daztrueblue91
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 4 Jun 2009
- Messages
- 4,238
I was talking to a mate the other day about the takeover and I noticed that the last 'elite' player we signed was Aguero, nearly four seasons ago. Since then we have spent around £180 million on players and none of them have gone on to become part of the spine of our team.
The key players in our side are exactly the same ones who won the league under Mancini. Now whilst its a good thing that we have kept our key players, you could also argue that our current team is actually weaker than the one we had under Bobby.
Jovetic is not a patch on Tevez, Fernando is not better than De Jong and Mangala is not currently as solid as a defender as Lescott was. Now whilst there are some upgrades such as Fernandinho and Navas being better than Barry and Johnson, overall I'd personally say we are a weaker side. If not weaker we are certainly not a much better side.
That leads me to our transfer business. Funds have been available to bring in top class players but instead we have gone for quantity over quality. The season after Mancini won the league was a disaster. We blew £50+ million on awful players none of which are in our plans when Hazard was available. Likewise this summer we could have had Sanchez or Fabregas both of whom would have took us to another level but instead opted for Mangala.
People can argue until their blue in the face that a CB was a priority however when players like Sanchez or Fabregas become available you get them. We would be much stronger with either of them two and keeping Lescott for another season.
IMO we have rested on our laurels again just like we did under Mancini. Both times we won the league we did it coming off the back of the collapse of a title challenger. That's not me knocking our achievements, but we have never dominated like Chelsea, Arsenal or United. Also both times we have won the league we have been in a position to dominate but instead of going for the kill and adding top class players to the team we have gone for potential. When we storm the league by 8 points then add the potential but when we are sealing the title on the last day then improve the team as much as possible.
The key players in our side are exactly the same ones who won the league under Mancini. Now whilst its a good thing that we have kept our key players, you could also argue that our current team is actually weaker than the one we had under Bobby.
Jovetic is not a patch on Tevez, Fernando is not better than De Jong and Mangala is not currently as solid as a defender as Lescott was. Now whilst there are some upgrades such as Fernandinho and Navas being better than Barry and Johnson, overall I'd personally say we are a weaker side. If not weaker we are certainly not a much better side.
That leads me to our transfer business. Funds have been available to bring in top class players but instead we have gone for quantity over quality. The season after Mancini won the league was a disaster. We blew £50+ million on awful players none of which are in our plans when Hazard was available. Likewise this summer we could have had Sanchez or Fabregas both of whom would have took us to another level but instead opted for Mangala.
People can argue until their blue in the face that a CB was a priority however when players like Sanchez or Fabregas become available you get them. We would be much stronger with either of them two and keeping Lescott for another season.
IMO we have rested on our laurels again just like we did under Mancini. Both times we won the league we did it coming off the back of the collapse of a title challenger. That's not me knocking our achievements, but we have never dominated like Chelsea, Arsenal or United. Also both times we have won the league we have been in a position to dominate but instead of going for the kill and adding top class players to the team we have gone for potential. When we storm the league by 8 points then add the potential but when we are sealing the title on the last day then improve the team as much as possible.