Will we win the league this season?

I'm enjoying this thread. Wait til we've had a proper pre season. Wait til we've played five games. The season doesn't start til 10 games in. Wait til we play all teams once. Wait until after Christmas. Wait until April. Wait until next year.

Change the thread name to "Which arbitrary point in a league season does your current position and points become relevant in a discussion regarding winning the league?" Catchy.
 
.db. said:
Arsenal are a different team/squad now.

When first choice players are injured, they have good players to cover with the general standard of the team not declining so massively, which they didn’t have in 2022-23 or 2023-24 (last season, they were decimated with injuries nearly as much as us which was a different situation to the odd player).

Zubimendi has been a top signing. But if Saka, Odegaard, Gabriel and Gyokores are out injured you wouldn’t notice with Madueke, Eze, Hancipie, Merino etc. giving them the best squad in the league.

In their previous title battles with us, Arsenal crumbled if they had a key player injured in the run-in. Even their better players suffered because the stand-ins didn’t give them confidence. They now have the squad to stop that happening, their better players don’t have to worry about a shit player coming in.

Look at City at Villa recently; everyone said we lost because we had some key players missing. That never used to be a problem for us, as I posted on another thread recently:

Kompany missed most of our record breaking winning run in 2017-18 and we didn’t miss him.
De Bruyne missed a lot of the 2018-19 season and the long unbeaten run in 2020-21 and we didn’t miss him.
Sané missed most of the 2018-19 season and we didn’t miss him.
Fernandinho missed a lot of the second half of the 2018-19 season and we didn’t miss him.
Agüero missed most of the 2020-21 season and we didn’t miss him.

In 2018-19, we could have had Kompany, Mendy, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Sané and Agüero out injured and still chosen to rest Otamendi, Danilo and David Silva and still put out this XI:

Ederson
Walker—Stones—Laporte—Zinchenko
Gündoğan
BSilva—Foden
Mahrez—Jesus—Sterling

2½ years ago we rested all these lads and still beat Chelsea:
View attachment 175736

From 2017-23 we never lost a game because we had players out injured, we only ever lost due to not playing well.

I’m not saying Arsenal are at our levels from 2017-2023, but they’re ahead of the rest of the current league when it comes to that sort of thing.
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Arsenal crumbled in prior seasons due to a poor mentality. The injuries thing was just a load of waffle picked up by the media to sell to gullible supporters.

They were close enough to the finish line with decent enough lineups to get the job done but their manager and players didn’t have the mentality to get over the line and I believe with a bit of pressure they still won’t.

I feel like a broken record but if we are within touching distance in the new year we will reel them in.
 
I think multiple things can be true:

1) Arsenal are the best team in the country right now, and it would honestly be shameful for them if they don't win the league.
2) Despite point 1, they aren't running away with it. They're one result away from getting dragged back into the pack.
3) While they are the best team in the country, I don't think they're head and shoulders better in the way we and Liverpool were.
4) Until they do win something, they are going to be asked serious questions about whether they have the bottle for it. Grinding out 1-0s is fine in November, different to do it in the spring. I actually think they do have a better look about them this season, but they have to prove that.
5) City are getting better, even in defeat. We are six months in to a rebuild, and I don't need to see us win it every year, just see us improve, which I am seeing. We just need to keep building the foundations and keep Arsenal honest. If it clicks in the new year then I'd like us to be there or thereabouts. I think that's all you can ask for as a football fan.
 
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I think it depends on Rodri tbh, if he can stay fit and if he's somewhere near the player he was. I think the midfield without him is good but not quite good enough
 
K-Bo said:
I think it depends on Rodri tbh, if he can stay fit and if he's somewhere near the player he was. I think the midfield without him is good but not quite good enough
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Imo best 6 in the world.

But guy is a unit, 14 months and not totally fit a worry.

Nico for you guys has done a great job, you have the best 9 in the world, amazing GK, probably loads be on fence here MC but Doku is a menace.

MC elite teams at least one of the wide men bang in 12 to 15 PL goals. Game changing moments Mahrez was ridiculous clutch games, CM Gundogen also.
 
We actually lost 4 of the first 12 in 2013/14 and went on to win the league.

Not that this is going to happen this time, mind.
 
One of our main weaknesses is the right side — we’re seriously lacking quality there. Nunes is doing a decent job defensively, but we need someone who can create chances in the final third. For me, this is one of the main reasons why we won’t win the league. If Spurs are still interested, we should move Savinho on and bring in a proper winger to partner with Nunes.
 
eastmanc said:
What a futile exercise. If everyone could predict the results of football matches we would all be winning the pools. City have had far better teams than this Arsenal side in the past and have been beaten by teams at home and away by sides that we didn't expect to win against us in that time. There is a long way to go nobody knows what will happen City have to keep going and stick in there. One thing's for sure if we give up we have no chance.
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Nobody can predict outcomes with certainty. But past performance and the evidence of ones eyes are valuable tools to use. You are right that we are very much still in the race and usually finish strongly.Arsenal have a long list of failure in the second half of seasons streching back quite a bit now. However, currently Arsenal look a lot more consistent and stable then we do. It will not be easy to catch and stay ahead of them unless we quickly improve.
 
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