How close are we to challenging City & Liverpool ?

[fishhhandaricecake]

We simply can’t blow away teams like they can for fun when they are on it & I think that’s the main difference.

All it takes from us is an off day from Kane & we are likely struggling.

Yep that’s the sign of a very good team, when they play 5,6 out of 10 then win say 2-0, when they play 8+ out of 10 or against lesser opposition they win 5,6+-0.

We did beat Everton and Norwich 5-0 i think at the end of last season so we can do it but Liverpool and moreso city blow teams away on the regular far more often. Also their style of play is way more attacking and dominant so that’s also why they do it more as well as their players and squad being better

 

[bubble07]

Haaland will break Shearers record before Kane does

 

[cjbyid]

Only really hope for anyone catching city over the next few years is guardiola leaving or haaland doing 3-4 years and wanting a madrid move.

 

[sundanceyid10]

Nobody is close to City right now. And I don't think anyone will be for a while.

Unfortunately true. Bridging a gap like that is going to take some skill from everyone at the club. We will have to be near perfect in the transfer market with every move me make.

 

[shelfboy68]

We simply can’t blow away teams like they can for fun when they are on it & I think that’s the main difference.

All it takes from us is an off day from Kane & we are likely struggling.

Apart from not having the players we also don't have the intensity the other two possess.
The opening game aside we have looked sluggish and lacking in ideas and conviction, I must admit I have not been impressed at all I think we are lucky to be as high as we are.

 

[Shanks]

Tbh, I don’t get the doom and gloom.

5 games in, currently in 3rd place, with 3 away games, think it’s something like 8 points up on last years fixtures and still unbeaten.

mall whilst playing what we perceive to be average at best.

surely that’s progress right?

many other club, we’d all being saying how good it is to pick up points whilst playing poor ??‍

 

[fecka]

We've progressed, but we are still at least a season or two away from really challenging City IMO.

City is far from impossible to beat on the day, even with Haaland. What's truly scary is their consistency over 38 games which has been a significant part of Guardiola's league success during his career.

 

[mil1lion]

We're showing good consistency in results though. Having 4 fixtures out of 5 that we lost last season was always going to be tough. To draw these away games in tough London derbies is progress. If we can then win the same fixtures at home then we'll be progressing well. We definitely haven't got up to speed yet but we're well drilled and defending well enough to dig out results.

I feel this season we can compete for 3rd. I think the best we can do really is up to maybe the 85 point mark. To challenge for the title we need 95 to 100 possibly. To turn some draws into more wins and make that extra ground requires a few more signings. I agree with Conte that we need 2 more windows.

For me I feel that we need another Romero level player at left centre back, a top right wing back and a support forward who is genuine competition for Son and Kulusevski. We also need a central defender in the Dier role for competition and cover.Those are the 4 I would focus on next year. There's always that possibility the odd youngster turns into that player (Spence at wing back for example) so that could help a lot.

Sort those 4 in Jan and next summer I think we really challenge for real next season. This season we just see how far we can go. I would really love a top 4 finish and a domestic trophy. That would be a great step and our most successful PL season. I think we have the players to do that now.

 

[NEVILLEB]

20 pts away still.

If we had strengthened the central defence then the gap could have been 15 pts or so.

A world class central midfielder is another missing piece.

 

[Sophos151]

We simply can’t blow away teams like they can for fun when they are on it & I think that’s the main difference.

All it takes from us is an off day from Kane & we are likely struggling.

We can, on our day. We had five wins by a 4+ goal margin last season, a fair few more by a 3 goal margin.

 

[GioW]

20 pts away still.

If we had strengthened the central defence then the gap could have been 15 pts or so.

A world class central midfielder is another missing piece.

I think 80 points is a realistic target this season .

 

[THE SPURSBOY]

We will be challenging for 3-6 along with Arsenal Chelsea united Newcastle if the fixture list catches up with us with injuries and suspensions our bench like last night was weak and conte doesn’t trust them so we could become very leggy with the same players playing the majority of games and no real quality to come off the bench.
Be happy if we got 4th again. Think we may struggle this year tho to get it

 

[danielneeds]

We've progressed, but we are still at least a season or two away from really challenging City IMO.

City is far from impossible to beat on the day, even with Haaland. What's truly scary is their consistency over 38 games which has been a significant part of Guardiola's league success during his career.

The problem is in a season or two Lloris will need replacing, Son could be on the decline, and Harry’s contract might be expiring.

 

[agrdavidsfan]

Miles away that we haven’t added today,

Where at least a creative midfielder or player short plus a Centre half as proven last night it was hilarious to watch

west ham just dropped off let our midfield have the ball as they knew nobody there would break them down, Dier proved he can’t ever fully be trusted.

it’s been the same problem for near 3/4 years we don’t have that X factor player or a player that can pass through the lines

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

We have closed the gap a bit by improving our overall squad quality and depth but we are still short in quality at : CCB, RWB, CM, AM.

It will always be an almost impossible ask to close the gap on city with pep and a cheat code of a squad, but for our squad to be ‘complete’ we still need minimum 4 top quality player upgrades.

Luckily Chelsea and Man.U and Liverpool all look a bit jittery so far but then again Arsenal have improved so top 3/4 will still be tough but to fully close the gap and go for the title I cannot see that happening this season at all.

Hopefully at best outcome we can come 3rd and win a trophy (Id like the FA CUP) and build from there.

7/10 summer window, business done early in a number of key positions and moved a lot of players out on loan or sold who aren’t in the plans, a CCB and AM of which we’d been linked with top quality throughout the window, would’ve made it a 9 or 10/10 window. As it is let’s keep enjoying the journey, not too long until January, enjoy our exciting players like Perisic, Kulu, Son, Richy, Kane etc and enjoy the improved quality we have and enjoy the CL nights at our amazing stadium.

Let’s hope we are still top3 by the time the World Cup rolls around and we go from there ? COYS

 

[shelfboy68]

We have closed the gap a bit by improving our overall squad quality and depth but we are still short in quality at : CCB, RWB, CM, AM.

It will always be an almost impossible ask to close the gap on city with pep and a cheat code of a squad, but for our squad to be ‘complete’ we still need minimum 4 top quality player upgrades.

Luckily Chelsea and Man.U and Liverpool all look a bit jittery so far but then again Arsenal have improved so top 3/4 will still be tough but to fully close the gap and go for the title I cannot see that happening this season at all.

Hopefully at best outcome we can come 3rd and win a trophy (Id like the FA CUP) and build from there.

7/10 summer window, business done early in a number of key positions and moved a lot of players out on loan or sold who aren’t in the plans, a CCB and AM of which we’d been linked with top quality throughout the window, would’ve made it a 9 or 10/10 window. As it is let’s keep enjoying the journey, not too long until January, enjoy our exciting players like Perisic, Kulu, Son, Richy, Kane etc and enjoy the improved quality we have and enjoy the CL nights at our amazing stadium.

Let’s hope we are still top3 by the time the World Cup rolls around and we go from there ? COYS

Cheat code? Club can buy who they want nothing wrong with that at all.
Top four will be a real scramble this season if we don't make it then it's disappointing but the team and manager need to all improve quite a bit to achieve that.

 

[Rogmeister]

Title is probably already sealed by city.

2nd onwards is a fight between us, arsenal, utd, Chelsea and Liverpool . Got to be honest I have no idea how the rest of us will end up. All.look so unpredictable

 

[THE SPURSBOY]

Man Utd winning again tonight ffs. Can def see top three city, pool and Chelsea the one of us,arse united and maybe Newcastle fighting for the 4th place

 

[JCRD]

Apart from not having the players we also don't have the intensity the other two possess.
The opening game aside we have looked sluggish and lacking in ideas and conviction, I must admit I have not been impressed at all I think we are lucky to be as high as we are.

Out of all the things that has surprised me this season, us looking sluggish is right at the top. We have looked sluggish and we havent looked sharp. With all of the fitness work and training and emphasis on being fit, I was expecting us to come out of the blocks. It is funny because we looked like this in pre season and people were like 'its pre season' blah blah blah...

The reaults dont match up with the performances and soon our performances will need to improve because we wont be continuing getting the results without it especially in the CL.

 

[shelfboy68]

Out of all the things that has surprised me this season, us looking sluggish is right at the top. We have looked sluggish and we havent looked sharp. With all of the fitness work and training and emphasis on being fit, I was expecting us to come out of the blocks. It is funny because we looked like this in pre season and people were like 'its pre season' blah blah blah...

The reaults dont match up with the performances and soon our performances will need to improve because we wont be continuing getting the results without it especially in the CL.

I think we will need to improve for Saturday and with city game coming soon they will run riot amongst our laboured team.
I'm surprised how lacking in intensity we are especially with a manager like Conte who demands a lot I just don't get it.