Is our cycle of dominance coming to an end?

Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese said:
Not read the rest of the thread but the answer is no. Quite simply the rags and dippers have not suffered enough to redress karmic force in the universe so our dominance must continue.
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both scums finishing outside the top 4 many times i would say hurts them most of all
manchester city change football in england our dominance really did affect both scum to a point they had to change the rules
 
Unfortunately, yes.

Think we’ve declined since 2017-18+2018-19. Agüero, Fernandinho, Otamendi all that bit older. Silva and Kompany gone. As well as de Bruyne close to 30, you’re talking about our most important players in getting 8 trophies and 198 points in two years.

Look around the squad now and see hardly any leaders, if any.

In the Centurions season I looked around the team and we had great balance to the team with Sterling and Sané either side of Agüero. And the best midfield in the world behind them in Fernandinho, DSilva and de Bruyne.

I can’t say the same about the balance of our attack and certainly not our midfield anymore. If de Bruyne ever gets suspended or injured (and because Pep refuses to play BSilva in midfield, where he plays his best football), our midfield is ordinary.

Everyone bemoans Stones and Otamendi but I think both of them are better than Laporte in big games. Laporte hasn’t got the bottle for big games, makes more mistakes in them than any other player in the squad. But everyone looks at Laporte as our first choice centre half.

Anything can happen in the Cups though I suppose but think we’ll easily finish a good 12-15 points behind Liverpool and might not even be second. And any sustained periods without de Bruyne and Agüero and I’d fear we wouldn’t finish top4.
 
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Everyone bangs on about how bad our defence is. I completely agree we still need to replace Kompany but believe Pep has to take his share of the blame for the current state of our defence and the fact in recent times he never keeps the same back four. At the start of 18/19 when we last won the league Pep actually did the opposite for the first 8 games and stuck with a back 4 of Walker, Stones, Laporte and Mendy with Fernandinho sitting in front. In those 8 games with a settled back 4, we kept 6 clean sheets (a Premier League record) including a 0-0 at Anfield where Salah, Firminho and Mane barely had a chance. This back 4 with Fernandinho screening was clearly working for us and in my opinion we looked the most solid defensively we have ever looked in Premier League history. Stones looked a million dollars after a solid run of games behind him and those in the media including Gary Neville believed his partnership with Laporte could serve us well for the next decade or more. But then Pep became Pep and started tinkering and playing Otamendi here and there instead of Stones who then lost form and that back 4 was never seen together again. I just wonder where we would now be if Pep had continued with that consistent back 4 with Fernandinho screening in front and not being converted into a defender which has been an unmitigated disaster......
 
Have I missed something or have we clearly made another massive error in the transfer market allowing Jack Harrison to go back on loan to Leeds this season? He is a left footed left winger which we don’t have after selling Sane, was their best player last season and has just smashed one in against Liverpool which is obviously great but why the hell have we not kept him here after letting Sane go?!? And we still haven’t replaced and don’t look like we’re going to replace Kompany
 
Will we win as many trophies as we had in the last decade? Probably not. But if there is anything that makes me feel optimistic about our club is its ambition. I doubt we'd go down the same downward spiral that the rags have gone through after baconface fecked off. There's plenty to be feel good about. Our academy is top-notch. We remain prudent in our signings. Every once in a while we find diamonds like KDB in the rough. And finally, the owners are invested.
 
We have been successful with pretty much 2 teams with only a handful of players playing for both, the key will be replacing Agüero there is a reason goalscorers are so much more expensive than anyone else, if we are able to do that we are in pretty good shape, although I doubt we will win as much over the next ten years as the last, if we do that would be remarkable
 
Of course it isn’t. We have a great squad, a great manager, a great set of senior execs, a great academy and, most important of all, lots of money. We are the envy of the whole league, including our current rivals Liverpool.
 
Psychedelic Casual said:
Unfortunately, yes.

Think we’ve declined since 2017-18+2018-19. Agüero, Fernandinho, Otamendi all that bit older. Silva and Kompany gone. As well as de Bruyne close to 30, you’re talking about our most important players in getting 8 trophies and 198 points in two years.

Look around the squad now and see hardly any leaders, if any.

In the Centurions season I looked around the team and we had great balance to the team with Sterling and Sané either side of Agüero. And the best midfield in the world behind them in Fernandinho, DSilva and de Bruyne.

I can’t say the same about the balance of our attack and certainly not our midfield anymore. If de Bruyne ever gets suspended or injured (and because Pep refuses to play BSilva in midfield, where he plays his best football), our midfield is ordinary.

Everyone bemoans Stones and Otamendi but I think both of them are better than Laporte in big games. Laporte hasn’t got the bottle for big games, makes more mistakes in them than any other player in the squad. But everyone looks at Laporte as our first choice centre half.

Anything can happen in the Cups though I suppose but think we’ll easily finish a good 12-15 points behind Liverpool and might not even be second. And any sustained periods without de Bruyne and Agüero and I’d fear we wouldn’t finish top4.
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Saved me a post. I don’t quite agree about Laporte, if only because Otamendi and Stones are pretty much guaranteed to gift the opposition half a dozen goals a season between them, but I do think he’s been well below par since he returned from injury.
As a team, I think we’ve got several square pegs in round holes in respect of the way we play. We defend on halfway, yet have a plethora of central defenders lacking the pace and power to deal with counterattacking teams, we base our own defending on pressing, yet often start with two midfielders (Rodri and Gundogan), who lack the legs to press effectively, we still don’t have a decent left back, and when buses get parked we end up spamming crosses to attacking players giving away 6 or 7 inches in height.
Unless we address some of those issues, and especially the lack of a truly dominant and quick centre half, like you I don’t think we’ll get anywhere near Liverpool. Buy Koulibaly and Aouar and we can push them all the way. Buy no-one else and we’ll have a fight on our hands to finish top 4
 
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