Our Rivals' squads next year - Manchester City (2016/2017)

Cityfaninpeace said:
We've been debating it a bit on here but I really have no idea who is the best three combo out or Ferds, Silva, KDB and Gudogan! Considering Gudogan hasn't played in months he was fantastic tonight!
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Play all four. I'm amazed and delighted in equal measure at how quickly the players have assimilated Pep's ideas.

As for the attendance tonight, I will add the excuse that UEFA didn't allow City to put any tickets on sale following yesterday's postponement which seemed odd, that obviously harmed the turn-out.
 
You have to admire Peps work though, he enters and you can already see changes. I think the Bayern job just didn't suit him as he got there when they were already n top. However given the resources, he could take any team and turn them into an elite side. The rest of the prem has to catch on sooner rather than later or this is going to be a very bumoy ride. Theres just too many mediocre managers in the prem for him to fail.
 
Painful to admit, but they are a very, very good side.
They are the only English side who have a realistic shout of winning the Champions League this season.
I am just hoping that the pressure of competing for the league and in Europe sees them come unstuck later in the season, but they are off to a flier.
 
BobbyManc said:
Play all four. I'm amazed and delighted in equal measure at how quickly the players have assimilated Pep's ideas.

As for the attendance tonight, I will add the excuse that UEFA didn't allow City to put any tickets on sale following yesterday's postponement which seemed odd, that obviously harmed the turn-out.
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Excuse number 52
 
What has been Pep's winning percentage in league football so far? Must be in high 80% so far which is ridiculous.

Liked how he didn't hesitate to take off his striker and put in a defensive midfielder in the second half of our match. The likes of Klopp etc wouldn't have done it but it's bad news for us as it shows he is far more pragmatic then he's known to br
 
Gündoğan signing and his mid to longterm health is the key to Pep's project at City, IMO. How the German fares in terms of his health/back will be the question. If he can stay healthy, will be a very interesting team
 
It's annoying how everything is going their way right now. I'd like to think that it won't continue and they'll face difficult times along the way, but just 2 seasons ago Chelsea led from the start and were never troubled again. So it's definitely possible to do that in England. Looking at both ours and City's last few seasons I guess it is to be expected that they're much closer to the finished article than us. I'm not particularly worried about that. The City and Pep wankfest is going to be unbearable at times though.
 
I didn't expect such a blistering start of Guardiola's career at Citeh. Maybe even his biggest fans didn't expect it.

There are several things that may make his work at Citeh easier than it was at Bayern. He has much more control over what happens, as Citeh aren't such a big club and are in awe of his ability, plus the directors are his friends. Second, Bayern have already peaked when he moved there and the players were probably not as eager to learn and implement new tactics, as some recent comments by Ribery suggest. Furhter, those quick and technically bruilliant midgets at Citeh may suit his pilosophy better than Bayern players. Surely,they are more like Barca's players, albeit not so talented.

Early days though, too early to draw conclusions. They may become even better but they may get tired and lose form in the second half of the season. Their squad isn't big and has many oldish players.
 
Treble said:
I didn't expect such a blistering start of Guardiola's career at Citeh. Maybe even his biggest fans didn't expect it.

There are several things that may make his work at Citeh easier than it was at Bayern. He has much more control over what happens, as Citeh aren't such a big club and are in awe of his ability, plus the directors are his friends. Second, Bayern have already peaked when he moved there and the players were probably not as eager to learn and implement new tactics, as some recent comments by Ribery suggest. Furhter, those quick and technically bruilliant midgets at Citeh may suit his pilosophy better than Bayern players. Surely,they are more like Barca's players, albeit not so talented.

Early days though, too early to draw conclusions. They may become even better but they may get tired and lose form in the second half of the season. Their squad isn't big and has many oldish players.
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All good points but I would still exercise restraint. As you said, these are very early days. We might peak later in the season and look unbeatable over a stretch of 4-5 games as well.

The difference here is that the rest of the league is not cannon fodder and that's where Pep's managerial success will depend. If he can consistently get those wins and maintain this level for performance through an entire season.
 
This winning streak has to end sooner or later, I wonder how long it will continue. 7 wins in 7 games is not too shabby already. I mean, I always was convinced of Pep's qualities and defended him against the doubters, I was just a lot less convinced of City's squad. ;)
 
Ainu said:
It's annoying how everything is going their way right now. I'd like to think that it won't continue and they'll face difficult times along the way, but just 2 seasons ago Chelsea led from the start and were never troubled again. So it's definitely possible to do that in England. Looking at both ours and City's last few seasons I guess it is to be expected that they're much closer to the finished article than us. I'm not particularly worried about that. The City and Pep wankfest is going to be unbearable at times though.
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More bearable than the cynics and their usual drivel of 'Pep inherited great teams', 'Premiership is tougher', etc.

Accept it, Guardiola is a revolutionary coach
 
Treble said:
There are several things that may make his work at Citeh easier than it was at Bayern. He has much more control over what happens, as Citeh aren't such a big club and are in awe of his ability, plus the directors are his friends. Second, Bayern have already peaked when he moved there and the players were probably not as eager to learn and implement new tactics, as some recent comments by Ribery suggest. Furhter, those quick and technically bruilliant midgets at Citeh may suit his pilosophy better than Bayern players. Surely,they are more like Barca's players, albeit not so talented.

Early days though, too early to draw conclusions. They may become even better but they may get tired and lose form in the second half of the season. Their squad isn't big and has many oldish players.
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As you've said, it is too early to draw conclusions. When Pep took us over, we looked like invincible juggernauts until the 2nd game vs Real in the CL semis. The games vs Barcelona should deliver a more accurate measure of City's current strength.
They definitely look like the uncontested top dog in the PL right now, though, and given Pep's league record, the rest seems to a have mountain to climb. Hope Utd picks up form to keep the race interesting.
 
FCBarca said:
More bearable than the cynics and their usual drivel of 'Pep inherited great teams', 'Premiership is tougher', etc.

Accept it, Guardiola is a revolutionary coach
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Accept it, he has to prove himself in a league that isn't a two horse race first.
 
VanGaalEra said:
What would your side be?
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You mean what do I think our strongest 11 is? I'd have to go with this:

Bravo
Zab stones Otamendi Kolarov
Ferd
Sterling silva de bruyne Nolito
Aguero

Difficult decisions over Gundogan and Kompany. As we've been discussing Gundogan is a top player but for me silva and de bruyne aren't as effective out wide and both Sterling and Nolito stretch the opposition which is essential to us. Maybe we are stronger dropping one of the wingers and putting either silva or KDB out wide but often I find when teams try to play all their best players in wrong positions it can be detrimental.

Kompany is a tough call because on his day I think he's the best defender in the league but he's been ravaged by injuries. Plus Otamendi is playing immense at the mo. Strangely Stones is already our most important centre back in Pep's system.

Also Sagna is better defensively than Zab but Zab is better all round footballer so I had to go with him. I think Sane will eventually push Sterling for a starting place too.
 
FCBarca said:
More bearable than the cynics and their usual drivel of 'Pep inherited great teams', 'Premiership is tougher', etc.

Accept it, Guardiola is a revolutionary coach
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I'm not sure about revolutionary, but certainly one of the great managers of his generation and possibly of all time. That does not mean I have to like it or want to hear about it when he's managing a rival team. I guess Barcelona fans constantly standing up for anything City related is another thing we'll have to deal with from now on.
 
Ainu said:
I'm not sure about revolutionary, but certainly one of the great managers of his generation and possibly of all time. That does not mean I have to like it or want to hear about it when he's managing a rival team. I guess Barcelona fans constantly standing up for anything City related is another thing we'll have to deal with from now on.
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Wasn't talking about liking him or his success but recognizing it

I don't care about City, I enjoy the football that is played
 
Ainu said:
I'm not sure about revolutionary, but certainly one of the great managers of his generation and possibly of all time. That does not mean I have to like it or want to hear about it when he's managing a rival team. I guess Barcelona fans constantly standing up for anything City related is another thing we'll have to deal with from now on.
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Greatest of all time? feck me. I really wonder if we would see such posts had we drawn to City in the derby.
 
VP89 said:
Greatest of all time? feck me. I really wonder if we would see such posts had we drawn to City in the derby.
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You should have seen similar posts even if you'd beaten us. Pep is unquestionably a great manager and revolutionary! Agree it's too early in his career for greatest of all time comments but he certainly has the potential. Until the next revolutionary manager comes along.
 
VP89 said:
Greatest of all time? feck me. I really wonder if we would see such posts had we drawn to City in the derby.
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"One of the great managers of his generation and possibly of all time" gets translated as "greatest of all time". Well done.
 
Cityfaninpeace said:
You should have seen similar posts even if you'd beaten us. Pep is unquestionably a great manager and revolutionary! Agree it's too early in his career for greatest of all time comments but he certainly has the potential. Until the next revolutionary manager comes along.
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The term "great" is thrown around too frivolously. I think he needs to prove himself here before he's coined as such. I have little doubt he will go on to prove himself in England, but we have 34 games left this season and he skimmed us and Sunderland so lets stay grounded.

Ainu said:
"One of the great managers of his generation and possibly of all time" gets translated as "greatest of all time". Well done.
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The fact you even considered him to be up there as one of the greatest of all time is farcical enough, given only the teams on his CV are the elite of the elite (bar City thus far). One of which actually looked weaker under him in Europe.
 
VP89 said:
The fact you even considered him to be up there as one of the greatest of all time is farcical enough, given only the teams on his CV are the elite of the elite (bar City thus far).
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Cry me a river what a sensitive bunch here. And you accuse me of being farcical. I explicitly put in the word possibly because his career is far from finished. Considering the rate at which his achievements have come, it's not that unlikely that he'll retire as one of the greatest.
 
VanGaalEra said:
Had the Bravo pen be given, everything would be so different.
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Which is plain silly, because it wouldn't have changed how clueless United looked 75% of the match. As it is, United's one goal came from a goalie feckup after a freekick. That's how little United got together, particularly in the first half.
A draw after a penalty would have done nothing to compromise Pep's tactical achievement in that game, it just would have robbed the reward for it.
 
Ainu said:
Cry me a river what a sensitive bunch here. And you accuse me of being farcical. I explicitly put in the word possibly because his career is far from finished. Considering the rate at which his achievements have come, it's not that unlikely that he'll retire as one of the greatest.
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Ah OK. I suppose Simeone, Klopp, etc. can all be classed as possibly the greatest of all time too.

Apologies, hadn't known that was your thought process.
 
GhastlyHun said:
Which is plain silly, because it wouldn't have changed how clueless United looked 75% of the match. As it is, United's one goal came from a goalie feckup after a freekick. That's how little United got together, particularly in the first half.
A draw after a penalty would have done nothing to compromise Pep's tactical achievement in that game, it just would have robbed the reward for it.
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More like 50% of the match and saying we only got back into the game because of a goalie mistake is like saying well City only scored the first goal because of a long ball and a mistake by our CB's.

The only thing that was robbed was a penalty and a red card, had it been Bayern in that situation your opinion would be different.
 
VanGaalEra said:
More like 50% of the match and saying we only got back into the game because of a goalie mistake is like saying well City only scored the first goal because of a long ball and a mistake by our CB's.
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City were dominating the game from the very first minute, their lead was a logical consequence. The goal for Utd came pretty much out of nowhere. And while you finally upped the intensity in the 2nd half, City looked still more dangerous and closer to a goal than Utd did.
Resorting to denial doesn't help. Mou has still a lot of work ahead of him when it gets to bringing cohesion into the team, and City is clearly ahead in this matter atm.
 
2ndTouch said:
City were dominating the game from the very first minute, their lead was a logical consequence. The goal for Utd came pretty much out of nowhere. And while you finally upped the intensity in the 2nd half, City looked still more dangerous and closer to a goal than Utd did.
Resorting to denial doesn't help. Mou has still a lot of work ahead of him when it gets to bringing cohesion into the team, and City is clearly ahead in this matter atm.
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For all of their dominance in the first half, we had three chances in 5 mins at the end of that half.

They outplayed us in the game, there's no doubting that but that doesn't excuse a penalty and a red card not being awarded in the 55th minute of the game which would have made it 2-2.
 
If I recall correctly, didn't City have a similar start last season?
Went 5-0 in the league or something.

Not taking anything away but if there still this dominant after 15 games.. then is the time to worry.

They're certainly the favourites though.
Guardiola seems to have got the players playing his way to a very good standard from the get go, took Van Gaal 2 years and yet Utd looked worse at the end.
 
Stactix said:
If I recall correctly, didn't City have a similar start last season?
Went 5-0 in the league or something.

Not taking anything away but if there still this dominant after 15 games.. then is the time to worry.

They're certainly the favourites though.
Guardiola seems to have got the players playing his way to a very good standard from the get go, took Van Gaal 2 years and yet Utd looked worse at the end.
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Last season they were still an aging squad with problems in the middle of the park, that's not there this season.

I do agree, if they go 8/9 wins in a row, that's the time to think ahh shit.
 
VP89 said:
The term "great" is thrown around too frivolously. I think he needs to prove himself here before he's coined as such. I have little doubt he will go on to prove himself in England, but we have 34 games left this season and he skimmed us and Sunderland so lets stay grounded.



The fact you even considered him to be up there as one of the greatest of all time is farcical enough, given only the teams on his CV are the elite of the elite (bar City thus far). One of which actually looked weaker under him in Europe.
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Trophy haul is the most important. Fact is most of the so called "great managers" managed elite teams. So in your mind, only Sir Alex Ferguson can be considered a great.
 
Cityfaninpeace said:
You mean what do I think our strongest 11 is? I'd have to go with this:

Bravo
Zab stones Otamendi Kolarov
Ferd
Sterling silva de bruyne Nolito
Aguero

Difficult decisions over Gundogan and Kompany. As we've been discussing Gundogan is a top player but for me silva and de bruyne aren't as effective out wide and both Sterling and Nolito stretch the opposition which is essential to us. Maybe we are stronger dropping one of the wingers and putting either silva or KDB out wide but often I find when teams try to play all their best players in wrong positions it can be detrimental.

Kompany is a tough call because on his day I think he's the best defender in the league but he's been ravaged by injuries. Plus Otamendi is playing immense at the mo. Strangely Stones is already our most important centre back in Pep's system.

Also Sagna is better defensively than Zab but Zab is better all round footballer so I had to go with him. I think Sane will eventually push Sterling for a starting place too.
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Gentleman's bet, half way through the season I don't think Sterling will be in your best 11.
 
VanGaalEra said:
Last season they were still an aging squad with problems in the middle of the park, that's not there this season.

I do agree, if they go 8/9 wins in a row, that's the time to think ahh shit.
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True, they'll be a lot better under Guardiola.
City were awful vs the big teams last season. I see them being a lot better in that regard.

I think Liverpool will be the biggest thorn in their side though.
Klopp's style is pretty good vs Possession.
 
Stacks said:
Trophy haul is the most important. Fact is most of the so called "great managers" managed elite teams. So in your mind, only Sir Alex Ferguson can be considered a great.
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Its a subjective view, but Ancelotti, Lippi and Mourinho have proven more than Pep in my eyes.

Pep is a very good coach but needs to prove himself in a league that's harder to lift silverware (i.e. the Premiership) than it is in in Germany or Spain. I'd even go as far as to say Pep made Bayern weaker than the level Heyckness brought them to in Europe.

With all this said, I think he's turning City into a very good team - they will be favourites and rightly so. If he dominates here with City like he has done in Spain/Germany then he'll certainly be in the bracket of greatness.
 
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