2021-22 English Premier League Discussion Thread

[HIF]

Tuchel complaining about Lukaku.
How about changing your football mindset and start playing to your players strengths instead of just defending deep and hope that one counter is enough.

Brilliant analysis by Shearer about the service to Lukaku and the way Chelsea plays.

So Tuchel can complain about Lukaku but Lukaku isn't allowed to complain about Tuchel and his crap system?

[Baphomet]

Surprised that Spurs are so annoyed with Arsenal getting a postponement. They asked for and got at least one themselves, in fact aren't they the team who started this all off?

I can understand the injury rule the question is what is classed as an injury and what players are classed as being "senior" or able to be included. It must be much easier for a team like Arsenal than a team like Norwich to field a decent team even with injuries. I can agree with the AFCON problem too. It's not the team's fault that their players have been removed during the season to play for national teams. this is more a question of when National competitions should take place. For example we're stopping the entire league season next winter because european and south American players will also be representing their countries. The only big question I have is when teams like arsenal send players out on loan and then don't have enough players to play - that seems wrong to me.

Well, the rules are there.
Arsenal are allowed to ask for a postponement by these rules.

Wolves vs Arsenal was postponed after Wolves only had two covid cases. There wasn't any complaining then.

With all due respect, I know that both of you guys understand the distinction between having a game postponed because your entire first team is missing due to a Covid outbreak, and using the postponement policy as a tactical ploy to avoid playing games due to injury/unrelated absences, because you both called it out when Liverpool did it. Arsenal have a registered first/youth team squad of 55 players. You seriously mean to tell me that 40+ of those players aren't available right now? The rules exist to help teams cope with Covid/quarantine related absences, not to allow teams to skip matches for personal gain.

Spurs weren't trying to game the system like Arsenal and Liverpool are, 90% of our first team was legitimately out due to Covid. We had to forfeit a match as well, which is the typical policy when you can't field enough players. But I suspect Arsenal could probably have "miraculously" rustled up enough players to play if that was being threatened. If Wolves were doing the same thing, I legitimately had no idea, then they shouldn't have been granted a postponement either. The onus is on the Premier League to stop this, but they won't.

If Arsenal genuinely had a Covid outbreak and they couldn't field a proper team, then I would have no issues with it and probably wouldn't even mention it. It's just funny seeing Arsenal fans defend what they were just furious with Liverpool about, all they're missing is a few false positives.

[Baphomet]

That's Benitez gone.
Was always going to be the case.

Agreed, was a really weird appointment in the first place and I don't think anybody believed a manager so synonymous with Liverpool would succeed at Everton.

[LDNMagic90]

Teams are going to continue to milk it with postponing games in the prem and its a joke. I understand a severe out break, but having one or two players should not be grounds in which a team can postpone a game. Leeds have been getting on with it FFS they had a 15 year old on the bench. Majority of the prem have top quality academies and a quality under 23 team, so why not use them? It benefits the clubs as well because they get to play at senior level and can improve their chances of breaking into the first team.

[LDNMagic90]

That's Benitez gone.
Was always going to be the case.

Agreed, was a really weird appointment in the first place and I don't think anybody believed a manager so synonymous with Liverpool would succeed at Everton.

I agree, it reminds me of when we (Villa) appointed McLeish after his spell with Birmingham City.

In fact, Everton really remind me of the Villa years just before they got relegated. Questionable appointments, a questionable transfer policy and selling their better players to rivals (Digne). If they are not careful with their next appointment then they could be in real trouble. I'm hearing Martinez and Rooney are their most wanted for a manager, which is not a good look in their position. I'd be curious about Rooney though.

[Baphomet]

I agree, it reminds me of when we (Villa) appointed McLeish after his spell with Birmingham City.

In fact, Everton really remind me of the Villa years just before they got relegated. Questionable appointments, a questionable transfer policy and selling their better players to rivals (Digne). If they are not careful with their next appointment then they could be in real trouble. I'm hearing Martinez and Rooney are their most wanted for a manager, which is not a good look in their position. I'd be curious about Rooney though.

Yeah that's a good analogy. They could be in trouble if they get this appointment wrong, like you said, and I have little faith that they'll get it right. The strategy at the club is appalling, and the team is structured in such a way that none of their signings make sense together. They haven't stuck with a manager long enough to develop any kind of playing style since Martinez, and the signings reflect that confusion. It's like they settle for the scraps of whoever Spurs/Arsenal/Leicester/West Ham don't sign, when the reality is they're a big enough club to have a decent pulling power of their own, with financial heft backing it up.

Villa seem to be getting it right now, and Leicester and West Ham have had success in the market with results to back it up, so the model is there for a quote-unquote top half team to make some inroads into the top four's dominance.

[LDNMagic90]

I agree, it reminds me of when we (Villa) appointed McLeish after his spell with Birmingham City.

In fact, Everton really remind me of the Villa years just before they got relegated. Questionable appointments, a questionable transfer policy and selling their better players to rivals (Digne). If they are not careful with their next appointment then they could be in real trouble. I'm hearing Martinez and Rooney are their most wanted for a manager, which is not a good look in their position. I'd be curious about Rooney though.

Yeah that's a good analogy. They could be in trouble if they get this appointment wrong, like you said, and I have little faith that they'll get it right. The strategy at the club is appalling, and the team is structured in such a way that none of their signings make sense together. They haven't stuck with a manager long enough to develop any kind of playing style since Martinez, and the signings reflect that confusion. It's like they settle for the scraps of whoever Spurs/Arsenal/Leicester/West Ham don't sign, when the reality is they're a big enough club to have a decent pulling power of their own, with financial heft backing it up.

Villa seem to be getting it right now, and Leicester and West Ham have had success in the market with results to back it up, so the model is there for a quote-unquote top half team to make some inroads into the top four's dominance.

You hit the nail on the head. I mean to spend what was it 40 mill on Iwobi? That’s ridiculous because if they were to sell him they’d just about get 20 mill.

Even teams like Brentford (no disrespect) have a transfer policy that they stick to generally. I think Digne and Bernard alluded to a lot of things going wrong at the club when Digne signed for Villa.

It’s such a shame as like you said they are a big club, decent fans and they just deserve so much more for their team.

[HIF]

Bergwijn should have been sent off for that what is that twat ref doing?

[HIF]

And now he scores two. With 7 extra minutes **** cheat.

[Baphomet]

Leicester have nobody to blame but themselves. It doesn't matter how badly you feel the refs did, with 30 seconds left you get the ball in the stands. I don't know how professional footballers can not know how to effectively kill time or get the ball clear, it's piss poor game management and it's a recurring theme for Brendan Rodgers teams. Tielemans giving the ball away from kick off was absolutely criminal, and Vestergaard and Soyuncu has to be the slowest CB pairing of all time. Soyuncu got dropped on his arse for all 3 goals.

Having said that, Spurs did deserve to win the game based on the overall quality of play and chances. Maybe not quite that cruelly or dramatically, but still. Leicester looked like they were going to easily see it out, Spurs were huffing and puffing to end the game. It really is an extraordinary collapse.

Apparently that's the first time a team has come from behind in the PL to win that late in a game since the famous Aguero goal against QPR.

[HIF]

Leicester have nobody to blame but themselves. It doesn't matter how badly you feel the refs did, with 30 seconds left you get the ball in the stands. I don't know how professional footballers can not know how to effectively kill time or get the ball clear, it's piss poor game management and it's a recurring theme for Brendan Rodgers teams. Tielemans giving the ball away from kick off was absolutely criminal, and Vestergaard and Soyuncu has to be the slowest CB pairing of all time. Soyuncu got dropped on his arse for all 3 goals.

Having said that, Spurs did deserve to win the game based on the overall quality of play and chances. Maybe not quite that cruelly or dramatically, but still. Leicester looked like they were going to easily see it out, Spurs were huffing and puffing to end the game. It really is an extraordinary collapse.

Apparently that's the first time a team has come from behind in the PL to win that late in a game since the famous Aguero goal against QPR.

I saw the post you removed during the game Baph, oh how your opinion changed in 2 minutes.

Leicester were ****. Brendan played a back 5 with a RW playing RB, a small CM playing CB, a championship level CB playing CB, a returning out of form CB playing CB and a very good youngster player LB and they had a GK behind them who doesn't know how to come off his line and they therefore sat back against a very average Spurs team who also had a poor defence. I'm with you in putting the blame at Brendan's door. However to say that Spurs deserved the win is a joke. On the few occasions we decided to attack you we scored or very nearly scored and yet Spurs who had all of the ball in our half missed chance after chance after chance against a really pathetic defence. And then you won because a player who should've been sent off scored two fantastic goals one with 6 seconds to play in injury time and the other 2 minutes in extra injury time. John Moss is a great example of the **** referees we have in the Prem who are biased towards some teams and who like to be the centre of attention. There were no VAR interventions, there were no injury holdups and there was no time wasting. The ball was hardly ever out of play. There wasn't 5 minutes injury time to add on and there certainly wasn't another 2 minutes after you scored the second 6 seconds from the end of the 5 minutes.

In short. Leicester were **** but Spurs are really not a good team and john Moss is John Moss. Maybe that sums up the standard of the prem this season. Get as excited as you want about the victory over us but there's a reason you couldn't even qualify for the knockout phase in the Conference league and it's the same reason as we couldn't qualify for the knockout phase in the Europa league. Neither team is very good.

[Baphomet]

I saw the post you removed during the game Baph, oh how your opinion changed in 2 minutes.

Leicester were ****. Brendan played a back 5 with a RW playing RB, a small CM playing CB, a championship level CB playing CB, a returning out of form CB playing CB and a very good youngster player LB and they had a GK behind them who doesn't know how to come off his line and they therefore sat back against a very average Spurs team who also had a poor defence. I'm with you in putting the blame at Brendan's door. However to say that Spurs deserved the win is a joke. On the few occasions we decided to attack you we scored or very nearly scored and yet Spurs who had all of the ball in our half missed chance after chance after chance against a really pathetic defence. And then you won because a player who should've been sent off scored two fantastic goals one with 6 seconds to play in injury time and the other 2 minutes in extra injury time. John Moss is a great example of the **** referees we have in the Prem who are biased towards some teams and who like to be the centre of attention. There were no VAR interventions, there were no injury holdups and there was no time wasting. The ball was hardly ever out of play. There wasn't 5 minutes injury time to add on and there certainly wasn't another 2 minutes after you scored the second 6 seconds from the end of the 5 minutes.

In short. Leicester were **** but Spurs are really not a good team and john Moss is John Moss. Maybe that sums up the standard of the prem this season. Get as excited as you want about the victory over us but there's a reason you couldn't even qualify for the knockout phase in the Conference league and it's the same reason as we couldn't qualify for the knockout phase in the Europa league. Neither team is very good.

We're a very average side with a very good manager, that's really the only thing that's getting us points. Nobody's claiming otherwise.

To be fair, my opinion hasn't changed, Brendo does my head in. I guiltily deleted my post because my girlfriend said that "You'd better not be winding people up again, I know how you are when Spurs win" after I beelined for my phone when the third goal went in

Also, it's not really appropriate for me to be posting provocative things when there's only a dozen of us here, after such an emotional match.

[Baseline81]

Liverpool vs. Chelsea in the Carabao final.

Comical how Arsenal had its match against Tottenham postponed giving the team a week for the semi-final. Full team involved, including Partey, who took a private jet from AFCON only to be sent off. Liverpool, meanwhile, continued to play without Mane and Salah as well as Alisson. Jota proving his worth time and time again.

[Baphomet]

Liverpool vs. Chelsea in the Carabao final.

Comical how Arsenal had its match against Tottenham postponed giving the team a week for the semi-final. Full team involved, including Partey, who took a private jet from AFCON only to be sent off. Liverpool, meanwhile, continued to play without Mane and Salah as well as Alisson. Jota proving his worth time and time again.

Both goals were wonderfully taken. Jota is a properly good player, a perfect heir to Mane and Salah when they move on.

The lack of discipline in this Arsenal team is really starting to become a problem, though. They have more red cards than goals in the four games they've played in 2022 so far. Granted, they've played City and Liverpool twice in that spell which is no picnic, but it still has to be a source of concern.

[wco81]

Carabao is not EPL.

Do the clubs actually play the regular players who'd start EPL matches?

[HIF]

I saw the post you removed during the game Baph, oh how your opinion changed in 2 minutes.

Leicester were ****. Brendan played a back 5 with a RW playing RB, a small CM playing CB, a championship level CB playing CB, a returning out of form CB playing CB and a very good youngster player LB and they had a GK behind them who doesn't know how to come off his line and they therefore sat back against a very average Spurs team who also had a poor defence. I'm with you in putting the blame at Brendan's door. However to say that Spurs deserved the win is a joke. On the few occasions we decided to attack you we scored or very nearly scored and yet Spurs who had all of the ball in our half missed chance after chance after chance against a really pathetic defence. And then you won because a player who should've been sent off scored two fantastic goals one with 6 seconds to play in injury time and the other 2 minutes in extra injury time. John Moss is a great example of the **** referees we have in the Prem who are biased towards some teams and who like to be the centre of attention. There were no VAR interventions, there were no injury holdups and there was no time wasting. The ball was hardly ever out of play. There wasn't 5 minutes injury time to add on and there certainly wasn't another 2 minutes after you scored the second 6 seconds from the end of the 5 minutes.

In short. Leicester were **** but Spurs are really not a good team and john Moss is John Moss. Maybe that sums up the standard of the prem this season. Get as excited as you want about the victory over us but there's a reason you couldn't even qualify for the knockout phase in the Conference league and it's the same reason as we couldn't qualify for the knockout phase in the Europa league. Neither team is very good.

We're a very average side with a very good manager, that's really the only thing that's getting us points. Nobody's claiming otherwise.

To be fair, my opinion hasn't changed, Brendo does my head in. I guiltily deleted my post because my girlfriend said that "You'd better not be winding people up again, I know how you are when Spurs win" after I beelined for my phone when the third goal went in

Also, it's not really appropriate for me to be posting provocative things when there's only a dozen of us here, after such an emotional match.

I understand you doing it. You love Spurs and they've been going through a rough period (for the last 75 years ). You have to put up with me posting emotion fuelled posts most weeks.

To be fair you are in a great position to get that 4th CL spot but I agree with you it's more because you are getting the best results out of a group of average teams. I don't think you're much better than us (if at all) but you're so many points ahead that we're not in the same battle. You're fighting for 4th/5th, we're fighting for 8th/10th.

[HIF]

Carabao is not EPL.

Do the clubs actually play the regular players who'd start EPL matches?

They do at SF round. Arsenal went in with a home fixture and their best players available, Liverpool went in with a couple of top players at AFCON. Liverpool won. Embarrassing for Arteta in a year when his team are not playing twice a week with European matches.

[HIF]

Liverpool vs. Chelsea in the Carabao final.

Comical how Arsenal had its match against Tottenham postponed giving the team a week for the semi-final. Full team involved, including Partey, who took a private jet from AFCON only to be sent off. Liverpool, meanwhile, continued to play without Mane and Salah as well as Alisson. Jota proving his worth time and time again.

Both goals were wonderfully taken. Jota is a properly good player, a perfect heir to Mane and Salah when they move on.

The lack of discipline in this Arsenal team is really starting to become a problem, though. They have more red cards than goals in the four games they've played in 2022 so far. Granted, they've played City and Liverpool twice in that spell which is no picnic, but it still has to be a source of concern.

Their discipline problem stretches over from the past season too. I think it's simply a sign of the incohesion in the club as a whole.

[Baphomet]

Could be curtains for another manager at Watford, battered at home by Norwich.

[The_Brecht]

Guess who had Dennis as captain in fpl