Manchester City 17/18 discussion | "If you're here for the Champions clap your hands" (#6505)

You're an idiot.

Err, I don't think so but if random insults make you happy go for it.

I was making a joking reference to Kevin Keegan which nobody seems to have picked up on. Those were the instructions he gave to Scholes on England duty which Scholes and most of his colleagues thought were idiotic. I'm not seriously saying that Guardiola is as bad as Keegan (in the same way I would have thought it was fairly obvious I wasn't saying I could have managed Barca and Bayern).

The serious point is that I thought Pep would struggle and that he had things incredibly easy in his only two jobs in management (pressure aside). People were hailing him as a messiah but thus far there can be nobody who isn't surprised how poorly City have done under him.

After 10 games last term (despite the fact they weren't even playing well) everyone was waxing lyrical. Almost 12 months on, no trophies, miles adrift last term, below average start this term, unfixed problems in the squad. He's too stubborn and too closed-minded to be a true great in my opinion but we'll see, maybe he will change (or maybe he won't but will still do brilliantly and I'm just wrong).
 
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Err, I don't think so but if random insults make you happy go for it.

I was making a joking reference to Kevin Keegan which nobody seems to have picked up on. Those were the instructions he gave to Scholes on England duty which Scholes and most of his colleagues thought were idiotic. I'm not seriously saying that Guardiola is as bad as Keegan (in the same way I would have thought it was fairly obvious I wasn't saying I could have managed Barca and Bayern).

The serious point is that I thought Pep would struggle and that he had things incredibly easy in his only two jobs in management (pressure aside). People were hailing him as a messiah but thus far there can be nobody who isn't surprised how poorly City have done under him.

After 10 games last term (despite the fact they weren't even playing well) everyone was waxing lyrical. Almost 12 months on, no trophies, miles adrift last term, below average start this term, unfixed problems in the squad. He's too stubborn and too closed-minded to be a true great in my opinion but we'll see, maybe he will change (or maybe he won't but will still do brilliantly and I'm just wrong).

Joint top of the league after 4 games, with 10 points and a +8 goal difference is a below average start, what does that make the starts of the rest of the league?

The kind of expectations posts like the above set of Pep is exactly why he'll never be able to win in England even if he wins..

He is level on points with the top team and only 2 behind on goal difference despite having played 2 of the top 7 already. Of the other teams only Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs have played 2 of the top 7 and he is ahead of them all. Arsenal have only played Liverpool and United have played no one of any use so far. Cities performances haven't been 10/10 but they've hardly been below average either. If he maintained this start till the seasons end he'd finish the season with 95 points, 95 goals scored and a GD of +76... despite putting in so called below average 4/10 level performances...

To talk about him not being a messiah and than criticise him for not getting messiah like results is a bit over the top no?

He's a top football manager with flaws like every other top football manager and he's started the season in the way one would expect of a top team with a top manager.
 
It's a valid point but I think it's fair to say fans might have been expecting better performances wouldn't you agree? Take away very late goals and the start would have looked a lot worse. Late goals are of course part of football but arguably some of those goals led to results that didn't wholly reflect the balance of play.

Edit - Sorry, also I think I meant in the original post "below expected" not below average.
 
Joint top of the league after 4 games, with 10 points and a +8 goal difference is a below average start, what does that make the starts of the rest of the league?


He is level on points with the top team and only 2 behind on goal difference despite having played 2 of the top 7 already. Of the other teams only Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs have played 2 of the top 7 and he is ahead of them all. Arsenal have only played Liverpool and United have played no one of any use so far.

We can take nothing from your games against the Red's & Blue's. It's unlikely you would have beat the Dippers bar the sending off. You definitely wouldn't have run up your goal difference so much either. Everton tried to shut up shop rather than get the second goal, thus, exposing themselves to the sucker punch. You have in effect played nobody yet yourselves. You have also been incredibly lucky in your other games.
 
It's a valid point but I think it's fair to say fans might have been expecting better performances wouldn't you agree? Take away very late goals and the start would have looked a lot worse. Late goals are of course part of football but arguably some of those goals led to results that didn't wholly reflect the balance of play.

Edit - Sorry, also I think I meant in the original post "below expected" not below average.

I'm reasonably happy with the performances so far.

Brighton - away at a newly promoted side, barely gave them a sniff and won 2-0.
Everton - even first half but totally dominated the second with ten men and very much deserved the equaliser.
Bournemouth - poor first twenty minutes but thereafter looked the better side and probably deserved the three points.
Liverpool - took advantage of the red card and completely dominated them. Were already 1-0 up at that point.

I think its too early to draw conclusions but Ederson looks very good, Mendy is going to be lethal going forward and Walker and Danilo have made a decent impression. Jesus is still scoring goals and we are yet to see much of B Silva and Gundogan still to return.

Watford and Palace are the next two games, before a trip to Stamford Bridge. I think by the end of the Chelsea game we'll have a much better idea of where this season's City are. I am currently just as optimistic as I was at the start of the season.
 
I like Peps, but I am not convinced about his current work yet. The team doesn't look better than its individuals. Quite the contrary. I don't see how his tactics benefit the team.
With KdB, aguero, Silva, Silva, sterling, Sane and Jesus you kind of expect some nice attacking football, but it usually looks rather slow. KdB/silva are playing extremely deep. The likes of sane/sterling frequently end up as WBs. Fullbacks play as center backs.

He was able to buy new players for all positions. He got a lot of defenders who all seem to struggle to actually defend. Is there any legit alternative for fernandinho as dm? Can he even lineup with a back4 with this squad, if he wants to? Is it really smart to have (one of) the best playmakers carrying the ball forward from the CBs?
All the fancy stuff is nice if it works, but rather daft when it holds some players back.
I wonder if a 4231 with KdB, aguero + two of Silva, Silva, sane, sterling wouldn't be overall a lot more efficient. No reason to make things overly complicated.
 
fecking hell. 6-0. Bad news :(
Watford were looking alright so far too, it's not like it's Palace or Arsenal.
 
May as well just give them the league and CL now. Saint Pep the greatest human being in history has built the greatest squad in the world yet again.
 
They're finally delivering what we've all expected they'd be capable of eventually. It's not really a surprise to see a team that full of quality doing what it's doing, but it sure is depressing.
 
fecking hell. 6-0. Bad news :(
Watford were looking alright so far too, it's not like it's Palace or Arsenal.
To be fait watford were crap today and the first goal ( which was a clear office btw) gave them the confidence. But credit where credit is due, this city side are really good. It would be a real special deal to win the title at their expense.
 
Thought they'd drop points today...They're the team to beat this season that's for sure.
 
They have gone from having an average pair of full backs to the best in the league. Makes a huge difference.
 
Vintage City. Things going their way, they look fantastic. We'll see how they do in a few months when things arent going as well.

That also goes for us, by the way. Many teams look good early on.
 
When a Pep team clicks it's amazing to watch. Still early, but they're looking dominant.
 
Still think there's virtually nothing between City, United, Chelsea and Spurs. Chelsea are my pick to win it. City flatter to deceive, they weren't looking brilliant up until last week and even then they weren't good until Mane got sent off.
 
Time for a repeat of the 'City to walk the league' predictions that happen at this point every single season. Oh, but it's different this year. Well it was 'different this year' last year and the year before too.
 
City are playing much much better football than last season not because of all new signings but because Pep's system is already installed in the team. Of course the new players are fitting well in it. City will challenge for the title this year but the main goal is winning the CL. I think they are still not ready for it.
 
Must be September...

Last season, they started to crumble in September: 3:3 vs Celtic and then lost vs Spurs. It's too early to make predictions but their squad this season is way better than last season. And they play better too. They won the first fixtures last season but didn't impress that much. Early days though. Iinjuries to Fernandinho and Kompany and they will struggle.
 
They have been impressive - big, big scores. 5-0, 4-0 and then 6-0. That's very good going from them.

At the end of the day I try not to worry about them. Just put a positive spin on it - if we win the title then we'll have bested a very strong City side. If they win, well then we'll deal with it in May ;)
 
Don't think you'll find any of the Blues on here crowing and predicting domination despite the great week we've had.
Should hand Palace's ass to them next week but an away game at Chelsea follows that and we will need to be at the top of our game to win that one.
Doubt the press will go overboard with praise. They're always looking for the caveat by which City's results ain't really that good.
 
Still think there's virtually nothing between City, United, Chelsea and Spurs. Chelsea are my pick to win it. City flatter to deceive, they weren't looking brilliant up until last week and even then they weren't good until Mane got sent off.

What? I distinctly remember being 1-0 up when Mane assaulted Ederson.