Title race

[bman2]

Fub, you can lock this thread now mate. There is no title race.

There will be a title race. We just won't be in it.

Well it’s all still very tight at the top. A three point swing still moves a team up or down several spots. But in terms of form and performances, it’s looking ominous. In their last ten league matches, City have scored 21 goals (same as us) but they have only conceded 2. 2! They’re without Aguero and de Bruyne, and they are still dominating the opposition and scoring healthy numbers of goals.

In terms of points, we’ve done almost as well as them. But our performances are less convincing. We concede every game. It’s a long time since we won by more than 1 goal. And obviously we never really look in control. If anything, we might have been a bit lucky to claw out as many wins as we have, and our results might go through a dip just by the law of averages. If you keep letting the opposition score — including the likes of Sheffield — you’re going to drop points.

[swampash]

Btw, is it Dr Sir or Sir Dr...?

I'm not sure if this (from 2014) helps, but still...
https://academia.stackexchange.com/ques ... d-academic

...I think it means he would be Dr Sir..?

[bman2]

So City are on a run of 13 wins in the League. What’s even more ridiculous is that during this winning run they’ve scored 32 goals and only conceded 3! 3! They do have a money is no object squad, but that kind of defensive consistency, you also have to credit the coaching.

[Sid]

So City are on a run of 13 wins in the League. What’s even more ridiculous is that during this winning run they’ve scored 32 goals and only conceded 3! 3! They do have a money is no object squad, but that kind of defensive consistency, you also have to credit the coaching.

No striker for some of those games too. Tactical masterclass is overused but this is a genuine example of it.

[Edfuckingwoodward]

Its amazing what you can achieve with a proper plan, structured recruitment, clear footballing philosophy and brilliant coaching.



And £4bn quid.

[fat maradona]

Its amazing what you can achieve with a proper plan, structured recruitment, clear footballing philosophy and brilliant coaching.



And £4bn quid.

City have spent a mere £82m (net spend) MORE than us over the last 10 years. But look at their squad and compare to ours. The money they've spent would be for nowt if not for that first sentence of yours. We are the opposite, we've spent as much but without a proper plan.

[urboystook1hellofabeating]

Its amazing what you can achieve with a proper plan, structured recruitment, clear footballing philosophy and brilliant coaching.



And £4bn quid.

[bman2]

Its amazing what you can achieve with a proper plan, structured recruitment, clear footballing philosophy and brilliant coaching.



And £4bn quid.

They handle their transfers professionally. They buy from the top shelf, but don’t get taken to the cleaners on players. They walked away from Maguire at 80M for example. We always seem to fixate on one single player then pay whatever the club (and agent) says, like Maguire, Pogba, etc. This summer they bought Dias, but they also first got Ake as a backup. And it’s not just who you buy, it’s how you buy them. Well-run clubs like City, Leicester, and so on, get the players in early so that they can acclimatize and get into the rhythm of things. They have staff that handle the players’ moves, takes care of the families’ needs, all that practical shit. We bring in players after a big transfer saga, with the season about to start, and a massive price tag hanging over the player’s head. Think how many of our transfers have been busts for reasons that might have been avoidable. Memphis Depay losing his head, as he later admitted. Di Maria never being happy in Manchester. Fred not being capable of playing at PL level for almost his whole first season, and even now is just an average jobber. Maguire! Pogba! Sancho fiasco. De Beek, does the manager even want him? Mkhitaryan — was he just bought to please Pogba’s agent? It’s such a shambles.

[Edfuckingwoodward]

Yeah, my comment was tongue in cheek. They've spunked a ton of cash, but they've done it well, certainly in the last 7 or 8 years. We've spent masses of money, but don't it badly.

There's a fair argument that we don't have a keeper good enough to win a league, and we're paying our keepers a total of £600k per week. We're lacking a dominant CB and yet our first choice pairing cost £115m. We spent £50m on a right back who struggles to pass and cross a football.

[bman2]

City win again. 20 wins on the bounce, and i think 14 in the league. I don’t want to rush to judgment, but I think they’ve a fair chance of winning the league this season.

Leicester and West Ham are right on our ass. If Chelsea beat us, the pull within three, so a win or even a draw would be a good result in terms of us holding onto our top four spot. If they win their game in hand, Everton are only 6 behind us as well. And although they look like they’re in free fall right now, Liverpool are still only 9 behind us. 3 wins, with 13 games left to play, is not an impossible swing in Liverpool’s favour.

But it’s looking like City are just going to hold onto a comfortable lead, and we’re going to see out the remainder of the season in a really tight dog fight for the remaining 3 CL spots. I’d love it if we managed to put a bit of distance between us and the chasing teams in the next few games, but it seems more likely we’re in for squeaky bum time all the way to the end.

Imagine what a fucking letdown it would be if finished 5th or below. Imagine how different things would look, finishing 5th instead or 4th or 3rd, even if there will probably only be a couple of points difference.

I was just looking over our collective squad stats. When I look at the stats, it really looks to me like whatever improvement we’ve seen under Ole all boils down to Bruno Fernandes. It looks that way on the pitch too, watching us playing.