Premier League 2024/25

[Number 6]

From a somewhat neutral point of view the top 4/5 race could be very interesting. Liverpool and Arsenal will have it wrapped up but the rest could be anyone's guess. Forest, Chelsea, Newcastle, Villa, Man City, will all fancy their chances.

[Bilo]

4 minutes ago, Lionator said:

The champions league isn’t the financial boom that it used to be. They will still have to sell over the summer like Villa had to sell Douglas Luiz. And given the make up of their squad, it’ll have to be one of the star players that has got them there. 

Milenkovic and/or Murillo will probably go regardless. I wouldn't be surprised to see Gibbs-White attract interest either.

[kingpower]

I hope Mavididi was watching Hudson-Odoi's performance last night, he was everything that Mav needs to improve on.

Carries the ball WITH PURPOSE, gets his head up and plays the ball at the right time and often makes the right decision.

Doesn't do 100 step-overs but goes sideways, often his first idea is to go forward and with aggression 

[foxfanazer]

Just now, kingpower said:

I hope Mavididi was watching Hudson-Odoi's performance last night, he was everything that Mav needs to improve on.

Carries the ball WITH PURPOSE, gets his head up and plays the ball at the right time and often makes the right decision.

Doesn't do 100 step-overs but goes sideways, often his first idea is to go forward and with aggression 

Another player we could've easily got a few years ago

[Torquay Gunner]

39 minutes ago, SK3Blue said:

It’s such a poor league, this Liverpool side is so average in comparison to the team that won the title during Covid. 
 

 

Liverpool were awesome in the pre Covid season also,  when they racked up 97 points and only lost the one game to Man City and still finished runners up.  That defeat didn't arrive until January and I was getting genuinely concerned they would remain unbeaten.  This Liverpool team are nowhere near as good thankfully. 

[UniFox21]

Laughable situation 

 

 

[Gamble92]

29 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

Laughable situation 

 

 

It is, and something you could easily see happening here. Has similarities to the Pearson non sacking. Which is also a reminder it wasn't all perfect when Vichai was still here. 

[LCFCJohn]

1 hour ago, Matt said:

Simple isn’t it.

I presume many of our fans would be disgusted if we played the way Forest are and were sat in the CL spots!

[UniFox21]

1 hour ago, LCFCJohn said:

I presume many of our fans would be disgusted if we played the way Forest are and were sat in the CL spots!

I wonder on the back of this if we start to see an increase in pragmatic, going back to basics displays. Solid defence, with quick clinical attacks rather than the current preference.

[Tommy G]

I think the nerves might get to Forest in the last 10 games of the season, this is based on a hunch and nothing more. 

 

Can Wood keep scoring? Not sure if he doesn't who then takes that on. 

 

I think they will finish 5 or 6th, and I think thats a great achievement!

 

CL music blaring out at the City ground will feel like your about to throw up out of both ends. 

[LCFCJohn]

23 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

I wonder on the back of this if we start to see an increase in pragmatic, going back to basics displays. Solid defence, with quick clinical attacks rather than the current preference.

Maybe. Obviously it has been done to death on this forum and of course I don’t want to watch bygone hoof it etc.

 

But how we did it in 2016 and Forest now, why would anyone turn their noses up at that? Fast tempo, counter attacks and defending well.

 

On the one hand, they are in the top 4, scored more, conceded many many less, have a buzzing atmosphere and fans enjoying themselves.

 

We can’t score, concede for fun and have fans bored and leaving with 20 minutes to do and a dead atmosphere. All by trying to ‘play the right way’

[StanSP]

@Bilo I know you've mentioned the Forest stutter and god knows we all want it, but looking at their run of games I can't see where it begins, or at least sustained. 

 

Maybe, in Feb - Brighton, Fulham, Newcastle, Arsenal? Then Man City first game in March. 

 

Their run of games allows them a break on playing a tough teams sometimes between now and April. They they have easy games against Palace, us and West Ham in 3 of their final 4...

[st albans fox]

1 minute ago, StanSP said:

@Bilo I know you've mentioned the Forest stutter and god knows we all want it, but looking at their run of games I can't see where it begins, or at least sustained. 

 

Maybe, in Feb - Brighton, Fulham, Newcastle, Arsenal? Then Man City first game in March. 

 

Their run of games allows them a break on playing a tough teams sometimes between now and April. They they have easy games against Palace, us and West Ham in 3 of their final 4...

Palace and West Ham may be fighting to avoid the drop.  if so, those games wouldn’t be easy.  More than likely the bottom three are down by then though. 

[Matt]

1 hour ago, LCFCJohn said:

I presume many of our fans would be disgusted if we played the way Forest are and were sat in the CL spots!

Absolute bankers.

 

49 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

I wonder on the back of this if we start to see an increase in pragmatic, going back to basics displays. Solid defence, with quick clinical attacks rather than the current preference.

Nah, not sustainable. Apparently.

[Lionator]

40 minutes ago, StanSP said:

@Bilo I know you've mentioned the Forest stutter and god knows we all want it, but looking at their run of games I can't see where it begins, or at least sustained. 

 

Maybe, in Feb - Brighton, Fulham, Newcastle, Arsenal? Then Man City first game in March. 

 

Their run of games allows them a break on playing a tough teams sometimes between now and April. They they have easy games against Palace, us and West Ham in 3 of their final 4...

Problem is if they get a sound beating off of Liverpool, it can knock confidence. They’ll naturally get injuries which will also impact them. As we saw in 2020-21, it doesn’t take much to knock you off your stride. Both Newcastle and Villa limped over the line despite being in a very similar position. They’re flying at the minute but all logic suggests it can’t continue and Newcastle and Man City are lurking once those points are dropped.

[Tommy Fresh]

What's mental is how many team's are willing to have a pop at Forest, just sit back and give them the ball, Wolves last night constantly got countered on. 

[Bilo]

55 minutes ago, StanSP said:

@Bilo I know you've mentioned the Forest stutter and god knows we all want it, but looking at their run of games I can't see where it begins, or at least sustained. 

 

Maybe, in Feb - Brighton, Fulham, Newcastle, Arsenal? Then Man City first game in March. 

 

Their run of games allows them a break on playing a tough teams sometimes between now and April. They they have easy games against Palace, us and West Ham in 3 of their final 4...

All are potentially nasty games. Brighton are difficult to beat, Fulham are underrated, Newcastle are really hitting form and have spanked them already at the CG while Arsenal are a serious side. 

 

14 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Problem is if they get a sound beating off of Liverpool, it can knock confidence. They’ll naturally get injuries which will also impact them. As we saw in 2020-21, it doesn’t take much to knock you off your stride. Both Newcastle and Villa limped over the line despite being in a very similar position. They’re flying at the minute but all logic suggests it can’t continue and Newcastle and Man City are lurking once those points are dropped.

And they don't have the squad depth of those around them. An injury to Milenkovic, Murillo, Gibbs-White or Elanga and they are in serious trouble. As for the Liverpool game, we all know what happened when they spanked us 4-0 in our own back yard as we just never recovered. It's brutal up there. We'd been in the top four basically all season in 20-21 and fell out of it in the last fortnight.

[Lionator]

9 minutes ago, Tommy Fresh said:

What's mental is how many team's are willing to have a pop at Forest, just sit back and give them the ball, Wolves last night constantly got countered on. 

Forest are 8th in the home table for a reason, because they have to dictate the play. 

[BenTheFox]

11 minutes ago, Tommy Fresh said:

What's mental is how many team's are willing to have a pop at Forest, just sit back and give them the ball, Wolves last night constantly got countered on. 

Strangely, one of our most difficult games of the 15/16 season was Norwich at home. They were the first team to properly approach us like they were going away to Arsenal or Man City. We found the breakthrough nut it was a frustrating day for the most part. 

Edited 7 January by BenTheFox

[Mickyblueeyes]

The Nuno's style proves is you dont have to be pretty to do well in this league. I mean they are very entertaining with what they do - I am big fan of quick counter attacking football - nothing like it. Since we won the league, Puel, Rodgers, Enzo and now RVN, there has been an emphasis on possession, patient football. Nothing wrong with it either, we saw under Brendan in the early days that it can be equally as entertaining.

 

The problem is, under Brendan we had the best squad I think we've ever had. Tielemans, Maddison, Wilf, Vardy, Barnes, Evans, Soyuncu, Riccy were all at the top of their game. You can make it work. In the first season, If I remember rightly, we did actually suffer against the bigger teams. I think we corrected that in the second. If you try and play that style with a limited squad (as we have this season) or when form is off with no viable replacement (i.e. Brendan towards the end of each season or in his final season), you can be picked off quite easily. Playing possession style in comparison to counter attack requires more players with technical ability. And those players normally cost more. 

 

Top has an emphasis on the style and some times, you've got to move with the times. Nuno would've been great here post Brendan but not a chance he was on the list. 

[ForestAreMagic]

1 hour ago, UniFox21 said:

I wonder on the back of this if we start to see an increase in pragmatic, going back to basics displays. Solid defence, with quick clinical attacks rather than the current preference.

It’s a simple thing, but one thing Nuno has changed is we don’t piss about at the back anymore.  That was a problem under Cooper and through most of last season, and it cost us goals.  Sels and the central defenders usually launch it.  
 

Like someone was saying here yesterday, better to risk losing it in the opponents half than your own penalty area.  

[Finnegan]

1 hour ago, StanSP said:

@Bilo I know you've mentioned the Forest stutter and god knows we all want it, but looking at their run of games I can't see where it begins, or at least sustained. 

 

Maybe, in Feb - Brighton, Fulham, Newcastle, Arsenal? Then Man City first game in March. 

 

Their run of games allows them a break on playing a tough teams sometimes between now and April. They they have easy games against Palace, us and West Ham in 3 of their final 4...

 

Sooner or later Forest are going to run in to the exact same reason that most major football clubs don't play defensive, counter attacking football as a long term strategy. 

 

People start taking you seriously, parking the bus and you can't break them down and win when your plans A through Z are smash it long to Chris Wood or counter attack with pace. 

 

I know our fanbase refuse to accept it but one of the few things Top has gotten spot on is the need to transition us towards a club that recruits players and managers that are capable in possession. 

 

When Forest have a wobble, a part of that is going to be against teams that AREN'T the most obvious, scary names on the fixture list, it's going to be dropping points against mid table and lower table muck that get fearful of their form and just straight up park the bus. 

 

We've seen it ourselves. 

 

[Deeg67]

Forest 2024-25 after 20 matches - 40 points

Leicester 2015-16 after 20 matches - 40 points

[Torten]

Fair play to Forest, they're having a great season.

 

A great example of what a club can do once it has binned of Steve Cooper.

[The Bear]