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The Race for the Title 2019/20

Vincent30

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
900
3,694
I'm still baffled why City didn't come in for Toby. He would have made them so much stronger for 2 years and would be the perfect guy to calm down Stones or a great partner to Laporte who's now out. I still have no clue why they didn't as it's exactly what they need, crazy but not complaining at all.

A CB pairing of Stones and Otamendi until January will be very worrying for Pep. Otamendi will likely be sent off a few times as well before Jan. They will need to be brutal in attack for the coming months.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
Just keep playing like that and lets see what the gap is when we go to Anfield. They have some tough games coming up.
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
54,770
99,330
Pity we're the early kick off on Saturday. Leicester will be well up for this, having lost yesterday, and think it will be a tough game following mid week.

That said we've good options to rotate.
 

RichieS

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2004
11,916
16,436
I'm still baffled why City didn't come in for Toby. He would have made them so much stronger for 2 years and would be the perfect guy to calm down Stones or a great partner to Laporte who's now out. I still have no clue why they didn't as it's exactly what they need, crazy but not complaining at all.

A CB pairing of Stones and Otamendi until January will be very worrying for Pep. Otamendi will likely be sent off a few times as well before Jan. They will need to be brutal in attack for the coming months.
Maybe he really is going back to Ajax and let it be known that he isn't interested in anything else. Who knows?
 

swarvsta

Well-Known Member
Jul 25, 2008
773
4,061
I'm still baffled why City didn't come in for Toby. He would have made them so much stronger for 2 years and would be the perfect guy to calm down Stones or a great partner to Laporte who's now out. I still have no clue why they didn't as it's exactly what they need, crazy but not complaining at all.

A CB pairing of Stones and Otamendi until January will be very worrying for Pep. Otamendi will likely be sent off a few times as well before Jan. They will need to be brutal in attack for the coming months.

That’s surely an over-reaction? You are talking as if Stones and Otamendi are two Sunday League players, not internationals!

They will miss Laporte, for sure, but I would imagine they are confident they can still outscore almost anyone.

It would be interesting if they suffer any more injuries/suspensions to their backline, though. We may see Walker/Mandy or Fernandinho at CB.
 

rez9000

Any point?
Feb 8, 2007
11,942
21,098
It’s the age-old dichotomy between ‘can’ and ‘will’.

Will we win the League? We’re not the likeliest contender.

Can we win the League? Yes. And I say that as a qualified statement, not in the any-team-can-win-the-League type of way. On paper, we are a title contender - our team is good enough. But there are obstacles, some of which are within our scope and some that aren’t.

One of the things within our scope is mentality - something that isn’t quantifiable. If the squad believe and focus on that goal, it’s in the realms of the possible. But there’s still a reliance on other factors outside our scope - the main one being how the other contenders perform.

And that’s true of every campaign. It’s all well and good saying that we should focus on what we do, but few, if any, League championships are solely won on the performance of the champions. Look at the Leicester winning season and the Chelsea season after that. Across those two seasons, there’s an argument for saying we were the best team in the country. Across the two seasons, we won more points than any other team in the PL - 156. Ironically, the team with second best total were the Arse with 146. But we didn’t win the League in either year and neither did the Arse. There’s an argument for saying the champions won, in part, because of shortcomings by the other teams in not outperforming the winners in a single season. Pretty obvious, of course, but the wider perspective casts a different light on the champions’ achievements. It’s not to say they didn’t perform or deserve their titles, just that other factors also contributed.

To quote the cliche: it’s a marathon, not a sprint and even seven points behind, nothing is certain with only five games played. Maybe Liverpool will suffer a dip in form like we did this year, maybe an injury crisis will hit the two main contenders, maybe the Manchester area will experience a small, highly targeted, but nevertheless very intense earthquake that swallows the Man Shitty stadium and training complex taking the Al-Nahyans and Fraudiola into the bowels of the Earth (OK, not likely, but I can dream, can’t I?). We just don’t know at this point.

I think we can win the League. Whether we will is still far too early to tell and has to take into account factors that we can’t predict.

Anyway, I’m off to pray at the little shrine I’ve built to the Greek goddess, Gaia. She’s the one who can deliver earthquakes.
 

Vincent30

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
900
3,694
That’s surely an over-reaction? You are talking as if Stones and Otamendi are two Sunday League players, not internationals!

They will miss Laporte, for sure, but I would imagine they are confident they can still outscore almost anyone.

It would be interesting if they suffer any more injuries/suspensions to their backline, though. We may see Walker/Mandy or Fernandinho at CB.

Sorry what?

Why is that an over reaction. Stones makes two huge mistakes every game and Otamendi is a very very average CB who is a red card waiting to happen and they now have to pair these two together. I'd be distraught if we were lining up with these two until January.

I think my main point you are missing is City have wasted so much on CBs with Laporte really being the only one other than Kompany to match the hype. Toby being the second best CB in the league the last few seasons and available for a tiny amount, 25m was a no brainer for Pep, with his calmness and passing ability. A CB pairing of Laporte and Toby would have been solid for two/three seasons for them.

Still don't see my point here?
 

Westmorlandspur

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2013
2,683
4,498
Nah Liverpool are on another level mate. Even if City have a slightly dodgy season, Liverpool will be there to take advantage. I honestly don’t see Liverpool losing a single game this season, they are unstoppable at the moment
I don’t think they are playing quite as well as last season. Playing quite a high line and sometimes getting caught. Injuries to key players will hurt them more than most. No cover for the front three.
 

Gb160

Well done boys. Good process
Jun 20, 2012
23,646
93,313
Maybe he really is going back to Ajax and let it be known that he isn't interested in anything else. Who knows?
Eventually maybe, but my guess is he aims to finish his career with a bit more than a few dutch trophies and a La Liga medal where he didn't actually play very much.
 
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gavspur

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2004
5,255
8,686
I'm still baffled why City didn't come in for Toby. He would have made them so much stronger for 2 years and would be the perfect guy to calm down Stones or a great partner to Laporte who's now out. I still have no clue why they didn't as it's exactly what they need, crazy but not complaining at all.

I said the same in another thread, but suggested Liverpool rather than City. Truth is, he would add something to both those teams’ defences. I have no idea who would/could be a likely replacement. Sanchez isn’t that kind of player, Foyth maybe, but he has a lot of learning to do. Outside of our own team, only De Ligt springs to mind, and he’s not available - also not the finished article yet either. If Toby walks away, we’re gonna have trouble either way.
 

RichieS

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2004
11,916
16,436
I said the same in another thread, but suggested Liverpool rather than City. Truth is, he would add something to both those teams’ defences. I have no idea who would/could be a likely replacement. Sanchez isn’t that kind of player, Foyth maybe, but he has a lot of learning to do. Outside of our own team, only De Ligt springs to mind, and he’s not available - also not the finished article yet either. If Toby walks away, we’re gonna have trouble either way.
Dier.
 

gavspur

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2004
5,255
8,686

Yeah, it should be him, you’re exactly right. That’s in Dier’s very own hands though, as I don’t see him wanting to be a CB. Maybe with the emergence of Winks and Skipp, he’ll re-consider his placing?
 

RichieS

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2004
11,916
16,436
Yeah, it should be him, you’re exactly right. That’s in Dier’s very own hands though, as I don’t see him wanting to be a CB. Maybe with the emergence of Winks and Skipp, he’ll re-consider his placing?
Poche has said on more than one occasion that he sees Eric as a CB long term, so it might be either replace Toby or leave. We'll see fairly soon I guess.
 

Adam456

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2005
4,453
3,117
Baffling but great that we are somehow 3rd with 2 wins in 5. I always say that being up there early on is a little booster. Obvs a long way to go blah blah but as others have said, with the fixtures, if we are vaguely in contention by December / Xmas and we have our new signings bedded in then who knows. Most important things is that the squad seem to be pulling bin the same direction again. Well done Poch
 

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
15,170
72,169
Interesting. Arsenal are supposed to be showing signs of a serious revival, while we’re meant to be a club in disarray. Yet we’re third, two points behind City. And we’ve had significant injuries. With a manager who was being sacked/ resigning two weeks ago. Onwards, my well groomed peers
 

worcestersauce

"I'm no optimist I'm just a prisoner of hope
Jan 23, 2006
26,891
45,039
Something I often say, we are third followed by something I thought I'd never say, we could be overtaken by West Ham United.
 

InOffMeLeftShin

Night watchman
Admin
Jan 14, 2004
15,104
9,113
Something I often say, we are third followed by something I thought I'd never say, we could be overtaken by West Ham United.

Hmm not sure they beat Villa and not sure I care where they are at the moment. They’ll be absolutely nowhere near in the long run.

For us to be 3rd considering how we played in the first 4 games is an indication of how weak a lot of the competition is right now. If we build on the weekends performance then we should be able to pull well clear of the chasing pack.
 
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