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

[Deleted member 58678]

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.

Manager, yes
Demichelis has played at an elite level for a long time, yes
Yaya, yes
Silva, yes
Navas, bit part. I'd hardly call him a serious member of the first team for Spain
Clichy, yes

Other than that you're struggling to name anyone who got out of the group stage, certainly no further than L16 or 1/4s, of the CL or even played in Europe at all before they came to us.

That's a very very small chunk of our squad.