Wondering if anyone is actually hoping for City to make the CL final.
Personally I feel that Real in the final would be more difficult for us - not because of quality but more because of the experience they still have.
But I want them to kick City out.
If City win the PL we could still have the last laugh by winning the CL. Don’t want to compare the competitions but I am sure they would swap a few of their League titles for one CL.
Them crashing out of the CL - there will still be 4 league games after the CL semi final - that could also do some psychological damage for them.
Definitely prefer Real. I think Real could be the easier game for us. I also think City dropping out of the CL will give us a bigger lift. And, should we make the final but not win it, it will be easier to stomach a loss to Real (in my opinion).
I think you’ve made some good comments, but a couple points of push back…
I agree with your evaluation of the current state, but I think this is a fairly new development and doesnt reflect the natural balance between the two sides. I think it’s to our immense credit we’ve built something so strong, but I think a big part of City’s advantage over recent season has been because for most of the time they have been the stronger squad. Part of that is how you define it, because they are surprisingly thin as a squad. They do not have 2 men for each position, but up to about the 18th guy in their depth chart, they are still as strong as most competing clubs would have as an everyday player they relied on. I think it’s that strength that has given the advantage they have had over the long extended slog of a league season, and to pep’s credit, I think he uses depth of players at his disposal very effectively. Keeping them fresh, eager and involved.
Don’t confuse instruction with cueing. Yes, when it’s time to execute, Klopp keeps the direction simple. But that limited a set of directions can only be effective because the details have already been honed over 100s or 1000s of hours of practice. I cannot teach you have to squat effectively by letting you squat however you want and just yelling “knees” at you as you’re approaching the bottom of the squat. However, if we’ve built the technique from the ground up and drilled it over and over and over, then that concise and pointed cue becomes effective and, more importantly, something you can meaningfully process in the moment. Klopp’s pre and in game direction is the cue. But there is a detailed and very well honed foundation of how he expects us to play that has been drilled that exists underneath that. And without that foundation the cue is meaningless.
With someone like Diaz it is a little bit different because he doesn’t have that drilling so you focus on small digestible chunks to start with, but it is the cueing thing for why Klopp’s directions before and during games is so simple and concise. It’s not because we don’t have our game plan exquisitely mapped out.
Not a fucking chance. Ive never liked CL finals of teams from the same country, and even less when its two prem sides.
And as much as we have an on going thing with City, we can resolve that other ways. We’ve got a score to settle with Real that needs the stage of the final.
I agree with most of your post, but not this. They just don’t have the depth of us no matter which way you slice it. I mean fuck, when I’m listing out our players, I’m getting to positions 19, 20,21,22,23 being Milner, Origi, Minamino, Ox, Jones. City have nothing close to that quality that deep. We are actually putting Premier League games into players this deep in the roster.
And I don’t think there’s been a squad depth advantage for City over previous years either. The likes of Diaz, Jota, Tsimikas have helped for depth, but even before then we still had good depth. We’ve just has at times a shit run of luck with injuries.
City have enjoyed a better squad than us for a while. Arguably not deeper, but better quality the further down you go.
However, not now. Our recruitment has been so good we have edged ahead and have the better, and deeper squad at present. Several of their titles were won before this was the case.
I think we’d beat either in Paris, but the jeopardy would be more if it’s City, especially if they take the league. I don’t want us to be the club that allowed City this trophy. I dislike Real as much as the next not-American adult, but if they were to beat us in the final, I’d eventually survive.
Ok, I have no idea what that means. The internet can be tricky sometimes, but with all due respect, RFM said we should arrange a pre season frindly with Breda because; it might help them financially, it would give them publicity and it would show our support for their stance.
Whether we beat them 7-0 or lose 13-0 is really not the point, and sending our youth team would also not show the respect intended.
