Premier League Thread 2023/2024

[Chelmofox]

Just now, CheeseHead said:

De Zerbi is a genius, got 44pts from only one goal scored all season!

hahaha - edited. You knew what i meant 

[Finnegan]

3 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

To be fair - it's not about the winning, it's about remotely competing.  They have scored one goal this season that was actually a burnley backpass that the keeper fluffed and they have shipped 11 goals. How many clubs would find that form acceptable?

 

 

Yeah they've been naff for months, no denying that. 

 

But I do think their squad is alarmingly average and even glaringly shit in some areas. 

 

They remind me a lot of us, for all of the praise for their recruitment because they unearth some genuine gems, they also hoard a lot of complete rubbish that they get stuck with. 

 

They've still got Lalana and Welbeck ffs, they signed an eighty year old James Milnwr, Ansu Fati is like they heard Brendan Rodgers talking about broken players and took it too literally, Igor is a literal LCFC pre relegation signing, I'm pretty sure we were actually linked to him. He's unbelievably average. 

 

So are the likes of Dunk, Gilmour, Webster etc who are just immensely mid table. 

 

They've got some genuine gems (most of whom are injured) sure but they've also got an enormous amount of pain significantly mediocre. 

 

[filbertway]

30 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Yeah what a ****ing loser, can't even get a win with 7 first team players missing. Shit manager, aaaahhh. 

 

 

9 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Yeah they've been naff for months, no denying that. 

 

But I do think their squad is alarmingly average and even glaringly shit in some areas. 

 

They remind me a lot of us, for all of the praise for their recruitment because they unearth some genuine gems, they also hoard a lot of complete rubbish that they get stuck with. 

 

They've still got Lalana and Welbeck ffs, they signed an eighty year old James Milnwr, Ansu Fati is like they heard Brendan Rodgers talking about broken players and took it too literally, Igor is a literal LCFC pre relegation signing, I'm pretty sure we were actually linked to him. He's unbelievably average. 

 

So are the likes of Dunk, Gilmour, Webster etc who are just immensely mid table. 

 

They've got some genuine gems (most of whom are injured) sure but they've also got an enormous amount of pain significantly mediocre. 

 

And yet he's trying to get them play tiki taka football in their own box.

 

[pmcla26]

7 minutes ago, filbertway said:

 

And yet he's trying to get them play tiki taka football in their own box.

 

They're not in any danger of going down - might as well continue with his philosophy and hope it benefits those that come into the side, like O'Mahoney and Offiah, in the long-run. 

[filbertway]

 

That's us getting no decisions next season

 

(Screenshot included when he's inevitably told to take it down haha)

[Finnegan]

28 minutes ago, filbertway said:

 

And yet he's trying to get them play tiki taka football in their own box.

 

 

Yeah I get it, I understand the criticism. But I think calling De Zerbi a poor (or over rated) manager because he can't implement his style of play with a squad not equipped for it is a bit like calling Fernando Alonso shit or over rated for not winning a Championship in an Alpine. 

 

You do the best with the resources you have and De Zerbi managed sixth place last year with a fairly mediocre squad and this year is delivering comfortable mid table despite the injuries and distractions of Europe. 

 

The best modern football managers are nearly all specialists. You couldn't give Pep an extremely agricultural squad and expect him to excel, you couldn't give Klopp a team of technicians with low athleticism and expect him to excel and the new generation coming through are all similar in having very clear philosophies on how they want to play. 

 

Yeah, some pragmatist like Moyes or Allardyce could probably grind out a few more draws or shit house wins occasionally by being willing to keep it simple but they probably also wouldn't reach the heights that De Zerbi has managed when it clicks and the idea at Brighton is to have confidence in what they're building and keep adding the right type of player until it pays off. 

 

Look at us. Enzo has stuck rigidly to the game plan all season and he'll do the same next year. People were saying a year ago that the squad here wasn't technical enough to play possession football but look at what good coaching has done for the likes of Wilfred Ndidi and Hamza Choudhury. It would have been easier to play more simplistic football with those guys and maybe it'd have turned some of our bad results in to neutral ones but overall would we still have won the league? 

 

[filbertway]

2 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Yeah I get it, I understand the criticism. But I think calling De Zerbi a poor (or over rated) manager because he can't implement his style of play with a squad not equipped for it is a bit like calling Fernando Alonso shit or over rated for not winning a Championship in an Alpine. 

 

You do the best with the resources you have and De Zerbi managed sixth place last year with a fairly mediocre squad and this year is delivering comfortable mid table despite the injuries and distractions of Europe. 

 

The best modern football managers are nearly all specialists. You couldn't give Pep an extremely agricultural squad and expect him to excel, you couldn't give Klopp a team of technicians with low athleticism and expect him to excel and the new generation coming through are all similar in having very clear philosophies on how they want to play. 

 

Yeah, some pragmatist like Moyes or Allardyce could probably grind out a few more draws or shit house wins occasionally by being willing to keep it simple but they probably also wouldn't reach the heights that De Zerbi has managed when it clicks and the idea at Brighton is to have confidence in what they're building and keep adding the right type of player until it pays off. 

 

Look at us. Enzo has stuck rigidly to the game plan all season and he'll do the same next year. People were saying a year ago that the squad here wasn't technical enough to play possession football but look at what good coaching has done for the likes of Wilfred Ndidi and Hamza Choudhury. It would have been easier to play more simplistic football with those guys and maybe it'd have turned some of our bad results in to neutral ones but overall would we still have won the league? 

 

Oh right, yeah I wasn't trying to suggest I think he's poor. Just pointing out a short coming that him and a lot of managers have. Refusal to be flexible and adopt different approaches to fit the players you have. Just seems like such on obvious tool for any manager to have. 

 

I don't think his heart is much in it anyway as Brighton aren't letting him control transfers and he's complained more than once in the press. He appears to be making little effort to correct it, so just seems like it's fizzling out and they'll part ways in the summer.

 

I imagine both Brighton and De Zerbi will have more successful years next season

 

I've spent the whole season watching Hamza hide behind players and almost exclusively pass the ball 5-10 yards backwards all season, so I'll leave that last part

 

[filbertway]

Off of the topic of Brighton...I'm still unsure how VAR, the ref or the commentators didn't think this was a stone wall penalty

 

[Finnegan]

2 minutes ago, filbertway said:

don't think his heart is much in it anyway as Brighton aren't letting him control transfers and he's complained more than once in the press. He appears to be making little effort to correct it, so just seems like it's fizzling out and they'll part ways in the summer.

 

Do agree with this part. It's hard from the outside looking in but he definitely doesn't look overly enthusiastic in his work there. 

 

But then he's having an extremely tough time, I doubt I would either. 

 

3 minutes ago, filbertway said:

spent the whole season watching Hamza hide behind players and almost exclusively pass the ball 5-10 yards backwards all season,

 

Oh God, don't even. I'm not at all trying to imply he's turned Hamza in to Pirlo. But he's done much better than I thought he would in the Ricardo role tbf. 

 

Although I desperately hope we're not relying on him to cover for Ricky in the Prem. 

 

[Super_horns]

4 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Off of the topic of Brighton...I'm still unsure how VAR, the ref or the commentators didn't think this was a stone wall penalty

 

Well the ref didn’t even give the one in the 2nd half at first !

[filbertway]

1 minute ago, Finnegan said:

 

Do agree with this part. It's hard from the outside looking in but he definitely doesn't look overly enthusiastic in his work there. 

 

But then he's having an extremely tough time, I doubt I would either. 

 

 

Oh God, don't even. I'm not at all trying to imply he's turned Hamza in to Pirlo. But he's done much better than I thought he would in the Ricardo role tbf. 

 

Although I desperately hope we're not relying on him to cover for Ricky in the Prem. 

 

Sorry Finners - as soon as you said it, I read it as "Hamza and Wilf have been transformed into the new Xavi and Iniesta" there's nothing I can do about it

 

[Finnegan]

2 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Sorry Finners - as soon as you said it, I read it as "Hamza and Wilf have been transformed into the new Xavi and Iniesta" there's nothing I can do about it

 

 

I'd describe Ndidi 23/24 as more like the second coming of Clarence Seedorf. 

[SouthStandUpperTier]

11 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

Do agree with this part. It's hard from the outside looking in but he definitely doesn't look overly enthusiastic in his work there. 

He's already been making assertions about the club's lack of ambition. He wants them to break their transfer model which has been working for them. Sound familiar? He's basically the Italian Brendan Rodgers.

[StanSP]

43 minutes ago, filbertway said:

 

That's us getting no decisions next season

 

(Screenshot included when he's inevitably told to take it down haha)

Not sure why he'd be asked to take it down, or why he has to? He's not affiliated with any club at the moment (not that I'm aware of!). 

 

Also means Chelsea won't get any decisions either . 

[westernpark]

Just now, StanSP said:

Not sure why he'd be asked to take it down, or why he has to? He's not affiliated with any club at the moment (not that I'm aware of!). 

 

Also means Chelsea won't get any decisions either . 

He’s our loan manager! 

[filbertway]

2 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Not sure why he'd be asked to take it down, or why he has to? He's not affiliated with any club at the moment (not that I'm aware of!). 

 

Also means Chelsea won't get any decisions either . 

Westernpark beat me to it

 

[Super_horns]

6 minutes ago, westernpark said:

He’s our loan manager! 

Just say it’s not really him .

 

Hasn’t got a fancy blue tick.

[StanSP]

17 minutes ago, westernpark said:

He’s our loan manager! 

 

15 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Westernpark beat me to it

 

Jesus how did I not know that

[westernpark]

4 minutes ago, StanSP said:

 

Jesus how did I not know that

Let’s up hope the premier league don’t too!

[StanSP]

 

 

[Super_horns]

Did you vote in this ?

 

 

[jayfox26]

31 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

Did you vote in this ?

 

 

Not surprised by Chelsea, and the 2 Manchesters but no idea why Villa would vote against this. As regards did we vote, I'd imagine not as we technically aren't in the Premier league yet. 

[MPH]

Very interesting development 

 

Premier League clubs have agreed in principle to introduce a spending cap.

A majority of clubs voted in favour of the spending cap, which will be determined by the amount of money earned in television rights by the lowest-earning club in the Premier League.

If approved at June's AGM, the new model will replace the Profit and Sustainability Regulations presently used from the 2025-26 season onwards.

The league's current financial rules, which have seen Everton and Nottingham Forest penalised six and four points respectively this season, have been criticised for favouring clubs with the highest revenue.

[Super_horns]

15 minutes ago, jayfox26 said:

Not surprised by Chelsea, and the 2 Manchesters but no idea why Villa would vote against this. As regards did we vote, I'd imagine not as we technically aren't in the Premier league yet. 

Got to get it through the AGM.

Will 14 clubs need to approve ?

[jayfox26]

2 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

Got to get it through the AGM.

Will 14 clubs need to approve ?

Yes thats my understanding.