Of course you can complain. When you have Aguero, KdB and Silva you don't need to splash out on attackers or midfielders as much. Splashing loads of money on defenders when you have a weak attack and midfield would have gone down like a lead balloon. I really struggle to see how you can suggest that United and City were in a similar position squad wise when Pep and Mourinho took over.
Pep turned KDB and Silva into, arguably, the best two central midfielders in the League. Neither were central midfielders when he arrived - he coached thm and converted them into the players they are right now*. Again, had I asked any Utd fan whether they'd take KDB over Martial 2 years ago 99% would have taken Martial. If I asked Utd fans if they'd have take Silva over Mata 99% would have taken Mata (we even had a thread with a poll re Silva & Mata before he joined Utd and iirc Mata came out on top). You are kidding yourself if you're suggesting City were a million miles ahead of Utd when both managers arrived.
Maybe had Mourinho been willing or able to work with Martial then you wouldn't have had to give out a monster contract to Ibra and or sign Lukaku for £90m. Mourinho's failings and decisions are not a defence.
*Both were more than decent players before obviously but not nearly the players they are now.
Thats complete rubbish. KdB was an amazing player before Pep showed up and I would happily have swapped Martial for him. Rashford had potential and I'm sure a lot of us would have kept him over Sterling but there wouldn't have been much in it. Fernandinho was a fixture of the City team if an unspectacular player and Kompany was always quality when fit and a large part of their team leadership regardless. Otamendi was a quality defender before he came to City and despite his poor start there was always a good defender there. Saying Silva was finished is also a bit of a joke. He was always a top player and a massive part of their squad unless injured.
I assume that based on your equation of PL points total equalling the quality of a squad that Chelsea had a rubbish squad the season Mourinho was sacked? City have had a better squad than United for at least 8 years now and the distance has just grown recently.
Easy to say now that you'd have taken KDB over Martial but it's not that long ago that Martial was the best thing since sliced bread in Utd fans eyes. KDB was a very talented player but he was no where near the player he is today - as I said, he certainly wasn't a central midfielder when Pep arrived. And I didn't say Fernandinho wasn't a fixture in City's side but nobody was touting him as the best holding midfielder in the league that he's become over the last two seasons. As for Kompany, he played 14 league games in the season before Pep arrived and then 11 and 17 in Pep's two seasons - yes he's a very good player but he's no where near as important to City as he was in his first 7 years. And I didn't say Silva was finished (although I think it's fair to say he had his poorest season the season before Pep arrived)
I said it looked like he was on his way out - all the speculation was that he didn't fit into Pep's high intensity game and could be sold but as with KDB, he wasn't suitable to play in attack for Pep so Pep turned him into a central midfielder. This is what the best coaches do - they work with players and get the best out of them in their systems, not want to spend £50m on buying ready made replacements.
Trying to compare Chelsea's situation to City/Utd is nonsense. Chelsea had just won the title 6 months prior to Mourinho getting the sack - the players didn't fall off a cliff overnight. City last won/challenged for the title in 13/14 and the spine of the side that won it were all getting on but not replaced by City, which is why it took 3 seasons and a lot of money before they challenged again. Again, the last excellent City side, prior to last season was the 13/14 side built around Hart, Kompany, Zabaletta, Clichy, Toure, Silva & Aguero - only Silva and Aguero are key members of City's side now and 1 plays a completely new position.
I'm not questioning that Pep has been great for City but everyone looks better when they are in a team that is happy, playing good football and winning. Mistakes don't matter so much, players can take risks and no one is complaining after the game if it cost a goal in a 4 - 1 win. We have spent poorly but I have no idea how anyone in their right mind can think that United:
A) Started at the same point squad quality wise when Mourinho/Pep took over.
B) Don't have budget constraints unlike City
C) Can magically ignore 3 previous seasons of utter mess before Mourinho took over.
Whats the saying "buy cheap, buy twice". Mourinho has clearly been after new defenders and the club has penny pinched on them. Either Mourinho says "no, I don't want them" and he gets nothing or he hopes they come good and he has bought a gem. I wonder how City would be getting on if they hadn't bought an entire new backline and keeper in the past 2 years?
A) Were they in exactly the same position? No but there was no where near the difference in quality that some Utd fans are now trying to claim to cover up the failings of today. Again, if we could rewind time and I started a thread asking Utd fans how many City players they'd swap with their own players, we wouldn't get the same results as we would now.
B) Don't have budget contraints unlike City? You're ignoring the fact that once you include wages (which clubs do include when calculating budgets) City have spent no more than Utd? You do realise that City wanted to sign Fred in January but wouldn't pay the asking price and have gone into this season without cover for Fernandinho because the club wouldn't pay the asking price for Jorginho? Maybe City have budget constraints too.
C) Don't think anybody has ignored that.
Why is it clear that the club has penny pinched? Because they won't pay huge fees on 29 year olds? How many clubs would? Mourinho's pet dog reported that Lindelof was Mourinho's primary target prior to signing him - of course now he's turned out to be garbage he's changed his tune and claiming otherwise. And as I've pointed out before, £30m at the time you signed Bailly was certainly one of the top 5 most expensive CB's at the time, as was £40m on Lindelof when you signed him. Utd can only compete if they have the most expensive players in the world in each position?
That's funny
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