What is stopping us being one of the best in Europe?

[MCFC4EVR]

Luck!. The best squads don't always win cup competitions I mean look at Real Madrid they've had such great squads and this is the first time they've reached the final since 2002 and they could have been easily put out by Dortmund who missed a handful of clear chances. I'm sure if we keep getting ourselves in the mix year on year in the competition we will win it sooner or later.

 

[SambaStyle]

Just luck..

Real, Barca, Bayern and City are all around same

 

[Hart of the Matter]

We are one of the best in Europe. Made it to the final 16 and are better than some of those (Man Untd) that made it last 8. We beat the previous winners on their own turf. To compete with the best we need consistency, to be the best we need patience. It took Chelsea many years of investment and trying before they won. Real Madrid have not won in 12 years despite a strong starting base and mega investment. Let us not believe the media when they say we should be winning everything otherwise it is failure.

Just remember. No club wants us in the draw. Enough said!

 

[jollylescott]

We have to cheat and play act,we are too honest

Watching the top European games there is no doubt that we play much fairer.

Unfortunately that is not to our advantage. Diving, arguing with the ref and time wasting are very common amongst the so called elite. It's not in our nature to play like that. And quite frankly I wouldn't like to see our team cross over to the dark side.

 

[Bill]

With a full squad to pick from not much. Add a centre back as a minimum and we'd win far more often. Despite platini's best efforts.

 

[dancity19]

There's no substitute for experience. At this stage we are relative newcomers to European football. Obviously that changes with each passing season and I'd expect the direction of travel to be for us to progress further and further in the competition.

The likes of Real, Bayern and Barcelona have been doing it at top level for years, if not decades. They are some way ahead of us and I don't expect us to win it in the next couple of seasons.

I've always struggled with this argument. What does it mean- as a club and a set of fans we are inexperienced. So basically the name manchester city? Because a lot of our staff are pretty experienced...

Manager- yep- made the semi final with Villareal didn't he?
Quarter final last year, and were cruelly beaten I think- wasn't it a hugely offside goal that saw Broussia Dortmund go through.

Do we have players who have won the Champions league- yes
Do we have players who have won the World Cup- yes
Do we have players who have won the European Championships- yes

I just don't understand it when people say we are inexperienced; who is inexperienced exactly, as many of our players are not.

 

[eversince 76]

The posts about a world class defender are baffling. We've had the best defence in the league past 2 seasons.

In the Premiership but not in Europe. Zabba and Kompany aside we don't have world class defenders.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That.

Yes, we've seen some great defending in the CL-semi's didn't we? And our defence is worse than Chelsea's? Or do you think it's the style of play that has anything to do with it?<br /><br />-- Fri May 02, 2014 9:07 am --<br /><br />

Assessing our team/squad where do you think we need to improve the most if we are to arrive at Champions League finals?

Do we need to alter our style of play a little bit?

What positions areas are we weakest in?

Saw an interesting comment on here the other day that said we haven't bought one top class defender since the takeover.

I think we're a left back, centre half and world class goal scoring midfielder away from being able to go into the latter stages of the CL with a huge expectation of going through.

Obviously havinig Yaya in the squad is not enough for a world class goalscoring midfielder. Name me a better one with more goals.

 

[willipp]

We all know where the squad needs to be improved and im sure it will be.

What i think we need to appreciate is that the CL is incredibly hard to win, never mind dominate. No team has ever defended it and in our present state where we come from pot 2 or 3, we are always going to find it extremely difficult. If we get a Bayern, Real or Barca in our group there is a pretty good chance we will finish 2nd and therefore get a very tough draw in the last 16. Its not lack of experience or fitness, its just that until we make it into pot 1, we are going to find it extremely tough to regularly progress to the QF/SF, never mind win it.

 

[rodders1973]

PLATINI & UEFA

 

[cityok]

what a daft question, we are one of the best in Europe