Probably formed his opinion about 10 years ago when Johnny played a couple of bad passes and MotD said he was no good. Then missed the next decade where Stones was influential in City winning trophy after trophy. One of the most decorated English players of all time. Stands amongst the greats of English football while some narrow minded Tarquin thinks a couple of their no mark defenders are better than him.You are a prolific poster but your comment about Stones tells me that you don't have a clue about football.
I reckon that Rory Delap, John Fashanu, Ray Harford and Vinnie Jones would all have got in the present Arsenal team. Seriously!Calafiori is a decent player but you have O'Reilly who looks quality so not really a need for him. Rice doesn't get in if Rodri is back at peak. Re Saliba, not only does he get into your side but his understudy Mosquera also would, and then if Mosquera got injured then the other replacement Hincapie also does. All 3 would walk in ahead of Stones. I really like Gvardiol so I exclude Mosquera/Hincapie comparisons with him although I think Saliba is better. All IMHO of course.
You are a prolific poster but your comment about Stones tells me that you don't have a clue about football.
Mate, it’s probably best you leave the comparisons to us until your team have actually won a PL title under Arteta. My own view is that the only member of your squad that would get anywhere near ours is your set piece coach and his tactics wouldn’t work for us as we would get penalised every time. Just a lapse of judgement mate and most unlike you.
If you look at things logically, and not through the prism of a City or Arsenal fan, about 5 years ago there was a massive gap in quality between City and Arsenal, there wouldn't be a single Arsenal player even in the conversation of a combined team.
Over the next few years Arsenal started adding quality to the point that they ended up becoming City's rivals in the league. Then over the last couple of years City have dropped from 1st to 3rd, and I don't think it's outlandish to say that's because in these transition seasons the players they've brought in aren't as good as the players they have replaced, (YET) which were some of the greatest the league has seen.
So while I'm not a big fan of the combined XI chat, it would at least be debatable now when it certainly wasn't before surely?
Ha, excellent!I think you may have a point about Stones, he wouldn't flourish at Arsenal or the Dippers. Whilst he gets his fair share of set piece goals, his value is his ability to play football and get involved in play rather than getting on the end of a long throw. He would be completely wasted at either team, as well as the old Stoke and Wimbledon teams.
If you look at things logically, and not through the prism of a City or Arsenal fan, about 5 years ago there was a massive gap in quality between City and Arsenal, there wouldn't be a single Arsenal player even in the conversation of a combined team.
Over the next few years Arsenal started adding quality to the point that they ended up becoming City's rivals in the league. Then over the last couple of years City have dropped from 1st to 3rd, and I don't think it's outlandish to say that's because in these transition seasons the players they've brought in aren't as good as the players they have replaced, (YET) which were some of the greatest the league has seen.
So while I'm not a big fan of the combined XI chat, it would at least be debatable now when it certainly wasn't before surely?
Debatable is a little better than what @bridgeno1 asserted. Arsenal have some fine players but of your starters, Saka I would take if we could cleanse him of his cheating and diving. That’s about it.Finally, objectively if a team of the season was put together now, more Arsenal players would be in it than City players.
From an Arsenal perspective I'd take Haaland, Doku, Foden, Gvardiol (at LB not at CB) and a fully fit Rodri. Toss up between Donarumma (amazing shot stopper) and Raya (better at playing out).Debatable is a little better than what @bridgeno1 asserted. Arsenal have some fine players but of your starters, Saka I would take if we could cleanse him of his cheating and diving. That’s about it.
City lost Rodri last season. That's the single biggest reason we didn't win 85+ pts.
The players we've signed since 2023 may look average compared to older legends. Some City fans think/thought we have failed in the transfer market. But so did many back in November 2020 when we were midtable. We won the league, the league cup, reached the CL final and the FA Cup semi that same season (20/21).
I think our new players (since the summer of 2023) are excellent, but many fans or pundits don't know it yet. That's good, it's better to fly under the radar.
Debatable is a little better than what @bridgeno1 asserted. Arsenal have some fine players but of your starters, Saka I would take if we could cleanse him of his cheating and diving. That’s about it.
Apologies, somehow my stupid head thought you were 3rd two seasons getting mixed up with the Scousers before they won it! I mean, it isn't difficult to remember who beat us to the first 2 league titles.
So yeah, your point about Rodri is a very valid point.
By the way, I'm by no means slating your signings, I've a lot of time for guys like Cherki, and they could go to become very good signings. But let's be honest, they will have to go some to get near the levels of the guys like prime Walker, De Bruyne, Stones and even the players like Mahrez that they have replaced / replacing.
Here's Busquets putting it on a plate for Messi.Gabriel supposedly off injured and calafiori sent home, they have more than enough cover but that's a blow for Arsenal if they don't both miraculously recover and start their next game like usual.
Sorry mate but calling Eze's finish easy because of a relatively simple but perfectly weighted lay off from Foden is a bit much. The perfect set up certainly aided him but that was a superb finish
See why Gabriel faked his injury! Game Tuesday away!
Come back when Arsenal have won somethingIf you look at things logically, and not through the prism of a City or Arsenal fan, about 5 years ago there was a massive gap in quality between City and Arsenal, there wouldn't be a single Arsenal player even in the conversation of a combined team.
Over the next few years Arsenal started adding quality to the point that they ended up becoming City's rivals in the league. Then over the last couple of years City have dropped from 1st to 3rd, and I don't think it's outlandish to say that's because in these transition seasons the players they've brought in aren't as good as the players they have replaced, (YET) which were some of the greatest the league has seen.
So while I'm not a big fan of the combined XI chat, it would at least be debatable now when it certainly wasn't before surely?
English Beckenbauer I like that. Probably the most accurate description of Stones so far.It's a stupid comment about Stones, but there's a huge gap between how most City and non-City fans see him. There's a bit of a cult surrounding Stones to the extent some think he's City's best ever defender (under Pep at least), sort of the English Beckenbauer. That's as exaggerated as the opinion of those non-City fans who think he's decent but nothing special. Obviously, he has had great seasons, not just decent: say, 20/21 and 22/23.
The truth is nobody knows what the current version of Stones can offer. He might play himself back in the starting XI come the 2nd half of the season, or he might remain a squad player and leave in the summer. Given that we let KDB go, wouldn't be too surprised if City didn't offer Stones a new contract. If he stays mostly fit this season, chances are we'll offer him a short contract. Nobody knows.
I'd take Gvardiol on the left TBF ahead of Calafiori. Man's an absolute beast and would charge forward and be a menace in our formation.It's the same from an Arsenal perspective mind you, and obviously when fans of either team are doing it, these bias might cloud proper judgement.
For instance, I don't think I'd swap any of our back 4 with the current version of City's back 4.
Prime Rodri would obviously walk into any team in the world, but we don't know what levels Rodri returning from serious injury will be. At the same time I'm very happy with Zubimendi and Rice. Odegaard is coming off injury and a poor season so yeah,m he would be up for debate, but I wouldn't swap Saka for City's alternatives yet on the right side. Left hand side is much more up for debate obviously and there's absolutely no debate about Haaland.
And he’s been there 3 years and they have not even qualified for a cup final. All this during a time when both City & Liverpool are nowhere near the forces they were a few years back.Well, the current top team in England paid £100M for him and he’s been one of the first names on the England team sheet for multiple managers, so I guess others see him slightly differently.
I don’t really rate Arsenal.I rate Declan Rice as one of Arsenal's best players.
Looking at this probably a Grade 2 maximum as if it was Grade 3 he wouldn't be able to walk.Tbf I think this one's legit, their game is only in Lille on Tuesday, looked like he pulled up whilst running.
We'll know soon enough but anything near a grade 2 tear and he'll be lucky to play before Xmas.