The Football Thread.

joneve · April 2023

RobDavies said:

joneve said:

CharlieShaw said:

£165 million ‘not much money’. Nuff said!

On 30 players? that's an average of around £5-£5.5m per player. Which is literal peanuts for premier league players. We had no choice but to buy a whole new squad and have spent within our means (using the money from being promoted)...

Yeah but…. Shelvey, Lingard, Wood, Ayew…. What were they thinking? Never mind transfer fees, that’s probably £30-50m per annum in wages alone. It’s crazy recruitment - although I did notice that sporting director, Filipino Gerali got the boot yesterday, which is not hugely surprising.

Yep. Horrible january business, Felipe, Danilo and Scarpa aside (two of which were in the pipeline since the summer). Although in fairness, Lingard was an astute signing at the time and just started to find his groove before the World Cup, but has been plagued with injuries (I’m hearing that there’s a possiblity he may have to retire because of it). Ayew has been fine if not spectacular, but Shelvey and Wood…Christ. Shelvey single-handedly cost us a point against an in-form Villa because he couldn’t put his boot through the ball to clear it from danger and instead though squaring it 4 yards was a better option.

In general, it’s all gone to shit since Dane Murphy was sacked for no reason and Giraldi bought in.

Now we’ve got the clown from Southampton/Rangers who seems to have ballsed things up at both clubs. :-(
what a mess.

joneve · April 2023

TeleMaster said:

guitars4you said:

RobDavies said:

joneve said:

CharlieShaw said:

£165 million ‘not much money’. Nuff said!

On 30 players? that's an average of around £5-£5.5m per player. Which is literal peanuts for premier league players. We had no choice but to buy a whole new squad and have spent within our means (using the money from being promoted)...

Yeah but…. Shelvey, Lingard, Wood, Ayew…. What were they thinking? Never mind transfer fees, that’s probably £30-50m per annum in wages alone. It’s crazy recruitment - although I did notice that sporting director, Filipino Gerali got the boot yesterday, which is not hugely surprising.

Amazing how Lingard and Deli Alli have become such liabilities - 2018 world cup players and regular starters - To barely getting a seat on any bench - They were both talented players a while ago - Is there an easy answer to their decline or other

We dodged a bullet with him. He has so much talent and you don't want to speculate too much, but is it as simple as they don't have the motivation or are there external factors that are affecting their performances?

I can say, with some assurance that it’s nothing to do with not being motivated or not wanting to play. He has a pretty serious injury (knee I believe), which could be career ending. As per my previous post, He was just starting to look like the Lingard of old when finally fit before the World Cup, but has had a few injuries which have hampered him all season.

joneve · April 2023

axisus said:

guitars4you said:

RobDavies said:

joneve said:

CharlieShaw said:

£165 million ‘not much money’. Nuff said!

On 30 players? that's an average of around £5-£5.5m per player. Which is literal peanuts for premier league players. We had no choice but to buy a whole new squad and have spent within our means (using the money from being promoted)...

Yeah but…. Shelvey, Lingard, Wood, Ayew…. What were they thinking? Never mind transfer fees, that’s probably £30-50m per annum in wages alone. It’s crazy recruitment - although I did notice that sporting director, Filipino Gerali got the boot yesterday, which is not hugely surprising.

Amazing how Lingard and Deli Alli have become such liabilities - 2018 world cup players and regular starters - To barely getting a seat on any bench - They were both talented players a while ago - Is there an easy answer to their decline or other

It 'seems' relatively unprofessional in that they haven't fought to get back to the top but just sat back and accepted things, or maybe they never had the right mentality. I was never that convinced by Lingard at Man U. I could be way off base though, we don't know what mental struggles they may have. I'd like to see them both back to great form, but I wouldn't put money on it.

Lingard’s mental health struggles have been well documented and explains a lot. There’s a documentary about it on All4 which is worth a watch.

ennspek · April 2023

Lingard I can empathize with, Deli not so much. Poch was concerned about how and Mou tried to set him straight.
Part of the problem may be that he isn't really a midfielder, more a sort of auxiliary striker. In all likelihood it all just came too early for him.

BigBearKris · April 2023

What a win for us at London vs Spurs!
I didn't like that we sat and defended from 60th minute as we clearly could've scored more against this wobbly spurs defense and on the other hand, with Kane, Perisic, Son - there's plenty enough talent for Spurs to score, once goal for 2-2 dropped I was expecting Spurs to score a clincher as well. Glad they didn't.

Richarlison - he must be cursed! Still cannot score... when he did, it got disallowed.

6 points clear out of relegation zone too. Good stuff Cherries!

guitars4you · April 2023

^^^^^^^^^^ - Spurs appear to be doing everything possible not to clinch a CL place - Newcastle lost and they could have taken advantage of that - So much resources - So much talent - So much hope - So little ????????

Just seen the stats for the Chelsea v Brighton game - 42% to 58% possession - 8 shots to 26 shots - Looks a very wise move to give FFL the job again - Hope he keeps it for another 20 odd games or so

9 teams were in the relegation zone - 3 now have now established a touch of a safety zone - Still hard to know if 35/36 points will keep you up - Palace now gone beyond that - Wolves + Bournemouth nearly at that point - I know 40 is better

ennspek · April 2023

Tottenham were pitiful today. The only thing to cheer me up was a massive flag at Stamford Bridge which said "In Frank We Trust"

sev112 · April 2023

Why, when it’s likely that the Premier League title will go to goal difference, does Pep take Haaland off when he is scoring 2 goals in so many games when they have a reasonable lead. they should be taking a 3-0 lead after 25 mins and going for 7, 8 or 9 and getting their goal difference up ?!

sev112 · April 2023

PS a as a West Ham supporter, vaing Leicester lose by 6 or more would have been helpful

mrkb · April 2023

ennspek said:

Tottenham were pitiful today. The only thing to cheer me up was a massive flag at Stamford Bridge which said "In Frank We Trust"

Could be St Totteringhams day tomorrow!

ennspek · April 2023

mrkb said:

ennspek said:

Tottenham were pitiful today. The only thing to cheer me up was a massive flag at Stamford Bridge which said "In Frank We Trust"

Could be St Totteringhams day tomorrow!

Sadly very likely. First for a while though....

axisus · April 2023

Gotta say well done to Roy Hodgson, they brought him in to do a job and in 3 games he’s done it

ennspek · April 2023

axisus said:

Gotta say well done to Roy Hodgson, they brought him in to do a job and in 3 games he’s done it

Indeed. I was surprised to be honest. Although I thought Viera was unlucky, they booted him after tough fixtures narrowly lost generally.

scrumhalf · April 2023

At one point, after our customary slow start and Bournemouth's early pressure I thought we were going to give them a hiding.

Sadly, our ability to defend has gone out of the window. Porro couldn't tackle the skin off a rice pudding and has the positional sens of someone with their head in a paper bag. Sanchez has possibly played his last game for the club, he is barely Championshop standard these days.

I've said it so many times but we need a leader on the pitch. A Mackay. A Perryman, A Mabbutt. It should be Hojbjerg but he's inconsistent. Some weeks he's top rank, other weeks he's just rank.

Well done Bournemouth, they weren't fooled by our "let's not mark them and see if the shock makes them miss the target" tactics.

joeyowen · April 2023

Well Eze and Olise are on fire! They are in great form, and helped by some really nice build up play that I haven't seen Palace manage in a while. Normally they were relying on individual brilliance, or crosses. I've watched them for a while as my Son is a fan, but he's never been happier with them!

As for me, a Utd fan, I'm hoping we can get a result tomorrow against Forrest, who can be tough opponents at home!

Well done today Bournemouth, Villa and Brighton!

DrCornelius · April 2023

Eze was awful first half , I would have taken him off at half time tbh. Hodgson has shown that he can change things if things aren’t going to plan . In his first 2 games we came from behind to win and today we were asleep in the first half and pretty good in the second and could have scored more .

Wonder who they have planned to take over at rhe end of the season - surely it can’t stay with Roy at his age ?

ennspek · April 2023

scrumhalf said:

At one point, after our customary slow start and Bournemouth's early pressure I thought we were going to give them a hiding.

Sadly, our ability to defend has gone out of the window. Porro couldn't tackle the skin off a rice pudding and has the positional sens of someone with their head in a paper bag. Sanchez has possibly played his last game for the club, he is barely Championshop standard these days.

I've said it so many times but we need a leader on the pitch. A Mackay. A Perryman, A Mabbutt. It should be Hojbjerg but he's inconsistent. Some weeks he's top rank, other weeks he's just rank.

Well done Bournemouth, they weren't fooled by our "let's not mark them and see if the shock makes them miss the target" tactics.

I feel it for PEH he's played every minute for about two seasons, that must take its toll.
Sanchez these days must be mentally wrecked before he even touches the pitch. He's not suited to a three and the "supporters" have only made that worse.
He's not had minutes or a consistent coach. I can genuinely see him going somewhere more stable being first choice and doing well.

TTony · April 2023

ennspek said:
He's not had minutes or a consistent coach. I can genuinely see him going somewhere more stable being first choice and doing well.

As seems to happen regularly with players who “fail” at Spurs.

But, as they’ve stopped bothering to play football, I’m now officially stopping bothering to watch them not bothering to play football.

The longer the manager “debate” goes on, the more I expect to see last-man-not-picked-by-someone-else appointed a week before the start of the next season.

FFS, bring back Poch now and let him get the team sorted.

Lestratcaster · April 2023

I feel sick. Another 2 goal lead lost for the 2nd week in a row. Fast electric start, 2 goals in 10 minutes and cruising. Then a mistake from Partey and they get the penalty. We never really came back after that, I did bank on Saka scoring that penalty but that's gonna prove costly I think. That was probably our best chance to win the title in decades and we won't get a chance like that again for a long while. It was fun while it lasted I guess.

TeleMaster · April 2023

Amazing atmosphere at the London! What a comeback!

Sorry @Lestratcaster I think we were the 12th man today. Would still prefer you guys to win over City.

DrCornelius · April 2023

TeleMaster said:

Amazing atmosphere at the London! What a comeback!

Sorry @Lestratcaster I think we were the 12th man today. Would still prefer you guys to win over City.

I think everyone feels that way except city fans , spurs fans and the Abu Dhabi owners (of City plus the other 10 clubs in their portfolio )

TTony · April 2023

DrCornelius said:

TeleMaster said:

Amazing atmosphere at the London! What a comeback!

Sorry @Lestratcaster I think we were the 12th man today. Would still prefer you guys to win over City.

I think everyone feels that way except city fans , spurs fans and the Abu Dhabi owners (of City plus the other 10 clubs in their portfolio )

Spurs fan here @DrCornelius - I'd prefer Arsenal to win it rather than the Mancs, though I realise I may be an outlier

DrCornelius · April 2023

TTony said:

DrCornelius said:

TeleMaster said:

Amazing atmosphere at the London! What a comeback!

Sorry @Lestratcaster I think we were the 12th man today. Would still prefer you guys to win over City.

I think everyone feels that way except city fans , spurs fans and the Abu Dhabi owners (of City plus the other 10 clubs in their portfolio )

Spurs fan here @DrCornelius - I'd prefer Arsenal to win it rather than the Mancs, though I realise I may be an outlier

As a former season ticket holder in my early teens (junior spur), I'm flabbergasted !

TTony · April 2023

Devil and the deep sky blue sea

Arsenal stuck with Arteta and gave him time to build a team. He's given plenty of young'uns a chance, and the support to establish themselves in the team. They've spent too, but where they needed to (ie not just to fill the bench).

I'm envious really.

axisus · April 2023

Arsenal have blown their lead. Can’t see past a City title now. City reportedly after Bellingham as well. Sadly the prem is getting boring if they keep winning.

DrCornelius · April 2023

Sadly the Prem will lose any character it has left if they allow sovereign states to buy clubs and not only pump money in but have teams of lawyers that are skilled enough to bend every rule possible and than have the financial staying power to fight any challenge in court.

I feel bad for city fans , they were always the blue collar down to earth club in Manchester and they’ve been ruined in that respect

Lestratcaster · April 2023

I know if we won all our games and drew vs City we'd still win the title but Newcastle away isn't easy and there's a few other games that are a bit tricky. This was the chance. We had to win today.

I'll try not to say "what if Saka scored the penalty to make it 3-1..." but I won't blame the lad. He's been outstanding this season and if we don't win the title its not entirely his fault. He's allowed an off-day. Surprised Arteta kept him on instead of Jesus though.

Losing Saliba didn't help but we can't blame injuries. Holding isn't the same quality and you can see with his tackle on Jota last week and how Antonio outpaced him today we need a better standard of centre back (who's right footed).

I'm pleased with how we've progressed this season though and if we can strengthen more in certain departments where we have more experience we'll have another go.

guitars4you · April 2023

That match on the 26th City v Arsenal will almost be like the PL Cup Final - Arsenal can still go into the match with a 7 point lead which physiologically will be a big advantage to them, even with games in hand for City - Arsenal can walk away with a draw in the match and feel like they've won

Lestratcaster · April 2023

I don't think we'll beat City or get a draw. We've shown we can compete but as mentioned by someone else they don't have to get past 2nd gear to win games. If Haaland's not playing they'll still score goals. I mean there's some hope they'll slip up somewhere like they've already done against teams but they've been there at the business end of the season and done it.

TTony · April 2023

Lestratcaster said:

I don't think we'll beat City or get a draw.

Spurs regularly beat the Mancs.

Change your shirts for that game

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