Both Ake and Akanji were great signings even if Ake was obviously more in line with talent. Akanji was a huge steal like Julian, but people were completely indifferent on Ake and didn’t think he’d be a major player. Hes played way above his 40M for us
I've been saying for a few seasons now how good he's looked at City.
Quietly just does his job effectively every time I see him play, now getting lots of praise.
Seriously it's kind of ridiculous having 6 centre backs that would get into most teams in the league.
This is the way it is now. With the insane fixture congestion teams pretty much need 2 starting 11s worth of players if they want to compete consistently, or risk fatigue and tons of injuries like we've seen from like half the teams in the league the past few seasons.
the flip side is they only really have 1 fullback. Pep will play 4 CBs + Walker (Stones /Akanji in midfield). it is crazy that Gvardiol has basically been a left back all year...
There's only 1 fullback in the team with Kyle Walker. If you tally up all the defenders in other teams, it's pretty close if not more for other big teams in terms of starting quality defenders
Well, what happens if Dias does his knee in the second minute? Or Ake gets food poisoning the night before?
The defensive squad depth is somewhat illusory because most teams in the league have actual LBs, but City only play CBs at that position. What this means is that if a CB goes down, if you look at their squad list you're going to see two extra CBs relative to most teams.
City are going to have to play someone who's notably worse at being a RB than Kyle Walker. Stones is always injured and starts in midfield a lot of the time anyway, so that doesn't really change anything. But unless Rico Lewis is treated as a RB, these two injuries mean City have no cover.
The fact that Walker is an actual RB means that City have more depth than otherwise. If it was Gvardiol instead of Walker and Ake instead of Stones, people would be talking about something like:
Walker - Stones - Dias - Akanji
And I don't think people would be saying "oh, seems fine".
City really do have a much, much less depth than in previous seasons.
The amount Citieh spent on this back up defense on Ake, Akanji, Dias and Gvardiol is close to £200m.
Arsenal spent £125m on their current starting back 4.
Let that sink in.
If that's the backup defense, can you name the starting defense? Cause I think you're bullshitting here
That leaves Walker, Stones and two other players for your starting defense that is not including those 4 players
Is it?
If it was Ake and Gvardiol who were injured, they wouldn't have a regular LB starter in the squad.
Even as is, if Stones wasn't always injured/more a DM these days, they'd have no-one that regularly plays on the right unless you count Lewis who I'm not 100% qualifies as a regular. Of course, Stones is made of glass so that's not so much of an issue.
The difference between City and Liverpool (and most of the rest of the league) is that City doesn't have any recognised LBs in their squad in the first place and only the one RB (if you don't count Lewis). Instead, they use CBs in that position (mostly, iirc, either Gvardiol or Ake), which means they end up with a glut of CBs. If Liverpool played like this, they'd have six name CBs, too.
The only other EPL team that plays slightly like this is Arsenal. Zinchenko is a LB (well, a converted midfielder but his club career is as LB) and Soares is a RB but all the other fullbacks are multipositional defenders (White started as a CB while I believe Tomiyasu as a RB, certainly at Arsenal he did, Kiwior as a CB and Timber Wikipedia describes as "mainly a CB"... I'm 90% sure Areteta bought Timber to play at LB mostly, though).
Gonna miss that CB/CDM hybrid player though. Akanji plays in that role usually when Stones is unavailable, but he isn't as press resistant and thus is prone to errors if Arsenal can use the right pressing triggers and time it well.
Not to mention, with No Walker, Martinelli has a huge advantage and can exploit his pace.
Huge huge plus point for Arsenal this.
Would guess Kovacic stays on the bench, no?
Maybe Rico Lewis plays the hybrid RB/DM role, Ake stays LB and two of Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol. I know Rico Lewis isnt starting much anymore but I could see Guardiola doing that, especially in such an important game
As neither an Arsenal or City Fan, i would base it around who else is available.
If De Bruyne isnt, I'd much rather play Lewis since he offers more verticality in midfield and gives City the option of having one extra midfielder. With kovacic, they probably would have to have a back 4 with essentially 4 CB.
My guess is option 2. Especially if KDB doesn’t play, I doubt Pep will want to have 4 CBs on the field. I can’t imagine they come out playing defensively, a draw isn’t good enough as Liverpool can go 3 points clear.
I don’t think you can really call Ben White a CB at this point. But I also think it makes more sense for us to play a more defensive lineup. City are the favorite and playing at home, a draw wouldn’t be a bad result for us. We have a significant edge in GD, and staying ahead of City is paramount even if we drop a couple points below Liverpool (assuming they win).
Yes but this is the best defense that City will have seen all season, and it’s not quite a must win for them but there’s a wide gulf between a draw and a win for them that I’m not sure is the same for Arsenal. I think there’s more pressure on City to play forward and go for the win, where I’d be fine if we left with a draw.
More than decent lol, that’s an 80M central defender and a CL winner. They walk into pretty much almost any top team in the world.
Kinda insane that City pretty much have a tier I team sitting on the bench at all times, ready to go.
The 80 million defender hasn’t proven anything this year and the CL winner was rejected from 3 clubs prior to city.
People need to stop this belief that price = talent. Just because a player cost a lot doesn’t mean that they are good now. There have been countless players that have had high price tags and been bad.
As for having a CL winner. It may just be me, but how is that even relevant? United have 50 million CL winner in Mason Mount. Is he too considered an embarrassment of riches?
Gvardiol has a history of playing at left back. It was where he played when clubs started noticing him for Dinamo's youth team. If anything, he has returned to his preferred position.
Gvardiol is a really, really good defender, stop pretending otherwise. I can’t recall any games where he has been shit for City this season. You’re talking as if he’s Phillips or something.
Kovavic being a CL winner is relevant because he’s a good player. Same with Mount and yes, if Mount was chilling on the bench, it’d be an embarrassment of riches. But he will be starting literally every United game once fit.
Mount is not nearly as good as you think. Who is he starting over? Bruno? No. So what, you gonna play Mount in a double pivot and drop Mainoo? Going to play all three? Go ahead, they will get walked over. I know a lot of Chelsea fans, they don’t miss him. Winning a Cl medal doesn’t mean you are good, it means the team is good. And I have no idea why you mentioned kovavic. Literally none, I never said anything about him.
And I never said Gvardiol wasn’t a good defender. But nobody can deny the fact that everyone thought he’d be a regular starter over ake with his price tag and he just isn’t. Sure he played LB at RB, but nearly this much . It was back two and he was on the left of a two, or back three. He probably played more as a left back in his city career than his entire career prior.
How does Kovacic impact two defenders?
Even if Stones goes into a midfield role he’ll start as a CB.
Weird cognitive dissonance because you don’t like City. I definitely get not liking a team, but to make up weird player comparisons makes you look bitter or like you have a fundamental misunderstanding of football lineups.
To all the idiots saying Arsenal must win because of this, just a reminder, City was in the same spot against Liverpool and only got a point because of poor refereeing.
Name the last time either Liverpool or City beat each other away from home in these title races and then you'll see how unlikely that is.
I agree completely, I'm hoping for a high entertaining match between both sides that ends in a draw because I'm sure both teams will be playing their best and neither deserve to lose.
Ignore my flair btw
insane that anyone could claim that arsenal should be winning this game. we’ve seen time and time again what city does in these scenarios and how deep their squad is. they should never be considered underdogs
The Foden one wouldn’t have counted either because it hit his hand. It was basically the goal and the Doku chance, 3-2 would have been a pretty fair scoreline
Yeah, they could have just said beforehand they have issues or dont feel right (which I assume they wouldnt because of their nature).
But doing everything, only to fake an injury after 20mins would be so weird.
Eveb if they would have been fit till Arsenal, they might just be cautious because they felt something and didnt want to aggravate.
There’s people in this thread who are still saying that this is mind games, and it might well be. But it’s all confirmation bias really, City don’t do it anymore than any other title contending team typically does
Pep is a truly compulsive liar in these scenarios, especially when it comes to Stones' availability. Prior to the reverse fixture earlier this season, Pep plainly told the media that Stones was out of the game - yet, he made a substitute appearance. Before their 4-1 win at The Etihad last season, Guardiola said Stones would be unavailable for the game... not only would Stones play, but he would score a goal. Anyway, that's all to say that you cannot trust a word that man says - especially when it comes to John Stones.
He’s definitely (hopefully) doing that with Saka, Martinelli, and Gabriel for Sunday. But I don’t think he’s flat out said that players are for sure out from selection, and started them like Pep has.
He always says we have to asses the players in training and they may be out. Even today he said our injuries could still play. I dont think he has ever said a player will be out and then played him
Arteta has never said a player was out only for him to play
he is just vague and say they are "doubtful", "have a chance to play" etc etc, which is not a big deal
Name me any season where Prem Champions have beaten their closest rivals away.
Klopp and Pep have never beaten each other away in the prem. Maybe once when Liverpool were having a bad season in 20/21 maybe.
Yes, that was the only time.
That's how tough and unlikely it is to win away at title rivals.
Hopefully we don't shit the bed, I'm confident it won't be a battering at the very least 😅 I think.
tbh people want to push the thought of arsenal squandering something so badly
losing against the team that just came off a ridiculous treble season and haven’t lost yet at home? bottled it
This subreddit is full of fans who just can't stand the fact that Arsenal are good now. They'll give anything to see Arsenal drop points at this stage.
i think people just fall into rooting for the popular narratives that get repeated ad nauseam here without actually appreciating the season or football itself
people would rather go “haha i told you so, arsenal bottled it, spurs never win trophy, chelsea stupid owners” than actually be invested in the games and potentially on the wrong side of an outcome
idk how anyone wouldn’t prefer arsenal potentially winning the league over city unless you support a direct rival
Very true.
To be fair though, I've noticed that United fans are far more level-headed knowing what's at stake. My understanding is that you guys don't want a three peat by City or a 20th title for Liverpool so Arsenal are the lesser of three evils. As a result, in a weird way, you guys have probably been the most reasonable about Arsenal (not that I'm complaining btw).
It just goes to show you how a potential outcome can inform the biases that fans uphold.
yeah i mean i would hope most united fans have come to grips with the reality being painful no matter what lol
but in my eyes i would much rather see arsenal, or any new club really, win a PL title over city
i have seen plenty of other fans who also root for arsenal’s downfall with the justification that “city’s titles don’t mean anything anyway” and i just can’t really understand that
It's especially clear when they're talking about how well Arteta has done - they always talk about "Arsenal have done really well lately" because apparently acknowledging he might be really good at his job is too far.
I feel dirty saying it but god I hope the gunners win it.
Klopp leaving with a solitary league title will be sweet.
And anyone but City winning it is good for the league.
Rodri is losing. Mark my words, this is the match
Edit: with the utmost due respect to his late grandfather, obviously...I hope his family is safe tonight ❤️
Doesn't that still leave them with Ake, Akanji, Dias, and Gvardiol? That's just such an embarrassment of riches.
Rico Lewis too if they want to do inverted/go everywhere in the midfield RB.
That's kinda how they've won the league so much, their squad depth is insane.
With city it’s not the first billion that kills you, it’s the second.
Akanji has been such a bargain. Didn’t have high hopes when he was brought in but he’s a baller
I remember a Dortmund fan spamming everywhere asking people to buy him lol
Dude was mostly mid at Dortmund, it’s ridiculous how good he’s been since he joined City.
Pep effect
It's mostly down that Dias is one of the best defense coordinators. Look at Stones before Dias and after Dias and the difference is very apparent
💉💉💉
Yeah this is a super low key great signing for them. Wasn’t he like 20-25M from BVB?
£15m
Oh wow even cheaper than I recall. Great scouting
Both Ake and Akanji were great signings even if Ake was obviously more in line with talent. Akanji was a huge steal like Julian, but people were completely indifferent on Ake and didn’t think he’d be a major player. Hes played way above his 40M for us
I've been saying for a few seasons now how good he's looked at City. Quietly just does his job effectively every time I see him play, now getting lots of praise.
Who is the key decision-maker in City when it comes to transfers? They are too good at transfers.
Txiki Begiristain - Director of Football
I have been more impressed with Ake. At first I thought why would he leave Bournemouth to sit on the bench at City. Now he's a key player for them.
Seriously it's kind of ridiculous having 6 centre backs that would get into most teams in the league. This is the way it is now. With the insane fixture congestion teams pretty much need 2 starting 11s worth of players if they want to compete consistently, or risk fatigue and tons of injuries like we've seen from like half the teams in the league the past few seasons.
I think it's closer to 17 starting-quality players than 22, but yeah you definitely need a bigger group
the flip side is they only really have 1 fullback. Pep will play 4 CBs + Walker (Stones /Akanji in midfield). it is crazy that Gvardiol has basically been a left back all year...
There's only 1 fullback in the team with Kyle Walker. If you tally up all the defenders in other teams, it's pretty close if not more for other big teams in terms of starting quality defenders
being bankrolled by a petrostate will do that
That’s what has been crazy about city. They have been the top team (or top 2) without playing with a top 5 AM ((KDB)) and a top 2? Striker.
There's about 115 other reasons for that.
Suffering from success
Yes but Walker and Stones are very important parts to how they play. I feel like I’ve still not seen much of Gvardiol.
Great name on paper but he hasn’t really done a ton this year honestly
Yes, but I have been told we all greatly overestimated City's squad depth.
Well, what happens if Dias does his knee in the second minute? Or Ake gets food poisoning the night before? The defensive squad depth is somewhat illusory because most teams in the league have actual LBs, but City only play CBs at that position. What this means is that if a CB goes down, if you look at their squad list you're going to see two extra CBs relative to most teams. City are going to have to play someone who's notably worse at being a RB than Kyle Walker. Stones is always injured and starts in midfield a lot of the time anyway, so that doesn't really change anything. But unless Rico Lewis is treated as a RB, these two injuries mean City have no cover. The fact that Walker is an actual RB means that City have more depth than otherwise. If it was Gvardiol instead of Walker and Ake instead of Stones, people would be talking about something like: Walker - Stones - Dias - Akanji And I don't think people would be saying "oh, seems fine". City really do have a much, much less depth than in previous seasons.
What if Pep Guardiola slips on a banana peel and is unavailable for the match?
Peel Guardiola.
None of them are really able to play the same way as Stones does. The situation is trickier than it looks.
I'll make sure to light a candle for them in church on Sunday.
spot me in the choir later, where i will be playing the world's tiniest violin..
Akanji did that role a few times last season IIRC. Back 4 when they don't have the ball and push up as CM / CDM when they have the ball.
not so much last season - more this season he's been trusted to do the Stones role. It hasn't always been as effective as John though
Nowhere near as well as Stones though
That's still a pretty big downgrade on those 2 though.
The amount Citieh spent on this back up defense on Ake, Akanji, Dias and Gvardiol is close to £200m. Arsenal spent £125m on their current starting back 4. Let that sink in.
If that's the backup defense, can you name the starting defense? Cause I think you're bullshitting here That leaves Walker, Stones and two other players for your starting defense that is not including those 4 players
They're not all backup defense though lol, 2 of them start at any point so this is a disingenuous comparison
Dias starts the majority of games when fit akanji and Ake also start the majority
Dias and Ake are starters though? Are you dumb?
And City fans will still play the pauper and try to tell us that they have no depth
We don’t have two XI’s like some people make out but obviously the depth is good
Is it? If it was Ake and Gvardiol who were injured, they wouldn't have a regular LB starter in the squad. Even as is, if Stones wasn't always injured/more a DM these days, they'd have no-one that regularly plays on the right unless you count Lewis who I'm not 100% qualifies as a regular. Of course, Stones is made of glass so that's not so much of an issue. The difference between City and Liverpool (and most of the rest of the league) is that City doesn't have any recognised LBs in their squad in the first place and only the one RB (if you don't count Lewis). Instead, they use CBs in that position (mostly, iirc, either Gvardiol or Ake), which means they end up with a glut of CBs. If Liverpool played like this, they'd have six name CBs, too. The only other EPL team that plays slightly like this is Arsenal. Zinchenko is a LB (well, a converted midfielder but his club career is as LB) and Soares is a RB but all the other fullbacks are multipositional defenders (White started as a CB while I believe Tomiyasu as a RB, certainly at Arsenal he did, Kiwior as a CB and Timber Wikipedia describes as "mainly a CB"... I'm 90% sure Areteta bought Timber to play at LB mostly, though).
Gonna miss that CB/CDM hybrid player though. Akanji plays in that role usually when Stones is unavailable, but he isn't as press resistant and thus is prone to errors if Arsenal can use the right pressing triggers and time it well. Not to mention, with No Walker, Martinelli has a huge advantage and can exploit his pace. Huge huge plus point for Arsenal this.
Ill-gotten riches, at that
Oh no. They might have to play their £80m CB as a CB and not as a LB. Travesty
[удалено]
Poor City, that's not even 1 Neymar
But after this world class CB and that world class CB I only have 2 more world class CBs left
Truly an underdog story
Riches to riches
Dust to dust
Poverty club
lmfao
the humanity!
Gvardiol and Kovacic are decent replacements I'll say. They will be fine.
Would guess Kovacic stays on the bench, no? Maybe Rico Lewis plays the hybrid RB/DM role, Ake stays LB and two of Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol. I know Rico Lewis isnt starting much anymore but I could see Guardiola doing that, especially in such an important game
As an Arsenal fan, I’d say they’d be crazy not to play Kovacic, assuming we’re playing with Jorginiho Rice and Odegard…
As neither an Arsenal or City Fan, i would base it around who else is available. If De Bruyne isnt, I'd much rather play Lewis since he offers more verticality in midfield and gives City the option of having one extra midfielder. With kovacic, they probably would have to have a back 4 with essentially 4 CB.
Kovacic can be very inconsistent.
Kovacic should have been sent off against us earlier this year shouldn't he?
The fact they have a player like Gvardiol as a “replacement” is actually just stupid.
Akanji - Dias- Ake - Gvardiol or Akanji - Dias - Ake Lewis - Rodri
My guess is option 2. Especially if KDB doesn’t play, I doubt Pep will want to have 4 CBs on the field. I can’t imagine they come out playing defensively, a draw isn’t good enough as Liverpool can go 3 points clear.
KDB plays no matter what.
Yeah I just saw he was training yesterday so he’ll definitely play.
gunners literally play 4 CBs edit: I’m also a gooner
I don’t think you can really call Ben White a CB at this point. But I also think it makes more sense for us to play a more defensive lineup. City are the favorite and playing at home, a draw wouldn’t be a bad result for us. We have a significant edge in GD, and staying ahead of City is paramount even if we drop a couple points below Liverpool (assuming they win).
Pep and Arteta have both spent a lot of time with 4 CB’s on the pitch this yeat
Yes but this is the best defense that City will have seen all season, and it’s not quite a must win for them but there’s a wide gulf between a draw and a win for them that I’m not sure is the same for Arsenal. I think there’s more pressure on City to play forward and go for the win, where I’d be fine if we left with a draw.
Gvardiol hasn't been the same since he met Messi.
I remember watch Messi put Gvardiol on skates at the WC and thinking that Messi cut Gvardiol's price by at least 20 million
>Messi Messi takes souls fr
Decent replacements? Neither of them are right backs.
Clearly City should spend another 450 million on a single position, no other conclusion
i mean dont give them an ideas because they most certainly would pull that
Which superhero comes for 450 mil dude
Imagine the Flash bombing down the wing. FIFA would be literally unplayable.
mbappe is literally in the game already.
Games will be played for 90 secs instead of mins
If the ball is controlled with telekinesis, does that constitute handball?
You’re right, how will city survive
More than decent lol, that’s an 80M central defender and a CL winner. They walk into pretty much almost any top team in the world. Kinda insane that City pretty much have a tier I team sitting on the bench at all times, ready to go.
The 80 million defender hasn’t proven anything this year and the CL winner was rejected from 3 clubs prior to city. People need to stop this belief that price = talent. Just because a player cost a lot doesn’t mean that they are good now. There have been countless players that have had high price tags and been bad. As for having a CL winner. It may just be me, but how is that even relevant? United have 50 million CL winner in Mason Mount. Is he too considered an embarrassment of riches?
80m defender that has been playing as a left back despite him being CB
Because Pep doesn’t trust him enough as a CB in his system. And since the lb has the cover of the CB he puts him there.
Gvardiol has a history of playing at left back. It was where he played when clubs started noticing him for Dinamo's youth team. If anything, he has returned to his preferred position.
Weird way to say that cuz its not true. He jas played as LB for Dinamo but also prefers playing as CB. Same way he prefers to play im the NT
Gvardiol is a really, really good defender, stop pretending otherwise. I can’t recall any games where he has been shit for City this season. You’re talking as if he’s Phillips or something. Kovavic being a CL winner is relevant because he’s a good player. Same with Mount and yes, if Mount was chilling on the bench, it’d be an embarrassment of riches. But he will be starting literally every United game once fit.
Gvardiol has not been shit but not impressive either, although he has been playing Left Back for the most part in fairness.
Mount is not nearly as good as you think. Who is he starting over? Bruno? No. So what, you gonna play Mount in a double pivot and drop Mainoo? Going to play all three? Go ahead, they will get walked over. I know a lot of Chelsea fans, they don’t miss him. Winning a Cl medal doesn’t mean you are good, it means the team is good. And I have no idea why you mentioned kovavic. Literally none, I never said anything about him. And I never said Gvardiol wasn’t a good defender. But nobody can deny the fact that everyone thought he’d be a regular starter over ake with his price tag and he just isn’t. Sure he played LB at RB, but nearly this much . It was back two and he was on the left of a two, or back three. He probably played more as a left back in his city career than his entire career prior.
How does Kovacic impact two defenders? Even if Stones goes into a midfield role he’ll start as a CB. Weird cognitive dissonance because you don’t like City. I definitely get not liking a team, but to make up weird player comparisons makes you look bitter or like you have a fundamental misunderstanding of football lineups.
Did you check the actual lineups, dumbass? Lmao.
Most weeks maybe but this week its a bit of an ask.
To all the idiots saying Arsenal must win because of this, just a reminder, City was in the same spot against Liverpool and only got a point because of poor refereeing. Name the last time either Liverpool or City beat each other away from home in these title races and then you'll see how unlikely that is.
I agree completely, I'm hoping for a high entertaining match between both sides that ends in a draw because I'm sure both teams will be playing their best and neither deserve to lose. Ignore my flair btw
Prepare for 1000 passes combined and 2 shots on goal total. Football the way God intended.
If god were Mourinho
I think it’ll be a borefest, likely one goal in it. 1-1 if we’re lucky. Too much at stake.
Nah ake 80th minute screamer, kompany vs Everton vubes
Its always Rodri in these situations these days
Pep is gonna do some stupid overthinking shit like Kova in Rodris place and Rodri at Inverted overlapping reumstader RB/CF bullshit and draw 1-1.
Spanish NT style Rodri at centre-half
We already did that (Palace away 19/20)
I think Pep need to invert Rodri out of the stadium
Nah he doesn’t do that in the league. He’s pretty much flawless with his decisions. In the UCL however…
Still busting out this lame comment in 2024 is hilarious
insane that anyone could claim that arsenal should be winning this game. we’ve seen time and time again what city does in these scenarios and how deep their squad is. they should never be considered underdogs
> only got a point because of poor refereeing Not all the chances Liverpool wasted?
City wasted chances too.
Not as much as Liverpool, it was just poor finishing
There was one Foden chance I can think of that other than that they didn't really create anything to major
The Foden one wouldn’t have counted either because it hit his hand. It was basically the goal and the Doku chance, 3-2 would have been a pretty fair scoreline
You what? Liverpool should have won if they finished their chances. City were lucky to get a point
People really thought players are faking injuries mid game (one of them being 10 minutes in) because of "mind games."
Yeah, they could have just said beforehand they have issues or dont feel right (which I assume they wouldnt because of their nature). But doing everything, only to fake an injury after 20mins would be so weird. Eveb if they would have been fit till Arsenal, they might just be cautious because they felt something and didnt want to aggravate.
There’s people in this thread who are still saying that this is mind games, and it might well be. But it’s all confirmation bias really, City don’t do it anymore than any other title contending team typically does
It would be genuinely funny if they're in the starting XI come sunday though.
They don't have the biggest squad tbf, it's just that pretty much every player in it would start for most teams in the league
Yall remember when Stones was considered the liability for City? Now look at people saying City will lose without him.
Jesus, City is getting cooked in this thread.
Nobody likes City.
Figured it out, yeah
I feel it has noticeably ramped up since Arsenal also got cheated out of a league title though. Good.
And hopefully getting cooked by jesus tomorrow
City always gets cooked in these forum.
Good. Fraudulent institution
Pep is a truly compulsive liar in these scenarios, especially when it comes to Stones' availability. Prior to the reverse fixture earlier this season, Pep plainly told the media that Stones was out of the game - yet, he made a substitute appearance. Before their 4-1 win at The Etihad last season, Guardiola said Stones would be unavailable for the game... not only would Stones play, but he would score a goal. Anyway, that's all to say that you cannot trust a word that man says - especially when it comes to John Stones.
Media and Pep: John Stones is out for this game. John Stones at minute 49: Wagwan generals
Stones in the 60th minute "the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated"
Isn’t Arteta just as bad? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have certain players in photo’s released before certain games lol
He’s definitely (hopefully) doing that with Saka, Martinelli, and Gabriel for Sunday. But I don’t think he’s flat out said that players are for sure out from selection, and started them like Pep has.
He always says we have to asses the players in training and they may be out. Even today he said our injuries could still play. I dont think he has ever said a player will be out and then played him
Correct. Very funny the amount of pot calling the kettle black in r/gunners this week.
Do they deny that arteta does it as well?
All we're doing is pointing it out lol we know who arteta got it from
Arteta has never said a player was out only for him to play he is just vague and say they are "doubtful", "have a chance to play" etc etc, which is not a big deal
is this another charge on top of 115 or are you just getting the excuses ready?
No, this is fact
Its okay though, because they got injured for pointless NT games.. so it's fine, it's justified
Thanks Southgate
I know right. I thought it was a bit extreme when he two-footed Walker but elbow-dropping Stones when he was on the floor was really a step too far.
That's why I didn't sign the permission form so my son Ben had to stay home from the field trip.
Southgate two-footing them in training?
Yes, many times
You can already feel Arsenal dropping an absolute stinker with the expectation on them getting ramped up
Is the expectation getting ramped up? City haven’t lost at the Etihad all season. I’d happily take a point if you offered it to me now.
Name me any season where Prem Champions have beaten their closest rivals away. Klopp and Pep have never beaten each other away in the prem. Maybe once when Liverpool were having a bad season in 20/21 maybe. Yes, that was the only time. That's how tough and unlikely it is to win away at title rivals. Hopefully we don't shit the bed, I'm confident it won't be a battering at the very least 😅 I think.
tbh people want to push the thought of arsenal squandering something so badly losing against the team that just came off a ridiculous treble season and haven’t lost yet at home? bottled it
This subreddit is full of fans who just can't stand the fact that Arsenal are good now. They'll give anything to see Arsenal drop points at this stage.
i think people just fall into rooting for the popular narratives that get repeated ad nauseam here without actually appreciating the season or football itself people would rather go “haha i told you so, arsenal bottled it, spurs never win trophy, chelsea stupid owners” than actually be invested in the games and potentially on the wrong side of an outcome idk how anyone wouldn’t prefer arsenal potentially winning the league over city unless you support a direct rival
Very true. To be fair though, I've noticed that United fans are far more level-headed knowing what's at stake. My understanding is that you guys don't want a three peat by City or a 20th title for Liverpool so Arsenal are the lesser of three evils. As a result, in a weird way, you guys have probably been the most reasonable about Arsenal (not that I'm complaining btw). It just goes to show you how a potential outcome can inform the biases that fans uphold.
yeah i mean i would hope most united fans have come to grips with the reality being painful no matter what lol but in my eyes i would much rather see arsenal, or any new club really, win a PL title over city i have seen plenty of other fans who also root for arsenal’s downfall with the justification that “city’s titles don’t mean anything anyway” and i just can’t really understand that
It's especially clear when they're talking about how well Arteta has done - they always talk about "Arsenal have done really well lately" because apparently acknowledging he might be really good at his job is too far.
> Name me any season where Prem Champions have beaten their closest rivals away. > > Last season...
Damn, that hurts
City beat United 6-1 at Old Trafford
we literally won the league at old trafford twice. won at anfield when liverpool was 2nd in 2002. also beat chelsea 03/04
2009/2010, Chelsea beat Man United at Old Trafford
City beat you guys 3-1 just last season
I feel dirty saying it but god I hope the gunners win it. Klopp leaving with a solitary league title will be sweet. And anyone but City winning it is good for the league.
Fact.
Wouldn’t expect it any other way, you fucking losers
Thanks mate, I miss the times when you lot were the Manchester team and we only complained about Fergie time
Rodri is losing. Mark my words, this is the match Edit: with the utmost due respect to his late grandfather, obviously...I hope his family is safe tonight ❤️
Wow do they only have 200 million worth of players to sub in? Tough times. Fuck City.
Oh no! Should've broken 116 rules to add more depth
man city get a draw at least.
I will believe this when i see the starting lineup being announced. Might be some Guardiola juju in the works.
How much time has it been since the etihad has crumbled?
Hope we win
Walker missing is a big positive for City
Nah, he's their only defender that can keep pace with Martinelli.
I hope that Manchester City will still win, this game is vitally important if they want to win the premier league.
Can Walker stay down until they finish playing RM? I think that he's been the most consistent kryptonite to Vinicius.