It Could Get A Bit Messi In Here - The Football Thread.

Jonathan Y said:
as a lifelong Arsenal fan this year has been absolutely shit. One of the worst ever. I definitely have to make some Cuts this week
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You clearly don’t remember a time when your manager got sacked for taking kick backs from agents in exchange for signing a slew of average Scandinavian holding midfielders 😂.
 
Joe Mac said:
Not the same quality of players and a mess of a squad. He’s bought well this summer and they’re a work in progress. He’s the first arsenal manager to sign a proper centre half and central midfielder in years. Bring in a new manager this soon and you’re starting from scratch again having to sign a whole new set of players.
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While I agree to an extent, he has improved the fragile arsenal mentality, I just feel like his style of play just doesn't fit the club's ethos. As I said, one of the most boring in the PL. Surely their fans can't be pleased with that. Spurs doing well is surely going to put a dagger in their hearts as well.
 
uvwxVinyl said:
While I agree to an extent, he has improved the fragile arsenal mentality, I just feel like his style of play just doesn't fit the club's ethos. As I said, one of the most boring in the PL. Surely their fans can't be pleased with that. Spurs doing well is surely going to put a dagger in their hearts as well.
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Ethos? How soon people forget George Graham and 1-0 the Arsenal 😂.

It’s a process surely? Sort out the defence and confidence first and then build from there?
 
Joe Mac said:
Ethos? How soon people forget George Graham and 1-0 the Arsenal 😂.

It’s a process surely? Sort out the defence and confidence first and then build from there?
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Come on though, the George Graham you're speaking about is almost 30 years ago. Can't really have aspirations of being a "big 6" club today by scoring 40 goals in a season.

We've hear about process from managers but if it's one that doesn't fit a football club then it doesn't make sense. Are the board going to continue to back him with buying more players if the football doesn't show any signs of improving?

Anyway last I speak about this as I can't be arsed about arsenal do. Just my feeling he'll be gone by xmas.
 
uvwxVinyl said:
Come on though, the George Graham you're speaking about is almost 30 years ago. Can't really have aspirations of being a "big 6" club today by scoring 40 goals in a season.

We've hear about process from managers but if it's one that doesn't fit a football club then it doesn't make sense. Are the board going to continue to back him with buying more players if the football doesn't show any signs of improving?

Anyway last I speak about this as I can't be arsed about arsenal do. Just my feeling he'll be gone by xmas.
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True but it proves the narrative that ethos is nonsense. What fans love more than anything else is to win. Look at Spurs, the great footballing side, they’re like pigs in muck right now watching pretty defensive football but winning and challenging and loving it!

Also it clearly always is a process. How can a squad as poor as Arsenal’s was when he took over ever be instant success. I think they have to stick with him. I can’t see how it makes senses to abandon a manager 3 months after buying two players that filled huge gaps in his squad. What will happen is a new manager will come in with his style of play and they’ll buy a different type of player again and the squad will become yet more unbalanced. I’m sure he’d rather his predecessors hadn’t spent £80 million on Pepe or handed Ozil a long term deal on £300k plus a week but they did and he’s hamstrung by those choices. He had to choose between stacking yet more attackers or working with the ones he may not fancy and addressing the teams biggest weaknesses. He seems charismatic and has good ideas and the players seem to be on board. I think at some stage you have to go “this is a three year project and there will be some lows along the way” or else face an unending drift with a new mediocre manager in every year because let’s face it arsenals budget and squad isn’t attracting a class A manager so it’s class B or unproven and hungry.
 
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With the arsenal game heading the way it is, no big 6 team winning this weekend potentially. Sure doesn't happen often.

Great weekend for the likes of Leicester, West Ham, Southampton and Everton. Southampton's turnaround has been truly remarkable from where they were this time last year.

I hate it as a United fan but at the same time the quality across this league is really great this season.
 
uvwxVinyl said:
With the arsenal game heading the way it is, no big 6 team winning this weekend potentially. Sure doesn't happen often.

Great weekend for the likes of Leicester, West Ham, Southampton and Everton. Southampton's turnaround has been truly remarkable from where they were this time last year.

I hate it as a United fan but at the same time the quality across this league is really great this season.
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Do you think so? I think it’s the opposite, the bigger clubs have dropped off in quality, or are suffering injuries, the others are just being the others. Last night showed an enormous dip in city since their two title winning seasons, I’d never have imagined Pep playing that conservatively, he clearly doesn’t trust his team to be doing that.

I think that we will be back to the title winning tally’s of the 90s and 00s of low 80s rather than high 80s to 90s and even the pushing 100 of the last few years
 
Joe Mac said:
Do you think so? I think it’s the opposite, the bigger clubs have dropped off in quality, or are suffering injuries, the others are just being the others. Last night showed an enormous dip in city since their two title winning seasons, I’d never have imagined Pep playing that conservatively, he clearly doesn’t trust his team to be doing that.

I think that we will be back to the title winning tally’s of the 90s and 00s of low 80s rather than high 80s to 90s and even the pushing 100 of the last few years
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Sure fitness levels for the big clubs playing in Europe should be factored in after barely having a pre-season, plus you have the fixture congestion for internationals at those clubs. Not playing in empty stadiums probably also eases up nerves and allows you to take more risks against big clubs. I still think the bar has been incrementally been set higher over the last 3-4 seasons. The investment across the league has been pretty good and the stakes just keep getting higher with the amount of money going around. Surely the big clubs can't use injuries as an excuse given the size of their squads and depth in quality in comparison.

The way Pep set up against United, literally playing for a draw, was shocking. Deserves more criticism for that considering they still have one of the best squads in football at the moment and how much they've spent while he's been there. Don't know, maybe he's just rattled from last season against us.

In my opinion the product has definitely improved. I watch the Bundesliga from time to time and while their teams somehow do well in Europe it hardly feels like a consistent product over the 90 minutes.

2-3 losses in the PL and you're already talked about as on the verge of getting sacked.
 
uvwxVinyl said:
Sure fitness levels for the big clubs playing in Europe should be factored in after barely having a pre-season, plus you have the fixture congestion for internationals at those clubs. Not playing in empty stadiums probably also eases up nerves and allows you to take more risks against big clubs. I still think the bar has been incrementally been set higher over the last 3-4 seasons. The investment across the league has been pretty good and the stakes just keep getting higher with the amount of money going around. Surely the big clubs can't use injuries as an excuse given the size of their squads and depth in quality in comparison.

The way Pep set up against United, literally playing for a draw, was shocking. Deserves more criticism for that considering they still have one of the best squads in football at the moment and how much they've spent while he's been there. Don't know, maybe he's just rattled from last season against us.

In my opinion the product has definitely improved. I watch the Bundesliga from time to time and while their teams somehow do well in Europe it hardly feels like a consistent product over the 90 minutes.

2-3 losses in the PL and you're already talked about as on the verge of getting sacked.
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Believe me he was lambasted for it on the U.K. tele (we get their sports channels so that’s what we see too). That said little quarter was given to Ole considering that Utd were more negative again. I think Liverpool so deserve a degree of sympathy given that so many of their injuries are in the same position, they could probably handle it better if they were more evenly spread.

That said I think we are only 12 games in (we’d normally be 4 or 5 ahead of that by this time of year) I still think we’ll have a predictable top 4 and that if we don’t it will be as much down to the failings of the big teams, a bit like when no one wanted to win the title so Leicester did in 2016.
 
Joe Mac said:
Believe me he was lambasted for it on the U.K. tele (we get their sports channels so that’s what we see too). That said little quarter was given to Ole considering that Utd were more negative again. I think Liverpool so deserve a degree of sympathy given that so many of their injuries are in the same position, they could probably handle it better if they were more evenly spread.

That said I think we are only 12 games in (we’d normally be 4 or 5 ahead of that by this time of year) I still think we’ll have a predictable top 4 and that if we don’t it will be as much down to the failings of the big teams, a bit like when no one wanted to win the title so Leicester did in 2016.
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After 10 games its usually when teams sort of tend to find their stability and best tactics and players. I think we already have a good indication which teams will be pushing for the title and the top 4. I think it will go down to the last game of the season this year for places 1-10.

Let's see how teams make it through the next 2 weeks. United play a game every 2.5 days on average or something ridiculous. Liverpool has one every 4.5 days which is the longest since they aren't in the cups.
 
Arsenal have received SEVEN (7) Red Cards since Mikel Arteta was appointed manager. No other PL club has had more than 3 in the same time period. Shambles.
 
Skacel said:
Big Sam is back in the game!
Harsh on Bilic, gets a draw at Man City and still gets fired.
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Shocking decision. Looked like he’s stabilised them and got them solid. I don’t know what they expect given that it’s virtually the championship team with minimal investment. Also only the second sacking in to 2020. Down to the lack of fans or just a coincidence?
 
Joe Mac said:
Shocking decision. Looked like he’s stabilised them and got them solid. I don’t know what they expect given that it’s virtually the championship team with minimal investment. Also only the second sacking in to 2020. Down to the lack of fans or just a coincidence?
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Shocking is correct. They obviously had it all lined up probably thinking West Brom would get pumped and then they’d let him go off the back of that.

You won’t like the next part, Joe.

Cracking result for Liverpool there, good to see Bobby getting a rare goal.

And also, I love watching Leeds. Hope they stay up. Very entertaining.
 
Skacel said:
Shocking is correct. They obviously had it all lined up probably thinking West Brom would get pumped and then they’d let him go off the back of that.

You won’t like the next part, Joe.

Cracking result for Liverpool there, good to see Bobby getting a rare goal.

And also, I love watching Leeds. Hope they stay up. Very entertaining.
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Hahahaha! I was hoping for a draw in that one. Liverpool should never have been level at half time but that second half was on a knife edge!

Yeah Leeds are entertaining and Bell end Road is a lot less hateful without the fans 😂
 
Joe Mac said:
Liverpool should never have been level at half time
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Yeah lucky deflection with that Salah goal.

Spurs missed too many golden opportunities. Bergwijn had 2, Kane had a wide open header he hit into the ground and bounced over. Any of those go in it’s a different result.
 
wokeupnew said:
Yeah lucky deflection with that Salah goal.

Spurs missed too many golden opportunities. Bergwijn had 2, Kane had a wide open header he hit into the ground and bounced over. Any of those go in it’s a different result.
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I meant they should have been 6 or 7 clear. They battered you in that first half, it was comically one sided. Either slide could have won it in the second half, they were better on the ball but you looked dangerous in the break which you didn’t, goal aside, in the first half.
 
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