Premier League 23/24 Thread

[theforceuk]

What you on about sad way to finish for Klopp, he fluked one UCL final and became god to Liverpool fans. The rest is history.

They can turn that around and walk the league. Don't be so reactionary. Liverpool have been struggling with injuries for most the season can still have a great season.

 

[weasel]

It's more the fact he took a side, a ******* shambles of a side, that just been hoked 5-0 or 5-1 by Stoke and made them European Champions, and lost two other CL finals. You can fluke a CL, but to make three finals is a bit harder. If Real Madrid would just **** off it could have been three wins lol.


The league is City's to throw away, they have the experience, the best squad and the easiest run in. I don't see them dropping any points which means Liverpool, and Arsenal, cant either. On current form, I don't see Liverpool doing that. It's possible, Thursday night might well be a turning point and finegrs are pulled out. Nunez might try to put the ball in the back of the net rather than feeding the fans with souvenir match balls, Salah might turn up, the entire team might stop the stupid mistakes that cost goals/games etc. But I'm not confident. Pool have punched above their weight this season given the new signings and the injuries, and I suspect this may be a case of 'mean reversion'. Don't get me wrong, I'd have taken CL qualification (and a worthless cup) in August. It's just frustrating/disappointing. Especially as the dip in form has happened AFTER the injury crisis was over. If it was still on going I could understand, indeed it would be perfectly excusable. Jayden Danns is not Mo Salah, Bobby Clarke doesn't have a world cup winners medal lying at home. But since the 'big names' came back it's been a case of grinding the results out and then ehhh not against Utd and getting spanked on Thursday. We'll see, but momentum is crucial at this stage of the season

 

[theforceuk]

I disagree, Liverpool have got the easier run in and if they start putting there chances away should win it. Rock and Role.

 

[weasel]

I disagree, Liverpool have got the easier run in and if they start putting there chances away should win it. Rock and Role.

Really? Liverpool have Palace (H), Fulham, Everton and WH (all away), Spurs (H), Villa (A), and Wolves (H).

City have Brighton (A), Forest, (A), Wolves (H), Fulham (A), Spurs (A) and WH (H).

Arsenal have Villa (H), Wolves (A), Chelsea (H), Spurs (A), Bournemouth (H), Utd (A), Everton (H)


City's run in looks much easier than the other two.
Pool and Arsenal both have away derby games, Pool have to go to Villa, who beat City and Arsenal at VP already, Pool also have Spurs at Anfield. Arsenal have Villa at home, and the two wild cards of Chelsea and Utd. Those two could just as easily knick a point or more, or roll over and lose 4-0. Albeit Utd only seem to turn up against Pool.
Bar a trip to Spurs, you would expect City to win all those games if the pressure was on.

 

[lejackal]

Now I'll concede that as being lucky!

 

[lejackal]

And that could be game over

 

[weasel]

Insert gif of yer man from Aliens shouting "Game over man."


Pool's title challenge ended at OT, yesterday was just the final lowering of the coffin into the ground. Arsenal's ended yesterday too.

City wont drop any points from here so we are playing for second place. Which may end up being a title in 20yrs when the FA/PL FINALLY get round to charging City for all their cheating. But that's no consolation.

That Pool game was ridiculous. Nunez and Jota hit the keeper and defender when it was easier to score. Curtis Jones fluffed a one on one from the half way line. And, TBF, some Palace boy missed one/had it saved by Alison. But that game should have been won comfortably. I saw two stats that sum Liverpool up at the minute, apparently they need 13 shots to score a goal, and in their last two home games (Atalanta and Palace) they had an XG of 5.5….they scored no goals.
Pish defending comes back to bite you when you have strikers with all the killer instinct of a stoned Mother Theresa.

Shocking weekend all round, Spurs, Pool, WH, and Arsenal all losing. Utd fluking a point against Bournemouth was the "highlight" for our teams.

Utd were a tad fortunate with both their penalty, very harsh to give that after a double deflection, and the disallowed Bournemouth one. I have seen pens given for the defender touching the box, Fabinho against SU, and penalties, like Utd's, not given. In Fab's case 'touching the box counts as in it' in the others 'contact was outside the box'. Good old VAR.
Back to the Utd one, there is a decent argument that the contact continued inside the box. It's probably one of those had the ref said he thought it did, VAR wouldnt have over turned it. But all academic anyway.


FOOTBALL'S A **** SPORT

 

[lejackal]

It is 99% over, however (in my head at least) there is one superbly delicious scenario left on the table.

Arsenal take maximum points
City do, apart from a draw at Spurs
Spurs one point from that game simultaneously knocks Villa out of the CL spots AND wins us the league on goal difference.

So petty and so unlikely but it's all I've got

 

[weasel]

In mine Jurgen stays.

 

[lejackal]

In mine Jurgen stays.

You don't need him. You need *insert anyone here* for 12 months and then get Alonso

 

[lejackal]

On the basis Alonso will want at least another year at Bayer Leverkusen

 

[weasel]

Alonso is off to Real when Ancelotti leaves next summer.

Nice to see three Chelsea players fighting over a penalty. Very professional boys

 

[theforceuk]

Sums up modern footballers, can you imagine Gerrard arguing with Owen over who was taking a pen when they first went into the team.

Thing is the entire team should want Cole Palmer to take every pen, a, he doesn't miss and goal difference could get them into europe and b, he's on for the golden boot.

 

[edd_jedi]

That just sums up Chelsea and a lot of other teams to be honest, a bunch of individuals who really don't care what team they play for, it's all about them.

 

[weasel]

Well that wasnt what I was expecting.

Fair enough, Bayern away is a tricky one and Arsenal don't have a huge amount of CL experience, BUT that is (relatively speaking) a very poor Bayern side. I still thought Arsenal would have enough but they created FA squared. It's dead easy in hindsight but spending 60m on a non striker in Haeverts (and however much on Raya) does look strange business. Maybe there were no better strikers available, and they haven't struggled to score goals in the league, but against an experienced European side they didn't create much. Hard to know if it was a chance/window missed or just a bad day at the office.

City's game was the latter from what I saw. They dominated but just had one of those days were things didn't quite drop. Not like Real to get lucky/grind out an undeserved win in the CL .

Disappointing night for English sides, and with Liverpool ******* away their shot at the EL and WH having a massive task against Leverkusen, all eyes on Villa to complete the only leg of what I expected to be a hat-trick of European trophies heading back to Blighty.

 

[lejackal]

Yes, I think we played the game they wanted us to. Somewhat frustrating, but a weak Bayern side isn't exactly a pushover. I do feel we should've thrown caution the wind a bit earlier though - obviously a pumping could've been the end result, but sometimes games like that need someone to just grab it by the balls. ESR, Nelson and Vieira are hardly world class, but they're all fresh and should have a point to prove.

 

[edd_jedi]

Quality journalism on the BBC as usual

 

[edd_jedi]

I think both City and Arsenal going out last night disprove the myth that the EPL is the best league and the likes of Real, Barca (3 years ago), Bayern,PSG etc aren't in competitive leagues. You don't get that good by winning against dross week in week out, look at Celtic's track record in Europe. As unlikeable as those teams are, they are the real deal and beating City and Arsenal is no fluke.

 

[theforceuk]

Away goals rule City would have gone through, although you can't say that, I'm not sure Real Madrid would scored any more at City if that was still the rule, stupid sacking that off, now all of a sudden we're getting loads of penalty shoot outs.

Arsenal fail to score for second game in a row, worrying. I'm sure they will hit back at Wolves.

That BBC page! You've got one job, one job.

 

[lejackal]

At least it was the tag line, last season, or the one before they published the story that we lost when we actually got a last minute equaliser, maybe even winner. Shocking

 

[Cazza]

No English teams in the Champs League or Europa semis- crazy! Really gutted we couldn't hold out for a win tonight. Leverkusen are one of those teams where literally everything is going right for them. Crappy, undeserved equaliser. Absolutely battered them first half, ran out of steam in the second, but still thoroughly deserved a win. Proud of them tonight. Ref was absolutely abysmal.

 

[lejackal]

Any idea why Martinez wasn't sent off for the second yellow? Surely penalties are still part of the match? Obviously they'd have to have a keeper but should've been an outfield player?

 

[Cazza]

Heard he got booked in the shoot out- didn't realise he'd already been booked, which as you say, should surely be a red? He's an obnoxious ****.

 

[weasel]

but a weak Bayern side isn't exactly a pushover.

Agreed, 100%, but Arsenal are a better team than Bayern. They just didnt show it. Like Liverpool are a better team than Atalanta, except not on current form.

Leverkusen are one of those teams where literally everything is going right for them.

Yeah, that's the main reason I was a bit worried about Alonsomif he got the Pool job. He has 18months managerial experience and Leverkusen are clearly riding a wave (partly made up of luck). Brave call by him to stick rather than go to Pool or Bayern.

Any idea why Martinez wasn't sent off for the second yellow? Surely penalties are still part of the match? Obviously they'd have to have a keeper but should've been an outfield player?

Apparently, yellow cards dont carry over into penalty shoot outs in the EL. I assume the same rule applies in CL and ECL too. That seems like an utterly bizarre rule. It allows tossers like Martinez to continue to be tossers during a penalty shoot out. It almost rewards bad behaviour by giving him a clean slate again. No idea why it was brought in, "to stop keepers being sent off" is a bit daft as if they get a second yellow they have clearly deserved it and been ******* about so they SHOULD be sent off. I would expect that rule to be changed in the summer. I would be VERY VERY pissed off if I was Lille.

 

[edd_jedi]

So before I cry in 4 weeks time when we're still on 60 points, I'd like to highlight the biggest fixture stitch up I can recall. It's hard enough having to play those 4 teams any time of the season, let alone your last 5 games. And yes, I know everyone plays everyone and we shouldn't have bent over against Wolves twice etc...

I don't think we'll have a say in the title race, I'm almost positive it will be four defeats. If we get 6 points from those 5 games, I would be thrilled.

 

[weasel]

As long as you get royally shafted by VAR at Anfield I don't mind! Lol

Though we all know, if you do get shafted by VAR, it will be against City and it will be game deciding in their favour. No penalty for Liverpool when Doku booted MacAllister in the chest in stoppage time, no penalty for Chelsea when Grealish used his arm to block a free kick, and was it Kovacevic who should have been sent off against Arsenal? Weird how all the big calls in the big games go for the club who pay refs to fly out to Saudi to "teach" their refs.

Ps, Utd you JAMMY JAMMY bastards.
I only saw ET, but that was a bloody tight Offside call in your favour, and if you need that to keep you in a tie against a Championship after having been 3-0 up with half an hour left, you don't deserve to go through.
City will either beat you 3/4/5/6-0 or it will be a horrible scrapy game with one goal in it.

 

[edd_jedi]

Speaking of jammy bastards (again)



No doubt he'll be fighting fit and wanting to make up for lost time in the home game against Spurs the week after

 

[Cazza]

Man U deserved to go out, that's for sure. Such as shame that last gasp Cov goal was off.

When I heard Forest had openly complained on social media about the non-pens in their game, and a Luton fan being on the VAR team, I thought they were just being a bit whiney again. Then I saw the decisions... WTF? How they didn't get at least 2 of those, I have no idea. You know for sure that the Sky 6 would've got at least 2 of them. The whole thing is getting worse and worse. It's bringing the game into disrepute. If Forest take and win any sort of legal action, it will open the floodgates. What a mess!

 

[theforceuk]

You know it's bad when you're 3-0 up with 20 minutes to go but everyone is saying you deserved to go out!

ETH should mug all the senior players off and play the youth for the rest of the season, will never happen. He's gone in the summer if he persists with the senior players.

 

[weasel]

I've seen the 3 Forest non penalties and TBH I wouldn't give the first two. But Ashley Young could well have set a new record as the first player to give away three penalties in a game.

Taking Forest's non pens in order.
There is undoubtedly contact in the first one, but as I keep saying 'contact does NOT equal a foul' and yer man goes down like the fella from Platoon. Why his arms come swinging out like that and he looks like he has been shot I will never know. That alone means he doesn't deserve a penalty, but even so I don't think there was enough contact there for a penalty. If you start to give stuff like that then it's open season for diving in the penalty box, or throwing yourself to the ground at the slightest touch. and **** knows no one likes diving. We can't all sit here and curse at players diving and then say they should get a penalty for the slightest touch in the box.
The second one is very subjective, I THINK (I haven't seen a full video of it only a few stills) Youngs arm is up, but it is a result of his leg being up trying to block the cross/shot and thus I reckon is probably in what they call a "natural position". Your arm comes up as a counter balance when you lift your leg at that speed. We have all seen them given, and we've seen the first one given too, but I think not giving it was the right call.
The last one is a foul all day long. The ref says he got the ball. Ehhh, yeah, he did, he got the ball THROUGH Callum Hudson Odoy's foot. That'll be a foul. I can understand the ref missing that as it is close and hard to spot at full time, but ehhh VAR That. Is. Your. Job!

Nothing will happen about it all though. The PL will fine Forest for their tweet and PGMOL will continue as they have done all season, serially ruining games week in week out. If club's wanted to do anything about VAR the time to do it was when Liverpool got royally shafted at Spurs. That shambles was the time to say "hold on, you boys are making a mess of this." Almost every dodgy VAR call you can at least make an argument for the decision, like I did above, but the Liverpool one was a totally different kettle of fish. It was VAR and the referee literally not knowing what they were looking at and being on different pages. Subjective calls happen all the time. We probably disagree on some of those Forest penalties, but the Liverpool one was a procedural **** up, everyone agrees it was a goal. But instead of realising that it would come back to bite them eventually clubs decided it was easier to laugh at Liverpool and now it's too late. You need another decision along the lines of that to be able to do something about it. Otherwise the PL/PGMOL can rightly point to the fact they got away with that so why should a bad offside or missed pen suddenly be treated differently.

Speaking of jammy bastards (again)

View attachment 188418

No doubt he'll be fighting fit and wanting to make up for lost time in the home game against Spurs the week after

That was my thoughts exactly, albeit I was more annoyed that Arsenal got to face Chelsea without their best player.


Ohh and I would say ETH is away regardless of what he does for the rest of the season. His only hope is win over City in FAC, a few decent performances between now and then and the new guys to accept that part of the blame lay with the old structure of the club. Even so, it's probably easier just to fire him and move on. The question is, who do you get?

And who do WH get? Talk of Almorion. I don't think Moyesy has done a bad job, but he has probably taken the club as far as he can. There aren't huge numbers of decent managers out there though.