From a list of players who got constant shit for not being good enough when they were here, and who never achieved anything close to what this group of players have achieved over the last four seasons.Over thinking post!
You've gone back over 12 years picking out the best players from each season!
Early days and we are generally slow starters, unbeaten after playing some tricky games and lesser teams in great form!
Happy with where we are and the squad.
Liverpool havent played anyone of note yet. The next couple of games will see where they are at.Just watching the highlights from the Arsenal-Southampton game.
For all the talk of us being fortunate yesterday, bloody hell did Arsenal get away with it.
Southampton hit the woodwork three times and Arsenal's last goal was literally passed to Saka in the box by a Southampton player.
And that's Southampton. Who are fucking hopeless. Liverpool the bigger threat to our title this year imo.
I dont think he is. We have basically had two squads since Sheik Mansour. Pre Pep and Pep.Over thinking post!
You've gone back over 12 years picking out the best players from each season!
Early days and we are generally slow starters, unbeaten after playing some tricky games and lesser teams in great form!
Happy with where we are and the squad.
That’s exactly what I touched on in the Midfield thread.Ferna and David were 30+ in 2019. Gundo was 29.
The big difference is Rodri is out. Before his injury, I'd take this midfield over previous versions. Now, anyone who is not completely daft realizes it won't be easy to replace Rodri. Colossus of a player.
But there are potential surprises. We have several young players that can make big progress this season: Gvardiol, Lewis, Savinho, Bobb, Doku, Nunes, McAtee. Foden and Haaland are only 24, they can get better, too. Imagine that.
When we estimate the quality of the squad, we assume the young players will remain at the same level throughout the season. But it's enough 2-3 from them to be fantastic to make us highly competitive: say, Gvardiol, Savinho and Doku. Lewis, too.
You can't generalize after just one game. We've had a few shockers before including yesterday. Arsenal are serious title contenders as are Liverpool.Just watching the highlights from the Arsenal-Southampton game.
For all the talk of us being fortunate yesterday, bloody hell did Arsenal get away with it.
Southampton hit the woodwork three times and Arsenal's last goal was literally passed to Saka in the box by a Southampton player.
And that's Southampton. Who are fucking hopeless. Liverpool the bigger threat to our title this year imo.
There isn’t any evidence to support Liverpool as serious title contenders thus far. They finished 9 points off it last year and didn’t add to their squad in a meaningful way while likely downgrading their coaching.You can't generalize after just one game. We've had a few shockers before including yesterday. Arsenal are serious title contenders as are Liverpool.
Think you're conflating two or three different squads into a single "Pep team".I dont think he is. We have basically had two squads since Sheik Mansour. Pre Pep and Pep.
Both have had success and both included world class players. The team that Pep built that has given us unimaginable success is now aging, both in midfield and defence. My view is that a pretty significant overhaul is coming, to be done either by Pep if he renews or our next manager. The team that Pep built round Eddie, Kyle, John, Ruben, Fern/Rodders, David/Gundo/Bernie/Kev/Phil, Sergio/Haaland is coming to an end, the most obvious sign is our current midfield performances. We are past our peak. Age catches everyone.
They are. But my post was meant to provide perspective that Arsenal had a day as dodgy as ours yesterday and that it can happen to anyone.You can't generalize after just one game. We've had a few shockers before including yesterday. Arsenal are serious title contenders as are Liverpool.
I think that a lot of our players haven't hit prime form yet - the majority in fact - and there's another 10/20% improvement yet to come. Add to that, Lewis and Bobb - before injury - are both looking better than last season, and are improving all the time, and Savinho is a great addition to the squad, we can look forward to the run-up to Christmas, I believe, but - please God; no injuries on this fuckin' useless international break!.
Think you're conflating two or three different squads into a single "Pep team".
Over the last four years we've successfully replaced the "spine" of Pep's centurions (Kompany, Ferna, Aguero, D Silva, Sane, Sterling) in one of the greatest squad refreshes in the history of football.
I think everyone agrees that the midfield probably needs another fresh pair of legs or two, but there's simply no easy solution to Rodri being out for the season, and Kev and Foden being injured or coming back from injury. Jury remains out on Gundo 2.0 and Nunes. Phillips was a disaster we are still suffering from.
Both defence and attack are fine age wise. Refreshing the squad is always a gamble and why no one has won the league four times on the bounce before. Up to Bobb, Savinho, Doku and Grealish if they are good enough.
The same Rice who with his team down to ten men away from home just kept hoofing the ball into touch in the manner of a non league centre half. If I’m paying circa £100m for a midfielder I want a guy with a bit of backbone who can take some responsibility in difficult situations and put his foot on the ball and show a bit of calm and leadership.Some of this has to be down to poor recruitment. Honestly if we’d gone the extra few million for Rice when we made that weird one off £90m bid, we’d all be sat here now saying we’ll win the title easily. He’d have stepped in to do Rodri’s job now and when Rodri was available would have been far more effective than Nunes, an aging Gundo or even Kovacic. Plus Arses would be weaker.
Even Guimaraes would have been a good signing. If we baulk at top fees it makes Pep’s job harder. We’re still good because of his genius but why make it harder for him. We can’t possibly be skint, yet we’re not even top 5 for spending; even the likes of West Ham have outspent us. Not that I want their level of signings, but if we’d dropped £100m+ on one of Rice or Guimaraes instead of worrying about what the dickheads in the rag cartel would say we’d be pissing the league this season.
fixed itWelcome to Bluemoan.
Apart from the guy on the previous page.Who’s said that? I don’t think anyone has at all.
Decent points but no way i’d take our midfield trio over the 100 points team. We had prime KDB, a sublime Silva and an unbelievable Fernandinho. The best 3 the league has ever seen in my opinion.Ferna and David were 30+ in 2019. Gundo was 29.
The big difference is Rodri is out. Before his injury, I'd take this midfield over previous versions. Now, anyone who is not completely daft realizes it won't be easy to replace Rodri. Colossus of a player.
But there are potential surprises. We have several young players that can make big progress this season: Gvardiol, Lewis, Savinho, Bobb, Doku, Nunes, McAtee. Foden and Haaland are only 24, they can get better, too. Imagine that.
When we estimate the quality of the squad, we assume the young players will remain at the same level throughout the season. But it's enough 2-3 from them to be fantastic to make us highly competitive: say, Gvardiol, Savinho and Doku. Lewis, too.
Indeed. The next set of fixtures will tell us where the dippers are at.There isn’t any evidence to support Liverpool as serious title contenders thus far. They finished 9 points off it last year and didn’t add to their squad in a meaningful way while likely downgrading their coaching.
Furthermore, they have had a very soft schedule to start the year where they managed to lose to Nottingham Forest. They haven’t been tested schedule wise the way City and Arsenal have. They have a difficult stretch coming up that will likely expose some of their weaknesses. They have to play Chelsea, Arsenal, Villa, and Brighton in a row plus European matches thrown in.
In fact the Opta Analyst model only gives them a 11 percent chance of winning the league
"There isn’t any evidence to support Liverpool as serious title contenders thus far. They finished 9 points off it last year and didn’t add to their squad in a meaningful way while likely downgrading their coaching."There isn’t any evidence to support Liverpool as serious title contenders thus far. They finished 9 points off it last year and didn’t add to their squad in a meaningful way while likely downgrading their coaching.
Furthermore, they have had a very soft schedule to start the year where they managed to lose to Nottingham Forest. They haven’t been tested schedule wise the way City and Arsenal have. They have a difficult stretch coming up that will likely expose some of their weaknesses. They have to play Chelsea, Arsenal, Villa, and Brighton in a row plus European matches thrown in.
In fact the Opta Analyst model only gives them a 11 percent chance of winning the league
Guaranteed Loss? Chin up !
The optimistic B'Stard!Crikey. Some of you need a slap!
City haven't lost a league game since December last year. Some of you talking about fighting it out with Villa and Spuds for 4th lol!
We've won at anfield what, twice in 45 years? If there is one place we shit the bed at more than others, its there. We've had some decent performances there over the last 7/8 years, but we still usually manage to find a way to fuck it up there.It's amazing how people keep writing that, mechanically. Unless you believe in a malicious god who writes these things down on tablets of stone for eternity, there is no such thing.
In the recent past we smashed them at Anfield in 2020 (yes, they had won the title by then, but a guaranteed loss means unconditionally that); then smashed them again there in 2021; going further back, Mahrez should have given us all three points in 2018 (God knows why he was even taking the penalty in the first place) but we got a draw; and just last year, we drew there, having taken the lead!
I won't even begin on the Etihad. In the league, you've got to go back to that disastrous final season under Pellegrini, 2015, when the midfield of Yaya and Fernando went completely missing and they whacked us 4-1.
There are no more bogey teams for City, but I suppose people like the bogeyman stories at night. It gives them a frisson. Yes, there are teams we can certainly lose to. Liverpool are one of them. (So are Fulham, incidentally, we could have lost to them quite easily… so that just shows). This City team fears no-one. With good reason. Respect — yes. Fear — no. There was a narrative that we couldn't win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Then we had to do it. And we did it.
a 43 year old Gundo would be better than Rice never mind a 34 GundoThey don’t have to be, just better than Nunes, McAtee, 34 year old Gundo and Kova.