The Title Race 2017/18 | Done and dusted.

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City still have to play us and Spurs. There the only games I can see them dropping points, will they lose both? Highly unlikely.

We HAVE to beat City at Old Trafford, if we lose (even if it's not January) the title race is over.
 
McGrathsipan said:
Anyone capable of challenging them will also have CL .... City are going to romp this title
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All teams in the CL are not made equal.

A fellow PL & CL contender could get an easy draw whilst City end up fighting against a genuine top dog. That kind of clash can unsettle an entire club as it's impossible to ignore the hype and build-up, not to mention the pressure of pitting yourself against the best and verifying your own level.

Besides that, there's also the aspect of going deeper into the competition whilst your fellow title rivals fall by the wayside.

It takes a degree of experience and familiarity to not have one impact on the other. In fact, if anyone goes further than City in the CL and looks like they have a genuine chance of getting to the final, you may well see them abandon the league, or put it on the backburner in exactly the same manner we did last season with the EL.
 
Trizy said:
City still have to play us and Spurs. There the only games I can see them dropping points, will they lose both? Highly unlikely.

We HAVE to beat City at Old Trafford, if we lose (even if it's not January) the title race is over.
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Has there ever been a season where this theory of only top teams beat top teams rang true?

City, like everyone else, will have their banana skins nobody saw coming.

History tells us that.
 
Trizy said:
City still have to play us and Spurs. There the only games I can see them dropping points, will they lose both? Highly unlikely.

We HAVE to beat City at Old Trafford, if we lose (even if it's not January) the title race is over.
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You also have to hope we keep our great home form when City visit us.
 
Fortitude said:
Has there ever been a season where this theory of only top teams beat top teams rang true?

City, like everyone else, will have their banana skins nobody saw coming.

History tells us that.
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I agree. I actually thought Leicester could be one of those yesterday but there’s many more ahead.

Our run to the halfway point:
Hudds A, Saints H, Wham H, United A, Swansea A, Spurs H, Bmouth H. Plenty of opportunities to run in to trouble along with the obvious two.
 
reddaz71 said:
Way I see it it's a case of who can stop the state currently top of the league in the guise of Manchester City, all clubs except PSG have their work cut out by the oil money, sooner or later in the interests of the game these state run clubs will need reining in by something far more effective than FFP!!
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Mourinho has spent almost the same as Pep. City just bought better.
 
Win all our games in the next few weeks, then beat City at Old Trafford in December. We'd be maximum 5 points off them going into the Christmas period and well back in the race.

Easier said than done, but there is no sense in writing the title race off when we haven't even played them yet.
 
Fortitude said:
All teams in the CL are not made equal.

A fellow PL & CL contender could get an easy draw whilst City end up fighting against a genuine top dog. That kind of clash can unsettle an entire club as it's impossible to ignore the hype and build-up, not to mention the pressure of pitting yourself against the best and verifying your own level.

Besides that, there's also the aspect of going deeper into the competition whilst your fellow title rivals fall by the wayside.

It takes a degree of experience and familiarity to not have one impact on the other. In fact, if anyone goes further than City in the CL and looks like they have a genuine chance of getting to the final, you may well see them abandon the league, or put it on the backburner in exactly the same manner we did last season with the EL.
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The first CL games are mid to late February. I agree that a difficult CL clash against a top dog might dampen their confidence but by late February they could lead comfortably and rely on rotation. This is why they want Sanchez and a LB: to rotate and being able to play stong teams both in the league and the cups. Generally I agree though. A bad CL result could derail them to an extent. But it is very speculative at this stage because they may lead comfortably at that point or draw an "easy" team in the CL or draw and beat a strong team. Too many ifs and buts.
 
Rafateria said:
Mourinho has spent almost the same as Pep. City just bought better.
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That's not even true now is it ?

Jose spent 349M euros in his two seasons at united (source transfermarkt)
Pep spent 457M euros in his two seasons at city (source transfermarkt)

Pep spent 30% more than what Jose spent in two years and pep had the better squad of the two, his top players: Silva, Aguero, De bruyne and Sterling were all bought before he came to city.
 
Manchester Dan said:
I agree. I actually thought Leicester could be one of those yesterday but there’s many more ahead.

Our run to the halfway point:
Hudds A, Saints H, Wham H, United A, Swansea A, Spurs H, Bmouth H. Plenty of opportunities to run in to trouble along with the obvious two.
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Who are cities traditional difficult games?

Can't say I've paid attention to that for them, but they surely have a few grounds around the country they are traditionally poor at?

Treble said:
The first CL games are mid to late February. I agree that a difficult CL clash against a top dog might dampen their confidence but by late February they could lead comfortably and rely on rotation. This is why they want Sanchez and a LB: to rotate and being able to play stong teams both in the league and the cups. Generally I agree though. A bad CL result could derail them to an extent. But it is very speculative at this stage because they may lead comfortably at that point or draw an "easy" team in the CL or draw and beat a strong team. Too many ifs and buts.
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There's no question that the chasing pack have barely any margin for error. If the gap gets any larger than it's very likely over even if City lost three games as they would still have the lead via goal difference.

My posts are predicated on teams at least keeping up with them to where they can make inroads and capitalise should they slip up.
 
Tom Van Persie said:
No he hasn't. Pep has spent at least 100 million more.
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Mr H said:
That's not even true now is it ?

Jose spent 349M euros in his two seasons at united (source transfermarkt)
Pep spent 457M euros in his two seasons at city (source transfermarkt)

Pep spent 30% more than what Jose spent in two years and pep had the better squad of the two, his top players: Silva, Aguero, De bruyne and Sterling were all bought before he came to city.
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Ah. I stand corrected. I'm sure I read something like £250 - £270m last week but obviously that's not correct then.
 
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City can win the title already before Christmas if they win the next 6 games: Huddersfield (a), Soton (h), Wham (h), United (a), Swansea (a) and Spurs (h). Of course, it is unlikely. I think they will probably lose at Old Trafford and draw Spurs.
 
Klopp and Pochettino have spent peanuts compared to Pep and Mou and their league positions are not too far off.
This spending thing is a bit boring now.

Edit: forgot Wenger's :D
 
Rafateria said:
Ah. I stand corrected. I'm sure I read something like £250 - £270 last week but obviously that's not correct then.
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You’re correct in net spend terms. They’re just looking at incomings here and not outgoings.
 
Rafateria said:
Ah. I stand corrected. I'm sure I read something like £250 - £270 last week but obviously that's not correct then.
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The quoted values are just the buying figures.
Knock off the selling figures and it’s a number equivalent to a Lindelof - ie not much.

But that’s net spend, useless valuation. As is ‘gross’.

Buying figures need to be spread over amortisation period of the contract, selling figures are booked straight in.

Outside of simple headline figures United spent an awful lot without reducing wages or booking sales to the accounts.
City spent an awful lot, but reduced wages and booked many sales to the accounts.
 
Fortitude said:
Who are cities traditional difficult games?

Can't say I've paid attention to that for them, but they surely have a few grounds around the country they are traditionally poor at?
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I’d say our more difficult away records in this league right now would be Leicester, Stoke, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Spurs, United. I’d say we have a reasonable record at the others. We’ve played 2/8 of those so far.
 
Rafateria said:
Mourinho has spent almost the same as Pep. City just bought better.
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I'd agree they probably have spent a little better. He also had a much better squad to begin with though. It shouldn't be that big a surprise that they're still better than us.
 
Manchester Dan said:
I agree. I actually thought Leicester could be one of those yesterday but there’s many more ahead.

Our run to the halfway point:
Hudds A, Saints H, Wham H, United A, Swansea A, Spurs H, Bmouth H. Plenty of opportunities to run in to trouble along with the obvious two.
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The only game I ser you lot dropping points is against us. Can't see dropping points to any other fixture.
 
JASR said:
The quoted values are just the buying figures.
Knock off the selling figures and it’s a number equivalent to a Lindelof - ie not much.

But that’s net spend, useless valuation. As is ‘gross’.

Buying figures need to be spread over amortisation period of the contract, selling figures are booked straight in.

Outside of simple headline figures United spent an awful lot without reducing wages or booking sales to the accounts.
City spent an awful lot, but reduced wages and booked many sales to the accounts.
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None of those things factor in to what leads to a better squad. How much you sold Kolarov for isn't why Man City have the best squad in the league.
 
TheReligion said:
Really? Not sure you can say that. Think they have both done similar in the market with their signings.
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Well obviously to a degree that's subjective and both have bought some excellent players but objectively City are romping the league so that's pretty much a linear connection.

Excluding players bought for peanuts and youngsters :
Mendy, B.Silva, Sane, Jesus, Stones, Walker, Ederson, Danilo, Gundogan, Bravo : there's a lot of quality added to the first team there and maybe only one real 'failure'.
Lukaku, Matic, Lindelof, Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Bailly : yeah no-one I'd classify as a failure though Lindelof, although young, still needs to up his game and Myki has not come close to fulfilling his promise/BL form. Bailly seems to have his detractors too.
 
Treble said:
City can win the title already before Christmas if they win the next 6 games: Huddersfield (a), Soton (h), Wham (h), United (a), Swansea (a) and Spurs (h). Of course, it is unlikely. I think they will probably lose at Old Trafford and draw Spurs.
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Without injuries and playing their strongest team I don't see them losing to any PL team unless they really have a real day off. I'd maybe give Liverpool a chance at Anfield simply because it would be a goalscoring slugfest.
 
Can't understand some of the posts on here. All it takes is City drawing a couple and us winning at couple and its game on again. Honestly, some of you must have never seen Fergie's teams chase down a league leader.
 
Rory 7 said:
Can't understand some of the posts on here. All it takes is City drawing a couple and us winning at couple and its game on again. Honestly, some of you must have never seen Fergie's teams chase down a league leader.
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You're not very good at maths are you :D
 
Rafateria said:
Well obviously to a degree that's subjective and both have bought some excellent players but objectively City are romping the league so that's pretty much a linear connection.

Excluding players bought for peanuts and youngsters :
Mendy, B.Silva, Sane, Jesus, Stones, Walker, Ederson, Danilo, Gundogan, Bravo : there's a lot of quality added to the first team there and maybe only one real 'failure'.
Lukaku, Matic, Lindelof, Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Bailly : yeah no-one I'd classify as a failure though Lindelof, although young, still needs to up his game and Myki has not come close to fulfilling his promise/BL form. Bailly seems to have his detractors too.
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I'm not sure where you get that from with Bailly? Top young centre half.

Pep has brought in more players, spent more money and had a better base to start with. To play devils advocate Jose has won more thus far too...
 
We did have a 8 point lead with 6 games to go and dropped it. It can certainly happen. We should not give up even if right now it is clear that City are the big favorites to win it.
 
Rory 7 said:
:confused: They've an 8 point lead. Two draws for them and two wins for us narrows the gap to 4. How is that not game on? That could happen by mid-December. Thats without even factoring in us beating them at OT!
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Because you have only halved the lead .. and City are effectively 9 points ahead because you are not going to match them on GD either. So now the scenario is City drawing 3 and losing one whilst United win all four, quite apart from matching them over the rest of the season. That's not even considering the ' all it takes ... ' comment, which totally omits form and squad depth as factors !
As for the 'Fergie chase teams down' comment : United usually had the best squad in those days and the competition was nowhere near the level of this City team/squad.
 
Paul_Scholes18 said:
We did have a 8 point lead with 6 games to go and dropped it. It can certainly happen. We should not give up even if right now it is clear that City are the big favorites to win it.
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Luckily as supporters whatever we do or do not do has no bearing on the team's performance ;)
 
Trizy said:
City still have to play us and Spurs. There the only games I can see them dropping points, will they lose both? Highly unlikely.

We HAVE to beat City at Old Trafford, if we lose (even if it's not January) the title race is over.
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If they only dropped points for Spurs away and United away, lets say they drew both, they'd finish on 108 points... Do you think they'll finish on 108 points?
 
Rafateria said:
Mourinho has spent almost the same as Pep. City just bought better.
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Not sure i can agree with this. Before Mourinho took over United, United XI was 5-7th table at the best and never have been title contenders since 2013. City won the league and finish 3/4 last three season. City didn't buy better cos they are well stocked with many good quality players they have at the disposal. Mourinho guided United to win major two trophies in the first season and all of his signings are key to trophies. This season, he took United to 2nd and had best season to start so far since 2013 and 2nd most scored goal in the league which United was 8th most goal scored last season and topping the group stage comfortably in UCL. Mourinho has improved United much than Pep improved for City.
 
Manchester Dan said:
I’d say our more difficult away records in this league right now would be Leicester, Stoke, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Spurs, United. I’d say we have a reasonable record at the others. We’ve played 2/8 of those so far.
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Depends on who's fit I think. John Stones is a big miss with a busy run of games coming up.

However, if Kompany and Otamendi play, I'd give City a good chance at OT. If we have to rely on Otamendi + someone else, I wouldn't be confident at all.
 
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Paul_Scholes18 said:
We did have a 8 point lead with 6 games to go and dropped it. It can certainly happen. We should not give up even if right now it is clear that City are the big favorites to win it.
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Wasn't it 8 points with 5 games left?

Anyway, much quoted, but I think that's a bit misleading since at the time, our (City) home form was ridiculous and one of your remaining games was coming to us. A game where you losing was always a strong possibility. I may be remembering it wrong, but I think we ended up P19, W18, D1, L0 at home that season?
 
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