DeadPresidents:


Bench Replacements

Here I'm only taking entries from both teams' second elevens.

Goalkeeper - Henderson

RB - Walker

RCB - Stones

LCB - Laporte

LB - Telles (I don't rate Mendy at all)

DM - Fernandinho

CM - VDB

AM - Bernardo Silva

LWF - Foden (worlds better than James who is our backup LWF)

CF - Martial (Martial is essentially our backup CF now )

RWF - Greenwood

City overwhelmingly dominant when it comes to second-team choices here.

It must mean you do not rate Pogba because he should be starting ahead of Silva who for me does not create enough, he is a fine player but is not backed by numbers...I'd also pick Matic ahead of Fernandinho right now and Gundogan ahead of VDB...

Laporte? I am not sure he is better than Lindelof now except that he is left footed...

DeadPresidents:


Bench Replacements

Here I'm only taking entries from both teams' second elevens.

Goalkeeper - Henderson

RB - Walker

RCB - Stones

LCB - Laporte

LB - Telles (I don't rate Mendy at all)

DM - Fernandinho

CM - VDB

AM - Bernardo Silva

LWF - Foden (worlds better than James who is our backup LWF)

CF - Martial (Martial is essentially our backup CF now )

RWF - Greenwood

City overwhelmingly dominant when it comes to second-team choices here.

Who are City, first choice defenders when you include both stones and laporte as second choice defenders

DeadPresidents:


Rashford is yet to take the Hippocratic oath sire.

Can't remember him having more than 2 major injury layoffs for us and he's been here 5 years already.

But I disagree with Mrviktor. Rashford is not a CF and can't lead the line consistently. Sure he can do a job there but he is not a dependable CF.

Rashford has the potential to become a World Class LWF like Son and I think consistency is key as he is already delivering world-class numbers albeit not with the requisite consistency needed to be truly world-class.

So how do u fix the overload problem..

We know lingard is going to move on.. But then there is.

TIER 2
ELANGA.
CHONG.
AMAD.
JAMES.

TIER 1
GREENWOOD
RASHFORD
MARTIAL.
SANCHO


and only 2 can play.
Out of 8 players.

BARAJ92:
Who are City, first choice defenders when you include both stones and laporte as second choice defenders

Ake and Cutlass

patrickmuf:
It must mean you do not rate Pogba because he should be starting ahead of Silva who for me does not create enough, he is a fine player but is not backed by numbers...I'd also pick Matic ahead of Fernandinho right now and Gundogan ahead of VDB...

Laporte? I am not sure he is better than Lindelof now except that he is left footed...

I consider Pogba a member of the United first team and as such should not be involved with any second team list.

I’d take Fernandinho ahead of Matic if I’m fielding Lindelof at the back.

I consider Gundogan to be a City first teamer

Ah Ah now! Argument since morning? No be so life suppose be na

DeadPresidents:


I consider Pogba a member of the United first team and as such should not be involved with any second team list.

I’d take Fernandinho ahead of Matic if I’m fielding Lindelof at the back.

I consider Gundogan to be a City first teamer

Nice one...

melodyogonna:
Ah Ah now! Argument since morning? No be so life suppose be na

such is life. I just dey on reading mode. Oga Patrickmuf. You're making alot of sense

chidexxy007:

The question is, why are we still clamouring for DM if we have McT that is better than one of the top 3 DMs in the league?

Nobody is saying Mctoms is better than Rodri. The question is does City have more depth by far than Man Utd? Its by all means a capital NO.

patrickmuf:
Doc, is DM the only position? While they might edge it, aren't we better in other areas?

They will avoid this question. So because City have a better DM than Man Utd just a single position, that means UTD as team lack quality?

DeadPresidents:


Rashford is yet to take the Hippocratic oath sire.

Can't remember him having more than 2 major injury layoffs for us and he's been here 5 years already.

But I disagree with Mrviktor. Rashford is not a CF and can't lead the line consistently. Sure he can do a job there but he is not a dependable CF.

Rashford has the potential to become a World Class LWF like Son and I think consistency is key as he is already delivering world-class numbers albeit not with the requisite consistency needed to be truly world-class.

Son could be better than Rashford, but you need to check their stats for last 2 season to draw your conclusions. Rashford is a quality player

patrickmuf:
I'll be waiting to see how City have a better Squad than us...

1

Now, I'll list each available player for each position. Each player should be able to offer a not-disasterclass performance in that position for the team.

GK - Ederson, Henderson, De Gea, Steffen, Heaton,

RB- Bissaka, Walker, Cancelo, Dalot,

RCB- Varane, Lindelof, Stones, Diaz, Maguire, Varane, Laporte, Ake, Bailly

LCB- Varane, Lindelof, Stones, Diaz, Maguire, Varane, Laporte, Ake, Bailly

LB - Shaw, Telles, Zinchenko, Mendy

DM- Matic, Rodri, McTom, Fred, Gundogan, Fernadinho

CM- Matic, Rodri, McTom, Fred, Gundogan, Fernadinho, Pogba, B. Silva, KDB, VDB, Bruno Fernandez, Graelish, Phil Foden,

AM- Lingard, VDB, KDB, B. Silva, Phil Foden, Pogba, B. Fernandez, Graelish, Gundogan,

RWF - Mahrez, B. Silva, Greenwood, Rashford, Sancho, Martial, James, Lingard, Sterling, Foden, Ferran Torres,

LWF- Pogba, Rashford, Martial, Sterling, Graelish, Jesus, James, Sancho, Lingard, Foden,

CF - Jesus, Cavani, Greenwood, Martial, Rashford, Sterling

Afrodoc2 capitalcee gloryisaac patrickmuf

2

Now, I'm going to rank the players based on their quality and ability and what they offer to their teams for each position in recent times (the last 2 seasons).

GK-
Ederson,
De Gea,
Henderson,
Jeffers,
Heaton,

RB-
Cancelo,
K. Walker,
Wan BIssaka,
Dalot,

RCB-
Varane,
Diaz, p
Maguire, p
Laporte, p
Lindelof,
Stones,
Bailly,
Ake

LCB -
Maguire,
Diaz, p
Laporte, p
Lindelof, q
Varane, q
Stones, q
Ake,
Bailly,


LB -
L. Shaw,
Zinchenko, p
Telles, p
Mendy, p

DM-
Rordri,
Fernandinho,
Matic,
Gundogan,
Fred,
Mctom,


CM-
KDB,
Bruno Fernandez,
Pogba,
Gundogan,
McTom, q
Fred, q
B. SIlva,
Fernadinho, p
Matic, p
Rodri, p
Graelish,
Foden,
VDB

AM-
Bruno Fernandez,
KDB,
Graelish,
Phil Foden,
Pogba,
B. Silva, p
Gundogan, p
VDB,
Lingard,


RWF -
Mahrez,
Sancho,
Greenwood,
B. Silva,
Rashford, p
Sterling, p
Ferran Torres,
Foden,
Martial,
Lingard, q
James, q

LWF-
Graelish,
Rashford,
Sterling,
Sancho,
Pogba,
Jesus,
Foden,
Martial,
Lingard,
James,

CF-
Cavani,
Jesus,
Greenwood,
Martial,
Rashford,
Sterling,
Ferran Torres


Afrodoc2 capitalcee gloryisaac patrickmuf

3.

Now I'll eliminate some players from some positions based on their unlikelihood to play that position because of:

their strength in other positions
the probability of the team not to lose quality as a result of them not playing that position.
how often they've played that position in the last 2 years.

GK: Heaton will hardly see shirt.
Defense will remain unchanged.

Gundogan will be removed from DM
B. Fernandez, Fernadinho, Matic, Rodri, Graelish, and Foden will be removed from CM
Martial will be removed from RWF
Pogba from LWF
Sterling from CF


You’ll have this left:

( p and q indicate the same level of contribution. Or it’s very close)

GK-
Ederson,
De Gea,
Henderson,
Jeffers,

RB-
Cancelo,
K. Walker,
Wan BIssaka,
Dalot,

RCB-
Varane,
Laporte
Lindelof,
Diaz, p
Maguire, p
Stones,
Bailly,
Ake

LCB -
Maguire, p
Diaz, p
Laporte,
Varane, q
Lindelof, q
Stones, q
Ake,
Bailly,


LB -
L. Shaw,
Zinchenko, p
Telles, p
Mendy, p

DM-
Rordri,
Fernandinho,
Matic,
Fred,
Mctom,


CM-
KDB,
Pogba,
Gundogan,
McTom, q
Fred, q
B. SIlva,
VDB

AM-
Bruno Fernandez,
KDB,
Graelish,
Phil Foden,
Pogba,
B. Silva, p
Gundogan, p
VDB,
Lingard,


RWF -
Mahrez,
Sancho,
Greenwood,
B. Silva,
Rashford, p
Sterling, p
Ferran Torres,
Foden,
Lingard, q
James, q

LWF-
Graelish,
Rashford,
Sterling,
Sancho,
Jesus,
Foden,
Martial,
Lingard,
James,

CF-
Cavani,
Jesus,
Greenwood,
Martial,
Rashford,
Ferran Torres,
I’ll call this the raw ranked data.

Now, you can now work on this data- in two major ways.

You can pick a first, second, third and fourth XI from these players using a 4-3-3 formation from these rankings. Then you see which team has most of their players in the first and second team and who has more in the 3rd and fourth team.

You can give each player a score based on their position in the ranking and then calculate the overall score of each team for each position.

Method 1 tells you which team has not much quality while Method 2 reveals each team’s squad depth and how quality the squad depth is.

Although Method 1 is quite telling, I prefer Method 2 because it takes more data into consideration and is more revealing.

4.

Method 1.

First & 2nd XI -

Ederson (MCI), De Gea (MAN)
Defence: RB - Cancelo (MCI) & Walker (MCI), CB- Varane (MAN) & Maguire (MAN) Diaz (MCI) Laporte (MCI), LB - Shaw (MAN) Zinchenko (MCI)

Midfield: DM- Rodri (MCI) Fernandinho (MCI), - CM/AM Bruno (MAN) KDB (MCI) Pogba(MAN) Graelish (MCI)

Forward: RWF Mahrez (MCI) Sancho (MAN) LWF - Rashford (MAN) Sterling (MCI) CF - Cavani (MAN) Jesus (MCI)

Teams 1&2 are grouped together because there isn’t much difference between them in terms of quality and competition. But if you pick a starting XI in teams 1& 2 and compare it with either team 3 or 4, the difference in quality will be glaring.

3rd team - Henderson (MAN)

Defence: RB- AWB (MAN) CB - Lindelof (MAN) Stones (MCI) - LB- Telles (MAN)

Midfield: DM - Matic (MAN) - CM/AM - McTom (MAN) Phil Foden (MCI)

Forward: RWF- B. Silva (MCI) CF - Greenwood (MAN) LWF - Martial (MAN)


4th team - Jeffers (MCI)

Defence: RB - Dalot (MAN) CB - Bailly (MAN) & Ake (MCI) - LB- B. Mendy(MCI)

Midfield: DM- Fred (MAN) , CM/AM - B. Silva (MCI), VDB (MAN)

Forward: RWF Lingard CF- Ferran Torres (MCI) LWF - James (MAN)

This data interpretation shows how much quality squad depth a team doesn’t have. None of the players in the 3rd team can displace any of the players in the first or second team from their positions, for 90% of the positions.

In the 1st & 2nd team, Man Utd: 9 players, Man City 12 players.

This means Utd will have to accept a drop in quality (relative to City) to compete against all teams while City will have full strength.

In essence, if your team has a starter (or if the player is near the starting XI) in the 3rd & 4th team in a particular position, you don’t have enough quality for that position (compared with the other team).

This analysis is valid for most scenarios. However, there are a few cases that goes against this ideology - like Greenwood’s & Foden’s (just those 2, for me). So, I’m not 100% for this analysis although it shows to some extent which team has the better squad depth.

5.

The second interpretation is to grade each player in the “rankings”.

The top player will get a 10, and the others will be rated depending on how close they are in quality to the top player for that position.


GK-
Ederson 10
De Gea, 9
Henderson, 9
Jeffers, 7

RB-
Cancelo, 10
K. Walker, 10
Wan BIssaka, 7
Dalot, 5

RCB-
Varane, 10
Laporte 9
Lindelof, 8
Diaz, p 7
Maguire, p 7
Stones, 6
Bailly, 5
Ake 4

LCB -
Maguire, p 10
Diaz, p 10
Laporte, 7
Varane, q 5
Lindelof, q 5
Stones, q 5
Ake, 4
Bailly, 3


LB -
L. Shaw, 10
Zinchenko, p 8
Telles, p 8
Mendy, p 8

DM-
Rordri, 10
Fernandinho, 9
Matic, 7
Fred, 4
Mctom, 4


CM-
KDB, 10
Pogba, 10
Gundogan, 8
McTom, q 6
Fred, q 6
B. SIlva, 5
VDB 4

AM-
Bruno Fernandez,10
KDB, 10
Graelish,10
Phil Foden, 8
Pogba, 8
B. Silva, p 7
Gundogan, p 7
VDB, 5
Lingard, 4


RWF -
Mahrez,10
Sancho, 9
Greenwood, 8
B. Silva, 7
Rashford, p 5
Sterling, p 5
Ferran Torres,4
Foden, 3
Lingard, q 2
James, q 2

LWF-
Graelish, 10
Rashford, 10
Sterling, 10
Sancho, 9
Jesus, 8
Foden, 6
Martial, 6
Lingard, 5
James, 4

CF-
Cavani, 10
Jesus, 8
Greenwood, 8
Martial, 5
Rashford, 4
Ferran Torres, 4


GK
MAN = 18 (squad depth), 18 (quality squad depth- any player with a contribution less than 5 is removed)
De Gea, 9
Henderson, 9

MCI = 17, 17
Ederson 10
Jeffers, 7

Verdict: Man Utd has the better squad depth and also the better quality squad depth.

RB-

MAN = 12, 12
Wan BIssaka, 7
Dalot, 5

MCI = 20, 20
Cancelo, 10
K. Walker, 10

Verdict: City has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

RCB-

MAN = 30, 30
Varane, 10
Lindelof, 8
Maguire, p 7
Bailly, 5

MCI = 26, 22
Laporte 9
Diaz, p 7
Stones, 6
Ake 4

Verdict: Man Utd has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

LCB -

MAN = 23, 20
Maguire, p 10
Varane, q 5
Lindelof, q 5
Bailly, 3

MCI = 26, 22
Diaz, p 10
Laporte, 7
Stones, q 5
Ake, 4

Verdict: City has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

LB -

MAN = 18, 18
L. Shaw, 10
Telles, p 8

MCI= 16, 16
Zinchenko, p 8
Mendy, p 8

Verdict: Man Utd has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.


DM-
MAN = 15, 7
Matic, 7
Fred, 4
Mctom, 4

MCI = 19, 19
Rordri, 10
Fernandinho, 9

Verdict: CIty has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

CM-
MAN = 26, 22
Pogba, 10
McTom, q 6
Fred, q 6
VDB 4

MCI= 23, 23
KDB, 10
Gundogan, 8
B. SIlva, 5

Verdict: While Man Utd has the better squad depth, CIty has the better squad depth quality.

AM-

MAN = 27, 23
Bruno Fernandez,10
Pogba, 8
VDB, 5
Lingard, 4

MCI = 42, 42
KDB, 10
Graelish,10
Phil Foden, 8
B. Silva, p 7
Gundogan, p 7

Verdict: City has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.


RWF -
MAN = 26, 22
Sancho, 9
Greenwood, 8
Rashford, p 5
Lingard, q 2
James, q 2

MCI = 29, 26
Mahrez,10
B. Silva, 7
Sterling, p 5
Ferran Torres,4
Foden, 3

Verdict: City has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

LWF-
MAN = 34, 30
Rashford, 10
Sancho, 9
Martial, 6
Lingard, 5
James, 4

MCI = 34, 34
Graelish, 10
Sterling, 10
Jesus, 8
Foden, 6

Verdict: Both teams have the same squad depth but City edges it in terms of squad depth quality.

CF-
MAN = 27, 23
Cavani, 10
Greenwood, 8
Martial, 5
Rashford, 4

MCI = 12, 8
Jesus, 8
Ferran Torres, 4

Man Utd has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

City has the better squad depth quality in 7 positions while Utd has 5. If you remove the GK department because you don’t really need squad depth for that position over the course of a season, it’s 7 to 4.

In terms of squad depth, it’s 6 to 4.

Now, the gulf was way wider before the beginning of this season. If you take away Sancho and Varane, there will be a significant drop in Man Utd’s points. And if you remove Graelish from City’s squad, the drop in points won’t be very much.

United made 2 significant additions to their team while City made one addition that, while in itself is a top quality addition, won’t bring about a leap in quality to the team.

afrodoc2 capitalcee gloryisaac patrickmuf

Patrickmuf this is what I was talking about.

You can agree or disagree with some points raised or even some of the ratings and we can have a discussion about that. We can choose to use a range of 1-100 for the ratings, etc.

However, irrespective of what changes we agree to and arrive at, I believe the conclusion will remain largely unchanged.

Solskjær on Pogba having one year left on his Manchester United contract: "I'm not worried whatsoever that the length of any player's contract is changing the level of their motivation and inspiration."

TheLequte:
5.

The second interpretation is to grade each player in the “rankings”.

The top player will get a 10, and the others will be rated depending on how close they are in quality to the top player for that position.


GK-
Ederson 10
De Gea, 9
Henderson, 9
Jeffers, 7

RB-
Cancelo, 10
K. Walker, 10
Wan BIssaka, 7
Dalot, 5

RCB-
Varane, 10
Laporte 9
Lindelof, 8
Diaz, p 7
Maguire, p 7
Stones, 6
Bailly, 5
Ake 4

LCB -
Maguire, p 10
Diaz, p 10
Laporte, 7
Varane, q 5
Lindelof, q 5
Stones, q 5
Ake, 4
Bailly, 3


LB -
L. Shaw, 10
Zinchenko, p 8
Telles, p 8
Mendy, p 8

DM-
Rordri, 10
Fernandinho, 9
Matic, 7
Fred, 4
Mctom, 4


CM-
KDB, 10
Pogba, 10
Gundogan, 8
McTom, q 6
Fred, q 6
B. SIlva, 5
VDB 4

AM-
Bruno Fernandez,10
KDB, 10
Graelish,10
Phil Foden, 8
Pogba, 8
B. Silva, p 7
Gundogan, p 7
VDB, 5
Lingard, 4


RWF -
Mahrez,10
Sancho, 9
Greenwood, 8
B. Silva, 7
Rashford, p 5
Sterling, p 5
Ferran Torres,4
Foden, 3
Lingard, q 2
James, q 2

LWF-
Graelish, 10
Rashford, 10
Sterling, 10
Sancho, 9
Jesus, 8
Foden, 6
Martial, 6
Lingard, 5
James, 4

CF-
Cavani, 10
Jesus, 8
Greenwood, 8
Martial, 5
Rashford, 4
Ferran Torres, 4


GK
MAN = 18 (squad depth), 18 (quality squad depth- any player with a contribution less than 5 is removed)
De Gea, 9
Henderson, 9

MCI = 17, 17
Ederson 10
Jeffers, 7

Verdict: Man Utd has the better squad depth and also the better quality squad depth.

RB-

MAN = 12, 12
Wan BIssaka, 7
Dalot, 5

MCI = 20, 20
Cancelo, 10
K. Walker, 10

Verdict: City has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

RCB-

MAN = 30, 30
Varane, 10
Lindelof, 8
Maguire, p 7
Bailly, 5

MCI = 26, 22
Laporte 9
Diaz, p 7
Stones, 6
Ake 4

Verdict: Man Utd has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

LCB -

MAN = 23, 20
Maguire, p 10
Varane, q 5
Lindelof, q 5
Bailly, 3

MCI = 26, 22
Diaz, p 10
Laporte, 7
Stones, q 5
Ake, 4

Verdict: City has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

LB -

MAN = 18, 18
L. Shaw, 10
Telles, p 8

MCI= 16, 16
Zinchenko, p 8
Mendy, p 8

Verdict: Man Utd has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.


DM-
MAN = 15, 7
Matic, 7
Fred, 4
Mctom, 4

MCI = 19, 19
Rordri, 10
Fernandinho, 9

Verdict: CIty has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

CM-
MAN = 26, 22
Pogba, 10
McTom, q 6
Fred, q 6
VDB 4

MCI= 23, 23
KDB, 10
Gundogan, 8
B. SIlva, 5

Verdict: While Man Utd has the better squad depth, CIty has the better squad depth quality.

AM-

MAN = 27, 23
Bruno Fernandez,10
Pogba, 8
VDB, 5
Lingard, 4

MCI = 42, 42
KDB, 10
Graelish,10
Phil Foden, 8
B. Silva, p 7
Gundogan, p 7

Verdict: City has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.


RWF -
MAN = 26, 22
Sancho, 9
Greenwood, 8
Rashford, p 5
Lingard, q 2
James, q 2

MCI = 29, 26
Mahrez,10
B. Silva, 7
Sterling, p 5
Ferran Torres,4
Foden, 3

Verdict: City has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

LWF-
MAN = 34, 30
Rashford, 10
Sancho, 9
Martial, 6
Lingard, 5
James, 4

MCI = 34, 34
Graelish, 10
Sterling, 10
Jesus, 8
Foden, 6

Verdict: Both teams have the same squad depth but City edges it in terms of squad depth quality.

CF-
MAN = 27, 23
Cavani, 10
Greenwood, 8
Martial, 5
Rashford, 4

MCI = 12, 8
Jesus, 8
Ferran Torres, 4

Man Utd has the better squad depth and better squad depth quality.

City has the better squad depth quality in 7 positions while Utd has 5. If you remove the GK department because you don’t really need squad depth for that position over the course of a season, it’s 7 to 4.

In terms of squad depth, it’s 6 to 4.

Now, the gulf was way wider before the beginning of this season. If you take away Sancho and Varane, there will be a significant drop in Man Utd’s points. And if you remove Graelish from City’s squad, the drop in points won’t be very much.

United made 2 significant additions to their team while City made one addition that, while in itself is a top quality addition, won’t bring about a leap in quality to the team.

afr. odoc2 capital. cee gloryisa. ac Patric. kmuf

What informed your rating?

In defense, we are better, in midfield, they edge it while we are better in attack...