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Man City - the new bitters?


Naz17
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30 minutes ago, Code said:


Yes it could be, players who start to get hamstring injuries often gets that psychological barrier to climb where they do hold back, I have seen that with many players who had pace as one of their best attributes.

 

But looking at Walkers injury record, I’m not sure it’s that either.

 

But maybe this is not updated, I really don’t know, I have felt he has been out more than this table shows. 
 

 

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His contract is out this season isn't it? Maybe he's just trying to get on the pitch as often as he can. Without doubt though he's playing without his only attribute worth anything. You'd wonder if he'd be less exposed playing number 6, he's fitted in there a few times over the years. 

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14 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

I haven't watched them but have heard they've not been playing that bad. I've always thought the calibre of their defenders was nowhere near their attacking prowess so maybe more teams are just going for the throat?

 

They look a bit like we did in 22/23 without the ball. The seem to be passing it round well enough and just look a bit short on confidence. But every time the loose the ball, they look like they'll concede. 

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11 hours ago, Evelyn Tentions said:

The best bit about their slump, for me, is that it's dented the aura of invincibility that other teams have given them over the last few years. All their usual easy beats will now be encouraged to have a go at the cunts

Good times, indeed.

 

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I still wouldn't rule them out, but I can't help but feel that they will drop a lot more points by their standards and something like 84 points wins the league.

 

If we win today and next weekend, it's s lot of wriggle room. Some nasty fixtures in the coming weeks like Newcastle and Everton (don't laugh) away plus the red Mancs at home - if we come through them with a very decent points total, I genuinely think only Putin and world war 3 can stop us - null and void, there's nuclear armageddon.

 

Arsenal might be a very good side and Chelsea are real up and comers, but for my money, with their lack of winners, neither are a threat to us in terms of winning a title. City have what they both lack and are capable of a Last Dance season.

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11 hours ago, 3 Stacks said:

I don't think there is really anything "wrong" with them. If Rodri was there, they would be chugging along.

 

I don't really buy this they're getting older thing either. People are always at pains to say players don't stop being good in their early 30's. In that case, other than Walker and De Bruyne, I don't really see the issue with their squad.

 

This is basically the same situation as 19-20. They have had crucial injuries and it will do them in this season. We'll see medium to long term, but I'm not writing their obituary.

 

Yeah, watching the highlights of the Spurs game was a carbon copy of their other defeats really. Virtually every good move from Spurs had link up play that went through an area with a huge Rodri shaped hole. Even if he didn't make the tackle he'd have brought the man down. 

 

You can make the argument that they're over reliant on Rodri and Haaland, but that's the price you pay for having two truly exceptional players in your starting eleven. With Rodri in the team they win that game yesterday. If Haaland had his shooting boots on they win it comfortably.

 

I think one reason Walker looks slower this season is he's having to make more of those recovery runs and needs to keep something back. He's used to making one or two full pelt runs a match, not seven or eight.

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13 hours ago, 3 Stacks said:

I don't think there is really anything "wrong" with them. If Rodri was there, they would be chugging along.

 

I don't really buy this they're getting older thing either. People are always at pains to say players don't stop being good in their early 30's. In that case, other than Walker and De Bruyne, I don't really see the issue with their squad.

 

This is basically the same situation as 19-20. They have had crucial injuries and it will do them in this season. We'll see medium to long term, but I'm not writing their obituary.

 

Those same people are slowly accepting that fatigue is a real thing though. I've written a couple of times in this thread, and for me the most glaring thing (alongside Rodri being a miss), is the lack of legs from some of their top performers. De Bruyne, Gundogan and Walker look completely shot, and the amount of games all their other starters have played (must win games most of them because of us and Arsenal) finally looks to be taking its toll.

 

Their lack of pressing with the big grock up front and now lacking Walker's recovery pace at the back make them much easier to play against. Rodri was a big, big plug in the hole in their midfield, and is of course another reason this looks a completely different side. I think their decline was inevitable without his injury, but as you (and many others) have said as well, our 19/20 falloff might actually be a close comparison.

 

1 hour ago, Barrington Womble said:

 

They look a bit like we did in 22/23 without the ball. The seem to be passing it round well enough and just look a bit short on confidence. But every time the loose the ball, they look like they'll concede. 

 

I have said it all along, their reliance on Haaland is going to bite back at them. He's close to useless in pressing and inter-play, so if they can't press effectively from the front (and lack Walker's pace at the back), the gaps in their midfield will steadily increase, and they will be more and more susceptible to counters.

 

They have never had our CB's indivdual defensive prowess, and now that teams are countering them with numbers without that Rodri-shaped shield in front of them, we can see their limitations.

 

 

Hot take: Could Pep's sudden desire to sign a new deal be an extra safety blanket to get himself an extra payoff if things come crumbling down?

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3 hours ago, lebron said:

 

Those same people are slowly accepting that fatigue is a real thing though. I've written a couple of times in this thread, and for me the most glaring thing (alongside Rodri being a miss), is the lack of legs from some of their top performers. De Bruyne, Gundogan and Walker look completely shot, and the amount of games all their other starters have played (must win games most of them because of us and Arsenal) finally looks to be taking its toll.

 

Their lack of pressing with the big grock up front and now lacking Walker's recovery pace at the back make them much easier to play against. Rodri was a big, big plug in the hole in their midfield, and is of course another reason this looks a completely different side. I think their decline was inevitable without his injury, but as you (and many others) have said as well, our 19/20 falloff might actually be a close comparison.

 

 

I have said it all along, their reliance on Haaland is going to bite back at them. He's close to useless in pressing and inter-play, so if they can't press effectively from the front (and lack Walker's pace at the back), the gaps in their midfield will steadily increase, and they will be more and more susceptible to counters.

 

They have never had our CB's indivdual defensive prowess, and now that teams are countering them with numbers without that Rodri-shaped shield in front of them, we can see their limitations.

 

 

Hot take: Could Pep's sudden desire to sign a new deal be an extra safety blanket to get himself an extra payoff if things come crumbling down?

 

Haaland is a weird one for sure. He's ruthless if you play the ball in front of him and give him a 30% chance of winning the ball. But he maybe touches the ball 10 times a game, and some of them are tackles after his bad 1st touch with his back to goal. But they've still made it work for 2 seasons. You can't help but think losing rodri plays a part, de bruyne looking fabinho done and just overall older players all round the pitch. 

 

I dunno if guardiola needs a pay off, they'll have been paying him 10s of millions in bitcoin for years off the books. And it's only a 1 year contract with an option of a 2nd isn't it? 

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21 hours ago, Barrington Womble said:

 

Haaland is a weird one for sure. He's ruthless if you play the ball in front of him and give him a 30% chance of winning the ball. But he maybe touches the ball 10 times a game, and some of them are tackles after his bad 1st touch with his back to goal. But they've still made it work for 2 seasons. You can't help but think losing rodri plays a part, de bruyne looking fabinho done and just overall older players all round the pitch. 

 

I dunno if guardiola needs a pay off, they'll have been paying him 10s of millions in bitcoin for years off the books. And it's only a 1 year contract with an option of a 2nd isn't it? 

Haaland is basically a mathematical signing. He guarantees a goal per game, so you have that basically chalked off and you can think about other stuff.

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4 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

Haaland is basically a mathematical signing. He guarantees a goal per game, so you have that basically chalked off and you can think about other stuff.

and it kept him out of the hands of their rivals. i think that is far more the reason than anything to do with his contribution for them. 

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1 hour ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

I don't watch enough of them to know who their "first choice" XI would be.  Obviously Rodri would be in there, but what about the four other injured players?


That’s part of the cheating.

 

They don’t really have a first eleven, they have 20+ players they cycle over a season.

 

Saw somewhere that their ‘big’ players play around a third less minutes over the course of a season than us/Arse.

 

That’s a massive competitive advantage that shit squawking shitcunt cheat doesn’t reference when he’s pleading poverty.

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