I think the fact that other clubs are often demonstratably short in a couple of areas shows that it's not really a valid excuse or a unique failing of the current setup here tbqh - if City's squad feels the effect of a few injuries how can we expect not to? Squads are rarely perfect or well stocked against every eventuality and part of being a manager is finding solutions sometimes.
Inagree and
Vic is a better GK than Raya, just like VDV is a better CB than Todibo, just like Bergvall will be a better midfielder than whoever was the "expensive alternative" that fans wanted, just like Deki (Juve reject) is the closest thing we have a elite level player in squad. Fan judgement of when the club is being cheap vs. actually buying the right player is so far off it's useless. (unless, see point below, you want to go back 15 years)
You are doing the standard Spurs fan brick and cherry picking stuff from different eras, we didn't have £300m to spend with Jose (Covid ring a bell? the club was posting losses of >£150m), we didn't have it when we had a 33K seater stadium. Spurs pre BMJ, pre Poch, post stadium and covid are really three entirely different clubs/prospects/finances.
Emerson Royal was a more expensive signing than Kyle Walker and Trippier together and doubled, so really not understanding the point you are making.
Tell me what your plan would be, besides some vague accountability requirement while defending the worse manager in our PL era?
Missed this post and there's a lot here, so bear with me.
Vicario and Raya have strengths and weaknesses, but I would say that in terms of the confidence he instills in his defence, Raya is the calmer and less likely to flap. Perception only, I watch far more Spurs than Goons, obviously.
The rest of your X is better than Y is kinda moot as there's no direct comparison (todibo plays in a far different league and You don't give a player for Bergvall to be compared with).
I would encourage you to re read my posts as you will not find me suggesting we should have spent £300m during COVID, sarcasm noted and ignored though.
What I did infer in less words than now, is that if you hire Mourinho then you are appointing one of the best in the game and if he asks you for a player then it's probably a good idea to get that player, not sign a cheaper alternative as happened with Gedson Vs Fernandes. man Utd paid a structured £67m over 5 years based on achievement for Bruno Fernandes which is exactly the kind of deal that Levy is capable of. We got that so, so wrong, and that was the way a lot across the last ten years.
Emerson Royal being more expensive, is factually flawed as city paid £45m for Kyle Walker and Trippier cost Atletico £20m. That's what they were worth, and Emerson Royal cost £20m. Price aside though he was far worse than either of the former players of ours and I would say probably less suited even than someone like Walker-Peters to our club. My point I was making was that the standard of our squad dropped off drastically, not that we were not spending.
What would my plan be?
right now I would review the performance of Munn, Lange, and Ange at the end of the season. I would ignore the noise from the fan base and be objective. Would any of them survive? I'm not in possession of the metrics they were hired on so it's hard to say exactly, but it's not difficult to see that Ange is going to have a tough time justifying what has happened.
If the sole metric was win a trophy and we win the Europa League then he stays, but his new metric is win 8 of the first 10 games of the new season or cheerio.
I would also talk to the senior players and get a feeling for how they felt about the approach, the way they were used and their intentions. Romero has always had a tingle if the mercenary about him but Madison, Kulu, Son and Bentancur will all have their views and know how the rest of the squad perceive the manager.
For Lange and Munn different benchmarks apply. Have we recruited well? Yes if you look at the long term value of the players signed. Again though if the metric is signing young players who can make an impact now, then we have to say that it's a mixed bag.
Bergvall is the sole player who has actually established himself as a first team player, the others (Gray, Odobert, Dragusin, Tel) I would say have yet to become first team picks, although I thought Tel was our best player last night, so bodes well.
All this above is why when I'm asked if I back the manager, it's not an unqualified yes or an unqualified no. There's no other industry like sport, emotion plays such a part and the entitlement of fans to want to have a say in something that the vast majority don't financially contribute to is unique more or less.
Were I in possession of all the facts I would make a decision on Ange, but without all the info I don't feel I can be objective, so I go with my heart. And my heart says there's still something in there. Don't know why but it doesm I'm in an increasingly small minority but I want him to succeed, and I don't want to have to watch a reset being fumbled like the last time we did this 24 months ago.
I think that is my longest ever GG post and I once wrote a song over in random called I'm a randomite which was 20 verses long.
) but our current team isn't- so what does that tell you about the managerial performance this season? A comparable outcome to our worst ever seasons but with a much better team...
...argued against myself? Not at all. I am saying that the standard of football was far worse in those years. I think a lot of people banging on about 'worst' are stat driven. I get it. There is no defending the horrific amount of losses. But I have enjoyed the football this season a lot more than the seasons I noted.