Noisy Neighbours - the Man City thread

[Archer]

Raheem Sterling makes it into the UEFA Team of the CL Group Stage.

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2317348.html

[POWWWWWWWW]

Tons of twitter hype from very reputable guys that Ancelotti is on his way to Bayern at the end of the season. Guardiola announcing his departure next week. Surely nailed on for the City job?

[hhyftrftdr]

Tons of twitter hype from very reputable guys that Ancelotti is on his way to Bayern at the end of the season. Guardiola announcing his departure next week. Surely nailed on for the City job?

It does look the likely destination. The only 'problem' I can foresee, is that if MP and City have a storming 2016, maybe winning the league, possible cup and having a decent stab at the Champions League (or, heaven forbid, win the fucker!) , you're then sacking a manager on the back of that (hypothetical) success. But the chance to land Guardiola doesn't drop at your doorstep every season.

It was out of leftfield when MP signed that one year extension this summer. Can't help but wonder that there is more to that contract than meets the eye. I like MP and he was exactly the character we needed after the Mancini era. But MP was never gonna be in it for the long haul, his age alone tells you that, and I think the days of managers doing a Fergie or Wenger and staying on for 15+ years is long gone. A 3/4 year cycle seems to be the norm amongst the top clubs these days, so even if we do nab Pep in the summer, I expect him to be replaced by 2020..... Vieira?

[Archer]

All the noise on City forums suggests Pep is a done deal. I'm talking here about the reliable ITKs who have conections and ears in the right places for the stuff that filters down. Generally they are a step ahead and more knowledgeable and reliable than anything you might read in the media but I'll only  believe it  if and when it is official.  The situation is no different to when Pep joined Bayern because that was set up quite a while before it was made official.

MP will already be aware of the position and no doubt his plans for next year are shaping up - retirement, Chile job or some other role in the CFG group maybe. It would be perfect if his final year was like Heynckes at Bayern and he signs off with some trophies. Beating Bayern in the CL final would be fantasy stuff

 Even if Pep proves to be a no go and MP does have a winning year, MP would be on his way very soon anyway. Soriano is on record that the managers cycle should be a maximum of 3 or 4 years. 

[hhyftrftdr]

London School of Marketing (yes, them) think these are Europe's most valuable clubs....

1. Real Madrid - £2.07bn
2. Manchester United - £2.05bn
3. Barcelona - £2.007bn
4. Manchester City - £2bn
5. Bayern Munich - £1.492m
6. Chelsea - £870m
7. Arsenal - £832m
8. Liverpool - £624m
9. Juventus - £531m
10. AC Milan - £492m
11. Borussia Dortmund - £445m
12. Paris St Germain - £403m
13. Tottenham - £381m
14. FC Schalke - £363m
15. Inter Milan - £279m
16. Atletico Madrid - £277m
17. Napoli - £224m
18. Newcastle United - £222m
19. West Ham United - £196m
20. Galatasaray - £187m

A few quid behind Barcelona who'd have imagined that when we were shovelling shit in division 2 at the end of the last century.

[Archer]

Seems to be happening. MP normally straight bats everything but then chooses now to come out with this. Clearly MP is totally in the loop and again shows his class compared to certain football managers. Effectively he is endorsing the next manager which is unique.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/19/manchester-city-manuel-pellegrini-pep-guardiola-arsenal-visit?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

“I am sure Pep Guardiola will work here some day. I even hope he will have the opportunity to work at Manchester City too, because I love this club and I care about its future, and I am sure he would do a good job. When is the future, I don’t know, but if the future turns out to be next year the most important thing for me to do is try to win the title again this season.
 

[buzzharvey22]

Why did YaYa wait 70 minutes and 2-0 down before he went into beast mode?

Why did KDB not move for 90 minutes when he never stopped for the 1st 2 months of his city career?

Never seen David Silva quite so sloppy.

Joe Hart looks a bit shaky stevens when crosses are coming in.

Has the imminanant departure of MP taken energy/life out of himself/the squad?

[TightEnd]

"We did better than Arsenal. We didn't deserve to lose," says Manuel Pellegrini



but for an hour city didn't do much. isnt Pellegrini being a bit one eyed here?

[hhyftrftdr]

Possibly he is Tighty, but I don't think over the 90 minutes Arsenal were much better than us, conversely, I don't think we were much better than them either. Both teams had good spells, sadly we left our best spell in the game too late.

You cannot go to Arsenal and give away 2 goals like we did. Huge difference between going in at half time 1 down and 2 down. Too many of our 'stars' didn't turn up for the bulk of the game last night. Can be infuriating to watch as we all know what Toure, KDB, Aguero etc are capable of doing, but we just don't see it in some games when we really need to see it.

Didn't realise just how big a tart Giroud is btw.

[George2Loose]

Man City have the quality but there doesn't seem to be much desire or grit without Kompany.

Lack of leaders in the absence of your captain?

[flushthemout]

Crucial games coming up Sunderland who are battling to escape the bottom 3. Leicester who seem unbeatable, Watford away who would be hot topic if not for Leicester, then Palace at home. Going Leicester and Watford games will be happy with 4 points from them two games. New Year will hopefully bring another Striker for Sergio, and a Fit Kompany please Santa.

[Archer]

Possibly he is Tighty, but I don't think over the 90 minutes Arsenal were much better than us, conversely, I don't think we were much better than them either. Both teams had good spells, sadly we left our best spell in the game too late.

You cannot go to Arsenal and give away 2 goals like we did. Huge difference between going in at half time 1 down and 2 down. Too many of our 'stars' didn't turn up for the bulk of the game last night. Can be infuriating to watch as we all know what Toure, KDB, Aguero etc are capable of doing, but we just don't see it in some games when we really need to see it.

Didn't realise just how big a tart Giroud is btw.

Sums it up nicely.

I think all managers are a little one-eyed but in terms of a performance over 90 minutes there wasn't a lot in it and very easily it could have been a different story. City were comfortably the better team in the first 30 minutes and if it was a boxing match they were clearly ahead on points until Arsenal scored with their first attempt and a great goal in the bargain. Fair play. From a City perspective the 2nd goal was obviously a horror show and effectively game over as Arsenal scored from only their 2nd attempt in the half. Easy then for Arsenal to just sit back ( they do this really well now and credit to them for that because it will make the difference) and obviously had the opportunities to score on the counter as City were inevitably open. Last 20 minutes was a different story and late goals for City have been the norm this season as generally the opposition run out of steam.

I've read in lots of places that City were terrible. I didn't see it like that but clearly they are not firing on all cylinders and some individual players are not doing it or error prone. Despite this the underlying stats for that game are incredible:
 - Arsenal had their  lowest amount of possession in a home league game since stats were publicly available over 10 years ago
-  Arsenal had their  2nd lowest number of attempts in any home league over  the last 7 years
-  Arsenal conceded their higest number of attempts in any  home league over  the last 7 years.

If i put my blue tinted glasses on there was one thing that really annoyed me. City were only awarded 5 fouls all evening. I've watched the game back and seriously that is a joke even allowing for Marriner wanting to keep the game flowing. 






 

[nirvana]

Possibly he is Tighty, but I don't think over the 90 minutes Arsenal were much better than us, conversely, I don't think we were much better than them either. Both teams had good spells, sadly we left our best spell in the game too late.

You cannot go to Arsenal and give away 2 goals like we did. Huge difference between going in at half time 1 down and 2 down. Too many of our 'stars' didn't turn up for the bulk of the game last night. Can be infuriating to watch as we all know what Toure, KDB, Aguero etc are capable of doing, but we just don't see it in some games when we really need to see it.

Didn't realise just how big a tart Giroud is btw.

Sums it up nicely.

I think all managers are a little one-eyed but in terms of a performance over 90 minutes there wasn't a lot in it and very easily it could have been a different story. City were comfortably the better team in the first 30 minutes and if it was a boxing match they were clearly ahead on points until Arsenal scored with their first attempt and a great goal in the bargain. Fair play. From a City perspective the 2nd goal was obviously a horror show and effectively game over as Arsenal scored from only their 2nd attempt in the half. Easy then for Arsenal to just sit back ( they do this really well now and credit to them for that because it will make the difference) and obviously had the opportunities to score on the counter as City were inevitably open. Last 20 minutes was a different story and late goals for City have been the norm this season as generally the opposition run out of steam.

I've read in lots of places that City were terrible. I didn't see it like that but clearly they are not firing on all cylinders and some individual players are not doing it or error prone. Despite this the underlying stats for that game are incredible:
 - Arsenal had their  lowest amount of possession in a home league game since stats were publicly available over 10 years ago
-  Arsenal had their  2nd lowest number of attempts in any home league over  the last 7 years
-  Arsenal conceded their higest number of attempts in any  home league over  the last 7 years.

If i put my blue tinted glasses on there was one thing that really annoyed me. City were only awarded 5 fouls all evening. I've watched the game back and seriously that is a joke even allowing for Marriner wanting to keep the game flowing.  

I think it is a little one eyed - 2 years ago, Arsenal were never at the races against teams like City. City are going backwards and I'd find that quite alarming given the zillions spent.

City 'dominated' the game with possession in the way Man U have dominated games. This is kinda good but neither team can springboard from this like Bayern, Barca et al.

De Bruyne, pretty significantly over-rated but may come good in time. Looked much more threatening when Navas (obviously never gonna score) came on and Toure broke sweat as they had the right kind of pace and runs being made

[Karabiner]

Toure(especially) and Sterling need to hone their diving skillz too.

[Archer]

Possibly he is Tighty, but I don't think over the 90 minutes Arsenal were much better than us, conversely, I don't think we were much better than them either. Both teams had good spells, sadly we left our best spell in the game too late.

You cannot go to Arsenal and give away 2 goals like we did. Huge difference between going in at half time 1 down and 2 down. Too many of our 'stars' didn't turn up for the bulk of the game last night. Can be infuriating to watch as we all know what Toure, KDB, Aguero etc are capable of doing, but we just don't see it in some games when we really need to see it.

Didn't realise just how big a tart Giroud is btw.

Sums it up nicely.

I think all managers are a little one-eyed but in terms of a performance over 90 minutes there wasn't a lot in it and very easily it could have been a different story. City were comfortably the better team in the first 30 minutes and if it was a boxing match they were clearly ahead on points until Arsenal scored with their first attempt and a great goal in the bargain. Fair play. From a City perspective the 2nd goal was obviously a horror show and effectively game over as Arsenal scored from only their 2nd attempt in the half. Easy then for Arsenal to just sit back ( they do this really well now and credit to them for that because it will make the difference) and obviously had the opportunities to score on the counter as City were inevitably open. Last 20 minutes was a different story and late goals for City have been the norm this season as generally the opposition run out of steam.

I've read in lots of places that City were terrible. I didn't see it like that but clearly they are not firing on all cylinders and some individual players are not doing it or error prone. Despite this the underlying stats for that game are incredible:
 - Arsenal had their  lowest amount of possession in a home league game since stats were publicly available over 10 years ago
-  Arsenal had their  2nd lowest number of attempts in any home league over  the last 7 years
-  Arsenal conceded their higest number of attempts in any  home league over  the last 7 years.

If i put my blue tinted glasses on there was one thing that really annoyed me. City were only awarded 5 fouls all evening. I've watched the game back and seriously that is a joke even allowing for Marriner wanting to keep the game flowing.  

I think it is a little one eyed - 2 years ago, Arsenal were never at the races against teams like City. City are going backwards and I'd find that quite alarming given the zillions spent.

City 'dominated' the game with possession in the way Man U have dominated games. This is kinda good but neither team can springboard from this like Bayern, Barca et al.

De Bruyne, pretty significantly over-rated but may come good in time. Looked much more threatening when Navas (obviously never gonna score) came on and Toure broke sweat as they had the right kind of pace and runs being made

Where am I being one-eyed?

Point taken about possession. The possession stat was obviously distorted because Arsenal were always going to sit back in the 2nd half to protect the lead and look for the counter. Less of the comparison with United please because there is no comparison  
 
However, the other 2 stats alone would suggest that City weren’t terrible and go a long way to supporting Pellegrini’s viewpoint. If the 2 performances and the result was reversed I don’t doubt Wenger would be saying the same thing.
Looking at it from an Arsenal perspective it was a brilliant result and performance. I totally get that.

City going backwards? Clearly results suggest that. The inept performances against Liverpool, Stoke and Swansea highlight the problem and it has to be a worry. However, looking at the big picture of a full season I am still optimistic and I take a lot of faith from the underlying stats. Simply, we continue to create more chances and restrict opponents to fewer attempts than any other team in the league. Of course, in view of the zillions, this should be the case…

You are not wrong about Navas. So often maligned (obviously correctly for his finishing ability) but he has been brilliant at times this season, we are more balanced and often  more threatening when he is in the team and his work rate (tracking back etc) is excellent.