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Empty blue seats
I think I speak for all City fans (and normal football fans in general I hope) when I say that I’d rather sit next to an empty blue seat than have to sit next to a joyless, sanctimounious, WUM like Minty. Yes Minty, we get it. Emptyhad…ha ha ha!
Personally I’d take a hardcore of local support over a stadium full of tourists any day of the week.
To give the attendance last night some insight (and it WAS well attended, I was actually IN the stadium)…
Minty, not sure if you’ve noticed but we’ve got games coming thick and fast at the moment. We’re doing rather well in three competitions having already won the other we were in this season. We were in London for a 12.30 kick off on Saturday, we played last night (evening games at City are always less attended), we have another trip to London on Saturday for an FA Cup Semi Final (4th time to Wembley alone this season, with another possible trip in May if we win on Saturday). We play Spurs away next Tuesday in the CL and then Palace away the following Sunday.
Four trips to London in the space of a couple of week over three competitions…I think our mainly working class fan base have a right to pick and choose which games they go to don’t you?
Even going further into April we then have pretty big home games against Spurs (twice!) and a Manchester derby to attend – we can chuck in two legs of a possible CL semi final should we successfully negotiate Spurs (apparently they have a new stadium everyone, did you hear?). Are you catching my drift yet?
Going to them all is hundreds and hundreds of pounds. Literally more money than most of us have as disposable income. If you fancy sponsoring me to go to the additional cup games and a possible trip to Turin/Amsterdam, I’ll be more than happy to accept your kind offer. If not, can you kindly fu*k off with this utter tripe.
I will never for the life of me understand why attendances are used as a stick with which to beat clubs and in turn other supporters. We’re the same, Minty. Well, I clearly not in some senses. But you go to support your team, that is I think and hope you do, if you don’t you can doubly do one! I go to support mine. Our teams play in different cities with different histories (I know you lot love that word), with different catchment areas, with different fans, with all manner of different circumstances.
How about all fans come together to get ticket prices down (three figure ticket prices for trips to Wembley are a disgrace), unite as one for a greater good instead of finding something which doesn’t matter to point score with. Your team is pretty good at the moment, mate. Why not enjoy that instead, eh?
Mark M32 Blue (empty seat spotting is the new trainspotting)
Dear Mailbox,
In response to Minty this morning, I’m really pleased for him that he found something to cling onto when City went back to the top of the table. As a fan of any team, are we supposed to care how many other people come and watch our team play with us? Even when Italian football was the pinnacle of the game, I remember watching Football Italia and seeing half empty stadiums, what an absolute joke all the local Italians were! I’ve just always found this attempted insult amusing as I really don’t get it. I’m sure Jurgen can console himself with the Average Attendance as a Percentage of Capacity Cup if Liverpool fail to win the league. Weird.
Andy, Cheshire (I’ve also heard Liverpool have more Twitter followers than City, the shame!)
Man City are underwhelming
Here we have a team who are likely to win the quadruple, who are playing first rate football, who are going to break the points record two years on the bounce (even having “underperformed”, as an earlier mailboxer rightly said), and you know what?
It seems like nobody cares.
Their wins aren’t news stories. They don’t get clicks. They’re rarely the headline. They don’t fill their stadium. Far from being thrilling their success is being treated as borderline mundane. Their title victory, even their Champions League victory, will (relatively speaking) cause barely a ripple. They’re so brilliant, and yet so utterly meh at the same time.
Why is this?
My analysis is this. City are by no means the first amazing team to be assembled. Over the years Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man United, Arsenal, etc. etc. have all created equally good teams on their days. Brilliance is nothing new.
What *is* new however is this: City are the first squad ever assembled that is so deep that it makes them immune from:
1) Injury
2) Fatigue
Even the very greatest sides of all time had vulnerability. If they lost certain players, they were heavily weakened. At the business end of the season, they had to scrape together results. They found it difficult to fight on multiple fronts (this is why multi-title seasons are so impressive, and so rare).
In short, even the very best sides have a sense of drama. A sense that it could all go wrong.
But City don’t have that. Their second XI is, in my view, the second best team in the Premier League after their first XI. Players like Sane, Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Jesus, etc. allow them to rest whoever they like, whenever they like, without skipping a beat. The closest they came to an injury crisis this year was when they were “forced” to play Gundogan instead of Fernandinho. They’ve basically gone the whole season without their best player, KDB, and it hasn’t mattered. Whilst teams around them strain to get over the finish line at this time of year, they’re fresh as August.
Just compare their games to Liverpool’s right now. I would say that, on their day, XI vs. XI they are on a similar level, as evidenced by Liverpool’s multiple victories over them. The difference is that Liverpool have a normally balanced squad, with vulnerability, which means they are having to expend a superhuman effort to keep pace. City on the other hand, operate with freshness and ease, no matter how thick and fast the fixtures come. In fact, the longer the season goes the better they become, as everyone around them starts to get stretched, and they don’t.
This is why Liverpool are a story, and City aren’t. This is why even if Liverpool finish second, theirs will be the better, more newsworthy season, as they will have performed to a much higher level with the resources at their disposal (and I don’t like Liverpool, but it’s true, they’re doing something amazing).
I’ve got nothing against expensively assembled teams. That’s fine. But having *two* of them, which can act like a WWE tag team? That distorts the dynamics of the game. And the sad thing for Guardiola and his players is that ultimately it makes what should be an incredible achievement into an underwhelming one, because it’s got nothing to do with good management or good play, just a lack of natural limitations which are normally a core part of the sport.
Roll on the 110 point season. It will probably come, and you probably won’t even bat an eyelid.
Alex
If fate wills it, what else does a dreamer need?
I like the headline- Destiny might be Liverpool’s only hope against City.
I understand Winty and F365’s stance,
City are a better team hence they would win it. Simple. Straight. Logical.
But besides being biased as a Liverpool fan, I happen to be the person who moved from being an architect to a writer.
This move betrayed the senses of everyone who knows me. After all in the society (especially India) Architect > > > > Writer.
It’s the hopes and challenges of life that intrigues me, not the plans, elevations and models of the next evil corporate lair, and not many would understand that.
There are a lot of people out there who are handling simple, straight, logical facts in the world, while the lot like me who are trying to understand if there’s truly a higher power out there or is Lloris another karius. (No disrespect, it’s not easy playing at such an elite level)
When Fergie’s United pulled rabbits out of the hats on multiple occasions, It was just maddeningly confusing as to how did it happen on numerous occasions.
Now though witnessing that, I still don’t have any answers. Oh and we haven’t won anything yet.
Having said that, we may sh*t the bed at
Southampton and City would win it comfortably. But there’s still something happening at my club which makes me believe that we’re close.
Maybe it’s just me.
MIHIR NAIR. MUMBAI. LFC. (I seriously don’t remember a single league game post December that didn’t feel like a cup final. It’s taxing.)
Much has been written lately regarding the luck and destiny of Liverpool. I don’t mind – realistically need all the luck and fate they can possibly muster to win the league. It is staggering that they are even competing.
With no mention of net spend, Liverpool’s current squad cost in the region of £520 million. Man City, approximately £820 million. Allowing for football transfer inflation of about 10% (so I’ve read), the respective figures are about £590 million and £1,040 million. Now £450 million buys you an awful lot of goodies even at today’s prices! As Ms Winterburn says, this City side are extraordinary and exquisite. So they should be.
Just for good measure, the figures for Man U are roughly £650 and £880 million.
So should we not prevail, nobody can really complain. Klopp is doing just fine. I did not care to work out the figures for Tottenham but I suspect Poch is a genius.
Garth Litmus
Man City next week
Dear Editor,
I hate to disagree with a fellow City fan (Ryan, MCFC) while he’s on a high, but we’re famed for our negativity so I’m going to.
City will probably win the league this year, and probably next year too, but I definitely wouldn’t expect us to be stronger next season. Ryan said it himself: Fernandinho, David Silva and Aguero are all a year older. Those three have been absolutely pivotal since before Pep came, and little has changed. Obviously we have plenty of other great players, but we don’t have any direct replacements for those three that are even close to the same quality.
Aguero is the less urgent case, so we’re okay there for the time being. But before long, we either have to hope Jesus fulfils his potential and becomes world class, or we buy someone else – which will always be a risk. Look around the top of the Premier League and you’ll see multiple strikers bought for huge money who just haven’t quite worked out.
David Silva is irreplaceable. We have other great attacking midfielders but no-one who can do what he can do. Finding that kind of talent available elsewhere is very unlikely. From what we have, we already bought arguably the next best in the Premier League (Mahrez) and he has struggled. Foden will surely get a proper chance to prove himself but you can’t bet it all on him. We’ll adapt and play in a different way without Silva, but we’ll be worse off.
The need to find Fernandinho’s successor is already pressing, and it hasn’t happened. Eventually someone else will get that role in the team on a more permanent basis, but I doubt they will be as good.
You say we can play these three less to stretch out their careers – yes we can. But that’s the thing, when your best players play less, you win less.
Look, things are fine. The risk involved in rebuilding a team is part of what makes football interesting year after year. But let’s face it. These are three special players and we won’t be the same without them.
Richard, MCFC
Musings
1. Last night Bonnuci posted on Instagram saying his comments right after the match have been expressed wrongly.’”The abuses are not acceptable at all and this must not be misunderstood.”’ So that’s progress and important for a young player such as Kean.
2. An interesting topic in the mailbox lately is whether Liverpool are the neutrals favorite.
I am from Amsterdam and support Ajax, I really don’t have a bone in the English title race, but here is my somewhat neutral view;
If Liverpool go on and win it I will be delighted because two of my countrymen are starters in a championship winning team. Where one gets a bit more of the plaudits because of the Croatian Roulette next to him.. but Wijnaldum has been awesome as well. Solid.
However, I expect City to win it again. I can get behind this too, they play great football and Pep is on of my favorite managers since he took over from Rijkaard.
I’m a sucker for statistics.. so if City when I did I hope they win at least a treble.
If Liverpool win it it will be awesome too as it’s their first title since the internet.
3. Now back to the continent, where last weekend Ajax beat leaders PSV to cut the gap to 2 points.
Ajax are in the final of our domestic cup, 2 points behind PSV with momentum in our favor.. and next week Juventus come to town, hopefully without but probably with the currently injured Ronaldo.
4. Lastly, a thought occurred to me when writing this mail — as a Dutchman, with my countrymen scattered all over various top leagues in Europe I keep an eye on all leagues. With Depay in France with Lyon, Cillesen at Barcelona, the aforementioned duo at Liverpool, de Vrij at Lazio and more of lower profile at various other clubs.. I wondered, with most English players playing in England.. do you lot ever watch anything abroad? Unless it’s maybe El Classico.
So I put it to the mailbox.. Is my broad yet less passionate experience of football better than yours? Or your narrow but more invested fandom of one club in one league?
Stijn, Ajax, Amsterdam
No more booing
Unfortunately didn’t watch the game due to a work night out, so can’t comment on the performance really. But interesting to note that the first time that Sarri finally gave in and started Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek, and Giroud instead of Mr Nothing Kovacic and the hot and cold Willian and Pedro, led to a comfortable win and a goal scored after 30 minutes. Hopefully this will continue for the final weeks. Top 4 still a tall order, but at least it seems more possible than it did a couple of weeks ago. And please guys, no more booing and chanting for the manager to be sacked, it doesn’t help. That being said, would he have started that team if those fans hadn’t been chanting ‘we want Sarri out’ in the previous game?
Juanito
It’s a world of extremes
Well, Adam (Doubt Ole finishes next year) has managed to look at the league table and work out that United are still in sixth and have therefore made no progress. Let’s ignore the fact that since Ole has taken over United have lost two games, once away to Arsenal (unbeaten at home) and Wolves who have had good results against Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and City this season. Let’s also ignore the fact that when Mourinho was sacked United were in sixth and 11 points of the top four. As things stand they are now 2 points off top four (although Arsenal do have a game in hand). In a mini table of games since Ole’s appointment United are top, one point clear of Liverpool.
Granted the performance hasn’t been great from the players in the last few games but there can be many reasons for that, it is too early to Judge Ole as a success or a flop, especially as everyone knows the squad needs investment (yet again).
The problem with most football fans seems to be the live in a world of extremes, something is either brilliant or terrible with no middle ground. Let’s give Ole some time and see how he goes next season.
Chris (MUFC)
