Where do people think we sit in terms of club football and the top squads in the world?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pam
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I'd put us firmly in the top 5 (probably 4th).

What Bayern, Barca and Madrid (and PSG) have in their favour is the leagues they play in. The EPL week in and week out is physically demanding and due to the money to be made simply by surviving it makes it a lot more competitive.

Clubs in the EPL can outspend pretty much every club in Europe bar the 4 clubs I've named above. Although it makes it competitive and exciting it's having a negative impact on performances in Europe and overall our coefficient. No club takes the Europa League seriously as they believe it has a negative impact on their domestic campaign/top 4 challenge.
 
I think in terms of ability and potential of the squad, then we're probably in the top five but until we have a serious run in the Champions League it's a moot point.

I'm looking forward to this season's campaign, although I suspect if drawn against Barca or Real we'll probably fall short again.

We're definitely closing the gap though, and Messi and Ronaldo probably distort things a bit. These are arguably two of the best players of all time, after all, but are coming to the peak of their careers.

The gap should close further in the next few years. Obviously those clubs will continue to buy the best players, but Messi and Ronaldo are once (sorry, twice) in a generation players.
 
We'll see how we fair against Juve.

Atletico would be a good challenge in last 1/16 too (and an excellent away game for the fans).
 
Ric said:
I think in terms of ability and potential of the squad, then we're probably in the top five but until we have a serious run in the Champions League it's a moot point.

I'm looking forward to this season's campaign, although I suspect if drawn against Barca or Real we'll probably fall short again.

We're definitely closing the gap though, and Messi and Ronaldo probably distort things a bit. These are arguably two of the best players of all time, after all, but are coming to the peak of their careers.

The gap should close further in the next few years. Obviously those clubs will continue to buy the best players, but Messi and Ronaldo are once (sorry, twice) in a generation players.
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Correct on all points.

Barca and RM also both drive each other on. If one starts to fall the other usually follows. These two teams are the only ones that seem out of reach. It's a shame that when the Spanish economy crashed these two didn't go with it!

If anyone catches them I think it will be us.
 
1. Barcelona
2. Real Madrid
3. Bayern Munich
4. City
5. PSG
6. Chelsea
7. Arsenal
8. Juventus
9. Atletico
10. United
11. Dortmund
12. Wolfsburg
 
TheRealCitizen said:
I'd say this:

Tier 1 Barcelona, Madrid, Bayern (genuine CL contenders)

Tier 2 City, Chelsea, Atletico, PSG

Tier 3 Juventus, Sevilla, Valencia

Tier 4 Arsenal, Dortmund, Benfica, Porto

I genuinely think we are one world class CM (and maybe a good defensive LB) away from being to able to say that we are genuine CL contenders. I think we'll finish in the semi's or the quarters depending on the draw. When playing 4-2-3-1, a Pogba type signing, to substitute for Yaya's vulnerability in a midfield 2 in Europe, would go a long way to protect the defence in tight games. We'll give it a real good go in the CL this season but I think we'll fall just short of the final. The 2016-2017 season though, depending on the signings made this time next year, might be a different story altogether. We could honestly go and win it. We are not that far away at all, we just have to prove it on the pitch. It really is exciting times for our club!
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No way are Sevilla and Valencia better than Arsenal, Dortmund or even Porto.
 
I do think in Europe it has been tactically and mentally that has let us down in my opinion.

If we can get ourselves tactically prepared better this season and go into the games believing we are as good as the best then we should be able to go far.

Once you get to the semi-finals its a little bit of a lottery for me, around that period you need to have key players fit and be in overall good form. Just look at Bayern last season when they played Barca, had they gad Robben and Ribery fit I think the two ties could have been a little different.

Luck of the draw helps as well, Juventus had Real Madrid and Barcelona in the semi-final and final respectively, but up until that they had a relegation threatened Dortmund in the last 16 and Monaco in the quarter finals, two teams you would expect that Juventus team to beat.

I think Atletico Madrid and PSG are two to watch this season.
 
Tier 1 Barcelona/Madrid > Bayern

Tier 2 City/PSG > Chelsea

Tier 3 Juventus/Athletico,

Tier 4 Arsenal/Dortmund > United/Porto
 
Top 10
What's more important to me is we may have put ourselves in the mix for an extended period of time with the quality of signings this summer.
Talent with youth....
sky is the limit
Sky blue that is
 
I think the big 3 of Barca, Real and Bayern sit just above us in this pecking order but I'd be interested to see how they see us in this vein...

Admittedly we have been in parts embarrassing in Europe recently but in terms of player names and sheer squad size and versatility we surely have to be labelled up their with them from a neutrals perspective.

Thoughts?
 
ethan23 said:
I would say now

Tier 1 Barcelona, Madrid

Tier 2 Bayern, US, Chelsea, PSG

Tier 3 Juventus, Athletico,

Tier 4 Arsenal, United, Dortmund, Porto
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A midfielder like Koke and will be one the same level as Barca and Madrid.
 
I think we must have close to the best second XI in world football certainly ahead in my view of Barca, Chelsea, PSG , Juve - maybe not Madrid.

But on first XI we are a mile behind Barcelona at the moment and we have proven behind a few other sides in European terms.

So overall for a squad if you averages out first XI where we might be 5/6 and 2nd XI where we might be 2/3 we are probably 4th in the world on squad?
 
I see most have placed us in Top 10. Not for me. Unless we reach the quarters of the UCL, I wouldn't say we are a Top 10/Top 8 team. Squad on paper means nothing if we keep getting turned over by the likes of CSKA, Ajax, Dortmund, Napoli and the likes in Europe.
 
Our first choice if one of our starting midfielders is injured is Fernando or Delph.
 
Until we manage to win the CL, we're not really in a position to judge ourselves against Europe's elite. That is how we'll ultimately be measured. The squad we have now is capable of doing very well in Europe this season, no doubt about it.
 
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