Danny

I don't know why there's a discussion. The curse has been spoken, the deal with the devil made, neither side can now go unbeaten in their remaining games. Congratulations City.

11 minutes ago, Devil said:

Losing Toney will send Brentford down next season. I wouldn't be totally confident signing a striker from the Belgium league would give you the required quality to replace Toney. 

I know you've done half a season without him this season but you are sat just above the relegation zone and taking out that sort of quality is surely have a huge effect going forward. 

I'm not sure you've really paid attention to our season if you think a lack of Toney alone this season is the reason we're just above relegation zone lol.

The below are considered to be players who make our starting eleven when the squad is mostly fit, only Josh Dasilva will float in and out but often the first to get subbed on if he doesn't start. 6 of the below have missed/will miss at least 50% of all Premier League matches this season, the remaining 2/3 have missed 1/3 of the season. We have had the second worst injury record this season behind Newcastle. We have consistently been playing matches with 5 or 6 of our starting eleven missing. Unless you are in the top 6 or top 4, you will be in a relegation battle if you suffer that amount of injuries.

Rico Henry: 35 games

Aaron Hickey: 30 games

Ben Mee: 21 games

Ethan Pinnock has missed our last 9 games and seems no closer to fitness.

Mikkel Damsgaard: Missed 12 games

Josh Dasilva: 35 games

Bryan Mbeumo: 13 games

Ivan Toney: 19 games

Kevin Schade: 27 games

If despite all of that you still think we'll get relegated without Toney then fair enough, but when the team has been mostly fit without Toney this season we were mid-table with a couple of games where we dominated but didn't win which showed that we still had gears to step in to.

Getting on without Toney will be a new challenge, but we've sold key players before and improved, personally I don't see why we won't do it again.

24 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I'll just wait until he's our manager rather than watch some footy nerd's speculation video 

I mean yeah but the guy gives a good indication of what he looks like if you dont know

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

He usually plays 3 at the back, which tbh fills me with dread for some reason. Who knows if he'll do that with our squad though. But I really don't know much else about him.

It's all well and good if he's got good tactics and a good track record in the transfer market... but has he ever dealt with Paul Tierney or Anthony Taylor before?

Big chance to get 3 points now, I know Sheffield United are still causing teams some problems even if they are dead and buried, but we have to win that game to give us a jump on relegation. We’ve done well to pick up draws against 3 difficult teams, now we need to try and build a 7 point difference between us and 18th.

Tbh Arsenal still have a lot of big games to play. Villa at home who are fighting for top 4, Chelsea at home who will look to throw a spanner in the works, Spurs away which could easily be dropped points and United away too which could also be dropped points. Not to mention they've got a double header against Bayern to fit in and the chance to go even deeper into the Champions League.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, City are going to win the league.

6 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Jota but he’s injured

His injury record for you is pretty terrible isn't it? The one forward at that level and he can't keep fit

Just now, Stan said:

Need Diaz and Nunez to be more consistent. 

Not sure that's going to happen tbh. Diaz has never been overly prolific and Nunez is just an anomaly of a player. Certainly both good to have around the place, as seen by Diaz' goal today, but yeah they haven't replaced Mane at all yet.

United have done this against Villa, Luton, us and Liverpool twice now. They look helpless in games but have a knack for doing enough defending at the last ditch to stay in them

Liverpool threw that away, should have been 2-3 up at the end of half time. Positive is that they're on level points with Arsenal rather than behind.

16 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

We’ve not been clinical for a while.

Other than Salah who is there to be clinical? A lot of players in your attack who are good but not quite good enough to keep starting

This is why United are where they are. For however terrible they can be, there is a lot of really good individual talent there and if they get a bit of momentum behind them they all come alive together.

The curve on that....that lad is not a #6. Get him forward

What's the craic with Robertson these days? I know he's had some injuries but he doesn't strike me as the same player as a couple years ago

1 minute ago, Reluctant Striker said:

With Villa I don't think missing 4th would be a case of 'bottling it'. But there is some inherent issue within good Villa sides of the last 3 decades & that's simply the level of players they have. When Villa have been good it's often with a mix of players (& maybe managers) who didn't quite fit in at a certain other club or were seen as past their best (Dean Saunders, Paul McGrath, Paul Merson, perhaps Unai) and those that have the potential to push on beyond Top 6 but questions if they are there yet (Dwight Yorke, James Milner, Ashley Young in his 20's, probably a few of the current side)

In my time following the club been there has always been a battle to take things on to the truly top tier level. To see out the partial success.

I'm not as familiar with Spurs, but perhaps similar things there. e.g. Harshly I probably don't quite see Maddison being a central part of Liverpool, Man City or Arsenal sides right now. While of course Man United would see him as a wing back or DM. And far too old for Chelsea.

I think talk of bottling is ridiculous seeing as nobody really had you down as top 4 this season. Bit like Arsenal last season, no one had them down as title challengers, barely in the top 4 for most and then suddenly they were bottle jobs lol. I think you need to secure Europa League as a minimum, imo that is good progress.

Great work from Bradley there. the numbers Liverpool put forward and the angles they get out of it, really good play even if they are wasting chances

Nunez got that Bendtner gene

Liverpool's heads have gone. The midfield, Bradley there too, holding onto the ball for too long, playing the wrong pass, United finally pressing and the benefactors of that.

Kambwala having a good game here

Just now, Dr. Gonzo said:

Oof that was awful from Quansah

See how he reacts now, you'd think United would put everything towards him to chuck him under pressure

What a goal from the rat, such a composed strike

12 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Absolutely mental that footballers still do this. If it's a leg break or a head injury then let the referee blow up. If not then the player is almost certainly faking it.

Not 2 minutes after play resumed, Diaz got on the end of an attack almost scored against them.

Yep. Biggest game of the season for both in terms of teams they could play...should be venom on the pitch, not knocking it out cos someone's playacting 

The one thing United manage to do well, and in fairness they do so many things badly you'd expect at least one thing. But their defence when on the back foot manages to stay quite compact, block the route to goal for a shot, get in the way of a cross. They want you to snatch at shots as it gives them a better chance of defending as the attack becomes quite basic.

Liverpool just need to stay composed and hold out for that extra pass instead of shooting straight away all the time, find a way to stretch or move that backline around, and then they'll score.

No idea why Casemiro put that out of play, Diaz clearly feigning the level of pain he was in. Just get on with it, if the opposition want to play a man down then let them do that.