Everton (A) - Sun 14th May, 14:00 | Pre-Match Thread

[Haaland94]

People want us to beat Everton because they don't want the nail biting finish we had last season where it went down to the wire. We don't need to beat them. We can lose to them as long as we win our final three games. We need to beat Real Madrid. Losing another semi final will be hugely demoralising for players and fans alike. You've got two Milan teams the other side of the draw who are inconsistent and who we can beat if we're at our best. Certainly more favourable than many of the other sides we could potentially face in a final.

It could be 120 minutes on Wednesday. We need to be fit, fresh and ready for it. We might not get this opportunity again. We won the league last season and the season before it. We can win it next. It's not hanging over us. The CL has to be the priority. Make changes and we can still beat Everton. 5 wins at home all season, it's not a bad away game to have. Only Leicester and Southampton have been worse at home this season than them.

This.
It was, is, and always will be. The mentality of some people here is let's beat our "rivals", Arsenal, Liverpool, United, and so on, to the title. We are way past that point. We win the league on a regular basis, and whether we win it this season or not, everyone in England will still think we are the best team, not Arsenal (we will win, so it won't be an issue anyway). In a way, don't we all laugh at small teams participating in the "We beat Man City Cup", for example, Spurs. Elite teams, the ones among the best in the world, fight for the holy grail of club football, the Champions League trophy, as the main priority. It is every young player's dream on the club level which is why it's Haaland's alarm clock in the morning. The competition might be corrupt, and so is the Premier League, but the Champions League is the most prestigious club competition in the world. Ask any average fan around the world, who is the best team in the world, and they will always pick the Champions League winner. That's why we still lack respect in the eyes of Madrid fans, Bayern fans, Barcelona fans, etc. They don't care about our Premier League success because we are yet to beat them to the CL trophy. That's why Pep feels his time here won't be fully successful until he wins it, probably more than once too.

 

[Cobwebcat]

People want us to beat Everton because they don't want the nail biting finish we had last season where it went down to the wire. We don't need to beat them. We can lose to them as long as we win our final three games. We need to beat Real Madrid. Losing another semi final will be hugely demoralising for players and fans alike. You've got two Milan teams the other side of the draw who are inconsistent and who we can beat if we're at our best. Certainly more favourable than many of the other sides we could potentially face in a final.

It could be 120 minutes on Wednesday. We need to be fit, fresh and ready for it. We might not get this opportunity again. We won the league last season and the season before it. We can win it next. It's not hanging over us. The CL has to be the priority. Make changes and we can still beat Everton. 5 wins at home all season, it's not a bad away game to have. Only Leicester and Southampton have been worse at home this season than them.

Correct

 

[youngbob]

Everton will think what they did to Brighton they can do to City. They'll start full of confidence , chasing every ball getting stuck in, in our faces. Just weather the storm for 20-30 minutes then crack on

Or they'll start too aggressive and leave loads of spaces for us to exploit.

 

[supercity88]

This.
It was, is, and always will be. The mentality of some people here is let's beat our "rivals", Arsenal, Liverpool, United, and so on, to the title. We are way past that point. We win the league on a regular basis, and whether we win it this season or not, everyone in England will still think we are the best team, not Arsenal (we will win, so it won't be an issue anyway). In a way, don't we all laugh at small teams participating in the "We beat Man City Cup", for example, Spurs. Elite teams, the ones among the best in the world, fight for the holy grail of club football, the Champions League trophy, as the main priority. It is every young player's dream which is why it's Haaland's alarm clock in the morning. The competition might be corrupt, and so is the Premier League, but the Champions League is the most prestigious club competition in the world. Ask any average fan around the world, who is the best team in the world, and they will always pick the Champions League winner. That's why we still lack respect in the eyes of Madrid fans, Bayern fans, Barcelona fans, etc. They don't care about the Premier League because we are yet to beat them to the CL trophy. That's why Pep feels his time here won't be a full-on success until he wins it, probably more than once too.

Exactly, and whilst many fans don't like the competition still, it's something that we really need to win to cement our place as a top team in the eyes of young players across Europe. Pep will not be here forever and when he goes, like it or not, we lost a lot of pulling power. We're based in a City that doesn't offer what other locations can. We don't pay more than other teams as it's not our model. What we do offer is a well run club from grass roots up but it culminates in the best manager in the world and once he goes plenty may decide on other options above us. But winning the CL and that changes things, it will win us a lot of respect across Europe and we'll go from a very good side to the very best side.

 

[Cobwebcat]

The next game is always, and should always be, the primary focus. Look too far ahead and you can get cocky and underestimate the next opponent, taking your eye off the ball. We've got the media hiding in the proverbial bushes waiting for us to slip up and pounce with unbridled glee at any misfortune. For God's sake they've already gone to town over Alfie Haaland throwing peanuts at someone lol! Just think what they'll do if Everton win and our performance is not good enough.

Go hard, go full strength, punish them.

It sounds good but it’s not true. Pep rotates the smallest squad in the PL. If we went full strength every game we would have a lot more injuries and would not have got this far, we even rested Ederson recently.

I really could not give a monkeys what the media write, it doesn’t affect our performance.

 

[Haaland94]

Exactly, and whilst many fans don't like the competition still, it's something that we really need to win to cement our place as a top team in the eyes of young players across Europe. Pep will not be here forever and when he goes, like it or not, we lost a lot of pulling power. We're based in a City that doesn't offer what other locations can. We don't pay more than other teams as it's not our model. What we do offer is a well run club from grass roots up but it culminates in the best manager in the world and once he goes plenty may decide on other options above us. But winning the CL and that changes things, it will win us a lot of respect across Europe and we'll go from a very good side to the very best side.

Best post in this thread yet, LONG-TERM thinking. To all of you wanting to win the Premier League ahead of the Champions League, fine, THIS is the way to make sure we win as many titles as possible in the future :). We will still win it this year anyway :).

 

[Blue and true]

This.
It was, is, and always will be. The mentality of some people here is let's beat our "rivals", Arsenal, Liverpool, United, and so on, to the title. We are way past that point. We win the league on a regular basis, and whether we win it this season or not, everyone in England will still think we are the best team, not Arsenal (we will win, so it won't be an issue anyway). In a way, don't we all laugh at small teams participating in the "We beat Man City Cup", for example, Spurs. Elite teams, the ones among the best in the world, fight for the holy grail of club football, the Champions League trophy, as the main priority. It is every young player's dream on the club level which is why it's Haaland's alarm clock in the morning. The competition might be corrupt, and so is the Premier League, but the Champions League is the most prestigious club competition in the world. Ask any average fan around the world, who is the best team in the world, and they will always pick the Champions League winner. That's why we still lack respect in the eyes of Madrid fans, Bayern fans, Barcelona fans, etc. They don't care about our Premier League success because we are yet to beat them to the CL trophy. That's why Pep feels his time here won't be fully successful until he wins it, probably more than once too.

Couldn't agree more. I would add; if our players were asked whether they'd prefer a Prem medal or a CL medal, every single one of them would say a CL medal. And that will be in Pep's and the club's thinking going into this fateful month.

 

[uwe rosler 28]

Everton won't be trying to kick lumps out of us for those thinking they will. Probably a couple points of safety last thing they need is to be playing against us with 10 men and then missing key player or players in remaining games.

 

[Mancini’s Pastilles]

Depends are you an England international footballer?

Nope. But im currently providing the same amount of cover as this highly paid England International

 

[alexmcity]

People want us to beat Everton because they don't want the nail biting finish we had last season where it went down to the wire. We don't need to beat them. We can lose to them as long as we win our final three games. We need to beat Real Madrid. Losing another semi final will be hugely demoralising for players and fans alike. You've got two Milan teams the other side of the draw who are inconsistent and who we can beat if we're at our best. Certainly more favourable than many of the other sides we could potentially face in a final.

It could be 120 minutes on Wednesday. We need to be fit, fresh and ready for it. We might not get this opportunity again. We won the league last season and the season before it. We can win it next. It's not hanging over us. The CL has to be the priority. Make changes and we can still beat Everton. 5 wins at home all season, it's not a bad away game to have. Only Leicester and Southampton have been worse at home this season than them.

Couldn't agree more.