lose. All three teams have the title in their hands. They win the remainder of their games and they are crowned champions.Wreckless Alec said:Not harsh at all. Simply stating the obvious that it is not now, nor has it ever been "city's title to lose". This is a phrase that is becoming common currency through repetition. It suits our closest rivals to propagate the myth so it makes it appear all the more amazing and against the odds should they win it. In fact, City have by far the hardest run in, league cup semi finals, two games against Barca and who knows what else. We do have a very fine squad when they are all fit. Sadly we haven't yet had that privilege.
However, it's a statement not usually taken literally. You may not like the pressure, but City have the strongest squad with players currently in their primes. Zabaleta, Kompany, Toure, Fernandino, Navas, Silva and Aguero can all make a claim for currently being the best or at worst second best in his position in the league. You bought your players early and gave them a good preseason. Nastacic, Nasri, Hart, Negredo, Dzeko may not be the very best player for their position, but are still of the highest quality. Footballers on average tend to peak from 27-32. The majority of the City squad are 27-30 at this present time and at their peak. You have the greatest depth and the most talented players. If you play to your potential you should win the league.
Other managers might repeat this to play mind games, but it does not make the statement any less true.
If Chelsea or Arsenal manage to win the title then they would have won it against the odds.
Wreckless Alec said:Absolute bollocks ! The sort of thing fans say about someone else to aggrandise their own club's potential achievements, minimise the achievements of their rivals and deflect from their possible failures. Playground stuff.
Nail on the head.Wreckless Alec said:Absolute bollocks ! The sort of thing fans say about someone else to aggrandise their own club's potential achievements, minimise the achievements of their rivals and deflect from their possible failures. Playground stuff.
Gillespie said:A little harsh there, I think. I don't think he was suggesting you had the title won. He is basically stating the bleeding' obvious which is that City are hot favourites to win the title.
I'd say the relative probabilities are around:
City 60%
Chelsea 25%
Arsenal 10%
Others 5%