Arsenal vs Man city Sunday 8th April 16:00

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I think the Man Utd - Bilbao games were supposed to shed light on the myth that only Barca and Real Madrid are good teams considering Barca/Madrid have to face at least one better team than Man Utd. Personally, I still think it's a lot easier to score more goals in La Liga but it's probably tougher to win games against your average team too.

Lets be real though the Mancs should have beatern bilbao and had they had a better team like they should have they would have.

Not saying all teams in la liga are bad, but if bilbao were in our league where would they finish?

How do you know he does not want the best for any club? He left Chelsea coz the owner didnt like him, he left Inter after making them European champions and he made Porto CL winners as well. Your statement does not make any sense.

As for his past success bearing no relevance to how you look at him... well, if you are just judging by where Real are this season so far, he is still miles ahead of all managers out there.

And finally, I dont need to bring Mourinho anywhere to make AW look small. AW's achievements and team selection/tactics over the last 6-7 seasons are good enough to make him look super small.

Ok so maybe saying he does not want the best for clubs is wrong, but i don't think he cares for clubs more them himself.
Because everything is about him not the club thats why, all the club he has been at the circus has been about him. he don't give a shit about the future of the teams he left.

As for you using him to belittle AW you, do we know he is a better manager then AW and it would take a brave man(poster) to say otherwise, i don't see why you need to compare them, its like comapring barcelona with Villa.

[Syn]

Lets be real though the Mancs should have beatern bilbao and had they had a better team like they should have they would have.

Not saying all teams in la liga are bad, but if bilbao were in our league where would they finish?

Tbh I genuinely think - on the basis of those two games, mind - that Bilbao are on the same sort of level as Man Utd. Certainly technically, Bilbao are on another level. Maybe Man Utd's grit and Englishness could get them a few more points over the course of the season.

On the basis of those 2 games (...and I don't think Man Utd gave up at any point - they were just completely outplayed), Bilbao would be right up there on our league. But obviously it's not fair to judge them on those two games only - maybe they did put extra efforts into that. Hard to tell. The point was though that there do seem to be some very good teams in Spain. The fact that Barca and Real Madrid are so clear is probably more a reflection of their quality rather than the chasing pack.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Tbh I genuinely think - on the basis of those two games, mind - that Bilbao are on the same sort of level as Man Utd. Certainly technically, Bilbao are on another level. Maybe Man Utd's grit and Englishness could get them a few more points over the course of the season.

On the basis of those 2 games (...and I don't think Man Utd gave up at any point - they were just completely outplayed), Bilbao would be right up there on our league. But obviously it's not fair to judge them on those two games only - maybe they did put extra efforts into that. Hard to tell. The point was though that there do seem to be some very good teams in Spain. The fact that Barca and Real Madrid are so clear is probably more a reflection of their quality rather than the chasing pack.

Your not wrong Bilbao were much better and the Mancs were bad. (this is the team that will win our league). Says how bad our league really is tbh when a UTD will win the league because no one has really challenged them and city bottled it.

But i suppose your right there are a few better teams in spain.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tbh I genuinely think - on the basis of those two games, mind - that Bilbao are on the same sort of level as Man Utd. Certainly technically, Bilbao are on another level. Maybe Man Utd's grit and Englishness could get them a few more points over the course of the season.

On the basis of those 2 games (...and I don't think Man Utd gave up at any point - they were just completely outplayed), Bilbao would be right up there on our league. But obviously it's not fair to judge them on those two games only - maybe they did put extra efforts into that. Hard to tell. The point was though that there do seem to be some very good teams in Spain. The fact that Barca and Real Madrid are so clear is probably more a reflection of their quality rather than the chasing pack.

The funny thing about Bilbao is, prior to Bielsa going there, they were far more Premier League-esque in style. Just goes to show what can be done with players willing to play in a different way. And I concur, think they'd be top half certainly, most teams would struggle against their work on the ball - I mean we've got top four in the past by playing football you wouldn't associate with the best way of playing in England. Bilbao are low down in La Liga comparitively but they're competing against teams that are encouraged to keep the ball too and some much better at it, plus they aren't used to coping with two extra competitions (they're in the Copa Del Rey final).