The Gap

This is ten Hag's task. A big gap currently unfortunately

Originally Posted by pedr0

They beat us in third gear with one eye on a champions league final next week.

Yeah, there's a gap.

I don’t think they necessarily had gears to go up yesterday, they didn’t play like a team trying to just do enough. If we’d been a bit savvier we could have won that.

10 more minutes and we'd have equalised..... Undeniable

Ultimately, we have to become a team capable of regularly getting 90 plus points a season or they have to stop being one.

Nothing happened yesterday that we didn’t expect or know already. Our weaknesses cost us and city were better, without really getting out of first gear.

The goals were disappointing because they were avoidable

It hurt. It’s them. But it doesn’t change where we’re heading if we back Erik and it didn’t determine the success of the season. We’ve done well and if we get 3-4 players in we need then we’ll improve again.

We’re not bridging the gap with them overnight. It’s taken them 15 years to get to this point and that’s with ceaseless money and relentless cheating. We just have to keep focusing on improving, bit by bit. Simple as that.

We're a long way off as a squad but much closer as a team. It won't happen this summer but imagine yesterday with a decent keeper for degea, rice for fred and kane upfront.

We were plucky but we lack quality.

Originally Posted by Dr Stranger

Nothing happened yesterday that we didn’t expect or know already. Our weaknesses cost us and city were better, without really getting out of first gear.

The goals were disappointing because they were avoidable

It hurt. It’s them. But it doesn’t change where we’re heading if we back Erik and it didn’t determine the success of the season. We’ve done well and if we get 3-4 players in we need then we’ll improve again.

We’re not bridging the gap with them overnight. It’s taken them 15 years to get to this point and that’s with ceaseless money and relentless cheating. We just have to keep focusing on improving, bit by bit. Simple as that.

Will people stop peddling this %@#$&!s, no football team goes out and decides to play in a certain gear, it's £#%&!ing nonsense, the only time teams take it easy is in friendlies, when both teams are focused on getting their fitness levels right, rather than competing.

City have more quality than us, they didn't play within themselves, they may not have reached whatever fantasy you all have about their peak performance, but neither did we.

I don’t think they were in 2nd gear at all. We made it difficult for them to create good chances, as we have often done to teams this season. When City can’t penetrate the block, they don’t panic but just keep recycling it, patiently. It might appear they are toying with teams but they just have the discipline to persevere with it. Sometimes, they don’t break through. They’re not unbeatable. As others have said, albeit ifs and buts, we were missing several starters and considering we don’t even have a £#%&!ing striker, I think it’s not as much of a stretch to suggest we’re perfectly capable of beating them or getting closer to them. Squad depth is the killer.

Originally Posted by Medlock

Ultimately, we have to become a team capable of regularly getting 90 plus points a season or they have to stop being one.

The back 4 probably aren't far off, if it all. Other than DDG, who should be relatively straightforward to replace..

Finding 30-40 more goals will be a more difficult task. Liverpool overcame the gap by plucking Mane / Salah from relative obscurity - who were good for 40+ between them. Anthony needs to up the stakes big time in terms of goal contributions when fit; if its not Kane up front, then the club need to do a similarly strong job on identifying a 20-goal-a-season striker.

Originally Posted by Sandman

Will people stop peddling this %@#$&!s, no football team goes out and decides to play in a certain gear, it's £#%&!ing nonsense, the only time teams take it easy is in friendlies, when both teams are focused on getting their fitness levels right, rather than competing.

City have more quality than us, they didn't play within themselves, they may not have reached whatever fantasy you all have about their peak performance, but neither did we.

Settle down, flower.

I’m not saying they CHOSE to, I’m saying they didn’t need to. They weren’t at their best and they didn’t need to be.

Originally Posted by armchair

We're a long way off as a squad but much closer as a team. It won't happen this summer but imagine yesterday with a decent keeper for degea, rice for fred and kane upfront.

We were plucky but we lack quality.

Exactly - what City have done is assemble a squad that is all around the same level so they can all be rotated without a drop off in quality. It keeps the players fresh which is what they looked like yesterday.

Total minutes played
Bruno 5165
K de B. 3649


Rashford 4304
Haaland 4041

Our first team has too much pressure on them as City are bringing in Laporte we are bringing in Maguire. Rashford is also having to play wide at times as there is no depth.

Tbf Rashford is a wide player first and CF second these days.

There’s still too much deadwood lingering in the squad, but if we can the likes of Mount which relegate the likes of Eriksen to back up our squad as a whole will naturally improve.

Still have too many shithouse cowards in the team, sancho , rashford and Bruno are way to soft to name just 3.

Originally Posted by Tuco

Still have too many shithouse cowards in the team, sancho , rashford and Bruno are way to soft to name just 3.

Originally Posted by Ethers

They are cowards. The mentality of the team is terrible.

Originally Posted by Tuco

Still have too many shithouse cowards in the team, sancho , rashford and Bruno are way to soft to name just 3.

Talking rubbish you, watch the bravery and commitment shown here as he battles for a loose header.

https://twitter.com/nocontextepl/status/1665045104971907072?s=46&t=l_IDjZwQTig51Y-d5izVYA

If that were Martial we'd all rightly be fuming

Originally Posted by Sparky***

Talking rubbish you, watch the bravery and commitment shown here as he battles for a loose header.

https://twitter.com/nocontextepl/sta...Tig51Y-d5izVYA

If that were Martial we'd all rightly be fuming

Rashford signed off for this season when he got his injury. Has been less than average since his return. That incident yesterday was ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Tuco

They are cowards. The mentality of the team is terrible.

Bruno is a coward is genuinely one of the shittest takes I’ve ever read on here.

Originally Posted by Medlock

Ultimately, we have to become a team capable of regularly getting 90 plus points a season or they have to stop being one.

Exactly and that requires better players and almost equally important, players who work harder.

They have better players than us obviously but yesterday they also worked harder than us. The difference in work rate and commitment off the ball was £#%&!ing stark. City lost the ball and they £#%&!ing sprint back into shape and defend compact if they can't win it quickly. We have the ball at the back and they press and harass us until we pass back to De Gea who duly launches a nice aimless punt for rashford to watch sail over his head.

That's without getting into the amount of time and space we allow teams every week though. Huge gaps in midfield which opposition players just gallop into, carrying the ball 60 yards. Watching Fred follow De Bruyne about like a lost toddler and fail to make any discernible impact on him just about summed the gap between the two sides up. De Bruyne had a whale of a time pulling that idiot all round the pitch and leaving a chasm for John Stones to continually step into in midfield.

Say what you will about Guardiola but his standards are impeccably high and the minute any of them aren't grafting their arses off, they're either benched or £#%&!ed off out the club.

They are a complete squad with more or less no weaknesses

We’re still a squad of players that is a mish mash of players from different managers and styles of play

The good news is we can now compete with City on the pitch
Beat them earlier this year at OT and probably should have taken that match into extra time yesterday and out xG’d City in both games despite them clearly being a better team
This with a team with obvious clear weaknesses in it that can easily be improved

Replace Dave with a top modern keeper, Eriksen with a younger more mobile player and sign an actual centre forward because we’ve done all this without one this season
Get those 3 signings right and we’ll make huge progress next season