Premier League 2021/22 Thread

[CosbehFox]

7 hours ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

 

It was tongue in cheek because we're obviously superior but I've just seen you scored 38 goals this season, I remember early doors you were going favourably against metrics in terms of chance conversion and stuff but bloody hell mate that's not good.

Jose Sa as well for absolutely ridiculous stats as well. Like way away of every other keeper 

[Deeg67]

Plenty of drama at the top of the table, but I’m thrilled for Leeds and Jesse Marsch.  Got a miraculous performance out of that decimated squad and a much-deserved three points.  He’s a terrific manager and a genuinely decent guy, and I’d love to see what he can do with a healthy team, especially if Leeds have a decent window.

[Pub breath]

1 minute ago, Deeg67 said:

Plenty of drama at the top of the table, but I’m thrilled for Leeds and Jesse Marsch.  Got a miraculous performance out of that decimated squad and a much-deserved three points.  He’s a terrific manager and a genuinely decent guy, and I’d love to see what he can do with a healthy team, especially if Leeds have a decent window.

Out of interest, what makes you say he's a terrific manager?  I think it's hard to judge him so far as he inherited a squad that wasn't in his design, ruined by injuries and in a relegation fight.

[CloudFox]

This is horrifying to read about any football club.

 

How on earth was this ever allowed to be put in place during the takeover? Would not be surprised for Burnley to fall through the leagues for a while now.

 

 

 

[The Year Of The Fox]

[Deeg67]

34 minutes ago, Pub breath said:

Out of interest, what makes you say he's a terrific manager?  I think it's hard to judge him so far as he inherited a squad that wasn't in his design, ruined by injuries and in a relegation fight.

If you want to judge him on what he did at Leeds, it seems to me your argument against him is actually an argument for him.  As you said, a ruined squad in a relegation fight - and he got 15 points in 12 matches with that squad, after it had managed 23 in 26 matches under Bielsa, despite a pretty brutal run-in.

 

But I’ve followed Marsch’s career since his MLS days, and he’s a sound tactical manager and an excellent manager of personalities.  He got a raw deal in Leipzig but he’s had success pretty much at every stop, and if Leeds spends (smartly) this summer he’ll have them performing at a much higher level next season.

 

I would have loved to see the USSF hire him as the national team manager, but with Berhalter’s brother running the selection there was never a chance that was going any other way.

[Pub breath]

18 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

If you want to judge him on what he did at Leeds, it seems to me your argument against him is actually an argument for him.  As you said, a ruined squad in a relegation fight - and he got 15 points in 12 matches with that squad, after it had managed 23 in 26 matches under Bielsa, despite a pretty brutal run-in.

 

But I’ve followed Marsch’s career since his MLS days, and he’s a sound tactical manager and an excellent manager of personalities.  He got a raw deal in Leipzig but he’s had success pretty much at every stop, and if Leeds spends (smartly) this summer he’ll have them performing at a much higher level next season.

 

I would have loved to see the USSF hire him as the national team manager, but with Berhalter’s brother running the selection there was never a chance that was going any other way.

Cheers.  Just to be clear, I don't have an argument against him, I didn't know a whole lot about him before this season.  Wondered if you knew more about his past - which you clearly do.

[Fear Of The Fox]

28 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

If you want to judge him on what he did at Leeds, it seems to me your argument against him is actually an argument for him.  As you said, a ruined squad in a relegation fight - and he got 15 points in 12 matches with that squad, after it had managed 23 in 26 matches under Bielsa, despite a pretty brutal run-in.

 

But I’ve followed Marsch’s career since his MLS days, and he’s a sound tactical manager and an excellent manager of personalities.  He got a raw deal in Leipzig but he’s had success pretty much at every stop, and if Leeds spends (smartly) this summer he’ll have them performing at a much higher level next season.

 

I would have loved to see the USSF hire him as the national team manager, but with Berhalter’s brother running the selection there was never a chance that was going any other way.

It's true that Marsch was a successful manager in MLS but the style of football is completely different there. I would say it's excessively methodical. I saw signs that he wants to implement this at Leeds. Big gamble. 

I've followed the rise of US football since the early 90s. Back then I told many friends of mine that their coaches are doing a good job with youngsters but it was like they were trying to reinvent football. Personally I like how both their men and women national teams are playing though the whole build up and play is extremely methodical and robotic. 

[StanSP]

9 penalties conceded this season. 

3rd highest in the league - Highest was 12 (Norwich), then Wolves on 10.

 

I think Tielemans gave away 3 of them?! 

 

Surprisingly, Liverpool didn't concede a penalty all season in the league! 

 

[StanSP]

Boubacar Kamara signs for Villa from Marseille 

 

[Nick]

2 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Boubacar Kamara signs for Villa from Marseille 

 

Fair play to them.

[Deeg67]

32 minutes ago, Fear Of The Fox said:

It's true that Marsch was a successful manager in MLS but the style of football is completely different there. I would say it's excessively methodical. I saw signs that he wants to implement this at Leeds. Big gamble. 

I've followed the rise of US football since the early 90s. Back then I told many friends of mine that their coaches are doing a good job with youngsters but it was like they were trying to reinvent football. Personally I like how both their men and women national teams are playing though the whole build up and play is extremely methodical and robotic. 

I wholly disagree that Marsch is methodical.  If anything he's all about playing with pace - high pressing (pressing the ball rather than pressing the space), and quick attacks to hit the opponent while they're disorganized.  That's how they got their first goal at Brentford today, in fact.  Berhalter is all about slow, methodical buildup - March is tactically just the opposite.

 

You can't judge Marsch's long-term tactical intentions based on what he did at Leeds.  He inherited a team that was disorganized, dispirited and exhausted, with most of their creative players injured.  He had a mandate to survive by whatever means possible, and the way to do that in those circumstances was not to try and play some sort of Cruyff-inspired beautiful football.  The only way March could keep Leeds up was by grinding out points however they could get them (for much of that time James - who's basically all pace and not much else - was their only striker option).  Frankly that he was able to keep them in the PL from where they were when he got there is something of a miracle.

[dsr-burnley]

1 hour ago, CloudFox said:

This is horrifying to read about any football club.

 

How on earth was this ever allowed to be put in place during the takeover? Would not be surprised for Burnley to fall through the leagues for a while now.

 

 

 

I suspect you're right.  The owners' intention was (presumably) to buy the club using someone else's money, sell it on quickly, and pocket the profit.  This has obviously failed and their investment is worth nothing to them.

 

I reckon what they will do now is throw everything at going back up.  If it works, they have a chance of profit.  If it doesn't work, they walk away leaving a shambles behind them.  This is the problem when your owners are in it purely for money and have no emotional interest or feeling of moral duty towards the club.

 

Ah well.  Onwards and upwards.  There's always the chance of a phoenix club if it really goes badly.

[OntarioFox]

Shame that pitch invasions are becoming such a problem. We did it twice when we went up without incident - including away at Huddersfield.

 

I think the sad fact of the matter is that there are more geared-up twats at games now than there were 5-10 years ago. 

[urban.spaceman]

6 hours ago, Koke said:

 

They’re going to be furious when they find out that Man United and SPURS spent longer on top of the league than they did. 

[Aus Fox]

3 hours ago, Deeg67 said:

Plenty of drama at the top of the table, but I’m thrilled for Leeds and Jesse Marsch.  Got a miraculous performance out of that decimated squad and a much-deserved three points.  He’s a terrific manager and a genuinely decent guy, and I’d love to see what he can do with a healthy team, especially if Leeds have a decent window.

I reckon he’ll be sacked before the next season started, terribly appointment and Leeds have gone backwards since he took over. A little new manager bounce and then reverted to the awful performances, if they sacked Bielsa - Marsch won’t last much longer.

[Aus Fox]

6 hours ago, Koke said:

 

People who don't rate Pep shouldn't be commenting on football. 

Pep will always have a question mark against his name when being compared to the greats of the game until he wins a Champions League Trophy again - Since his last Champions League win with Barcelona he’s spent 1.5 billion Euros - let that sink in 1.5 billion and hasn’t won a champions league for over 10 years with either Bayern or Man City.

This isn’t to say he’s not a top coach, just  isn’t going to be compared with the greats of the game when he retires like Ancelotti.

[Deeg67]

1 hour ago, Aus Fox said:

I reckon he’ll be sacked before the next season started, terribly appointment and Leeds have gone backwards since he took over. A little new manager bounce and then reverted to the awful performances, if they sacked Bielsa - Marsch won’t last much longer.

You're absolutely delusional about that.  What happens next season is always unpredictable but he's a hero in Leeds at the moment for keeping them up against long odds, and they're already strongly linked to players (Aaronson and Adams) who'd be coming in specifically to implement Marsch's system next season.

 

As far as "gone backwards since to took over", it's not even a matter of subjective opinion, it's factually absurd.  23 points in 26 matches under Bielsa and 15 in 12 under Marsch, with half of Bielsa's squad out injured for much of those 12 matches.

[Sampson]

49 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

Aston Villa have to make the most obvious transfers in the world, ever. 

Already seen some Villa fans nervous about who’ve they’ve been linked with under Gerrard. Feels a bit like when we had Sven and it felt like he’d only sign big names. Doesn’t really give the vibes of someone who cares much about scouting or has a wide enough knowledge of the game.

[Dave Fishwick]

Some proper bad takes in here 

[BenTheFox]

13 hours ago, The Bear said:

To paraphrase Neo, there is no gap. 

How would you rate your season? It appears to be a definite improvement on last season, but you must be disappointed to end up finishing tenth. I am a little surprised how few goals you have scored with some of the players that you've got. 

[gurru991]

3 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

They’re going to be furious when they find out that Man United and SPURS spent longer on top of the league than they did. 

Nobody cares about how many days you spent there !!!   It only the last day that counts !!

[SkidsFox]

1 hour ago, gurru991 said:

Nobody cares about how many days you spent there !!!   It only the last day that counts !!

Maybe. I seem to remember we were top for much of our champion-winning season. But you still get folk who tell us "that was the season the big teams didn't try" and "Spurs bottled it"...  Ah well, we won, and that's what counts.

[Phenom]

4 hours ago, Deeg67 said:

You're absolutely delusional about that.  What happens next season is always unpredictable but he's a hero in Leeds at the moment for keeping them up against long odds, and they're already strongly linked to players (Aaronson and Adams) who'd be coming in specifically to implement Marsch's system next season.

 

As far as "gone backwards since to took over", it's not even a matter of subjective opinion, it's factually absurd.  23 points in 26 matches under Bielsa and 15 in 12 under Marsch, with half of Bielsa's squad out injured for much of those 12 matches.

Are we supposed to be impressed with those transfers or 15 points in 12?

[TaggertvsWise]

Anyone just hear that idiot Adrian Durham on TalkSport saying we should let Vardy go on a free considering what he’s done for us. I really wish I didn’t bite but what a stupid thing to say.