FA Cup 2018/19

[mark87]

He's not wrong though.

 

[Drink!Drink!]

Just caught the score

Sportswashing 6 - 0 Financial Fair Play

 

[TheBlueRooster]

It's not that simple. If we got bought out tomorrow by some Arab consortium and suddenly had unlimited funds would that actually bring you any joy? We'd win more matches and sign better players and at first it would be great, but it's like using a cheat code in a video game - it's fun for a little while but it completely devalues everything. I mean, why do we really watch football anyway? It's the hope, the romance, the surprise. If it becomes a series of rote 4-0 wins displaced with the occasional freak loss...where's the joy in that? Especially when it's funded by dirty oil money.

Hand on heart I'd much prefer us to keep building the way we are rather than being bought out. Even if that means we only win the league once in the next 20 years - that single league title would be worth more than 10 of Man City's.

Totay agree with what you have said. But I still don't have a problem with City "buying" the success. It certainly doesn't irk me as much as when Chelsea did it.

If course I like the way we go about building but I want to see a bit of domestic silverware soon because I think if we don't start buying in more quality we will start going backwards. If we win the Champions League it would be brilliant but I honestly would rather see us win the F A Cup first or the league and build to what must be the pinnacle of European club football.

 

[Timberwolf]

Totay agree with what you have said. But I still don't have a problem with City "buying" the success. It certainly doesn't irk me as much as when Chelsea did it.

If course I like the way we go about building but I want to see a bit of domestic silverware soon because I think if we don't start buying in more quality we will start going backwards. If we win the Champions League it would be brilliant but I honestly would rather see us win the F A Cup first or the league and build to what must be the pinnacle of European club football.

I get what you mean. I don't really have an issue with it in principle either - it's been going on for decades to some degree or other and while Spurs are better than most big clubs, we still have a billionaire owner and are one of the richest clubs in the world. I just worry that City will dominate for the next 10 years and domestic football will get really dull.

I actually think the Champions League would be the perfect trophy to crown Poch's achievements at the club. If we won the league or FA cup it would be brilliant but clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea would point at their recent cup wins and still give us shit. If we win the CL on the other hand, no-one could deny us anything and Poch would be cemented as an all time club legend - something he already deserves.

 

[KILLA_SIN]

City have bought their success without a doubt, but Pep has clearly done a brilliant job there. They haven’t bought any massive names and they’ve kept the transfer fees relatively reasonable by today’s standards (no Neymar for £200m or Pogba for £90m). There’s no reason any other top 6 side couldn’t have signed Bernado Silva for £40m for example.

Only bought Mahrez this year I think?

 

[KILLA_SIN]

Totay agree with what you have said. But I still don't have a problem with City "buying" the success. It certainly doesn't irk me as much as when Chelsea did it.

If course I like the way we go about building but I want to see a bit of domestic silverware soon because I think if we don't start buying in more quality we will start going backwards. If we win the Champions League it would be brilliant but I honestly would rather see us win the F A Cup first or the league and build to what must be the pinnacle of European club football.

I feel the same about City in fact I love the fact the its Uniteds cross town rivals that are keeping them from winning titles

 

[mattdefoe]

City have bought their success without a doubt, but Pep has clearly done a brilliant job there. They haven’t bought any massive names and they’ve kept the transfer fees relatively reasonable by today’s standards (no Neymar for £200m or Pogba for £90m). There’s no reason any other top 6 side couldn’t have signed Bernado Silva for £40m for example.

silva cost 60-65 mill pounds with silly wages

 

[Timberwolf]

While City haven't signed any huge names or spent insane money on a single player, it's the sheer number of upper-mid tier signings that's crazy. In the last 4 seasons they've spent over £40 million on 9 players - and many of those were before the market went batshit.

In that same period Man Utd bought 6, Liverpool bought 5, Chelsea bought 4, Arsenal bought 3 and we bought 0 (Sanchez is listed as 36 million on Transfermarkt).

To be fair to them that does put into perspective how shit Man Utd's signings were in comparison, but City are still way ahead of the rest when it comes to expensive recruitment.

Also puts into perspective how fucking brilliant Poch is.

 

[Shadydan]

I don't really have a problem with the likes of City buying success and winning pots and breaking records along the way because it gives us something to aim for. They are raising the bar which will inevitably improve the quality of the league which means that we know what to do to get better and it gives me more satisfaction when we eventually win something regardless.

 

[GMI]

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...smashing-of-watford-proves-football-is-broken

Good article by Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian. Basically stating that modern football is now broken due to these doped clubs. A nice read.

 

[Tucker]

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...smashing-of-watford-proves-football-is-broken

Good article by Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian. Basically stating that modern football is now broken due to these doped clubs. A nice read.

City are everything that’s wrong with football. It’s sad to see people in this thread saying they don’t have a problem with what they are doing. This is very different from Jack Walker bank rolling Blackburn and buying the title. It’s a propaganda machine, set up to launder the reputation of a tyrant. But even if you can look past that, they are making a mockery of sport. The idea that their dominance will somehow inspire the other sides to go that bit further is wildly optimistic, single teams dominating leagues doesn’t tend to promote improvement, look at Scotland at the worse end of the spectrum, and Spain at the other end. Anyone outside the top few teams takes a kicking, aside from the odd fluke.

Outside of the top six, this has been one of the least competitive premier league seasons I can remember. The other teams just can’t get close. I can’t see that changing with the way things are going, in fact I can only see it getting worse.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

silva cost 60-65 mill pounds with silly wages

BBC reported it as 43m. Where did you see 60m?

Wages are 120k a week. Same as Lloris. Hardly silly.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

While City haven't signed any huge names or spent insane money on a single player, it's the sheer number of upper-mid tier signings that's crazy. In the last 4 seasons they've spent over £40 million on 9 players - and many of those were before the market went batshit.

In that same period Man Utd bought 6, Liverpool bought 5, Chelsea bought 4, Arsenal bought 3 and we bought 0 (Sanchez is listed as 36 million on Transfermarkt).

I think this is the key. Whilst they don’t spend big on individual stars, they can afford to take on a large number of 40-60m players and if they don’t really hit (e.g. Stones, Mahrez) then there’s no risk. For clubs like us and Arsenal, if you spend 50m on a flop, it’s pretty devastating.

Having said that, Pep has had the same budget available to him as previous city managers in this era and he’s outshone them all.

 

[nailsy]

That result really devalued the FA Cup. People are starting to ask questions now.

 

[Klinsmannesque]

BBC reported it as 43m. Where did you see 60m?

Wages are 120k a week. Same as Lloris. Hardly silly.

For a 22 year old that had only done it in Ligue 1, you can't even come close to how City operate vs us.

City are what City are, a team that has unlimited funds funnelled through questionable means - as someone said, it's no different to entering a cheat code in a game and it's a shame the media aren't at least more transparent about that over milking their prostate at any given opportunity

 

[nailsy]

For a 22 year old that had only done it in Ligue 1, you can't even come close to how City operate vs us.

City are what City are, a team that has unlimited funds funnelled through questionable means - as someone said, it's no different to entering a cheat code in a game and it's a shame the media aren't at least more transparent about that over milking their prostate at any given opportunity

They spent £220M+ just on defenders and goalkeepers in 2017/2018. There's no way other sides can compete with them.

 

[Tucker]

They spent £220M+ just on defenders and goalkeepers in 2017/2018. There's no way other sides can compete with them.

There was that meme showing how much more City had spent on defence than several actual countries do on their military.

 

[mpickard2087]

I don't think the result was a problem or devalued anything or made a mockery of it. Lets be honest Watford did a lot to contribute to getting smashed 6-0, because especially first half all the key things they fucked up. Great chance to go 1-0 up - they waste. Then concede two piss weak goals to give City a massive helping hand. After the break maybe they do have to go for it and chase, but they were suicidally open from the whistle, were getting picked off on the counter attack and very quickly it became 4-0. They then felt sorry for themselves and gave up and it became six.

 

[easley91]

As a neutral I want to see a good game in the FA Cup final. Switched off during the second half. Imagine being those Watford supporters, first final in decades and get trashed like that? Awful. Feel for them.