Cant help but thinking we got away with it slightly last season mate to be honest. If we had stayed in the champions league we wouldnt have won the league imo as the main stays looked fucked
I said it recently, won't be tired to repeat myself again: There's always hope when I read posts such as this, it means there are indeed people in this forum with an understanding of the situation within the team. Football wise? A major injustice, absolutely. But had we gone through, we probably would have lost everything...
The above regarding the season which has just ended. If we bother to go back a year, I'm afraid I will be unable to acurately explain myself on how fucking grateful I feel towards Arsenal's incompetence, making sure that the league was mathematically won a few matchdays before the end. Thus giving Pep the opportunity to rest some players before the two finals ahead (FA Cup, CL). Naturally, not much was achieved though in terms of freshness, too late, the team was dead. Determination, composure, sacrifice and the strategy of a man MILES, I repeat, MILES ABOVE any manager who has ever walked on this planet, guaranteed those glorious results and the treble...
A team finding solutions without a striker, without fullbacks, without key players, a team operating in slow fucking motion for 4 years in a row, FOUR! And still winning. In a recent post I wrote that when Klopp declares Guardiola as the best by far manager in the industry, it's not because of fucking PR purposes or kindness. Nope, he means it. He has suffered the consequences of his colleague's brilliance in his skin. He will have to live for the rest of his life with those painful memories, wondering, the what ifs: Maddisson not closing down Vincent before that strike vs Leicester ("
close him down, close him down", watch that interview), all his 3 forwards topping the scoring list in the beginning of the spring 2 seasons ago and still City not only winning the league but outscoring Liverpool (while playing without a striker), his team ending second with >90 points again and again, and so on, and so on, and so on. When I wrote that post I wasn't aware of his last prematch press conference that Friday. Where he said, I'm assuming everybody knows it, that without Guardiola City do not win 4 in a row...
Yeah. Well let me correct Herr Klopp, it's even worse for him and others: Take Guardiola out of the equation, City do not even win 1, never mind 4. A team unable to run and accelerate, a team keeping possession and patiently building the killing combination, but also a team keeping possession for the sake of fucking possession, not allowing opposition to run, fucking resting with the ball, dictating the tempo of the match, a team with significant limitations in terms of personnel. And still a team winning. I'm sorry, this has never happened before -and won't happen again...
Yet there are people still debating, regarding the size of the squad, the necessity of strengthening the team etc. Who knows, maybe they need to see people fainting, collapsing on the pitch so as to be convinced. As for City's hierarchy, the message is the same as the one I posted 2 years ago: You either hide behind the manager (who will not ask, never mind demand, that's his "weakness") or support him. The fact he has delivered under unbelievable circumstances does not make things right...
Let me put it this way: It's very easy for me to identify the mistakes in terms of transfer strategy, for example, since the summer of 2016. But if I start talking about the views of certain people in the media, chaos will be created in BM. People who have access in media circles can confirm this stuff. Provided they want to, of course, if they don't, it's OK, I understand. What was discussed when Cancelo left (while not being replaced), for example. You see, nobody ever expected that Guardiola will find a way for City to be competitive, by revitalising Chapman's WM (under his own modern terms, of course), it was totally inconceivable. People with a certain level of knowledge in the industry could not fucking believe their eyes. And then you read morons writing "
fullbacks are overated" in here. Like strikers are overated perhaps? Guardiola is not in the business to cancel the fullback or striker position, you fucking clowns. He is here to win. Introducing effective tactical solutions which will "hide" the absence of a striker or a fullback, for example. Not to mention, how the sales of a certain Mahrez or a certain Laporte (still a Spanish international) were perceived. Their timing ("
why were City in a hurry?"), the money we got (embarrassing, and I'm being extremely moderate here), etc...
You see, the media are largely characterised by ignorance. Also by people following specific agendas. In the context of our discussion, anti City agendas, of course. No matter what others or I will say, there are people who will keep living in their bubble, no doubt about that. Nevertheless the fact remains that media people (I'm referring to those with a certain level of knowledge and understanding in terms of the game itself and / or management) are not around to tell you how to fix things, how to correct your mistakes. Obviously not. On the contrary, they are praying for one thing and one thing only, that is a certain figure eventually feeling too tired to continue (physically, emotionally, mentally) and calling it quits. Why? Well because as that **** Jordan summarised it perfectly, "
there is nobody quite like him"...
Do I need to point out what the club's number 1 priority should be? Do I really? As for reinforcements, just for the record, I fully agree with all posters supporting the obvious: Ideally I would welcome one fullback at least (City face defensive strategies and low blocks 9,5 times out of 10, you need offensive contribution and creativity from all 11), one DM (commenting on this is an insult to this forum's inteligence), one AM (managing the minutes of our one and only world class player, facilitating rotation policies, keeping the team fresh). I am assuming that a certain talented young winger is on his way to Manchester, which is good. Nevertheless I would also prefer another forward, able to operate everywhere across the attacking line -but it's not going to happen. Needless to say, the above requirements should be considered minimum. Because that's what they are: Minimum! And a final thing: Good, competitive reinforcements will strengthen the team, keep the hunger, push existing players (enhancing internal competition). Is it just that? Don't just look at the age of certain key figures in the squad. Remember that this group of players has been fucked for four years in a row, some of them even more. What we have witnessed goes WAY beyond the ordinary definition of the term "professionalism", "work rate" etc, personally I haven't seen anything like this before, never. I mean, not even close. Nevertheless, Kevin, Bernardo, Rodrigo and others are human, you know, and you cannot challenge, never mind beat, nature forever. In the process, nature and football are bound to take their revenge...
