Noisy Neighbours - the Man City thread

[Archer]

I was expecting Bravo to do better than 4th

http://iffhs.de/worlds-best-goalkeeper-2016-manuel-neuer/

[hhyftrftdr]

Happy new year.  I am probably the other side of most you mention.  I will keep telling you the truth (like i do on other threads) even if you don't like it.  Enjoy 2017.  Scousers who can't defend beating you in a 1-0 slugfest!   2017 looks so positive with Big Joe back maybe.  Fuming i backed 0-0 to win the world!  Enjoy next year with pep.  You know you are in trouble when the scousers keep a clean sheet against you even at home.

Only just seen this, you do amuse me Arb but I enjoy the forum grappling

[arbboy]

Happy new year.  I am probably the other side of most you mention.  I will keep telling you the truth (like i do on other threads) even if you don't like it.  Enjoy 2017.  Scousers who can't defend beating you in a 1-0 slugfest!   2017 looks so positive with Big Joe back maybe.  Fuming i backed 0-0 to win the world!  Enjoy next year with pep.  You know you are in trouble when the scousers keep a clean sheet against you even at home.

Only just seen this, you do amuse me Arb but I enjoy the forum grappling

Me too but i don't say these things to deliberately wind people up whatever you guys think.  HNY.

[TightEnd]

"My process of goodbye has started." Pep Guardiola says he's arriving at the end of his coaching career http://bbc.in/2j1bKUQ

the post match interviews yesterday were very odd weren't they? Petulant and tetchy. everyone is petulant and tetchy sometimes of course, but i didn't expect it of Pep

[Archer]

"My process of goodbye has started." Pep Guardiola says he's arriving at the end of his coaching career http://bbc.in/2j1bKUQ

the post match interviews yesterday were very odd weren't they? Petulant and tetchy. everyone is petulant and tetchy sometimes of course, but i didn't expect it of Pep

This is the NBCSN interview including "he's arriving at the end of his coaching career" at 14.30. It's a good interview with proper questions and not the usual claptrap "do you think you can win the quadruple this season?" (he was actually asked that early on in the season). In the context of the interview the "retirement" bit is absolutely fine - Pep is on record many times that his coaching career will be a short one. So it is not new news but the media now appear to dress it up as something else.

Yes, he did appear petulant and tetchy but less of a surprise for me. I watch all of his pre/post match press conferences (the long ones for the written press) and he is often curt and monosylabic with many of the journalists when they ask  dumb questions over and over again. And yesterday he was very frustrated with the referee and the BBC interviewer got the full brunt of it. He later apolgised and said it wasn't personal.

The media angle has now inevitably shifted from the "build him up stage" to "knock him down" stage.

 Klopp lost it in both a post-match interview and press conference as well yesterday. Angry and prickly. He was right IMO as well.

[Dewi_cool]

http://www.socceronsunday.com/article/guardiola-resigns-as-manager-of-manchester-city/

[Karabiner]

http://www.socceronsunday.com/article/guardiola-resigns-as-manager-of-manchester-city/

I was about to mention Pep saying citeh are the PL's equivalent of Villareal but i think you did it better.

 

[Archer]

http://www.socceronsunday.com/article/guardiola-resigns-as-manager-of-manchester-city/

Nice one Dewi

[Archer]

http://www.socceronsunday.com/article/guardiola-resigns-as-manager-of-manchester-city/

I was about to mention Pep saying citeh are the PL's equivalent of Villareal but i think you did it better.

 

Not sure what Pep said about Villarreal  - it would be nice to hear it from the horses mouth. Of course it is literally accurate at the moment - City 4th in the PL ahead of a couple of the history boys in United and Arsenal and Villarreal 4th in La Liga ahead of the likes of Atletico and Valencia.

I did hear a great interview with Pep tho talking about City being small in the context of European competition and history in the last 25 years  compared to the likes of Barcelona,Milan, Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus, United, Liverpool, Chelsea....

At least like Arsenal we've won the Cup Winners Cup but such a long time ago. They were the days

[arbboy]

https://beta.racingpost.com/sport/sport-columnists/possession-is-up-but-goals-are-down-for-city-under-pep/271325

Interesting stats based article from the RPost excellent stat guru Pullien.  Worth a read.

[Archer]

https://beta.racingpost.com/sport/sport-columnists/possession-is-up-but-goals-are-down-for-city-under-pep/271325

Interesting stats based article from the RPost excellent stat guru Pullien.  Worth a read.

Interesting, cheers Arb.

Some of the stats he is using are inaccurate, for example our 1st half of season possession % is a tad over 60% and not 65%, but I'm pedantic about stats stuff and it doesn't detract from the points he is making. Whilst not up at levels of Guardiola's Bayern or Barcelona, a figure of 60%+, if maintained,  has not been seen before in the PL. In Europe this year it is only bettered by PSG, Dortmund, Barcelona and Bayern. The latter with the highest % at 64.9% so far.

Still it links into one of Pep's core  philosophies and knock on effect  that with possession and positional play  you limit or restrict the opportunities for your opponent. Already that has filtered through - opponents attempts per game are at an average lower than seen before by City. It is not fully reflected in the goals against column yet but since the 3 against Chelsea and the 4 against Leicester, we have tightened up considerably. Probably best reflected in the 2nd half against Arsenal and even in the deserved loss at Liverpool. A fun stat and only positive from that game  is  Liverpool had fewer attempts/attempts on target than any other home league game at Anfield for over 10 years!

Ironically, considering the general perception about the relative merits of City's attack (very good) and defenders/goalkeeper  (poor) our problem is we have been creating less and scoring fewer goals than some of our previous successful seasons. A whole host of stats back that up.

[Archer]

City charged in relation to anti-doping:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/11/manchester-city-charged-anti-doping

http://www.thefa.com/news/2017/jan/11/manchester-city-charged-fa-rules-anti-doping

Breach of 14(d) as below:

14 (a) says:

All Clubs must furnish The FA upon request with any whereabouts information The
FA requires from time to time in respect of any Players who are not IRTP Players or
NRTP Players. That information shall include as a minimum:
(i) training dates;
(ii) start and finish times of training;
(iii) the address at which such training will take place; and
(iv) the home address for a Player and any other address at which a Player
regularly resides overnight.

14 (d) says:

It shall also be a breach of this Regulation 14 by the Club if the information
contained in such reports is either initially inaccurate or has not been updated by
the Club as necessary to ensure it remains accurate.

[hhyftrftdr]

''The matter refers to rules concerning 'club whereabouts' and does not concern player misconduct''

Hmmm, there are a few players that we can question their whereabouts this season.

[flushthemout]

Goodison Sunday guys anyone venturing to the bin lifters?

[hhyftrftdr]

Goodison Sunday guys anyone venturing to the bin lifters?

Nah, I value my hubcaps too much.