The Title Race - 2023/24

[alexmcity]

You've got that wrong. Back to back CL titles have been done before (not by us, granted). No one has won 4 PL titles in a row before.

Liverpool won back to back European Cups when the competition was much weaker than the CL. No English team has won back to back CL titles, probably because the competition is much stronger than its previous incarnation. Even Pep's Barca or Bayern couldn't win back to back CLs.

Both 4 league titles in a row and back to back CLs would be some achievement. I'd be happy with either. But I think the players prefer the CL, let's say because it brings more prestige. Milan 88-90 are considered among the greatest teams partly because they won back to back European cups. Think only Real have won consecutive CLs.

 

[jimharri]

Liverpool won back to back European Cups when the competition was much weaker than the CL. No English team has won back to back CL titles, probably because the competition is much stronger than its previous incarnation. Even Pep's Barca or Bayern couldn't win back to back CLs.

Both 4 league titles in a row and back to back CLs would be some achievement. I'd be happy with either. But I think the players prefer the CL, let's say because it brings more prestige. Milan 88-90 are considered among the greatest teams partly because they won back to back European cups. Think only Real have won consecutive CLs.

Ajax won 3 of the old European Cups (1971-73). And Bayern won the following 3 (74-76).Have to disagree with you re the relative strengths of the European Cup and the Champions League. The old competition was limited to actual champions of their countries,not the Laughable situation we have now where a team finishing fourth in their domestic league enters the "Champions" League.

 

[Mancity1980]

Man City should easily be able to capitalise on Liverpool's loss of Salah for AFCON.

While also strengthening by re-introducing De Bruyne back into the squad for the Huddersfield cup match. The next few run of games are all very winnable.

Something that crossed my mind recently was how little we are affected by the African and Asian cups this year, whilst quite a few of our rivals are affected. I remember when the loss of Yaya and Kolo was a big problem.

 

[Mancity1980]

Ajax won 3 of the old European Cups (1971-73). And Bayern won the following 3 (74-76).Have to disagree with you re the relative strengths of the European Cup and the Champions League. The old competition was limited to actual champions of their countries,not the Laughable situation we have now where a team finishing fourth in their domestic league enters the "Champions" League.

But some of countries had very weak champions, certainly weaker than a 3rd or 4th placed English or Italian team. Add to it the big CL income you have a much stronger competition

 

[alexmcity]

Ajax won 3 of the old European Cups (1971-73). And Bayern won the following 3 (74-76).Have to disagree with you re the relative strengths of the European Cup and the Champions League. The old competition was limited to actual champions of their countries,not the Laughable situation we have now where a team finishing fourth in their domestic league enters the "Champions" League.

I remember the old competition and know that the CL is much stronger than the European Cup. The champions of most countries were of various quality, some poor, other decent, some really good, but it is safe to say that 80-90% of the teams were worse than teams like Arsenal or United who struggle to even make the top 4 in England. The champions of Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus, Lichtenstein, Ireland, Albania....Back then teams could reach the final by playing the champions of Greece, Sweden and Poland. These were good teams, but normally very far from the expensive selections of today's rich clubs.

 

[wolviedinho]

“Liverpool’s main strength is energy.” That is so true and is why the Klopp method is unsustainable. It is why their “quad” campaign broke them and why their performance levels dropped so much afterwards. They have now completely replaced their midfield with youth and energy, if it doesn’t work then what?

Juice up again? -:)

 

[Quilted]

I remember when the loss of Yaya and Kolo was a big problem.

Yeah, it seems like a no-brainer to me for top teams to be strategic with African signings. You're essentially forfeiting that player for a crucial month in the calendar. So unless its someone of the calibre of Salah or Osimhen, its just not worth it signing African players.

 

[citizen_maine]

I remember the old competition and know that the CL is much stronger than the European Cup. The champions of most countries were of various quality, some poor, other decent, some really good, but it is safe to say that 80-90% of the teams were worse than teams like Arsenal or United who struggle to even make the top 4 in England. The champions of Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus, Lichtenstein, Ireland, Albania....Back then teams could reach the final by playing the champions of Greece, Sweden and Poland. These were good teams, but normally very far from the expensive selections of today's rich clubs.

The initial argument was that it was rarer/harder to win back to back CL's than 4 consecutive PL's. Yet. the CL or European cup has been won back to back several times. The English top flight has never been won 4 times consecutively.

 

[alexmcity]

The initial argument was that it was rarer/harder to win back to back CL's than 4 consecutive PL's. Yet. the CL or European cup has been won back to back several times. The English top flight has never been won 4 times consecutively.

Only Real have won back to back CLs. It was easier to win consecutive European Cups because the competition back then was weaker than its successor.

I see the point about winning 4 league titles in a row. Would be a fantastic achievement! I remember that Pep won 4 consecutive La Liga titles with Barca as a player in the 90s. They won also the CL. But they are not considered as great as Zidane's Real who never won back to back domestic titles but won 3 consecutive CLs.

 

[Withnail]

I'm not sure they do mate. They struggle in Europe when he doesn't play. And as I said before, I think Endo will really impact their balance as well. They don't have anyone else who can play the DM role and protect their defence and with their gung-ho hyper energy tactics they need someone sat in. We'll see. Their form isn't spectacular, we're 2pts behind if we win our game in hand. A long way to go yet.

Endo goes under the radar, he is no world beater but he is an important cog in their team. Not sure how many games he will miss though.