Manchester City 2014-15: Now With as Many Top Flight Titles as Wednesday

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soxfan121

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teddykgb said:
I don't necessarily disagree with the logic but City did precisely this last season. A bunch of dropped points early while getting the pieces acclimated but still went on to win the league.
 
OK but everyone was unsettled at the start of last season (except Arsenal, but they are Specialists in Failure). 
 
This year, Chelsea has bedded in its acquisitions and hit the ground running. I don't think anyone can afford to drop points if they want to stay with City and Chelsea this season - both look like juggernauts.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Where were you when you were shit?
 
Edit: Ryan- can you sneak out of work for this? I bet we get the Wednesday (!!) Sky Sports game.
 

fletcherpost

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That's a tough group. But City have the squad to cope. I looked at the groups on the BBC website, was i the only one who scrolled down to see what group Utd were in? I totally forgot. Strange times.
 

teddykgb

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fletcherpost said:
That's a tough group. But City have the squad to cope. I looked at the groups on the BBC website, was i the only one who scrolled down to see what group Utd were in? I totally forgot. Strange times.
 
And for the fans, realistically, these tough groups aren't so bad.  They get a great excuse to go on a trip to other major European cities and drink their faces off, and that's what this should be all about.  It's just unfortunate that the TV rules along with the pot system almost force these draws.  City have gotten Bayern 3 times now, so it's not like a day in Munich is as cool as a day somewhere else would be, it's been done.
 
The best part is when you go check for United in the Europa League draw ... they've only got one competition left to play for and it's the third match week of the season!
 

LTF

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fletcherpost said:
That's a tough group. But City have the squad to cope. I looked at the groups on the BBC website, was i the only one who scrolled down to see what group Utd were in? I totally forgot. Strange times.
 
I was on the Guardian site the morning of the United-MK Dons match and it took me a minute to remember why United was playing in the second round of the League Cup. Strange times indeed.
 

Dummy Hoy

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LTF said:
 
I would love to meet up. Let me just check my schedule.
 
No dice on the TV...Wednesday sky sports game (I assume we'll play on Wednesday b/c you play the previous Sunday) is Spurs/Forest. 
Will keep an eye on any other potential tv streams.
 

LTF

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I hate NBC Sports. Only took me three matches to bitch about them this season. The telecast of Monday's match came in like shit and then the internet feed for Saturday's was equally shitty. Thank goodness for "Manchester Mondays"; gonna watch the matches this weekend during the boring-ass international break.
 

LTF

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Also, the Negredo loan deal was an absolute head-scratcher. Leaves City with just three strikers: two are injury prone and the third is Dzeko. Don't know how this is gonna shake out, especially when the preferred formation is a 4-2-2-2.
 

PedroSpecialK

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There's also John Guidetti for cover at striker.
 
That City will end up making a profit off one year of the 29 year old Negredo - as well as getting the transfer fee on next year's FFP when they'll need it more - makes it pretty tidy for them overall.
 

LTF

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John Guidetti ... Who I have read so many glowing things about, yet he's never made a Premier League start for City. So yeah, three strikers.  :q:
 
And I certainly understood the FFP reasoning behind this. It's just tough to stomach when it's at a position the club can't afford to lose depth at.
 

teddykgb

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He also may or may not be loaned to Celtic. I don't know how that works, but in a world where united and arsenal get bonus time for transfers I think it's fitting
 

teddykgb

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I've been slacking on the City thread, but today's match has me fired up so here we go.
 
Guidetti did eventually go through to Celtic, which when coupled with the Negredo transfer left city a bit light at striker as a team who regularly employs two forwards.  Of course, Jovetic immediately went out injured in an international friendly and now only Dzeko and Aguero remain.
 
A disappointing result against Stoke was followed by a relatively disappointing single point against Arsenal, whose second goal came as a result of a pretty blatant foul on Kompany.  This is the sport, but I reserve the right to bring this up when City inevitably gets the benefit of a decision later in the season.  In either case, what was more interesting to me is that City seems to be prioritizing the CL this season.  Yaya was sat for the Arsenal match because he came back late from international duty and Nasri was not started either, presumably with an eye toward today's match against Bayern.
 
Unfortunately, Fernando injured himself against Stoke and has now been missing for 3 of the matches he was brought in for (Arsenal, Bayern, Chelsea).  This is a pretty big blow, but Bayern are dealing with an injury crisis of their own.  Neither team will be sporting their best XI today, that's for sure, and City's is far closer than Bayern's.  Sagna is starting in place of Zabaleta today and it looks like MDM in place of Mangala, who strangely still has yet to play for City.  Navas seems to have earned a start after a very impressive performance against Arsenal.  Dzeko leads the line instead of Aguero, but Dzeko has a pretty good record against Bayern and I think the rotation is necessary anyway with only two strikers.  Let Aguero run circles around Cahill and Terry.
 
City's European away kit is also newly release and it is on the awful Nike 3rd kit template, featuring purple and yellow.  No word yet on the release of United's European Away kit.
 

Dummy Hoy

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I thought it was a clear penalty on Silva in the box just prior too.
 
Losing by one at BM isn't a bad result, the fashion it occurred in sucked.
 

teddykgb

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Yeah, it's essentially all about Roma.  Although I wouldn't rule out City taking a point or all the points against Bayern at home, City need to take care of business against CSKA and Roma.  It sucks because it is the first match but @Bayern was always the match City was most likely to lose.  The biggest downsides are that Silva should have been awarded a pen and that Roma really took care of CSKA, which could do some nasty things if tiebreakers come into play.
 

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I feel bad for City after watching the match. The did just enough to grind out a draw and were robbed of any benefit. I agree Silva's claim was the closest thing to a penalty all night, but the ref had passed over many slighter transgressions the other way, so it seemed to balance out.
It is a tough row to hoe from here for them. I have no doubt they can do it, but whether they will or not I can't tell.
 

LTF

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I love Yaya, but honestly, there was part of me that wanted to see the summer drama left unresolved and City given no choice but to sell him (and they would have obviously sold high, too, based on last season's form). Not buying all the "Yaya's back" chatter I'm seeing today. He's looked totally disinterested all season, particularly when helping out at the back. We're only in September, but it's still worrying.

And a Kompany-Mangala pairing at centerback is quite formidable. The latter was named man of the match, though it probably could have gone to Milner.

Next it's Wednesday this Wednesday ...
 

Dummy Hoy

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What are we going to see for a line-up from the Champs? I'd imagine you'll get the starting XI from Wednesday, although we're still down our best two CMs.
 

teddykgb

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I think it'll be a second string side, as much as possible.
 
Nasri, Lampard, Clichy, and Sagna will probably all start. Lampard with one of Fernandinho or Yaya.  Navas probably starts as well.  The striker situation is pretty dire right now, I don't know if Jovetic will be back in time for this one and he probably can't play 90 if he does come back.  I'd pick a 4-5-1 with Nasri playing as a CAM and Lampard and Yaya holding with Milner and Navas on the sides of him, Dzeko at the top.  But that's probably too aggressive and not really how Pellegrini sets his side out.  So I bet Silva still plays (even though this is crazy) and he and Nasri support both strikers, although I hope Aguero is sat either in favor of an extra midfielder or an EDS striker.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Anyone on your second string could start for Wednesday, although I may like us in goal.
 
You'll see a 4-4-2...our CB pairing is probably the best in the Championship this year (Lees and Loovens) and Keiran Westwood has been outstanding in goal (I think we may lose him). Our FB both have decent pace (we are talking Championship here) and like to move forward, but I think we'll get killed if they try that on Wednesday, especially because our outside midefielders don't track back as well as I'd like. Our best DM and CAM have been out for a while...Semedo will provide solid coverage at DM, but our attack up the middle is pretty wretched. The biggest trouble you will have is with Adthe Nuihu, which is Albanian for Peter Crouch. He holds up well, and is better than expected with the ball at his feet- at 6"6' and 190 he's a bit thicker than Crouchie and can cause problems, although I doubt we have the ball enough to make him a factor. His strike partner Stevie May (Scottish U21 international) has a good scorer's instinct and can finish, but he's never faced defenders as talented as yours. Stuart Gray has shown a willingness to go for it, so I doubt you see Wednesday intentionally park the bus (we may just be hemmed in).
 
Wednesday is pretty stout in defense which should keep the score respectable...I like a 3-0 win for the hosts.
 

teddykgb

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This is Manchester City, anything is always possible.  I'm not happy to hear that your striker in any way resembles Crouch, he's always a complete handful for City and it wouldn't surprise me if he's really disruptive this week.  
 
I'd have loved to have grabbed Westwood for our backup keeper as I believe he qualifies as HG but alas it was not to be.  I think it'll be a close match, City have really struggled to put away some of the "lesser" opponents in these competitions even while playing strong squads.  Wednesday will be up for it and I would expect a pretty close match given how many changes City are likely to make and Wednesday giving their all.  It's nearly impossible to predict City would lose this, but I think it'll be a classic hard fought Cup match.
 
If your midfielders don't track back then you'll want to pay particular attention to City's fullbacks.  They dictate a tremendous amount of City's attack when Pellegrini chooses Zabaleta and Kolarov.  Sagna is still an unknown, but if Pellegrini plays Clichy you'll see much less danger down the left than when Kolarov plays.  Zabaleta is suspended, but City likes to overlap the fullbacks outside the attacking midfielder and play a ball behind the defenders for the fullback to run onto.  Then the ball is crossed or reversed to the top of the box for scoring chances.  It's the most consistent attack and it requires a lot of discipline on the part of the defenders and wingers to combat (this is partially why Ramires was chosen yesterday for Chelsea).
 
edit: I've alluded to City always doing things the difficult way in this thread a few times.  I think it's easier to forget with all this success lately, but this is a team that has literally tortured its fans for years.  This video is what it means to be a City fan, which is why these last few years are so absurdly awesome.  This own goal got City relegated to the third tier.  So not only did City go down, they went down like this.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWNjWfIHXL4
 

Dummy Hoy

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I've had both Zabs and Kolorov on fantasy teams...very dangerous bombing down the flanks.  Is Zabaleta suspended for the Cup game too? 
 
I think Mangala may be the physical presence to help shut down Nuihu, unless they don't want to play him because he's just coming back. I thought he looked like a beast against Chelsea. We'll see...there should be a stream for the game, so I'm excited to see it.
 
I've spoken on here about my fondness for City- they were the other side of Manchester when the Red side represented so much I hate about sport. There's a lot of clubs and fans who think they've had a struggle, but very few successful ones have understood it like City. Happy to be playing them in the cup, lot of respect, only wish the game was in Hillsborough so the old barn could be filled and loud.
 
Edit: I'm seeing that domestic red cards apply to all domestic competitions, so Zaba out for this one, but back vs. Hull on Saturday.
 
Should be a great atmosphere- Wednesday is bringing 6000 and they're usually pretty loud on the road.
 

Dummy Hoy

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I'm actually curious to see if you get the starting XI or just most of them. I wouldn't be surprised to see Drenthe (yes, that Royston Drenthe) get the start on a wing and maybe your old friend  Jeremy Helan on the other wing. Our back up keeper Chris Kirkland is quality and has only gotten two starts (both in the Cup) so it's likely you see him.
 

SoxFanInCali

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Chris Kirkland is still around? When he was at Liverpool almost a decade ago he couldn't get out of bed without hurting himself.
 

Dummy Hoy

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He was outstanding last season in front of an inconsistent and shoddy defense- he's a great shot stopper and I don't think anyone could have held together the patchwork back four Wednesday worked with last season.
 
I was surprised they went after a keeper this offseason, but Westwood has probably been the best keeper in the Championship. Nice problem to have.
 

DLew On Roids

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Here is a list of all the teams Ade Akinbiyi played more games for than Sheffield United: Norwich City, Gillingham, Bristol City, Wolves, Leicester City, Crystal Palace, Stoke City, and Burnley (each of both stints).
 

Dummy Hoy

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Oh relax baby, I'm just teasing you.

I knew he played for a lot of people but never knew it was that many. He's apparently a player/coach on a
Conference North squad, which I think is pretty awesome. Keeping the dream alive.
 

DLew On Roids

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Colwyn Bay, famed for being the junior half of the only pair of clubs to achieve double promotion together.

I say "junior half" because the other club was the mighty mighty Halifax Town of Jamie Vardy.
 

Dummy Hoy

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I'm honestly not sure what formation you'll see...5 Defenders in, but Palmer is likely to move up with Buxton on the back line. Palmer and Maguire out wide with Maghoma and Coke in the middle, Madine and May up front. Unless Gray is going 4-3-3 with Maguire joining the front line. Curious, although it probably doesn't make a difference.
 
Racing home now...will post a link when I find one. 
 
edit: This has been a solid stream.
 

Stanley Steamer

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Normally a satellite TV whore, I'm sampling my first Owls game, courtesy of wiziwag. They currently are giving just as much as they get. Only Mangala's volley has been close.
Not a good career trajectory: Drenthe goes from Real Madrid to Wednesday's bench inside a few years.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Reading told Drenthe to stay away from the team and gave him to Wednesday on a free loan. Of course the running joke is that we get players even Real Madrid can't.
 
Solid first half. Love the defending, love that Wednesday isn't afraid to possess and move the ball around, love the job Liam Palmer has done in the middle (normally a RB). City looks like a bunch of rusty guys who haven't really played together, but their class is evident. They've had a lot of opportunities down the right side- Stevie May has been back in midefield role on the left and hasn't been tracking back as well, which is key when Mattock goes forward. I think it's more a case of May being played out of position than it's his fault. We'll see if Stuart Gray addresses this or just rolls the dice.
 
Wednesday fans have been great.
 
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