The imaginatively titled Premier League 21/22 Thread

[edd_jedi]

It's not rocket science - what has changed at Spurs in the last 5 years? Poch > Mourihno > Nuno > Conte. What hasn't changed? Levy, Eric Dier, Harry Winks, Ben Davies, etc. Putting a new manager in charge of the same average players isn't going to magically make them better. We have a CL quality attack, but mid-table midfield and a Championship defence. Unless Levy invests in those areas, and I'm talking hundreds of millions, nothing will change. I don't particularly hold it against players like Dier and Winks, they are just doing their job, but compared to elite defenders and midfielders they are simply not good enough, and you can't blag your way to trophies (not at Spurs anyway.)

Yes the Chelsea situation will be interesting, I won't pretend to understand the ins and outs of it, but as you say here's hoping it gets bought by somebody who won't just use it for money laundering!

 

[theforceuk]

Arsenal will get top 4 imo, what do you know the only club out of spurs, gunners and Man Utd that have given their manager some control will probably get top 4.

 

[lejackal]

I hope so but when we were in 4th and a few teams had games in hand I said points on the board were more important. Can't really argue with myself but even we must be able to get 3 points from 9 in hand

 

[weasel]

I just had a look at the Spurs squad. Dear god. That is *****. I had no idea there was that much dross at Spurs. Kane and Son are a class act, Lloris has been a very good keeper, not quite the best in the league but by no means pish, the rest of that squad though.......

I'm not sure Pool or City would take ANY of them. Lucas Moura MAYBE, but who does he dislodge from either squad.

Given that, I think Spurs are doing well to be in the running for 4th. Ditto Arsenal, albeit their squad is a lot smaller.
And, I have to agree with Edd, whoever is in charge of Spurs over the summer he needs a LOT of money to spend.

Has the FAC draw been redone yet? No one seems to have noticed that City DIDN'T get the weakest team left in. We all know that can't be allowed to happen. I'm expecting an announcement from the FA any minute of a technical fault that means they have to redraw and low and behold Pool get Chelsea/Everton away.

 

[edd_jedi]

There was a good (bad) stat about the Middlesbrough game, Harry Winks won zero tackles, zero headers, and got robbed of the ball more times than the other 9 players combined. I don't understand why Conte keeps playing him! We really need another Dembele who can hold the ball and take it forwards.Hojberg is about the closest we have to that now. The rest all just pass backwards and sideways.

 

[weasel]

Impressive stats!

You have to wonder how much Levy will give Conte/his successor in the summer. I suspect not a huge amount, unless Kane goes and I don'tsee many clubs queueing up to pay 100m for him.

 

[Cazza]

Gutted not to get anything from that! Missed some sitters. Thought the ref did really well with Salah- wasn't buying any of his shenanigans- 'fell over' at least 3 times in the first 10 and wasn't given anything. Some other dubious decisions though. Really hope Bowen isn't badly injured. Thought Diaz was very good, but I absolutely detest Jota. Snidey little weasel of a player. So dirty.

 

[weasel]

Yeah, I couldn't have complained if WH got something from that game. Twas horrible viewing for 90mins. That offside was as close as they come. I have to admit I thought it was offside until I saw the VAR lines.

That is also the most blocked shots I think I have ever seen in a game. TAA, and Keita blocked two great chances for WH and I lost track of how many Pool shots where blocked. Granted, Pool's chances weren't as clear cut and where from the edge of the box, but there more of them. It seemed every time someone had a shot, the other team blocked it.

Not sure Jota did anything too annoying but I was too busy bricking it about WH scoring as Pool insisted on handing it back to them.

I'll say this much though, I couldn't watch that brand of football every week. Maybe it was just cos they were playing Pool and they play differently against side where they have more possession, but that was barely a level up on Fat Sam hoofball. WH have some properly good players but they insist on hoofing it up to Antonio, who is a beast in the air, and that seems to be EVERYONE'S default pass. It seems to have worked for them this season, and I know not everyone can play Tiki Taka (and yes, Salah does fall over quite easily) but WH are too fond of an aimless long ball for my liking. They can play better football than that.

Agreed on Bowen.

 

[theforceuk]

Another great performance from City although that was completely Ronaldo's fault we lost! lol

 

[edd_jedi]

Ddin't see the match but I heard Arteta got the assist for Arsenal's winning goal

 

[weasel]

Some performance by Utd in the second half. That was a proper proper beating. And you got the feeling City had a couple more gears as well.

 

[edd_jedi]

Yeah it's strange because United were arguably on a par in the first half, it's like the half time team talk had the opposite effect!

 

[weasel]

I only saw bits of the first half but I heard they were competitive. The second half was proper men against boys.


Ohh and as for the Chelsea fans choosing the moments applause for Ukraine to start chanting the name of their Russian Oligarch owner..... Exactly what you would expect from the most classless set of fans in the football league.

 

[lejackal]

Ddin't see the match but I heard Arteta got the assist for Arsenal's winning goal

I'll take it

 

[edd_jedi]

Ohh and as for the Chelsea fans choosing the moments applause for Ukraine to start chanting the name of their Russian Oligarch owner..... Exactly what you would expect from the most classless set of fans in the football league.

Of course they were, they're worried about another 25 year trophy dodging stint like they had before he rocked up!

 

[weasel]

So @edd_jedi, was that Spurs being Spurs and switching from woeful to good in the space of 2 games, or are Everton really THAT bad?

I did see Pickford doing his T-rex hands thing again and let the soft one in. How he gets starts for England I will never know, same as Fat Maguire. Bang average PL players who start for England. And TBF, both look a lot better/less bad for England but still.

 

[theforceuk]

I would add Rashford to that list as well, he has been terrible for 2 years now so will probably get a new contract worth £300k a week soon because he's got loads of followers on Twitter and Instagram. Rashford and Maquire shouldn't even make the England squad.

I think Harry Maguire does ok for England because Southgate basically play's a back 8 against Estonia and Moldova.

Have to laugh today, the Man Utd players are blaming the fact they don't have a permanent coach as a reason for completely imploding. Last week it was Ronaldo's fault, next week it will be Ralph's fault. Anyone but themselves, the board or the owners, I mean it can't possibly be anyones fault who has been at the club for the entire 5 years we've gone without winning a trophy.

Some people saying Man Utd need to win every game to get top 4. I can't see where the next win is coming from, it's that bad IMO, we have Norwich in April, perhaps that will be 3 points. Top 4 is gone for Man Utd which is quit funny as the owners wrote the season of in November thinking we would cruise to 4th. Shambles.

 

[edd_jedi]

It was a bit of both, Everton were terrible but we did seem to play well! The next game against United will be interesting, they're having a bad patch and we just scored 9 goals in 2 games, so my money is on us losing. Still, at least we have clawed back a bit of goal difference.

Speaking of poor form, here's an interesring stat, the only team outside the top four to win more than 3 of their last 5 games is Newcastle! So no wonder Arsenal are suddenly favourites for fourth, everyone else is having a shocker.

 

[weasel]

Utd Spurs this weekend is a biggie, if either lose that then the top four is going to be a big ask for them if Arsenal beat Leicester.
The way this top four (avoidance) race has gone Spurs and Utd will draw, Arsenal will lose and WH will win.

Rumours of Everton being hit with a points deduction for breaching FFP. On the one hand it would be nice to see the FFP rules actually enforced and someone punished for taking the piss. But on the other hand they were brought in to stop anyone doing what City and Chelsea have done so it's far too far after the Lord Mayor's show. Everton will be punished for doing what City and Chelsea got away with. That sounds fair.
Any punishment will be on next season's points so hardly an issue, assuming they stay up and get their **** together in the summer (like appointing a decent manager who knows how to run a club fighting relegation). It will be interesting to see what happens if they have to sell players to try and get back under the allowable £100m odd loss averaged over the preceding 3 years. I think they are due to be somewhere north of £200, so that would imply selling a fair few players. Not that Everton have many worth big money. Rumours, laughable rumours, of Utd being after Richarlison. Given Everton paid £50m for him and there is a 'Man Utd tax' you would assume any sale there would have to be for £75m+. Surely at that price even Utd would cotton on to the fact they were being had!? Who else have Everton got who could be sold for £20m+? Dominic Calvert Lewin? He's pish. Andros Townsend, Demary Grey, Allan, Michael Kean? Meh. Pickford is another Calvert Lewin. Besides once clubs know you need to sell any £20m player suddenly attracts offers of £10m. Obviously, if they go down then the **** really hits the fan.


Pool were **** last night. Really sloppy. But still hit the woodwork three times, limited Inter to one half chance (great finish) and got through.
Not sure Sanchez can have too many complaints about his red. The first tackle was what the German's call "an orange card". I have definitely seen them given as red's, especially in the CL. The second one was a foul and ******* stupid. By the rules of 'totting up' he was probably over the limit for a red. Daft time to do it and under no real pressure to tackle him either.
As for Wenger saying Fabinho was almost cheating by grabbing his ankle and screaming in pain. Ehh two things Arsene. 1) He has just had his ankle taken out from him, studs on bone hurt. 2) Have you, at any point in the 20-30 years, watched a game featuring a Spanish or particularly an Italian side? Hell, even PSG or any Jose side? Especially if their team happen to be winning and their isn't long left. Did you not notice how every time a player got touched, "touched" not fouled TOUCHED, he threw himself to the ground and screamed like a bitch while rolling around and around and around, only to miraculously recover as soon as the ref books the "offender". No!? Never noticed. Try watching PSG tonight, in particular the hard men Di Maria and Neymar. ******.
My opinion of Wenger did drop after he said that. The tackle wasn't great, Fabinho is hardly the worst in the world for feigning an injury, and yet Wenger goes in with both barrels. I wonder was it cos it was his wee Alexis and "he isn't that sort of player." I think Tony Pulis said that about half of his Stoke players after they booted various Wenger teams all over the park. Take the rose tinted specs off you tosser. If that's the closest we get to "cheating" in this round of CL games I'll eat my own *****.

 

[weasel]

Abramovich sanctioned. Chelsea banned from signing or selling any players. No new contracts, bye bye Azpuelacueta, Rudiger and Christensen (all out of contract in the summer). Only season ticket holders allowed at games, not sure what that means for away fans. Club shop/merchandise now closed/not allowed to be sold via official channels (food and drink is allowed to be sold at games). And best of all a limit of £20k for travel expenses to away games. Good luck getting your next CL away game!

Hard to have any sympathy for what is a hateful club, supported by some thoroughly dislikeable ******s (yes, every club has them, but Chelsea seem to have more than most and the fans in question seem quite proud of being utter *****, who else would boast about kicking a black man off a tube train just cos of the colour of his skin?).

 

[edd_jedi]

Will be interesting to see if it has any real impact on them, the fans can't really complain having literally bought trophies for the last 20 years.

 

[weasel]

Agreed. I suspect in a few weeks/months someone else will buy them and they will continue roughly as they did before. Possibly they won't have quite as much money to spend, but other than that, not much will change.

Mind you, I'm hoping they implode and end up in League 2 in 5 yrs.

 

[theforceuk]

I don't see it having any impact on Chelsea. The government has made it clear the actions taken are against RA. It's not in the governments interest to impede Chelsea. Someone will get a great deal on the Chelsea purchase.

They could still win the CL.

 

[edd_jedi]

Good game between United and Spurs yesterday, it's a shame Ronaldo decided to turn up for the first time this year. A couple of very questionable penalty decisions, personally I don't think either should have been given as neither were deliberate, but I don't see how he gave one and not the other. It's a stupid rule that needs ditching, it's either deliberate or it's not, end of story and everyone is happy.

 

[theforceuk]

Agreed on the penalty's, can't agree on the Ronaldo comment. Not sure where Man Utd would be without Ronaldo this season. Out of the champions league and a top 4 race for sure, we haven't won this season when he hasn't started since he joined.

The Ronaldo haters who have said he's finished have been sat down, if he was in the City side they would have already given him the golden boot. Fitting that a week when the other two best number nines in the world score hat-ricks Ronaldo does as well.

The press driven negative story's on Ronaldo are what drives the perception that Ronaldo is the problem. Man Utd have been in slow decline for 9 years now, Ronaldo walks into the dressing room and tells everyone how crap they are and the standards are on the flaw and they don't like it.

2 months of the season left and who would bet against him getting 30 goals this season? When was the last time a player did that for Man Utd? I would guess Van Persie 12/13 season when we won the league by 11 points. He's on 18.

 

[weasel]

Really? Not sure I would class his season so far as a success. It's not been a failure, but there is a rather large area between the two. Although if you look at social media you wouldn't think it.

I don't judge Ronaldo by normal standards, cos he isn't a normal player. The guy is a freak. Judging him by his standards this season has been a bit below par. Still good enough to keep most normal PL strikers happy, but he is not normal. He's still done better than Messi at PSG mind.
I would say age is starting to catch up with him. No shame in that, it happens to everyone, and being in such a **** Utd team doesn't help him. But I struggle to see how you can argue he has shut up his critics. The best you can say is he has done 'ok' that's not gonna shut up his critics.

I gotta disagree on Utd being out of the CL without his goals too. In the literal sense, if you take his goals off, "yes" Utd would be out. BUT you are either assuming he plays the full 90 and does nothing or whoever played in his place would not have contributed anything. In the case of the latter chances are the games would have been totally different if someone else played in his place. Utd could have lost 100-0 or won 15-14, we'll never know. That's why I don't like those assumptions. Yes, he has scored some very important goals for Utd in the CL, but if he was not there the games would have been totally different. If he had played and done FA I doubt OGS would continued to pick him, so we are back to the 'someone else playing' argument.
You can't just deduct his contributions and not add any on for his replacement. Kinda like saying if DDG hadn't played you would have shipped every shot on target. In the literal sense, if you played without a keeper, you would have. But you obviously would have played Henderson who is a solid keeper and may well have saved just as many as DDG.


VAR rant time.

How the **** did the Brighton keeper stay on yesterday? Apparently VAR couldn't see any angle that showed whether there was contact. Genuinely, that is what they said. EVERY SINGLE ANGLE BT showed was crystal clear there was contact.
VAR is not the issue, the incompetent referees are the issue. If you can't watch that and see it's a crystal clear red, you shouldn't be a professional referee.

Judge for yourselves, anyone think there might have been contact here?



Also, that Harry Maguire OG, now I don't rate Harry, never have, never will, but he ONLY plays the ball cos he know the Spurs CF is there. Surely that is the definition of 'interfering with play'? As someone who knows more about footy than me once said, "If my player isn't interfering with play, what is he doing on the pitch?"
I feel dirty saying Utd shouldn't have conceded there, but that rule is utter bollocks.

 

[lejackal]

Thats red all day. On the ITWGX* scale that's red 12 times out of ten

*If that was Granit Xhaka

 

[theforceuk]

@weasel We haven't won without him in the starting 11 since he joined. He doesn't need to shut anyone up he's the greatest goal scorer of all time, literally by most goals. My point is he simply isn't the problem at Man Utd as many journalists and football fans would argue. Any player who scores 20 plus goals in that Man Utd team is not the problem. Oh but he doesn't press oh but he's arrogant, oh but he's to old. Complete and utter crap. Any other group of players would have in braced Ronaldo and got the best out of him.

Agree on the Harry Maquire own goal. lol.
Also agree De Gea has been our player of the season, he's made more saves than any other PL goalkeeper. The argument that if Ronaldo hadn't been playing then someone else would have, er who???? Cavani is only fit when an international break is around the corner and that's it. Their is know one else. Your pretty much saying that this Man Utd team has the players to replace Ronaldo who most people would probably agree is in the top 10 players of all time. Last season we didn't have him and we ended up in the Europa league. First time we've been in the knock out stages of CL since 2017 and he's the difference this season no question.

 

[edd_jedi]

Well that's a clean sweep of **** results for Spurs this weekend, love it when that happens! things can only get better...

 

[edd_jedi]

Re: Ronaldo I think the point is that football is a team sport, having one (or in United's case five or six) superstars in your team who can't play together isn't any help. Look at teams like Arsenal, West Ham, Wolves etc at the moment, on paper they barely have any big names between them, but as a unit they are playing incredibly well and one of them is almost certainly going to pinch the fourth CL spot. Spurs have the same problem as United, there's no point having the league's most dangerous attacking duo if you have the worst back line.