Treble
Full Member
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2008
- Messages
- 10,551
We lost Coutinho in January if you remember, so a limited squad anyway became even more limited. I fully agree that the league, at times, did take a back seat to progressing in the CL, but it was more to do with team selections rather than fatigue, which was the point I was trying to make.
I'm not saying that you are bound to get tired. It's an open question for me whether you can sustain a proper challenge both in the EPL and the CL. You have options in midfiled but you seem very dependent on several players, especially VVD and Salah.
Salah has scored/assisted every 76 min in the league since the start of last season. By comparison, Mane and Firmino have done it every 140 min or thereabouts. In contrast, Aguero - every 75 min, Sterling - every 85 min, Sane - every 87 min, Jesus every 108 min. That is, City seem less reliant on particular attackers and defenders.
You have a proper chance to compete but everything should go your way, in particular VVD and Salah to stay injury free all season.