Premier League 2024/25

[CUJimmy]

100% agree that the big clubs with huge squads need to stop complaining but there is no doubt that Champions League football (along with crap recruitment) made 16-17 very difficult for us.

 

Making the CL for Champions (plus holders) only is attractive but would undoubtedly dilute the quality of the competition.  You only have to look at Forest’s route to winning it twice to see this.  It would also mean fewer clubs with anything to play for towards the end of the season so we wouldn’t necessarily get the quality and intensity there either.

 

 Maybe a compromise could be top two into the CL, both cup winners plus third place in the league into the Europa League and either scrap the Conference League or use it as a qualifier into the Europa League for the smaller nations.  Reducing the number of ways into Europe might force the top clubs to take both cups more seriously.

 

There will always be unintended consequences though.  We have had some great European nights that we could have missed out on, would Villa or Newcastle fans give up their CL places in exchange for a slightly higher league finish or West Ham fans give up their Conference League win?

 

Much of this is largely irrelevant of course because UEFA is only interested in dragging in as much cash as possible and they know that Man Utd v Real Madrid will always attract a huge worldwide TV audience whatever the quality of the football.

 

 

[Leicesterpool]

Chelsea could have rejected there conference league... so yeah they had a choice.

[jayfox26]

7 hours ago, Jattdogg said:

Maybe we shouldn't have so many European competitions so these tossers would stop whining about too many games etc.

 

Oh, they wouldn't like that?? Shut up and deal with it then.

 

For what it is worth i personally think the champions league should only be for champions. This would drastically cut down on the number of games. Yes, it would be a small amount of teams but it's about being the champion of champions isn't it?

 

Europa should be for fa cup winners and maybe 2nd place. If fa cup winners also place 2nd then no extra team is put forward.

 

Europa conference shouldn't even exist.

 

That means basically most teams won't be in Europe and won't complain about too many games or a thursday night game in Astana and Sunday night game in Southampton.

 

I'd rather watch quality epl games and Hopefully more epic league cup games.

 

Maybe I am in the minority. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hear what you're saying but our champions league games were some of the most amazing games at the kp, and whilst we did it in on merit by actually winning the league, the chances of any non "cartel" club winning the league again is pretty much zero. So the only chance of the "little" clubs actually making into the champions league is by breaking into the top 4, which can be done. Our fans and players certainly weren't moaning about extra games when we were in the champions league, it was a dream for us but I suppose to the "cartel" clubs, it's just another game for their players and fans 

[Fox92]

10 hours ago, BenTheFox said:

He is by far the most influential football manager of the past 25 years, and it's not even close. 

 

It's testament to how good he is that many that have worked under him have gone onto to be very good managers/coaches themselves (Arteta, Alonso, Xabi, Maresca etc.). Whereas you'll struggle to name many successful managers who worked under Alex Ferguson or even Mourinho. 

Agreed. Arteta talks a lot about Cruyff's influence though. It always interests me that Pep, and other great players, some of which have gone on to be decent managers, came from working under Cruyff. When you look at what Cruyff did for Barcelona, Ajax and football in general. I know Cruyff is regarded as one of the greatest players and managers of all time but he must be the most influential person on modern football also. 

[BenTheFox]

4 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Agreed. Arteta talks a lot about Cruyff's influence though. It always interests me that Pep, and other great players, some of which have gone on to be decent managers, came from working under Cruyff. When you look at what Cruyff did for Barcelona, Ajax and football in general. I know Cruyff is regarded as one of the greatest players and managers of all time but he must be the most influential person on modern football also. 

Guardiola is the influential manager of the past 25 years. Cruyff is the most influential manager ever. 

[Samilktray]

7 hours ago, Jattdogg said:

Maybe we shouldn't have so many European competitions so these tossers would stop whining about too many games etc.

 

Oh, they wouldn't like that?? Shut up and deal with it then.

 

For what it is worth i personally think the champions league should only be for champions. This would drastically cut down on the number of games. Yes, it would be a small amount of teams but it's about being the champion of champions isn't it?

 

Europa should be for fa cup winners and maybe 2nd place. If fa cup winners also place 2nd then no extra team is put forward.

 

Europa conference shouldn't even exist.

 

That means basically most teams won't be in Europe and won't complain about too many games or a thursday night game in Astana and Sunday night game in Southampton.

 

I'd rather watch quality epl games and Hopefully more epic league cup games.

 

Maybe I am in the minority. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conference league is 1 of the few good decisions they've made in recent times though?

[sylofox]

You can't take all the lucky dip spots away from European football. Imagine having to win something first. Stop being horrible to spuds ffs. I know I hate them but some of you are just plain EVIL.

[BenTheFox]

10 hours ago, murphy said:

Brendan 

Legitimetely one of the few I can think of that worked under Mourinho that went onto have success as a manager. Maybe there are a few obvious ones I'm missing?

[Corky]

3 minutes ago, BenTheFox said:

Legitimetely one of the few I can think of that worked under Mourinho that went onto have success as a manager. Maybe there are a few obvious ones I'm missing?

Nuno has had a decent managerial career.

[bmt]

10 minutes ago, BenTheFox said:

Legitimetely one of the few I can think of that worked under Mourinho that went onto have success as a manager. Maybe there are a few obvious ones I'm missing?

Short lived as a manager but AVB worked under Mourinho

[st albans fox]

52 minutes ago, sylofox said:

You can't take all the lucky dip spots away from European football. Imagine having to win something first. Stop being horrible to spuds ffs. I know I hate them but some of you are just plain EVIL.

You are our senior spurs hater sylo ……….  No one is more senior than you in this respect 

[slymunn]

27 minutes ago, bmt said:

Short lived as a manager but AVB worked under Mourinho

He had a good record too

[BenTheFox]

36 minutes ago, Corky said:

Nuno has had a decent managerial career.

Mad to think that he was Porto manager when we played them both times in the champions league. 

 

Also, he had an 18 year career as a player and made 199 appearances. Such is the life of a backup goalkeeper. 

[Mickyblueeyes]

41 minutes ago, Corky said:

Nuno has had a decent managerial career.

I always thought we should've gone for him when we finally sacked Brendan. Whether he would've been interested with the 8 games target and if his style appealed to the board is another question. Certainly a better manager than Marsch and Smith who we did go for. 

[Mike1983]

[TheGoldenGod]

2 minutes ago, Mike1983 said:

Great coach no doubt but they are the definition of a HOME team. They've got an away record rock bottom of the league with Southampton

[JimJams]

In Grinch mode, but they were only top scorers until the following day when Chelsea grabbed 4 against Spurs to go 4 ahead, equal on games played.

Still, it's Brentford so well done.

[CosbehFox]

10 minutes ago, Mike1983 said:

Largely cos they've stepped away from being Danish Burnley and started to use the likes of Damsgaard in a more footballing manner. Fair play for evolving like rather than staying stuck in a pattern. 

[filbertway]

Really hoping that Pep losing his professional foul expert, which is essentially the cause of them going on this terrible run, makes people realise that there's not a "correct way" to play football.

 

That group of players should never be on this run of form.

 

Not saying Pep's not a great manager because he clearly is.

 

I am saying that there's not one correct way to play football and this run proves that if nothing else. It's still important to adjust your tactics to the players you have available. So maybe every single coach that goes through the FA shouldn't be taught that there's only one way to play and we'll stop seeing non league and lower league CBs being asked to treat the ball like a top quality play maker.

 

 

[RowlattsFox]

Pep has been at Man City for a long time (in modern terms) and players can get tired of methods, even if successful, especially when it's as intense as Pep seems to be. 

[Jobyfox]

12 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Really hoping that Pep losing his professional foul expert, which is essentially the cause of them going on this terrible run, makes people realise that there's not a "correct way" to play football.

 

That group of players should never be on this run of form.

 

Not saying Pep's not a great manager because he clearly is.

 

I am saying that there's not one correct way to play football and this run proves that if nothing else. It's still important to adjust your tactics to the players you have available. So maybe every single coach that goes through the FA shouldn't be taught that there's only one way to play and we'll stop seeing non league and lower league CBs being asked to treat the ball like a top quality play maker.

 

 

I agree with this. 
 

In some ways I was disappointed that we moved away from our style after winning the league. I realise that we had players who had unique qualities (Vardy, Kante) for the system and that it probably wouldn’t have been as successful with future iterations of players.

 

It’s just that if we all play the same style then the clubs with infinite resources will always do it more effectively. I think a low block, high intensity, game with quick transitions and fast moving forwards is an alternative that would take many teams by surprise. It can also be quite exciting to watch if done well and should be differentiated from long ball, kick and rush, to big forwards that is quite ugly and outdated.

 

If we had this system and recruited into it we’d have our own identity. It’s similar to what Diego Simeone achieved at Atletico Madrid after realising he’d never compete with Real and Barcelona by adopting the same style as them

[fox_up_north]

For Simeone to become the credible third horse in a 2 horse race is absolutely spectacular. 

 

In the last 20 years, 18 titles have been won by Real or Barcelona. Simeone has masterminded 2 wins out of those. Absolutely incredible feat. 

[OntarioFox]

52 minutes ago, fox_up_north said:

For Simeone to become the credible third horse in a 2 horse race is absolutely spectacular. 

 

In the last 20 years, 18 titles have been won by Real or Barcelona. Simeone has masterminded 2 wins out of those. Absolutely incredible feat. 

There was something quite poetic about us meeting one another that year in the UCL - we had both properly upset the status quo playing similar styles of football and reaped the rewards. I have a lot of respect for what Simeone has achieved.

 

They say that football is cyclical, I do lament that our win wasn't a sliding doors moment that convinced teams to be more direct as a wider trend. Unless you have the budget of a Man City, possession football is so simple to play against - just apply constant pressure to force mistakes and leave a low block to allow for swift counters. If your defensive partnership is any good - as Huth and Morgan most certainly were - you'll likely outscore the opponent.

 

On the rare occasions we faced it after changing styles (Palace and Forest spring to mind), It was utterly painful watching teams turn us over in exactly the fashion we had made history doing during the darkest days under Rodgers.

 

The days of lumping to a target man are long over - tease the high line outwards and play off the last man with pacy forwards and tricky wingers and you'll get chances all day.

 

Anyone who believes that counter attacking football is boring is quite frankly not a real fan of the sport.

Edited 12 December 2024 by OntarioFox

[BenTheFox]

57 minutes ago, Jobyfox said:

I agree with this. 
 

In some ways I was disappointed that we moved away from our style after winning the league. I realise that we had players who had unique qualities (Vardy, Kante) for the system and that it probably wouldn’t have been as successful with future iterations of players.

 

It’s just that if we all play the same style then the clubs with infinite resources will always do it more effectively. I think a low block, high intensity, game with quick transitions and fast moving forwards is an alternative that would take many teams by surprise. It can also be quite exciting to watch if done well and should be differentiated from long ball, kick and rush, to big forwards that is quite ugly and outdated.

 

If we had this system and recruited into it we’d have our own identity. It’s similar to what Diego Simeone achieved at Atletico Madrid after realising he’d never compete with Real and Barcelona by adopting the same style as them

From what I've seen from us under Ruud so far, I actually think we are going against the grain somewhat. You can see that there is an emphasis on trying to draw the opposition out and play the ball in behind them for our forwards to run onto at pace. He's also favoured two destroyers in midfield rather than having a playmaker.

 

This might be down to him seeing what he's and trying to get the best out of it rather than it being his preferred way. I don't know. We are still trying to playout more often than going long from goalkicks, but we're at all comparable with Russell Martin's Southampton for instance. 

[Finnegan]

1 hour ago, filbertway said:

which is essentially the cause of them going on this terrible run

 

Hey man, I've had this bridge for ****ing ages. It's a great bridge, served me well, but the missus is fed up of it and it needs a new home. 

 

I'm looking for a buyer and you know what I thought of you.