£315m on strikers and midfielders in 3 years for United and still struggling to beat Bournemouth
Pep and City's dominance only good for the league | Theafonis discovers he's a City fan
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A club could go unbeaten and get relegated (mathematically).
Don't see the relevance. Somebody asked a question, I answered it.£315m on strikers and midfielders in 3 years for United and still struggling to beat Bournemouth
And again have to rationalise my post to a city fan that has been irked by a fact....
Yes, duh, but 100 points or more is an insane feat to pull off. It's every bit as insane as going unbeaten(it means afterall winning at least 31 games out of 38) except more impressive since the winning > not losing
Yeah right
Just seems arbitrary to me. What if you get 100 points then come third the next year? I'm just slow to say any specific total is an indicator of "true greatness". A team might win the hardest fought league season ever with 80 points. Might win the champions league too. I personally don't see the point in getting worked up over unbeaten or points total targets, but can see why some do.
Great post. Winning titles consistently and consecutively separates the good teams from the great ones.
All this talk of invincible and points total doesnt mean much, the biggest litmus test of a truly great team and manager is the ability to win back to back league titles in this league.
honestly I'm not irked, I just find it amusing how it keeps coming back to City have spent this in x seasons when in there here and now Guardiola has improved what we have though both spending and coaching, yeah he got it wrong with Bravo but he's been proven to be bang on with how he's improved Stones who wasn't even the best defender in the City of Liverpool never mind the Everton squad, he spent big on Mendy who we've not really seen and Walker who is proving to be money well spent, Danilo is proving to be a decent utility player and Otamendi is looking like the player we thought we'd got after 2 seasons of being a bit of a clown.
You don't seem amused. But again, I was just answering somebody's query and stated that they have spent 265m on defenders and goalkeepers in three years with the intent of more in January. That's literally all I said,I made no statement about lord guardiolas use of those players. Maybe take issue with a more relevant post
indeed, claiming any kind of dominance before the fact is just bizarre. whilst they are certainly overwhelming favorites now for the league there's still loads of games to go and cup fixtures to come into the equation too. football is a funny ol game afterall. Also, was it Peps second or first season in Germany where the league was basically won by February at which point all the players switched off and the results took a (relative) downturn. They then got dumped out of the CL with ease by Real because they couldn't get their pecker up quick enough having barely had a competitive game for months.
they look set to have a good season now but i certainly don't see any real long term success (5/6yrs+) as the manager will be off in a season or twos time and they'll then be on the same managerial merry-go-round-lottery as the rest of us
Pep will definitely bring a lot to this league than just City and i hope one day things breakdown at City and he decides to punish them by joining United.
Yeah, as I say they're a terrific team and I'd be shocked if we see anything other than them winning the title this season due to the start they've made, but football's always adapting and always changing, and within a season or two we could be looking at a very different team depending on circumstances. If you want a recent example, look at Real Madrid - before the season started we were looking at a team who we pretty much all thought were as far ahead of Barca as they'd been for decades, one that'd stroll La Liga at a canter and which would go into the new CL campaign as favourites again. Now they've made a meddling start and as we approach the halfway point sit in 4th, almost inconceivably behind a Valencia team that finished 12th last season. Imagine telling someone after that Juventus game last season that after 15 games in La Liga Real would be behind a team who'd finished in the bottom half of the table - it'd have been laughed off.
City are just that good. We may need to get used to them dominating like this for a few years. One or two injuries will not hinder them and I would go as far as saying they look like the best team in the whole of Europe this season. They are making the PL look dead easy.
I could be wrong but I thought Pep hasn't won anything with City. Might be just me.
He has won hearts, he has won minds and he has won football matches. His emergence at City is nothing short of an English footballing epiphany. Hearken to his heralds.
Few years already?
Hold your horses, 1st year of their global dominance hasn't even finished.
The only way it can be seen as something remotely positive is if the other clubs in the league that are part of the elite European clubs from a financial stand point react in a way that they can compete with them in the coming years. That obviously would be us and Chelsea. As for the others, I see this as the end of their chances to win the league for some time given how difficult it is to build a team in this financial environment.
Pretty sure the tsar of the Roman empire can't be happy with what we're seeing given how much money he's thrown into his team since joining the league. I'm pretty sure there will be a reaction from him, at the very least there should be.
The big clubs in England have been a mess for some time. Despite there being huge amounts of money in the EPL, none could put together an elite team in an European context post pep, not surprising that at the first sign of a elite side the league has crumbled. Heck, this is a league that has been won by a team that was relegation fodder the season before.
When Pep came along with that Barca side Madrid took serious action after being embarrassed 6-2 at home, Bayern took action after Barca took a 4-0 lead against them in 30 mins. Its no surprise that those teams along with Barca have been the standard bearers for European football for the past period. Sticking our heads in the sand isn't going to take us anywhere, we need to make changes and catch up as the gap between the sides is quite big atm.
We're spending an unbelievable amount of money, more than that we can sign players from all but about 8 clubs in world football. We also have the pick of the worlds best coaches outside of those 8 clubs. If we cant put together a side to compete and potentially beat them with all we have at our disposal then we deserve to spend the coming years in this misery.
Pretty sure the tsar of the Roman empire can't be happy with what we're seeing given how much money he's thrown into his team since joining the league. I'm pretty sure there will be a reaction from him, at the very least there should be.
The big clubs in England have been a mess for some time. Despite there being huge amounts of money in the EPL, none could put together an elite team in an European context post pep, not surprising that at the first sign of a elite side the league has crumbled. Heck, this is a league that has been won by a team that was relegation fodder the season before.
When Pep came along with that Barca side Madrid took serious action after being embarrassed 6-2 at home, Bayern took action after Barca took a 4-0 lead against them in 30 mins. Its no surprise that those teams along with Barca have been the standard bearers for European football for the past period. Sticking our heads in the sand isn't going to take us anywhere, we need to make changes and catch up as the gap between the sides is quite big atm.
We're spending an unbelievable amount of money, more than that we can sign players from all but about 8 clubs in world football. We also have the pick of the worlds best coaches outside of those 8 clubs. If we cant put together a side to compete and potentially beat them with all we have at our disposal then we deserve to spend the coming years in this misery.
It's not the arguments you make but the tone of your post that makes it smug. Of course you are on a high and probably well within your rights to act smug.Crikey mate, you seem to like emphasising the point that City might strengthen in January. Let it go
Look, I'm not telling other clubs how they should be run. If anything, it's the other way round and for years City fans have had to put up with opposition fans telling us how our club should be run as if there's some sort of unwritten rule about it. Yet as soon as we join in the party and dare to suggest that there might be other ways to run other clubs we get accused of being smug. There's no right or wrong way to run a football club but clearly there are some owners who are far worse than others, as Blackpool fans will testify.
If another club had come along and done what City have done while we were reasonably competitive, what makes you think City fans would've had a problem with it? In fact you can argue that Blackburn did exactly that when Jack Walker bought the club - they were in the 2nd division at the time and City had just finished 5th in the top flight. We finished 5th again the season that Blackburn were promoted, and the following season they finished above us so as a result of their investment they leapfrogged us in the table. And guess what? I know of not a single City fan that ever had a problem with it.
By the way, Arsenal do have the backing of an oil county - have you seen who their main sponsor is?
Yes, it definitely relative and depends on how you look at it. Whether you are examining a single season or a longer time period.
It might not be competitive within specific seasons and it sure doesn't look like it will this year.
However, if you are examining longer periods, you would most likely come to the conclusion that it is in fact rather competitive. At least for the years following the end of United's dominance.
This is, of course, only discussing the competitiveness of the title race.
Presuming you are old enough, think back to 2003 when Abramovich took over Chelsea. What did you think about Chelsea back then? Did you ever utter the words "plastic club"? The cognitive dissonance amongst City fans is strong.
Got to laugh at Man Utd fans with their outrage at city's spending. Hasn't been a even playing field for decades and Utd are the 1s who've benefitted most from it. You won your own lottery by being great when the money suddenly started pouring in.
The vast majority of top flight clubs have next to zero chance of winning anything. I'm an Everton fan. 4th most successful team in English football and its highly unlikely I'll live to see anything resembling a title challenge
Sorry but I can't weep for a club with their own mattresse partner because they can't quite compete with 2 of the new rich
I didn't give 2 shits about it, just as I've already stated in this thread that I didn't give 2 shits about Blackburn doing it. Don't get me wrong, I've done my fair share of moaning about stuff going on at other clubs in my football supporting life - not least yours - but one thing I've never gotten all moralistic about is what other clubs spend and how they came into that money.Presuming you are old enough, think back to 2003 when Abramovich took over Chelsea. What did you think about Chelsea back then? Did you ever utter the words "plastic club"? The cognitive dissonance amongst City fans is strong.
What would this group of players have performed like in the Derby? Not even referring to their ability, more their mentality. We bottled it on Sunday. Only Rojo comes away with any credit for getting stuck into their players after. Where were the likes of Smalling in the bust up. As an experienced player he should be sending out a message by storming into their changing room and launching into the city players.
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That's your opinion and you're entitled to it but as I've already stated, one thing I could have gotten all smug about is last weekend's derby victory yet I've not made a single post about that game and I'm not going to either. Now if we'd lost that game rather than won it, as pissed off as I would've been I'd have had the decency to come on here and say fair play for beating us. Any smugness or gloating - perceived or not - I can do elsewhere.
It's not looking good for the challenging pack.
It will cause us to improve, that much is natural. We have a bar to meet. This will also happen with other top teams, so yes - I agree that we should see ‘better’ Prem teams in coming years.
In reality, the PL has had a poor standard of football for years. That has been masked by ‘excitement’ and ‘competitiveness’. Yes, it’s been competitive, but all with a very low ceiling. It’s been competitive because you could throw a blanket over all of the clubs in terms of quality - with the very best teams still being given a going over by their European counterparts. City may we’ll be the first PL team in years to meet the standard set by the likes of Real and Barca, and because they are currently the only ones, it has translated into domestic dominance. This further highlights that the league itself wasn’t good enough.
It’s unfortunate for us that Pep has come along at the wrong time for us. We had seemingly gotten our shit together, and made one of our best PL starts, only for City to blow it out of the water. What that shows is that, if not for them, we would be top, and on the way to our first PL title since Fergie, and seemingly ‘back’. This would have been self-deceit in reality, and it in the absence of City, it wouldn’t have been immediately apparent that we’re simply not that good.
I know many have mentioned the money they have spent, but we’ve spent a fair few bob too. Credit is due to the construction of a team at City, the bravery to insist on playing football on he ground, despite not achieving last season, and PL history not supporting a theory that such a style will be a success.
I’m not even convinced they have better players than us tbh, and if so, not massively. If Jose had their squad, I don’t doubt that he could win the league, but I’m certain the team wouldn’t play as well. The likes of Sane and Sterling are not the best forwards in the world by a long stretch. People have cited Money, but Pep has bought hardly any world class players in my opinion.
We will fight back, because our stature and history demands it. Whether that will mean adapting our style to be a more footballing side, or we perfect the Jose model of establishing a team that will just beat everyone else up - it will be interesting to watch.
In reality, the PL has had a poor standard of football for years. That has been masked by ‘excitement’ and ‘competitiveness’. Yes, it’s been competitive, but all with a very low ceiling. It’s been competitive because you could throw a blanket over all of the clubs in terms of quality - with the very best teams still being given a going over by their European counterparts. City may we’ll be the first PL team in years to meet the standard set by the likes of Real and Barca, and because they are currently the only ones, it has translated into domestic dominance. This further highlights that the league itself wasn’t good enough.
It’s unfortunate for us that Pep has come along at the wrong time for us. We had seemingly gotten our shit together, and made one of our best PL starts, only for City to blow it out of the water. What that shows is that, if not for them, we would be top, and on the way to our first PL title since Fergie, and seemingly ‘back’. This would have been self-deceit in reality, and it in the absence of City, it wouldn’t have been immediately apparent that we’re simply not that good.
I know many have mentioned the money they have spent, but we’ve spent a fair few bob too. Credit is due to the construction of a team at City, the bravery to insist on playing football on he ground, despite not achieving last season, and PL history not supporting a theory that such a style will be a success.
I’m not even convinced they have better players than us tbh, and if so, not massively. If Jose had their squad, I don’t doubt that he could win the league, but I’m certain the team wouldn’t play as well. The likes of Sane and Sterling are not the best forwards in the world by a long stretch. People have cited Money, but Pep has bought hardly any world class players in my opinion.
We will fight back, because our stature and history demands it. Whether that will mean adapting our style to be a more footballing side, or we perfect the Jose model of establishing a team that will just beat everyone else up - it will be interesting to watch.
It's been 4 fecking months.
It is true football has evolved and revolutionized as well since the turn of the century.the arrival of investors , great coches in wenger, ferguson, pep and Mourinho each contributing in their own way.Football is now based on speed and tactic more than ever.players like ronaldo lima..zidane , C ronaldo and messi did their share as well.
Improve like the German league where he did a similar thing?
Home page is mostly city threads. Bluecafe anyone?
only the 13/14 title race was competitive over the last 4 years...
City can hold a lot over United fans heads, but this? It took a 98th minute winner from Sterling to beat Bournemouth!£315m on strikers and midfielders in 3 years for United and still struggling to beat Bournemouth
Yes, this is a league full of clubs that can spend.
Don't be mean. We're nice to our Mothers.
Going to stop going on Caf for the rest of the season at this rate. The arse licking of a major rival is becoming embarrassing.
Tottenham have pots of cash to call on if they wish. They are content to run a tight ship and make a healthy profit on revenue and transfer fees (4 years ago United tried to take Bale for over 100m but he chose Madrid) with trophies an added bonus if they come.
That business model suits them and good luck to them but they deserve nobody's sympathy and United are just as predatory on domestic rivals' players as City are.
Please quote me one post where a City fan with more than 20 posts on here has said that we will stay unbeaten/win CL this season. If you can I'll self-ban until the New Year.
Well look where we are now, just two seasons later.
Peak was under Heynckes vs Klopp, but during the Pep years, German clubs didn't do too bad in Europe, especially compared to now.
All spending aside, I have a serious question. Is this City team, the best ever to grace the Premier League?
Alan Shearer, Danny Murphy, Gary Linekar and several other pundits seem to think so.
I have only been following the premier league since 1994 and only got completely into it (as in following other teams closely as well) since 2008.
For all of you nice people on this Redcafe, is thus true?
If not, which team do you think was better?
It seems hard to argue against the pundits now, especially that City have won 15 in a row!!!
Alan Shearer, Danny Murphy, Gary Linekar and several other pundits seem to think so.
I have only been following the premier league since 1994 and only got completely into it (as in following other teams closely as well) since 2008.
For all of you nice people on this Redcafe, is thus true?
If not, which team do you think was better?
It seems hard to argue against the pundits now, especially that City have won 15 in a row!!!