The Football Thread.

axisus · May 2023

guitars4you said:

Man U v Leeds is a bar exciting proposition for many than Man U v Coventry or Middlesborough

To be honest that fixture has seemed somewhat flat to me since Leeds return to the Prem. It's not like the days of old ...

sev112 · May 2023

Another night with no fingernails as a West Ham supporter

some fabukous football at the end. Thought the penalty was a bit dodgy for us

TeleMaster · May 2023

sev112 said:

Another night with no fingernails as a West Ham supporter

some fabukous football at the end. Thought the penalty was a bit dodgy for us

Very poor game overall but we ground out a result. The pub before was electric and the atmosphere in the stadium was great. People don't know what they're talking about when they say there's no atmosphere.

Basel beating Fiorentina was a touch as I think we all feared them the most.

Roll on the second leg!

axisus · May 2023

Go West Ham! I'm not a fan but I'd love them to win the cup.

I don't quite get why the fans want to see the back of Moyes? Ok it's one bad season in the prem, but after a couple of good ones. I can see West Ham going like Everton, swapping managers for fun and going backwards.

joneve · May 2023

I've got no issues with West Ham being successful in the European Johnstone's Paint Cup....What I do have issue with is them inevitably mailing it in vs our relegation rivals for their remaining league games because they will want their best squad out for the final (understandably)...Please just don't be dickheads

TeleMaster · May 2023

joneve said:

I've got no issues with West Ham being successful in the European Johnstone's Paint Cup....What I do have issue with is them inevitably mailing it in vs our relegation rivals for their remaining league games because they will want their best squad out for the final (understandably)...Please just don't be dickheads

I hope we're dickheads after that dig.

TeleMaster · May 2023

axisus said:

Go West Ham! I'm not a fan but I'd love them to win the cup.

I don't quite get why the fans want to see the back of Moyes? Ok it's one bad season in the prem, but after a couple of good ones. I can see West Ham going like Everton, swapping managers for fun and going backwards.

There's a few reasons. Some are legitimate and some aren't.

We play a zero pressing game and football is about pressing. We sit back, soak it up and then counter attack. This worked for a year or so and then teams got better with their possession play and learned to press more effectively and they found us out. Moyes never changed his style to keep up even when we brought in a load of attacking players. We still have some of the lowest pressing numbers in the league and in this regard, I don't think we are keeping up. The style of play has largely been lump it forward and hope for the best.

Our aerial threat was neutralised and we went from being one of the teams with the most goals from set pieces to the lowest and we never found a way to replace those goals.

So in that regard Moyes is largely a dinosaur. Relying on set pieces and not keeping up with the times and the style of play has been dire and it seemed to affect the players.

But... We spent a lot of money and got a lot of players in. Many had injuries right away (Aguerd, Cornet) and others have had injuries intermittently (Paqueta, Scamacca) and it has taken them time to gel. And you can't bring in a lot of players right away and expect them to just hit the ground running, but now it seems like Aguerd, Paqueta, Emerson to some extent are playing well and they are getting the system and we're playing well. Kehrer isn't great but he's had some good games recently. We have an old squad and need investment at RB, CB, RW, upfront and two years of over performing and having gruelling European campaigns have taken a toll.

I think Moyes has done a great job overall, and if he wins the Conference League he probably deserves to stay, but you also know he is part of the old guard, isn't really keeping up with the times and will eventually leave because of poor league position or whatever, so it's whether we go heart over head.

Winning the Conference League would be incredible and he's be a club legend if we won it. It's been a fun competition regardless.

joneve · May 2023

TeleMaster said:

joneve said:

I've got no issues with West Ham being successful in the European Johnstone's Paint Cup....What I do have issue with is them inevitably mailing it in vs our relegation rivals for their remaining league games because they will want their best squad out for the final (understandably)...Please just don't be dickheads

I hope we're dickheads after that dig.

haha! You know I'm joking. I got no beef with West Ham.

TeleMaster · May 2023

joneve said:

TeleMaster said:

joneve said:

I've got no issues with West Ham being successful in the European Johnstone's Paint Cup....What I do have issue with is them inevitably mailing it in vs our relegation rivals for their remaining league games because they will want their best squad out for the final (understandably)...Please just don't be dickheads

I hope we're dickheads after that dig.

haha! You know I'm joking. I got no beef with West Ham.

I know

Hope you stay up... just.

joneve · May 2023

TeleMaster said:

joneve said:

TeleMaster said:

joneve said:

I've got no issues with West Ham being successful in the European Johnstone's Paint Cup....What I do have issue with is them inevitably mailing it in vs our relegation rivals for their remaining league games because they will want their best squad out for the final (understandably)...Please just don't be dickheads

I hope we're dickheads after that dig.

haha! You know I'm joking. I got no beef with West Ham.

I know

Hope you stay up... just.

If we do, it will be *just*...unless we some how win 4 on the bounce...3 points against Lampard on Saturday just about confirms it, so hopefully the lads are motivated and take it to them.

axisus · May 2023

TeleMaster said:

axisus said:

Go West Ham! I'm not a fan but I'd love them to win the cup.

I don't quite get why the fans want to see the back of Moyes? Ok it's one bad season in the prem, but after a couple of good ones. I can see West Ham going like Everton, swapping managers for fun and going backwards.

There's a few reasons. Some are legitimate and some aren't.

We play a zero pressing game and football is about pressing. We sit back, soak it up and then counter attack. This worked for a year or so and then teams got better with their possession play and learned to press more effectively and they found us out. Moyes never changed his style to keep up even when we brought in a load of attacking players. We still have some of the lowest pressing numbers in the league and in this regard, I don't think we are keeping up. The style of play has largely been lump it forward and hope for the best.

Our aerial threat was neutralised and we went from being one of the teams with the most goals from set pieces to the lowest and we never found a way to replace those goals.

So in that regard Moyes is largely a dinosaur. Relying on set pieces and not keeping up with the times and the style of play has been dire and it seemed to affect the players.

But... We spent a lot of money and got a lot of players in. Many had injuries right away (Aguerd, Cornet) and others have had injuries intermittently (Paqueta, Scamacca) and it has taken them time to gel. And you can't bring in a lot of players right away and expect them to just hit the ground running, but now it seems like Aguerd, Paqueta, Emerson to some extent are playing well and they are getting the system and we're playing well. Kehrer isn't great but he's had some good games recently. We have an old squad and need investment at RB, CB, RW, upfront and two years of over performing and having gruelling European campaigns have taken a toll.

I think Moyes has done a great job overall, and if he wins the Conference League he probably deserves to stay, but you also know he is part of the old guard, isn't really keeping up with the times and will eventually leave because of poor league position or whatever, so it's whether we go heart over head.

Winning the Conference League would be incredible and he's be a club legend if we won it. It's been a fun competition regardless.

Well you explained that very well! OK, I get the picture now.

Personally I'd give him another season if WH win the cup, with one eye on a new manager if they start off badly!

sev112 · May 2023

TeleMaster said:

axisus said:

Go West Ham! I'm not a fan but I'd love them to win the cup.

I don't quite get why the fans want to see the back of Moyes? Ok it's one bad season in the prem, but after a couple of good ones. I can see West Ham going like Everton, swapping managers for fun and going backwards.

There's a few reasons. Some are legitimate and some aren't.

We play a zero pressing game and football is about pressing. We sit back, soak it up and then counter attack. This worked for a year or so and then teams got better with their possession play and learned to press more effectively and they found us out. Moyes never changed his style to keep up even when we brought in a load of attacking players. We still have some of the lowest pressing numbers in the league and in this regard, I don't think we are keeping up. The style of play has largely been lump it forward and hope for the best.

Our aerial threat was neutralised and we went from being one of the teams with the most goals from set pieces to the lowest and we never found a way to replace those goals.

So in that regard Moyes is largely a dinosaur. Relying on set pieces and not keeping up with the times and the style of play has been dire and it seemed to affect the players.

But... We spent a lot of money and got a lot of players in. Many had injuries right away (Aguerd, Cornet) and others have had injuries intermittently (Paqueta, Scamacca) and it has taken them time to gel. And you can't bring in a lot of players right away and expect them to just hit the ground running, but now it seems like Aguerd, Paqueta, Emerson to some extent are playing well and they are getting the system and we're playing well. Kehrer isn't great but he's had some good games recently. We have an old squad and need investment at RB, CB, RW, upfront and two years of over performing and having gruelling European campaigns have taken a toll.

I think Moyes has done a great job overall, and if he wins the Conference League he probably deserves to stay, but you also know he is part of the old guard, isn't really keeping up with the times and will eventually leave because of poor league position or whatever, so it's whether we go heart over head.

Winning the Conference League would be incredible and he's be a club legend if we won it. It's been a fun competition regardless.

@TeleMaster i think selling Dawson was a key part of our set-piece woes this year, he scored a lot of goals from them (as well as stopping them) and Zouma et al haven’t done similar.

@joneve I think we are one of the better ones at playing strength teams. having to play 9 games in April I’m amazed that Antonio et al have kept going and are still walking.

ps my Mrs and I have started calling it the European After School Club Cup.

But still it’s a European cup, difficult to win and it’s hardly that easy that lots of other English and Scottish teams have been winning it.

Forest, Leeds, Leicester - all League winners in my lifetime , so I wouldn’t want them to go down, and Everton’s my surname so there’s an irrational reason for not wanting them to go down.

What a year. The top 4 places are still up for grabs, and I still think Man City will (again) be looking for 2 goals in the last 10 mins of the last game for the Premiership. They could easily end this season with just the FA Cup - and then I get bragging rights with mrssev112 as well will have the AfterSchool Cup

joneve · May 2023

TeleMaster said:

axisus said:

Go West Ham! I'm not a fan but I'd love them to win the cup.

I don't quite get why the fans want to see the back of Moyes? Ok it's one bad season in the prem, but after a couple of good ones. I can see West Ham going like Everton, swapping managers for fun and going backwards.

There's a few reasons. Some are legitimate and some aren't.

We play a zero pressing game and football is about pressing. We sit back, soak it up and then counter attack. This worked for a year or so and then teams got better with their possession play and learned to press more effectively and they found us out. Moyes never changed his style to keep up even when we brought in a load of attacking players. We still have some of the lowest pressing numbers in the league and in this regard, I don't think we are keeping up. The style of play has largely been lump it forward and hope for the best.

Our aerial threat was neutralised and we went from being one of the teams with the most goals from set pieces to the lowest and we never found a way to replace those goals.

So in that regard Moyes is largely a dinosaur. Relying on set pieces and not keeping up with the times and the style of play has been dire and it seemed to affect the players.

But... We spent a lot of money and got a lot of players in. Many had injuries right away (Aguerd, Cornet) and others have had injuries intermittently (Paqueta, Scamacca) and it has taken them time to gel. And you can't bring in a lot of players right away and expect them to just hit the ground running, but now it seems like Aguerd, Paqueta, Emerson to some extent are playing well and they are getting the system and we're playing well. Kehrer isn't great but he's had some good games recently. We have an old squad and need investment at RB, CB, RW, upfront and two years of over performing and having gruelling European campaigns have taken a toll.

I think Moyes has done a great job overall, and if he wins the Conference League he probably deserves to stay, but you also know he is part of the old guard, isn't really keeping up with the times and will eventually leave because of poor league position or whatever, so it's whether we go heart over head.

Winning the Conference League would be incredible and he's be a club legend if we won it. It's been a fun competition regardless.

Forest have done this (out of necessity at times) for a lot of the season, much to the frustration of the "Cooper Out" crew who think he's tactically inept - when in actual fact, he's still learning the ropes, having only coached club football for 4 seasons (and this is the 1st in the PL).

Yes, he's got substitutions wrong at times, and tactics, but an organisational defensive masterclass to smash and grab a point against the best team in Europe and some other moments of pure joy is what's kept him in the job (along with the credit he built up with the job he did last season).

I hope, if we stay up, he's given a full pre-season with a few squad tweaks (3-4 key positions addressed) and a run at the Premier League next season before the Owner does anything stupid. We went 23 years and over 20 managers with absolutely zero success - the last 20 months have been the best run since I was 10 years old. We've been decimated by injuries and Cooper deserves to put the stamp on the team he wants and not being forced into playing low block, no press football due to lack of personnel (or forever changing personnel) that doesn't allow us to press and get forward with possession.

thecolourbox · May 2023

I enjoyed the final league table for the Scottish League Two, more specifically the 4th and 5th placed teams

guitars4you · May 2023

Another big weekend - Yet nothing can be decided, other than maybe for Soton

Leeds might only need 3 points to survive, from 3 games, yet equally 9 points might not be enough

Great result last night for Peterborough - Hard to see Sheff Wed coming back from that

Will watch Sunderland tonight with passing interest in Jack Clarke and Joe Gelhardt

tony99 · May 2023

guitars4you said:

Another big weekend - Yet nothing can be decided, other than maybe for Soton

Leeds might only need 3 points to survive, from 3 games, yet equally 9 points might not be enough

Great result last night for Peterborough - Hard to see Sheff Wed coming back from that

Will watch Sunderland tonight with passing interest in Jack Clarke and Joe Gelhardt

Looks like Leeds have a bit of fight in them after that.

Deadman · May 2023

Dunno if there are any SW fans here but I was genuinely shocked and disappointed at their spanking last night at Peterborough. Second leg will doubtless be a formality for the posh now.

joneve · May 2023

Massive point at the bridge today. Should have and could have been 3, but finally picking points up away from home is huge. A shock win at home against Arsenal next week will confirm our safety, but I have a feeling we’ll have to go to Palace to get a win

DrCornelius · May 2023

joneve said:

Massive point at the bridge today. Should have and could have been 3, but finally picking points up away from home is huge. A shock win at home against Arsenal next week will confirm our safety, but I have a feeling we’ll have to go to Palace to get a win

You might be right , we were comfortable today as Bournemouth seemed to be on the beach , we didn’t play that well but Eze had a couple of stand out moments . If you can keep him and Olise quiet then you’ve every chance as we understandably haven’t quite got the intensity we had when Roy took over and we weren’t safe

joneve · May 2023

DrCornelius said:

joneve said:

Massive point at the bridge today. Should have and could have been 3, but finally picking points up away from home is huge. A shock win at home against Arsenal next week will confirm our safety, but I have a feeling we’ll have to go to Palace to get a win

You might be right , we were comfortable today as Bournemouth seemed to be on the beach , we didn’t play that well but Eze had a couple of stand out moments . If you can keep him and Olise quiet then you’ve every chance as we understandably haven’t quite got the intensity we had when Roy took over and we weren’t safe

Hopefully with nothing to play for, Andre’s had a quiet word with brother Jordan and told him to get the boys to take it easy.

will take what I can get but if the City Ground is bouncing next week, a shock result to end arsenal’s hopes for good wouldn’t go amiss either.

axisus · May 2023

Well it's not over yet, but a disappointing result for Luton against Sunderland in the playoffs. Been here before, finishing the season up in 3rd, waaay ahead of 6th place and getting dumped out by them! Still, win or lose the playoffs are a great way to end the season. Great excitement for everyone.

I fear that my dream of seeing Luton in the top flight again will be dashed two years in a row, but it's worth remembering where Luton have come from: As recently as 2014, they were in the National League - the fifth tier of English football. They fell out of the EFL in 2009 amid a financial meltdown. Less than 10 years on, they are a only couple of matches away from the Premier League.

For anyone who doesn't know the Luton ground, it is quite amazing really, proper old school. It is literally right in a poorer, residential area. A mate of mine who supports Leeds said it was hilarious going through people's back gardens to get in the the match:

Image: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/5212/production/_108201012_gettyimages-900245718.jpg.webp

Image: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/1388A/production/_108201008_gettyimages-900351570.jpg.webp

To be honest, Luton's natural home right now is the Championship at best, but one can still dream! The plan is still to build a new stadium, which will be needed for true progression, but it's always a sad thing to say goodbye to the classic old stadiums of the past. A stint in the Prem, even if we get bashed every week, would bring much needed finance to the club. That is assuming they don't do the mad thing of borrowing tons of money to try and survive!

Anyway, I don't think we are getting there this time, but it's been another enjoyable season. Go Hatters!

Boromedic · May 2023

^^ Tis only one goal mate, the season you've had you can turn that round at home. 2-1 away isn't the end of the world I don't reckon.

We've got Cov today, not looking forward to it and it's going to be tense I think. We've had the worst form of all the play off teams, so I'm hoping we can turn a corner...... Fingers crossed!

BigBearKris · May 2023

DrCornelius said:

joneve said:

Massive point at the bridge today. Should have and could have been 3, but finally picking points up away from home is huge. A shock win at home against Arsenal next week will confirm our safety, but I have a feeling we’ll have to go to Palace to get a win

You might be right , we were comfortable today as Bournemouth seemed to be on the beach , we didn’t play that well but Eze had a couple of stand out moments . If you can keep him and Olise quiet then you’ve every chance as we understandably haven’t quite got the intensity we had when Roy took over and we weren’t safe

We (Cherries) played so lethargic yesterday... I was hoping for a good and close game, but we seemed to settle after couple good wins and securing (almost) place in PL. Good win for you.

guitars4you · May 2023

joneve said:

Massive point at the bridge today. Should have and could have been 3, but finally picking points up away from home is huge. A shock win at home against Arsenal next week will confirm our safety, but I have a feeling we’ll have to go to Palace to get a win

I bet Chelsea fans are glad Potter took them to safety before he left - Otherwise with FFL's form they would be down amongst us lot

You could argue a 'nothing to loose' game for you yesterday v Chelsea - Or traditionally you could say that - But Cooper has your spirit high and playing with a purpose - Chelsea just can't be bothered - Poch has a huge job to do - First of all deciding who stays and who can do a job for him

guitars4you · May 2023

joneve said:

Massive point at the bridge today. Should have and could have been 3, but finally picking points up away from home is huge. A shock win at home against Arsenal next week will confirm our safety, but I have a feeling we’ll have to go to Palace to get a win

crazy and obviously out of our control - But 2 more points from 2 games might be enough - Yet 6 points from 2 games might not be enough

scrumhalf · May 2023

Spurs.

Tottenham bloody Hotspur.

I saw us in the season we went down. Our current defence is getting dangerously close to that level of crappiness.

Whoever comes in will have to sell so mnay players we may become wholesalers.

UnclePsychosis · May 2023

Personally I'm thankful to Spurs for providing such glaring evidence in support of my assertion that the PL is massively overhyped and overrated.

You can get so much meaning in three tiny little words.

Spurs are sixth.

Lestratcaster · May 2023

Come on Everton! Do us a favour today!

joneve · May 2023

guitars4you said:

joneve said:

Massive point at the bridge today. Should have and could have been 3, but finally picking points up away from home is huge. A shock win at home against Arsenal next week will confirm our safety, but I have a feeling we’ll have to go to Palace to get a win

crazy and obviously out of our control - But 2 more points from 2 games might be enough - Yet 6 points from 2 games might not be enough

I’m convinced 3 points will be more than enough.

TTony · May 2023

UnclePsychosis said:

Spurs are sixth.

I’d bet, not for long.

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