Manchester City - Guardiola confirmed

I heard about this challenge on SSN last night but hadn't seen it. It's nowhere near as bad as they made out. A bit reckless and you can't take the ball and the man these days, but not a sending off in my opinion.

Exiled_Addick said:

paulie8290 said:

The big question for Arsenal is
£35M and Mkhitaryan good enough
Answer is clearly yes

Espically if they use the money as part of the Aubameyang deal

It's a great deal for player out of contract in 3 months, who doesn't want to be there, and who has quite possibly passed his peak at 29.

And who had one excellent and one good season at Dortmund and that's kind of it.

Whilst he wasn't signed by Guardiola, City paid £26m for David Silva almost 8 years now. Even at 32 he is still a big influence so much so that, since August he has played 25 matches in all competitions of which they have won all 25.

One of the Premier League greats - on and off the pitch.

Riviera said:

Addick Addict said:

Whilst he wasn't signed by Guardiola, City paid £26m for David Silva almost 8 years now. Even at 32 he is still a big influence so much so that, since August he has played 25 matches in all competitions of which they have won all 25.

One of the Premier League greats - on and off the pitch.

You met him then?

No but I have read extensively about him. By the same token you never met Elvis but it hasn't ever stopped you being a massive fan has it?

dizzee said:

How anyone can sit here and justify their spending. It's ruining the game.

I don't see how they're ruining the game when their record fee spent is the 57m they spent on Laporte this month. PSG spent 360m on two players in the summer, which as a result has bumped up every other players price by about 30%. Barca have spent almost 300m on four players since the Neymar move. United spent 90m on Pogba and 75m on a wardrobe.

Yes City have spent a lot, and mainly on their defence but people forget that Guardiola had to completely overhaul an ageing side. A couple of years ago, they had the likes of Zabaleta, Kolarov, Sagna, Clichy and Demichelis, not to mention Hart who didn't suit his style of play. So replacing an entire defence to compete at the top of the table and in europe was obviously going to cost a lot. What people also forget to take into account is that they've bought the likes of Ederson (age 24) Stones (23), Laporte (23), Mendy (23), who can be there for 9-10 years, as well as Walker who can be there for 5-6. Spread those fees over the duration of the time they could spend there then it's not bad at all.

Who else have they bought? De Bruyne for 55m, easily worth 150-170m at todays prices. Sane 45m, would fetch double that if sold. Gabriel Jesus is only 20 and is already Brazil's first choice centre forward. He was only about 30m, would go for 3-4 times that if sold.

Plenty of people just look at the total they've spent without seeing the bigger picture. They've re-shaped a squad, bought world class young players and are building a side that can dominate for many years.

bolloxbolder said:

£468m spent in his 18 months in charge. Not interested in a debate. We all know that City and Chelsea would have never won premier league titles without Abu Dhabi /Abramovic intervention. Added to that Bournemouth in the Prem in a 10k capacity stadium.

Money has ruined the game for long standing fans.

True but if it wasn't for their intervention we'd probably have seen Man U win another 5-6 titles, so i know what i'd prefer

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2018/feb/06/david-squires-on-riyad-mahrez-and-his-leicester-city-impasse

Will Grigg's on fire. Guardiola's terrified

Quadruple my arse!

Scoham said:

https://twitter.com/joestorkey/status/965700923258490880

Thought Peter Kay was a Bolton fan?

Amazing. Not a peep from the dozen or so Citeh "fans" on my feed last night, considering after each win they buy they are giving it the large one. Doubt any of them went to the game, no doubt too busy keeping a sock company.

Money can sometimes buy you trophies but you can't buy class apparently.

kentaddick said:

cantersaddick said:

I dream of us having a cup run like that. I'd pick that over the premier league to be honest

But for some on here being in an fa cup quarter final was “the worst I’ve ever felt as a charlton fan” and “Powell should go”

How did Liverpool and Man U get to be number one though? By being the best.

Man City are only number one because a family sitting on a valuable fossil fuel bought a team that was benefiting from an athletics stadium package.

Covered End said:

Fiiish said:

How did Liverpool and Man U get to be number one though? By being the best.

Man City are only number one because a family sitting on a valuable fossil fuel bought a team that was benefiting from an athletics stadium package.

Aah, I thought Liverpool & Man U got to be the best, because they had big attendances and ergo most money.

And people went to go see them because they played good football.

You can make the big attendance argument with Leeds, Nottingham, Newcastle etc. who have all had their day in the sun but ultimately Man U and Liverpool were able to keep a consistent level of football to match their ambitions, along with stable ownership and being well run.

Ultimately the success of both teams is very much rooted into their culture and local influence. Meanwhile, the Man City story could have happened anywhere in the country and been largely the same. Man City was just the most obvious choice for the royal family to buy because they were well placed for the shiny new stadium and Etihad Campus, as well as having a strong local following.

The argument can be made that the big teams when the Premier League began have abused their size and influence in order to consolidate their position at the expense of the rest of the 92 but that is a somewhat separate problem.

C_Jensens_Love_Child said:

"'Congratulations for Wigan for the qualification, they had one shot on target"

Very classy comment from a manager who's substitute goalkeeper costs over 4 times the amount the opposition's squad cost. The melt down if Jose had sent this would be unreal.

I don't understand the Pep Cult. Seen as some kind of genius by landing jobs with already world-class teams and winning trophies when awarded transfer budgets that eclipse the budget of a micronation.