To be fair a good deal of TalkSport callers are actors
Do City leave you cold?
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
No. As an admirer of the way Pep wants his teams to play, they make me very appreciative and awestruck.
They bore me.
They're very technical but so is quantum physics and I'm not watching that for 90 minutes.
They're very technical but so is quantum physics and I'm not watching that for 90 minutes.
Snap when they are on as live game at weekend I turn channel its too regimentated they pass ball to death at times and teams just sit back every game mostly its tiresome to watch plus when they are having off day v a r seems to help them plus their billion pound subs bench with more to follow. Yawn.
It would be more interesting if their games were competitive. But half of their games are effectively over after the first goal. I reckon pundits could stop watching half of their home games after the first goal and get away with it.
They are a ruthless winning machine
Fantastic team, Fantastic coach. Simple as that.
Another thing I have to give them is they have the money to buy the haalands, mbappes, neymars, but generally have bought a tier below that financial level which has to give credit to their recruitment team. Its probably also easier to identify targets when you know exactly the profile of player that the manager wants.
Another thing I have to give them is they have the money to buy the haalands, mbappes, neymars, but generally have bought a tier below that financial level which has to give credit to their recruitment team. Its probably also easier to identify targets when you know exactly the profile of player that the manager wants.
They leave me cold. Their ability on and off the ball is just on a different level to United.
They left me raw today
It's on a different level to most of the teams in the world tbh
Lecister were the worst champions.
If I close my eyes a bit and can't see it's City playing, I certainly enjoy their football and dominance.
I always hated playing Pep teams, they suck joy out of opponents who are not 100% up to it. And we were not up to it today, at least not second half.
I always hated playing Pep teams, they suck joy out of opponents who are not 100% up to it. And we were not up to it today, at least not second half.
One day the truth will come out,it always does .
No point in being jealous anymore
Style aside, their success is entirely artificial. It's difficult to feel any emotion towards them.
Why . They are obviously the best team of this decade but some things will never make sense to me so I will always remain curious.
Well drilled I have accepted that now
United definitely leave me cold.
I wonder if them going for 40-80 million pound players is down to Pep's football communism were stars are a problem or if its down to City being aware of the fact that most transfers over £100 million don't actually work.
City have got their style to such an art that it really is tedious stuff.
But then a lot of this 1 up front modern day footy is sh!te. Bring back the pace power and 4-4-2 of the 90s any day.
But then a lot of this 1 up front modern day footy is sh!te. Bring back the pace power and 4-4-2 of the 90s any day.
Probably find that a lot of the true prices on these transfers are way beyond what goes through officially.
Probably a bit of both!
People are giving credit to City for not spending 100 million and rather doing it with 60-80 million players. World has gone mad. Oh btw they did buy Grealish for big money and were ready to break the bank for Kane but for Levy not agreeing to any fee at all . United are a shockingly run club but if you leave us out then city still have a massive edge over anyone else in spending. Pep is a great coach but it’s no surprise that it feels hollow
I think one thing Pep learnt from his Barcelona days is that managing team of too many world class players is not an easy task as they may or may not agree with his vision.
As long as you have good vision on how you want to play the game, a team with an above average players who fits into that vision will be very hard to beat. This is exactly what Pep and Klopp's teams have been doing. They don't buy superstars, they make them.
Unfortunately we fans think buying haland, Sancho, Ronaldo would suddenly take us to next level. Fact is we have too many below average players on fat contracts and it would be difficult to get rid of them and buy new players.
I've had high hopes from Ragnick but sad to see that he too is struggling to get our current imbeciles in line.
Think the term "champagne communism" is apt in this context
Even today, after a very celebrated performance, I found it tedious to watch.
It's very effective at draining the opposition but this constant 10 yard forward, 10 yard back, to one side, back to the other side.
The exact same attack repeated over and over.
After 10 mins of it I'm ready to turn over.
It's very effective at draining the opposition but this constant 10 yard forward, 10 yard back, to one side, back to the other side.
The exact same attack repeated over and over.
After 10 mins of it I'm ready to turn over.
Ruthless and boring. But only when they play shite teams like us.
As soon as someone with chaos and intensity comes at them they crumble.
They will win 9 titles out of 10 with this play.
But you probably won't remember a single season.
It will all blend into one big borefest.
Feck them.
As soon as someone with chaos and intensity comes at them they crumble.
They will win 9 titles out of 10 with this play.
But you probably won't remember a single season.
It will all blend into one big borefest.
Feck them.
When United were dominant. Coincidence?
It was just much more fun all round. Proper wingers, full backs who could defend, centre backs whose main job was defending. Centre mid who could do some of everything, and a proper 2 up front.
Just seemed to be a tonne of depth of both strikers and defenders.
Compare the English strikers now to then for instance, it's outrageous what a drop off in quality there is.
When you are successful people find you boring because you are efficient.
Doubt they care, or their fans, just like we didn't care what people thought of us either.
Even when in total control and city player gives ball away the willingness to win it back is top class. That is down to proper coaching and work on the training ground.
The way they suck teams in to press them by keeping the ball and with one simple pass they stretch the game and off they attack is joy to watch.
The way they suck teams in to press them by keeping the ball and with one simple pass they stretch the game and off they attack is joy to watch.
They're so hollow to watch. They have some popularity because they are winning but there is no love for the club itself. You could swap their name out with anybody else in football and nobody would care, and their team is the same. A whole squad of very good, completely dull players who play with ruthless efficiency and no flair whatsoever. You could swap any of them around and nobody would notice.
Though i did like their armbands in protest of one murderous regime whilst everything about them is supportive of another.
Though i did like their armbands in protest of one murderous regime whilst everything about them is supportive of another.
There's a lot to admire about the way they play football, but even so I'd rather they win 5 PL titles than Liverpool one. Everything they do is irrelevant in a sporting context and I don't see them as being our local rivals anymore. They are the club that used to be Manchester City but then became something else.
It's lucky they don't actually have a striker. Definitely agree with the highlighted bit.
And back then people were probably pining for whatever the trend was in the 80s.
I remember over lockdown watching the Arsenal/Chelsea UCL quarter final in 2004 and what really stuck out was how simplistic the transitional plays were compared to today and that was the two best teams in the country at that point.
As annoying as Pep's domination has been from the perspective of someone who's hoping their team can challenge his presence has vastly upped the standards of the PL as a whole. The improvement of English teams in Europe goes without saying but back then the gegenpress/pressing managers were being branded as a hipsters trend (even Pep was supposedly going to get found out in this league) while we were enabling the likes of Pardew and Bruce while genuinely trying to pass them off as quality managers at PL level. Even the managers of that ilk who do have some use like Allardyce and Pulis have been struggling to compete in this division, even the one below in the latter's case. Moyes and to an extent Roy are the only one's who's managed to adapt and navigate this new age.
I have no doubt the standard not just at the top but below in this country has improved 100x over since the 00s.
English strikers might have regressed(no more Alan Shearers and Owens), but the quality of PL is now miles above the quality of 90s PL in general terms.
Newcastle, Blackburn, and Leeds (main competitors for United in the 90s) did close zero in Europe, and were constantly getting spanked by continental teams, on the other hand now Liverpool, City, and Chelsea are favorites to win the UCL.
PL has never been better in terms of quality as it is right now.
Indeed.
The quality of mid table PL teams now is superior by all means to 90s mid table PL teams, no need to mention that current City, Liverpool, and Chelsea would spank the likes of Newcastle, Leeds, and Blackburn (title contenders in the 90s).
This is true. Not many non-United fans will remember or care about the differences between the 1994, 1996 and 1999 title winning sides. Just like I don't expect non-blues to remember or give a toss about whether our 100 point side was better than this one.
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Its boring cos its not us.
If this was United, we would be lauding the professionalism and hunger of the players, and ability too.
Im jealous at how comfortable they are on the ball, how there arent many if any leaks about player egos, and the BS PR stuff they do. Its annoying to see some of the good football they play and how they are able to kill off games at 2-0 by keeping possession. And reserving energy by doing so.
If this was United, we would be lauding the professionalism and hunger of the players, and ability too.
Im jealous at how comfortable they are on the ball, how there arent many if any leaks about player egos, and the BS PR stuff they do. Its annoying to see some of the good football they play and how they are able to kill off games at 2-0 by keeping possession. And reserving energy by doing so.