What Our Opponents' Fans Are Saying About Us 22/23

[Ron Burgundy]

Clearly Arsenal will be worse than some of their more deluded fans think, but they will still be better than we think. United will also be a completely different prospect under Ten Hag. City have added Haaland, Liverpool Nunez. There has never been a tougher league in history. I’m just glad we’ve done good business too, for once Kane looks like he’s on fire going into August and, most importantly, we have Conte.

I'm 100% with you on this. Arsenal will be good this year, and definitely a threat to the top 4.

The only team in the top 6 that doesn't look like they're either (i) seriously strong or (ii) having taken very positive strides...is Chelsea. And there's time for that yet too.

Going to be a super tough year, so thank goodness (as you say) (1) we've bought well (2) we've bought early (3) Kane seems like he'll hit the ground running, and (4) Conte...maybe most of all.

A couple of extra stars would make us pretty fearsome. But this year is going to be savage

 

[djhotspur]

Arsenal are a good side and I genuinely do rate Jesus, Zinchenko, and Saka. They will challenge for Top 4, we need to be realistic about it. The race came down to the final day this year, they will be close, as will Chelsea and United. Let's not get too cocky here.

On the other hand, that twitter post is peak delusion. FFS, wanking themselves silly over a pre-season match against Chelsea going half-speed pretty much epitomizes that fanbase to a T.

Obsession over the unimportant wins, erasure of the crucial losses.

I agree massively. I also think saliba is a beast and elevates their defence more, thst with zinchenko they don’t have a huge weakness at left back when tierney inevitably gets injured, and saliba means less time for holding playing. Saliba playing that game last season against us we would maybe have scraped a win at best.
they will play some very fluid football and be very hard yo beat with their very fast very intense high press they have. They’re still a cm short in rotation and need another forward particularly to rotate with Saka as clearly Pepe won’t be used.
I agree it will be very very tight and I can see them getting top 4 over chelsea with us.

 

[djhotspur]

I'm 100% with you on this. Arsenal will be good this year, and definitely a threat to the top 4.

The only team in the top 6 that doesn't look like they're either (i) seriously strong or (ii) having taken very positive strides...is Chelsea. And there's time for that yet too.

Going to be a super tough year, so thank goodness (as you say) (1) we've bought well (2) we've bought early (3) Kane seems like he'll hit the ground running, and (4) Conte...maybe most of all.

A couple of extra stars would make us pretty fearsome. But this year is going to be savage

Yeah definitely. I want another good forward/creative type like maddison/zaniolo and I still would love us to sign a quality CB but I don’t think that will happen tbh. If we get the forward I think we will be ready to have a great season.

 

[Capocrimini]

It's crazy to me City have let Sterling go to Chelsea with very little fanfare or uproar. They have sold arguably one of their greatest ever players to a rival and its barely recieved any coverage. I think it says alot about their fanbase, that their non existent and plastic.

 

[FibreOpticJesus]

It's crazy to me City have let Sterling go to Chelsea with very little fanfare or uproar. They have sold arguably one of their greatest ever players to a rival and its barely recieved any coverage. I think it says alot about their fanbase, that their non existent and plastic.

I cannot agree with that. He’s not even on the same table as Aguero, Toure, Silva x2, Foden, Komapny, KDB, Fernandinho, many more ahead of him. Greatness comes from delivery and how the team performs when you are missing. I think you will find city will not miss him.

 

[Timberwolf]

I'm 100% with you on this. Arsenal will be good this year, and definitely a threat to the top 4.

The only team in the top 6 that doesn't look like they're either (i) seriously strong or (ii) having taken very positive strides...is Chelsea. And there's time for that yet too.

Going to be a super tough year, so thank goodness (as you say) (1) we've bought well (2) we've bought early (3) Kane seems like he'll hit the ground running, and (4) Conte...maybe most of all.

A couple of extra stars would make us pretty fearsome. But this year is going to be savage

Beyond City and Liverpool, I think the other top teams will all take points off each other so top 4 will come down to who is the most consistent across the season. This is where you'd hope that our deep squad and Conte's experience and managerial credentials will set us apart.

Arsenal are definitely improving, but they're still only a Partey or Jesus injury away from having a pretty average season and now they have European distractions to worry about. Plus Arteta is such a rigid manager and still hasn't proven himself worthy of a top job yet IMO. On their day they're good but I'm not convinced they have the character to really challenge across a whole season. Then there's United who look like they will be a serious proposition under Ten Hag, but again are very thin in certain positions and haven't done much business yet.

It feels like we're a step ahead of them both in terms of squad depth and we have a world class manager. Barring serious injuries to multiple key players we should be able to keep those 2 teams at bay, I think.

Chelsea are a total wildcard, though. Might be comfortably on 75+ points or could be a total disaster. No idea.

 

[djhotspur]

It's crazy to me City have let Sterling go to Chelsea with very little fanfare or uproar. They have sold arguably one of their greatest ever players to a rival and its barely recieved any coverage. I think it says alot about their fanbase, that their non existent and plastic.

Agreed but he started to be second choice and his form fell off. They want to rebuild their forward line and after the grealish signing they think he’ll kick on next season with more game time

 

[Riandor]

Grealish is the better player, other than crazy pace, I don’t rate Sterling that highly. Don’t get me wrong, he is definitely a good player, but I agree City will not miss him, because their interplay and ability to cross into haaland will be more important than the directness of Sterling.

 

[kremlyn]

Nothing is certain for City. Haaland would be the first physical No.9 to have thrived under guardiola. I'm not surprised city fans are quiet because there's a lot of change at city this year and trying to shoehorn a 9 into the false 9 position again as well as bettng that Grealish will seamlessly replace Sterling is a big ask. Liverpool are replacing like for like but city are a-changing.

 

[Capocrimini]

I cannot agree with that. He’s not even on the same table as Aguero, Toure, Silva x2, Foden, Komapny, KDB, Fernandinho, many more ahead of him. Greatness comes from delivery and how the team performs when you are missing. I think you will find city will not miss him.

Fair enough, but for someone whose helped them to 5 league titles and is up there for G/A I would have expected more. I feel like our fanbase was more upset about Lamela leaving and all he really did was tell Wilshire to fuck off and had beautiful yet crazy eyes.

 

[LondonOllie]

I had a little amusing text interaction with my Gooner supporting mate. He’s usually quite rational but has obviously got himself all excited. I sent him that Tweet that I think @riggi shared talking about Arsenal’s 11 and the reply channeling on the aura of Wenger, Klopp, Mou to create the new Arteta.

Told him if anything, his lot were continually entertaining.

The reply I got…

“Yea slapped Chelsea 4-0! So it clearly works and we have sold 15 clowns in 2 years. (**inserts photo of sad looking Conte**), Cry baby Conte. We will slap you lot silly too and you know it.”

This season is going to be fun! ?

 

[IfiHadTheWings]

I had a little amusing text interaction with my Gooner supporting mate. He’s usually quite rational but has obviously got himself all excited. I sent him that Tweet that I think @riggi shared talking about Arsenal’s 11 and the reply channeling on the aura of Wenger, Klopp, Mou to create the new Arteta.

Told him if anything, his lot were continually entertaining.

The reply I got…

“Yea slapped Chelsea 4-0! So it clearly works and we have sold 15 clowns in 2 years. (**inserts photo of sad looking Conte**), Cry baby Conte. We will slap you lot silly too and you know it.”

This season is going to be fun! ?

They really are tossers aren't they the gooners, the only slapping that has gone on since Conte was that hiding we gave them at the back end of the season.

 

[FibreOpticJesus]

Fair enough, but for someone whose helped them to 5 league titles and is up there for G/A I would have expected more. I feel like our fanbase was more upset about Lamela leaving and all he really did was tell Wilshire to fuck off and had beautiful yet crazy eyes.

I forgot to add that most of my Man City mates have never been a fan of Stirling and are not that upset to see him go. A good squad player and that’s it. They won their titles with him. Not because of him.

 

[Timberwolf]

I forgot to add that most of my Man City mates have never been a fan of Stirling and are not that upset to see him go. A good squad player and that’s it. They won their titles with him. Not because of him.

Yeah the general vibe I get from their fans is that he's an extremely frustrating player. Obviously chips in with loads of goals and assists which is great as a fan, but also very wasteful and drives them nuts with some of his decision making and misses from 4 yards out.

Just watched a compilation of his goals at City and, while about 30% are really impressive, SO many of them are classic City goals: tap-ins from cut-backs or crosses into the 6 yard box, often provided by the assister supreme KDB. Maybe he'll pick up where he left off and score loads for Chelsea due to good movement in the box, but I think there's also a chance that his numbers drop off massively when he's no longer part of a structured attacking system and isn't given an endless supply of cut-backs to score from.

 

[Mr Pink]

You'd think they've signed prime Ronaldo the way they go on about GJ lol

 

[wadewill]

Great post above mentioning Arsenal being a perfect fair weather team.

Nobody personifies that more than Jesus, he is petulant and pretty weak. They may well start well and actually look a bit of a threat, but as soon as things start to go wrong or team "put it up them" they will absolutely fall to pieces. You can see that right the way through their team, they are either a bunch of moaners or phoney hard men that just lose their head (Gabriel, Xhaka, Ramsdale). Over the whole season I do not see Arsenal doing great things, but in individual games they very well might.

Think West Ham could actually be pretty decent this year, Kostic, Scammacca are great buys. Dont know much about that CB they signed but Downes is a big upgrade on Noble and could well end up getting in there with Rice ahead of Soucek. I would absolutely fancy them to do Arsenal

 

[barry]

 

[Locotoro]

I agree massively. I also think saliba is a beast and elevates their defence more, thst with zinchenko they don’t have a huge weakness at left back when tierney inevitably gets injured, and saliba means less time for holding playing. Saliba playing that game last season against us we would maybe have scraped a win at best.
they will play some very fluid football and be very hard yo beat with their very fast very intense high press they have. They’re still a cm short in rotation and need another forward particularly to rotate with Saka as clearly Pepe won’t be used.
I agree it will be very very tight and I can see them getting top 4 over chelsea with us.

Zinchenko isn't going to be playing LB. They bought him to play in CM.

As Saliba, he won't sign a new contract so he may be gone before the season even starts

 

[djhotspur]

Zinchenko isn't going to be playing LB. They bought him to play in CM.

As Saliba, he won't sign a new contract so he may be gone before the season even starts

He played lb in their pre season game. He’ll play both and cover. Saliba won’t be gone, they have a lot of reports saying they won’t sell him and he’s signing a new contract

 

[Gb160]

Blimey one or 2 posters on here really starting to channel their inner ‘le grove’ now.