Premier League 2020/21 Thread

[STUHILL]

2 minutes ago, The People's Hero said:

You're right. But I'm not entirely sure what point you're making. Should we just take every result on the chin then as inevitable and therefore every match thread would be ... 'well, let's just accept what fate brings' and 'no point feeling happy or sad about it as its all part of a greater plan' or whatever. I'm genuinely puzzled by this concept that we can't lament poor results and celebrate good ones because 'they all even themselves out in the end' which they self evidently don't because we don't finish mid-table every year?

 

 

My argument is exactly as I put it. There is a lot of talk about the games we should have won, but not much talk about the ones we (on paper) shouldn't have, i.e away at Man City. I am not suggesting you shouldn't discuss a loss and the reasons why. I am purely suggesting that the point you made earlier about "what if" we hadn't have lost to Southampton and Newcastle, is countered by saying "what if" we hadn't beaten Man City/Man U etc. 

[Deeg67]

37 minutes ago, Lambert09 said:

Did you miss when teams in “our position” (Liverpool and west ham) dropped points at Newcastle then? 

Liverpool didn’t lose and Hammers were down a man.  And neither drew against an opponent playing a man down for 90% of the match.

 

Apples and oranges, just like comparing it to the Man U. quarterfinal.  You can’t change the past, no, but two straight bottlings against weak opposition at that point of the season is something that should be addressed, not dismissed.

Edited 12 May 2021 by Deeg67

[HighPeakFox]

2 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

Liverpool didn’t lose and Hammers were down a man.  And they didn’t draw against an opponent playing a man down for 90% of the match.

 

Apples and oranges, just like comparing it to the Man U. quarterfinal.  You can’t change the past, no, but two straight bottling against weak opposition at that point of the season is something that should be addressed, not dismissed.

I presume that Chelsea bottled it tonight, Man Utd last night, Liverpool... how many times this season? Sometimes, it's just not your night and nothing to do with bottle.

[gurru991]

1 hour ago, The People's Hero said:

I know its pointless saying this, but beating Soton and Newcastle and we're there and chasing down second spot.

If the dog hadn't stopped to shit he would have caught the rabbit !

Yes you are right . It's pointless !!

[STUHILL]

2 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

Liverpool didn’t lose and Hammers were down a man.  And neither drew against an opponent playing a man down for 90% of the match.

 

Apples and oranges, just like comparing it to the Man U. quarterfinal.  You can’t change the past, no, but two straight bottlings against weak opposition at that point of the season is something that should be addressed, not dismissed.

Did you see Rodger's post interview yesterday? Thought he had an interesting take on those games and pressure aka bottling etc. He mentioned losses to West Ham/Fulham earlier in the season as and example of it not necessarily being about pressure/bottling, but just not getting the performance right on the day. It can happen at any time of the season, but is highlighted and exaggerated towards the end of the season. I thought it was interesting to hear him address it anyway. Obviously that argument doesn't stand for last season due to the huge drop off, but so far this season, I think what he said rings true.  

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

Liverpool didn’t lose and Hammers were down a man.  And neither drew against an opponent playing a man down for 90% of the match.

 

Apples and oranges, just like comparing it to the Man U. quarterfinal.  You can’t change the past, no, but two straight bottlings against weak opposition at that point of the season is something that should be addressed, not dismissed.

I think there's a difference between dismissing poor results against inferior opposition and simply accepting that they are a) an inevitable part of football and b) something that every team experiences, not just us. I'm sure Chelsea fancied they ought to beat West Brom easily at home, but they BOTTLED IT and lost 5-2. Maybe if the BOTTLERS over at Man Utd hadn't taken just the one point from their games against Palace, lost at home to Sheff Utd, drawn against West Brom, thrown away the lead twice against Everton to draw, they would have won the league. Maybe they wouldn't. Maybe if we'd absolutely pummeled ten-man Southampton and performed a perfect replica of the 9-0, we'd have become utterly complacent and lost the Man Utd game. As the poster who originally posed the "what if" question acknowledged, it's pointless.

[Bats8711]

See for me I can leave the “what if’s” alone on games that “on paper” we should win but absolutely were 2nd best. First WHU game before people realized they were good, Fulham home and Newcastle last Friday are good examples of that. We never deserved anything from those games. Similarly against Chelsea Tottenham and Man City we were way the better team those games. 
 

I do know we absolutely shit housed late away wins at Sheffield Utd, Brighton and even Arsenal. Take those 6 points away and things aren’t looking as nice right now that’s for sure.

[urban.spaceman]

1 hour ago, Koke said:

We are so much better than Arsenal and Spurs and it's  important we keep that distance. We need to keep building and keep recruiting well to continue staying well clear of them. Arsenal don't have a bottomless pit of money. They can't spend £200m to fix their issues.. neither can Spurs. They are beneath us and we should keep our boot on their neck and keep at least 1 of of them out of top 6 for years to come.

They're both in big trouble. A new manager each might fix some issues and have a bounce but they've both got massive problems with recruitment, mentality, finances and identity. 

 

Arsenal's decline has been on the cards since they built the Emirates and then Tottenham MADE THE EXACT SAME MISTAKE 10 years later. 

 

This is from a Tanner interview with Puel, about after the January 2019 defeat...

 

 

The same is true now but it's even worse for them. They're gonna have to sell to reinvest it into the squad but after Kane and Son, who at 27 and 28 are depreciating in value by the day, is there anyone else they can sell to raise the sorts of funds we've been bringing in the last few years? Not for me. 

 

And the best thing is that both sets of fans seem to know they're in the shit and have sort of accepted it.

 

It's wonderful to watch happen in real time.

[STUHILL]

48 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

They're both in big trouble. A new manager each might fix some issues and have a bounce but they've both got massive problems with recruitment, mentality, finances and identity. 

 

Arsenal's decline has been on the cards since they built the Emirates and then Tottenham MADE THE EXACT SAME MISTAKE 10 years later. 

 

This is from a Tanner interview with Puel, about after the January 2019 defeat...

 

 

The same is true now but it's even worse for them. They're gonna have to sell to reinvest it into the squad but after Kane and Son, who at 27 and 28 are depreciating in value by the day, is there anyone else they can sell to raise the sorts of funds we've been bringing in the last few years? Not for me. 

 

And the best thing is that both sets of fans seem to know they're in the shit and have sort of accepted it.

 

It's wonderful to watch happen in real time.

But Levy is such a genius, a savvy business man and surely knows exactly what he is doing...

 

Top > Levy

[knitro]

9 minutes ago, STUHILL said:

But Levy is such a genius, a savvy business man and surely knows exactly what he is doing...

 

Top > Levy

For me the All or Nothing Tottenham laid bare that Levy is just a starfcker - that's not the personality you want heading up a sustainable, building club.

[Leeds Fox]

5 hours ago, knitro said:

For me the All or Nothing Tottenham laid bare that Levy is just a starfcker - that's not the personality you want heading up a sustainable, building club.

Is Danny Rose in Milan yet?

[foxfanazer]

Hope any protests at the United game tonight don't result in 3 points being awarded to Liverpool

[mancunianfox]

We have been the so called ‘inferior’ opposition for most of our existence, can we maybe not use that term?
 

It’s not like it is just us either, loads of games haven’t been competitive. The quality of the league has been utterly dreadful this year and a lot of the games have been very poor.

[FoyleFox]

I'd like last nights result to mean Chelsea are deflated and demoralised for their next two games, unfortunately, I can't help but fear it'll mean the opposite. 

 

Our win against Man U will have buoyed our confidence no end though. 

[ceredigion]

9 hours ago, STUHILL said:

what was our 1st? I only became a fan in 2017 

1996/97 when we won the League Cup and finished 8th. Those were the days.

[gerblod]

21 minutes ago, mancunianfox said:

It’s not like it is just us either, loads of games haven’t been competitive. The quality of the league has been utterly dreadful this year and a lot of the games have been very poor.

Aren't you ignoring the elephant in the middle of the room? Covid has caused incredible repercussions throughout the world - let alone the world of football.

Don't you think that these guys, particularly those whose families are on 'third-world' countries, have had their focus elsewhere than football?

Empty stadia, travel and socialising restrictions and the constant stream of worrying and distracting news has been bound to have affected the players, coaches and everyone else having to complete a football season while a unpredictable and deadly disease is ripping its way through the globe.

I think we've become so attuned to pushing it out of our thoughts that we've forgotten the constant, baleful threat clinging to our psyches - individual and collective.

Football represents, for many of us, an escape from life's less pleasant realities - yet here's Covid sticking its nose right into our cloud castles.

I think City have done uniquely well in this plague time - emerging as a superior club, both in performance and utilisation of our limited resources.

The media have made the usual hoo-hah about the League champions - but never have I felt a title was so unfairly won - and that takes some stating given the bias allowed by the governing bodies to the twelve betrayers of European football.

On merit we would have won the Premier.  Manchester City - meh.

[HighPeakFox]

1 minute ago, ceredigion said:

1996/97 when we won the League Cup and finished 8th. Those were the days.

I think it was 9th...

[ceredigion]

15 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

I think it was 9th...

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive.

But to be a City fan, 'twas very heaven.

[Nuneatonfox in Manchester]

1 hour ago, foxfanazer said:

Hope any protests at the United game tonight don't result in 3 points being awarded to Liverpool

If the rioters stop the game again then Liverpool should absolutely be awarded the 3 points, and Utd should have points deducted. Second could be back on.

[Guest Bert Fill]

9 hours ago, STUHILL said:

 

That is football. If everyone always beat who they were supposed to beat, it would be one of the most boring games in the world. At the end of the day it's 11 vs 11 and a whole shit ton of variables which can swing the result either way on any given day. 

Exactly. Football would be like rugby, where the ‘better’ team almost always wins. Every team in the premier league has eleven players who are capable of playing like world beaters, it’s just that the players in the weaker sides do it a few times a season and hardly ever all together, while the top players do it most weeks. That’s what makes them the top players.

[urban fox]

4 minutes ago, Nuneatonfox in Manchester said:

If the rioters stop the game again then Liverpool should absolutely be awarded the 3 points, and Utd should have points deducted. Second could be back on.

Yes but if they were docked anything less than 9 points it would be irrelevant as they would stay in the top 4 and still likely to finish above us with their remaining games which they would be expected to win.

just hoping the game goes ahead, they put out their best side and do Liverpool over.

[WigstonWanderer]

So what’s the deal with Kante? Wasn’t even on the bench. Is he injured? Is he out for Saturday?

[foxinsocks]

2 minutes ago, WigstonWanderer said:

So what’s the deal with Kante? Wasn’t even on the bench. Is he injured? Is he out for Saturday?

They are managing an Achilles problem... I expect him to play satur6dsy and then in cl final

[KrefelderFox666]

2 minutes ago, WigstonWanderer said:

So what’s the deal with Kante? Wasn’t even on the bench. Is he injured? Is he out for Saturday?

Rested for Saturday. Even though I am sure he could play 100 games a season and look fitter/fresher than everyone else.

[SpacedX]

8 hours ago, Guest said:

 Maybe if we'd absolutely pummeled ten-man Southampton and performed a perfect replica of the 9-0, we'd have become utterly complacent and lost the Man Utd game. As the poster who originally posed the "what if" question acknowledged, it's pointless.

I was saying exactly the same the other day. The focus upon getting the job done at Old Trafford was very evident. Also, had we not have been so useless against Newcastle, rather trounced them 5-0 as we did in the corresponding fixture last season, it's unlikely that Solskjær would have made the ten changes to his side.