OK, let's be realistic

AFCAndy said:
I hate that type of thing. Pep is arguably the best manager of all time. Imagine wanting him out. Not only that but he's given you the very best years you'll ever have. He deserves loyalty, even if the grass looks greener elsewhere

We had some hard years at Arsenal. I was never ever Wenger Out and always thought he deserved a rebuild. He was our best ever manager and gave us our best years. In truth the game probably had progressed abit and he did rest on his laurels. But I absolutely hate the entitled fans who hounded him out. Disgusting behaviour

As a rival fan, I believe you've gone from having the easily the best recruitment to significantly weaker recruitment. You had an awful lot of players close to Balon Dor level. I'd put KDB, Mahrez, Rodri (obviously), Both Silvas, Gundo at that level. The players you could put at that level are simply past their best or gone. I'm not as good on my rating of CBs but I always thought Laporte was world class. Even Jesus on his day is a heck of player.

The other thing to think about is player burnout. Winning 4 titles and the runrate you had was ridiculous. Maybe those players can't focus as much mentally and have simply dropped off 5%.

All that aside, you won the league last year losing this same fixture. Emery is doing a great job at Villa.
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Oh you can fuck right off with your logical thinking, this is a proper football forum and we'll have our melt down when we choose ;).
 
Also I remember a sports psychology documentary in the 90s. Leeds striker Lee Chapman (played at Arsenal before my time) was talking about when he felt confident and scored lots versus when he played poorly and couldn't get a goal for love or money. He reckoned when he played well the goal looked really big but when he couldn't score the goalframe looked tiny. I imagine similar things happen in other positions. Gabriel Jesus didn't score for about a year and now has 5 goals in a week
 
Pep has said that but for injuries we would still be top of the league. We have quite a small squad and some of our players have played a lot of games and the injury crisis may well be exacerbated by the advancing years of some of our players but there is no doubt about the gravity of our injury problems.

Pep has always rotated but in ones and twos but the extent of the problem has been massive. Since Spurs put us out of the League cup we have never been able to pick the same back four, or the same central defenders, in successive games. We have not been able to select the same midfield three in successive games, and of course the fourth, Rodri, is out for the season. Of the front three only Haaland has been available for these twelve games. And a further problem was highlighted today when Sones went off - players have to come back before full fitness and are then out again and for longer.

So with a spine that changes from game to game and an average of 4 changes per game pressing, defending when e don't have the ball, moving up and back and many other routines which require teamwork and familiarity don't work at normal pace but only slowly and hesitantly. Today, in 94 minutes we saw one example of a quick exchange on the edge of their box - between Lewis and Foden - and this used to be our bread and butter, but gone is our cutting edge and penetration.

The answer is a bigger squad to allow players rest and recovery and hopefully the club can start on it in January.
 
M23 Citizen said:
I have always envisioned a ‘fall from grace’ like this was possible because it’s commonplace in English football.

Go back through the history books and look at Champions and what has happened to them.

City alone:
1936-37 Champions… relegated in 1938.
1967-68 Champions… 13th in 1969.
2017-18 Champions with 100pts, 2018-19 Champions with 98pts with an incredibly tough title run-in… out of the title race in November and finished on 81pts in in 2019-20.
2020-21 we nearly did a treble, 2021-22 Champions with another incredibly tough title run-in, 2022-23 treble winners, 2023-24 four-in-a-row record breakers… and what we’re witnessing this season as a drop-off.

This drop-off should not be a surprise. Even if everyone had been fit, I’d imagine we’d have had a drop-off this season.

In just my lifetime there’s been:
Villa 1980-81 Champions… 11th (granted with a EC win) in 1982
Arsenal 1989-90 Champions… 9th in 1991, 13th in 1992
Leeds 1991-92 Champions… 17th in 1993
Blackburn 1994-95 Champions… 7th in 1996
Newcastle 1995-96 2nd and 1996-97 2nd… 13th in 1998
United 2012-13 Champions… 7th in 2014
Chelsea 2014-15 Champions… 10th in 2016
Leicester 2015-16 Champions… 12th in 2017
Chelsea 2016-17 Champions… 5th in 2018
Liverpool finished 2nd on 97pts and won the CL in 2018-19, won the PL with 99pts in 2019-20… 3rd on just 69pts in 2021
Liverpool finished 2nd on 92pts and a CL final in 2021–22… finished 5th on 67pts in 2023.

What City are doing this season is completely normal in English football.
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You are making far too much sense mate.
 
It’s simple. Teams have figured out how to play against a Pep system. They have had years to look at how to counteract it and have found a system that works against us. Every game is now the same, we have the ball, they pack the defence, we create little, as we are risk averse, they counter and we look exposed. It started working more for opponents last season but we managed it, this season, with the injuries and lack of form it’s working for them more often or not. With the types of players we have available, especially their physical characteristics, i can’t see how Pep can change the approach we have. There is not enough mobility, strength and pace through the midfield. Pep needs to do something different though as his control approach is not offering control and is just not working anymore
 
marco said:
the only positive is we know its not for the foreseeable, we have a fantastic set up at the Etihad, we have owners that will act and invest immediately as soon as possible, although shocked at how quick the rot has set in i'm quite looking forward to the next chapter ''The Rebuild'' its going to be exciting times ahead and the only man for the Job is Pep, even Pep himself would have learned from this, look to the near future blues yes we write this season off but we go again in 25/26 with fresh legs
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After virtually no break we won’t have fresh legs in 25/26…..not unless we make many new signings
 
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