Burnwinter

Otoh, a member of City's legal team uses the same Soho barber as me and he is, as of three weeks ago, incredibly bullish that City will beat the charges. Hopefully it's just bravado.

Given City's form now and the yearly spankings his Bayern team used to take in the CL, Guardiola might also just be a limited coach.

      Segway I just think they hit a wall. It's a number of issues coming together at once. Rodri is an issue but they'd have dealt with that 2 years ago and still won the league. A lot of them are ageing out. Walker looks done, I can't remember such a sudden drop off but his pace is gone and he's not my ch without it. KDB and Gundo are way past their best too. Bilva has wanted out for years. Grealish and Foden both overrated. Their defence is mediocre. All these things were waiting to catch up with them. They won 5 titles in a row, you can't keep going like that forever.

          Dom Honestly if all they got was a ten point penalty this season, that'd count as beating the charges.

            Qwiss That all makes sense but doesn't really explain their dramatic drop in quality in such a short space of time.

                Segway

                Their recruitment has been poor in recent years and that is the single biggest reason. You can have the greatest ideas in all the world but without the right execution it's all moot.

                I'm actually quite worried about the game right now. Where is all the talent? City have always had an exceptional transfer strategy but players like Doku, Savinho and Nunes are all downgrades on their predecessors.

                They're going to struggle massively to recreate the creative hub of De Bruyne, Gundogan and Silva. Who is the next big creative/attacking midfield talent? Musiala and then? Bellingham? Palmer? Who else is there?

                    Qwiss spot on. Plus I think as a collective they have no clue how to deal with adversity. From the coach, to the players and the tea lady. This is all knew. Like getting slapped in the face with with a cock.

                        Qwiss

                        There were signs if it last two years too. I think even the season they won the treble they looked off.

                        It’s been a team on its last legs for a while, they’ve somehow kept it together but as soon as soon as one of the bolts came loose (Rodri) it’s all come apart.

                        Despite the early season hype, Savinho turns out to be pretty average, at least by their standards.

                          Who can explain why I made Isak vice captain instead of captain. I debated for a second and made Saka capi. Meh.

                          daredevil — Wirtz, Alvarez (albeit a forward), and Olise have all moved recently (or are about to).

                              Claudius — can’t say I know much about the transfer. What I do know is he’s ace, likely moving soon, and could easily replicate what Gundogan/Silva produced.

                              I would imagine Man City will be in on him, and if they’re not that’s certainly a red flag.

                                I cant believe they let Alvarez leave. He has looked like one of the best strikers under Simeone and has scored so many important goals for Citeh last year.

                                Alvarez is massively overrated and just has a good shot on him. But it was odd they sold him for big money without buying a replacement.

                                Saving up cash for League One?

                                  goon He is extremely intelligent in his game tbh. Quite impressed with some of his vision and assists

                                    At least we’ll get to see Ange melt on the touchline when the Spurs fans break into YNWA while 4-0 down.

                                    United getting thumped by Bournemouth (again!) at home. 3-0