Manchester City made the most of home advantage last season and Pep Guardiola hopes they will again despite growing issues
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
'City have not lost any of their last 38 games at the Etihad with 33 wins and five draws in that time, a run dating back to November 2022. This season they can surpass the club record of 42 unbeaten set at
Hyde Road over a century ago
These runs seems implausibly difficult to achieve if the fans had not helped the team. As Jack Grealish said this week ahead of their meeting with Arsenal: "I just feel that when teams come to the Etihad, I feel like we always make it difficult for them."
As with any club, the atmosphere tends to be better for the biggest games and there are plenty of matches early in the season where there is less noise. However, Guardiola got more than he wanted in the recent derby when there was impatience over the time City were taking to build play up.
The manager would always rather more noise than not - even boos - and he has asked fans to repeat their levels from the United match for the big games in the run-in against Arsenal, Villa, Real Madrid and the rest. A coach who wants every advantage possible will leave no stone unturned.
He will probably get it, yet the decision by the club in the international break to sneak out season ticket rises for next season has left significant bad blood. All four of the organised supporter groups have come out strongly against it, with 1894 declaring it a 'battle for the heart and soul of the club'.
The manager would always rather more noise than not - even boos - and he has asked fans to repeat their levels from the United match for the big games in the run-in against Arsenal, Villa, Real Madrid and the rest. A coach who wants every advantage possible will leave no stone unturned.
As the fans see it, serial price rises against the backdrop of record revenues and profits are designed not to retain the value of tickets by driving it up but to drive out loyal season ticket holders in return for more money at the expense of atmosphere. And if the club have that strategy when they extend the North Stand, it will only get more difficult to improve or even retain the noise at the Etihad.
The club may be able to hold off the growing dissent for the time being, and the anger of supporters may even work in the team's favour in the short-term; the
Premier League charges certainly added an extra bite to the Etihad last season. However, if Arsenal and Real Madrid can still expect a cauldron similar to last year in the coming weeks, beyond that more change at the stadium could well sweep in more uncertainty.'
So says the M.E.N. Either way, C'MON BLUES!!!