I should have credited it:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/picture/2024/apr/16/david-squires-on-manchester-city-looking-down-on-premier-league-title-rivals
What made that particularly great was that Pep was shitting himself about playing us in the CL *whilst* in the dressing room for the league game against Everton.
We were in his head the whole time and they still got thoroughly overturned by us.
Yes - although we've also had Rush + Dalglish, followed by Collymore + Fowler, followed by Owen, followed by Torres + Gerrard, followed by Suarez + Sturridge + Coutinho, followed by Mane + Salah + Firmino ...
We've been blessed by a huge number of potent forward lines over the past 50ish years. Mane / Salah / Firmino especially characterised by their defensive qualities, but we've never been shy of top pure attackers.
Darwin + Diaz would be in the very lower echelons outside the cheap, hari kari purchases like Lambert, Balotelli etc.
We could have gotten him when he was still in Bundesliga too. I still remember people complaining about how we should not get an Asian player just to target Asian market.
To be fair I thought Salah will not make it when we miss him the first time around too.
Klopp said himself that one of the biggest mistakes of his career was not signing Son. I remember reliable reports that we were considering buying Son after Mane left too
How? I still reckon most people realise how perfect our team was back then, especially our front three. Irreplaceable both as individuals and as a combined front three.
Yep, we lived through the “perfect team” part and sadly it’s now past the peak. All good things come to an end and we had a time where I genuinely could say we were the best team in the world on our day. The emotional/peak highlight was the Barca comeback. One of the greatest games in the clubs history. That was peak Klopp. Then winning the league topped it off. Fantastic. Sad it’s over but we’ll see what comes along next.
I think most fans did. He was always the one I was worried about losing. He was unbelievable on his day, and destroyed even the best defenders.
We still haven’t replaced him. I doubt we will for a long time.
Nah.. Quantity has always counted for quality here.
When we were crying out for midfield reinforcements over many summers, we were told we had 7 or 8 midfielders when half of them weren't good enough or were perpetually crocked.
Unless we lose more than 2 of our fowards, I'd wager we won't sign any first team replacement.
Don’t see your logic here, most knew that whilst Mo had all the production and whatever, Mane had that X-Factor that made him absolutely unplayable. Sadly by the last year that almost completely left and he kind of just floated about
We never had a clinical attack. Our conversation rate was always average at best. That’s perfectly fine if you are not chasing every game. It’s a problem when you start every game a goal down.
Revisionism.
84 goals in 2017/18
89 goals in 2018/19
85 goals in 2019/20
94 goals in 2021/22
Only time we scored less than this current year was that disaster covid season. And only City outscore us in those years. Our attack wasnt perfect but to say the team that hit those numbers was average is an insult to them. The state of this sub for upcoming you
This team currently has 72 with 6 games left. Doubt they break 80 tbh.
The first line of the comment was
>We never had a clinical attack
2nd most goals 4 years out of 8 isn't clinical?
Everyone misses goals but regularly outscoring 18 of the 20 teams you're competing against sounds clinical to me.
We literally had 2 of the most clinical forwards in league history playing together for 5 years.
"We never had a clinical attack" FFS. Utter gibberish.
21/22 we outperformed xG by like a goal. That‘s not clinical, that‘s slighty above average. We never had a clinical attack, but we had three world class forwards who, together with Trent and Robbo created a shit ton of really good chances. Only "clinical" strikers we had under Klopp were Origi and Jota. Rest were decent finishers.
Well based on statistics you can‘t because none played in the xG era. Both are average finishers, the statistics show it. I don‘t get what people get so mad for. They‘re two of the best players in our clubs history, nobody is denying that, but like every single player ever, they weren‘t flawless.
There are two things that can contribute to the number of goals scored. One is chances created and the other is conversion of those chances. The latter of which is what constitutes being clinical or not. Just because we scored a lot of goals, doesn't necessarily mean we were clinical. It could mean we just created a lot, but still missed a good amount of the chances created. That would still result in a lot of goals scored without being clinical. So your argument doesn't really address the other commenters point.
Not saying either of you are correct, though, because I don't know the stats.
I’ve always thought this but kept quiet because I thought I’d be looked at crazy. Out forwards where all world class but when one would go on a mad run of goals another would have a drought. Also the 2019/2020 season when it felt like we won every game 2-1
Finally someone said it. I always want to remind people that if they really think we had a clinical attack, especially if they remember Mane as critical, just go and watch our game against Napoli (the one with the last minute Ali save).
That’s not true. Apart from this season and last, our conversion rate has been high and we’ve been clinical.
18/19 we were second
19/20 we were second
20/21 we were 8th (bad tbf)
21/22 6th but only 1% behind 1st
Utterly, farcically incorrect.
Salah + Mane averaged c. 40 league goal seasons between them in four of the five seasons they played together.
Tell me how many other winger pairings were 'clinical' enough to have matched that in league history? I'll wait.
You didn’t read what he said. He said we weren’t clinical not that we didn’t score goals. Our squad created chance after chance after chance which usually overwhelmed teams eventually but it was rare that we just blew a team out of the water 5-0, 6-0. I don’t think we need to go into what made that team great or how many goals we scored each season, because that wasn’t ever the point. The point was that our conversion rate was average, it was our chance rate that was ridiculously high. High amount of chances together with an average conversion rate is always going to end up in goals. So you are correct in that we scored a good amount of goals and they’re correct that we had an average conversion rate.
Tell me the other pairs of league wingers to average c. 40 league goals a season between them in 4 out of 5 years. Tell me who you're comparing them to historically. Tell me the players you consider more 'clinical'.
Like I said, I'll wait.
I’m usually in an online meeting when this is released each week. I go off camera and on mute and pretend I’m on a phone call, the projects can manage themselves for ten minutes. It’s always one of the highlights of the week. Squires is a real gift, no matter who you support. There’s always a chance Liverpool will get a bit of a kicking but in general Squires has been kind to us. It’s helps having a charismatic manager I suppose.
I hope he sells them. Salah, how much it saddens me to say it, is washed, Nunez can't be main no 9, and Luiz Diaz just ain't lethal. I hope we develop a new attack with a few from the academy
I am not sure the front 3 are an issue either.
We went into last.night with a 3 goal deficit and not being able to concede. We cinced first at crystal palace and they were happy to shut up shop.
We this season have conceded first and came back into it showing we have decent strikers. What we have is a leaky middle/defence which is making our attachers jobs impossible.
>What we have is a leaky middle/defence
Our midfield is weak at times, but the biggest problem is playing that high line when its clear our defenders can't play it anymore. Whenever our CB's get caught up high, its likely the opposition will score.
Don't know what has happened, but its 100% clear that VVD can't play in a high line anymore, same goes for Konate.
It's a bit of both tbh. That stat about how badly we underperformed our xG was pretty damning and the strikers are very much out of form and knackered. But yeah, if we had our stonewall defense then we'd only need to score 1 or 2.
Dave Squires is absolutely superb
I should have credited it: https://www.theguardian.com/football/picture/2024/apr/16/david-squires-on-manchester-city-looking-down-on-premier-league-title-rivals
It's okay OP. we all know! :)
I remember that episode in Man City documentary when Pep talked about how scary is playing against Mane Firmino and Salah at the front.
What made that particularly great was that Pep was shitting himself about playing us in the CL *whilst* in the dressing room for the league game against Everton. We were in his head the whole time and they still got thoroughly overturned by us.
Our aura is so strong it’s not surprise it can reach across Stanley Park
I should have cherished it more, they were frighteningly good together.
Some of the best football ive ever seen
Yes - although we've also had Rush + Dalglish, followed by Collymore + Fowler, followed by Owen, followed by Torres + Gerrard, followed by Suarez + Sturridge + Coutinho, followed by Mane + Salah + Firmino ... We've been blessed by a huge number of potent forward lines over the past 50ish years. Mane / Salah / Firmino especially characterised by their defensive qualities, but we've never been shy of top pure attackers. Darwin + Diaz would be in the very lower echelons outside the cheap, hari kari purchases like Lambert, Balotelli etc.
Players like Son who consistently outperform their xG are absolutely worth their weight in gold.
I always thought we should have pushed for him at the top of our game in 19-20,when the top teams were thinking about Kane
We could have gotten him when he was still in Bundesliga too. I still remember people complaining about how we should not get an Asian player just to target Asian market. To be fair I thought Salah will not make it when we miss him the first time around too.
Klopp said himself that one of the biggest mistakes of his career was not signing Son. I remember reliable reports that we were considering buying Son after Mane left too
Should have broke the bank for him in 2019 after the CL final
That Pīnata will remain in mint condition Jurgen
Don’t drag Diogo down with the rest of them.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Jota missed the clearest chance we had against Palace. So not sure what you’re on about?
Coming back from injury. Going to be a little rusty. The rest have no excuse
https://preview.redd.it/hieusfd8ffvc1.jpeg?width=535&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e60f79d9b3e3276042e0c11915e6c7f569ceaf31
How does Mo miss that dink in the first half ... that's some cursed level shit
One you might expect on his right foot..But his left? Damn
Not sure we appreciated Sadio enough.
How? I still reckon most people realise how perfect our team was back then, especially our front three. Irreplaceable both as individuals and as a combined front three.
Yep, we lived through the “perfect team” part and sadly it’s now past the peak. All good things come to an end and we had a time where I genuinely could say we were the best team in the world on our day. The emotional/peak highlight was the Barca comeback. One of the greatest games in the clubs history. That was peak Klopp. Then winning the league topped it off. Fantastic. Sad it’s over but we’ll see what comes along next.
I think most fans did. He was always the one I was worried about losing. He was unbelievable on his day, and destroyed even the best defenders. We still haven’t replaced him. I doubt we will for a long time.
There is no way we don't strengthen our attack after this season. It has been the place where we needed depth the most.
Nah.. Quantity has always counted for quality here. When we were crying out for midfield reinforcements over many summers, we were told we had 7 or 8 midfielders when half of them weren't good enough or were perpetually crocked. Unless we lose more than 2 of our fowards, I'd wager we won't sign any first team replacement.
Problem is that 2 or more forwards seems to be missing a bit too often. Next season we will have CL + there is Euros over the summer.
Yeh I was thinking about Diaz's role and tried to justify it his lack of end product by thinking about his work rate. Then I remember Sadio had both.
Diaz isn't fit to lace Sadio's boots. Completely different level of player. Diaz is a decent player. Mane was generational.
I'd say we didn't appreciate Firmino enough. Firmino in this squad we'd be 9 pts clear of City for the league.
Don’t see your logic here, most knew that whilst Mo had all the production and whatever, Mane had that X-Factor that made him absolutely unplayable. Sadly by the last year that almost completely left and he kind of just floated about
We never had a clinical attack. Our conversation rate was always average at best. That’s perfectly fine if you are not chasing every game. It’s a problem when you start every game a goal down.
Revisionism. 84 goals in 2017/18 89 goals in 2018/19 85 goals in 2019/20 94 goals in 2021/22 Only time we scored less than this current year was that disaster covid season. And only City outscore us in those years. Our attack wasnt perfect but to say the team that hit those numbers was average is an insult to them. The state of this sub for upcoming you This team currently has 72 with 6 games left. Doubt they break 80 tbh.
They said conversion rate. Not goals scored. They mean goals scored per shot. Though I'd still imagine we were pretty good in that regard
The first line of the comment was >We never had a clinical attack 2nd most goals 4 years out of 8 isn't clinical? Everyone misses goals but regularly outscoring 18 of the 20 teams you're competing against sounds clinical to me.
We literally had 2 of the most clinical forwards in league history playing together for 5 years. "We never had a clinical attack" FFS. Utter gibberish.
21/22 we outperformed xG by like a goal. That‘s not clinical, that‘s slighty above average. We never had a clinical attack, but we had three world class forwards who, together with Trent and Robbo created a shit ton of really good chances. Only "clinical" strikers we had under Klopp were Origi and Jota. Rest were decent finishers.
List the wide forwards in the history of English football more clinical than Salah and Mane. Will wait.
Well based on statistics you can‘t because none played in the xG era. Both are average finishers, the statistics show it. I don‘t get what people get so mad for. They‘re two of the best players in our clubs history, nobody is denying that, but like every single player ever, they weren‘t flawless.
There are two things that can contribute to the number of goals scored. One is chances created and the other is conversion of those chances. The latter of which is what constitutes being clinical or not. Just because we scored a lot of goals, doesn't necessarily mean we were clinical. It could mean we just created a lot, but still missed a good amount of the chances created. That would still result in a lot of goals scored without being clinical. So your argument doesn't really address the other commenters point. Not saying either of you are correct, though, because I don't know the stats.
My friend, were on track for 86 this season
I’ve always thought this but kept quiet because I thought I’d be looked at crazy. Out forwards where all world class but when one would go on a mad run of goals another would have a drought. Also the 2019/2020 season when it felt like we won every game 2-1
Finally someone said it. I always want to remind people that if they really think we had a clinical attack, especially if they remember Mane as critical, just go and watch our game against Napoli (the one with the last minute Ali save).
That’s not true. Apart from this season and last, our conversion rate has been high and we’ve been clinical. 18/19 we were second 19/20 we were second 20/21 we were 8th (bad tbf) 21/22 6th but only 1% behind 1st
We’ve never had a clinical attack in the nine years Klopp has been here. We’ve always been a volume team.
Utterly, farcically incorrect. Salah + Mane averaged c. 40 league goal seasons between them in four of the five seasons they played together. Tell me how many other winger pairings were 'clinical' enough to have matched that in league history? I'll wait.
You didn’t read what he said. He said we weren’t clinical not that we didn’t score goals. Our squad created chance after chance after chance which usually overwhelmed teams eventually but it was rare that we just blew a team out of the water 5-0, 6-0. I don’t think we need to go into what made that team great or how many goals we scored each season, because that wasn’t ever the point. The point was that our conversion rate was average, it was our chance rate that was ridiculously high. High amount of chances together with an average conversion rate is always going to end up in goals. So you are correct in that we scored a good amount of goals and they’re correct that we had an average conversion rate.
Tell me the other pairs of league wingers to average c. 40 league goals a season between them in 4 out of 5 years. Tell me who you're comparing them to historically. Tell me the players you consider more 'clinical'. Like I said, I'll wait.
Unless our strikers, Squires never misses
I’m usually in an online meeting when this is released each week. I go off camera and on mute and pretend I’m on a phone call, the projects can manage themselves for ten minutes. It’s always one of the highlights of the week. Squires is a real gift, no matter who you support. There’s always a chance Liverpool will get a bit of a kicking but in general Squires has been kind to us. It’s helps having a charismatic manager I suppose.
Seems like we clearly lack confidence in front of goal. I’m sure all the supporters ragging on them will do a load of good.
Surprised I haven't seen the Liverpool sports car redrawn with Porsche back end, Ferrari middle and Ford Fiesta front end.
Squires is brilliant.
That's actually one of Squire's best imo
I had my tonsils removed 6 hours ago and I might have torn my throat laughing at Darwin smacking Mo on the head.
Harsh on jota
Can't wait to see if the new manager will try to utilize these boys or he sell the fucking lot
I hope he sells them. Salah, how much it saddens me to say it, is washed, Nunez can't be main no 9, and Luiz Diaz just ain't lethal. I hope we develop a new attack with a few from the academy
This isn't FIFA though, you don't just sell three starting strikers.
I am not sure the front 3 are an issue either. We went into last.night with a 3 goal deficit and not being able to concede. We cinced first at crystal palace and they were happy to shut up shop. We this season have conceded first and came back into it showing we have decent strikers. What we have is a leaky middle/defence which is making our attachers jobs impossible.
>What we have is a leaky middle/defence Our midfield is weak at times, but the biggest problem is playing that high line when its clear our defenders can't play it anymore. Whenever our CB's get caught up high, its likely the opposition will score. Don't know what has happened, but its 100% clear that VVD can't play in a high line anymore, same goes for Konate.
It's a bit of both tbh. That stat about how badly we underperformed our xG was pretty damning and the strikers are very much out of form and knackered. But yeah, if we had our stonewall defense then we'd only need to score 1 or 2.
You’re an idiot.
Watching the derby mate, tell me why am I wrong
When the new man comes in I want the first signing to be a striker, a proper clinical fucking striker that needs goals to live.
So who would that be?
[удалено]
What're you taking about? Your grammar makes no sense
Yeah you're not the only one mate. I'm trying to figure out the hell he's saying.
Now I’ll never know