It's a good on-pitch rivalry but that's about it.
I doubt City and Liverpool fans think much of beating one another beyond the points.
It needs a character to ignite it, Klopp should call Guardiola a slap head.
Do City leave you cold?
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
- Start date
I doubt City and Liverpool fans think much of beating one another beyond the points.
It needs a character to ignite it, Klopp should call Guardiola a slap head.
A bit of animosity and edge to a rivalry usually adds to it. Of course the quality of the football is the important but give me a heated rivalry over a friendly one every time, if the quality on the pitch is comparable.
When it becomes too heated, it automatically affects the quality of the game. Players spend time kicking each other and rolling on the floor more often than necessary.
A lot of the Barca vs Madrid games were like this under Pep and Mourinho, even though there was so much quality one the field to play better football.
I prefer the Pep - Klopp or even Pep - Tuchel rivalries to the Pep - Mourinho rivalry.
Correct. That both teams get more joy from beating us than each other says it all.
Those Guardiola vs Mourinho. Probably only Mourinho and Pepe enjoyed it. Most of the players even the Madrid ones complained about having to play like Stoke City.
24hrs after this, we are discussing the tactics and not about the assistants picking a fight on the sidelines. Mourinho brings too much negativity to these which is why we had Mou vs Wenger, Conte, Pep, Klopp and anyone e.g Salernitaa bench over the weekend
Think Pique said he enjoyed it.
Exactly my feeling, all their achievements are null and void.
You can make similar claims about United and Chelsea. Chelsea have world class midfielders all over and are stacked with plenty attacking options. Right back and left back too. The point I made about Cancelo is that as far as this season is concerned, he is their number one left back. Zinchenko is not world class but can be key to the style they play whenever they need him. He has obvious weaknesses that City do a good job covering whenever he is playing.
If you count Cancelo as a right back this season, and leave him out from left back on your list, that would be incorrect this season even though it fits your narrative better because he is their prime left back this season by a country mile. In any case wherever you decide to put him, the point still stands that City’s assumed “2 world class players per position” is the result of players being able to function effectively in multiple positions and not necessarily because of raw numbers.
Good post and I think alot of it comes down to Pep too. I mean Zinchenko signed for City as a no.10 and plays CM for his country. He consistently makes good use of players in positions that aren't their own. Zinchenko at LB, Mascherano at CB, KDB and David Silva as no.8's. He even has a RW like Bernardo play as a box to box midfielder and look natural doing it. All easy to point out in hindsight but at the time were deemed crazy.
People laughed when he first played Fernandinho, D.Silva and KDB in midfield and said it would never work. Said it was a 1 man midfield. KDB is probably now the best no.8 since Pep's Barca with Xavi and Iniesta.
But you’re arguing about a ‘narrative’ against someone who didn’t say that they have 2 players per position and just pointed out if you won’t let me use their CM/AM guys who cover multiple roles then it stands to reason Cancelo just gets counted as an RB. I don’t particularly care if you disagree - that just means they have one world class (Cancelo) LB and one elite LB (Zinchenko) versus one world class RB (Walker) with one missing here. As I originally said, not too shabby.
Also United? Are you serious? Chelsea and Pool arguments can be made for different areas of the pitch, im all ears for that but United have big names, not big players.
There's nice balance to be found though. The Arsenal/United rivalry was fantastic. Football was great. Both teams disliked each other and you could feel the animosity on the pitch. It added to the entertainment and heightened the excitement. And anyway, those Barca/Real Madrid matches during the Mourinho/Pep era were fantastic to watch too.
They seem to UP their game and play in top gear against attacking teams and play a slow boring football against defensive teams.
Actually Chelsea vs Liverpool used to be fun to watch as they had a nasty edge to them at times. Better than this one i think. The 4-4 game was just absurd 
I can see what you mean. Robotic wins, displayed in front of a luke warm crowd, barely cheering after the 5th identical goal goes in, many already on their way home. I reckon some City fans miss the screamers that Yaya Toure used to belt in from 35 yards. There's little in the way of drama these days, unless Pep gropes one of their players as they try to take a throw in.
I remember during the takeover and afterwards when they were buying players, all this talk about how their players will have no passion, be mercenaries who wont care about anything but their paycheques.
But what you see is them working as a collective, working their arses off without the ball, and playing some really good stuff with a structure with the ball.
Meanwhile I think you can easily say the mercenaries are in the shirt of the red, where the majority of our players dont give a shit.
City annoys me, because they have overtaken us on the field, easily. And this is despite spending similar amounts as us on transfers and wages.
But what you see is them working as a collective, working their arses off without the ball, and playing some really good stuff with a structure with the ball.
Meanwhile I think you can easily say the mercenaries are in the shirt of the red, where the majority of our players dont give a shit.
City annoys me, because they have overtaken us on the field, easily. And this is despite spending similar amounts as us on transfers and wages.
They play great fecking football sad to say. 3-1 up now.
With ETH being a Pep disciple hopefully we can start playing something resembling it.
With ETH being a Pep disciple hopefully we can start playing something resembling it.
Yeah they do. Anyone saying they're boring doesn't understand the game or is just bitter.
It has its weaknesses for sure. You can kind of see why playing city suited Oles style. Their biggest weakness is pace and directness on the counter.
True. However every style of play has its weaknesses, boring is not one of City's.
Tonight was obviously an entertaining game. But in general I do find their style boring, very effective though. If they cut out the tactical fouls it might be more entertaining.
There's going to be a generation of football fans growing up watching Manchester City play the best football in the world.
They've bought their seat at the table, but they've done it in style so in 10 years time nobody will even give a shit.
They've bought their seat at the table, but they've done it in style so in 10 years time nobody will even give a shit.
They don’t play the best football in the north west of England.
Still can’t help but find them dull. Probably because I dislike them but it’s just how it goes into my brain. Like watching a video of somebody winning 8 - 0 on Football Manager because they used the editor.
Tactical fouls are part of the game since it began, literally everyone does it, they're just better at it. If one is able to see the amount of drill, technique, ability on and off the ball behind every single of their movements, I can't possibly understand how they think that Man City are boring. They've set the bar as high as it can possibly be at the moment and are on course to win the league without a proper striker.
Probably just ptsd from those Barca finals.
Quite sensational game of football tonight, but I think back to that article and still profoundly agree. It just didn't have that sense of history or weight. It's intangible, but theyre simply too manufactured to have the same sense as if that had been Liverpool and Anfield for example.
This Abu Dhabi club booing the CL anthem in some sort of contrived attempt at relevance, and a great manager like Guardiola harnessed to this historic lightweight. I think of guys like Lippi and think Turin, Hitzfeld at the Olympic Stadium. There's just nothing iconic about them. The fans don't seem to know how to behave on big nights, cringed at the shouts of shoot for fernandinho late on while miles out in a semi final at 4-3. It just feels a bit artificial- despite it being a truly cracking match.
This Abu Dhabi club booing the CL anthem in some sort of contrived attempt at relevance, and a great manager like Guardiola harnessed to this historic lightweight. I think of guys like Lippi and think Turin, Hitzfeld at the Olympic Stadium. There's just nothing iconic about them. The fans don't seem to know how to behave on big nights, cringed at the shouts of shoot for fernandinho late on while miles out in a semi final at 4-3. It just feels a bit artificial- despite it being a truly cracking match.
Today, sadly they made me want to love football again.
Hurts that they get to play like this.
I don't care of their trophies though.
Hurts that they get to play like this.
I don't care of their trophies though.
They are like a really well kitted out demo super car. It’s very impressive but it’s nothing more than some plastic and a lot of money.
Also the Etihad is a terrible stadium.
Also the Etihad is a terrible stadium.
They didn't leave me cold today, it was outstanding football at times and the fact they made big mistakes helped keep this game extremely entertaining.
Nah, they can be incredibly boring at times when they decide they don't want to attack and just hold the ball.
City are great to watch when a team goes toe to toe. And you also have a better chance of beating them. Same with Liverpool. If you park the bus, they’ll probably just beat you 1 or 2 nil. They will find a way to score, they practice beating the low block all the time. Better to go hell for leather and hope for the best. And it’s a far better spectacle for everyone involved.
Perfectly said. They are to football what Jake Paul is to boxing. "Successful" I guess, but hardly representative of the sport.
Jealousy is the only reason you would find them boring.
I would say they're like a band created on XFactor, say One Direction, who became huge and successful and achieved everything a band would like and fair play to them, but just simply don't have the credibility or romance of a band started among friends in their garage after school who became the biggest in the world. They're a very 'modern' club.
Yeah that's a perfect analogy. The lead singer tries to be Bowie but he will never ever be David Bowie.
They definitely do, as much as it pains me to say
They are a nothing club to us, but 20/30 years from now if they have built up a legacy of trophies whilst playing entertaining football, have a few "romantic" european nights along the way for their fans, they will be seen by their fans and a new generation of football fans in a similar vein to us. That is the way of life across all mediums, the following generations will dictate the narrative not us. Which is why united need to get their finger out asap!
Yes they might. But that air still remains around Chelsea, two decades into their Abramovich reign with some great nights behind them. They are still widely regarded as an oil club.
They are as good on the field as their fans are bad in the stands. Incredible dissonance.
Crowd had the feel of a heightened Soccer Aid game tonight. Just dreadful