Premier League 2021-22

[Taylor]

The biggest difference is the squad.

Klopp built a super team - not a super squad.

You can see he has made improvements with regards to the squad but City built a squad and in a PL season you rely on a bigger group of players.

It was almost a guessing game some weeks who would start for City - with everyone fit you could name 9/10 starters for Liverpool every week

Liverpool are a great cup team

Without yet taking time to descend a rabbit hole of stats, I do believe that this season City and Scouse weren't far off equal in terms of squad rotation during the EPL.

Without also going down the rabbit hole the players City brought in are superior to Liverpools IMHO.

[Gael80]

Yet more English PL hype which we are fed through the media we consume. They are both very good sides of their own era, City being the more consistent over a longer period. But they are both also greater than the sum of their parts and are heavily dependent on 2 of the greatest managers of the last generation. The minute either Pep or Klopp leaves (Klopp especially since Liverpool can't match the finances of City) both clubs will drop back again. City will be like Dublin though where their vast resources ensure that they are still competing for titles in the aftermath.

Certainly in European terms, neither side would be seen as among the greatest of this generation like the Real Madrids or Barcelonas of the last 15 years. Both of those sides were laced with superstar generational talents whereas City and Liverpool have very few truly world class players.       

Next season it is hard to look beyond City and Liverpool again though. On paper the signing of Haaland probably makes City favourites but you don't know how that will work out either. Football is fickle and things can change quickly. Give it another 2 or 3 years and Newcastle will be challenging for titles whilst Man United are only a decent manager away from turning it around given the size of the club. Chelsea I am not so sure about, I think they may drop off a bit next season as they are losing a few key defenders.   

Pep is a great coach and has been very successful with the medals and honours to show it. However I'm not convinced City would miss him in the same way Liverpool would miss Klopp. The sheer resources at City makes consistency easier and this will become more evident with the 5 sub rule. My view is a lot of top coaches would manage City to league titles.

When the resources aren't as much of an advantage and games require good tactical ability to give a team the edge which is the case in Europe Pep has been found out every time since leaving the Barcelona team led by Messi and probably the best club team in generations. At Bayern and City he has had significantly more domestic resources than every other team but hasn't been able to get success in Europe

Klopp is different, the resources aren't the same but he still manages to achieve 90+ points on a consistent basis. Where he is the best coach in the world is when competing in Europe. If Klopp was at City football could forget competition. If Pep was at Liverpool I don't think they'd get the same points total or be winning Champion Leagues. Klopp is everything to Liverpool's current success, but with City another coach could possibly bring them what they really want, success in Europe.

[seafoid]

I went to see Man City the fallen angels beat Gillingham in the old Division 3 playoff at Wembley in 1999.

Now they are a petrol club with psychological issues. It won't last. They'll never catch up with Liverpool and Man Utd.

[Armamike]

Liverpool will win the PL again with Klopp there.  City would gladly swap a league for Champions League.  If we're talking about legacies, there's a strong argument that City won't be considered truly great until they win a Champions League.  Other great sides have won numerous leagues and European Cups simultaneously.

Were Man Utd not a great side from 92-98??

In PL terms yes of course. A brilliant team(s).  But there was a question mark hanging over them at the highest of levels in Europe. They couldn't do it at that level, until Ferguson adapted their style.  My point is you need to do it in Europe too.  You think people outside Italy register that Juve won 10 titles on the trot or whatever it was? 

[J70]

In fairness to that United team, part of their problem in Europe was the foreign player issue. They couldn't always field their best team. Plus, the standard of the premier league wasn't as high overall compared to Europe as it is now; there was a step up in level when it came to the CL.

[Gael80]

That was the issue, Fergie had to build a team to win titles again  but the European rule probably cost him at least one if not more CL's in that era. I think it's one of the reasons the "Class of 92" was brought through rapidly as they were all mostly English and he got frustrated having to see some of his best players sit in the stands on big European nights. The rule really suited Ajax at the time as it kept a high number of quality Dutch players at home.

[tiempo]

I went to see Man City the fallen angels beat Gillingham in the old Division 3 playoff at Wembley in 1999.

Now they are a petrol club with psychological issues. It won't last. They'll never catch up with Liverpool and Man Utd.

City are a joke of a club, they've bought the league again, end of, and Chelsea the same with their haul plus 2 Champions League

Liverpool have been denied an incredible achievement by a bunch of cheats

[Armamike]

In fairness to that United team, part of their problem in Europe was the foreign player issue. They couldn't always field their best team. Plus, the standard of the premier league wasn't as high overall compared to Europe as it is now; there was a step up in level when it came to the CL.

You've a point there J70 but I Man U got knocked out by some of the lesser lights, not just the Spanish and Italian giants.  From what I remember Ferguson had them playing the same high octane football they played in the PL and he realised he had to change it.

[J70]

That was part of my point though. The premier league wasn't anything special compared to a lot of the other European leagues in the 90s. Bergkamp arrived in 95 or 96, and after that a lot more foreign players began to come into the league, eventually bridging the gap to Serie A etc, but there wasn't much beyond English hype to expect that United SHOULD be among the top challengers at that time.

[Milltown Row2]

That was part of my point though. The premier league wasn't anything special compared to a lot of the other European leagues in the 90s. Bergkamp arrived in 95 or 96, and after that a lot more foreign players began to come into the league, eventually bridging the gap to Serie A etc, but there wasn't much beyond English hype to expect that United SHOULD be among the top challengers at that time.

Don't underestimate the European ban and how much that played a part in how English teams approached the European cup games. Was after 1990 World Cup

[imtommygunn]

there was that plus the quality of "home nation" player just wasn't near the quality of other countries. Italy were constantly challenging for world cups and spain weren't half bad either. England were rubbish.

[Sportacus]

It amazes me how Liverpool out-work other teams week after week with such a small first team group and playing across four competitions.  They've added Dias and Jota, but they remain a small squad with the likes of Trent, Salah, Robertson playing week in and week out when fit.  Their S&C coach must be a miracle worker.

[brokencrossbar1]

It amazes me how Liverpool out-work other teams week after week with such a small first team group and playing across four competitions.  They've added Dias and Jota, but they remain a small squad with the likes of Trent, Salah, Robertson playing week in and week out when fit.  Their S&C coach must be a miracle worker.

Drugs ....just drugs.

[tintin25]

The standard of the PL definitely wasn't as good in the 90s.  More often than not when an English side faced an Italian, Spanish or even French side for e.g. they struggled.  English sides did fair relatively well in the old Cup Winners cup but it was obviously the lesser of the 3 European competitions at that time.  Once Utd won the Champions league in 99 things started to change and English sides were much more competitive there after.  As mentioned previously, alot more foreigners were coming into the league at that time too. 

[imtommygunn]

Wenger changed the premier league lifestyle wise etc. It led to the end of the drinking dens etc.