The imaginatively titled Premier League 21/22 Thread

[edd_jedi]

Yes strange decision by Burnley. I mean yes you could argue in ten years he hasn't improved them. But has there been any budget to do so? I always thought he did a pretty good job considering the gulf in money available (especially with teams like Everton in the mix!)

 

[edd_jedi]

What did I tell you, the rollercoaster is back on

 

[theforceuk]

I would still have Spurs as favourites for 4th. Man Utd were crap again today, once again Ronaldo saved us. Give him chances and he scores. Next 2 games for Man Utd are Liverpool and Arsenal so Spurs can only win really. Arsenal and Man Utd just need the season to end, preferably without Liverpool winning anything more than a cup double/treble!!

 

[lejackal]

What did I tell you, the rollercoaster is back on

***** for us again. Our 2nd string are simply miles off the pace

 

[weasel]

Spurs lose, Arsenal lose (4 defeats in 5), WH draw, Utd win despite being dung. Can we just agree no one deserves the 4th CL spot and hand it back to UEFA!? That really is a case of 'whoever is least ****' gets it. Clearly no one wants it!

 

[weasel]

Well that was....close!

I see the logic of trying 5 at the back, although poor Phil Jones that was a hiding to nothing, but ehhh it was clearly not working inside 10 mins and yet Rangnick waited until HT to change it. I'm not sure it would have affected the out come but it would have meant 35 mins less of Utd looking like a very bad lower league side who had drawn Pool in the cup and who were hoping not to get humiliated. And that is exactly what Utd looked like in the first half, it was too easy for Pool. To think that Utd squad, apparently, want to play in the CL.

Ten Haag has a massive job ahead of him. I wonder will he be allowed to do what needs to be done? I've already heard rumours he has been told certain players can't be sold, not because they are integral to Utd but cos no one will pay anything even close to what Utd shipped out for them. I wonder what fat useless CB and RB who gets a nose bleed 15 yards from his own box, they could be talking about?!

Either way, with Cavanni, Matic, Mata, Lingard, and Pogba all away this summer there will need to be some new faces in midfield. ATM Utd's midfield nxt year is McFred. That's it. No one else. JUST McFred.

Ohh and Burnley have a better defensive record that Utd this season. That says it all. The defence Utd had out last night cost £200m. You could buy the entire football club at Burnley for that.

 

[edd_jedi]

Spurs lose, Arsenal lose (4 defeats in 5), WH draw, Utd win despite being dung. Can we just agree no one deserves the 4th CL spot and hand it back to UEFA!? That really is a case of 'whoever is least ****' gets it. Clearly no one wants it!

It was exactly the same last season, it's so infuriating! I agree that none of us really deserve a CL spot and whoever does grab the last spot will probably be humbled in the group stage.

 

[edd_jedi]

I'd love to know what the odds were of Arsenal losing at home to Southampton and then scoring four against Chelsea away got to love the PL sometimes, it just makes no sense!

Here's an interesting stat for you. Chelsea are supposed to be having a fantastic season, while Arsenal and Spurs are doing ****. All three teams have won 18 games this season...

 

[lejackal]

Makes the run in more interesting at least

 

[weasel]

Yeah, Arsenal and Spurs are soooooo unpredictable it's unreal.

Chelsea have dipped a good bit. At the start of the season when they went 8 games without shipping a goal everyone was saying they were the team to beat, now Arsenal and Brentford have both scored 4 at Stamford Bridge. Possibly it's a bit of end of season syndrome. They know they are safe in the CL spots, barring a massive **** up, and have only the FAC still to play for. I'm hoping they continue to stumble though. Them in 5th and Arsenal and Spurs in 3rd/4th would be brilliant.

 

[edd_jedi]

Well Ten Hag to United is official. I don't really get the hysteria around him to be honest, he's won two league titles and a couple of minor trophies in the tenth(?) biggest league in Europe. On paper another Dutch former Ajax manager looked like a better appointment (Van Gaal) and look how that turned out. I don't hate United so would love to be proven wrong, but I just don't see where all this optimism is coming from - not least because of the utter mess he is inheriting, he literally needs about 8 new starting 11 players to be competitive.

 

[theforceuk]

Ten Hags the man for me, I'm not sure why/if there is hysteria around him, optimism is what I'm sensing. As has already been said he probably needs 3 or 4 excellent transfer windows and patience from the fans. Put it this way if he gets the money and time that OGS got at the very least we will be playing better football than we have been over the last 9 years. I'm fed up of being board shitless watching Utd. I could put up with Pep's style of ticky tacka football if we were winning as much as City but we've been no where near either for a long time.

Pundits coming out today saying he should get us competing for the big trophies within 2 years, absolutely not possible, the club is broken from top to bottom, bringing one man in and his coaching staff isn't going to turn around every part of the club over night. As I've said before it's the first of many steps that need to be taken.

The recruiting has been terrible for many years, we've spent over £1 billion since 2013, we may as well have thrown it on a bonfire. The head scout has already gone.

Makes me lough when I read comments that it's a risk from Man Utd getting him. For a start any manager would be a risk with the state the clubs in. It's a bigger risk for Ten Hag, he had big clubs sniffing around him all over Europe and you certainly have to say he's the first coach we've chosen who's career is on the up and not on the way down. Comparing him to Van Gaal is wrong, he was in his prime in the 1990's, Jose the 00's and the rest aren't comparable at all. Ten Hag still has it all to prove and he's a proper coach that play's high pressing attacking football, so he will need to get rid of most the squad to do that which will take at least 2 seasons.

There will be bad results next season early on and I can't wait for the media to go in on him early, especially all these out of touch pundits that wanted Poch and can't wait to say I told you so. Because the fan base is fed up of these players and owners as much as they were of Ole, Ten Hag will be given time by the fans.
Surely it can't get any worse!

 

[weasel]

I'm fed up of being board shitless watching Utd.

WHAT? Utd have played some brilliant stuff in the last few years. Tuesday night was superb viewing, the game at OT in October was even better. That game where Moyesy' team had 287 crosses into Fulham's (?) box when you lost was another classic.

I've had more enjoyment from watching Utd than the last few years than the 20 before that combined. Long LONG may it continue.

Surely it can't get any worse!

And you just jinxed it!
He'llbe sacked by xmas.

 

[theforceuk]

If Ten Hag is sacked by Christmas there will be up raw from the fans at Old Trafford. I know the Glaziers wouldn't care, but still. As for me jinxing it,
Liverpool are about to do the quadruple and I never jinx anything.

 

[edd_jedi]

I guess time will tell, but I would have thought Poch was less of a gamble. OK he hasn't really won much yet, but he's still yet to reach his potential, came second with Spurs in the PL and CL, and is currently doing OK with PSG. The PL is a different beat to the Dutch league, that attractive attacking football everyone wants isn't so easy in the hardest league in the world unless you have a **** hot defence, just look at Leeds!

 

[theforceuk]

Can't agree Edd, Poch should have won the league with Spurs when Leicester did, his style of football is outdated and he hasn't done well at PSG and is getting sacked. If we had appointed Poch I would have cried. He's been sacked 3 out of 4 of his jobs, his peak was getting Spurs to the CL final where a Liverpool team that hardly turned up beat them. His next job will be an Everton or Leicester, not a club that needs completely rebuilding.

Glaziers would have loved Poch as he would have been grateful for the job, done exactly what they said and got top 4, 3 out of the next 4 seasons. If we were lucky. Oh and probably signed Kane and Rice, which really is the last style of signings we need.

 

[weasel]

Aye, I would have taken Ten Haag as well. Assuming I wanted Utd to do well that is. He may not work out, and Edd is right the Dutch Eridivise (spelling) isn't as good as the PL (it's the 7th best in Europe according to UEFA), but Utd have had the big name and big reputation managers and none have worked. The club does need a massive overhaul, I don't know if he is the man to do it, but from what I have heard he has told Utd's board some home truths. That may well be academic when he joins and they continue the scatter gun transfer policy and refuse to sell Harry Maguire and AWB, but I'm not sure Poch would have been a better choice. Good manager, but he hasn't pulled up any trees anywhere he has been. Ten Haag has built and rebuilt Ajax, Utd need someone to start from scratch and build them up again.

I don't think Poch would havr been a 'bad' choice but I do think Ten Haag has the potential to be a better choice. I ******* hope I'm wrong, and my faith lies in the Glazier's to continue not giving a **** about football and bleeding money out of the club. Money that should be spent on players, the stadium and the training ground, thus hamstringing any manager.

 

[theforceuk]

I don't understand why anyone would think Poch is a good choice for Man Utd, he is so yesterdays news. Chelsea, City and Liverpool would go no where near him, he's had 4 jobs in which 3 of them he's been sacked in. The only job he succeeded in was Southampton, where staying up is considered a success, so going on that logic Brendon Rodger's would be a good fit, which he isn't. If Poch was English no one would rate him.

Chelsea, Liverpool and City would all consider Ten Hag.

 

[lejackal]

If you could carry on being ***** for today at least that would be appreciated

 

[theforceuk]

We probably won't get hammered as Veran is back and we don't get spanked when he's in the team. There's me Jinxing it again. We need the points more than Arsenal, need to consolidate that conference league spot.

 

[weasel]

Awful news for Arsenal, Harry Maguire dropped.

 

[weasel]

We probably won't get hammered as Veran is back and we don't get spanked when he's in the team. There's me Jinxing it again. We need the points more than Arsenal, need to consolidate that conference league spot.

I saw somehwere that Varane hasn't played any of the top 6 yet, surely that's not true? I know he has had injury problems, and missed both Pool games, but he cant have wimped out of all the big 6 games (pre today).:

 

[theforceuk]

Pretty sure he played against City before Christmas when we lost 2-0, could be wrong. Pretty sure he has missed all the top 6 thinking about it. He wasn't playing when Leicester and Watford humped us.

 

[lejackal]

Rode our luck at times but another good result

 

[edd_jedi]

I don't understand why anyone would think Poch is a good choice for Man Utd, he is so yesterdays news. Chelsea, City and Liverpool would go no where near him, he's had 4 jobs in which 3 of them he's been sacked in. The only job he succeeded in was Southampton, where staying up is considered a success, so going on that logic Brendon Rodger's would be a good fit, which he isn't. If Poch was English no one would rate him.

Chelsea, Liverpool and City would all consider Ten Hag.

It depends on your definition of success. If winning trophies is the only thing that counts as success, then 95% of managers and teams are failures. Personally I think taking a team outside the top 5 spenders to PL and CL runners up counts as success. And 95% of managers get sacked when they leave a club too, that's just how it works unless they get poached (eg what could have happened to Poch.) I'm also not sure how you can call a 50 year old manager who's one game away from winning Ligue 1 yesterday's news either, IMO his best days are ahead of him

Massive result for Arsenal today, the race is truly on and looks like it's a two horse race now after United's defeat today.

 

[theforceuk]

Success at Spurs is questionable, he had a good squad and didn't win anything, his ceiling so far is the CL final. Apart from the final Harry did a similar job to Poch at Spurs. Winning the French league with a squad that is worth more than the rest of the league put together isn't really an achievement in my eyes. In fact that squad could probably win the French league with OGS in charge. And he failed to get them deep in the CL and knocked out the French Cup. That's bang average and I can't see another top European club giving him a chance any time soon.

It's only my opinion and about 75% of the Man Utd fan base that think Ten Hag is a better fit for Man Utd. Like you say @edd_jedi we will see the fans can be wrong, but Poch wouldn't have been a popular choice although a perfect puppet for the glaziers, he's probably still got the strings attached where Daniel Levy had him controlled.

 

[edd_jedi]

Well that's the way to do it Spurs, a must win game and you treat it like a Sunday kickabout. 4th is still just in our hands as we have to play Arsenal, but that is a piss poor couple of results and you would probably be a millionaire now if you bet £10 on Spurs losing those two games and Arsenal winning theirs Arsenal had the tougher run in a week ago, not any more!

 

[edd_jedi]

Right, and how many CL finals has Ten Hag been in? Oh yeah, Poch beat him to one Sorry but winning the Dutch League is like winning League One over here, it's literally meaningless on the world stage. He hasn't proven he's a world class manager yet, that's a fact.

 

[lejackal]

Well that's the way to do it Spurs, a must win game and you treat it like a Sunday kickabout. 4th is still just in our hands as we have to play Arsenal, but that is a piss poor couple of results and you would probably be a millionaire now if you bet £10 on Spurs losing those two games and Arsenal winning theirs Arsenal had the tougher run in a week ago, not any more!

Hopefully after the next two fixtures we can afford to lose the NLD

 

[edd_jedi]

You might be right! I reckon it'll go down to the wire, both are just so inconsistent at the moment.