What was sad this weekend was that we were not even shocked by the 6-0 humiliation of Watford. An FA cup final reduced to a training (feeding) session. Like watching these Planet episodes in which the predator just attacks and devours its prey. We watch in awe but accept it as the natural order. The early post from astro has a point Those teams with similar strength, power and resources should come together to avoid these kind of damp squibs. If FFP cannot do its job then I can't see any alternative. Football without competitiveness is not football. I doubt many people would enjoy watching City destroying team after team with certainty every week.
Do you think Watford would have made the final if managers like Klopp and Poch had taken the FA Cup seriously instead of chasing CL qualification and throwing domestic cup games? You can't complain about the gap between City and Watford in the final if other competitors thought it was somehow beneath them.
Playing devil's advocate... do you think Klopp or Poch would gave thrown that competition if they had the resources and depth Man City have? They're second team would still get top four, who else's second team would even make top ten?
That may be so but my point is that the FA Cup final is just an illustration of the gap between the 1st and a mid table side No competitiveness whatsoever. It's like a premiership side playing a non league side. Result known in advance.
Dont think it’s that it’s beneath them, just that they don’t have the squad to compete in all 4 comps. Problem with Fa Cup is it starts around the time the CL kicks back up again so those teams are going to prioritise that. City can rotate their squad because depth is huge in comparison. That and they did get luck of the draw in those comps.
Recent winners have been Arsenal, United and Chelsea, did they have the same resources as City? (those 4 teams have won 10 out of the last 11 finals between them) Chelsea got to the LC final this season, the last 6 finals have been won by City, United and Chelsea. Teams that play in the cups have a chance of winning them, teams that chase the glory of top 4 money have no chance.
Liverpool would've smashed them 6-0 as well tbf. I've just read down to your next post and agree, it is about the gap between top and mid-table. City's run to the Final was a joke btw. Ignoring City for a sec, I'm still undecided if a team can compete for title and FA Cup and CL. But I will say this, if City hadn't been knocked out by Spurs in the CL I really doubt they would've won the league.
How did those teams do in others competitions in the same season? History tells us that teams prioritise competitions. Man City don't have to (although you could argue that they do as they still make changes) I'm not on either side here. I don't like that Man City spend as much as they do, just as I didn't like Chelsea doing it. Never had a issue with Man Utd spending a lot because it was self generated.
Pretty sure United, City and Chelsea won other trophies too including the EL and PL (Arsenal didn't but still made the Holy Grail of top 4)
But were they going for four trophies? IMO, Man City getting the treble is more to do with luck in the draws than anything else. They were eliminated by a depleted Spurs side in the CL. I think a lot of this talk of them breaking the FFP rules etc is sour grapes. I'm not saying it wasn't questioned before, it was, just not as much as now. Maybe it's because there is nothing else to talk about atm
And they were running on fumes for the last 4 games of the PL. IF they had beaten Spurs then I really don't think one of those 1-0's they managed to get through while playing CL semi-finals would've happened.
They had a lot of luck in the cups because most of the genuine opposition kicked them into touch. I have no problem with city spending, they do it right and are a lot like Liverpool in that way. They are not Madrid or PSG who buy the next or present big name, they buy players that will fit the team. Was you crying out for Klopp to buy Zinchenko, did you really want Bernado Silva but couldn't afford him. Remember how everyone laughed at the prices they paid for Stones, Sterling and Walker, Jesus was chased by every team in the world and who wouldn't want Otamendi, when people thought of keepers the first name on everyone's lips was Ederson Yes they have a great team and strong squad but have built it up over quite a few years by getting the right players with the right mentality, they have had failures like most teams but have made pretty quick decisions and cut their losses.
They do spend well but they also add several in each window, all for big money. Not all work out, how much have they spent trying to rectify to FB and CB positions? PS... I'd never heard of Ederson when they signed him. He'd only had one professional season!
they’re nothing like Liverpool. Liverpool had a year of big signings, fuelled by the sale of Coutinho. Prior to that, they’d had a couple of years of virtually no spend. klopp’s net spend in his tenure is under £100m. Pep’s is approaching £500m. Other than that they both buy good players, there is little comparison.......and iff you can get away with it, why not? As for taking the cups seriously. Pep changes as many players in their matches against relative minnows as we did against our opposition - If I recall, they could rotate 5 or so players in the FA cup semi final because they had Spurs in the CL a few days later. The difference is that they win because they have better squad depth. They’ve done this all season. Their squad depth is immense because of their financial doping. Their second 11 is very good indeed. Better than our B team and better than Utd’s A team. You cannot divorce the two.
This The impact on the game of their policy of money no object has been to inflate both fees and wages. Of course we could point to the sky and BT fees as a key contributor but irrespective of that their policy has led to madness in the market place. To get a player coveted by City is almost impossible. How do you compete with a rival whose funds are limitless? Not by budget loans or profit like any other business. FFP has to be applied. If not football in this country will be on the slide. How far are we really from the French league and PSG?
Miles off france mate. I've pointed this out already. Liverpool in the 1980s Utd in the 1990s (and half the 2000s) Cheslea in mid 2000s onwards (most successful club in last years) Teams dominate. the fact is round europes we are seeing far more dominance. 7 years of juve titles in a row in italy 6 i think bayern titles in a row how many barca? 4 of last 5 this is not a uniquely english issue nor is it a historical anomaly. I can remember people saying the same about utds PLC and their giant stadium. I remember the same being said of chesleas oil robber baron. however on the other hand the fact is no agent has stimulated a player move away from, no spanish giants come in for their players... ask yourselves why. I think if people could follow the money (would require arresting the super agents and making them turn for them to cough up the info) I believe city are paying off a lot of people directly from UAE. Every time we get a decent player they are immediately on the radar. our wages are not that much lower than city's... theres a reason.