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..... and weird shit starts to happen......
You were saying?
😂
Saka's heads gone.
I can see West Ham winning this now.
Arsenal being Spursy, Man City's names already on the trophy.
Just sets it up even better for an epic winner-takes-all match between the two of us.
Devon Lough as i said way up the thread. City have reeled them in. Will be a pity though as i'd like to see a naturally created team win instead of a poached and purchased one.
*ing Maguire getting carded in the second minute because he’d been skinned on the half way line! He’ll probably get himself sent off before half time. He’s an absolute *ing donkey!!!
Fair play to the Forest fans singing ‘Leicester reject!’ 😂
'Naturally created'? You 'poached' two of your first team from us, and not cheaply, either. Others came 'naturally' via Real Madrid, Athletico, Brighton, Chelsea, Celtic...
You ‘poached’ two of your first team from us, and not cheaply, either.
Did we? How come we're so shit then? I think you're mistaking Caher for some other glory hunter.
That’ll do! Should have been more but Navas had one hell of a game. The save to tip Bruno’s shot onto the bar was world class
Bruno and Erickson absolutely bossed the midfield! Not bad seeing as one of them wasn’t meant to be playing
Naturally created’? You ‘poached’ two of your first team from us, and not cheaply, either. Others came ‘naturally
I support Reading, what players did we poach of Man City? I have a particular dislike for City supporters, when they played Reading in 1999 the fans sang 1-0 in your cup final. City were also in the second tier at the time. As they walked into the town to the train station they caused all sorts of mayhem.
Like I said I'd like Arsenal to win as they didn't build a team by buying all the best players
Sorry, took you for a Arse fan in premature mourning despite being top of the league with a handful of games to go. Chances are Arsenal will still nudge it.
Funny enough, I was at that Reading game, didn't sing along to that though (and wasn't catching the train home...)
This is always an interesting chart, particularly in relation to Arsenal not buying their way to success.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/fuenfjahresvergleich/wettbewerb/GB1
Last five years, a net spend of 550 million for the naturally-created Arsenal, only Chelsea and Man U are higher.
As I said, we sold two of our best players to them for this season, Gabriel Jesus (nice goal this afternoon), and Zinchenko. They have got home grown academy players in the first team, most notably Saka, but then, we've got Phil Foden and Cole Palmer.
TBH, I don't think there's as much difference between the Emirates and the Etihad as you think.
^ well said that man.
It is amazing how the Arse's spend seems to go under the radar.
As a Citeh Fan since 1968, we may still have the ability to seize defeat out of the jaws of victory. It's in our DNA.
That said, finding myself more focused on the local team doing so well - with a great team, great manager and great ethic.
And at Wembley next w/e - c'mon the Seagulls (from an occasional Norf Stand boy)
Most premier league teams have what, 2-3 home grown players in the squad, let alone in the starting line up. Most spend big. City just do it better than the rest, having a bottomless pit in terms of transfer funds and salaries, helps, obviously, but they are so well run.
I mean, Man Utd have, according to that chart, spent well over a billion (net) on transfers in the past 10 years, and you could hardly accuse them of buying success.
City identify any perceived weakness in the team, target top quality replacements who will fit into the existing team and Peps way of playing. They’re also brutal at moving players on who don’t live up to expectations or are passed their best
United transfer policy has, pre Ten Hag, been utterly inexplicable. Chucking money around on expensive signings in a completely scattergun fashion without any discernible strategy, with decisions clearly taken by board members (who know nothing about football) rather than the manager. As for moving players on? Phil Jones is still on the books and receiving an enormous salary every week. Our most expensive signing ran his contract down then left on a free. Twice
Somewhat unsurprisingly, it’s been a (very expensive) disaster. The club has been appallingly managed since the Glazers arrived
An approach Chelsea presently appear to be replicating, for some bizarre reason
City identify any perceived weakness in the team, target top quality replacements who will fit into the existing team
Yeah and City will also have a max price they are willing to pay. Eg Cucurella, they weren't prepared to go above £35-40m so walked away. Thankfully Chelsea were prepared to pay £62m plus the loan of Colwill (with no upfront loan fee) for a year who has been excellent for us (shame we couldn't get that one as a permanent deal at the time). Chelsea have been very good to us this season. Given us over £80m to upgrade our team and head coach and 6 points.
One of Pep and City's strengths is keeping such a big squad relatively happy, with lots of rotation. And then dealing promptly with any tantrums, like Cancelo found out.
A predictable result from us against West Ham. This is going to be very painful to watch over the next couple of weeks. City will utterly destroy us at thiers, I'm going an easy 3/4-0. We'll finish second, just. I'd rather be second and chasing than in first and throw it down the sh11ter.
Off to Wemberley on Saturday to suffer the pain of watching City take the Blades apart 😭😂
If we can keep it to single figures, it will be something 🤣
Oh well, will be a good day out. 1st class on the train each way, beers, meet a load of mates before the game, no doubt get on the wrong train home or get off somewhere random - has been known. Never seen us win at a national stadium (did the millennium stadium too for the playoffs v Wolves)
I think Wrexham can still set an English football points record in the National leag
Have a bit of a soft spot for Wrexham (not because of the celebrity status) even though they don't like us much. But for the entertainment they gave the nation over 2 legs against us
This is going to be very painful to watch over the next couple of weeks. City will utterly destroy us at thiers, I’m going an easy 3/4-0.
You sound like a City fan circa 2012! Have some faith in what is a very good Arsenal side.
Yeah and City will also have a max price they are willing to pay. Eg Cucurella, they weren’t prepared to go above £35-40m so walked away.
Yeah, they seem to be pretty shrewd in the market and even though they spend loads on occasion, they also recoup plenty. Guess it helps that players want to play for Pep and the club due to the chance of success, Pep is happy and settled because he gets unlimited backing from his mates who run football operations and they trust him and the club has unlimited funds if it did go wrong, which must make the task easier. Taking the politics out of it I'd prefer my team to be run like Manchester City rather than any of the other supposed top six (although what Spurs have done to warrant that status is a mystery).
It'll be interesting to see what model for running a club NUFC go for. Clearly the money is there but a few have cautioned against going all in all at once. To some extent this season is forcing the hand a bit, they wouldn't really have expected to be in the thick of a CL battle in the first full season of the project. Will the owners stand back and let Ashworth and Howe continue to build or interfere and force them into purchases and pressures they don't really want to make at this point in the project.
There's a lot still to do at Newcastle - eg: academy is not high performing and whether as a first team feeder or developing players that can then be sold to other clubs they need foundations and stability as well as star signings. Lots to like, lots to also be wary of. They can learn a lot by looking at the Man City and Liverpool model, and also the mistakes at Man Utd and Chelsea.
Taking the politics out of it I’d prefer my team to be run like Manchester City rather than any of the other supposed top six (although what Spurs have done to warrant that status is a mystery).
I'm baffled as to how Spurs are still in fifth, but if you look at the present table it makes a complete mockery of the idea of a Superleague and the 'Top 6' clubs. This weekends results and where this leaves everyone in the table are exactly the reason that the Premier League is watched all round the world
Chelsea in 11th, Liverpool in 8th with Newcastle, Villa, Brighton, Fulham and Brentford all absolutely flying
It’ll be interesting to see what model for running a club NUFC go for.
I don't think they will just throw money at it.
Next season will be much harder, a top six finish looking likely and a top 4 finish possible, then there will be a lot more games to play.
If we do qualify for the CL, then a lot of the current squad are simply not good enough to compete at that level.
But if you do qualify for the CL then you become a very attractive destination for the top players, who I imagine would also fancy playing under Eddie Howe
...but you can't easily do both - you can attract top players that will make you competitive in the CL but if the rest of the squad is still weak (comparatively) and then you drop points in the 'easier' games when you rest your CL players then you don't qualify for the CL season after season and then your attractiveness declines. It visualizes to me as a pyramid, your base of squad players has to be able to support the CL activities, a CL squad can't be relied upon for 60 games in a season at the intensity that the EPL and CL requires.
Its a 'problem' you wouldn't mind having though 😀
Its a job that has to be done over a period of time. You can't do it overnight. And both Howe and the owners look like they're in it for the long haul, not expecting miracles in the short term. I'd say that as a project it looks like its ahead of schedule and being built on pretty solid foundations
"Chelsea in 11th, Liverpool in 8th with Newcastle, Villa, Brighton, Fulham and Brentford all absolutely flying"
Even the Eagles are begining to flap their wings, what are the odds of them finishing higher than Chelsea?
I put this on the thread earlier but it deserves repeating, after one of the recent Chelsea defeats one of the pundits made the comment 'They thought they'd be challenging for the title and right now they're the fifth best team in London'.
They could indeed very soon be the sixth best, with Palace on a roll 🤣
They could indeed very soon be the sixth best, with Palace on a roll
Chelsea have got to play Arsenal, M City, Brentford and Newcastle in their last 6 games.
Quite a tough run in.
I've watched their last few games and on their present form I wouldn't put money on them winning any of those.
Its not just like they've been unlucky or anything. The table doesn't lie. They look completely toothless up front and their defence is an absolute shambles
The thing with Chelsea is they have done their buying*, get the right manager and they will probably be top 4 again next season. Liverpool on the other hand need to get some quality players in to strengthen their midfield to mount a challenge to the top 4 next season, without CL football getting those players could be a problem.
That top 6 is getting congested, top 4 is getting to be a bigger challenge, dropping out now may be a longer term problem than it was a few years ago for the teams who think they have a right to success.
*although there seems to be growing probability of having to sell to make ends meet.
I used to think that US gun culture, Liz Truss and religion were baffling but Spurs' position in the league is a whole new level of confusion. They could lose every game and finish 4th.
Oooff... Leeds got proper thumped tonight
Again. We are doomed this season - Championship here we come which, in all honesty, is the best place for us.
On their current form Leeds could get dragged down the plughole. Had high hopes when they were finally promoted but they just haven't moved on.
Gutted - was hoping they would put in a stronger performance after the hammering by Palace. This was even worse and the combined scores have seriously affected our goal difference, which up till the Palace game was probably the best of the teams at the basement. Relegation may affect whether San Fransisco 49ers go ahead with their proposal to buy the club.
It's all going very wrong for Leeds - it's the first time in their history that they have conceded five or more goals in successive games. Zero confidence now and I can't see them winning again and sadly relegation is almost inevitable.
I'm pretty comfortable with relegation now. Those players just show zero fight so I'd be happy to see the back of most of them as well as the owners. Stupid managerial decisions post-Bielsa (I don't actually think Gracia was a bad appointment but was obviously not anywhere near their radar for weeks and seemed very much an "appoint anyone" thing) and some awful recruitment (£35m for Rutter who barely looks league two standard, Aaronson who contributes a grand total of nothing etc).
Think thats me done with them for this season - it sucks up too much of my time when I could be doing enjoyable stuff like riding my bike on Saturday afternoons...
I have to agree with all of the above – up until last night (even including the Palace result), I thought we had a team capable of avoiding relegation but last night changes all that – yes, we had brief periods of looking like we might get something from it but, like several times this season, we have made silly mistakes and lost concentration at key points (ie, like conceding almost straight away after getting it back to 1-2). Unfortunately, I don't see a quick bounce back from the Championship if (when) we go down.
Also - is this the first time a team has shipped 11 goals in back-to-back Premier League home games?
Also – is this the first time a team has shipped 11 goals in back-to-back Premier League home games?
No. Man Utd did it in October 1996 and went on to win the title!
Edit - Not home games both away.
Also – is this the first time a team has shipped 11 goals in back-to-back Premier League home games?
I believe they were all the last 11 shots on target too. So not like 20 shots, 9 blocked or saved, 11 scored. Nope - 11 shots, 11 goals. That's poor
11 shots, 11 goals. That’s poor
Very, very poor. But look at the last five performances and, other than the top four + Villa flying and the bottom three performing badly, Leeds aren't doing much worse than anyone else really (most teams have two or three wins) – and actually doing better than Liverpool, Brentford, Fulham and Chelsea! There's dim hope yet. Possibly.
Had the misfortune of being at ER for the last 2 games, can’t remember the place feeling this low since we sacked Bielsa.
Pretty depressing stuff, the speed at which teams are figuring out how to beat us is equally as shocking as our lack of a reaction to that happening.
Gracia might be a nice guy but he’s too hesitant to make a change and our players are clueless at managing the game.
Only hope is we somehow miraculously buck the trend and get something out of the next 3 games or (probably more miraculously) the teams below us continue being worse.
Can’t see them getting much out of the fixtures in May, so it’s now or never and I can’t imagine there’s much morale or confidence to make it happen.
RM.
I reckon 36 points will enough to stay up.
2 wins and a draw for Leeds. Very possible.
Forest have a terrible GD as well, so that's worth a point against them.
Whats going on at Chelsea gets even more bonkers...
https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/1648076367953551361?s=20
I've said it before - but I'm gutted Chelsea likely have enough points to survive this season - would love to see them relegated.
You'll just have to make do with watching them taking another shoeing off Real tonight
Didn't Todd and Tuchel fall out because he was constantly interfering and poking his nose in, including the infamous 4-4-3 formation chat.
I can't imagine there would be many decent coaches that would want to work for an owner that gets that involved with the team. Maybe Frank will soon be named as the permanent head coach as he doesn't have a problem with it.
Leeds are incredibly lucky there are currently 4 teams worse than them in the league! Not sure how much longer that'll last though... The 11 goals conceded from 11 shots on target is horrific... there HAS to be a change in goal for Fulham. Get Robles in there. Hopefully Wober will be fit enough too as I don't think I ever want to see Pascal trotting around aimlessly again.
I still think it looks like it going down to the final kick in the final minute of the final game of the season to settle the bottom 3. Whatever happens I think at least one 'Big Club' will get relegated. Everton seem to have that 'we're too big to go down' attitude that has caught out clubs like Newcastle and not that long time ago, City. Not even Dyche seems to be able to polish that particular turd
Whilst most eyes are on the PL, those of us with an interest in the lower divisions are in for a treat on the run in for League 2. Leyton Orient are all but up, but 2nd to 6th is wide open still and only separated by 3 points. As a Bradford City fan, I'm really hoping they nick one of the automatic places and I don't have to go through the pain of a play off! Come on you Bantams! 🙂
Quite a lot still to play for in League 1 as well. Have I mentioned Ipswich's goal difference lately.....
The 11 shots and 11 goals stat is mad, but Meslier wasn’t really at fault for any.
Went to the Everton match at OT last weekend.
Burnley ball, but without the players with Burnley sized balls to pull it off.
Goal kicks were funny, Pickford launching it to a bait ball sized mass of players assembled in one corner of the pitch, leaving the entire right hand side open to Wan-Bisska and Antony.
No wonder it was the game with the most first half chances this season.
It's a pity that that the largest city with one club is not more successful (69's and 70's excepted). Year before I went to university I was lucky enough to see Villa V Leeds (91/92) where Leeds won 4-1. Their midfield that day and season were brilliant.
I’m pretty comfortable with relegation now. Those players just show zero fight so I’d be happy to see the back of most of them as well as the owners. Stupid managerial decisions post-Bielsa (I don’t actually think Gracia was a bad appointment but was obviously not anywhere near their radar for weeks and seemed very much an “appoint anyone” thing) and some awful recruitment (£35m for Rutter who barely looks league two standard, Aaronson who contributes a grand total of nothing etc).
Think thats me done with them for this season – it sucks up too much of my time when I could be doing enjoyable stuff like riding my bike on Saturday afternoons…
Same for me really, I refuse to become as invested as I was last season as I let the situation affect my mood in the last few weeks of last season and I can't imagine I was much fun to live with. That's not me at all so I'm not going to worry about relegation.
Ultimately if Wober can get and stay fit we will probably be okay as he organises all the terrible defenders that we have collected and we've got goals in us unlike Everton + others. Reckon Southampton are gone, Forest not far from due to fixtures so one place to fight for. Either way, I'll be out on my bike.
Quite a lot still to play for in League 1 as well. Have I mentioned Ipswich’s goal difference lately…..
Wednesday (Pigs to me) went 23 games unbeaten and were top with a couple of games in hand 2-3 weeks ago. Lost/drew a few and dragged back down to 3rd.
Definitely a lot to play for. Hopefully Derby keep them out of the automatics last game of the season with a McGoldrick (Blades legend) hat trick and either Derby or the Dingles knock them out of the playoffs, we get promoted and there's a lovely 2 division gap 😊
You’ll just have to make do with watching them taking another shoeing off Real tonight
But Frank has said that 'magic can happen' at Stamford Bridge!
69’s and 70’s excepted
But Frank has said that ‘magic can happen’ at Stamford Bridge!
So they appointed Graham Potter thinking he was Harry Potter?
I wonder if they’ll actually play a 4-4-3 tonight, after Frank is given his orders from the boss? 😂
If they’re losing at half time, Todd might go out and spend quarter of a billion on new players to see if that sorts it out
They could play all night and not score. Real schooling an English team yet again.
Boing Boing!
It looks like Todd Boehly is trying to replicate the Glazers ownership of United but attempting to cram it into a 12 month timeline 😂
At least Chelsea were in consistent form against Real losing both games by 2.
Did the Chelsea board during their trolley dash not realise they needed a striker.
They’ve got a striker, despite constantly moaning that they haven’t. They paid 97 million for him. He’s presently out on loan at Inter
Nobody seems to ever mention that
Oh… that 97 million we spent on a striker we then sent out on loan?
I suppose that with all the other players you paid nearly a hundred million for you must just lose track?
Seriously… they’re making the United owners look like consomethinge professionals and shrewd operators in the transfer market this season. Everyone saw Todd big balls coming and whacked 40 million on the asking price for any player
It looks like Todd Boehly is trying to replicate the Glazers ownership of United but attempting to cram it into a 12 month timeline
To be fair, at least he knows how to get to the home teams dressing room, I think if the Glazers wanted to talk to the team, they would b e found days later wandering round a large out of town shopping mall looking dazed and confused.
True. I doubt they could find OT on a map. They'd probably end up somewhere in mid Wales
Just looking at the recent Chelsea results.... they've scored once in the last 6 games 🤣
https://twitter.com/UtdEra_/status/1648444813820432385?s=20
Oh… that 97 million we spent on a striker we then sent out on loan?
97m they spent on a striker that they'd sold previously for 28m? Its not as if they have previous for selling players who turn out to be quite good (and in some cases, linked with bringing them back). As a Leeds fan, Chelsea do cheer me up a bit...
New badges for City and United?
They’ve got a striker, despite constantly moaning that they haven’t. They paid 97 million for him. He’s presently out on loan at Inter
The weirdest bit is that the way the team is setup now would suit Lukaku down to the ground, being the focal point in the box with so many wide players, playmakers and runners around him.
Awful ref, gave a penalty for being in possession of an arm.
is his brother at the SCLS this evening. Watching on red button so no replays, but to my eyes a Luton player bundled Carroll in the back at a corner, the ball came off Carroll's arm and in. Goal disallowed, rightly, then he booked Carroll for the handball, second yellow, 10 men for 35 mins.
Solid performance by City though Bayern gave it a good go in the first half. Like Chelsea they could do with a decent striker, not some Stoke reject.
Semi v Real will be fascinating. Wonder if Pep will tinker and invent a new formation for it? Gutted Napoli went out but the other semi should be good for some epic shithousery, Milan derby!
Could Andy Carroll be any more Andy Carroll? 😂
but to my eyes a Luton player bundled Carroll in the back at a corner, the ball came off Carroll’s arm and in.
I take that back. Clear deliberate handball.
I mean, thanks for the goal that earned us the point, but FFS that was just daft. In fact extra daft because his first yellow was almost as daft, losing a ball, chasing back when the players well gone and sliding in to bring him down!
How are United only one down? They’ve been awful! Can’t live with Seville’s intensity.