Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
What on earth has happened to City? I think Liverpool will be able to catch them at this rate. Shocking collapse. I didn't think Pellegrini would last the summer, at this rate I am not sure he'll last the season.
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This is classic of that happens when you have side full of players rather than a 'team'. Agüero, Silva etc are all world class but there's no balance in City, I never thought I'd see a top-half club this season with a more shaky defence than United's but they've managed it.
And this is what worries me about United. SAF always resisted buying a side full of Galacticos and instead aimed for players who would fit in and be part of HIS team, evolving as it went along. And for the most part he got it right, it meant his higher spending was generally lower and less frequent compared to Chelsea, Real, City, Barca, Bayern etc so the pressure on him when United's form dipped was decreased.
LVG strikes me as the opposite. OK I'm one of the fans who wants to see big names joining United for the current evolution but I'd rather a successful and functioning team than a group of misfiring superstars.
Pretty happy at how Fellaini is playing (finally) and Herrera (or as the Northern Irish commentator on BBC 5 says his name, "HrrRRrrr") is impressive, is the current midfield finally starting to gel - a few months late - or is it just a temporary run of good form? I'm not yet convinced about LVG enough to be sure it's not just the latter.
United seem like a different team since the Spurs game and sudden form in the PL like that tends to vanish as unexpectedly as it arrives. Real and lasting improvement usually builds up over time and that's just not happened at United. OK we've been in or around the top 5 for ages but for the most part we've ridden our luck in matches.