Topic: General Manchester City thread

[redgriffin73]

https://twitter.com/StatManGaz/status/1224244225874808832?s=19

[MJD-L4]

The problem with ADFC is the owner is so rich, he's never going to fuck off for financial reasons. The only way to get rid of them will be by bringing in certain rules around 3rd party ownership that severely restricts his spending to the point where it's not worth his time any more. FFP isn't good enough and needs to be scrapped or sorted out and done properly.

Hopefully he'll realise his sports washing exercise isn't working & leave because of that. I don't think anyone has a better opinion of Abu Dhabi now compared to 10 - 15 years ago. They've still got terrible human rights record and are institutionally homophobic. Football fans, if anything, have helped bring this further into public consciousness since his takeover. I certainly haven't heard anyone saying "But Abu Dhabi must be a great place! Look what they've done for Manchester City".

I'd like as much as anyone for him to fuck off and City to drop back to where they belong, leaving nothing but a 15 year period in the history books where they bought some titles. Unfortunately, I think they're here for the long haul. They won't be getting close to 100 points every season, especially when Pep runs off in the summer, but they'll be one of the challengers for a good while yet. We've just got to make sure we keep them firmly where they deserve to be. Behind us.

[Skeeve]

Is there a BlueMoon Meltdown Twitter account yet?

Anyone setting one up would quickly shut it down again, to tweet that much rubbish that often you need to be the president of the usa.

[MJD-L4]

Where's the assumption that he can't handle pressure come from?

Have you not seen any of this season?

It's different pressure leading from the front than it is chasing. There was very little pressure when we went 7 points clear last season. It was January and they still had to play us at home. Granted, they were excellent in those last 14 games, but imo they looked more likely to drop points during that run than we did. They were getting next to nothing out of that Leicester game until Kompany randomly twatted one into the top corner.

From what I've seen, he loses it when he has a challenger that genuinely looks like beating him. You could see the last couple of months of last season how much our pressure was taking it's toll on him. This season, he's completely lost his head. Pitchside meltdowns, sly digs in pressers, accusing Sadio of diving, bringing up 2 year old Scudamore quotes etc. He's like a petulant child in a mans body.

If he's not given £250m to spend in the summer, he'll cry off on a sabbatical until Juve or PSG beg him to join.

[reddebs]

https://twitter.com/StatManGaz/status/1224244225874808832?s=19

[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

[boots]

'

[slaphead]

I think Klopp is better but let's not pretend we would be getting anywhere near these numbers without Pep being at City.

eh ? Strange as it may sound, Klopp is not fueled by what Guardiola or City are doing, they are completely irrelevant when Klopp is pushing our lads for points you can be sure of that. Klopp may live in Guardiola's head, but our f**king fantastic manager doesn't let that shit consume him. 

[Dave D]

To win their last 13 matches of the season, conceding only four goals, with us breathing down their necks is something only a handful of managers could do.

He inherited a decent squad but a squad that had only managed 66 points the season before. I think Klopp is better but let's not pretend we would be getting anywhere near these numbers without Pep being at City.

You're absolutely right Gaz. We should thank Pep and hand the trophy over to city when we win it. After all, we're only where we are because of them. 

[wheresnemeth]

Our good mate Statman Gaz is on twitter, For a follow or a read through go to @StatManGaz 

I couldn't help laughing reading this bit below.

@StatManGaz
VAR debunker of LFC - MCFC fanatic - Blue Moon

[12C]

They really just don't see it do they?

And that 2nd quote, sounds exactly like a dictatorship.  The only way to deal with haters is to destroy them??

If only they could hear themselves, they've been totally brainwashed by their PR machine.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Debs, you are not far from the truth. I reckon there are a lot of paid bots on social media working for the AD regime generally, given their negative image around human rights. City is a part of that PR project which has cost them billions in an attempt to make the regime “more acceptable”. City being trounced is not how it was supposed to pan out. Pep was brought in at exceptional cost to do one thing - win Big Ears. They had bought the league already, along with domestic success.
Look how they responded to UEFA questioning their breaking  FFP.
The sheeple were told it was all about UEFA picking on poor Manchester City, so they booed the anthem. Gradually they have been manipulated into believing that the whole world is against poor little underdog Manchester City and by association, the owner’s regime.
They are desperate to have respect. But because most footie fans know they have financially cheated their way to success, they don’t have it. I would not be surprised if the AD PR people have now got hold of some pretty ridiculous conspiracy theories and have pushed them out to their fans, who are repeating and reinforcing them, helping to deflect.
Statman is Ot the brightest, but he is probably a Manchester City fan (or else a world class impersonation act). I bet the actual knobheads on social media include a fair few paid bots working to hide City’s misdeeds. The “hacking” saga is one #tag where I wouldn’t mind looking at the traffic patterns and where they originated if I could be bothered.
Remember ADFC is a £billion investment, the owner is not a philanthropist. Like all big corporations who get caught out doing dodgy stuff, or are undergoing a difficult trading period, he will use PR to deflect

[Dim Glas]

To win their last 13 matches of the season, conceding only four goals, with us breathing down their necks is something only a handful of managers could do.

He inherited a decent squad but a squad that had only managed 66 points the season before. I think Klopp is better but let's not pretend we would be getting anywhere near these numbers without Pep being at City.

Not even sure what that means?

You are of course right he is an excellent coach, but everyone knows that, they just like to give him shit, because he's a precious little crybaby at times. Plus he has always had a silver spoon in his gob, so that's something he has to deal with - the accusations, even if partly untrue, that he's only great because of untold riches or because he's had the best squads and worlds best player at his disposal.

 

[Alan_X]

to be fair though, it was when we broke the record fee for both GK and defender that we became really good.  So, in a way, it is about the money.

Then United broke the record again with Harry Maguire who is decent at best. And Kepa (record fee for a keeper) was dropped by Lampard at the weekend. It's about the right players not the money.

[Red Beret]

I'm not sure that's true, people might hate how they are funded, but other than that I don't think people care enough about city to hate them, even their own fans don't care enough to turn up after all.

Yeah, you're probably right.  Re reading the post I get the impression the lad wants City to be hated, because that would at least make them relevant.  For their conspiracy stories to hold any water they have to be hated.  And they're not.

I'm wary of becoming that which I hate most - a jeering, rubbing it in their faces, self entitled gobshite - but my word they make it difficult.  Wanting to brick up Blue Loon in fear of Liverpool fans giving them something back after the poop they've flung in our direction?  FFS lads, man up and take your licks.

I don't think their paymaster will be in any kind of hurry to sell up, but he may lose interest with his toy if they continue to (by their expectations) underachieve.  Abramovich dialled it back once Chelsea got the CL, and he's clearly not interested in trying to go toe to toe with a sovereign state.  The fear of returning to obscurity haunts Abu Dhabi FC fans.

[rebel23]

Then United broke the record again with Harry Maguire who is decent at best. And Kepa (record fee for a keeper) was dropped by Lampard at the weekend. It's about the right players not the money.

Good point.  It's not about just throwing money around.  Look at Guardiola's buys they've been very hit and miss and lets not forget wages; United are paying Sanchez £500k/week!

[Red Beret]

There's a youtuber, Dominic Rich.  Lives in the US I believe, and a self confessed City fan.  By his own admission, most of his videos have the word "Liverpool" in the title, and tbf to him he's been up front about why - because it gets him hits and makes him money. 

"Do you know how much money I'd be making if I talked only about City?" is his argument.  He claims it's about balance, but honestly if they team you are apparently so devout over can't even get you the hits on your channel, to the point you have to constantly refer to a "rival", then maybe you're supporting the wrong club?

[swoopy]

This.

Everything they have won in the record books should come with an asterisk beside it.

#TaintedTitles

[reddebs]

Debs, you are not far from the truth. I reckon there are a lot of paid bots on social media working for the AD regime generally, given their negative image around human rights. City is a part of that PR project which has cost them billions in an attempt to make the regime “more acceptable”. City being trounced is not how it was supposed to pan out. Pep was brought in at exceptional cost to do one thing - win Big Ears. They had bought the league already, along with domestic success.
Look how they responded to UEFA questioning their breaking  FFP.
The sheeple were told it was all about UEFA picking on poor Manchester City, so they booed the anthem. Gradually they have been manipulated into believing that the whole world is against poor little underdog Manchester City and by association, the owner’s regime.
They are desperate to have respect. But because most footie fans know they have financially cheated their way to success, they don’t have it. I would not be surprised if the AD PR people have now got hold of some pretty ridiculous conspiracy theories and have pushed them out to their fans, who are repeating and reinforcing them, helping to deflect.
Statman is Ot the brightest, but he is probably a Manchester City fan (or else a world class impersonation act). I bet the actual knobheads on social media include a fair few paid bots working to hide City’s misdeeds. The “hacking” saga is one #tag where I wouldn’t mind looking at the traffic patterns and where they originated if I could be bothered.
Remember ADFC is a £billion investment, the owner is not a philanthropist. Like all big corporations who get caught out doing dodgy stuff, or are undergoing a difficult trading period, he will use PR to deflect

Absolutely wouldn't surprise me at all.  We all know how easy it is to manipulate people's views online or how quick "rumours" become reality if it's repeated often and consistently enough.

If I knew how to I'd love to follow that traffic and find it's source.

[Romford_Red]

FFP isn't good enough and needs to be scrapped or sorted out and done properly.

The only way that football can ever regain its soul is for FIFA to step in and introduce a salary cap that is followed WORLDWIDE.
Without that, restraints on spending are always going to be found wanting.

[Dim Glas]

Guardiola won the league back-to-back with 100 and 98 points. That's why we're having to hit the numbers we are this season. There is no longer room for error in this league and he has played a massive role in that, don't see any harm in stating facts.

yeah good for him. All it did was make the challenge harder. Your comment was kinda pointless. Sorry.

[Samie]

Hello Statman Gaz. 

[slaphead]

Guardiola won the league back-to-back with 100 and 98 points. That's why we're having to hit the numbers we are this season. There is no longer room for error in this league and he has played a massive role in that, don't see any harm in stating facts.

Sorry pal but you're completely missing the point of why we are as good as we are. What City have done has absolutely nothing to do with why we are so good. We're winning every game because Klopp demands the best and has set an environment to deliver it. It's about winning the next game, always, no exceptions. It has never  been and never will be about looking across to Manchester and trying to go one better than them. We're doing what we're doing mainly because of one rather brilliant manager, and it aint the balded one.

[boots]

We climbed the hill our own way.

[Phil M]

Pep did it the hard way remember...

https://www.sportbible.com/football/top-10s-citys-net-spend-in-the-last-10-years-is-the-highest-in-the-world-20190713

[ToneLa]

In their VAR thread they're actually using the same link I have,, except I defend our non-existent VAR record as being like other teams', they're cherrypicking but badly

They have the same "goals against" as us for example. Man, they really are blinkered...

[Dim Glas]

This is genuinely one of the weirdest examples of misplaced energy I've come across. Pathetic. Enjoy the Reds winning the title and stop getting upset about a differing opinion. Nice one.

Behave!

You are the one making really peculiar comments, I'm just replying 

[slaphead]

Not disputing any of this, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you're missing my point.

We finished 2nd last season with 97 points. Don't try and tell me City finish above us last season with any other manager (besides possibly Klopp).

Sorry I'm a little lost here. It sounds like you're not disputing my point....but you kind of are ?
Listen, opinions are opinions, would be pretty boring if we all had the same , but are you saying Guaradiola is a big factor as to why we are so good ?  Or am I mis-reading it ?

[RedForeverTT]

Guardiola won the league back-to-back with 100 and 98 points. That's why we're having to hit the numbers we are this season. There is no longer room for error in this league and he has played a massive role in that, don't see any harm in stating facts.

I thought our chase last season broke City. Mentally they were exhausted from our relentless pursuit. Coupled with our success at Champions League that got under their skin, they became their own worst enemy.

City met with their first hurdle early at Spurs in the season and they couldn't recover from it as soon as we were in front. Their group then decided to down tools after losing to Wolves. It wasn't any consipiracy, their players were mentally incapable of competing with us.

[Romford_Red]

I reckon there are a lot of paid bots on social media...

WTF would you pay a bot?

[ScottScott]

The 100 point season was a great achievement, I won't take it away from them. Guardiola got almost perfection from them that season and he should have as well with the money spent and the players they had to choose from. They raised the bar but that isn't why we're so good now

Klopp has us playing the way he wants us to play. He has signed the players that make us this great and moulded those already here to work in the system. Last season we pushed them to another massive season, not the other way around

[rob1966]

Not really. City have a soveriegn wealth fund behind them and have not delivered. We spent what we earnt from Phil and re-invested. How much was Bobby? 25M? Bargain, Mo was 30M, Sadio similar. Robbo was a fucking steal and Trenty is increasing in value faster than he ages. No, its about good management, inspirational leadership, pragmatic coaching and terrific football. Not saying money doesnt help, it does, but weve done what we have done on merit.

Without the football side, we wouldn't have attracted VVD and Allisson anyway. Virgil made it clear it was us or no-one and Becker would have had his pick of the top clubs in Europe, but chose to play for the team who gave him a bad back.

[Red Beret]

It's pretty obvious that Pep and City raised the bar for the title to a crazy level.  We pushed them right to the wire last year and in overcoming our challenge City's mentality broke.

This season we have become the bar. At first it was because we expected to face last season's City again, therefore we could afford next to no error.  Now, I think, we are playing against ourselves, looking to become the best we can possibly be.

All these arguments as to why we are where we are boils down to our desire to learn from our shortcomings and not be crushed by them. City have simply collapsed under the weight of their own egos and sense of entitlement.

[MolbyLovesGravlax]

WTF would you pay a bot?

They unionized, you have to, they are using the funds to build Skynet...

[Mighty Zeus]

All these arguments as to why we are where we are boils down to our desire to learn from our shortcomings and not be crushed by them. City have simply collapsed under the weight of their own egos and sense of entitlement.

They’re a completely fantastic football side. A total points machine.

But you go to Manchester City for two reasons:

The squad is world class, so you have a good chance of winning a lot
They can pay you more than any other football team on the planet.

And that’s it. You do not sign for Manchester City for the prestige of playing for that club. You don’t go to be welcomed to the stadium by Curly Watts on CL nights. You go for the cash and silverware. That isn’t open for debate.

Guardiola is without any question one of the world’s great managers.*

But they’ve collapsed this season because he hasn’t been able to build a team culture that transcends the mercenary reasons that the players went there for.




*And an utter penis.

[Ghost Town]

I wish that I had articulated myself half as well as you have here.

But it's still not true though, or at least, not proven. Both of you seem to be implying that it was City getting 100 and 98 points that has consequently led us to reach 97 and potentially 100+ points. You are essentially disregarding the possibility that Klopp's coaching, his demand for excellence, the players he has bought and the continuing development he believes in, would not, alone, have led us to reach those totals.

That's just not proven in any way; it's just a theory, and largely unfalsifiable now. Personally I'd err on the side of believing that this manager and these players would have reached those heights anyway, regardless of any other club. And that they will continue to develop and improve and achieve greater and greater things due to the qualities we possess, not the qualities some other team possesses.

Incidentally, I don't think these last two seasons were one-offs, either. I don't subscribe to the idea that we'll never see the likes of this season again. On the contrary, if Guardiola fucks off, a broken man, I'm struggling to see whom City could get who could match Klopp and the particle accelerator boys. We may not have the same configuration of points in future seasons, but I can see doubles, trebles and more, or a record number of games won by record margins and so on. This lot will always dazzle us in some way. Don't expect any average seasons any longer, while Klopp is here.

[paulrazor]

https://twitter.com/StatManGaz/status/1224244225874808832?s=19

smell a fake. Only started tweeting yesterday.

[UntouchableLuis]

City have deserved everything that's come their way this season. No doubt they have played brilliant football over the years but you never felt they were a side that played the spirit of the game in the right way.

I felt the same about that Barca team everyone says is the best ever. Yes they played absolutely mind blowing football but how many times were the likes of Xavi, Pique, Busquets etc in the Ref's faces? Diving etc? The games with Madrid were explosive but more often than not it descended into an embarrassing farce of cheating, loathsome behaviour.

The one constant there? Pep. Yes he's a great manager but Klopp is better. Klopp built his Dortmund and Liverpool teams from the ground up and has always been respectful for the most part. How many red cards do we get under Klopp? When do our players ever surround and intimidate the ref when a decision goes against us?

The thing that summed everything up was when City sang a song about us after winning the title last season. The players for fucks sake. Not the fans.

[oxenstierna]

Guardiola won the league back-to-back with 100 and 98 points. That's why we're having to hit the numbers we are this season. There is no longer room for error in this league and he has played a massive role in that, don't see any harm in stating facts.

I can see the point. Its a bit like the Cold War with two superpowers pushing each other, especially last season where every single point mattered and we have just kept on this season

[Ghost Town]

Agree with this.

In 'normal life', I think you'd struggle to come across many Liverpool fan who hate City with the passion you read online. Seems to be this weird infatuation with each other from certain sections of both clubs fanbase. I think it's mainly come from City but found the suggestion from some Liverpool fans that winning the league at the Etihad would be the ideal situation a bit weird. Winning it at home would be the best. Winning it at Goodison would be amazing too. Winning it by beating City wouldn't be near the top of my ideal scenarios. Mainly because I'm personally not bothered by them or Pep

As one of the posters who openly stated my 'wish list' for where to win the title, I'll take this.

I said I wanted us to win it at Anfield first and foremost; but if that was not possible then at Goodison; and if that is not possible then at the Empty. And if not then at any other ground while we are playing. And only if all those fail, then, and only then, to win it in between games.

The reason I cited the Empty third has nothing to with any obsession with City; it barely has anything to do with City at all. It is just happenstance that they happen to be our closest challengers and that they happen to be the team that pipped us to the title last year. Those are the two reasons why I'd like to win it there if Anfield and Goodison cannot be. I'd have put Old Trafford third if it were possible, for historic rivalry reasons. And if it proves to be Leicester who is closest behind us then I'll opt for the KP instead, or if Norwich or Burnley had pipped us to the title last season I'd have put their grounds.

I can't speak for any other Liverpool fans, but for me City are still a nothing team; I have no interest in them nor any feeling of rivalry, except that they happen to be vying with us for the same goals, temporarily. If that continues for a long time then a genuine feeling of rivalry may develop, but I doubt it could ever eclipse Everton or Utd.

[mikey_LFC]

Crazy how our response to their 100 point season was to say fair play, we’ve got a new mark to aim for and actually aimed for it, whereas they look at ours and seem to just think we’ll drop off so they won’t need to match our level to beat us.

[JC the Messiah]

Every team aims for 114 points at the start of the season. Klopp and Liverpool aren't aiming for more points because of City.

One game at a time, as Klopp says.