Premier League 2020/21 Thread

[Sunbury Fox]

10 hours ago, Nod.E said:

Can't believe how tight the league table is.

 

It's almost inevitable we will find ourselves in 6th/7th/8th at some point. This place will just as inevitably lose its shiit.

 

It's going to be a matter of who finds form in the last month of the season to decide the European spots.

There is no doubt that qualifying even for the EL this season is going to be really tough, with 5 of the 'Big Six', us, Everton, Villa, Southampton and West Ham right in the mix by the look of it. Would be great if Ünder could come good in the second half of the season as I really think we need to create more chances and have 2 wide forwards capable of 10 goals and 10 assists over a full season. Barnes is getting up to that level but nobody on the right comes close at the moment.

[jmono84]

The ref has to overturn that peno, it’s clear to see it’s a coming together and Pogba trips on his own legs. The defender didn’t even make a bloody tackle for Christ sake!

[Hollyfox]

Just to give a bit of balance,

A friend of mind's lad was at LCFC 's academy for some time and one of the things they were taught was how to go down in the penalty area. 

Probably this at every club. 

 

Video technology needs to be used for blatant cheating and play acting. 

A gentle brush of the face foes not justify rolling around the way many do. 

A touch of the face should not draw blood, yet many players look for it on their hands several times after an incident. 

PFA my arse, they'll stitch each other up at every opportunity. 

Until something is done about it, it'll get worse and you just know the biggest clubs will get the big decisions. 

[adejo92]

9 hours ago, StanSP said:

Pogba trips over himself because Luiz gets too close and impedes Pogba. It's a penalty, albeit a very very soft one. 

 

The betting thing means nothing. They've probably had that bet several times before a lot of games. That's just a happy coincidence. Also, it doesn't make sense to bring that up because surely if they want to make money they wouldn't want Fernandes scoring a penalty?? That means they have to pay out

 

Thanks for clearing that one up Michael.

[1972 Fox]

1 hour ago, Gravel said:

Can we also ban how Nacho takes pens

Can we not just ban Nacho?

[The Bear]

10 hours ago, CrispinLA in Texas said:

Why didn't the VAR offical tell the ref (oliver) to go to the pitch side monitor to look at the incident again because looking at it again it is obvious Progba tripped over himself. The ref couldn't wait to give ManUtd a penalty. And most betting sites had Bruno Fernandes to score a penalty before the game as a popular bet.

As much as I loathe to say it, it was a penalty. The defender makes contact with Pogba's left foot and that takes it into his standing leg, which trips him up. It looks soft but the defender has without a doubt impeded him, even if it was accidental and only a small amount of contact. Any of us would be disappointed if it wasn't given for us. Especially in these days of "there's contact so it's a penalty".

 

 

10 hours ago, Hoopla10 said:

Water is wet, the sky is blue, ManU get a penalty... my niggle is how Bruno takes pens should be banned. In fact none of this BS players currently do when taking a pen. No weird half jog in the middle of the run up, no trying to out-psych the goalie... just run up and kick the ball, one smooth motion, it's not complicated. Goalkeepers have to stay on the goal line the FA should at least balance the rules. 

I was watching for it last night but he didn't do any silly jump or hesitation. One of the most normal penalties I've seen him take. There was a slight slowdown just before he hit it but that's pretty normal. I agree with you when he does do it though. There should be a rule to make them re-take it if there's deliberate staggering or hesitation to force the keeper to move early. 

[The Bear]

11 minutes ago, Hollyfox said:

Just to give a bit of balance,

A friend of mind's lad was at LCFC 's academy for some time and one of the things they were taught was how to go down in the penalty area. 

Probably this at every club. 

 

Video technology needs to be used for blatant cheating and play acting. 

A gentle brush of the face foes not justify rolling around the way many do. 

A touch of the face should not draw blood, yet many players look for it on their hands several times after an incident. 

PFA my arse, they'll stitch each other up at every opportunity. 

Until something is done about it, it'll get worse and you just know the biggest clubs will get the big decisions. 

I've said it before but nothing will change until VAR gets taken away from the current refs. It needs to be completely independent from PGMOL,  setup and  overseen by the Premier League. 

[deanolegend1989]

10 hours ago, honeybradger said:

Ollie watkins for me is insanely overrated, cant believe some people actually want him to take over from vardy. 

Have to disagree with this. He’s a fantastic striker with a bit of everything. We could do a lot worse than if we had got Watkins.

I was suprised to see he’s 25 though, I thought he was 22/23 but still a striker I’d of loved to of signed.

[FrankieADZ]

just saw that Utd pen, how is that not overturned,

farce after farce and Utd are getting away with a shit ton atm too

[StanSP]

Luka Milivojevic and Aleksandr Mitrovic were at a party on NYE together. Mitrovic's partner put up pictures/story on Instagram showing them all together. 

Idiots. Fulham even have an outbreak in their squad from a week ago, given Parker has had to self-isolate too and led to the Spurs game being called off. 

 

These players don't help themselves. I'd be livid if any of our players were found to have been at Walker's party. Would be very disappointed. 

[UniFox21]

8 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Luka Milivojevic and Aleksandr Mitrovic were at a party on NYE together. Mitrovic's partner put up pictures/story on Instagram showing them all together. 

Idiots. Fulham even have an outbreak in their squad from a week ago, given Parker has had to self-isolate too and led to the Spurs game being called off. 

 

These players don't help themselves. I'd be livid if any of our players were found to have been at Walker's party. Would be very disappointed. 

There's pictures of Lanzini with many of the Argentinean members of the Spurs squad too celebrating the new year. Too many people are fundamentally breaking the rules and then acting all "it wasn't me" when things eventually get worse.

 

26 minutes ago, The Bear said:

I've said it before but nothing will change until VAR gets taken away from the current refs. It needs to be completely independent from PGMOL,  setup and  overseen by the Premier League. 

Spot on. We need that independent body brought in to use VAR and challenge those poor decisions we see ignored. Even if they're working in tandem with officials for a while. 

[Corky]

15 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Luka Milivojevic and Aleksandr Mitrovic were at a party on NYE together. Mitrovic's partner put up pictures/story on Instagram showing them all together. 

Idiots. Fulham even have an outbreak in their squad from a week ago, given Parker has had to self-isolate too and led to the Spurs game being called off. 

 

These players don't help themselves. I'd be livid if any of our players were found to have been at Walker's party. Would be very disappointed. 

Should be fined and banned. The only way to stop this.

[Koke]

Looking forward to Leeds battering Spurs today, with Spurs only crossing the halfway line twice. 

[StanSP]

13 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

There's pictures of Lanzini with many of the Argentinean members of the Spurs squad too celebrating the new year. Too many people are fundamentally breaking the rules and then acting all "it wasn't me" when things eventually get worse.

Yep. Lamela, Reguilon, Lo Celso, Lanzini all pictured. 

 

[casablancas]

14 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Yep. Lamela, Reguilon, Lo Celso, Lanzini all pictured. 

 

I can’t see any footballers. My eyes were immediately drawn to the middle of that pic 👀👀👀

[LCFCCHRIS]

14 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Yep. Lamela, Reguilon, Lo Celso, Lanzini all pictured. 

 

How thick have you got to be to attend and then allow someone to take and post a photo of that, as a massively famous football player easily recognised 😬

[sphericalfox]

The offending footballers are only doing what people are doing up and down the country sadly. 'Rules don't apply to me', or 'it won't matter this just once'. The high infection numbers are reflective of this, and it was an inevitability that fixtures would be affected by non-compliance at some point, and Christmas time was going to be a flashpoint. Expect more of the same going into January. Fingers crossed we are more disciplined, but we can't either rule it out that we won't be impacted by another teams ill-discipline or rocking up to a game with an infected player(s).

Edited 2 January 2021 by sphericalfox

[Corky]

36 minutes ago, Koke said:

Looking forward to Leeds battering Spurs today, with Spurs only crossing the halfway line twice. 

Tottenham will have too much for them. Shouldn't be underestimated how well we dealt with Kane and Son.

[RowlattsFox]

Managers are definitely telling players to go down in the box at every opportunity. No manager has any right to complain IMO because they actively encourage it, and would be screaming penalty at the other end. It's got to a stage where contact = penalty and that's ridiculous. Then you hear, they have to go down to get a foul, but you obviously haven't been fouled that much have you if you have to throw yourself to the floor.

 

A free shot at goal as punishment for some of the "fouls" is ridiculously harsh. 

[Koke]

Durham is correct on this re: Leeds and Bielsa. Forget the hype, just look at the facts. Leeds were hopeless misfits before Bielsa, and now many of those players look sensational. Its all down to proper coaching and management. Bielsa has shown up many managers and made them look totally incompetent. Yes, Bielsa has flaws. His defensive set up is often shambolic and he runs his players to the ground by February, but he is working with bottom half Championship players. Leeds didn't sign Neves & Boly type of players to get them promoted. 

 

A lot of boring pragmatic managers could learn things from Bielsa

 

 

 

[Phube]

1 hour ago, Koke said:

Looking forward to Leeds battering Spurs today, with Spurs only crossing the halfway line twice. 

I can see Spurs getting 3/4 today and winning comfortably. Look at all the bad results Leeds have had all to good contain and counter sides:

 

Wolves, Us, Palace, Wham and ManU.

 

If there’s one thing Spurs are good at this season it’s the counter, and with Leeds’ inability to defend. Spurs’ll run riot.

[Fox92]

12 hours ago, honeybradger said:

Ollie watkins for me is insanely overrated, cant believe some people actually want him to take over from vardy. 

I haven't seen anybody that's said that.

 

Watkins movement and work rate is excellent although the money spent on the back of one good season in the Championship was mental. Smith obviously knew him before though.

Edited 2 January 2021 by Fox92

[Tielemans63]

50 minutes ago, LCFCCHRIS said:

How thick have you got to be to attend and then allow someone to take and post a photo of that, as a massively famous football player easily recognised 😬

I'm interested to see if the Premier League actually punish these guys and the severity of the punishment. I think they should face bans, even if it's for a couple of games. The league have an opportunity here to make a statement to the players.

[UniFox21]

 

 

Another game called off

 

 

[Md9]

How ridiculous is it these footballers are breaking the rules and mixing. Mourinho will not be happy. No lamela or lo celso in the squad. Hope Leeds batter them today but can’t see spurs losing unfortunately