The race for first 1.0
- Thread starter tttcowan
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GoldstarYid
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- Jan 23, 2011
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Starting 11 yes. Squad wise we are 3rd and if Chelseas players stop playing shit then we are 4th.
AngerManagement
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- May 15, 2004
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I wasn't even impressed with City today to be honest
I know they were missing two key players but I thought if we had had Adebayor playing we may well have beat them quite comfortably
The difference between us and them is simply that they have more players who can win a match from no where and probably on a more consistent basis than we do.
more than anything they have a bit more power and greater strength in depth, but man for man our starting 11 is easily as good as theirs, we just really lack some clinical finishing
GoldstarYid
Active Member
- Jan 23, 2011
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Exactly what i said earlier.
We are a better team, however in Aguero, Silva and Balotelli they have 3 players who continually single handedly win them games. We lack that one player(Arse have it in Van Persie and he is the reason they are not lower than they are).
- Oct 2, 2004
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We're obviously not out of it but the facts are that City have a 100% record at home and we still have to go to Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. A 9 point swing (which we need when you consider goal difference) doesn't look very likely.
Not impossible and I hope the players don't give up but I for one am now looking at finishing top 4 and realising what a good achievement that would be.
tttcowan
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- Aug 12, 2005
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It's become pretty standard to write off our squad these days by the media, say we have a good starting 11 but lack depth... I really don't get where it comes from. We have the 2nd best squad in the league with some serious depth in key areas. Even the much berated Defoe has a better goals/minute ratio than the Wayne bloody Rooney....
If you could get Ferguson to honestly choose which Squad he'd prefer... I really wouldn't be surprised if he took ours.
GoldstarYid
Active Member
- Jan 23, 2011
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I say it because yes we have a deep squad but i don't think it's in the right areas at all.
Breaking down the bench players we have Bassong who is pretty much awful these days(lack of game time maybe but it's another debate)
Gallas/King are too injury prone so we have inconsistency in defence(a place you need consistency).
Sandro/Corluka/Rose are good yes.
We have Niko and Pienaar, good players but are the same position.
We have Defoe, who is not back up in a 4411, he is a second striker in a 442 so not really back up to anybody, but first choice in a formation we don't play.
Gio is awful when he plays(maybe another game time one).
Overall, what i'm saying is we don't have the RIGHT squad, we have good players yes but they don't fit the team. We don't have back up in key areas. We don't have a back up striker and we don't have a back up winger.
So when we get an injury on either wing or up front, we are screwed because we can't replace them(we seen that vs WBA, Sunderland at home), thats where i don't think our squad is good enough.
The thing is, if we do what we need to for 3rd (i.e. get some points in the next 6) then we will still be a (double) Devon Loch away from first in the run-in. Wouldn't rule out us doing a Liverpool 09- pick up a load of points but never really look like overtaking them.
rawhide
I have issues...
- Jan 28, 2011
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Lets go sign him then! :wink:
nailsy
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- Jul 24, 2005
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We're not out of the race, we're just a bit more unlikely to win it.
If City pick up a few injuries to their irreplaceables (Silva & Aguero) then they might start dropping some serious points. And if Levy gets his wallet out we might go another run like we had earlier in the season.
If City pick up a few injuries to their irreplaceables (Silva & Aguero) then they might start dropping some serious points. And if Levy gets his wallet out we might go another run like we had earlier in the season.
Only problem is I think Levy may have forgotten where his wallet is...
AngerManagement
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- May 15, 2004
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even before today's loss this was key to any potential title push
In my opinion the only chance we ever had of winning the league was to get a clinical striker in who could kill off games when we are struggling to break teams down.
A player who would score those half chances we always seem to miss
Pretty much every point we have dropped excluding the first two games have come in games where we missed clearing opportunities to win
Defoe's miss today, Ade last min against Chelsea, Defoe against Newcastle when we could have made it 3-1, countless chances against Stoke and Wolves. If we had a really clinical striker you have to think we would have picked up more points in those types of games and this is going to be key for the rest of the season as we won't always get lucky ala sunderland and west brom
tony_parkes
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- Jun 21, 2008
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Name the striker then, one we could realistically get. Every team wants the clinical striker you mention, that rarely misses.
Darren Bent is clinical actually.
$hoguN
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- Jul 25, 2005
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Actually Bent is the exact opposite of clinical, he is very much like Defoe in that the amount of goals he gets masks just how many chances he needs to get them.
AngerManagement
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- May 15, 2004
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Its not my job to name that striker, I don't have the time or resources to scout the world looking for players who could be that striker.
Our network of scouts however are paid to assess that very thing
Are you seriously suggesting in all of Europe, South America or Africa there is not a single striker who is doing great things but is not yet a big enough name that the very top teams are looking to sign?
For example Rossi was available for a relatively small fee around the time he destroyed us in a friendly at the Lane, fast and lethal in front of goal and by all accounts he was someone we could have made a deal for at the time.
Falcao before he signed for Porto, deals like Berbatov.... players who are showing what they can do, scoring goals but have not yet become that household named who is wanted by the very biggest clubs who offer the wages we cannot compete with.
Leandro was that guy potentially, we didn;t make the deal, supposedly over two million, now his value has probably gone up and he has attracted interest from else where also. Sandro type of deals, players with high levels of potential but still represent a risk, maybe see us as a stepping stone but have to accept that they fall into our wage structure at this stage in their career.
You can't seriously tell me that in all the world there are not players that fit this bill, and assume that there are why have our scouting network identified them? If so what's the progress
nailsy
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- Jul 24, 2005
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If we find that player the other teams had better start preying.
ajspurs
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- Jul 7, 2007
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Couldn't agree more, so true. To be fair though, I thought Ade was gonna be this player. He's hit so many inside of the boot curling shots aiming for the far corner that have gone just wide. At first I thought they were just unlucky but it's happened too many times as well as more simple ones. We did win anyway, but a few away to West Brom stand out. This isn't a dig at Adebayor by the way, just an observation.
sweyid
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- Jun 25, 2011
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The title seems far away at the moment, but there's still 16 games left. Can we gain 9 points on City? It will be difficult, that's for sure, but with a bit of luck we just might. Our title chances didn't die today, but our February fixtures and the home game vs United in March could very well see us dropping a lot of points, I see that run of fixtures as our most important this season.
