Seven Seas Sardines
Full Member
Pretty sure it'll never end since it's endless..With an infinite amount of time, absolutely.
...but we don't have an infinite amount of time before the universe ends.
Pretty sure it'll never end since it's endless..With an infinite amount of time, absolutely.
...but we don't have an infinite amount of time before the universe ends.
Pretty sure it'll never end since it's endless..
Roses are red
And City are shite
When they lose to Wigan
Kun starts a fight
Poem Copyright F. Chutney.
Ps feck off Kompany and your daft predictions.
Roses are red
And City are shite
When they lose to Wigan
Kun starts a fight
Poem Copyright F. Chutney.
Ps feck off Kompany and your daft predictions.
Roses are red
And City are shite
When they lose to Wigan
Kun starts a fight
Poem Copyright F. Chutney.
Ps feck off Kompany and your daft predictions.
I disagree wholeheartedly with this notion that the only reason Manchester City haven't won the quadruple yet is because they haven't spent enough money.As a City fan, I can honestly say that the main reason why we as a club lost that match and thus lost the chance to achieve the Quadruple is the same reason why we lost against Liverpool, struggled to defeat teams like Wolves, Bristol City, Huddlesfield, Southampton, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Feyenoord and Shakhtar Donetsk and why we have been strugging to maintain the high level of performance of performance we showed at the first half of the season. Which is that for all our good performances and the strength of our first team, our squad lacks in stength in depth.
I mean I have repeatedly (both on this forum and on Bluemoon) that this issue is our biggest issue and our failure to address this issue properly in January was going to cost us one way or another (1). Thus with this result (2) it is clear that City have paid the price this season because of this issue. Simply because you cannot (3) keep playing the same 11 (more or less) players game after game after game across a whole season and maintain the same level of performance no matter how good they all are. It is simply a footballing and medical fact (4).
Hence why despite the money (£400 million+) we have spent across the last 2 seasons; the fact is when quality/world class players are costing £50, £100, £150 or even £200 million in this day and age, is no surprise that even after spending all that money you are still well short of getting that 2-3 World Class XI's you need to challenge the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as properly compete in all 4 competitions (and not lose to teams like Wigan in the Cup)
Thus to address this issue once and for all City need to go all out when it comes to transfer spending to a far greater extent than it has done so far, even to the extent of having to bypass FFP altogether. Because when you look at the number of players we need and the quality of players we need (in other words Hazard and Kane level) the resulting cost is going to be that high.
Notes
(1) Hence why I was so angry about the Sanchez transfer, not because United got him but rather City blew it yet again in trying to get him despite the fact we badly needed him, certainly we would have not lost to Wigan if he was playing that night.
(2) Alongside the defeat to Liverpool (a team which then went on to lose against Swansea and West Brom) and the League Cup campaign (sure we reached the final, but it took a great effort to get there)
(3) And before anyone starts, Man City's 2nd XI is simply not good enough to pick up the slack off the 1st XI. So putting them against Wigan would have likely resulted in an even bigger defeat.
(4) Hence why City where in such poor form in that game, which in turn allowed a deterimed and motivated team to overcome them.
As a City fan, I can honestly say that the main reason why we as a club lost that match and thus lost the chance to achieve the Quadruple is the same reason why we lost against Liverpool, struggled to defeat teams like Wolves, Bristol City, Huddlesfield, Southampton, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Feyenoord and Shakhtar Donetsk and why we have been strugging to maintain the high level of performance of performance we showed at the first half of the season. Which is that for all our good performances and the strength of our first team, our squad lacks in stength in depth.
I mean I have repeatedly (both on this forum and on Bluemoon) that this issue is our biggest issue and our failure to address this issue properly in January was going to cost us one way or another (1). Thus with this result (2) it is clear that City have paid the price this season because of this issue. Simply because you cannot (3) keep playing the same 11 (more or less) players game after game after game across a whole season and maintain the same level of performance no matter how good they all are. It is simply a footballing and medical fact (4).
Hence why despite the money (£400 million+) we have spent across the last 2 seasons; the fact is when quality/world class players are costing £50, £100, £150 or even £200 million in this day and age, is no surprise that even after spending all that money you are still well short of getting that 2-3 World Class XI's you need to challenge the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as properly compete in all 4 competitions (and not lose to teams like Wigan in the Cup)
Thus to address this issue once and for all City need to go all out when it comes to transfer spending to a far greater extent than it has done so far, even to the extent of having to bypass FFP altogether. Because when you look at the number of players we need and the quality of players we need (in other words Hazard and Kane level) the resulting cost is going to be that high.
Notes
(1) Hence why I was so angry about the Sanchez transfer, not because United got him but rather City blew it yet again in trying to get him despite the fact we badly needed him, certainly we would have not lost to Wigan if he was playing that night.
(2) Alongside the defeat to Liverpool (a team which then went on to lose against Swansea and West Brom) and the League Cup campaign (sure we reached the final, but it took a great effort to get there)
(3) And before anyone starts, Man City's 2nd XI is simply not good enough to pick up the slack off the 1st XI. So putting them against Wigan would have likely resulted in an even bigger defeat.
(4) Hence why City where in such poor form in that game, which in turn allowed a deterimed and motivated team to overcome them.
Starting to think @1Manchester is actually Pep being a weirdo and letting it all out of his system. Scandalised that he can’t have 20 world class players.
I'm starting to think that he's one of your lot having a laugh.
Starting to think @1Manchester is actually Pep being a weirdo and letting it all out of his system. Scandalised that he can’t have 20 world class players.
I'm starting to think that he's one of your lot having a laugh.
Maybe Namco's latest project?
We're not collectively spoiled fans as you insinuate but it's inevitable that we'll accumulate some along the way. Only got to look at your own fanbase for that.feck me @1Manchester , a City fan ranting about not signing/spending enough .
You have the best squad in 3 of the 4 competitions you're in. You even have subs like Gundogan, Otamendi (kinda shite but suits Pep's style), Mendy, B.Silva, Jesus, Yaya. No top 6 team has that quality on the bench, in fact neither have Juventus, Madrid, Barcelona. Yet you complain about getting knocked out of a competition because you haven't got more world class players?
It just shows how spoiled City fans have become. Their manager is just as bad as them. You had a player injured for 3 weeks and you wanted to splash 70m on a replacement.
@1Manchester so the reason City are losing to shite sides is that you haven't spent enough?
If pep were so glorious he would use some academy talent to fill the gaps.
But he's a chequebook manager.
I disagree wholeheartedly with this notion that the only reason Manchester City haven't won the quadruple yet is because they haven't spent enough money.
And as a side note, why do you put so much effort into making very simple points? It's not a dig as we're all entitled to post however we want to a degree but I've noticed you have a very specific, drawn out writing style and I'm just curious what motivates someone to put themselves through this on a regular basis.
Starting to think @1Manchester is actually Pep being a weirdo and letting it all out of his system. Scandalised that he can’t have 20 world class players.
I'm starting to think that he's one of your lot having a laugh.
Maybe Namco's latest project?
I swear I read this and laughed thinking this was someone making a joke. The fact that you are serious makes you deluded. And yes I'm just going to call you deluded without bothering to counter any of the "points" you made in your post.As a City fan, I can honestly say that the main reason why we as a club lost that match and thus lost the chance to achieve the Quadruple is the same reason why we lost against Liverpool, struggled to defeat teams like Wolves, Bristol City, Huddlesfield, Southampton, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Feyenoord and Shakhtar Donetsk and why we have been strugging to maintain the high level of performance of performance we showed at the first half of the season. Which is that for all our good performances and the strength of our first team, our squad lacks in stength in depth.
I mean I have repeatedly (both on this forum and on Bluemoon) that this issue is our biggest issue and our failure to address this issue properly in January was going to cost us one way or another (1). Thus with this result (2) it is clear that City have paid the price this season because of this issue. Simply because you cannot (3) keep playing the same 11 (more or less) players game after game after game across a whole season and maintain the same level of performance no matter how good they all are. It is simply a footballing and medical fact (4).
Hence why despite the money (£400 million+) we have spent across the last 2 seasons; the fact is when quality/world class players are costing £50, £100, £150 or even £200 million in this day and age, is no surprise that even after spending all that money you are still well short of getting that 2-3 World Class XI's you need to challenge the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as properly compete in all 4 competitions (and not lose to teams like Wigan in the Cup)
Thus to address this issue once and for all City need to go all out when it comes to transfer spending to a far greater extent than it has done so far, even to the extent of having to bypass FFP altogether. Because when you look at the number of players we need and the quality of players we need (in other words Hazard and Kane level) the resulting cost is going to be that high.
Notes
(1) Hence why I was so angry about the Sanchez transfer, not because United got him but rather City blew it yet again in trying to get him despite the fact we badly needed him, certainly we would have not lost to Wigan if he was playing that night.
(2) Alongside the defeat to Liverpool (a team which then went on to lose against Swansea and West Brom) and the League Cup campaign (sure we reached the final, but it took a great effort to get there)
(3) And before anyone starts, Man City's 2nd XI is simply not good enough to pick up the slack off the 1st XI. So putting them against Wigan would have likely resulted in an even bigger defeat.
(4) Hence why City where in such poor form in that game, which in turn allowed a deterimed and motivated team to overcome them.
Pep is that you?We lost to Wigan (and Liverpool as well) (1) because Pep kept playing the First XI (more or less) game after game under the style of football we play (as well as a high level of performance) despite the lack in strength in depth (2). Lets make that clear...
Now the solution to this is of course getting more World Class players, which realistically means we have to look at transfer spending and more importantly what players you actually get. It is not simply a case of simply spending money though, otherwise the Galaticos of Real Madrid (1st and 2nd generation) would have won a hell of a lot more than they actually have.
Overall my views on Pep are mixed, on the one hand he has learned lessons from how hard it is to win the Premier League (from his first season), has the right tatics, and improved on many of the players who where already there when he arrived (Sterling, KDB, Silva, Fernandinho, Otamendi and yes Delph as well), which alongside the transfers he has made (which Nolitio and Bravo aiside have been pretty sucessful on City's part) has played a big part in City's form so far this season. On the other hand the guy is personality wise the guy is a twat, at times a sore loser and has yet to learn fully how hard it is to dominate domestically and achive European sucess at the same time.
Which explains a lot about his transfer policy, which while (for the most part) has been pretty sucessfull in terms of the players we did get, but which did not go far enough in terms of both rebuilding our squad and upgrading it the level we need to be at.
***
Anyway the fact is that in this day and age you cannot just dump untested youth's into the first team, expect them to win all 4 trophies (including the Premier League and the Champions League) and thus perform from the first minute they play in the same way you don't ask the junior doctor to single handly perform heart surgery on their first day.
Likewise managers like Pep and Mourinho who are under pressure to win trophies are not exactly willing to gamble a whole season away just to give certain players game time (3). After all times have changed since the Class of 92 first emerged considering the increasing competition there is Domestically alongside the El Classico duopoly in the Champions League.
Thus in this day and age (considering the lack of overall Chelsea's youth policy) the only way you can sucessfully develop youth players (if you are a major club) is to give them a safe space for them to thirve, one that away from the immediate preassure of having to win major trophies, but also with enough ambition to push the players forward (something that Arsenal are lacking at the moment). That more than anything else is why Tottenham has been more sucessful than any of the other major clubs when it comes to youth players and why I am in favour of B Teams in the Football League (4)
The fact is that every manager of any big club that has any ambition at all is going to have to spend big in the transfer market, no matter if you are Chelsea, Man United, City, Barcelona, PSG, Real Madrid or Bayern. Because the fact is that no academy (not even Barca's or Tottenhams) can produce the 22 World Class Players (at least) per era that any big sides needs to win it all.
So why have we (and other English) teams not won it if it is not strength in depth? And no the competitiveness of the Premier League is not a good enough excuse when it can be overcome with the right (in terms of quality and size) squad.
Well I would not say on a regular basis, especially considering my low posting rate recently. Reguardless what I can say is that the main reason my writing style is the way is quite simply because I have got a lot to say about the state of the modern game (and the clubs that play in it) and for me the best way to express it (while retaining my privacy) is to post on online forums such as this one.
In other words I am just a passionate football fan with strong opnions.
If I was really Pep, then I would have done the following if I was in his shoes:
1 - Not moan about the Christmas Schedule and the "hard tackles" on City Players.
2 - Not underestimate how difficult the Premier League is compared to La Liga/Bundesliga from the start
3 - Not have public meltdowns when we lose/losing (instead of doing it some of the time).
3 - Avoid purchasing Bravo and Nolito last season.
4 - Outbid Man United and Chelsea (respectively) for Pogba and Kante last season
5 - Do whatever it took to obtain Sanchez ASAP (and maybe get Bellerin from the Arsenal as well)
6 - Purchased Kane, Alli, Erriksen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Trippier, Winks and Lloris from Spurs alongside Walker. Maybe in exchange for long-term loans or even sales (with buyback clauses) of City's youth players to Spurs. (5)
7 - Purchased Fabinho and Lemar from Monaco alongside Mendy and B.Silva.
8 - Purchased VVD rather than let him go to Liverpool.
9 - Buy Laporte in the Summer.
10 - Purchased Alaba from Bayern Munich.
11 - Not go on RedCafe to express my grivences.
12 - Instead of demanding 20 World Class Players, I would be demanding 33 (or so) instead.
If I was a Man United fan (6), I would be equally as demanding on my club as I am as a City fan. Because lets face it for one of the biggest clubs in the world (if not the biggest) United should be asprising to be outcompetiting the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona alongside (re)establishing their (former) domestic dominance.
(1) Alongside under-performing in far too many games.
(2) No matter how many good players we have in our First XI.
(3) Not when there are certain players out there which you know can deliver for you instead.
(4) And why despite the cynical nature of CFG's investment in Girona, it does make sense to use the club as a sort of unofficial City B Team in La Liga.
(5) Look if Liverpool can treat Southampton as their B Team/Academy then I don't see why City cannot do the same with Spurs (A team which I rate highly by the way), only on a bigger scale of course.
(6) Which I might have well been had it not been my long established (from childhood) affection for City.
I swear I read this and laughed thinking this was someone making a joke. The fact that you are serious makes you deluded. And yes I'm just going to call you deluded without bothering to counter any of the "points" you made in your post.
This guy is either Pep or a saint, can’t tell the difference.
You seem to have missed my point entirely – my issue is that for someone who writes so much, you don't actually seem to have a lot to say. You appear to write for the sake of writing and when you do it's full of typos and errors which makes it a real chore to wade through and there's not a lot of substance at the end of it. There's also the weird way you structure your points, it's like a terrible choose your own adventure novel.Well I would not say on a regular basis, especially considering my low posting rate recently. Reguardless what I can say is that the main reason my writing style is the way is quite simply because I have got a lot to say about the state of the modern game (and the clubs that play in it) and for me the best way to express it (while retaining my privacy) is to post on online forums such as this one.
Trebles and quadruples aren't simply a product of insane investment, they require a lot of luck and involve far more variables than you and Vincent Kompany give them credit for.So why have we (and other English) teams not won it if it is not strength in depth? And no the competitiveness of the Premier League is not a good enough excuse when it can be overcome with the right (in terms of quality and size) squad.
You will always lose some games to 'shite' EPl/CL teams, no matter how good your squad is.
This isn't the key to winning the treble.
Btw your squad depth is better than what previous treble winners had.
Feck. @1Manchester . Your posts are long.
You see that wooden rectangle at the front of your house? It's called a door. Try it and you can go to this great place called outside and do loads of cool things
We lost to Wigan (and Liverpool as well) (1) because Pep kept playing the First XI (more or less) game after game under the style of football we play (as well as a high level of performance) despite the lack in strength in depth (2). Lets make that clear...
Now the solution to this is of course getting more World Class players, which realistically means we have to look at transfer spending and more importantly what players you actually get. It is not simply a case of simply spending money though, otherwise the Galaticos of Real Madrid (1st and 2nd generation) would have won a hell of a lot more than they actually have.
Overall my views on Pep are mixed, on the one hand he has learned lessons from how hard it is to win the Premier League (from his first season), has the right tatics, and improved on many of the players who where already there when he arrived (Sterling, KDB, Silva, Fernandinho, Otamendi and yes Delph as well), which alongside the transfers he has made (which Nolitio and Bravo aiside have been pretty sucessful on City's part) has played a big part in City's form so far this season. On the other hand the guy is personality wise the guy is a twat, at times a sore loser and has yet to learn fully how hard it is to dominate domestically and achive European sucess at the same time.
Which explains a lot about his transfer policy, which while (for the most part) has been pretty sucessfull in terms of the players we did get, but which did not go far enough in terms of both rebuilding our squad and upgrading it the level we need to be at.
***
Anyway the fact is that in this day and age you cannot just dump untested youth's into the first team, expect them to win all 4 trophies (including the Premier League and the Champions League) and thus perform from the first minute they play in the same way you don't ask the junior doctor to single handly perform heart surgery on their first day.
Likewise managers like Pep and Mourinho who are under pressure to win trophies are not exactly willing to gamble a whole season away just to give certain players game time (3). After all times have changed since the Class of 92 first emerged considering the increasing competition there is Domestically alongside the El Classico duopoly in the Champions League.
Thus in this day and age (considering the lack of overall Chelsea's youth policy) the only way you can sucessfully develop youth players (if you are a major club) is to give them a safe space for them to thirve, one that away from the immediate preassure of having to win major trophies, but also with enough ambition to push the players forward (something that Arsenal are lacking at the moment). That more than anything else is why Tottenham has been more sucessful than any of the other major clubs when it comes to youth players and why I am in favour of B Teams in the Football League (4)
The fact is that every manager of any big club that has any ambition at all is going to have to spend big in the transfer market, no matter if you are Chelsea, Man United, City, Barcelona, PSG, Real Madrid or Bayern. Because the fact is that no academy (not even Barca's or Tottenhams) can produce the 22 World Class Players (at least) per era that any big sides needs to win it all.
So why have we (and other English) teams not won it if it is not strength in depth? And no the competitiveness of the Premier League is not a good enough excuse when it can be overcome with the right (in terms of quality and size) squad.
Well I would not say on a regular basis, especially considering my low posting rate recently. Reguardless what I can say is that the main reason my writing style is the way is quite simply because I have got a lot to say about the state of the modern game (and the clubs that play in it) and for me the best way to express it (while retaining my privacy) is to post on online forums such as this one.
In other words I am just a passionate football fan with strong opnions.
If I was really Pep, then I would have done the following if I was in his shoes:
1 - Not moan about the Christmas Schedule and the "hard tackles" on City Players.
2 - Not underestimate how difficult the Premier League is compared to La Liga/Bundesliga from the start
3 - Not have public meltdowns when we lose/losing (instead of doing it some of the time).
3 - Avoid purchasing Bravo and Nolito last season.
4 - Outbid Man United and Chelsea (respectively) for Pogba and Kante last season
5 - Do whatever it took to obtain Sanchez ASAP (and maybe get Bellerin from the Arsenal as well)
6 - Purchased Kane, Alli, Erriksen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Trippier, Winks and Lloris from Spurs alongside Walker. Maybe in exchange for long-term loans or even sales (with buyback clauses) of City's youth players to Spurs. (5)
7 - Purchased Fabinho and Lemar from Monaco alongside Mendy and B.Silva.
8 - Purchased VVD rather than let him go to Liverpool.
9 - Buy Laporte in the Summer.
10 - Purchased Alaba from Bayern Munich.
11 - Not go on RedCafe to express my grivences.
12 - Instead of demanding 20 World Class Players, I would be demanding 33 (or so) instead.
If I was a Man United fan (6), I would be equally as demanding on my club as I am as a City fan. Because lets face it for one of the biggest clubs in the world (if not the biggest) United should be asprising to be outcompetiting the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona alongside (re)establishing their (former) domestic dominance.
(1) Alongside under-performing in far too many games.
(2) No matter how many good players we have in our First XI.
(3) Not when there are certain players out there which you know can deliver for you instead.
(4) And why despite the cynical nature of CFG's investment in Girona, it does make sense to use the club as a sort of unofficial City B Team in La Liga.
(5) Look if Liverpool can treat Southampton as their B Team/Academy then I don't see why City cannot do the same with Spurs (A team which I rate highly by the way), only on a bigger scale of course.
(6) Which I might have well been had it not been my long established (from childhood) affection for City.
How? The FA will reinstate them into the FA Cup and kick Wigan out?I'm gonna get slated for this opinion but i think city will still win the quadruple this year. I just think the bravery and purity of their play and the way the artists move the ball entitles them to such.
You alright mate?I'm gonna get slated for this opinion but i think city will still win the quadruple this year. I just think the bravery and purity of their play and the way the artists move the ball entitles them to such.
Honestly, this reads like a teen's FUT wishlist or a Perez wet dream. Go and support Spurs because you clearly want that whole team wearing sky blue.4 - Outbid Man United and Chelsea (respectively) for Pogba and Kante last season
5 - Do whatever it took to obtain Sanchez ASAP (and maybe get Bellerin from the Arsenal as well)
6 - Purchased Kane, Alli, Erriksen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Trippier, Winks and Lloris from Spurs alongside Walker. Maybe in exchange for long-term loans or even sales (with buyback clauses) of City's youth players to Spurs. (5)
7 - Purchased Fabinho and Lemar from Monaco alongside Mendy and B.Silva.
8 - Purchased VVD rather than let him go to Liverpool.
9 - Buy Laporte in the Summer.
10 - Purchased Alaba from Bayern Munich.
12 - Instead of demanding 20 World Class Players, I would be demanding 33 (or so) instead.
Chucking that inside a spoiler because feck me that post is long. Firstly, before I address any of the football points, this footnote thing you do is bonkers and makes your posts read incredibly awkwardly, so I'd advise cutting that the feck out and finding a better way to explain your arguments.
Now to address your football points. Have you actually ever watched football? Everything you've written there reads like someone who's knowledge of the game stems solely from playing Football Manager or Fifa, with a cheat or editor to give your team more money. It's a wall of absolute nonsense, and bears no resemblance to how football has worked, currently works, or will ever work.
An utterly insane post that reads like a 10 year olds Ultimate Team wishlist after being given some money for Christmas by his nan to spend on his PSN account.
We lost to Wigan (and Liverpool as well) (1) because Pep kept playing the First XI (more or less) game after game under the style of football we play (as well as a high level of performance) despite the lack in strength in depth (2). Lets make that clear...
Now the solution to this is of course getting more World Class players, which realistically means we have to look at transfer spending and more importantly what players you actually get. It is not simply a case of simply spending money though, otherwise the Galaticos of Real Madrid (1st and 2nd generation) would have won a hell of a lot more than they actually have.
Overall my views on Pep are mixed, on the one hand he has learned lessons from how hard it is to win the Premier League (from his first season), has the right tatics, and improved on many of the players who where already there when he arrived (Sterling, KDB, Silva, Fernandinho, Otamendi and yes Delph as well), which alongside the transfers he has made (which Nolitio and Bravo aiside have been pretty sucessful on City's part) has played a big part in City's form so far this season. On the other hand the guy is personality wise the guy is a twat, at times a sore loser and has yet to learn fully how hard it is to dominate domestically and achive European sucess at the same time.
Which explains a lot about his transfer policy, which while (for the most part) has been pretty sucessfull in terms of the players we did get, but which did not go far enough in terms of both rebuilding our squad and upgrading it the level we need to be at.
***
Anyway the fact is that in this day and age you cannot just dump untested youth's into the first team, expect them to win all 4 trophies (including the Premier League and the Champions League) and thus perform from the first minute they play in the same way you don't ask the junior doctor to single handly perform heart surgery on their first day.
Likewise managers like Pep and Mourinho who are under pressure to win trophies are not exactly willing to gamble a whole season away just to give certain players game time (3). After all times have changed since the Class of 92 first emerged considering the increasing competition there is Domestically alongside the El Classico duopoly in the Champions League.
Thus in this day and age (considering the lack of overall Chelsea's youth policy) the only way you can sucessfully develop youth players (if you are a major club) is to give them a safe space for them to thirve, one that away from the immediate preassure of having to win major trophies, but also with enough ambition to push the players forward (something that Arsenal are lacking at the moment). That more than anything else is why Tottenham has been more sucessful than any of the other major clubs when it comes to youth players and why I am in favour of B Teams in the Football League (4)
The fact is that every manager of any big club that has any ambition at all is going to have to spend big in the transfer market, no matter if you are Chelsea, Man United, City, Barcelona, PSG, Real Madrid or Bayern. Because the fact is that no academy (not even Barca's or Tottenhams) can produce the 22 World Class Players (at least) per era that any big sides needs to win it all.
So why have we (and other English) teams not won it if it is not strength in depth? And no the competitiveness of the Premier League is not a good enough excuse when it can be overcome with the right (in terms of quality and size) squad.
Well I would not say on a regular basis, especially considering my low posting rate recently. Reguardless what I can say is that the main reason my writing style is the way is quite simply because I have got a lot to say about the state of the modern game (and the clubs that play in it) and for me the best way to express it (while retaining my privacy) is to post on online forums such as this one.
In other words I am just a passionate football fan with strong opnions.
If I was really Pep, then I would have done the following if I was in his shoes:
1 - Not moan about the Christmas Schedule and the "hard tackles" on City Players.
2 - Not underestimate how difficult the Premier League is compared to La Liga/Bundesliga from the start
3 - Not have public meltdowns when we lose/losing (instead of doing it some of the time).
3 - Avoid purchasing Bravo and Nolito last season.
4 - Outbid Man United and Chelsea (respectively) for Pogba and Kante last season
5 - Do whatever it took to obtain Sanchez ASAP (and maybe get Bellerin from the Arsenal as well)
6 - Purchased Kane, Alli, Erriksen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Trippier, Winks and Lloris from Spurs alongside Walker. Maybe in exchange for long-term loans or even sales (with buyback clauses) of City's youth players to Spurs. (5)
7 - Purchased Fabinho and Lemar from Monaco alongside Mendy and B.Silva.
8 - Purchased VVD rather than let him go to Liverpool.
9 - Buy Laporte in the Summer.
10 - Purchased Alaba from Bayern Munich.
11 - Not go on RedCafe to express my grivences.
12 - Instead of demanding 20 World Class Players, I would be demanding 33 (or so) instead.
If I was a Man United fan (6), I would be equally as demanding on my club as I am as a City fan. Because lets face it for one of the biggest clubs in the world (if not the biggest) United should be asprising to be outcompetiting the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona alongside (re)establishing their (former) domestic dominance.
(1) Alongside under-performing in far too many games.
(2) No matter how many good players we have in our First XI.
(3) Not when there are certain players out there which you know can deliver for you instead.
(4) And why despite the cynical nature of CFG's investment in Girona, it does make sense to use the club as a sort of unofficial City B Team in La Liga.
(5) Look if Liverpool can treat Southampton as their B Team/Academy then I don't see why City cannot do the same with Spurs (A team which I rate highly by the way), only on a bigger scale of course.
(6) Which I might have well been had it not been my long established (from childhood) affection for City.
We lost to Wigan (and Liverpool as well) (1) because Pep kept playing the First XI (more or less) game after game under the style of football we play (as well as a high level of performance) despite the lack in strength in depth (2). Lets make that clear...
Now the solution to this is of course getting more World Class players, which realistically means we have to look at transfer spending and more importantly what players you actually get. It is not simply a case of simply spending money though, otherwise the Galaticos of Real Madrid (1st and 2nd generation) would have won a hell of a lot more than they actually have.
Overall my views on Pep are mixed, on the one hand he has learned lessons from how hard it is to win the Premier League (from his first season), has the right tatics, and improved on many of the players who where already there when he arrived (Sterling, KDB, Silva, Fernandinho, Otamendi and yes Delph as well), which alongside the transfers he has made (which Nolitio and Bravo aiside have been pretty sucessful on City's part) has played a big part in City's form so far this season. On the other hand the guy is personality wise the guy is a twat, at times a sore loser and has yet to learn fully how hard it is to dominate domestically and achive European sucess at the same time.
Which explains a lot about his transfer policy, which while (for the most part) has been pretty sucessfull in terms of the players we did get, but which did not go far enough in terms of both rebuilding our squad and upgrading it the level we need to be at.
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Anyway the fact is that in this day and age you cannot just dump untested youth's into the first team, expect them to win all 4 trophies (including the Premier League and the Champions League) and thus perform from the first minute they play in the same way you don't ask the junior doctor to single handly perform heart surgery on their first day.
Likewise managers like Pep and Mourinho who are under pressure to win trophies are not exactly willing to gamble a whole season away just to give certain players game time (3). After all times have changed since the Class of 92 first emerged considering the increasing competition there is Domestically alongside the El Classico duopoly in the Champions League.
Thus in this day and age (considering the lack of overall Chelsea's youth policy) the only way you can sucessfully develop youth players (if you are a major club) is to give them a safe space for them to thirve, one that away from the immediate preassure of having to win major trophies, but also with enough ambition to push the players forward (something that Arsenal are lacking at the moment). That more than anything else is why Tottenham has been more sucessful than any of the other major clubs when it comes to youth players and why I am in favour of B Teams in the Football League (4)
The fact is that every manager of any big club that has any ambition at all is going to have to spend big in the transfer market, no matter if you are Chelsea, Man United, City, Barcelona, PSG, Real Madrid or Bayern. Because the fact is that no academy (not even Barca's or Tottenhams) can produce the 22 World Class Players (at least) per era that any big sides needs to win it all.
So why have we (and other English) teams not won it if it is not strength in depth? And no the competitiveness of the Premier League is not a good enough excuse when it can be overcome with the right (in terms of quality and size) squad.
Well I would not say on a regular basis, especially considering my low posting rate recently. Reguardless what I can say is that the main reason my writing style is the way is quite simply because I have got a lot to say about the state of the modern game (and the clubs that play in it) and for me the best way to express it (while retaining my privacy) is to post on online forums such as this one.
In other words I am just a passionate football fan with strong opnions.
If I was really Pep, then I would have done the following if I was in his shoes:
1 - Not moan about the Christmas Schedule and the "hard tackles" on City Players.
2 - Not underestimate how difficult the Premier League is compared to La Liga/Bundesliga from the start
3 - Not have public meltdowns when we lose/losing (instead of doing it some of the time).
3 - Avoid purchasing Bravo and Nolito last season.
4 - Outbid Man United and Chelsea (respectively) for Pogba and Kante last season
5 - Do whatever it took to obtain Sanchez ASAP (and maybe get Bellerin from the Arsenal as well)
6 - Purchased Kane, Alli, Erriksen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Trippier, Winks and Lloris from Spurs alongside Walker. Maybe in exchange for long-term loans or even sales (with buyback clauses) of City's youth players to Spurs. (5)
7 - Purchased Fabinho and Lemar from Monaco alongside Mendy and B.Silva.
8 - Purchased VVD rather than let him go to Liverpool.
9 - Buy Laporte in the Summer.
10 - Purchased Alaba from Bayern Munich.
11 - Not go on RedCafe to express my grivences.
12 - Instead of demanding 20 World Class Players, I would be demanding 33 (or so) instead.
If I was a Man United fan (6), I would be equally as demanding on my club as I am as a City fan. Because lets face it for one of the biggest clubs in the world (if not the biggest) United should be asprising to be outcompetiting the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona alongside (re)establishing their (former) domestic dominance.
(1) Alongside under-performing in far too many games.
(2) No matter how many good players we have in our First XI.
(3) Not when there are certain players out there which you know can deliver for you instead.
(4) And why despite the cynical nature of CFG's investment in Girona, it does make sense to use the club as a sort of unofficial City B Team in La Liga.
(5) Look if Liverpool can treat Southampton as their B Team/Academy then I don't see why City cannot do the same with Spurs (A team which I rate highly by the way), only on a bigger scale of course.
(6) Which I might have well been had it not been my long established (from childhood) affection for City.
6 - Purchased Kane, Alli, Erriksen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Trippier, Winks and Lloris from Spurs alongside Walker. Maybe in exchange for long-term loans or even sales (with buyback clauses) of City's youth players to Spurs. (5)