Man City Without Haaland | Arsenal & Liverpool Title Chances |

sorry long post lol. The back for Haaland is Alvarez, and the back up for Dias is Akanji. People forget Akanji is technically a back up but he plays a lot, probably far too much for most City fan's liking. You are right, Man City aren't the same. It's hard to be the same team when the best player in the league has played 30 minutes this season. To only be 4 points off first without the best player in the league is not too shabby. There is a hangover from last season and there was always going to be a drop off from last season because of how incredible and rare of an achievement it was. When you go from a midfield of KDB/Gundo/Rodri to Alvarez/Bernardo/Rodri, there will be a massive drop off. I think that midfield lacking control is what is causing so many of these issues this season, particularly with the defense. Letting Gundo go has proved to be a terrible decision, as I think his presence/leadership would have calmed things tremendously. I don't think as many points would have been dropped if he was there knowing now how many games Rodri has missed. He was the Rodri 'back up' if that even exists. I know it was just Luton, but the team looked so much better when they played actual midfielders in their proper position. The control was there, the passes were better. Night and day vs having a striker and 2 defenders as a midfield against Villa… City remind me of Liverpool last season… shaky midfield causing tons of issues, and the fatigue/injury/loss of form from a long season prior. I still firmly believe if City can reach their potential, they will win the league… but that is a big If right now. They have the highest ceiling out of all the contenders based on their roster, manager and experience, but there is no guarantee they will reach it this season. However, all the top teams have flaws… so this will likely come down to the end of the season.

What Quadruple year bro Mo r u talking about for LiVAR pool..😅😅😅..they never done real double with Klop…where did the quadruple came from …

I've been hearing Liverpool has to do this has to do that can't win the league bcs they need a 123456789….all u pundits never had this team to be in this position NONE OF YOU ! All I've been hearing from game one City City City …just wait !

Do you think liverpool will sign salah to new contract heard rumors that he wants to stay because he loves liverpool or you think liverpool will sell him summer time?

This talk about sacking Pouch is nonsense , none of these players the guy bought , the owners went out and bought this team then asked him to coach , it doesn't work that way …this is not on the coach

Mo – As you know, i comment a lot and we've had some good exchanges. As per your section on MC, we are absolutely not the same team as last season – we cannot be, given the players we have lost that made such impacts (Gundo, KDB, Mahrez – some CL games, FA cup semi etc), so you are 100% correct in saying that.

As per needing players in Jan, based on your logic, any fanbase that says they need players in Jan don't believe in their manager can turn it around. In which case, I don't think Pep can turn it around which is consistent with that I have been saying: that the City board bottled the summer transfer window with their strategy and needs to be addressed IF the club have aspirations of winning the PL or the CL or even the FA. There are too many issues that are self-inflicted for which the board is responsible.

Make no mistake, I am not advocating City turn into Chelsea, but they absolutely need some quality players in that side as they let too much quality and especially experience go, without properly replenishing it.

Problems: Did not bring in anyone as cover for Rodri. Philips was that guy, but Pep has made it abundantly clear that will not happen and as such, he is likely going to Juve on loan in Jan. A proper Gundo replacement was not brought in both quality of output, versatility of play and experience. I think Gvardiol for Laporte was good. Doku is great as someone who can grow into a permanent winger position, but it would have made more sense to bring in an experienced winger with output as not to put too much pressure on him both physically (out now) and mentally. City board also sold/loaned out a lot of EDS players which in the past, Pep has used as occasional stop-gaps but that is now not an options as they are gone. Not sure why board felt the need to do that, but they did as part of their strategy which I think is proving to be a mess and why I am staunchly advocating that they bring in 2-3 players this window (with Philips gone, the squad is even smaller, so at a min, they must replace him and prob need 1 maybe 2 other players). But I doubt they will…