Saun Dyche decided to teach Klopp some manners and he did it with only 23% possession, 62% pass accuracy compared to 88% of Liverpool and 227 passes compared to 717. He got away with a clean sheet, a 2-0 scoreline against the title contenders while fighting in a relegation battle. The Premier League is ruthless, but when it comes to the City, teams are helpless (sort of).
We were hoping for Brighton to do Everton on Man City but they lost 4-0. City are only a point behind with a game in hand to Arsenal. I doubt they are going to drop any points in their next 5 games, they are going to get away with the title most likely. Winning mentality comes from WINNING, and if we were the winners last season, I would have put my money on Arsenal. They are not going to drop points. No chance at all.
We are doing our best. Arteta humiliated Pochettino as if he was still managing Spurs and I’m pretty sure he is going to do the same to Ange. The problem at the top is that, you lose 2 games and your season is over. We are out of champions league because we didn’t win against Bayern, and we are going to lose Premier League race because we lost to Aston Villa at home.
Klopp has suffered this for 8 seasons, winning only once when he had one of the best teams at one point (Salah, Mane, Firmino, VVD, TAA and some more). Arteta suffered it last season and is going to suffer again in 4 weeks.
But…
What’s stopping us from being the City? KSE has not shyed away from investment. Mikel has gotten everyone he wanted. We have a bench of players like Vieira, Jesus, Zinchenko, Timber, Tomiyasu, Partey, ESR, Nketiah, Nelson. That’s about 200 odd millions.
I think it’s the football we are playing. We are doing what Pep does with better players. Of course, he is going to win. We need the chaos Wenger used to have. We need the chaos the front three of Liverpool had. We need the chaos Martinelli showed initially but is now reduced to a player who runs on commands.
Chaos and Order. Fuck the order next season and let’s get some chaos. Let’s get some Trossard and Martinelli and Partey.
Right, I’m typing this on phone so excuse me for any errors. Marriages here are a week’s thing and I still have couple of days to enjoy. Hope you are having a nice one.
Thanks Ambarish for the post. It feels really weird to hope the Sp*ds fall over on Sunday and then make City drop points. All we can do is get the remaining 12 points and hope City has at least 1 draw and keep the difference in the goals scored.
We need to keep the pressure up on CIty – we play before they do and they haven’t looked quite the well polished slick machine they were last season.
If we keep winning they might just drop a draw into the mix.
The Spud’s have to play both of us and if they want to take 4th from Villa can’t afford to lose both – we need to beat them and let them go into what’s the 2nd to last fixture of the season for both teams at the toilet seat with the Spud’s needing a win for a CL spot.
City have lost their last 4 PL matches away at Tottenham!
Wasn’t aware of ManC’s record at the toilet
There’s no worse way to chuck a title challenge than at their place. Those peasants will give us no end of shit. I’ve heard some of them ready to chuck fourth place if it means City win the league. Tramps.
Still hoping but not hopeful.
Good post Ambarish—although I would agree with your assessment regarding MA’s tactical approach, which tend to make us look like world beaters against lesser lights and/or injury-riddled sides, then leave us wanting against better managers, I do take issue with his recruitment practices…far too often we’ve wasted vast sums on ill-suited half -measures or coin toss propositions, like many on your above list…I believe if we had invested properly we would be on par with the best in Europe right now, as most of the top clubs are in transition presently…this should have been our window on both fronts
tends
Trvl, being silly. We’ve beaten Pep and Klopp this season. We’re on a par with the best in Europe, CL quarters, you’re contradicting your own points.
The recruitment has done the job. We’re a better team this season than last. The vast sums we’ve spent have bought us better players. That’s what it’s meant to do.
If your point is, we could have won the prem and champions league if we’d spent less that makes no sense. If it’s that with the money we spent we should have won both, also makes no sense. If you think that we’ve scored the most and conceded the least through luck or everyone else rolling over just for us, equally nonsensical. People aren’t stupid, we can see a good team, with good players and good management.
Some people just like a moan.
Aitcho
There will always be fans who’ll cut their nose off to spite their face but the money and prestige in the CL will have the management and players wanting it.
We just need to make sure we beat them first.
Aitch—slow your roll my little blunt instrument…you lack the nuance required to discuss such matters…stay in your lane with your pom-poms firmly within your thumbless hands
Aitcho
Our recruitment has not been amazing when you look at the money spent and some of the players bought.
£35 million on Zinchenko a season ago and then 12 months later £40 million on Timber (who’s predominately been a right sided player).
Sell Martinez for £18 odd million (who then wins the world cup) and buy Ramsdale for £25 million after one season decide he’s not good enough and take Raya on loan (got to be a £10 million odd loan fee involved) and we’ll end up paying £30 plus million for him.
£35 million for Jesus and we still desperately need a striker.
£65 odd million for Havertz when Chelsea paid a third less for Palmer and the striker at Bournemouth has scored 50% more goals.
And none of that includes destroying the value of numerous players he decides he doesn’t want or pissing money up the wall on contracts.
Marc, they’ll need CL income when folk wake up to how lousy the Tottenham area is for holding events. I bet they’re offering bargain deals for all thr recent stuff.
I’ve had moments of foootball related petty. I’m sure I’m not alone and sure we’ll all be fingers crossed Spuds v City.
I believe we get to celebrate St Totts if we win Sunday. Petty again but I missed not having it..
St Totts day isn’t petty its rivalry.
Wanting your own team to lose seriously hurting its progression to stop a bigger superior local team from winning something is petty and small minded.
Its why the Spud’s will soon be commemorating the death of the last Spud supporter who was alive when they last won the league.
Marc-the Spurs have won 4 of their last 5 home matches, but I still don’t like their chances against us unless MA brings the handbrakes on the road with him…they should be extra motivated for the derby, especially considering their present position with 2 games in hand on Villa…that said, their upcoming schedule is incredibly daunting, so if we can pot a couple early the weightiness of their pending schedule could set in and crush their spirits…I like Ange’s tactical mentality, but it does expose their backend at times, so if we can take our chances they’ll have to open up even more…if that happens, it could be another floodgates affair
TRVL
You want to win the league you’ve got to be able to beat the Spud’s at least once a season.
Marc-Agreed
Marc, these are old talking points. It’s 2024
Emi wasn’t going to stay, got good money for him, good for him, good for Villa. Don’t think he’s better than Raya or Ramsdale. I was relaxed about him going although seeing him the WC was comfortable, but that was three years ago.
Palmer’s price isn’t the issue. We could do that with any player. It’s a bit of a red herring. He was cheaper than lots of players we could mention. And some players are more expensive. Hojlund was the same price as Havertz. Jackson 35% cheaper.
£35m on Jesus is worth it for what he is. We wouldn’t get a top grade striker for that money, we didn’t. We got a very good forward with WC, CL and PL winning experience.
We’ll see if Timber is worth it next year so defer my opinion. Zinchenko was an upgrade last season so a good purchase. Value-wise, hard to say. But not trying to upgrade and continously improve is bad in any industry which makes getting Timber sensible to try and do that rather than letting Zinny’s price be an obstacle to progress.
We probably need to upgrade no9 but apart from the handful of nailed on 25+ strikers who are either unobtainable or North of £100m the rest is speculative with clubs asking mickey take money. £80m on that waster Ferguson? I’m okay missing that.
I’m less inclined to quibble over perceptions of “value”, also just opinions, unless it stops us getting what we need. We were able to put the big money on Rice when it was needed.. I’m okay that we couldn’t or wouldn’t stump up the best part of £200m on Caicedo and Mudryk last year given how our alternative purchases panned out in comparison.
I’m less comfortable with some of the silly contracts too. Pay the big boys what they’re worth but Cedric, Nketiah, Nelson are getting away with it. The players whose value we destroyed were taking the piss though. If they were any use they xouldn’t have been ‘destroyed’ and again, no point hanging on to wasters like Auba and Ozil when they were having a laugh. Take the hit and move on. None of us were advocating for them to stay. That was a few years ago however, we’ve all moved on from those deadbeats and their lack of anything meaningful shows there was no value to be had.
The only one that troubles me at the moment is ESR as I still believe, with very little recent tangible evidence, that he’s got something to offer. Callum Chambers, Holding, we were lucky to get anything. None of the deadbeat sales were Tets purchases. We can assess it once his buys are being flogged.
After all the years of Wenger trying to mislead us with talk of value or qualidee, and I get things were tight, dogmatically trying to work his old magic were harmful. We spent every window seeing cracks in the team and failing to see deals being done. The season when he only bought Cech was negligent. Now, like Brexit, we get deals done. Every season we called to cut deadwood and now we get to control who the deadwood is.
Perhaps I’m product over process but I can only assess the end results. What miffed me in 2021 is of less relevance when we’re doing ok
The issues our team aren’t related to transfers and squad management of 3 or 4 years ago or who we didn’t buy.
Tvrl
Nuance?
Trvl insight
“They’ll be motivated for a Derby, a couple.of early goals will settle it”
Call you captain obvious, calling my name because I hurt your feelings. Only to make yet another crappy comment.
Trvl
You tried to convince people you were a coach. I know a LARPer when I see one.
“Score a couple of early goals…” Michael Owen-esque in it’s inanity.
Aitcho-you can write until your blue in the face, but that won’t change the fact that you bring functionally nothing to the conversation…btw if you’re going to use quotation marks make sure you actually have the correct quote…I learned that from some dick-smack loser who tried to call me out for taking a few liberties with a Twain quote…how do like them nuanced apples, Mr. Short Pants?
It wasn’t a Twain quote Vera. If you’re going to get things wrong online have to resilience to not get over emotional when someone tells you you’re wrong. You do this every time without fail
People LARPing as football coaches still venting two years after being bumped from a blog should limit their time online. I thought I’d been a bit harsh on you before. I probably wasn’t harsh enough about your rambles and Mitty-isms
“Next up, Vera tells us how ‘goals win games’ and how the team with the best attack in the league had.crap striker”
Pure foolishness
whether you abscribe the quote to Twain, Lincoln or another individual doesn’t change the fact that you definitely “removed all doubt”…just a little head’s up, when you get that rattled, it might be wise to take a moment or two to self-reflect before going into full-bore keyboard warrior mode…simply put, what happened above was not your best work, which is rather disconcerting considering how low the bar was beforehand…at this point, I’m imagining me giving you a series of Benny Hill “Jackie smacks” then sending you on your way…good day to you kind sir