I never said they are. I said we are not winning it.
It was obvious we weren't winning it in September of last year.
The Title Race 2017/18 | Done and dusted.
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It was obvious we weren't winning it in September of last year.
You’re welcome
I’m a fan of the optimism. I’m not giving up yet, what’s the point eh?
We are not tottenham or arsenal that you can say this with conviction.
So?
Have you been living under a rock for the last 4 years?
In that 4 years we have not finished ahead of Arsenal or City even once so I don't get the arrogance.
Yep, I agree.
We have nothing to suggest that we are good enough to win any leagues any time soon.
The City/Huddersfield match just now proved the difference between us and City.
Huddersfield made both matches scrappy for the bigger team, but where City dominated possession and chances, Huddersfield did that to us.
City managed to outplay them. We didn't. City deservedly won. We deservedly lost that game.
We need to bridge this vital gap in terms of general performance.
By the time we play city, we will most likely be even more than 8 points behind them. Watford will be tough and I cannot see us beating Arsenal in Arsenal.
Yeah.
The point is, though, why is it that we should need tons more work to get to challenging City?
Mourinho and Pep have had the same amount of times at their respective clubs. They have spent roughly the same money.
If we don't give them amy actual challenge next season then the board would ultimately have failed again (assuming they want the team to win the league).
Because the bald cnut inherited a better situation than mourinho
They'll drop fewer points than us between now and May. Will end up being a double-digit points margin of victory.
I do think we need a result away at Arsenal to keep Chelsea/Spurs at bay, though. Should be aiming for top 3 this season, which would represent real progress.
Because City were ahead of us when he joined them. And had has been signing players to fit that style of play.
In the 4 years post Sir Alex, they had finished ahead of us every single season. Even in the season before, they stopped trying in January after Pep was announced as manager and still finished ahead of us.
We on the other hand had hired a manager that spent a fortune on certain types of players to play a passing game. Then when that failed, we hired someone completely different to start again.
To completely ignore that is not fair. Pep inherited players like De Bruyne, Aguero and Silva. We don't have that kind of quality yet.
And coached/used them to play in a completely different manner than they did before he arrived, that can't be ignored either.
This same United team will be playing a much better football too under Pep IMO
They were at their strongest and we were pretty weak with incompetent and stubborn managers. Stil they could not do the job.
He's also a better manager at this point in their careers too - best in the world actually. For some reason we don't mind talking shit about our players, and undermining them at every given opportunity compared to rivals but the same standards don't seem to hold for the manager in charge.
Yeah, he probably is. But to be fair, Jose is probably 2nd best in the world IMO.
I think some of our fans are a bit unrealistic. We're second behind a club with probably the best manager in the world and truly unlimited funds - for example, if Jose was at City and wanted Perisic, he would've got him. Pep has had this advantage. Weren't De Bruyne and Sterling (two of his best players) Pep signings before he even joined?
I think this point is that while Pep and Mou have been at their respective clubs for the same amount of time, Pep has had much more time to lay groundwork before his arrival, as they've been preparing for it for a while. United on the other hand went through a complete shift when LVG came in, and then another when he left. So while the squads maybe weren't that far apart at the end of 2015-16 (separated only by goal difference, we picked up 4 points against them in the league, we won a cup and they didn't) when the new managers came in that summer, you had a guy who specialises in working with bananas being given a load of bananas that were bought with him in mind, whereas a guy who specialises in oranges was given a load of apples someone else bought.
Sorry for the fruit analogy, I'm eating an apple.
Fair play to City. This is the best opening 13 game run in the history of the Premier League. Better than any previous great team has ever managed. That's nothing to be sniffed at.
For our part, United have 29 points and are doing brilliantly as well. That's better than we managed in 08/09 and during the Treble season. Mourinho's team is very, very good. But City are currently better. I don't think we should beat ourselves up over it too much. Obviously, we need to strive to match them, but no other team has ever done that either.
For our part, United have 29 points and are doing brilliantly as well. That's better than we managed in 08/09 and during the Treble season. Mourinho's team is very, very good. But City are currently better. I don't think we should beat ourselves up over it too much. Obviously, we need to strive to match them, but no other team has ever done that either.
Season 13/14 when City won it with 86 pts they had just 25 pts after 13 games vs 37 now. That is they won 61 pts from the last 25 games. If we repeat their run, we'll end up on 90 pts. The league was weaker then though. Liverpool nearly won it without being able to defend well.
I just hope the players aren't as pessimistic as you guys, or we'll be fecked.
Some aren't even predicting us to defeat Watford.
Some aren't even predicting us to defeat Watford.
City need 53 from 25 to get there. In other words, 18 wins and 7 losses would be 91 points - very achievable.
They are gonna lose 1/2 games, but no one is gonna catch them. They also have such a big squad to cope with 3 competitions at the same time.
Not a big shame to lose to Huddersfield though. They almost stopped both you and City.
Agreed. And, we have had our best 3 players out of action for a long time. When and if the three can stay fit it will revitalise the team because as well as being good players, Rojo, Pogba and Ibra are also leaders and inspirational. I only wish Rashford, Martial and Herrera would start sparking again. Plus if we can buy a decent left back in the Jan window then that would help too. I'm optimistic that we can start to pull back city before the Spring is out
It’s hard for United because of the Arsenal game and then the City game. We have to win and even that does not guarantee anything.
City on the other hand has to keep the momentum until the Boxing Day. But if the gap is still 8pts+ after the Boxing Day, I’d call it a day. There’s no way it gets any easier for us.
City on the other hand has to keep the momentum until the Boxing Day. But if the gap is still 8pts+ after the Boxing Day, I’d call it a day. There’s no way it gets any easier for us.
I can't argue against any of that.
But I will not lay down any excuses for Jose/board of Jose doesn't get exactly, to a player, the squad perfect for him to mount a challenge to Guardiola's title.
Mourinho has done the spine.
It's clear now that it's the flanks - left back, left wing, right back and right wing - that seperate United and City.
(I'm a Jose fan, by the way. I think he The Man for this job.)
He is a cnut, isn't he. And he is most certainly bald.
And yes, Guardiola did inherit a better situation.
My arguement is that the gap seems, in the first few hours after yet another City win, wider than when both managers took over their respective teams.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
The gap could be 14 points by the time we play them.
They have 2 piss easy homes and we are away to Watford and Arsenal. We could well lose both those games. Be a minor miracle If we win both, which we have to to keep the tiny Ray of hope we have alive. Anything less than max points is us out.
Time for the players to stand up and fight
They have 2 piss easy homes and we are away to Watford and Arsenal. We could well lose both those games. Be a minor miracle If we win both, which we have to to keep the tiny Ray of hope we have alive. Anything less than max points is us out.
Time for the players to stand up and fight
An argument that is not supported by the facts. City have spent the most, United have spent the second most. City are comfortably the best team while United are comfortably the 2nd best team. Most people would consider Mourinho and Guardiola to be the two best active managers of the 21st century, it is not as if Guardiola is some joe schmoe manager.
Things like 'good' football are far too subjective of a measure. Things like points, goals scored, goals conceded, chance creation are objective measures and we are very good at all of these measures. It's just that City are 5-10% better in every area which makes a big difference.
What stupid defensive responsibility? Are you spiritually blind? Which of them beat their marker yesterday? We were playing Brighton, not Madrid or PSG - and our so called wide players always preferred to receive ball to feet in front of their markers.
Sane/Sterling don’t necessarily dribble their markers. They have perfected the passing triangle to get any obstacle out of the way, something our own players should be doing. Open your eyes and see the difference instead of hiding behind “defensive responsibility”.
You seriously think that Pep only started his work in 2016? Pellegrini has indicated that the owners let him know back in 2013 that they were planning for Pep! Also, he took over a team that had the spine already there. In any case, I really didn’t intend for my post to be a comparison of the two. I’ve seen a few threads on the forum that you can knock yourself out there. I am happy with Mou and where we are at. I am sure Man City fans are delighted with Pep too. I only love and care for our club and don’t give a crap about Pep as he will never manage us.
Spiritually blind. Nice one. This place is a constant education.
Players like Martial, Rashford, and Pogba would have been insanely good under Pep. Mourinho (I'd argue) stifles young, electric players. Why is Rashford defending all the way back at the corner flag?
I liked it.... there should be more food-based analogies on the Caf.
But, I'd say (for us), it's more like a man who specialises in oranges was given some bananas, some apples, some grapefruits and a few out of date Jaffas.... that someone else bought.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Which season was that?
@Theafonis
I honestly think thats a myth. Rashford may track back a bit more than others but no more than Etoo did when Pep played him there.
Our players hold their positions really well, we have the best defence in England despite being in the bottom 3 of distance covered stats.
We dont see those numbers if we're asking our widemen to continually track back
I honestly think thats a myth. Rashford may track back a bit more than others but no more than Etoo did when Pep played him there.
Our players hold their positions really well, we have the best defence in England despite being in the bottom 3 of distance covered stats.
We dont see those numbers if we're asking our widemen to continually track back
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
With Mourinho Chelsea manager right. So not sure how that will help us.
The problem was that we lost to Spurs, drew with Sunderland, City, and Burnley in about 8 matches. Our form hit a snag after January and basically Hazard/Ivanovic carried us to the title after Oscar, Cesc, and Costa disapeared.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
I doubt Pep will have the same issues since he has very good squad depth and other players that could pull them out of problematic matches as we saw today.
If we get 85+pts it'll have been a decent season. Our aim has to be to form a team consistently capable of being in the mix, sometimes we'll win because everything clicks and sometimes it'll be due to others faltering.
If City carry on their form they'll deserve it and its unreasonsble to demand we meet that standard as a baseline. Such a season would be a rarity that only occurs when everything clicks. Most of our titles weren't won in such fashion.
If City carry on their form they'll deserve it and its unreasonsble to demand we meet that standard as a baseline. Such a season would be a rarity that only occurs when everything clicks. Most of our titles weren't won in such fashion.
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