I wouldn't dismiss City until you see who they bring in this summer, only a fool takes his rivals lightly
It is far too early to be predicting who will win the league. Man City will be a huge force next season and probably favorites if they sign another 3 world class players which seems more than likely.
Of course it is too early, I just wanted to see what you all thought. Man City won't be favorites but they will certainly be contenders.
Finishing 3rd and winning the FA cup, they will only get better with their squad and without a doubt they will strengthen. Of course Man Utd will be up there, we have the best manager in the world. However, we have lost a lot of crucial players and whether we replace them is another question.
Well this may come back to haunt you, City keep adding to their already large useful squad and sooner or later it will click. You clearly haven't learned your lesson about being too smug, i.e. Barcelona where you believed your own hype and became so smug you didn't see defeat coming. That's why it hurt so much
You will replace them simply for the reason that when someone asks the question 'Who will win the league', everyone will say 'Man Utd'. Don't worry
We will compete to win the league but the league is so competitive that we could finish anywhere from 1-4th in my opinion.
You won the league by 9 points, even if the rest of the top 4 outspend you, they've got to catch up on 9 points+. Yes, some teams ****ed up, but then you ****ed up as well away from home, many times, so if you improve your away form = dominance.
Imo a lot depends on who Chelsea and City have managing them next year. I honestly (and I know a lot of City fans who agree with me) don't think Mancini has the mentality to win the PL regardless of his squad. If Chelsea bring in Hiddink they could be favourites, but then many of the players Hiddink did so well with in 2009 have left or gotten worse, and he still needs to work out what to do with Torres. Also apparently Chelsea are deciding what players to sign before they decide what manager to sign, so the new manager could have a squad he can't work with and can't change. Arsenal's season will depend a lot on whether they can keep their big names (Nasri and Fabregas in particular). I think Wenger has finally got the message and will add some steel, but by then he might already have lost most of his silk. Liverpool have a decent first team, but a thin squad, so they either need to bring in a lot of players and bed them in quickly, or have all their top players stay injury free and in top form for the whole season. Can't see them challenging next year to be honest. So at the moment I think Utd are the favourites. But a lot is going to depend on who has the best summer in terms of bringing in new players and bedding them into the team.
I agree with most of that, though I expect Liverpool to continue spending as they have done with the likes of Carroll and Suarez. I reckon if Wenger signs some players who could actually improve the squad, Fabregas will give it one more season to see if they can win it before moving to Barca. Chelsea? Completely depends on who they sign but if they get someone who can handle Torres effectively, they could always be contenders. Man City? Mancini I think could win it, he just needs to replace Tevez with someone of the same quality, and I think he will eventually succeed. I honestly thought this was the best chance for City to go for the title though.
I'm sure Liverpool will continue to spend but, as many of their fans are quick to point out, the only reason they spent so much on Carroll is that they sold Torres. And most of the players they are linked with at the moment (Henderson, Cattermole, Jones, Downing, Moukandjo) tend to indicate that they are building for the long term, and looking to get back into the CL before making any more major signings. It looks like Nasri is the more likely leaver at the moment. If they lose Nasri that may set them back almost as much as losing Fabregas. Very true. That's why I'm hoping they don't Like you say, this season was possibly City's best chance to win the title. I can't see Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal all being as inconsistent as they were this season. I expect one of those three to push for the title, and I don't think Mancini will be able to better them. But City could well end up second next year.
City are only going to improve... I expect them to do poorly in Europe but finish top2. People slate Mancini, but at the end of the day he won a trophy in his first full season. People always use the same "they aren't a team" cliche with any rich club - obviously City are prone to the occasional self destruction (Liverpool 3-0) But I think they play a decent passing game. They are also the most powerful side in the league and don't concede many goals. The FA Cup success is likely to focus them and improve the dressing room atmoshphere too. City have a solid spine and a good blend of flair and power. The signing of Kompany (for nothing) was a masterstroke and if they add another top class CB next to him they will have the best regular CB pairing in English football. City's biggest problem is the likes of Milner, Johnson, Zabeleta who will want regular places, and may become vocal and distruptive about it. I don't know about Chelsea, depends how many players leave and come in. 4-5 new players may be alot to intergrate quickly. I don't think replacing Drogba with Neymar or someone is really going to work in the short term. Also, if Hughes goes there I'll be very pleased. The team spirit at Chelsea looks slightly dodgy, they need uplifting - Hiddink would be a very good manager. I honestly think that if we spend like we need to - we will win the league again. But if we don't...
Seriously...Are you on another planet? We almost all admitted before the game that we were likely to lose. We knew we wern't favourites, But we still had hope. It didn't hurt half as much as it did last time because we all knew just how tough it would be. The City Semi-Final was way more painful for me personally.
Spot on, I don't know any United fans who really believed we would win, but it is a game where unlikely things happen so yep we all had a little hope. Giving City the FA cup was more painful!
