Manchester City Thread

City will appeal before TAS and will not be punished because City argue that UEFA is playing a double role in this case (persuer and Judge).
On the base of that TAS should decide that the ban is not valid.

Which is a big shame.

City have got an unfair financial advantage. But can you blame City? To be honest, no.
The G14 clubs have created a glass ceiling that can only be broken by a massive (and unfair) imput of (dodgy) money. And the beautiful thing (i'm being sarcastic) is that once they break the glass ceiling, the are embraced by the other G14 clubs and the glass ceiling closes again.

Why is Financial Fairplay necessary?

Well why is football the most popular sport in the world? First of all football is more a game than a sport. In (athletic) sports like track and field or cyclism, the best contedner nearly Always wins. An event like the Tour de France is fantastic, but in the end Sky wins...that is boring.

Football is the one game where Spurs can be totally outplayed by City and still win the match. And the same Spurs team can loose against a League 2 club in the Carabao Cup. People love upsets like this and that is what makes football the most popular game in the world.

Now there is a kartel (the G14) which has enough of that unpredictabiity and whic is organising the game in a way that unpredictable results are less and less probable, because they don't want to do a Leeds (most of these clubs are huge gambles anyway).

If City effectively will be banned, this will lead to a superleague that is dreaded by most people. Am i against a superleague? I'm afraid that this is irrelevant. Sooner or later there will come a superleague anyway.

And if there is one, well i want an NBA style league with franchises all over Europe (and only one franchise in London and Manchester for example), with a salary cap and with a draft where the worst team gets the first pick so that the worst team now has every chance to be the best in the future. I don't want to see 8 years in a row the sam champion (not even if it's my favourite team). But will we get a superleague like that? I doubt it.

Why am i for real Financial Fairplay (because current financial fairplay is not real financial fairplay).
Well i'm a fan of KRC Genk, the worst team in the history of the Champions League. Every time they participate they are demolished and are Europe's laughing stock. Pundits laugh with them and if Liverpool wins by only one goal they have played a bad match. Every time Genk plays in the CL, they have by far the youngest team. They lost 7-0 in Valencia with a team with Courtois, Coulibaly and KDB.

If there would be total financial fiarplay, Genk could field the following team: Courtois- Castaigne- Coulibaly-Kabasele- Maehle - Ndidi-Milenkovic-Savic- De Bruyne- Carrasco-Origi-Benteke

Subs: Casteels - Praet - Defour - Berge - Bailey - Colley - Samatta- Malinovsky - Trossard.

Maehle is the only player who still plays for Genk and he will leave in the summer.

Imagine if Genk could have kept all these players. They would not be Europe's laughing stock.

In the last 20 years they were 4 times champions as outsiders in Belgium, but every season after that was a flop. From the team that became champions last season, they only have the GK (injured all season) and the defense. One midfielder is out for the rest of the season (that is bad luck). One is playing in the USA, Berge plays for Sheffield, Malinovsky for Atalanta, Trossard for Brighton, Samatta for Aston Villa. Japanese winger Junya Ito its the only player outside defense who is still with the club (and he is very good, so he will go sooner or later too).

On top of that Genk was mocked by the Belgian press after every singl CL match...

Genk (and Gent) are the only club(s) that aren't possessed by sugar daddies or by dodgy foreign invest companies, both are community clubs...a well led club with great youth working and fantastic scouts, yet the laughing stock of the CL.

That is why real financial fairplay is necessary, but Belgium is a litle television market and this will never happen. My daughter is a big Eden Hazard fan, yet she will never see him play in our competition. Can you imagine Sterling going to Russia when he's 14 year old and never see him play for an English club? That's how people in Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Switserland, Scotland and Austria feel. Small television markets.

Rant over and i'm sorry.
 
Oh and one more thing. What if the sugar daddy leaves? Look at AC Milan. Mediocrity.
 
Stan said:
Oh and one more thing. What if the sugar daddy leaves? Look at AC Milan. Mediocrity.
Click to expand...
Wgy are you so good towards AC Milan?
As an AC Milan fan, I'd say we're laughable at the moment, not even mediocre.

By the way, you talked about Malinovsky earlier... Very very good player, playing for a team which never ceases to surprise.
 
Malinosky is perhaps the best player at set pieces (free kicks and conrners) i've ever seen. But if he is low on confidence he can be very bad...even his set pieces are bad then.
 
Chris Davies said:
Who do you support again? :LOL:
Click to expand...

Nah mate, it's not even about that.
I said it many times, I'm a sucker for Pep. So if he left ManCity today because of all this and moved to, say, Inter, I'd start watching Inter a lot more often and become sort of a supporter. But that doesn't mean I would instantly start believing in all this Financial Fair-Play shit and all of the shady business that are happening behind the curtain. It seems to be a tangled-web far more complex than the naif plot we are presented at first.


Untitled.jpg


Untitled2.jpg


So please guys, don't tell me it's all about the love for the sport and to preserve whatever moral value you think has been lost. It is about what it's always been about: Money.
 
Of course it's about money Chuny, but FFP (with al it's obvious shortcomings) is trying to counter that a tiny litle bit.
For the good of the game of football, Manchester City should be punished because they cheated against FFP.

And about Pep, he is among the biggest hypocrites in football. He might well be a genius (but with billionaire clubs), but as a human being he is as rotten as football is.
He supports the Catalan case against Spain but menwhile he is paid by an autocratic regime that tortures opponents and opposition. In Spoain he calls for more justice and democracy while he refuses to admit that the big sponsor of his club is even less democratic and is country where justice only prevails for the ultra rich.

He should have the decency to shut up about Catalunya and Spain (and i have some degree of sympathy with Catalunya).

And the day that Pep can lead a club like Ajax, Malmö or Club Brugge to a CL, i will consider him a genius. I'm not a big fan of Mourinho, i don't like his football, be he at least won the CL with Porto.

I'm sorry to rain on your parade, please don't take this personal.
 
Stan said:
Of course it's about money Chuny, but FFP (with al it's obvious shortcomings) is trying to counter that a tiny litle bit.
For the good of the game of football, Manchester City should be punished because they cheated against FFP.

And about Pep, he is among the biggest hypocrites in football. He might well be a genius (but with billionaire clubs), but as a human being he is as rotten as football is.
He supports the Catalan case against Spain but menwhile he is paid by an autocratic regime that tortures opponents and opposition. In Spoain he calls for more justice and democracy while he refuses to admit that the big sponsor of his club is even less democratic and is country where justice only prevails for the ultra rich.

He should have the decency to shut up about Catalunya and Spain (and i have some degree of sympathy with Catalunya).

And the day that Pep can lead a club like Ajax, Malmö or Club Brugge to a CL, i will consider him a genius. I'm not a big fan of Mourinho, i don't like his football, be he at least won the CL with Porto.

I'm sorry to rain on your parade, please don't take this personal.
Click to expand...

I don't take it personal at all, mate. But I do think you're mixing it all up.
I'm simply not putting Pep up on the pedestal of human morality. I love Pep's football mind. I like to hear him talk about football, tactics, etc. And I do think he's 'different'. Klopp is amazing and I enjoy hearing him talk about football as well, but Pep has that extra charm.
Managing clubs is a job. I don't know why you're mixing it all up. It's like, when Mourinho said he'd NEVER coach Tottenham because of his love for Chelsea, then BAM! a couple of years later, he's at Tottenham.

They are workers. They do this for his love/passion for football but also for money.

Pep can very well support the Catalunya revolution, and at the same time be managing a club owned by rich men. Guardiola isn't their lawyer. He's an employee.

Still, Pep is not the man I will frame in a photo and hang it up on the hallway, and tell my kids "this guy is God". But as coach, he just made me change my mind about football. He showed how this sport is supposed to be played. I wasn't even born when Cruyff first invented this style, but I've seen a lot of documentaries and stuff and I definitely think Pep took it to the next level (of course, he had the best players to do it too). But nevertheless, the fact remains, whether he wins a lot of trophies or not, I saw the same style replicated in Bayern Munich and ManCity (2nd season was amazing!).
 
Chuny, i think you are right.
I am mixing it up. My generation always does, we (and i certainly) are too moralistic.
I can see your point about Pep as a visionary coach/Manager.

Now about City and the punishment they got.
They did not get that because they have sinned against FFP. They got the ban and the fine because they were decitfull.

You can get a speed ticket, that is a very minor offense.
But if you declare that it wasn't you that was driving the car, but a friend and you are proven wroĂ ng, it becomes a serious ofense.

That is what happened here.
 
I'd love to see as an example Klopp and Guardiola swap jobs with Bournemouth and Norwich, work with the current squads and see how the season pans out for the four managers. Are they fantastic managers and tacticians without the top players to carry their ideas out? They may well be and it would be fascinating to see how they would do and what they could do with those teams as it also would be to see how the other two managers got on at Man City and Liverpool.

We always talk about the big club managers as the best. But what is the best - having the best players and winning titles with them, or a manager without that and financial constraints who nonetheless does a brilliant job? @Chris Davies may know this better, living up that way, but there can't be many managers who have done a better job in recent seasons than John Coleman at Accrington Stanley. To take that team into League one and hold their own on the budget and crowds they get is nothing short of amazing. I think I saw that their entire squads weekly wage when they went up from League 2 was something like ÂŁ17k a week. About a days wage for a Premier player!
 
Stan said:
Chuny, i think you are right.
I am mixing it up. My generation always does, we (and i certainly) are too moralistic.
I can see your point about Pep as a visionary coach/Manager.

Now about City and the punishment they got.
They did not get that because they have sinned against FFP. They got the ban and the fine because they were decitfull.

You can get a speed ticket, that is a very minor offense.
But if you declare that it wasn't you that was driving the car, but a friend and you are proven wroĂ ng, it becomes a serious ofense.

That is what happened here.
Click to expand...

The owner of the club seems pretty confident this will go away though

 
Ok i get the ffp now but its kinda weird its supposed to protect the traditional big clubs so the PSG, City, Chelsea teams dont overcome them quickly. But its also just for transfers and salaries....which is just weird and i dont know why its a problem, if Haaland sell for 100 million that also helps Leipzig having better financial position? This how just the market works in reality too. I dont get whats the problem and why traditional clubs have to be protected to the teeth. Also meaning you have such money you can buy anyone it doesnt guarantee you medals, its not a motorsport. Not to mention it also restricts small clubs to become bigger in a few years even without a huge investor.
 
As far as I know, FFP's purpose is to protect the clubs by not letting them spend lots of money that could cause an hypothetical bankrupt, it wasn't made to stop investors putting money.
 
Gabe, that is a pretty naĂŻve post. Make a ranking with the salaries in a league and look at the the table at the end of the season and these rankings will be almost identical most seasons. Yes, you can buy success. Chelsea, PSG and City are prime examples.

But i also agree with your post in a way. Why protect the so called traditional big clubs. In fact they are not entirely the traditional big clubs. They were the clubs that were very good when big money came into football. Lyon was very good at the time, they are not a traditional club (St-Etienne is). Benfica is a bigger club than Porto. And Ajax is perhaps the biggest club of them all, yet they missed the boat because the Netherlands are a small market.

Some of these clubs also became big or stayed big by blatant cheating (Real Madrid, Juventus).

THe G14 (i think they are 24 now) are a kartel, nothing less... so what you are saying: this is how the market works, isn't entirely correct. This is a 'free' market where the rich are protected...

And about City, they bloody well knew the rules, they don't have to complain...
 
ryudek said:
I feel like I'm gonna throw up... c'mon City!
Click to expand...

Definitely.
I feel Guardiola's out of touch. Has been for a while.
Most of City's signings in the past few years have been really shit.

Mendy, Laport, Mahrez, Rodri and Cancelo.

I've been a huge fan of Guardiola since Day 1 at Barcelona.
And one thing that always impressed me is how he was able to read the game right there from the spot. He'd always know what player to substitute and who to bring in. He usually never missed the starting 11. You or me would probably be thinking the same thing, comfortably from our couch, which is very different. And it is very rare to see a couch that can, sort of, abstract themselves from all the tension and see the match and what needs to be done.

But nowadays... he's making all the wrong decisions, in my humble, inexpert, opinion.
Playing Bernardo Silva as a play maker, ON THE LEFT SIDE of the pitch is something I'd probably do when playing PES or FIFA. But in real life?...

Sterling has always been a lot better when playing as a right winger.

Mahrez can't play in important games. He only plays for himself, he's selfish, and the first thought on his mind is NEVER to pass the ball. Plus I think he's highly ineffective. He probably thinks he's as good as Messi, but he sucks. I would sell him for $1 as soon as possible.

Rodri... is useless. Fernandinho has always been a lot better in that position. Rodri doesn't offer anything different than what City already had. In fact, he does nothing out of the ordinary (in a bad way). He doesn't have top quality passing skills. Nor does he have an impressive vision or read of the play. He certainly can't get past a rival. He's just useless. He's there but it's like he's not. So Guardiola needs to play Gundogan right next to Rodri, because Rodri would drown by himself. So City's wasting ONE player just to help another one. Crazy.

Mendy. Oh Mendy... He plays with a bucket on his head. He's constantly tripping over WHEN THERE'S NO ONE AROUND HIM. He's highly inaccurate in all circumstances of the game.

Laporte. Injury after injury. Not to mention that he ruined last season's UCL against Tottenham with TWO lethal mistakes, worthy of a man who's never played football at that level. Don't remember? Here!



So... it's no wonder that City went from being the best team in the world (I'm talking about HOW the played this sport) to being an inconsistency fest. It's a roller coaster. Full of players you can't rely on. ALL OF THEM PLAYING TOGETHER. Unbelievable.

I wonder what the 2011 Guardiola would say if he saw 2020 Guardiola lining up these players all together?.
 
Chuny said:
Definitely.
I feel Guardiola's out of touch. Has been for a while.
Most of City's signings in the past few years have been really shit.

Mendy, Laport, Mahrez, Rodri and Cancelo.

I've been a huge fan of Guardiola since Day 1 at Barcelona.
And one thing that always impressed me is how he was able to read the game right there from the spot. He'd always know what player to substitute and who to bring in. He usually never missed the starting 11. You or me would probably be thinking the same thing, comfortably from our couch, which is very different. And it is very rare to see a couch that can, sort of, abstract themselves from all the tension and see the match and what needs to be done.

But nowadays... he's making all the wrong decisions, in my humble, inexpert, opinion.
Playing Bernardo Silva as a play maker, ON THE LEFT SIDE of the pitch is something I'd probably do when playing PES or FIFA. But in real life?...

Sterling has always been a lot better when playing as a right winger.

Mahrez can't play in important games. He only plays for himself, he's selfish, and the first thought on his mind is NEVER to pass the ball. Plus I think he's highly ineffective. He probably thinks he's as good as Messi, but he sucks. I would sell him for $1 as soon as possible.

Rodri... is useless. Fernandinho has always been a lot better in that position. Rodri doesn't offer anything different than what City already had. In fact, he does nothing out of the ordinary (in a bad way). He doesn't have top quality passing skills. Nor does he have an impressive vision or read of the play. He certainly can't get past a rival. He's just useless. He's there but it's like he's not. So Guardiola needs to play Gundogan right next to Rodri, because Rodri would drown by himself. So City's wasting ONE player just to help another one. Crazy.

Mendy. Oh Mendy... He plays with a bucket on his head. He's constantly tripping over WHEN THERE'S NO ONE AROUND HIM. He's highly inaccurate in all circumstances of the game.

Laporte. Injury after injury. Not to mention that he ruined last season's UCL against Tottenham with TWO lethal mistakes, worthy of a man who's never played football at that level. Don't remember? Here!



So... it's no wonder that City went from being the best team in the world (I'm talking about HOW the played this sport) to being an inconsistency fest. It's a roller coaster. Full of players you can't rely on. ALL OF THEM PLAYING TOGETHER. Unbelievable.

I wonder what the 2011 Guardiola would say if he saw 2020 Guardiola lining up these players all together?.
Click to expand...

Well, he proved you wrong (although I also found weird the lineup before the game)
I think saying he's 'out of touch' when this is the first season there's a serious rival (without counting the first season, where he had the likes of Caballero and Sagna on the lineup haha) is not a correct statement. I do believe he hasn't made the best signings, but some examples there are too underrated: Laporte, for me, is the second/third best central defender of the league, and while he does have injury problems, I trust him to be the most important player on the defence for City for the next 8 years. Also, while I do agree that Mahrez is a selfish player, I can't say he is not a player of big games yet, since we haven't seen him playing, for example, in a UCL semifinal. He is a great player and I trust on what he can bring on important matches. I haven't liked how Sterling plays in big games, always letting the pressure get to him. Rodri has been, for now, a bit a of a disappointment, since we expected him to be Fernandinho right from the start. I do believe he can get better tho, and we can't trust Fernandinho to be here forever sadly. Mendy is the name I agree with you the most: awful first touch, not that good dribbling, always 'confused' with the ball in his feet, looking to pass and run or run to the end of the other side to center the ball. And Cancelo, what can I say: he is a good player, but certainly wasn't the best signing. Before buying him we should've thought of a replacement for Kompany (not at the same level, but to replace the space he left). Bernardo on the left I also agree: I don't understand it. I would rather have him as an attacking mid or a right winger.

Guardiola might be overthinking how to make the team better, that's probably why he's testing positions: but why change Bernardo's position when he was absolutely brilliant last season on the other side? That's my opinion.
 
Another dreaful performance by Zinchenko, Rodri and later on Mahrez. Like I said last week, those players should have never come to Man City.
Also, Sterling playing on the left side is a waste, Otamendi playing as a LCB when clearly that side doesn't help his right footed profile, Bernardo Silva has been performing poorly lately.

KDB is the soul of this team. Without him, City is nothing.

I repeat: Pep is confused.
 
Chuny said:
Another dreaful performance by Zinchenko, Rodri and later on Mahrez. Like I said last week, those players should have never come to Man City.
Also, Sterling playing on the left side is a waste, Otamendi playing as a LCB when clearly that side doesn't help his right footed profile, Bernardo Silva has been performing poorly lately.

KDB is the soul of this team. Without him, City is nothing.

I repeat: Pep is confused.
Click to expand...
Agree with everything. The only thing that brightened me up just a bit was Foden, who wasn't great but wasn't really poor either.
KDB and AgĂĽero (not at the same level but with him on the pitch is different), I would say.
 
If KDB wants to win big things, he should leave City.
This may seem as ik i don't like City, but that is not true. I rather like them. But i liked them more under Mancini and under Pellegrini.
Guardiola is often too clever for his own good.
You can't deny that City were outstanding in the league last season, but somehow i think this team could get much better.
Defensively they are a shambles, imo Ederson is the most overrated GK in the history of the game after our Pfaff (Pfaff was considered the best GK in the world in the late '80's, he wasn't even the best Belgian GK, that was Preudhomme). Walker is the same Walker as with Spurs, offensively he's a big asset but defensively he is prone to errors. Mendy is not the same Mendy he was at Monaco (due to injuries, that is bad luck). Stones, Ottamendi, Laporte: not good enough. They miss a real personality like Kompany who was still important in big matches and at big moments.

Bernardo Silva was brilliant last year, but he is less ezffective this year. Is it because he is overshadowed by KDB? IRodri is not good enough, but i also considered Fernandinho as subpar (too much stupid fouls and unnecessary cards).
 
I always thought Barcelona would try to get De Bruyne a few years ago. He would have been the perfect replacement for Iniesta.
It'd be time to let Busquets sit it out and let De Jong play in his original position. So De Bruyne would fit right in, with Arthur.

But aside from that, Guardiola seems to be confused. A few years ago, Mahrez and Rodri would have never even walk by near him. And now he relies on them like they were special players.

I remember that Alexis Sanchez used to be a self-centred player, always thinking about his own play. His own goal. When he went to Barcelona, Pep brainwashed him. He started to be a team player. He'd work for the team. He'd let Messi score even if he took take the shot himself. So I thought he was going to do the same with Mahrez, but no.... he's still the same selfish **** he used to be.

He either makes some drastic decisions in the near future, and let 3 or 4 players go, or I can't see City going back to what they were last season.
 
P1_AR said:
Pep still overthinking matches that are in-hand .. i won't be surprised if he got sacked if he will continue this disastrous form .
Click to expand...

Be careful what You wish for, it could go from bad to worse.

Not a lot wrong, Sterling & De Bruyne were immense. First 20 minutes You nearly crushed us.

Bielsa not an option though. :D
 
superleeds1 said:
Be careful what You wish for, it could go from bad to worse.

Not a lot wrong, Sterling & De Bruyne were immense. First 20 minutes You nearly crushed us.

Bielsa not an option though. :D
Click to expand...

Bielsa is the same as pep so that won't change anything haha .. we have a lot of amazing players but with pep's tactics it make them afraid of breaking his rules .. yesterday we had a lot of chances to shoot but the players are trained to pass the ball which is really frustrating .. i know its going to go from bad to worse if pep leave but am sure that someone like pucchetino will do better job with our team and our amazing academy unlike pep who just keep on spending ..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom