2017-18 English Premier League Discussion Thread

[Baphomet]

Fixtures have been released: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40253157

Discuss the glorious league that was birthed in 1992 when football was created by Sky.

[MaliBrah]

Lets hope your Fa cup thread good will transfers over to the league now Baph! (realistically looking at our schedule though to start and our games after EL games we are absolutely finished)

lots of stories that Conte's pissed at CFC's board for not backing him.

[HIF]

Arse away to start.

[Baphomet]

Lets hope your Fa cup thread good will transfers over to the league now Baph! (realistically looking at our schedule though to start and our games after EL games we are absolutely finished)

lots of stories that Conte's pissed at CFC's board for not backing him.

Hasn't worked the last two years since I've made the PL threads since 15-16, it only works for the FA Cup apparently

[Mitas]

Usually look out for where the big fixtures are in the schedule, but we actually did pretty well against the top 7 last season. It's the 'smaller' fixtures where we usually slip up, so I guess by that logic we've got a tough start with Watford and Palace.

[Baphomet]

Southampton hire Mauricio Pellegrino, formerly of Alaves, as manager.

[and1GS]

IDK if you guys remember us talking about the Caulker transfer years ago and it not making a ton of sense. We all kinda assumed there must have been more to the story, well...

A player who, from the outside, appeared blessed with talent and opportunity speaks of desperate anxiety and self-loathing.

He contemplated killing himself in his darkest moments with his path one of self-destruction. Attempts at escapism cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds, wages frittered away in casinos. Then came the drinking aimed at numbing the pain. The 25-year-old finds himself recalling the times spent in custody watching CCTV footage of his misdemeanours, his lawyer at his side, and not recognising the vile person on the screen.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jun/29/steven-caulker-mental-illness-addictions-gambling-drinking-qpr?CMP=share_btn_tw

Still only 25 and has a lifetime's worth of sadness and depression. Eye opening story, well worth a read.

[BUCKnation]

Yeah I read that this morning. Glad he is getting help, with Lennon having mental issues as well, I'm glad to see a few athletes shedding light on this issue.

[and1GS]

Yeah I read that this morning. Glad he is getting help, with Lennon having mental issues as well, I'm glad to see a few athletes shedding light on this issue.

I'd imagine those issues run rampant in football. There are so few basic counting stats to inflate your self-worth (unlike, say, basketball) and so much money thrown around to players of all ages and nationalities. Very little done by the clubs to help acclimate these guys.

I read a book called Soccernomics that had a great chapter on how teams succeed and fail at integrating foreigners to English football. When Pienaar came over he didn't understand basic things like apartment living (like how you need furniture and that you shouldn't have a subwoofer on the ground...). Conversely, clubs like Chelsea worked to make sure Drogba found his way by linking him up with folks who spoke his language and new his background.

While he's English, I think Caulker was at Bristol? 0 way they did anything other than say 'you're young, do what you want in your free time just perform at game time' which is essentially what the article says. Sad, really. They're just kids afterall and you could **** them up for life by giving them a sack of money and telling them to just figure it out.

[Baphomet]

Yeah, I had a feeling that there was more to the Caulker situation when it went down. A top talent for sure, physically imposing and with good anticipation, so I was baffled to hear about his sale especially when we were struggling with depth at the CB position. Sad to hear about his mental health struggles, but I'm glad that he's still with us.

This is a slight aside, but the UK has a serious problem in dealing with mental health. The current state of the NHS means that there are ludicrous waiting lists for any kind of treatment. I got diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder and asperger's syndrome as an adult, and I remember having to wait for 2 years just to get into screening for diagnosis and subsequently counselling. It's an elephant in the room.

When you suffer from heightened anxiety, you take comfort in constants and routines. I can imagine the life of a footballer being hellish for a sufferer with so many unpredictable variables. People tend to be even more unsympathetic (and they are) when the sufferers are wealthy, as if their money should solve all problems by default.

[treiz]

That's sad to hear from Caulker. In similar news, a 20 year old Luton GK Craig King just retired due to depression. Hope these guys get the help they need and bounce back from this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40446713

[Mitas]

Man, 20 years old. Hopefully stepping away from the professional aspect of the game can allow him to enjoy the sport once again.

On the subject of mental health in the UK, yeah, it definitely has a long ways to go. The first hurdle has almost been fully cleared; mental health is no longer a taboo subject that people are expected to keep bottled up and deal with on their own. The next, and most important, step is actually having adequate help for those that need it. There are services and help available out there. The problem is that the number of those in need of help severely outweighs that of the funding and practitioners needed to give that help. That makes for an almost laughably long waiting time that creates a bit of a no man's land for those in the 'middle': cases that aren't 'serious' enough to demand immediate attention (although it's arguable that that doesn't even exist with the dangerous and unpredictable nature of depression), but not yet recovered enough to put it behind them. It also means that once you've gotten to the end of the waiting list, you often aren't given enough time with the service in question because they are keen to move you on if possible to get to the remainder of those waiting. Unavoidable in the current climate, but definitely not ideal, and often leaves people in need of help feeling cut off from help when they still need it.

There does seem to be a trend of people suffering from mental health eventually turning to a career in helping those with similar problems. You would hope that as time progresses there will be more practitioners available in the future (funding is another issue altogether), although it seems strange to rely on people developing mental health issues in order to help combat mental health issues.

Edit: A bit off-topic though, sorry. Back to the football. Everton are making some impressive moves in preparation for a post-Lukaku era. I like the signings of Klaassen and Pickford and Michael Keane, if the rumours are correct, would also be a good signing. Seems like they're trying to strengthen all areas of their squad to make up for losing Lukaku's goals (assuming he is leaving, which I think is a given). I don't think it'll be enough to close the gap on the top 6, but it should be enough to keep them in that spot between the top teams and the rest of the league.

[Baphomet]

Great post. In the interest of getting things back on topic I'll switch this back to football, but you're absolutely right in pointing out that the current demand for mental health support is far greater than the available resources. Welcome to RealGM, by the way, appreciate the thoughtful posts.

Everton's signings have been interesting, but Keane aside (assuming that happens), nothing that would really excite me too much as a fan. It reminds me a bit of Spurs' spending after we sold Bale. A group of players of varying fit, punctuated by a couple of notable names (in Spurs' case it was Lamela and Eriksen, in Everton's case I like the Keane and Pickford signings). They've also lost Deulofeu and likely Barkley who, while not at their best last season, are still important pieces to the overall squad.

I generally agree with your assessment. Improving their defence should be enough for them to consolidate 7th and push a bit closer to the top 6, but nothing more imo. I feel like they need to hit a home run with young players like Spurs did to push on, as at the moment I feel like they're the Premier League equivalent of a treadmill team.

[HIF]

Everton.

Always a strange one for me. Not in the elite section but never involved in a relegation battle.

I'm always surprised if people mention them as a step up from clubs like my own, historically they are but who would aim for them if they can step up from a lower prem team?

Last year Everton poached our "Scouting guru" Steve Walsh along with a couple of his guys (and another scandinavian scout last week) and this has meant that a lot of the players that we are interested in, interest Everton too. The media have always written this up as a taken that these players will choose Everton, I really don't see why and so far nothing has proven to be so. Also a number of our players have been touted as stepping up to Everton. Kasper for example! I just don't understand it.

In these years of premier liquidity I feel that the buying power of Leicester and Everton is equal and with our title and CL matches I don't see why Everton would be viewed as a better destination. Still only the purchases will show. Keane will be a great signpost. we wanted him last season but Burnley wouldn't sell. I presume we'd like him this season too. If he goes to Everton then it'll be a sign that they are seen as a better destination than us but TBH I don't think he will. It should be one of the top 6 teams he goes to.

As you say Lukaku and Barkley want to leave Everton, Deulofeu has gone (but I'm sure will be made available to any team that'll pay for him) whilst at Leicester only Mahrez wants to leave. I see Everton turning into a Southampton and becoming an elite feeder club. I feel quietly confident that Leicester will challenge the likes of Everton for the 6-9 positions in the table and I like that we've already signed Maguire and are attempting to get another couple of big signings done early in this pre-season so that we can benefit from pre-season unlike last year where we were still partying in December.

So "elite club" supporters how do you compare Everton to your teams and the rest of us?

[Mitas]

I think Everton benefit from a combination of history (7th most successful English club in terms of trophies won) and sustained mediocrity. Sustained mediocrity doesn't sound too appealing of a benefit, but it keeps their name alive and, while not in the conversation of the more elite clubs, they usually aren't far off. Tottenham were in a similar situation not too long ago and they managed to turn that into something more, even if that 'more' hasn't translated to trophies yet (with 'yet' being the operative word based on the way they've been playing of late).

I think the fact that Leicester's title win and Champions League exploits hasn't vaulted them above Everton in the pecking order really goes to show how important it is to be good for a long time when it comes to earning a reputation (unless you're City, in which case: money). It also only further establishes the sheer and utter craziness (in a good way) of them winning the league.

For me, the league table last season was a perfect representation of where I feel Everton sits both now and most likely for the near future: better than the rest, but adrift of the best.

[ana_86]

With the top 5 teams going to the champions league and with a hectic schedule. I think Everton, West Ham, Southhampton, Leicester city and Stoke city do have a good opportunity getting on top of the table.

[Mitas]

I don't know. There was 23 points between 6th place Manchester United and 8th place Southampton. Plus, United went all the way to the Europa League final and the only team that didn't make Europe last year was Liverpool. That's a lot of room to make up, even with the added fixtures of Champions League football. I don't think the gap will be quite as big, but I honestly can't see any of this year's top 6 dropping out. It'll just be about which order they'll fall in.

[and1GS]

Not sure where to put this, but just ran into the entire QPR team at the Heathrow airport prior to their likely economy class flight to Germany. How jealous is this forum that I got to meet Nedum Onuoha, former OP CB on FIFA?

No Caulker sighting FWIW. Think he's probably done with the club.

[Baphomet]

Would there be any interest in a RealGM Fantasy PL league this year? I kinda missed it last season.

[Cactus Jack]

Courtois penalty lol