Well, who would've thought we would be out of the title race before the middle of November this season.
Genuinely I am really disappointed with the lot of them, they have all been poor & it started with a ridiculous and unambitious transfer window.
That was the catalyst for failure IMO.
I don't know if we are.Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
It does feel like a long way back but there's no way Liverpool are going to keep up this pace - I mean, if they do then fair play, but I can't see it.
And our season has been front-loaded with a lot of tricky away games. Let's see where we are at the turn of the year, we have a kinder run coming up.
If City were nine points ahead I’d say the title was over, but it’s Liverpool who have played the easiest fixtures. We absolutely need to make up ground in the next couple of months and if we are nine points off or worse by the new year I’d say it’s over, but at this stage? Far far too early
If it’s five points or less and we buy a striker in January (two big ifs) then actually I’d make us favourites again
City are as I’ve said haemorrhaging.
It's obviously not technically over, but if we can't find a way of scoring more goals then clearly we're on a hiding to nothing
As you may have noticed I don't share people's view of Liverpool in terms of how likely they are to fade away, I think Slot is managing his resources well
I's say it's definitely between them and Citeh, and I say Citeh partly because of their form in the second half of previous seasons (and if you look at the fixtures they turn very freindly for them about that time)
Haaland's clearly off the pace atm despite scoring yesterday but it won't last a whole season, plus who's to say Guardiola won't bring in a Rodri-type player in January if he thinks he needs to
As for us I think slagging off Merino is pointless, he's there to shore up the midfield because that's what Arteta prioritised, so it's on Arteta if we have a player who is unspectacular and are still missing a striker
It's Arteta himself that makes me think we won't win the league
The next home game vs Forest will be a real test, they are in excellent form and we are struggling, plus they're now directly competing with us in the league
Forest lost 3-1 at home to Newcastle yesterday
They have made themselves tough to beat, but once the wall is breached….its breached
Score first (which we do 75% of the time) and they are done with
Arteta is a massive drag factor, but I think this team is capable of big achievements once it throws off the shackles he puts on us.
Really in terms of performances this season is not much different to the first half of last season. Disjointed, not great, galaxy brained tactics….only difference is far harder games have been played away from home
Goals are a concern, but the potential remains to score a lot of goals with the players we have.
That in itself is a huge problem for me as it indicates the total lack of progression.
These are players that were scoring goals and good at doing it too, now they seem to be at amateur level for some reason, where they don't really shoot, can't aim for toffee or don't attack the ball in the box.
Oh there’s been very little actual progression but we didn’t strengthen in the key areas so what can you expect
The same issue was there with goalscoring around this time last season. It’s why playing without an actual striker is not a good idea
I more or less agree although I'm loathe to write City off. They have previous for going in to beast mode and just winning every game after Christmas and blitzing everyone.
There is a reason why they haven’t lost for almost two years in the league with Rodri in the team. There’s a reason why he won the ballon d’or, it’s a recognition that he’s the most influential player in world football currently.
It was clear to me looking at City that these defeats were only a matter of time. I’m not saying it’s impossible for this “beast mode” to happen, but in my view it’s at least 70% less likely. The last time Man City lost four times in a row was 2006.
The Annoying thing is it’s not the hardest fixtures we’ve done badly in. If you told me at the beginning of the season that we’d get 8 points from away games at Villa, Spurs, City and Chelsea I’d be more than happy with that.
It’s Bournemouth, Liverpool and Newcastle that are the annoying games. I think the red card for Saliba (especially given it wasn’t given on the field) was ridiculously harsh. Newcastle we were Shane McGowan (largely toothless).
Liverpool it didn’t help we didn’t have Saliba and that we didn’t stick away the chances we made
We have been far from great. But what makes me positive is I think we are clearly capable of much better, especially when Arteta invariably relents and stops these stubborn silly galaxy brained tactics
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