surf
Full Member
City has Aguero, De Bruyne and Silva, and United has better back 5 players. There's not a lot in it on paper and the current differences are more to do with coaching, management and squad balance.
A defender who is good for only 89 minutes is a liability.Almost all defenders make some mistakes at some stage of a match. Blind certainly has. It's how costly they are that dictates how long we remember them for.
You started off by calling Stones a liability now are saying he's good for 89 minutes of a game. Quite a climb down. He has been involved in 2 opposition goals this season (Sunderland and United) both of which the keeper was more culpable than him.
So to not be a liability any defender would have to put in a perfect performance?A defender who is good for only 89 minutes is a liability.
Putting in a perfect performance is not the same as not making obvious mistakes.So to not be a liability any defender would have to put in a perfect performance?
You concede that Stones is good for 89 minutes.Putting in a perfect performance is not the same as not making obvious mistakes.
He gives the ball away cheaply, and as a defender that's the second worst thing you can do, right after screwing up defensively. It doesnt need to lead to a goal to be an error. I am sure he will come good, but right now there are just too many mistakes.You concede that Stones is good for 89 minutes.
Are the mistakes he makes in that 1 minute so calamitous that you can label him a liability? I already made reference to the Sunderland and United goals that he was negatively involved in. What else has he done so bad in the 7.5 games he's played?
Did Rio make no mistakes as a young player? Pallister?
Blind is probably at the peak of his powers now and while I respect his ability Stones' upside is placing him on a different level at CB.
Many reds on here wanted Blind out of the team after the Derby. You weren't one of them, I guess?
He's been quite lucky in that regard, he made some pretty big errors against United that went unpunished.You started off by calling Stones a liability now are saying he's good for 89 minutes of a game. Quite a climb down. He has been involved in 2 opposition goals this season (Sunderland and United) both of which the keeper was more culpable than him.
Disagree, it's actually very close on paper. Football is not played on paper, however, and at the moment, they do look a lot better than us. I'm not too worried though. We have immense quality so I'm hoping we'll come good.GK is the only area of the pitch that United are superior to City.
Almost a month now and this looks the complete opposite.I think the title will be heading to Manchester this season as I don't see any of Arsenal, Chelsea or Spurs being able to compete with us and City. Whilst pondering this I arrived at the conclusion that we have the strongest squad in the league (on paper), so what with the disadvantages of our Europa League commitments I think the title will be a very close run race. Upon arriving at my conclusions I compared our squad with City's:
Goalkeeper
The easiest verdict to reach, De Gea is simply the best in the world for me therefore even if Bravo does settle in immediately it still wouldn't swing it City's way.
Verdict: UNITED
Defence
I've split it into full backs and centre backs in my mind. For full backs it's clear we have the best one of either squad in Shaw and what with Valencia's resurgence (hopefully continuing) I'd call it a draw because despite City's wealth of experience across Sagna, Zabaleta, Clichy and Kolarov, simply put I think all 4 are past their best. It's just our backups in Darmian and Rojo leave a lot to be decided. As for centre backs I think we quite comfortably lead the way, Smalling, Bailly, Blind surpasses Stones, Otamendi, Kompany. Done us both a favour by excluding Jones and Mangala.
Verdict: UNITED
Midfield
After keepers this was the next simplest decision. Again we have the best midfielder of either squad in Pogba and our remaining options of Herrera, Fellaini, Schneiderlin and Carrick make for a pretty well balanced selection. City will be relying on Gundogan to return well from injury but even given that happening they still only have Fernandinho, Fernando and Delph. Schweinsteiger and Yaya cancel each other out as neither look like featuring or playing any sort of substantial role this season.
Verdict: UNITED
Attack
This was extremely tight, largely due to the similarities in our arsenals e.g. Ibra and Aguero star men, Rashford and Iheanacho up and coming. De Bruyne is simply league's ahead of Rooney as the main playmaker but similar could be said for Martial and Sterling. Silva perhaps takes the edge over Mkhi at this time purely based on his experience in the league whilst the impact of our squad players (Lingard, Memphis, Sane, Navas) is yet to be seen whilst Nolito looks like a steady addition. I confess I do see City scoring more than us this season so I'll give them the edge.
Verdict: CITY
What does everyone think? It's quite clear to me now I've laid out my thoughts which is why I'm surprised so many pundits keep saying City's squad on paper is the best. I think they have an abundance of riches in attack but it's a very top heavy squad, there's question marks over their defence and midfield for me.
Nah, the attack bit still holdsAlmost a month now and this looks the complete opposite.
Well, apart from the GK, everything is in the favour of City.Nah, the forwards but still holds
Watched him for Spain under 19s in 2012 at the European championships and he looked fantastic. I thought he had the ability and potential to be like Alba(if not better)Reports in Portugal of Guardiola watching Grimaldo from Benfica. Don't know if true or not, but he's only played a handful of games, I can say he's been good but I don't think he's ready for the Premier League. After they spent 42M£ no Mangala, which was also an unfinished product, Benfica only has to milk them too, 30M€ at the very least.
Well spotted.Well, apart from the GK, everything is in the favour of City.
Kit: United
Most handsome manager: United
Most letters in clubs name: United
Least ginger players: United
Most poets in first team: United
How is this even a contest at this point.
Don't be ridiculous, one mistake doesn't make Bravo a better keeper than DDG.Well spotted.
Although DDG/smalling did the same as bravo/stones cockup (albeit Watford missed a goal), so perhaps not even GK.
There is knee jerk and and then there's this. Yeah we've been shite for the past three games, but not every team hits the ground running under a new manager especially a team with a young starting eleven and that's including our 90m signing. Compare that to City's more experienced crop and it's got to have an impact on how quickly they picked up Pep' way of playing. Let's wait to see how it's looking by Christmas before jumping to ridiculous conclusions.GK is the only area of the pitch that United are superior to City.
You are a terrible WUM, not even subtle. I can actually hear your laughter as you type your posts . You should take a long sabbatical onto BlueMoon.Although DDG/smalling did the same as bravo/stones cockup (albeit Watford missed a goal), so perhaps not even GK.
Guys like Rooney, Lingard, Fellaini, Valencia, Depay wouldn't get near City's squad, let alone their starting XI. Though in fairness Valencia has looked better this season. I doubt Mata would be seeing any game-time at City either given they have much better options available to them.There is knee jerk and and then there's this. Yeah we've been shite for the past three games, but not every team hits the ground running under a new manager especially a team with a young starting eleven and that's including our 90m signing. Compare that to City's more experienced crop and it's got to have an impact on how quickly they picked up Pep' way of playing. Let's wait to see how it's looking by Christmas before jumping to ridiculous conclusions.
Regarding Goalkeeper, a lot of folks in Spain have Bravo as the best goalkeeper in the world or at least next to Neuer....along with Navas....
If your comparing Bravo to DDG, than I would picked current Bravo over DDG.