The Title Race - 2023/24

[Coatigan]

We sold our best player? Not sure about that.

We didn't sell him though did we.

 

[Damanino]

next 3 PL games:
Everton away
Sheffield home
Newcastle away

I dont think these 3 games will be when we make the current gap smaller. I think it will be bigger after these 3 games. these two away games would be hard even if we are in top form which we are far away from.
Sheffield at home will need to be simple 3 points but same will be done by all our rivals when they host Sheffield.

but if we do magic and make 9 points out of these three, that would put some heavy pressure on the rivals. they would fucking hate it if we make 9 points out of these.

but can see Villa winning their next 3 of their next 4 as they have Sheffield, Burnley and rags and Everton.

 

[69FACUPfinal]

I wish, when we go to Klanfield we could be more chilled like the Rags appeared to be yesterday. We just can't get a break at that doss hole and same at The Cheese grater, so am not expecting anything from either of those games. We need to seriously buck ideas up on return from CWC, annoying really as the PL is there for the taking this season. I can't see Villa lasting the course, think Arse may bottle again, Dips will continue to be lucky so we really need to up the ante. Not sure it can be done with current squad though....

 

[RayCTID]

KDB missed a large chunk of a season a few years ago, we didn't really miss him too much as we had David Silva creating things.
Also the same as when David was missing because of his premature son, we had Kevin creating things for the team.
Basically we don't have anyone else at the club as cover for kevs absence

We still have the likes Grealish (although he scored in the last couple of games), Foden and to some extent Alvarez but they haven't stepped up during KDB's spell out.

 

[simon23]

We still have the likes Grealish (although he scored in the last couple of games), Foden and to some extent Alvarez but they haven't stepped up during KDB's spell out.

Grealish and Alvarez shouldnt be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of KDB and David Silva in terms of creativeness.......neither are anywhere near the same level and never will be.
Alvarez is a very good centre forward who has been trying his best to fill in but it isnt what he is about....he is a great finisher and a striker who would get in the starting 11 of most other prem teams.
Grealish has never been creative and its a myth that he is

 

[simon23]

We are of course still in the title race...history tells us this.

We are however not playing at the same level as previous seasons - but again history tells us that Pep will sort this out.

On current form we are not at the level of Arsenal or a few others.....however our top level is better than anyone elses...the question is will we get to that level in time.

The squad doesnt have the cover and the level of cover int he right places...

Rodri out - no one comes even close....Phillips, Nunes, Kovatic - even at their very best are not even close to him

KDB - understandably you cannot replace one of the top 5 footballers in the world but again the drop off is too big.....Nunes, Kovatic, Grealish, Foden, Alvarez - only Foden out of that lot has any chance of becoming s good as KDB and he aint nowhere near it yet.

Gundo - again the replacements have been poor..names above already mentioned.

This is where the problems lie and we are relying on 2 things...KDB coming back as good as he was and staying injury free and Rodri playing nearly every game (again) for the rest of the season. Plus Stones staying injury free (highly unlikely)

 

[chris85mcfc]

This is where the problems lie and we are relying on 2 things...KDB coming back as good as he was and staying injury free and Rodri playing nearly every game (again) for the rest of the season. Plus Stones staying injury free (highly unlikely)

Agreed regarding the fitness of Rodri, but to a lesser extent Stones as I think he's always had injuries throughout each season.

As for Kev, just having him back on the teamsheet gives us a fear factor again, even if he's not at full tilt.

Liverpool lose Salah in January don't they? They'll be wondering who will score the goals. Arsenal have to hope they can keep Saka and Martinelli fit, as the drop off in quality is no different to ours.

As you say, all things well, our best is still the best, let's just see how it all pans out, still loads of variables and ifs and buts.

EDIT: just did a quick check in on Stones, and prior to this season, he's only played in 100 league games in the last 5 seasons. Quite remarkable really, with his highest being 24 in 18/19.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Being the eternal optimist and feeling flatter than a pre-op Bankock ladyboy, the tiger blood is again stirring; it’s amazing how we forget the impact of our own small margins are directly linked to, what appears, opponents excelling; it’s folly and only confirmed what we all should know, the sun shines on a dogs arse somedays….

The swing is such; dippers, spuds and palace exploited the proverbial rub, we dominated and as alluded to by pep and Bernie today, we won’t panic, we are patchy but still demonstrated the gulf, that will swing again as has been evidenced year on year…

The 6pts we’ve thrown away, sees us sitting top, with the others already at full throttle for me; this all without core players; yes hypothetical, yet it’s Groundhog Day for me, expecting the confidence to filter through with Kev, which in turn gives the trots to opponents…

I’ll put my neck on the block, top by end of Jan and kick on like Kiptanui in a steeplechase (:

 

[JTFactsPlz]

Grealish and Alvarez shouldnt be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of KDB and David Silva in terms of creativeness.......neither are anywhere near the same level and never will be.
Alvarez is a very good centre forward who has been trying his best to fill in but it isnt what he is about....he is a great finisher and a striker who would get in the starting 11 of most other prem teams.
Grealish has never been creative and its a myth that he is

Except that Grealish created the most chances in the Champions League last season, as per the official stats.

But then I'm assuming you'll just come out with some bullshit about how those official stats don't count/are worthless etc, as you'd rather chew your own arm off than give Grealish any credit. Sometimes people's opinions against players are so biased as to be worthless.

 

[The Future’s Blue!]

Come on City!

 

[Spili's City]

This is a soft title race this year. Arse and Dippers have flaws, though I believe Arse are the stronger of those two despicable clubs.
If we hit our straps, we win comfortably in the end. Injuries withstanding, I think we will be at "our level" by mid Jan
Most of our other previous seasons form under Pep and this would have been a one horse race.
4 in a row will be EPIC and cement us as indisputably, by the numbers, THE GREATEST TEAM EVER (which we know are anyway).

 

[Roachy]

We are of course still in the title race...history tells us this.

We are however not playing at the same level as previous seasons - but again history tells us that Pep will sort this out.

On current form we are not at the level of Arsenal or a few others.....however our top level is better than anyone elses...the question is will we get to that level in time.

The squad doesnt have the cover and the level of cover int he right places...

Rodri out - no one comes even close....Phillips, Nunes, Kovatic - even at their very best are not even close to him

KDB - understandably you cannot replace one of the top 5 footballers in the world but again the drop off is too big.....Nunes, Kovatic, Grealish, Foden, Alvarez - only Foden out of that lot has any chance of becoming s good as KDB and he aint nowhere near it yet.

Gundo - again the replacements have been poor..names above already mentioned.

This is where the problems lie and we are relying on 2 things...KDB coming back as good as he was and staying injury free and Rodri playing nearly every game (again) for the rest of the season. Plus Stones staying injury free (highly unlikely)

Got to say all good points mentioned there. I think it's worth mentioning the defence though. In all those recent drawn games we were worthy of the win, but some of our defending has been mid table level at best. This is then emphasising the other shortcomings in the squad tenfold. The defence has got to sort it's act out.

 

[Bluecollar]

I dont know if it’s been mentioned but along with the other losses or unavailables of Gundo, KDB, Mahrez etc and the ones coming in being light years behind in terms of ability, We also lost some balance, which then has a negative effect on midfield options. Doku (I think) played right wing (and left) for his last club but, after trying him in that position in his first match for us it was clear to Peo that he was more effective on the left. That meant that we now have 2 players available in that position but have not replaced Mahrez or Palmer. Silva and Foden are available to play on the right this season, which means one of them isn’t available in central midfield thus depleting the options for our centre. As has been said, after you have picked Rodri, the options aren’t great. Foden is great but is losing the ball too often and is getting knocked off the ball too easily. Kovacic, Nunes, Phillips not good enough and so Lewis comes in.
It’s a very different prospect to what we had available last season and Pep has not found a solution yet.
I’m not expecting miracles (KDB coming back to save the day - buying a creative midfield superstar in January for example) and so it will come down to Pep making the best of who he has available. He’s generally pretty good at that so I would expect he will get us into some sort of shape in the 2nd half of the season. I doubt it will be a squad who lifts the trophy at the end but I live in hope.

 

[Father Paul]

I dont know if it’s been mentioned but along with the other losses or unavailables of Gundo, KDB, Mahrez etc and the ones coming in being light years behind in terms of ability, We also lost some balance, which then has a negative effect on midfield options. Doku (I think) played right wing (and left) for his last club but, after trying him in that position in his first match for us it was clear to Peo that he was more effective on the left. That meant that we now have 2 players available in that position but have not replaced Mahrez or Palmer. Silva and Foden are available to play on the right this season, which means one of them isn’t available in central midfield thus depleting the options for our centre. As has been said, after you have picked Rodri, the options aren’t great. Foden is great but is losing the ball too often and is getting knocked off the ball too easily. Kovacic, Nunes, Phillips not good enough and so Lewis comes in.
It’s a very different prospect to what we had available last season and Pep has not found a solution yet.
I’m not expecting miracles (KDB coming back to save the day - buying a creative midfield superstar in January for example) and so it will come down to Pep making the best of who he has available. He’s generally pretty good at that so I would expect he will get us into some sort of shape in the 2nd half of the season. I doubt it will be a squad who lifts the trophy at the end but I live in hope.

A good assessment of our current situation and the difficult task faced by Pep if he is to turn things around. A lot are expecting what has become an historical run of wins to emerge but if that is to happen this season the boss really will have earned his corn.

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

There’s still a lot of football to be played, but blind faith won’t be enough.

What concerns me the most is that whereas Arsenal’s 22-23 season effectively ended at the City Ground on May 20th, we still had the small matter of an all-Manchester FA Cup Final, and then the energy-sapping emotional trauma of finally winning the Champions League on June 10th.

Physically, we haven’t looked as slick or mobile, and regardless of what they say in public, there must have been some serious questions within the City medical department over the way they treated De Bruyne’s fitness issues.
Similarly, if they were concerned about Stones playing too much football then why start him in a dead rubber in Belgrade?

All this wouldn’t seem too bad, if we hadn’t have conceded so many last minute equalizers, but that’s the reality.

It would certainly help if Arsenal draw with Liverpool this weekend, but first and foremost, we need an improvement in fitness, form, and focus on this season, as opposed to still recuperating from the dizzy heights of previous exploits.

 

[wolfie1988]

I think Arsenal are better than last year. Certainly more balanced. They have the odd outlier of conceding goals but they are pretty solid and a lot more dominant of the ball.

 

[TinFoilHat]

I'm not sure if I could tolerate. the tarquins smugness or the dippers being all over the summer TV schedules celebrating it.

 

[Gorbachev]

I think Arsenal are better than last year. Certainly more balanced. They have the odd outlier of conceding goals but they are pretty solid and a lot more dominant of the ball.

I don't think they are better mate.

Compared to the back end of last season they are better, but in their first 17 last year they conceded just 12, this season 15.

The back end of last season was more to do with a mentality shift in my opinion, rather than quality.

They also scored 1 more goal at this stage of last season compared to this year.

Like you said, maybe a bit more balanced, but that has come at a cost of quality in my opinion.

 

[Chi-town blues]

lol

 

[alexmcity]

I think Arsenal are better than last year. Certainly more balanced. They have the odd outlier of conceding goals but they are pretty solid and a lot more dominant of the ball.

Better than last season, but in reality unlikely to finish on more pts than last season. Imo, 85-86 pts win the league.

This means that we can afford to draw 4 and lose 1 from the remaining 21 games and still win the league. Not easy to win 15-16 from 21 games on current form, but hardly impossible if we avoid injuries to key players.

Thought we wouldn't need to go on a winning run this season, but we may need to IF we don't win at least 7 pts from the next 3 games. Much depends on the Liverpool-Arsenal game. If it's a draw, we'll be in a relatively good position without having played a game...