Title Race

[Dreambeliever]

No it doesn't translate to that at all. That translates to 4 points from the next 3.

Which is giving rivals a chance to gain 5 pts on us. Unacceptable for a team who wants to win the league.
At home to a terrible Utd team on paper.
You have to beat your titles rivals at home.
Burnley have been the worst team in the league this season.
9pts if you want to try and win the title.

 

[binomial]

Which is giving rivals a chance to gain 5 pts on us. Unacceptable for a team who wants to win the league.
At home to a terrible Utd team on paper.
You have to beat your titles rivals at home.
Burnley have been the worst team in the league this season.
9pts if you want to try and win the title.

I think you're a bit lost, I said 7 points from next 3 games...you've then gone off on some tangent with your "translates into 1 win 1 draw 1 loss" crap. 7 points from 3 games doesn't translate into that, it's simple maths.

Did City beat us at home?

We've already dropped 2 points to 1 of the worst teams in the league & we're STILL top of the table so our rivals can't be doing all that well can they?

I'll start again, actually I won't.

 

[moron]

The 10 point deduction for Everton...their fans must think with all the recent victories, that it was the best thing ever.

 

[Dreambeliever]

I think you're a bit lost, I said 7 points from next 3 games...you've then gone off on some tangent with your "translates into 1 win 1 draw 1 loss" crap. 7 points from 3 games doesn't translate into that, it's simple maths.

Did City beat us at home?

We've already dropped 2 points to 1 of the worst teams in the league & we're STILL top of the table so our rivals can't be doing all that well can they?

I'll start again, actually I won't.

I said 12 points ahead, you said 7 would be ok. Fair to assume you meant 7 points ahead of city after the next 3 which would be 4 points more than we currently are which is 3 points ahead. I agree 7 from 9 wouldn’t be the end of the world and in that case I’d rather draw with Burnley.

 

[Dreambeliever]

The 10 point deduction for Everton...their fans must think with all the recent victories, that it was the best thing ever.

Definitely galvanished them for sure.

 

[moron]

I appreciate your caveat on behalf of the late @Halmeister .

Hang on @Halmeister is dead ? Be real ? Or are we saying Thiago type dead ?

 

[binomial]

I said 12 points ahead, you said 7 would be ok. Fair to assume you meant 7 points ahead of city after the next 3 which would be 4 points more than we currently are which is 3 points ahead. I agree 7 from 9 wouldn’t be the end of the world and in that case I’d rather draw with Burnley.

Ah. Must've have done what I usually do with your posts and only ready half of it 😀

Let's just stick with the next 3 games, 7 points would be fine given 2 are part of the so called big 6. It'd put us on track to hit around the 90 point mark at the halfway stage.

Personally think we'll do enough to get 9, at home we're different gravy.

 

[Markeh]

I’d love us to pull a superstar signing out of our arses this winter to raise the level. What will the other sides be doing? Plenty of talk of Arsenal looking for a striker

 

[dee]

I’d love us to pull a superstar signing out of our arses this winter to raise the level. What will the other sides be doing? Plenty of talk of Arsenal looking for a striker

If we did I’d be interested to understand why we didn’t “pull it out of our arse” in the summer when the vast majority of sensible Money transactions take place.

Squad is the Squad and it’s fucking good. We are top of the table, part of the reason being, apart from Chelsea, everyone is complying to the financial rules.

 

[LarryHagman]

City 7 pts in their last 18 on offer.

queue winning 45 out of their next 45.

Won't happen. City are in trouble. Obvs they'll be there or thereabouts but 80-odd points is going to win the League this season, they won't be putting the usual run together.

This is our chance.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Won't happen. City are in trouble. Obvs they'll be there or thereabouts but 80-odd points is going to win the League this season, they won't be putting the usual run together.

This is our chance.

It’s ours and Arsenals chance but Acfon, Asian cup, injuries and Europe will undo us too I hear. City will still get 85+ pts

 

[Modo]

I honestly think the club should pull the trigger in January and buy a RW and a CB.
The title is in sight and we're losing Salah for 1.5 months.
Ideally we'd have someone better than Doak on the bench.

 

[dee]

I honestly think the club should pull the trigger in January and buy a RW and a CB.
The title is in sight and we're losing Salah for 1.5 months.
Ideally we'd have someone better than Doak on the bench.

“Pull the trigger” on a huge financial expense for ONE player when the decision was made not to spend money in August would be a tad irritating, to suddenly find the funds for two major signings absolutely unbelievable.

I would hope that if we found ourselves in dire need the owners would find a way to target a loan to get us through the next 5 months even if it impaired next season’s funding. However, the reality is we are set for this season with a squad that, has to date, got us top of the table and with AFCON known. There may be some clever trick the management and owners have up their sleeve to delay a purchase or loan until now to mitigate fees and or wages but that seems massively unlikely.

 

[Dreambeliever]

I honestly think the club should pull the trigger in January and buy a RW and a CB.
The title is in sight and we're losing Salah for 1.5 months.
Ideally we'd have someone better than Doak on the bench.

If we win every game til the the FA Cup and have a 7/8 pt lead over Arsenal and 10/12 over City id agree. Every man and his dog thought this season would be a transition. If we have a shot we should take it.

 

[rurikbird]

I honestly think the club should pull the trigger in January and buy a RW and a CB.
The title is in sight and we're losing Salah for 1.5 months.
Ideally we'd have someone better than Doak on the bench.

I think Doak should go on loan in the 2nd half of the season; he will hardly get any playing time from now on.

CB is a must. I forgot we’re losing Endo for a month too - we’d be playing Reece Williams at this rate.

 

[Hyena]

Liverpool Fútbol Club has just become Champions of Uruguay for the first time in their 108 years of history.

Surely this is a sign?

We have to pull out the stops now. We can't let Darwin Nunez be the only Liverpool player in Uruguay without a league title!

 

[keniget]

We’ve been here before. We know what happens if we do nothing in Jan or end up with too little too late.

 

[Frogfish]

If we win every game til the the FA Cup and have a 7/8 pt lead over Arsenal and 10/12 over City id agree. Every man and his dog thought this season would be a transition. If we have a shot we should take it.

This makes no sense at all. You are assuming either a) those clubs will go on a long winning run, of which there is zero indication or b) we'll drop off badly enough to need that huge buffer you have indicated.

Why? I'll start by quoting the investment : History is no indicator of future performance', and apply it to a much changed and weaker City. There is no indication that this City team is anywhere close to that of previous seasons. One win in their last 6 games and have conceded goals in the majority of their games this season. This is not an occasional blip and I've listed here before the long list of top quality players they have failed to adequately replace.

I won't go into Arsenal, who have a few issues of their own to overcome, however just looking at ourselves there are a few reasons as to why we should be confident, despite the obvious weaknesses (injuries to the defence, AFCON and the Asian Cup) :
a) the team should improve over the course of the season as the midfield gels better and integrates better with the front line.
b) we are scoring lots of goals and have a superb home record, despite the fact we are not yet hitting our xG.
c) we have played many of the Top 10 away from home already, Arsenal, City, Newcastle, Chelsea, Brighton and Spurs all have to come to Anfield with our toughest away games Arsenal and Villa (next to last game of the season, which could make it a weaker or tougher fixture) though United and Everton away are tricky. Also we have played more away games than home (the only club in the Top 6 in this situation).
d) if Arsenal, Villa and City stay in European competition there'll be no advantage for them, in fact as the games in the CL get much tougher then their PL games will become even trickier for a fatigued team (and City are CL favs with Arsenal 4th favs), Villa are currently heavy favs to win the Conference and yes we are heavy favs to win the Europa (from Leverkusen and AC) but the route to that final should be an easier path than for the CL teams and a small Villa squad.

 

[Dreambeliever]

This makes no sense at all. You are assuming either a) those clubs will go on a long winning run, of which there is zero indication or b) we'll drop off badly enough to need that huge buffer you have indicated.

Why? I'll start by quoting the investment : History is no indicator of future performance', and apply it to a much changed and weaker City. There is no indication that this City team is anywhere close to that of previous seasons. One win in their last 6 games and have conceded goals in every one of their last 23 games. This is not an occasional blip and I've listed here before the long list of top quality players they have failed to adequately replace.

I won't go into Arsenal, who have a few issues of their own to overcome, however just looking at ourselves there are a few reasons as to why we should be confident, despite the obvious weaknesses (injuries to the defence, AFCON and the Asian Cup) :
a) the team should improve over the course of the season as the midfield gels better and integrates better with the front line.
b) we are scoring lots of goals and have a superb home record, despite the fact we are not yet hitting our xG.
c) we have played many of the Top 10 away from home already, Arsenal, City, Newcastle, Chelsea, Brighton and Spurs all have to come to Anfield with our toughest away games Arsenal and Villa (next to last game of the season, which could make it a weaker or tougher fixture) though United and Everton away are tricky. Also we have played more away games than home (the only club in the Top 6 in this situation).
d) if Arsenal, Villa and City stay in European competition there'll be no advantage for them, in fact as the games in the CL get much tougher then their PL games will become even trickier for a fatigued team (and City are CL favs with Arsenal 4th favs), Villa are currently heavy favs to win the Conference and yes we are heavy favs to win the Europa (from Leverkusen and AC) but the route to that final should be an easier path than for the CL teams and a small Villa squad.

City have won the league 3 times in a row and 5/6 seasons so excuse me if I think there is plenty of evidence that’ll a team who have won 1/6 will start winning again and chase those ahead of them down.

 

[StevieM]

I honestly think the club should pull the trigger in January and buy a RW and a CB.
The title is in sight and we're losing Salah for 1.5 months.
Ideally we'd have someone better than Doak on the bench.

By the time a RW signs and has his first few train sessions, Salah is likely to be back from AFCON.

 

[Frogfish]

City have won the league 3 times in a row and 5/6 seasons so excuse me if I think there is plenty of evidence that’ll a team who have won 1/6 will start winning again and chase those ahead of them down.

And I assume it was the same players and squad they have now that won those titles right? And they haven't lost most of the players that won those titles have they? Ooooh they have?

 

[Dreambeliever]

And I assume it was the same players and squad they have now that won those titles right? And they haven't lost most of the players that won those titles have they? Ooooh they have?

They have the same manager, same philosophy, same coaches, same conditioning, same training, same expectations. Most of the squad won the treble last year and it’s full of multi title winners.

Ederson x5
Walker x5
Stones x5
Diaz x3
Ake x3
Akanji x1
Lewis x1
Grealish x2
Rodri x3
KDB x5
Silva x5
Foden x5
Alvarez x1
Haaland x1

They are still favourites and know what it takes to get it done, year after year.

 

[Modo]

By the time a RW signs and has his first few train sessions, Salah is likely to be back from AFCON.

The transition won't be as difficult if we buy someone in England

 

[Frogfish]

They have the same manager, same philosophy, same coaches, same conditioning, same training, same expectations. Most of the squad won the treble last year and it’s full of multi title winners.

Ederson x5
Walker x5
Stones x5
Diaz x3
Ake x3
Akanji x1
Lewis x1
Grealish x2
Rodri x3
KDB x5
Silva x5
Foden x5
Alvarez x1
Haaland x1

They are still favourites and know what it takes to get it done, year after year.

You have totally missed the point. I guess that's why you're called Dreamy. And naming a youngster who has only played in 8 PL games in his life? If you want to play that game then we still have TWELVE players on the books that won the PL in 19/20, won the CL, FAC and LC, and have contested the PL closely most seasons since. That's tons of experience for us too. It still doesn't mean that history is a predictor of the future (this season) as every winning team eventually fails to repeat.

City now have players at the level of an aging Walker, or good players, but not elite as others were in previous seasons; such as Akanji, Alvarez, Gvardiol, Grealish, Nunes, and Kovacic (and I won't even bother with Lewis who you used as evidence of experience and has just 8 starts to his name). Just below the first team level you also have players such as Bobb (5 PL games), Lewis (12 PL games over 2 seasons), Ortega, Gomez and Phillips who are not going to contribute much at all.

The key takeaway is that some of their key players are on the decline and / or suffering major injuries (KdB 32 & Walker 33) or not playing at their previous levels (Ederson, Dias, Ake), the evidence for which exists in their constant defensive lapses not witnessed to this extent since we strolled the PL. This City squad is nowhere near the level of those previous seasons you are harping on about, where they either ran away with it or pipped us to the post.

So whilst City are undeniably still in the title hunt (and of course they could win it) the constant repetitious, and frankly ridiculous, assertion by some posters (you can put your hand up) and media commentators that it's possible, nay likely that City will go on a 20 game winning run in the new year, is a strawman argument based on historical data but totally ignores current form, current squad composition & ongoing injury issues (now exacerbated by age and will necessitate a reintroduction period) that have annually affected certain players (KdB & Haaland) as well as other factors that I listed above.

 

[StevieM]

The transition won't be as difficult if we buy someone in England

And who, available and a reasonable price do you reckon we should go for from England?

 

[Modo]

You have totally missed the point. I guess that's why you're called Dreamy. And naming a youngster who has only played in 8 PL games in his life? If you want to play that game then we still have TWELVE players on the books that won the PL in 19/20, won the CL, FAC and LC, and have contested the PL closely most seasons since. That's tons of experience for us too. It still doesn't mean that history is a predictor of the future (this season) as every winning team eventually fails to repeat.

City now have players at the level of an aging Walker, or good players, but not elite as others were in previous seasons; such as Akanji, Alvarez, Gvardiol, Grealish, Nunes, and Kovacic (and I won't even bother with Lewis who you used as evidence of experience and has just 8 starts to his name). Just below the first team level you also have players such as Bobb (5 PL games), Lewis (12 PL games over 2 seasons), Ortega, Gomez and Phillips who are not going to contribute much at all.

The key takeaway is that some of their key players are on the decline and / or suffering major injuries (KdB 32 & Walker 33) or not playing at their previous levels (Ederson, Dias, Ake), the evidence for which exists in their constant defensive lapses not witnessed to this extent since we strolled the PL. This City squad is nowhere near the level of those previous seasons you are harping on about, where they either ran away with it or pipped us to the post.

So whilst City are undeniably still in the title hunt (and of course they could win it) the constant repetitious, and frankly ridiculous, assertion by some posters (you can put your hand up) and media commentators that it's possible, nay likely that City will go on a 20 game winning run in the new year, is a strawman argument based on historical data but totally ignores current form, current squad composition & ongoing injury issues (now exacerbated by age and will necessitate a reintroduction period) that have annually affected certain players (KdB & Haaland) as well as other factors that I listed above.

...and there's the final whistle!
City have just won their 19th game in a row.

- Kevin, another MOM performance, how long can you keep this going?
- First off, I want to thank Jesus...Gabriel was very supportive during my absence earlier in the season despite playing for a rival.

 

[Modo]

And who, available and a reasonable price do you reckon we should go for from England?

Facundo Buonanotte from Brighton.
Or Olise or Neto

 

[StevieM]

Balls - City aren’t winning it this season - I said that at the start.

There comes a point when every squad runs out of track to keep going - Pep’s a tinkering cunt who’s due a reminder that he doesn’t get everything his own way, their owners are desperately trying to use the time they have to balance the books retrospectively and they have a fines selection of ubercunts who have plateaued and don’t have the balls for it now a few teams are having a go at them.

Fuck ‘em.

Arsenal are a bigger problem until they go all Arsenal in February.

It’s a question of whether we’re going full 19/20 or 21/22 Liverpool… Vs 20/21 or 22/23.

I’ll say it again - one of our forwards who’s names isn’t Mohamed needs to bang in 15+ league goals in the remaining 22 games on top of whatever Salah contributes!!!

That happens… and we don’t lose Virgil or Alison to injury…. And we’re winning the league.

 

[StevieM]

Facundo Buonanotte from Brighton.
Or Olise or Neto

What’s your fascination with Neto - I mean I know he’s talented, but he’s always fucking injured.

The other two - would like require us to set a new transfer record - so… no… I don’t thing any of them are realistic or likely - you’d be as well pulling another few names out of a hat.

Or possibly getting used to Harvey playing there for whatever 3 games Mo will be missing.

 

[Markeh]

Neto is really good like but I’m just surprised @Modo hasn’t named some good old fashioned English wingers in the Downing mould