Match Day Thread Premier League, Cups & Euro Watch

But inconsistency doesn't get you involved in title challenges.

We may not have seen the best of RBL in our two ties but it cannot be denied they are a decent outfit.
They are the only side realistically that can stop World club champions Bayern from winning yet another Bundesliga.

 

Which they wont do. The two sides meet on 3rd April and that will be the game bayern show up for.


Many have tried break bayern, the issue is not simply talent but just sheer bullying power. They are half the side they were despite having feeder clubs for talent. Werner is a huge loss and himself will further weaken the side next year.

Dortmund have done a liverpool this year. Far too many good players to be 5th but their defense is shocking.

 

There is something disturbing about how Bayern rules the Bundesliga. When rivals emerge they invariably buy their best players. How can anyone ever compete against them for the title ? It is like City buying Salah and Mane from us after the season we nearly snatched the title from them.

 

First they have the "fan base" or at least registered fans.

Second they full exploit the german embracement of the bosman ruling. Any player of any sort of of ability is tapped up long term by their system.

third they seem to be very happy to take any manager they like as well without any power struggles etc.

They are not "as bad" as city as they earn their money but unlike england they have a vastly different league structure that is vritually like france. the lower clubs are nothing but cannon fodder.

everyone seems quite understanding of this power game and get on with it as they get thier trickle down cash from it.

The only thing helping italy today is chinese moeny coming in and nohting is helping france at all. England are going this way.

Take a look at the past 5 years

League: Liverpool, city, city, chelsea, leicester,
FA cup: arsneal, city, arsenal, cheslea, utd.
League cup: city, city, city, utd, city

Not too bad, two bad years for city in 5. (the end of pelligrini and their 4th where leicester won and our win where theiy fell apart at the back. This says theres enough floating cash about to compete. cheslea have only won 2 of the last 15 cups, arsenal 2, utd 2.

City look on for the treble again, add that in though and the picture changes a bit.
League: City Liverpool, city, city, chelsea,
FA cup: city, arsneal, city, arsenal, cheslea
League cup: City, city, city, city, utd

it starts to look uncompetitive now doesn't it.

 

Man Utd in the later 90s & early 00s

 

interestingly that team was stopped only periodically by Arsenal building a great team who then fell apart quick enough.

Arsenal won 3 leagues in 7 yeas or so and won the Fa cup four times to make two double winning seasons

If LFC could do that kind of thing today I would be over the moon!

while aresenal imploded under s astadium debt and wenger's hubris cheslea started spending billions and dominating.

how cheslea re less professional, hugely impatient and just as bad with the cash but have won 2/3 out of 15 trophies or something while city are the patient, well structured and filthy rich club who can do anything they like.

If anything city fail to bully anyone. They should be ripping into sides not going out buying one or two. Maybe the english sides have so much money its too hard to go buy kane or fernandes or vvd.

 

They did this much earlier in the 70s and 80s. Bought the likes of Brazil, Davenport and Birtles but had egg in their faces as their teams were really awful.

 

It is. Which is why I hate what City have done, and Chelsea before them, and why I don't want us to be bought out in that way.
I know people will accuse me of envy, but that really isn't it. I'd rather we never won anything than win by those means.
The German and French leagues are a joke, and an insult to their genuine football fans.
If it weren't for the long-term rivalry between us and Man U I'd rather they won it than City.

 

Agree with you about City and Chelsea. They are primarily clubs who have virtually no limitation to their spending. No constraints like profit making, dividends etc. Even FFP does not seem to be effective. They get whoever they want. In Germany and France, Bayern and PSG dwarf every other club and also have unlimited power.

 

The irony being that most of Germany hate RBL for spending their way to try and challenge Bayern, completely ignoring the fact that if they didn’t, Bayern would still be walking the league just with one less competitor, who even now isn’t really a competitor to them.

 

Before my time

 

state interference = city, cheslea PSG
special treatment = juve (italians and fiat and all of that,) AC milan and real madrid (goverment favours)
Just plain big = bayern, barca, utd, inter

not even going to lump us in there.

the state interference is one issue, the clubs who've historically been given special trement is another. the just plain big and well run is just what it says on the tin.

not everyone can be big and well run but if you are not big but weell run you ought to be able to compete and in the 1980s you could. from mid 90s onwards you could try but had to over spend. since 2004 it doesn't matter amny more you cannot compete the state interference is such you will always be took apart.

its never changing as the oil countries and oligrach have been not only let off but enabled at every step.

 

When Chelsea where successful you knew they'd bought it, but it never felt like total domination.

Same now with City, it doesn't feel like they dominate the league just yet.

What I would say, is the competiveness of the prem is what makes it interesting and what keeps the TV money rolling in. Take that away and you've got just another league with one incredibly rich team winning all the time.

Will you keep punting your sky sports subscription to watch City walk it every year? With the average fan? Or will it leach away, the bubble finally pop?

 

Do what now?

 

In 2005 it felt like cheslea could. when ambramoich sacked mourinho first time he triggered a chain reaction of incompetance. He then sacked anchelotti who won a double. Cheslea have self inflicted wounds where they could have utterly dominated. they extended fergusons' career at utd if anything

What is happening right now is that city have actualy left 2 titles behind them in the last while. Certainly Leicester title was a disaster as they got rid of pelligrini.

city have built competance at thencial and board room level, not sure i think the team is really complete even thats the scary thing.

If city really go cheslea level nuts they could become the PSG of england.

I mean lets be hyper critical

ederson is good
Walker at RB? come on.
LB is still not great
Stones at RCB? lets see in europe i suppose.
Diaz is a huge success. Laporte seems to have an issue
Rodri leaves gaps around him very inconsistent imo
Debruyne is special.
gundogan is surprisingly improved and silva is good compeittion there.
stelring misses the target far too much
Aguero is gone, jesus isn't up to it.
Mahrez and torres are ok but just ok.

Add haaland, add messi add whoever, it will only get better and better.

If they win the treble again (league cup = hot favourites., league is all but over, fa cup to come.) or worse a quadruple.

when does the penny drop here.

when city have 90% of the trophies over 5 years?

 

All of which made me weep when some of our more excitable fans and media supporters were talking of a decade of dominance and thus like after winning the Prem. It would have never been the situation, even had they not bribed the CAS over that FFP case. The best we could have hoped for was to be constantly at them and won the league in the seasons they couldn't. But while they look capable of getting 90+ points four seasons out of five, I feel the best we can do is 90+ two seasons out of three at best.

But it is what it is. There'll be City plus United, Chelsea, and a few improving clubs too next year, so I can't see us getting 90+ points next season either, tbh.

 

I understand where your coming from but they've won the league 4 times in the last decade. That's why they are not thought of as dominating.

You can win as many league cups snd fa cups as you want, it doesn't make any difference. They still havnt even come close to Europe which is what they need.

 

I'd say there's a high chance that could change this season. They're favourites to win and aside from Bayern and maybe PSG, who is going to stop them, especially in a season with no (or small) crowds where this is no atmosphere to put the pressure on them.
City are enjoying this season as its allowing them to play without pressure and scrutiny (same for Man U to an extent)

The problem isn't if they win in Europe or not, if they're winning pretty much every English competition every year, it damages the league. Whats the insentive for the other clubs if they know City are probably going to win before the season starts (look at the French league), so clubs start settling for finishing 2nd or just staying in the league.

 

Theyve been favourites in Europe for a while and still fall over.

They may come to dominate in the future but at the moment it's not there.

Theyve ruined the league cup even more than it was already fooked, it has no credibility at all now.


The fa cup is what it is.

Again 4 times in a decade isn't dominating, I dont feel the same way about them as when utd looked unstoppable for 20 years.

 

5 times in 9 seasons is pretty impressive, imo.