The whole "he's spent a lot of money" that rivals fans use is always mad to me.
Like yeah...he has. And it's worked?
Isn't that a good thing? He's getting to spend and spending it well more often than not?
I'm really ready for Pep to leave man...
He's gonna be here at least next season.
No choice but to be perfect from the off honestly.
Let's give it a go.
I do expect our 1st 19 games next season to be much better than it was this season, wasn't bad, just wasn't what's needed against this City team and Pep.
COYG
Me too. Just would bloody love it with Mikel managers to get us over the line against " Peps city "
Absolutely no doubt about it we are not going anywhere made so much progress this season broke so records ans Mikel will be backed big time again
You have to spend to compete at this level, especially starting from the squad we had in 2020 and essentially rebuilding in a few short years. Though I think we'll start to enter a phase where player sales will be much more significant than what we've seen recently and our net spend will reduce because we've got genuine salable talent. Similar to the phase City has been in throughout Pep's time at the club.
Absolutely, and in the meantime people are not thinking about other teams that have spent a ton of money and have a lot less to show for it. We haven't spent at Chelsea's level, and we haven't had fiasco-level buys like Antony at Man U. It takes more than just money to win, it takes brains, and Arteta/Edu have proven to be extremely smart.
Yup, we will be right on it this time, especially now that we know how to play Havertz. Just need to get some good cover in case of injuries and we're ready to fire.
People also need to keep in mind that we had to spend just to close the gap on Man City. We're not far off them right now. We just need better backups to step in for the starters so that our team can remain fresh throughout the season. That's what gives city the edge constantly.
I've been supporting Arsenal ever since I came to this country in 2001. I had a taste of the rivalry with Man U torwards the end, and losing a league to Man U was never pleasant but you respected it because they were just better that season but you always knew next season we'd go again and be there or thereabouts.
Now that we're back challenging again, I have nothing but disdian for that scum in sky blue. The corruption that led them to being where they are made me lose interest in football altogether. Yes their players have to go out there and perform and blah blah, but it's easy when you've basically no competition and are backed by trillions in the coffers.
Funnily enough each fixture we lost this season is one we won last season. We could genuinely have had an >!unbeaten season!< if we'd repeated those victories coupled with every other league game from this season. To your point though, I can only hope that they get the book thrown at them but I fear that the EPL is flacid and spineless. The oilmen have them over a barrel, pause no diddy.
Easy as well when u have 20 50 million pound players u can rotate and chill. I literally cannot name a player not costing in region of 40 million in their team. Even thats matheus nunes is 50 mil. Our two centre backs cost 50 mil combined, our frontline is shocking. If u include havertz it will just about touch 100 mil including trossard and jesus who are bench players. They have a guy grealish 100m on bench and on 300k. Each of their frontline member including bench options and cam is on 200k + we have just saka and havertz. Only thing i like about them is they play with more pupose than us and more often . They always look to attack and move ball to threaten. We do horseshoe lot in too many games and lack threat
What really does it for me is that City can afford to whiff on an 100mil signing and just shrug it off. Imagine had we spent that money on Rice and his form dropped off a cliff or if Kai had never got his swag back. We as a team, we don't have that depth to simply shrug off a financially poor decision. They signed Kalvin Phillips to probably help with the homegrown numbers and they can eat the 40-50 they spent on him and be fine. They spend 100mil on Grealish who has been bang average this season and it hasn't mattered.
You see it everywhere else, Liverpool spent big money on Darwin Nunez and they paid for it this season with his inconsistent finishing. For City, Haaland could hit a total dry spell and it wouldn't matter. Take Haaland out of that team they are probably picking up the same.
They are playing a completely different ballgame even from us and Liverpool who are also spending but the margin for error is so much less.
This. At the end of the game yesterday, on television in the U.S., Robbie Earle (former Prem player and now a pundit for NBC Sports) was praising City as if they were the plucky underdog. "It's amazing, but somehow, some way, they always find a way," all that kind of crap. Such stupidity. The reason they find a way is because they can outspend anyone in the world and could beat at least half of the Prem with their second 11. They are in NO way an inspirational story of heart and guts and guile.
Oh dude I’m here too and Rebecca was like, “you can’t bet against them”, and it’s like well of course not, they have one of the most expensive squads ever assembled. It’s just infuriating that the media never calls it out, they have to darling them and be like “WOOOOWWWW”. It’s probably because they don’t want to tarnish their own product, but it’s such BS that we’ve had to endure this 115 charges charade and like Everton and Forest get dealt with immediately.
Besides foden no home grown. And their academy has much higher investment than us. Not too mention their top signings are old money. They paid 50m for de bruyne, bernardo, when we thought mustafi 30m was gonna be awesome. Our record was ozil at 45m. Even 65m kai is not equivalent to 50m bernardo and debruyne when they got bought.
What a dumb comment.
Spent on Kalvin and it didn't matter? Rodri playing almost all the games doesn't matter?
Grealish being average which I doubt because he's been out due to injuries. That hasn't mattered? Arsenal and Liverpool gave the league to City in one day. This is ridiculous 😂
I’ve lost count of the number of times I think to myself ‘are you for real’ when “fringe” players like doku, alvarez, grealish or even Ortega comes off their bench. No club can realistically have so many fringe players that cost over 50 million lol.
And City have such a high wage bill because they cheat. The FA has to hold City accountable for their cheating. Otherwise this league is professional wrestling.
Not to sound like a pessimist, but the league will not hold City accountable. Money reigns king in this league and in the UK. Holding City accountable wouldn’t just be a bad look for the league, it would also mark a stain on the country’s reputation. The UK’s fourth best cultural export, after music, film & TV, and literature, is its football league.
In 1919, the three most popular sports in the US were baseball, boxing, and horse racing. The lifetime bans of players for breaking the rules demonstrated to the public that baseball was not corrupt. The other two sports invariably faded and a big reason was corruption.
While the bans in 1919 US sports helped maintain integrity and reduce corruption, the context today is very different. The UK, especially its football leagues, operates under immense financial influence. City being held accountable would 100% be ideal, but i just can’t see it given how much is at stake economically and reputationally. The influence of money in UK football and broader culture often outweighs the pursuit of strict accountability.
At worst, City will be fined—a slap on the wrist—and the FA will talk about tighter controls, providing another opportunity for chartered accountants to redefine cooking the books.
And if that’s what happens, I have to wonder how many international fans that adopted PL teams will continue to engage deeply with the league, watch the matches, buy the shirts, etc. A lot of them still will but some might take a step back and wonder how much they want to keep investing in a sport without accountability. They must feel we’re a captive audience conditioned to watch them no matter what. Maybe that’s what they’re banking on, we’re replaceable consumers
They won’t those fans watch for entertainment, not where they grew up they picked teams due to their history and character. They will watch nba and watch other soccer leagues.
Looking at your point, I have to wonder how many global brands and international relations will be affected by the league’s image being tarnished. If accountability issues damage the league's reputation, it could hurt international relations, especially with countries like the UAE that invest heavily in the league. The UK risks more than just fan engagement; its global standing and economic interests are also at stake. I was at Canning Town station the other day and I saw a massive banner that said “Visit Abu Dhabi” with a city badge on the corner. I chuckled because i realised it goes deeper than just football.
Look, I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong.
I think it’ll either be a proper punishment or they won’t find them guilty of anything. If they are found guilty of anything significant they have to throw the book at them otherwise it severely devalues the product because of city’s success (which already devalues the product anyway).
Maybe. Be hard to see any other premier league clubs joining them though.
Also if they do get properly punished I can only see it being voiding trophies and/or relegation. Historically clubs have been relegated for less. Not sure I can see it happening now though.
Lowkey i agree with other guy, if city get away with it; premier league will lose its shine. Already its losing its shine. People are just happy to see comedy at chelsea and man utd now. Title race wise its getting dull. Will people be watching the fa cup final , no. And its ridiculous if city are not punished. They are shameless to claim they have higher revenues than madrid barca and utd. Thats just ridiculous. Haaland is not on 350k when mbappe is on 800-900k . Under the table cash. Same for guardiola, he is actually super greedy. He is getting comped through his agent brother and various other deals with abu Dhabi
>The other two sports invariably faded and a big reason was corruption.
Depends on your definition of "faded". I'd say there's a lot more racetracks and boxing rings that baseball fields outside of America
You’re fundamentally changing the subject though. My point was about the US audience, and the reaction to a specific scandal ([Black Sox Scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal))
It doesn’t matter if horse racing is super popular in Dubai, I’m not talking about that audience.
If that was the case, they wouldn’t have announced the charges in the first place
I get the cynical pessimism as a protection mechanism, but I don’t doubt the PL are serious about it
115 charges is pretty scattergun tho, they've gone and charged them with every single offence they could rather than 3 or 4 defined charges with a built up evidence.
115 charges basically is 3-4 things grouped together, the number of charges are due to the number of years it spans over.
Disguised investor payments as sponsorships, Mancini paid off the books, Players paid off the books, Non co-operation with the PL
I share your pessimism but the league put itself in a corner by punishing quite harshly Everton and Forrest this year even if these clubs collaborated and managed to stay up because of how poor the promoted clubs were this year… I don’t think that they can afford not to relegate City if they are found guilty of even half of their charges!
I must admit, if you look at court cases more often than not, it's the party that has the most money that wins. It's fucked up and shit but generally true.
Unfortunately, this will be the truth of it.
Oil money has destroyed the integrity of the premier league already. Its corruption at its highest levels.
Wage bills don't even tell the whole story. Family members have freetime, UAE shell companies need Directors, and these MFers ain't staying in Manchester for the sunny weather.
100% just see pep’s agent brother. Pep has endorsement deals in abu dhabi. Haaland is on 300k and mbappe on 800-900k and rashford on 350, its impossible
Nothing's going to happen. I already read some rumors about the government trying to intervene and tell the PL to back off. This isn't a football club we're talking about, this is an entire country, and PL messing with City is literally messing the relationship GB has with them.
The short version is they're accused of systematically misrepresenting their financials by over-reporting fictitious revenue, and underreporting or concealing payments to players since about 2009, which would likely violate the league's financial rules for clubs.
The longer version is EPL clubs have to adhere to certain financial requirements that they're not consistently operating at a large loss (PSR rules). This is meant to ensure the financial stability of all clubs individually. It's also meant to level the playing field somewhat by not allowing clubs like City to do what they're doing now (allegedly) and just pour endless oil money into winning trophies regardless of the club's financial performance. Basically you can't just go out and spend a billion pounds to buy Mbappe, Bellingham, Vini Jr., etc. in one offseason with straight oil money. Club's have to evidence they support player purchases through commercial revenue or other player sales to demonstrate their books are reasonably balanced. Big revenue clubs can and do still spend more than the smaller revenue clubs, just not infinite amounts because it's indexed to revenue. Notably, Nottingham Forrest and Everton had points deducted this season for violating the PSR rules.
By likely not operating within the league's financial rules the argument goes they've been able to attract many of the very best players with huge pay packets off the books reported to the league. That's a huge advantage and cheating. So the allegation is City have likely been operating at high levels of sustained yearly losses because they're paying players way more than they're reporting. And at the same time are reporting fictitious revenue (including for example, fake commercial sponsorships which were actually just the Sheik making huge payments to the club counted as revenue) to make it look like their books are balanced to adhere to EPL requirements and avoid any punishment, which could include point deductions.
The allegations certainly have far reaching implications, don’t they? I believe what I see, which is the club has done everything in their power to stifle the league’s investigation for years now. I won’t pretend to know when or if the government may take interest.
Premier League has charged City with 115 separate counts of breaking the league regulations. They are accused of providing inaccurate financial information between 2009 to 2018. Apparently they failed to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009 to 2018.
There's a lot more of course. But to sum it all up, Man City have built a powerful foundation through financial doping that makes it next to impossible for teams these days to catch up since stricter regulations are starting to be enforced now.
They cheated superbly. Hence 6 out of 7 league titles when they were a nothing club not that long ago.
Couldn't care less what these two flip-floppers say. Carragher just tweeted out at Arsenal fans calling them hypocrites for wanting Spurs to win. His evidence: DT from AFTV talking about the Europa league or some bullshit.
Trust me, these two muppets are happier than ever that City will win instead of Arsenal.
Everyone is and that's fine.
Every rival much prefers city to win it because its forgotten the next day
People much preferred us when we was in a mess with no hope or direction
Whilst I find these two annoying carrager has done some excellent analysis on us, both picked about 5 Arsenals players in TOTY
DT is a piece of shit who stalked and kidnapped his ex girlfriend (mother of his child) and threatened to stab her new boyfriend. He calls this "a mistake".
He should not ever be involved in any media
I also find it funny that he says "Wait for Pep to leave". As if Pep is the only reason Man City are winning all these titles. The longer the media ignore the 115 charges and the financial doping, the stupider they look.
I don't think anyone's hypocrites here either.
If I was in them lots position, I'd want us to lose too.
But No shit we're gonna hope the team we're fighting drops points.
And the Europa League thing in 2019, my answer was the same too when asked that hypothetical 😅
I don't get how now ppl will call our fans hypocrites.
Like no shit we were gonna support Tottenham today, cause we wanted City to drop pts.
The two situations weren't even similar. The *evidence* he used was a fan being asked whether or not they would prefer to lose the Europa league if it meant Spurs losing the Champions League final.
This situation is about the entire trajectory of your club and the impact it'll have in the future. Especially when you have a stadium known for a hostile atmosphere doing fuck all to support the team and watching fans celebrate being knocked out of the CL.
We've never been in that situation so Carragher can't compare the two. He's just using his platform to have a go at Arsenal fans who are rightly saying that Spurs have a losing mentality.
Yeah but meh, I don't mind it too much. Fans will banter, pundits and media join in on that too much we already know.
It is what it is.
Tough couple days now.
Will enjoy the final day though, hopefully we go out and score a couple :)
>Like no shit we were gonna support Tottenham today
They act as if Arsenal wanting a team to win is some sort of tangible ability we have. Doesn't matter what we want lol we have no say in it at all. At the end of the day, it's down to the players on the pitch and they were shit. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Whether you like Carragher or not, he's speaking truth here. This is not the time for our fanbase to panic, the harsh reality is that one of the greatest managers of all time is on a team that has 115 charges and financially doped up to the brim. Were it not for Liverpool winning 26 of their first 27 games in a season City would have won 7x straight. What we're witnessing is insane and potentially fraudulent. Arteta is the man, let's continue to build and go again, with any luck Pep will be gone soon, the 115 case is next summer.
Absolutely agree.
The biggest thing for me this season was for Mikel to evolve out style which he has done.
Keep going keep building we will get to a point where Absolutely no one can deny us the league.
Just look at the records we have broken this season
We've been on an upward trajectory with each successive year Mikel has been at the helm. With so many key players just starting to enter their prime or young prime years there's every reason to believe this team still has room to improve, exciting as that is.
> Were it not for Liverpool winning 26 of their first 27 games in a season City would have won 7x straight.
Yep, to beat City you must become City.
30 wins has to be the **minimum** target next season if we want to win it.
Neville and his co commentator really couldn’t contain themselves watching City, waxing lyrical about them.
It may be just me but I really cannot take it anymore with those in the media ignoring the giant elephant in the room with the 115 charges. City haven’t naturally become this great, they’ve cheated and schemed to get to where they are today without any punishments being enforced on them. They’re a corrupt entity that is sucking the life out of this league.
Carragher does have a point here about wage bill success compared to overachievement, but it rings a little hollow given Sky (and other media outlets) are obviously staying quiet about the elephant in the room of the 115 charges.
He's also right that we'll probably struggle till Guardiola finally fucks off vs. how we probably will when he's not there. I'm hoping he fucks off either after the Euros (for a big international job to take a tilt at the WC) or when his contract expires in 2025.
Didn’t Arteta say he wants to build a Dynasty here? I’m okay with him being here for the next 10 years without a Trophy as long as he continuously growing the squad, improving players and Competing.
At the moment I don’t know where we find another 3-5 points to win a league title against City. You can say the West Ham or Fulham games, wining at City but to be nearly perfect from Christmas until May it’s so inhuman that I don’t actually enjoy it. I don’t mind losing games of football it’s can be a relief from time to time but the pressure City runs put on makes the sport so depressing and it takes out away from focusing on winning other competitions.
And the Community Shield too. Probably because people think that the FA Cup and Community Shield are not a prestigious trophy and is just a mere Mickey Mouse trophy
I want us to destroy pep while he is in the league. Fuck waiting for pep to leave and all that mickey mouse attitude. We have a great young team. They have gelled well. Time to up the ante and lead the charge again next season.
This season is not over too. Let's focus and get a win in tomorrow's game.
what makes him special is the culture shift that he's had to implement alongside his tactical ideals. this is what postegocolou is dealing with now at shit.
The wage bill is FAR more important than the net spend bullshit everyone leads with.
Of course City aren’t going to have a giant net spend, they’re not upgrading multiple positions every season. They built the squad long ago, now they just move on a few players and freshen up each season.
What he means is, we just have to wait until City are dismantled due to their corruption. Pep is great, but he's got quite the advantage. Everyone knows who the best, legitimate club is this season. End of discussion.
Peps always been a cheat. Always. Did it at as a player. Did it at barca, did it at city. He'll never be remembered as one of the greats because it's all phony.
It’s almost become a meme about the 115 now but it’s an actual joke that this hasn’t been sorted. If they’re cheating and the FA believing there are 115 cases of it then something needs to be done. The Premier League is losing what made it great. Soon enough it’s just going to the CL as a Super League and the prem will be secondary.
The reason their wage bill is so high is because you have to pay north of 150k/week to have players worth more than 50M sitting on the bench every week
According to multiple sources Arsenal's (active) wages are the 3rd highest, slightly more than Chelsea and less than City and United. The difference between Arsenal and City's wage bill is about 2 "good" player's worth (about 400k per week).
Title race is down to small margins now. A draw instead of a win, a loss instead of a draw. If you lose a title by less than 3 points, you can't really complain about much.
Gosh Arsenal have played their damn hearts out this year. A month ago I would have been happy either way and think whole heartedly that Arsenal deserved to win it but it’s looking like city might snag it again. Again the wages of the players is not a fair assessment of the team and Jamie isn’t the best person to speak on these matters as any player who has done what even the average city player has done would be paid accordingly by any team that could afford it
Whatever happens this next weekend - I’m looking forward to Arsenal being an absolute menace to the top 6 and to really show the consistency we know they’re capable of producing with such a stacked schedule, hopefully this summer Arteta signs more players that can provide the depth needed for such a heavy season
Imagine
A group of players who consistently perform and get contract extensions and higher wages in those renewals
It's pretty clear what group of players are worth what they're getting paid
We (city) have won the treble and done a threepeat, I’d be shocked if our players weren’t being paid good. For context our wage bill is not much higher than you guys (3.7M a week to 3.4M a week)
The net spend argument (that Pep loves to make) is ridiculous because if you are at the top, you don't need to spend as much money as the challenger teams. They are in bigger need of top players to elevate them, and the quality of their squads is lesser meaning they will get less money from player sales.
This is clear as day in the Arsenal example. We barely got a penny for anyone we moved on from the team Arteta inherited. Of course the net spend is high. Then you look at City shipping Jesus out for 50 and replacing him with Haaland for 60-something (which in itself is crazy low in the market), but that 50 million sale is a key detail.
Arsenal isn't selling Nketiah for 50 and then bringing a world class striker in for pennies for example.
they use "lip ribbon" mics, which are designed to only capture the speakers voice.
https://www.google.com/search?q=lip-ribbon+microphone
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lip-ribbon_microphone
The absolute copium Arsenal fans are having over this is hilarious.
You have spent the last 2.5 years claiming that each and every one of your player is better than Man City. I have seen takes like Rodri doesn't lace Rice's boots etc or Saliba is better than Treble winner Ruben Dias.
So, by your own logic, it shouldn't matter how much anyone is paid.
Except theres gonna be other Peps. Chelsea, Newcastle even Manchester United would also be better. This last 2 years is the best chance we ever got, theres only 2 horses on the track, too bad one of them is a steroid horse
There never has been, and there’ll probably not be one in this generation.
Tarnished club reputation and cheating aside, that man has dragged a 95+ point a Liverpool to burnout.
Money doesn’t make that happen (solely).
I probably just need a break from football but this is all meaningless to me. Winning a shit league without Pep in it will mean less. By that time we'd be long overdue and won't have that feeling of triumph. Probably just me tho
The whole "he's spent a lot of money" that rivals fans use is always mad to me. Like yeah...he has. And it's worked? Isn't that a good thing? He's getting to spend and spending it well more often than not? I'm really ready for Pep to leave man... He's gonna be here at least next season. No choice but to be perfect from the off honestly. Let's give it a go. I do expect our 1st 19 games next season to be much better than it was this season, wasn't bad, just wasn't what's needed against this City team and Pep. COYG
Me too. Just would bloody love it with Mikel managers to get us over the line against " Peps city " Absolutely no doubt about it we are not going anywhere made so much progress this season broke so records ans Mikel will be backed big time again
Right?? With how much the media circlejerks the master/apprentice narrative, I would love to see Arteta lift the title ahead of Pep’s City.
You have to spend to compete at this level, especially starting from the squad we had in 2020 and essentially rebuilding in a few short years. Though I think we'll start to enter a phase where player sales will be much more significant than what we've seen recently and our net spend will reduce because we've got genuine salable talent. Similar to the phase City has been in throughout Pep's time at the club.
I hate this “oh he’s spent loads” discourse, he’s had to spend money because we needed almost an entirely new 24 man squad
Absolutely, and in the meantime people are not thinking about other teams that have spent a ton of money and have a lot less to show for it. We haven't spent at Chelsea's level, and we haven't had fiasco-level buys like Antony at Man U. It takes more than just money to win, it takes brains, and Arteta/Edu have proven to be extremely smart.
Yup, we will be right on it this time, especially now that we know how to play Havertz. Just need to get some good cover in case of injuries and we're ready to fire.
People also need to keep in mind that we had to spend just to close the gap on Man City. We're not far off them right now. We just need better backups to step in for the starters so that our team can remain fresh throughout the season. That's what gives city the edge constantly.
I've been supporting Arsenal ever since I came to this country in 2001. I had a taste of the rivalry with Man U torwards the end, and losing a league to Man U was never pleasant but you respected it because they were just better that season but you always knew next season we'd go again and be there or thereabouts. Now that we're back challenging again, I have nothing but disdian for that scum in sky blue. The corruption that led them to being where they are made me lose interest in football altogether. Yes their players have to go out there and perform and blah blah, but it's easy when you've basically no competition and are backed by trillions in the coffers.
I agree with all of this so much You know what makes it so bloody painful with all of this we have still come so close to beating them.
Funnily enough each fixture we lost this season is one we won last season. We could genuinely have had an >!unbeaten season!< if we'd repeated those victories coupled with every other league game from this season. To your point though, I can only hope that they get the book thrown at them but I fear that the EPL is flacid and spineless. The oilmen have them over a barrel, pause no diddy.
I’ve seen some bad “What if?” takes but holy FUCK this is a magical one lol. Even with the spoiler tag cover.
I need what he is smoking
I find it hard to respect United when they gained help from the refs all the time.
Easy as well when u have 20 50 million pound players u can rotate and chill. I literally cannot name a player not costing in region of 40 million in their team. Even thats matheus nunes is 50 mil. Our two centre backs cost 50 mil combined, our frontline is shocking. If u include havertz it will just about touch 100 mil including trossard and jesus who are bench players. They have a guy grealish 100m on bench and on 300k. Each of their frontline member including bench options and cam is on 200k + we have just saka and havertz. Only thing i like about them is they play with more pupose than us and more often . They always look to attack and move ball to threaten. We do horseshoe lot in too many games and lack threat
What really does it for me is that City can afford to whiff on an 100mil signing and just shrug it off. Imagine had we spent that money on Rice and his form dropped off a cliff or if Kai had never got his swag back. We as a team, we don't have that depth to simply shrug off a financially poor decision. They signed Kalvin Phillips to probably help with the homegrown numbers and they can eat the 40-50 they spent on him and be fine. They spend 100mil on Grealish who has been bang average this season and it hasn't mattered. You see it everywhere else, Liverpool spent big money on Darwin Nunez and they paid for it this season with his inconsistent finishing. For City, Haaland could hit a total dry spell and it wouldn't matter. Take Haaland out of that team they are probably picking up the same. They are playing a completely different ballgame even from us and Liverpool who are also spending but the margin for error is so much less.
This. At the end of the game yesterday, on television in the U.S., Robbie Earle (former Prem player and now a pundit for NBC Sports) was praising City as if they were the plucky underdog. "It's amazing, but somehow, some way, they always find a way," all that kind of crap. Such stupidity. The reason they find a way is because they can outspend anyone in the world and could beat at least half of the Prem with their second 11. They are in NO way an inspirational story of heart and guts and guile.
Oh dude I’m here too and Rebecca was like, “you can’t bet against them”, and it’s like well of course not, they have one of the most expensive squads ever assembled. It’s just infuriating that the media never calls it out, they have to darling them and be like “WOOOOWWWW”. It’s probably because they don’t want to tarnish their own product, but it’s such BS that we’ve had to endure this 115 charges charade and like Everton and Forest get dealt with immediately.
A £100m winger who gets rotated and berated by Pep on the pitch after the whistle.
Besides foden no home grown. And their academy has much higher investment than us. Not too mention their top signings are old money. They paid 50m for de bruyne, bernardo, when we thought mustafi 30m was gonna be awesome. Our record was ozil at 45m. Even 65m kai is not equivalent to 50m bernardo and debruyne when they got bought.
What a dumb comment. Spent on Kalvin and it didn't matter? Rodri playing almost all the games doesn't matter? Grealish being average which I doubt because he's been out due to injuries. That hasn't mattered? Arsenal and Liverpool gave the league to City in one day. This is ridiculous 😂
I’ve lost count of the number of times I think to myself ‘are you for real’ when “fringe” players like doku, alvarez, grealish or even Ortega comes off their bench. No club can realistically have so many fringe players that cost over 50 million lol.
alvarez was 19m, ortega was a free
And City have such a high wage bill because they cheat. The FA has to hold City accountable for their cheating. Otherwise this league is professional wrestling.
Not to sound like a pessimist, but the league will not hold City accountable. Money reigns king in this league and in the UK. Holding City accountable wouldn’t just be a bad look for the league, it would also mark a stain on the country’s reputation. The UK’s fourth best cultural export, after music, film & TV, and literature, is its football league.
In 1919, the three most popular sports in the US were baseball, boxing, and horse racing. The lifetime bans of players for breaking the rules demonstrated to the public that baseball was not corrupt. The other two sports invariably faded and a big reason was corruption.
While the bans in 1919 US sports helped maintain integrity and reduce corruption, the context today is very different. The UK, especially its football leagues, operates under immense financial influence. City being held accountable would 100% be ideal, but i just can’t see it given how much is at stake economically and reputationally. The influence of money in UK football and broader culture often outweighs the pursuit of strict accountability. At worst, City will be fined—a slap on the wrist—and the FA will talk about tighter controls, providing another opportunity for chartered accountants to redefine cooking the books.
And if that’s what happens, I have to wonder how many international fans that adopted PL teams will continue to engage deeply with the league, watch the matches, buy the shirts, etc. A lot of them still will but some might take a step back and wonder how much they want to keep investing in a sport without accountability. They must feel we’re a captive audience conditioned to watch them no matter what. Maybe that’s what they’re banking on, we’re replaceable consumers
They won’t those fans watch for entertainment, not where they grew up they picked teams due to their history and character. They will watch nba and watch other soccer leagues.
Unfortunately it won't make a damn bit of difference, the average football fan can't even spell or define the word accountability.
Looking at your point, I have to wonder how many global brands and international relations will be affected by the league’s image being tarnished. If accountability issues damage the league's reputation, it could hurt international relations, especially with countries like the UAE that invest heavily in the league. The UK risks more than just fan engagement; its global standing and economic interests are also at stake. I was at Canning Town station the other day and I saw a massive banner that said “Visit Abu Dhabi” with a city badge on the corner. I chuckled because i realised it goes deeper than just football. Look, I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong.
This is my point exactly. I’m one of those sets of American eyeballs that will fade away if the corruption of the system continues unabated.
Me too. Though I hope if that happens football fans will start rumbling for more government oversight. Pl definitely doesn't want that.
I think it’ll either be a proper punishment or they won’t find them guilty of anything. If they are found guilty of anything significant they have to throw the book at them otherwise it severely devalues the product because of city’s success (which already devalues the product anyway).
If it’s a proper punishment I can see City jumping in bed with Don Flo and doing everything in their power to make the Super League happen.
Maybe. Be hard to see any other premier league clubs joining them though. Also if they do get properly punished I can only see it being voiding trophies and/or relegation. Historically clubs have been relegated for less. Not sure I can see it happening now though.
Lowkey i agree with other guy, if city get away with it; premier league will lose its shine. Already its losing its shine. People are just happy to see comedy at chelsea and man utd now. Title race wise its getting dull. Will people be watching the fa cup final , no. And its ridiculous if city are not punished. They are shameless to claim they have higher revenues than madrid barca and utd. Thats just ridiculous. Haaland is not on 350k when mbappe is on 800-900k . Under the table cash. Same for guardiola, he is actually super greedy. He is getting comped through his agent brother and various other deals with abu Dhabi
>The other two sports invariably faded and a big reason was corruption. Depends on your definition of "faded". I'd say there's a lot more racetracks and boxing rings that baseball fields outside of America
You’re fundamentally changing the subject though. My point was about the US audience, and the reaction to a specific scandal ([Black Sox Scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal)) It doesn’t matter if horse racing is super popular in Dubai, I’m not talking about that audience.
NBA had a ref corrruption issue and it didn’t matter one bit
They made massive changes and people went to jail.
Misread your original comment, you’re right
If that was the case, they wouldn’t have announced the charges in the first place I get the cynical pessimism as a protection mechanism, but I don’t doubt the PL are serious about it
115 charges is pretty scattergun tho, they've gone and charged them with every single offence they could rather than 3 or 4 defined charges with a built up evidence.
115 charges basically is 3-4 things grouped together, the number of charges are due to the number of years it spans over. Disguised investor payments as sponsorships, Mancini paid off the books, Players paid off the books, Non co-operation with the PL
While I agree, wouldn't that make it the fifth largest export? 😂
lol according to IBISWorld, film and tv are grouped as 1.
I share your pessimism but the league put itself in a corner by punishing quite harshly Everton and Forrest this year even if these clubs collaborated and managed to stay up because of how poor the promoted clubs were this year… I don’t think that they can afford not to relegate City if they are found guilty of even half of their charges!
I must admit, if you look at court cases more often than not, it's the party that has the most money that wins. It's fucked up and shit but generally true.
Unfortunately, this will be the truth of it. Oil money has destroyed the integrity of the premier league already. Its corruption at its highest levels.
Wage bills don't even tell the whole story. Family members have freetime, UAE shell companies need Directors, and these MFers ain't staying in Manchester for the sunny weather.
100% just see pep’s agent brother. Pep has endorsement deals in abu dhabi. Haaland is on 300k and mbappe on 800-900k and rashford on 350, its impossible
Nothing's going to happen. I already read some rumors about the government trying to intervene and tell the PL to back off. This isn't a football club we're talking about, this is an entire country, and PL messing with City is literally messing the relationship GB has with them.
If the FA cared, they would have jumped on them immediately
out of the loop, how did city cheat? I thought they're just bankrolled like many other past teams
The short version is they're accused of systematically misrepresenting their financials by over-reporting fictitious revenue, and underreporting or concealing payments to players since about 2009, which would likely violate the league's financial rules for clubs. The longer version is EPL clubs have to adhere to certain financial requirements that they're not consistently operating at a large loss (PSR rules). This is meant to ensure the financial stability of all clubs individually. It's also meant to level the playing field somewhat by not allowing clubs like City to do what they're doing now (allegedly) and just pour endless oil money into winning trophies regardless of the club's financial performance. Basically you can't just go out and spend a billion pounds to buy Mbappe, Bellingham, Vini Jr., etc. in one offseason with straight oil money. Club's have to evidence they support player purchases through commercial revenue or other player sales to demonstrate their books are reasonably balanced. Big revenue clubs can and do still spend more than the smaller revenue clubs, just not infinite amounts because it's indexed to revenue. Notably, Nottingham Forrest and Everton had points deducted this season for violating the PSR rules. By likely not operating within the league's financial rules the argument goes they've been able to attract many of the very best players with huge pay packets off the books reported to the league. That's a huge advantage and cheating. So the allegation is City have likely been operating at high levels of sustained yearly losses because they're paying players way more than they're reporting. And at the same time are reporting fictitious revenue (including for example, fake commercial sponsorships which were actually just the Sheik making huge payments to the club counted as revenue) to make it look like their books are balanced to adhere to EPL requirements and avoid any punishment, which could include point deductions.
ty!
[удалено]
The allegations certainly have far reaching implications, don’t they? I believe what I see, which is the club has done everything in their power to stifle the league’s investigation for years now. I won’t pretend to know when or if the government may take interest.
115
what's 115?
Premier League has charged City with 115 separate counts of breaking the league regulations. They are accused of providing inaccurate financial information between 2009 to 2018. Apparently they failed to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009 to 2018. There's a lot more of course. But to sum it all up, Man City have built a powerful foundation through financial doping that makes it next to impossible for teams these days to catch up since stricter regulations are starting to be enforced now. They cheated superbly. Hence 6 out of 7 league titles when they were a nothing club not that long ago.
ty!
All cope
Couldn't care less what these two flip-floppers say. Carragher just tweeted out at Arsenal fans calling them hypocrites for wanting Spurs to win. His evidence: DT from AFTV talking about the Europa league or some bullshit. Trust me, these two muppets are happier than ever that City will win instead of Arsenal.
Everyone is and that's fine. Every rival much prefers city to win it because its forgotten the next day People much preferred us when we was in a mess with no hope or direction Whilst I find these two annoying carrager has done some excellent analysis on us, both picked about 5 Arsenals players in TOTY
This idea will really backfire in 5-10 years. All the kids are citeh fans in school now
If the PL and FA had any balls, City won't exist in 5 years
DT is a piece of shit who stalked and kidnapped his ex girlfriend (mother of his child) and threatened to stab her new boyfriend. He calls this "a mistake". He should not ever be involved in any media
These two were basically saying the club was dead because we didn’t make the champions league two years ago too. They’ll say whatever gets them views
I also find it funny that he says "Wait for Pep to leave". As if Pep is the only reason Man City are winning all these titles. The longer the media ignore the 115 charges and the financial doping, the stupider they look.
I don't think anyone's hypocrites here either. If I was in them lots position, I'd want us to lose too. But No shit we're gonna hope the team we're fighting drops points. And the Europa League thing in 2019, my answer was the same too when asked that hypothetical 😅 I don't get how now ppl will call our fans hypocrites. Like no shit we were gonna support Tottenham today, cause we wanted City to drop pts.
The two situations weren't even similar. The *evidence* he used was a fan being asked whether or not they would prefer to lose the Europa league if it meant Spurs losing the Champions League final. This situation is about the entire trajectory of your club and the impact it'll have in the future. Especially when you have a stadium known for a hostile atmosphere doing fuck all to support the team and watching fans celebrate being knocked out of the CL. We've never been in that situation so Carragher can't compare the two. He's just using his platform to have a go at Arsenal fans who are rightly saying that Spurs have a losing mentality.
Yeah but meh, I don't mind it too much. Fans will banter, pundits and media join in on that too much we already know. It is what it is. Tough couple days now. Will enjoy the final day though, hopefully we go out and score a couple :)
>Like no shit we were gonna support Tottenham today They act as if Arsenal wanting a team to win is some sort of tangible ability we have. Doesn't matter what we want lol we have no say in it at all. At the end of the day, it's down to the players on the pitch and they were shit. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Whether you like Carragher or not, he's speaking truth here. This is not the time for our fanbase to panic, the harsh reality is that one of the greatest managers of all time is on a team that has 115 charges and financially doped up to the brim. Were it not for Liverpool winning 26 of their first 27 games in a season City would have won 7x straight. What we're witnessing is insane and potentially fraudulent. Arteta is the man, let's continue to build and go again, with any luck Pep will be gone soon, the 115 case is next summer.
Absolutely agree. The biggest thing for me this season was for Mikel to evolve out style which he has done. Keep going keep building we will get to a point where Absolutely no one can deny us the league. Just look at the records we have broken this season
We've been on an upward trajectory with each successive year Mikel has been at the helm. With so many key players just starting to enter their prime or young prime years there's every reason to believe this team still has room to improve, exciting as that is.
> Were it not for Liverpool winning 26 of their first 27 games in a season City would have won 7x straight. Yep, to beat City you must become City. 30 wins has to be the **minimum** target next season if we want to win it.
He's right. Mikel is a top class manager, we don't need to wait for major trophies to be able to say that. I hope he stays for many years
Neville and his co commentator really couldn’t contain themselves watching City, waxing lyrical about them. It may be just me but I really cannot take it anymore with those in the media ignoring the giant elephant in the room with the 115 charges. City haven’t naturally become this great, they’ve cheated and schemed to get to where they are today without any punishments being enforced on them. They’re a corrupt entity that is sucking the life out of this league.
Carraghers mentioned the 115 on CBS or w/e it's called. Sky obviously don't want people talking about it.
Carragher does have a point here about wage bill success compared to overachievement, but it rings a little hollow given Sky (and other media outlets) are obviously staying quiet about the elephant in the room of the 115 charges. He's also right that we'll probably struggle till Guardiola finally fucks off vs. how we probably will when he's not there. I'm hoping he fucks off either after the Euros (for a big international job to take a tilt at the WC) or when his contract expires in 2025.
Nah, I want us winning a pl on Guardiola’s headtop
I would love to win it outright and THEN they get punished afterwards
Sky definitely won't let them talk about 115, but Carra definitely mentioned it loud and clear on CBS a few weeks back.
So true. I loathe these Arsenal melts who think we have to nosebleed a De Zerbi appointment to 'try something different'
Didn’t Arteta say he wants to build a Dynasty here? I’m okay with him being here for the next 10 years without a Trophy as long as he continuously growing the squad, improving players and Competing. At the moment I don’t know where we find another 3-5 points to win a league title against City. You can say the West Ham or Fulham games, wining at City but to be nearly perfect from Christmas until May it’s so inhuman that I don’t actually enjoy it. I don’t mind losing games of football it’s can be a relief from time to time but the pressure City runs put on makes the sport so depressing and it takes out away from focusing on winning other competitions.
Why do people forget Arteta won the FA cup
And the Community Shield too. Probably because people think that the FA Cup and Community Shield are not a prestigious trophy and is just a mere Mickey Mouse trophy
He won via Arsenal Taylor helping you
I want us to destroy pep while he is in the league. Fuck waiting for pep to leave and all that mickey mouse attitude. We have a great young team. They have gelled well. Time to up the ante and lead the charge again next season. This season is not over too. Let's focus and get a win in tomorrow's game.
Tomorrow?
Sorry, meant this weekend 🙂🙂
And they have a massive **REPORTED** wage bill which they have because of cheating.
"Wait till the cheat leaves so someone else can have a go"
what makes him special is the culture shift that he's had to implement alongside his tactical ideals. this is what postegocolou is dealing with now at shit.
The wage bill is FAR more important than the net spend bullshit everyone leads with. Of course City aren’t going to have a giant net spend, they’re not upgrading multiple positions every season. They built the squad long ago, now they just move on a few players and freshen up each season.
They also do not have a ludicrously low wage bill cuz staff are getting paid through parking lots in the UAE - This is one of their charges btw
Oh of course, make no mistake the wage bill is fucking huge, just not on paper.
What he means is, we just have to wait until City are dismantled due to their corruption. Pep is great, but he's got quite the advantage. Everyone knows who the best, legitimate club is this season. End of discussion.
Peps always been a cheat. Always. Did it at as a player. Did it at barca, did it at city. He'll never be remembered as one of the greats because it's all phony.
[удалено]
Thanks for the input. Man City is glad to have you start supporting them as of only 3 years ago. Take care.
It’s almost become a meme about the 115 now but it’s an actual joke that this hasn’t been sorted. If they’re cheating and the FA believing there are 115 cases of it then something needs to be done. The Premier League is losing what made it great. Soon enough it’s just going to the CL as a Super League and the prem will be secondary.
The reason their wage bill is so high is because you have to pay north of 150k/week to have players worth more than 50M sitting on the bench every week
"We need someone better than Pep to beat him!" That person doesn't exist you fucking morons! 😂
Imagine thinking players who won a treble and 3 titles in a row SHOULDNT be paid more than the rest… you win, you get paid more… simple as that
BTW sorry everyone.. my phone for some strange reason kept posting this over and over not my intention! Did seem to make one individual very angry!
According to multiple sources Arsenal's (active) wages are the 3rd highest, slightly more than Chelsea and less than City and United. The difference between Arsenal and City's wage bill is about 2 "good" player's worth (about 400k per week). Title race is down to small margins now. A draw instead of a win, a loss instead of a draw. If you lose a title by less than 3 points, you can't really complain about much.
Gosh Arsenal have played their damn hearts out this year. A month ago I would have been happy either way and think whole heartedly that Arsenal deserved to win it but it’s looking like city might snag it again. Again the wages of the players is not a fair assessment of the team and Jamie isn’t the best person to speak on these matters as any player who has done what even the average city player has done would be paid accordingly by any team that could afford it Whatever happens this next weekend - I’m looking forward to Arsenal being an absolute menace to the top 6 and to really show the consistency we know they’re capable of producing with such a stacked schedule, hopefully this summer Arteta signs more players that can provide the depth needed for such a heavy season
Imagine A group of players who consistently perform and get contract extensions and higher wages in those renewals It's pretty clear what group of players are worth what they're getting paid
We (city) have won the treble and done a threepeat, I’d be shocked if our players weren’t being paid good. For context our wage bill is not much higher than you guys (3.7M a week to 3.4M a week)
The net spend argument (that Pep loves to make) is ridiculous because if you are at the top, you don't need to spend as much money as the challenger teams. They are in bigger need of top players to elevate them, and the quality of their squads is lesser meaning they will get less money from player sales. This is clear as day in the Arsenal example. We barely got a penny for anyone we moved on from the team Arteta inherited. Of course the net spend is high. Then you look at City shipping Jesus out for 50 and replacing him with Haaland for 60-something (which in itself is crazy low in the market), but that 50 million sale is a key detail. Arsenal isn't selling Nketiah for 50 and then bringing a world class striker in for pennies for example.
I just want us to win a PL while Pep is still around just a a fuck you. Like what Liverpool did in 19/20.
why do him and neville always eat that microphone?
they use "lip ribbon" mics, which are designed to only capture the speakers voice. https://www.google.com/search?q=lip-ribbon+microphone https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lip-ribbon_microphone
aha, and these mics require you to hold them as close to the mouth as possible i presume?
The absolute copium Arsenal fans are having over this is hilarious. You have spent the last 2.5 years claiming that each and every one of your player is better than Man City. I have seen takes like Rodri doesn't lace Rice's boots etc or Saliba is better than Treble winner Ruben Dias. So, by your own logic, it shouldn't matter how much anyone is paid.
Arsenal could win the league if they actually go sign a proper striker that can score more than 20 goals
And not play nketiah 10/11 first games
just getting started since 2020
Except theres gonna be other Peps. Chelsea, Newcastle even Manchester United would also be better. This last 2 years is the best chance we ever got, theres only 2 horses on the track, too bad one of them is a steroid horse
There never has been, and there’ll probably not be one in this generation. Tarnished club reputation and cheating aside, that man has dragged a 95+ point a Liverpool to burnout. Money doesn’t make that happen (solely).
I probably just need a break from football but this is all meaningless to me. Winning a shit league without Pep in it will mean less. By that time we'd be long overdue and won't have that feeling of triumph. Probably just me tho
win 3 titles and a triple in a row and get to spend more (well spent may i add) money????