How far off are we from replicating Man City 2010/11 (top 4 finish)

[rochdaleblue]

4 players imo, sorry to sound so pessimistic, even though I'm happy with our business so far.
Centre half - VVD
Left back - Tierney
Pacy creative winger - Mertens
Centre forward - Schick/ Icardi.
You might say to yourself but those are top players. Well look at the competition around us, that is the standard the likes of Spurs, city and Chelsea are already operating at.

 

[OneTrueLegend]

I think we haven't really signed the same caliber of player that city signed in 10-11 season. We have signed players of good potential, like; Klassen, Sandro, Pickford and Keane. They managed to get top class players away from "bigger teams". Like taking Kolo Toure from Arsenal, Yaya Toure from Barcelona and Tevez from Manchester United.

To do something similar today we would have to sign the likes of; Sanchez from Arsenal, Jan Vertonghen from Spurs and Ivan Rakitic from Barcelona

 

[Khalekan]

I think Tevez is the "X-factor" in there that we don't yet have.

Would you not say if Wayne re-captures ommat like his best form, even for a season or two, he will provide what Tevez did for Citeh?

 

[Osamabindiesel]

With Europe, I would say it is a long-shot. Without Europe, we are probably capable of sneaking into the top 4. It really depends on how well our strikers perform and if the changes aren't too much. For all we know it may take a year or two for all the new players to settle in.

 

[Khalekan]

This thread reminds me of them RAWK whoppers,

yes you mate !

lol

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The problem boils down to this ultimately. Back then it was easier to get into the top 4. Now there are 6 (with us aiming to be the 7th) teams legitimately capable of challenging for those places, and obviously that's going to leave someone on the outside looking in. We may see over the next few years a different group in the CL places every year, with only 2 or 3 able to consistently manage it. Hopefully over the next couple seasons we'll be able to at least get one finish in that group.

I actually think it's the opposite. There are more teams competing at the top, but the standard of those teams is lower. You only have to look at how English teams do in Europe. That season we had 3 teams in the quarter finals of the CL, with Man Utd making the final. Last year, the only quarter final team was Leicester (ffs), with just one team the year before that too, and none the year before that. The PL is competitive, but not very strong.

 

[Bungle]

Hello Bungle thanks for the greeting, the answer to your questions are 1. Whole family blue ( 3 generations) and i live in Cheshire nowadays.

Hows Zippy?

 

[TraffordBlue]

I still think we are miles off, but an improvement on last year.

Signings of £50M + are now becoming commonplace at Utd, City, and Chelsea.

We have most certainly improved our position relative to Spurs and the RS though.

Absolutely still need to push to get Giroud, Sigurdsson, (or equivalents) and LB/CB cover, if we do that, even if Barkley leaves, we will have come out of this summer significantly stronger. Important that we continue to strengthen though, to maximise what has been a great effort so far.

I think will we improve our points total and certainly need to do better in the cups and get to the business end of the EL. We can win that IMO.

I'm hoping that the Top 6 will all end up scrapping and taking points off each other, rather than 2-3 clubs pulling away. That will make it more feasible to sneak in and get 4th, though I dont think thats feasible this year really.

Spurs are the model, buy well and do it consistently, augmented by youth and astute signings of young players to complement others. Each year there will be bigger clubs disappointed to not reach UCL places, but we must at least try to be in the mix from March onwards.

The danger is the Big Six pull away into a permanent group, and recognised as such, if not already happening. It would be nice to at least break up that party and finish in the top 6, and win something.

Agree we need a top striker, and if we don't we could find ourselves in danger of slipping out of the top 7 given that we will be in Europe this season. That said, I do think our squad is as strong as it has been for years in terms of the quality we have in most positions and the fact that we have 4 or 5 young players easily capable of filling in when needed for a short stint.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

 

[ilikecheese]

4 players imo, sorry to sound so pessimistic, even though I'm happy with our business so far.
Centre half - VVD
Left back - Tierney
Pacy creative winger - Mertens
Centre forward - Schick/ Icardi.
You might say to yourself but those are top players. Well look at the competition around us, that is the standard the likes of Spurs, city and Chelsea are already operating at.

How many of those would actually come here though?

 

[Eggs]

..oh dear.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

'Yes you Mate' comment was for kopite lurkers on here not you, maybe the comment was a bit sarcy but no offence was meant.

 

[matty1878]

About 250 million.

 

[rochdaleblue]

How many of those would actually come here though?

Exactly. That's how difficult the task is. The original post asked the question how far off we replicating city. Well city bought proven world class players and paid them shed loads to bridge the gap, plus they didn't have any financial restrictions in place.

 

[Bilko]

I am really of the belief it will be when we move into a new stadium that the club will kick on, if there is a trophy I think we might get a good run in, it might be Europe with the experience of Rooney and Davy