Comparisons - so what?

[cibaman]

Its fucking mental, if someone did have a time machine and managed to bring that 98/99 rag team to 2023 even the current rag side would dick them never mind city. That 99 rag side would struggle against Southampton 23 so is the way the game has evolved.

To be fair, you should only judge a team in the era it played.

But these “best of“ teams usually include United players based on the best seasons of their career, not just 98/99. For example, they always include Scholes and Giggs. Scholes wasn’t an automatic first choice in 98/99. He shared his position with Butt who often started the trickier matches. And Giggs missed nearly half the season through injuries. Until his goal against Arsenal many United fans were suggesting they should move him on because he was too unreliable.

 

[Stevieatlasblue]

Both clubs deserve it as far as I’m concerned. I think ours if we do it I’d say definitely a better class of doing it as this team is the best ever. It’s better football and nailed on we would beat their treble winning side anyday or any other team including Barca

 

[Kinkys Left Foot]

Not a flicker on the "give a fuckometer".

Each has its own place in time.
As will ours if we win it.

Comparisons are just talking points for media wankers and partisan hacks.

 

[East Level 2]

The only bit of hard evidence is the PL table which clearly shows City 2023 to be better than rags 1999.
It's impossible to determine whether the PL was tougher in the past, so points won is the decider. We also scored more and conceded fewer than they did in 1999.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

The Rags won their title in 1999 with 79 points winning only 23 league games , they beat a relegation fodder Newcastle in the FA Cup Final and they should have been 0-4 down in the Champs league final , did Bayern hit the woodwork five times ?? and then they scabbed two injury time goals.
In comparison we won 28 league games , comfortably beat a top three team in the FA Cup final and the jury is out on the Champs league final.
But if we do win the treble our achievement is infinitely superior to the Rags scrapping and scraping to their treble , this City team is levels above the '99 Rag team , but the media is driven by Rags and Dippers so any factual comparsion will never be presented.
City best team in the land and all the world ..........ever.

 

[There is a Light]

The Rags won their title in 1999 with 79 points winning only 23 league games , they beat a relegation fodder Newcastle in the FA Cup Final and they should have been 0-4 down in the Champs league final , did Bayern hit the woodwork five times ?? and then they scabbed two injury time goals.
In comparison we won 28 league games , comfortably beat a top three team in the FA Cup final and the jury is out on the Champs league final.
But if we do win the treble our achievement is infinitely superior to the Rags scrapping and scraping to their treble , this City team is levels above the '99 Rag team , but the media is driven by Rags and Dippers so any factual comparsion will never be presented.
City best team in the land and all the world ..........ever.

The arguments are stupid, but you’re 100% right.

City probably have had better teams that didn’t win all three and so have United. It just takes one slip, stupid result or incompetent referee performance and it’s over.

 

[I'm Blue]

 

[Paladin]

I don't want to preempt anything, but City could be the first English champions to ever achieve the treble. Other English teams may have won the treble, but not having entered the CL as English champions.

 

[Axel Freed]

The utterly delicious cherry atop the icing on the cake of our treble (if we do it) will always be that we beat those cunts in the final. They had a chance to stop us and they couldn’t. Knowing that they’ll always regret that makes me feel all warm inside.

In 99 Newcastle offered only token resistance in the cup final whereas we had to battle past an absolutely rabid rag team desperate to stop us, ably assisted by predictably shocking officials. Chalk and cheese.

 

[khoitnm]

Lots of people are prematurely comparing Utd 1999 with City 2023. I’d urge all Blues to avoid these sorts of meaningless debates. Even if City do pull off an amazing treble this week it’s not worth getting embroiled in a debate that is ridiculous.

To be frank you’ve got to be well in your 30s or above to even stand a chance of debating it and even then so what? I was somewhat frustrated that the post match phone ins after Wembley were all about comparing Utd 99 with City 23 instead of concentrating on how great City 23 is. I’ve posted an article saying why it’s pointless (yeah, I know. Even writing an article on why it’s pointless is pointless but I’ve had enough of it all). Some of what I say may be useful if you get embroiled in an argument.

Key thing to remember is that some keep going on about when Utd were winning their treble in 99 City were achieving promotion. Well guess what? 24 years before 99 Utd were achieving promotion.

Anyway, here’s the piece:

2023, 1999 & 1975 Comparisons – Any Point?

Driving back from Wembley last Saturday both Talksport and BBC Radio 5 Live had phone-in shows where the question kept being brought up about comparing Manchester United’s treble in 1999 with…

gjfootballarchive.com

Something else I’ve written about recently is the span of success. City are second in this. Again, it’s a so what? But rival fans go on about a history of success, we’ll only 1 club has a longer span of success than City.

The Span of Success 2023

Ahead of West Ham’s European final tomorrow night (7 June) I thought I’d post the latest update to the table showing the span of success – i.e. the number of years between a club&…

gjfootballarchive.com

In terms of what's right and wrong, I agree, it doesn't matter.

But for the sake of a forum that needs discussion, maybe it's not a bad thing to make the forum active. Well, at least at this moment when people still spend time talking about something much less important, having topics like that is not the worse. I agree though when people (in general) improve their rational, critical thinking, there will be much more exciting and useful topics to talk about. It's just that people still don't have enough patience to think and discuss more advanced topics logically, so yeah, I'd say, give people time to improve.

Btw, your thread is also very good, and thank you for that.