The Title Race - 2023/24

[jimharri]

Lets hope City prove me wrong, it could be worse than 6 tbh

Brighton (H) - draw
United (A) - draw
Bournemouth (H) - win
Chelsea (A) - draw

Rags and Chelsea away could both end up being losses the way we are playing

Firstly, I would like to think that we wouldn't be as mediocre in many more games as we were yesterday (and it still took a lucky deflection for one of our main challengers to beat us).

Secondly, have you been keeping up with utd and Chelsea's form this season? Utd have won 4 and lost 4. And 3 of the 4 wins were extremely fortunate. And Chelsea have won 3, drawn 2 and lost 3. And two of those 3 wins have been against Luton and Burnley, both probable candidates for relegation (the other win was against Fulham).

Brighton are blowing hot and cold this season.

And if we can't beat Bournemouth at home (or away), then we probably don't deserve to be title contenders.

 

[waspish]

Pep is a genuis and we will get it sorted, It's basically always this time of year he makes a few tactical tweeks and we respond.

I don't expect us to win the league every year either there's a reason why I hate the Rags being entitled twats.

I do think we need someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck whem KDB isn't available. I know Pep doesn't like the ball being played in behind but surely when Haaland is making runs in behind with acres of grass in behind. We have players capable of picking out these passes.

Anyway, It's a defeat its not the end of the world. We will turn things around.

It's the most frustrating thing about us as a team I see runners like Haaland foden and Alvarez when silva or one of our midfielders has the ball and refuse to make that 50/50 or even a 75/25 pass because we might lose it and the other team is on us.

 

[Jesus H Gabz]

The start this season reminds me of 16/17 where we were getting the wins but didn’t look entirely convincing. The first decent test we have had , we have come up short

There are some concerning issues with the team that will need to be resolved over the next few months :

Walker has had a great start to the season but we’re now playing with a back four , which seems to be limiting our build up. Last season we had a back three with Stones stepping in, Akanji has tried it this season but hasn’t looked comfortable. Hopefully with Stones being back we start to see this back again

The midfield looks unbalanced to me, we don’t have an orchestrator that dictates the tempo in the number 8 position. Kovacic and Nunes are decent players but are more ball carriers , where we need a ball player. Rodri has been taking on some of this mantel but with him being out we look all at sea. It’s really concerning how poor we’ve been with him out of the team . I was hoping Phillips could step up but he’s no where near. We need another midfielder in January if possible.

Attack has looked inconsistent and has been carried by Alvarez so far. It’s not enough - Doku has had moments but he is showing what he is , not the finished article but the only winger we have that commits people. He should be playing the support role from the bench at this stage but the other wingers aren’t doing it. Phil also hasn’t stepped up consistently enough.

Can’t argue with any of that, it’s probably where most of us are at when assessing the season so far, the good thing is, Pep is always way ahead of us (and the rest of football) and will already be implementing a new direction, it may be we have to go back to a previous model to get by in some games, the thread discussing a false nine isn’t so far from the correct question, in that it suggests do we go to a tried & tested formula, but we all know it won’t be a false nine given the make up of the squad (unless Haaland got injured)
Our biggest problem seems to be our ‘Difference Makers’ Gundo & Mahrez are gone, Bernie has been stop start, KDB is injured and Foden Haaland & Grealish aren’t firing at all, there just seems a lack of cohesion, some may ask why ? But when you rip up a masterpiece to avoid imitation every season, this can happen, all we can do is keep backing Pep and the boys, and hope we find our rhythm soon, this is a very young team and needs leadership on the pitch, which Rodri is a massive part of, he connects the the three facets of our team

 

[alexmcity]

Call me deluded if you wish, but when Kev and Rodri are back and the new guys bed in, I think we'll walk it. We'll go on a run after January. No loses.
Not just me being optimistic either, look how bookies have us..

• Manchester City @ 8/15.
• Liverpool @ 11/2.
• Arsenal @ 11/2.
• Tottenham Hotspur @ 16/1.
• Newcastle @ 33/1.

They know a thing or two.
So call me and the bookies delusional all you want :)

Being favourites and walking it are two very different things. The odds are about City winning the league, not about walking it. I agree with the bookies we are favourites.

If you believe we are going to walk it, bet your house on it. No, actually don't. Don't rely on over optimistic takes.

If we don't go through injury crises, we are likely to win, not walk, the league. But nobody knows whether important players won't get injured, after winning 3 PLs in a row and the Treble. We are in uncharted waters.

 

[jimharri]

Thanks but I don’t feel very positive this morning :(

I hadn't noticed!

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Thanks but I don’t feel very positive this morning :(

Over the course of the season we draw and lose games, usually amid a poor spell of form… so maybe this is when that'll be this season.

On average we draw 5 games a season and lose 5 games a season. So drawing 3 and losing 1 of the next 5 would still leave us with some to spare.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Firstly, I would like to think that we wouldn't be as mediocre in many more games as we were yesterday (and it still took a lucky deflection for one of our main challengers to beat us).

Secondly, have you been keeping up with utd and Chelsea's form this season? Utd have won 4 and lost 4. And 3 of the 4 wins were extremely fortunate. And Chelsea have won 3, drawn 2 and lost 3. And two of those 3 wins have been against Luton and Burnley, both probable candidates for relegation (the other win was against Fulham).

Brighton are blowing hot and cold this season.

And if we can't beat Bournemouth at home (or away), then we probably don't deserve to be title contenders.

Nothing lucky about Arsenal’s goal. Luck doesn’t exist. Football is played with a pumped up sphere that can go anywhere once struck with a shot at goal and Arsenal were prepared to take three times as many shots to make an opportunity happen than we were… and it did happen, one of their 12 shots hit the back of the net and none of our 4 did.

 

[Tecumseh]

We didn’t have a chance to score after the 4th minute and we didn’t create a single chance all game through our own passing in open play (only chances were from a corner and then a flick on from a hopeful lobbed up ball after the clearance from that corner).

Fewest shots in any game under Guardiola.

It’s about as poor as we’ve ever been in seven years under Pep in the last third.

Our defence was magnificent

 

[jimharri]

Nothing lucky about Arsenal’s goal. Luck doesn’t exist. Football is played with a pumped up sphere that can go anywhere once struck with a shot at goal and Arsenal were prepared to take three times as many shots to make an opportunity happen than we were… and it did happen, one of their 12 shots hit the back of the net and none of our 4 did.

So; the deflection to take it in wasn't lucky? Riiiight.

 

[mancityscot]

The reaction from the media and Arsenal fans yesterday has been ridiculous, I rate Peter Drury as a commentator but the way he was talking like them winning in October means the title is theirs is ridiculous.

I don't think we've been great so far this season, not the best transfer business and too many injuries and suspensions

i don't think anyone who's watched us so far can argue with that. It's been a weird start to the season, starting off with 6/6 wins, but not playing anywhere near our best. Then you have the injuries to key players, poor form from others, and the daft rodri suspension. We've started to lose our way a bit.

Not going to start commenting on signings, as we should know that some can take time to settle and adjust to Pep's way of working.

Regardless, i'm strangely relaxed about what this season will bring. We can still win it again, but realistically speaking we aren't going to win it all every year. Lets just see where we are come May ;)

 

[John Wayne]

Over the course of the season we draw and lose games, usually amid a poor spell of form… so maybe this is when that'll be this season.

On average we draw 5 games a season and lose 5 games a season. So drawing 3 and losing 1 of the next 5 would still leave us with some to spare.

There is of course the Rodri factor too. His return cannot come soon enough and we may see the benefit to him being rested a little further down the line.

I think back to 21/22 when we lost at home to Palace at the end of October. We'd lost our second game after Spurs on day one, and having drawn at home to Southampton and at Liverpool. There wasn't much cheer about the place but we went on a run from November to January that broke the back of the title race. It's what we do and have always done under Pep - have little blips between prolonged periods of excellence.

Nothing is decided yet. We have been down this road many times before. We need to keep faith with this once-in-a-lifetime manager and his methods. Our new signings are still bedding in. And if we don't win it then the world will not end.

 

[MadchesterCity]

So; the deflection to take it in wasn't lucky? Riiiight.

Unlucky perhaps but they bought a ticket

 

[Deleted member 77198]

So; the deflection to take it in wasn't lucky? Riiiight.

No, it’s just football. Everything happens by coincidence and if you take more chances, more things will happen.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Wow.

Luck is a made up hindsight-based entity in the same bracket as other things that don’t exist like fate and omens etc.

Whether shots are rocketing in the top corner or going to the corner flag and take a deflection that go in, they’ve worked a situation that could lead to a goal… and did so 8 more times than we did in the game. That’s not luck, that’s just doing more than we did.

 

[jimharri]

Luck is a made up hindsight-based entity in the same bracket as other things that don’t exist like fate and omens etc.

Whether shots are rocketing in the top corner or going to the corner flag and take a deflection that go in, they’ve worked a situation that could lead to a goal… and did so 8 more times than we did in the game. That’s not luck, that’s just doing more than we did.

Fine. You're perfectly entitled to your opinion. I'm not going to derail the thread by arguing all day with you.

 

[Jesus H Gabz]

Call me deluded if you wish, but when Kev and Rodri are back and the new guys bed in, I think we'll walk it. We'll go on a run after January. No loses.
Not just me being optimistic either, look how bookies have us..

• Manchester City @ 8/15.
• Liverpool @ 11/2.
• Arsenal @ 11/2.
• Tottenham Hotspur @ 16/1.
• Newcastle @ 33/1.

They know a thing or two.
So call me and the bookies delusional all you want :)

I like the optimism fella but we have to go to some well known graveyards for City in that period, if we want to win it this season we’re gonna have to be a lot closer than last season, the good thing this season is it looks like everyone’s beating each other, the bad is it looks likely to be a 3-4 horse race (for now at least) we’ve been here many times before, hence those odds, but it might be worth a ton on the Arse & dips to cover costs for the CL final at Wembley ;)

 

[JewelZee]

Top 4 race for us I reckon unless we can change something quick smart!

LMFAO...

 

[Deleted member 77198]

There is of course the Rodri factor too. His return cannot come soon enough and we may see the benefit to him being rested a little further down the line.

I think back to 21/22 when we lost at home to Palace at the end of October. We'd lost our second game after Spurs on day one, and having drawn at home to Southampton and at Liverpool. There wasn't much cheer about the place but we went on a run from November to January that broke the back of the title race. It's what we do and have always done under Pep - have little blips between prolonged periods of excellence.

Nothing is decided yet. We have been down this road many times before. We need to keep faith with this once-in-a-lifetime manager and his methods. Our new signings are still bedding in. And if we don't win it then the world will not end.

Our experience means we won’t panic.

There appear to be more good teams at the top of the league this season and teams will be taking points off each other a lot. But only the back four, goalkeeper and Salah have been there and won it before from any of the other teams.

Once we properly get into our stride, we’ll see how we’re taking shape. We’ve probably only just finished pre-season in terms of what Pep would really want the team to have under our belts (first Summer at Bayern, he played 11 pre-season games, all in Germany) and even within that we’ve been short of a number of quality players.

This next set of fixtures will be tough with the CL going on as well. It would be good to tie up the CL group early doors and not have to play a few of them in the final game(s) then head into the Luton Palace Everton SheffUtd games and the CWC. Then see where we are after all that.

If we’re anywhere between leading the pack to 6-8 points behind come the New Year, I’ll be confident.

 

[JewelZee]

What was your opinion 3 years ago? One year ago? Because the start to both of those were worse than this... people here...

Some people never learn...it borders on comical...

 

[pavelsrnicek]

It’s funny but not surprising how over the top reactions are to us losing. We lost, Arsenal are suddenly real contenders (they were before), City aren’t the same team anymore, there’s a hangover from the treble.

Of course we’re not the same team, Gundogan, Mahrez, Laporte, KDB, Stones and Rodri all left or missing this season. Kovacic, Nunes, Doku and Gvardiol are all bedding in. The loss of KDB combined with Gundogan’s departure are having the biggest impact.

Yesterday the absence of Rodri forced us to change our structure, inadvertently neutering our 3 best attackers and still we were very unlucky to lose. It was one of those games Pep is tinkering to fix an obvious issue. It reduced Arsenal to potshots but stifled our attack. Yet I think if we do that in April Kovacic and Lewis will know their roles better and we’d win.

Get Stones back, get Grealish in form and will improve. Rodri’s return fixes a lot. If we can avoid other injuries until KDB returns we should be fine.

After yesterday I’d be more worried about Liverpool than Arsenal. They seem to have strengthened in the wrong areas and Raya doesn’t seem much, if any, upgrade on Ramsdale.