The imaginatively titled Premier League 21/22 Thread

[weasel]

I saw bits of the Arsenal Utd game and it was fairly even from what I saw. If anything Utd probably deserved to be level. I missed from 5 mins before xhaka's goal so can't comment on anything after that. I did hear Fernandes could/should have gone for a shocker.

Some utterly woeful defending from both sides. That Arsenal penalty was a farce. Even as an ABU I wouldn't have given it. Contact DOES. NOT. EQUAL. FOUL/PENALTY. It's a fecking contact sport, the clue is in the name. A few tight offsides that went (rightly) against Utd, a fluffed penalty and they hit the post and the bar. On another day…..

Still, that's them fighting for EL now. No chance they close a 6pt gap. Not even sure where their next win is coming from. They did look better today, not hard, but confidence is on the floor.

The North London derby is going to go a long way to deciding who gets the CL spot. Actually, scratch that. Whoever wins it will lose all their remaining games. Whoever loses it will win their next two and then lose the rest and some random club will come from nowhere and nick the 4th spot. Wolves for the CL.

PS, that Tavares really is dog **** bad. He's the black Moreno. There is no bigger insult I can give a player.

 

[edd_jedi]

Chelsea deserved to lose that game for possibly the worst penalty I have ever seen. I have no sympathy for any poncey penalty that misses, just bloody boot it! And WHU now have no centre backs apparently after that red card. Oh and Burnley's win means Everton are in the bottom three now, at least they only have to play Liverpool later...

 

[weasel]

I haven't seen the Chelsea game but I heard the penalty was woeful.

On the subject of "deserved to lose" SLAP THAT RIGHT UP YOU LAMPARD. Clearly he picked up Jose's bus parking tactics and nothing else. That was a ******* carbon copy of Jose at his worst. five at the back, four in midfield strung in a line 10 yards outside your box and one "striker" who stayed 10 yards inside his own half. They were time wasting from the 3rd minute, Pickford was taking so long over each goal kick that children grew beards. It was horrible horrible antifootball. The kinda **** Jose used to love inflicting on us all. I do not miss him and I do not miss his brand of football. The fact that fat Frank inflicted that on us means I now huge Everton go down. It was pathetic.

I get not going toe to toe with Pool, especially when you are in the bottom 3, but there are ways of trying not to lose and then there is that anti football *****. **** you lampard and **** that stupid club who employed you. Enjoy the Championship!

 

[weasel]

Come on Leeds!

(That'll jinx it, City will win 5-0 now)

 

[theforceuk]

Another lucky win for Liverpool, poor standard in general this season, apart from the top 2. Man City and Liverpool are the only competitive teams in Europe really.

 

[weasel]

Well, 4-0, I was close.

Another lucky win for Liverpool, poor standard in general this season, apart from the top 2. Man City and Liverpool are the only competitive teams in Europe really.

Not sure. Yes, it was ONLY 1-0 and Newcastle could have nicked it. BUT, they didn't have many clear cut chances (I can't think of any off hand) and Pool missed a hat full. Dubravka made 9 saves, granted most were easy but that was cos Pool hit the ball straight at him. On another day that's 4 or 5. On an average Saturday Salah, Mane, Jota and Diaz all bury chances they fluffed today.

I'll take the 3 pts either way.

City don't look like dropping any points so I suspect whatever Pool do is kind of irrelevant anyway.

Norwich now gone. While I respect a well run club that doesn't gamble its future on one season of staying up, I do have to wonder what the point in Norwich is. Too good for the Championship but plainly not even close to good enough for the PL.

Big win for Burnley too. All but mathematically sends Watford down (see my comments on Norwich, but without the "well run" bit) and leaves Everton right in the *****.

As for the standard, it's kind of hard to say. The top two are two of the best sides the PL has seen so that skews things. I don't know what the average pts total for 3rd and 4th is. That would seem the fairest way to judge them. Ditto any other random places you wanna pick. And you probably need to look at it over a few years not just compare two. Though I suspect whoever stays up may well only need 35pts this year. Previously I think it has been more, but it has been gradually dropping. Which probably says more about the gap between those at the top and those at the bottom rather than the overall quality.
WH and Leicester in European semi finals would imply the standard isn't all that bad. Especially with Chelsea making the last 8 of the CL, and being unlucky to lose they were the better team for vast chunks of the tie. And Utd got out of their group too, albeit via a lot of late winners.
I don't really know how you fairly and accurately compare seasons. Especially if you go over any length of time. Take a team from the 70's, or 80's when English football dominated Europe and buck it in the PL now and they are worse than Norwich. Fitness, conditioning, tactics, refereeing standards etc. have all changed massively. The same could be said for any PL side from about the first 10 yrs of the PL as well. Time and the changes to the rules how they are interpreted make comparisons all but impossible.

 

[lejackal]

For what it's worth the invincibles would struggle to get third these days with this iteration of pool and citeh as they are and Chelsea not exactly bad. Even the best Ferguson UTD from 1998-2008 wouldn't be doing anything to break into the top two.

 

[theforceuk]

Best teams the premier league has seen are these teams, City and Liverpool. Chelsea 2004 - 2006, Arsenal 1998 - 2004, Man Utd 1999 - 2001 and 2007 - 2009. Total points accumulated should never be put above trophies won in those periods. That Chelsea team only conceded 16 goals and lost one game in a season, the Arsenal side went an entire season unbeaten and both Utd sides still hold many records. My favourite is the treble season where they went unbeaten from January to May in all 3 competitions beating all the best teams in Europe when Italy, Spain and Germany had strong sides.

To say either of these present sides are the best ever is typical of modern society, dismissing the past quickly without any proper research or understanding of what happened in the past. Best ever Chelsea team and best ever Arsenal team would give Liverpool and Man City a good game 100%.

 

[edd_jedi]

No I'm with Weasel on this one, any pre-2010 team would get rinsed by modern City or Liverpool, as he said the game is just totally different. If you could compare distances covered for example (which you can't because the stats don't go back that far) the players are so much fitter these days. In fact whenever I watch reruns of old 80s and 90s football matches now, it looks like pub teams playing, there is a charm about it for sure but the level of fitness and skill isn't even in the same ball park. A good example - does anyone fall for the Cruyff turn any more? No, it worked for about 3 years when he first invented it but now players are wise to it.

 

[edd_jedi]

Norwich first to go down, with their horrible run in I think Everton are odds on to join them at the moment!

 

[theforceuk]

Can't agree! Ronaldo was an animal back in 2007 and he still is now! Prime Henry, Viera, Anelka, Drogba, Van Persie and the list could go on and on. They would all have a field day right now. You could argue that the better teams have it easier now as players are protected from bad tackles a lot more. Look at James Milner, he's still one of the best players in the league, how long has he been playing?

 

[weasel]

I watched the original Liverpool Newcatsle 4-3 game during lock down. Sky showed extended highlights, I didnt actually sit and watch the whole thing, I wasnt THAT bored! But within 10 minutes I saw 4 or 5 tackles that would be a straight red now. Not even "seen them given" I mean 'stonewall' red cards, and do you know what, both teams made them and both sets of players got straight up and got on with it. Now there would be players rolling about and screaming and (if it was Chelsea or a Jose team) half the team surrounding the ref calling for 3 red cards, 2 penalties, and a life time ban.
Now, I know that game was '96 ish and thus 25 years ago, but it just goes to show how much the game has changed. I suspect if we sat down and watched a game from 2010 there would be a good few tackles that would be red cards now that there barely even noticed then. That alone makes it hard to compare teams.

Even at that, I'm not sure why fans obsess about "best team ever" can we not just sit back and say City/Pool in their curren guise are two ******* superb teams, as were Jose's first Chelsea, the Invincibles, Utd 99-00 and whatever the other Utd team was (07 ish?). Who cares who thinks which one is "best"? At the end of the day, most fans will vote for their club. The only real neutral is a fan who doesnt have a team nominated, and even at that our Spurs fans will probably be reluctant to vote for Arsenal.

Norwich first to go down, with their horrible run in I think Everton are odds on to join them at the moment!

Yeah, that run in is not pretty. Whilst I hated Everton's tactics last weekend and I will laugh if they go down, I have nothing against the club or the fans. The fans have suffered 27 yrs with no trophy, and not even getting close to winning one, and for the most part some utterly dreadful football. They don't deserve to be relegated. BUT that club is soooooo badly run. They have spent so much on *****, and over so many years. Then they sacked Rafa and appointed Fat Frank cos he was a good player. The fans didnt want yer man who had won leagues and developed players at his previous clubs, they wanted Frank cos he was a name and an Engerlund legend. And the Board listened to them.

Given Everton are in breach of FFP as it stands I suspect relegation will **** them royally. Their income will nose dive. I guess a good few players won't fancy the Championship and will leave, but I'm not sure Everton would have been switched on enough to have relegation clauses in the players contracts, so they may still, be paying PL wages. They would struggle to recoup what they paid for 90% of that squad. Especially if they go down. Clubs will know they want/need to sell and the players want away, so suddenly a 40m player attracts bids of 20-25m, probably spread over 2 or 3 years as well.
It would be tricky for any club to try to get back within the boundaries of FFP whilst being relegated but for one as incompetently run as Everton……I could see a point deduction coming a year or two down the line. If they don't come straight back up they could be in a world of trouble.

 

[edd_jedi]

Norwich first to go down, with their horrible run in I think Everton are odds on to join them at the moment!

Oh sorry, I forgot Chelsea weren't playing Spurs today so of course Everton, a team in the relegation zone, beat them

 

[edd_jedi]

Can't agree! Ronaldo was an animal back in 2007 and he still is now! Prime Henry, Viera, Anelka, Drogba, Van Persie and the list could go on and on. They would all have a field day right now. You could argue that the better teams have it easier now as players are protected from bad tackles a lot more. Look at James Milner, he's still one of the best players in the league, how long has he been playing?

Of course there are individuals from the past who would still cut it today, Maradonna for example. I'm talking in general.

 

[weasel]

Oh sorry, I forgot Chelsea weren't playing Spurs today so of course Everton, a team in the relegation zone, beat them

I saw chunks of the game, Chelsea missed a few great chances/Pickford made a few flukey saves (one with his face), but Chelsea were piss poor.

I see Spurs thumped Leicester's reserves though, as you would expect. Good result for Arsenal at WH. WH's season hangs on Thursday now. Whilst I would love to see them win it and win the EL, if they make the final it is 3 days before they play City in the PL and there's no chance Moyesy will play anything other than the under 11's there, and as a Pool fan, I kinda want their strongest side out against City.

Looks like a straight fight between Spurs and Arsenal for the CL spot, unless Chelsea **** it up royally. Then the loser between those two and Utd/WH in EL and the loser between Utd/WH and Wolves fighting it out for (or to avoid) Europa Challenge fizzy cup. Given Wolves have City and Pool still to play, their's is probably a long shot. But given how this season has gone…..

 

[edd_jedi]

Yes a good result for Spurs against Leicester today, although arguably a better result for Arsenal as assuming we get spanked by Liverpool and they cruise past Leeds, the derby could decide it now.

 

[weasel]

I think the Derby is gonna be the decider. But I also expect Klopp to make a few changes for that game. It being at Anfield maybe shifts it in Pool's favour but I wouldn't be confident. I guess a lot depends on how the second leg at Villareal goes and what team Klopp plays.

 

[lejackal]

In an ideal world I'd like a 5 point gap before the derby and Everton to either be safe or relegated by the final day. They're a shambles but we will find a way to give them a leg up if they need it

 

[Cazza]

 

[lejackal]

 

[weasel]

It's half time and **** me Pool have been woeful. That's Norwich levels of ****.

I have a bad feeling about this second half.

 

[edd_jedi]

Bournemouth back in the PL next season, I was hoping to see Forest back in for the first time in 20+ years so hopefully they make it to the play offs.

 

[lejackal]

Bournemouth back in the PL next season, I was hoping to see Forest back in for the first time in 20+ years so hopefully they make it to the play offs.

Blimey, something we agree on football wise

Bournemouth looked the better team n fairness but I'd definitely much rather see new teams getting a shot rather than the same half a dozen yo-yo ing all the time.

 

[edd_jedi]

Bournemouth looked the better team n fairness but I'd definitely much rather see new teams getting a shot rather than the same half a dozen yo-yo ing all the time.

Yeah they need another league between the Championship and PL for Fulham, Norwich, Bournemouth, Burnley, Watford etc. That's why I'm hoping Everton go down, not because I dislike them as a club, just for a bit of variety.

 

[weasel]

Agreed on Everton, and Forest coming up. Or even Luton via the play offs.

 

[edd_jedi]

Wow, City really cocked that up!

 

[Cazza]

They sure did!!!

 

[lejackal]

I didn't watch it but once you're 5-3 you put ten men in the box and see the game out surely. Did city try that?

 

[weasel]

**** me City!

I watched most of it and I'm still none the wiser as to how they lost. Real didn't have a shot on target until the 90th minute. City were in absolute cruise control and then, from nowhere, they blew up.

I'd much rather Pool played Real in the final. They play City 2 or 3 times a year and the games near kill me. At least with Real there is a slight sense of something different. Albeit they played last year and in the final in '18. Plus, I suspect Pool have more chance against Real than City.

On that note, I'm afraid I'll be cheering for Frankfurt tonight. I'd love WH to win the thing and end up in the CL, BUT the final is 3 days before their PL game against City and I kinda want City to drop points. So that means I need the full strength WH side out for the PL game, not sitting with their feet up dreaming of EL glory. Sorry WH lol.

 

[lejackal]

**** me City!

I watched most of it and I'm still none the wiser as to how they lost. Real didn't have a shot on target until the 90th minute. City were in absolute cruise control and then, from nowhere, they blew up.

I'd much rather Pool played Real in the final. They play City 2 or 3 times a year and the games near kill me. At least with Real there is a slight sense of something different. Albeit they played last year and in the final in '18. Plus, I suspect Pool have more chance against Real than City.

On that note, I'm afraid I'll be cheering for Frankfurt tonight. I'd love WH to win the thing and end up in the CL, BUT the final is 3 days before their PL game against City and I kinda want City to drop points. So that means I need the full strength WH side out for the PL game, not sitting with their feet up dreaming of EL glory. Sorry WH lol.

And your lot need to have your head in the game at the weekend as well if you don't mind