The English Football Thread

[Vesper 28,775]

5 minutes ago, Laylabelle said:

You knew it was coming but we did make it so easy for them! Even with 10 men you wouldn't expect such a stupid scoreline from our side

IF we make it to the CL final, we have 10 games left

7 of those ten are against 4 or 5 (depending who wins the citeh/PSG semifinal) of the hottest and/or best 10 or so teams in Europe

2 more are against Arse and Villa (with Grealish back), hardly shit teams

only Fulham is a weak team

brutal

Edited April 22, 2021 by Vesper

[chippy 342]

21 minutes ago, Jason said:

In the midst of us reaching the FA Cup final and Champions League semi finals, has anyone actually noticed that we've only won 3 of our last 8 league games? That's one less than when we won 4 in a row in Tuchel's first 5 league games.

And only one win in last four league games too. Need a sharp turn around in form to stand any chance,  startimg on Saturday.

Its a good job we're still in the Cups, because TT's job would probably be on the line. As we know, not getting the results and boring football isnt something Roman stands for for very long.

[chippy 342]

24 minutes ago, Laylabelle said:

You knew it was coming but we did make it so easy for them! Even with 10 men you wouldn't expect such a stupid scoreline from our side

True, but at the same time we should give them some credit for playing some high quality football. That was probably as good a performance as I've ever seen from a big Sam team.

[Laylabelle 9,351]

21 minutes ago, Vesper said:

IF we make it to the CL final, we have 10 games left

7 of those ten are against 4 or 5 (depending who wins the citeh/PSG semifinal) of the hottest and/or best 10 or so teams in Europe

2 more are against Arse and Villa (with Grealish back), hardly shit teams

only Fulham is a weak team

brutal

And Fulham can be okay ish..they probably just be playing for pride so hopefully we can play for what we need to.

If we won Tuesday be more confident but its not a case of a huge gap we can be crap and it won't matter. Unfortunately this time no one is pissing off yet lol. 

West ham level.. Leicester 4 above..Liverpool 2 behind and Spurs also 2 but played a game more.

How super fun

[Vesper 28,775]

5 minutes ago, Laylabelle said:

And Fulham can be okay ish..they probably just be playing for pride so hopefully we can play for what we need to.

If we won Tuesday be more confident but its not a case of a huge gap we can be crap and it won't matter. Unfortunately this time no one is pissing off yet lol. 

West ham level.. Leicester 4 above..Liverpool 2 behind and Spurs also 2 but played a game more.

How super fun

those 5 points dropped v baggies and BHA are just killing my mood now for so long

plus the super league dross

[chippy 342]

Leicester's next 3 games are very winnable for the too - H Palace. A Southampton. H Newcastle. Gets tougher after that. Away to Utd then us and finishing at home to Spurs. So by the time we play them it'll be very clear if we're still in with a chance.

 

[Laylabelle 9,351]

10 minutes ago, chippy said:

True, but at the same time we should give them some credit for playing some high quality football. That was probably as good a performance as I've ever seen from a big Sam team.

Definitely! They're not a bad bad bad side just very inconsistent. Taken points of a few top sides this season

[Pizy 18,368]

We shouldn’t even be focusing on Leicester, tbh. We need to be more mindful of what’s just behind us. 

[Vesper 28,775]

Reputations shredded like so much cabbage at a coleslaw convention    Ed Woodward: ‘You should’ve seen me in there”. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Simon Burnton  @Simon_Burnton MONEY SPOILER? Poor Ed Woodward. Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman was so set against the proposed Super League, so vehemently and principally opposed to the entire hideous idea, that he flat out insisted on saying absolutely nothing about it for two days before, once it was obviously falling apart and reputations were being shredded like so much cabbage at a coleslaw convention, announcing that he was resigning but not quite yet. Amid the chaos of Tuesday night this noble stand was misinterpreted by a foolish public as evidence not of the greatest ethical purity but of some kind of personal failure, forcing someone to brief Sky today that Woodward’s resignation came “because he could not support the owners’ plans to join the Super League”, rather than because he was fatally tainted by the entire miserable clusterbungle. The Fiver, along with all right-thinking fans, thanks him for his sacrifice. ‘It was like shouting into a hurricane’: how the Super League crashed Read more Earlier today, a group of United fans broke into the club’s Carrington training ground, presumably so they could personally pass on their thanks to Woodward. They carried a number of banners, including one that read “Glazers out” and another that said “we decide when you play”, although the latter might have been brought along by whichever Sky representative was inside being briefed. Meanwhile Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid pérezident, blamed the collapse of the breakaway league on a breakaway club, “one of the English clubs who didn’t seem so interested” which he identified as “the one from Manchester”. There were of course two from Manchester, something you might expect Flo to know – but it is thought he meant City. Pérez’s astonishment that a club leadership which had by then already demonstrated a complete lack of loyalty to teams their organisation has been working with for well in excess of a century, might not be completely loyal to teams they had been working with for about half an hour is one of the great surprises of this entire story. Pérez declared himself “sad and disappointed”, making him a cross double-crosser. Pérez also insisted that the Super League is “not dead”. Meanwhile Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, said it was “dead without the English and German teams, let’s be realistic, it’s dead”. 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Photograph: Richard Lee/BPI/Shutterstock RECOMMENDED LISTENING It’s time for those three magic words: Football. Weekly. Extraaaaaaa. FIVER LETTERS “In classic Fiver style please could Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd and Tottenham forever now be prefaced with ‘Former €$£’s’?” – David Bowers. “What a fantastic turnaround in the last couple of days for Spurs fans. José sacked and avoided being bottom of the league for the next 20 years” – Neil Bage. “All this €$£ malarky reminds me of a day in secondary school when a group of hormone-and-gobstopper-fuelled rebels decided that classes would be better taught (a) outside and (b) by themselves, for themselves. Safe to say, what started as the great breakaway quickly turned sour and they were marched back into school, tails between their legs. It was Ed [Woodward? – Fiver Ed] who started it, apparently.” – Dan Forshaw. “In regards to a €uropean $uper £eague anthem (Fivers passim) it can surely only be the Adventures of Stevie V and ‘Dirty Cash’” – Karl Barry. “Surely the €$£ anthem should now be ‘You Cant Always Get What You Want’, sung by a choir made up of one suit from every breakaway club” – John Myles. “Yesterday’s mention of Dublin’s ‘Arriva Stadium’ had me wondering if José’s next job will be parking the bus as Republic O’Ireland manager?” – Dan Westacott [ah, yes. Apologies – Fiver Ed]. Send your letters to [email protected]. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’the day is … John Myles. RECOMMENDED WATCHING “I’m a Govan boy” – the venerable Lord Ferg makes a welcome return in this clip from a new documentary, coming to cinemas and streaming platforms soon. NEWS, BITS AND BOBS Uefa chief Aleksander Ceferin is threatening to get medieval on the wantaway clubs. He insists they must suffer consequences following this week’s Super League farrago. Mikel Arteta has revealed that the Arsenal-owning Kroenkes have apologised to him over their dastardly Super League plot. Arsenal face Everton this weekend and Arteta will be without forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. Mr Roy has said football fans were crucial in stopping the €$£ money train. “The fabric [of football] was in danger of being torn apart, and I’m just delighted that the fans have played such a major part,” Mr Roy said poetically. West Ham are at the front of a queue that also includes Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham and Bayern Munich, assembling outside Carrow Road to snaffle £30m Norwich right-back Max Aarons. 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[Strike 7,217]

8 hours ago, Jason said:

In the midst of us reaching the FA Cup final and Champions League semi finals, has anyone actually noticed that we've only won 3 of our last 8 league games? That's one less than when we won 4 in a row in Tuchel's first 5 league games.

We've definitely sacrificed team selection in the league a bit. Baffling to be honest

[Jase 43,479]

4 hours ago, Strike said:

We've definitely sacrificed team selection in the league a bit. Baffling to be honest

Totally disagree.

Have you seen our lineups in those games? There might have some complaints here and there but think most were OK with the lineups that were put out in those matches. Those lineups should still be good enough to put away the likes of Southampton, West Brom, Leeds, Brighton etc. The West Brom game was a freak game but otherwise, we had chances to put away Southampton, Leeds, Brighton and even Man United but didn't take them.

On top of that, we also have had to play a game every 3-4 days. It's almost impossible to play the same XI in every game even if we want some consistency. It also hasn't helped that the players have generally been blowing hot and cold with their form. 

And mind you, since Tuchel took over, only Man City have picked up more points than us and they have played 2 games more. This goes back to the point previously made where we have left ourselves with so little room for error after botching those games against top half teams under Lampard. 

[Strike 7,217]

5 hours ago, Jason said:

Totally disagree.

Have you seen our lineups in those games? There might have some complaints here and there but think most were OK with the lineups that were put out in those matches. Those lineups should still be good enough to put away the likes of Southampton, West Brom, Leeds, Brighton etc. The West Brom game was a freak game but otherwise, we had chances to put away Southampton, Leeds, Brighton and even Man United but didn't take them.

On top of that, we also have had to play a game every 3-4 days. It's almost impossible to play the same XI in every game even if we want some consistency. It also hasn't helped that the players have generally been blowing hot and cold with their form. 

And mind you, since Tuchel took over, only Man City have picked up more points than us and they have played 2 games more. This goes back to the point previously made where we have left ourselves with so little room for error after botching those games against top half teams under Lampard. 

Against Leeds and Brighton the team was hanging on, WBA was a no show. The rotation in defence has been on-point more or less but the attacking trio in games seems to be a game of roulette so far and that has contributed to the lack of goals and dropped points in the league.

 

[MoroccanBlue 5,296]

5 minutes ago, Strike said:

Against Leeds and Brighton the team was hanging on, WBA was a no show. The rotation in defence has been on-point more or less but the attacking trio in games seems to be a game of roulette so far and that has contributed to the lack of goals and dropped points in the league.

 

Lack of goals is a collective issue.

From the front three having no understanding to the central midfielders and wing backs failing to penetrate through the middle or finding the open run. 

 

[Atomiswave 6,072]

Gigs been charged for assaulting 2 women........if that shit was JT he would be hanged by now.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,477]

Over 60,000 protesters in front of Emirates stadium. I love the sign, "Kroenke I wouldn't wish you on the Spurs".😂

[Nero 1,838]

🤡

[Jase 43,479]

5 hours ago, Strike said:

Against Leeds and Brighton the team was hanging on, WBA was a no show. The rotation in defence has been on-point more or less but the attacking trio in games seems to be a game of roulette so far and that has contributed to the lack of goals and dropped points in the league.

To say we were hanging on against Brighton is stretching it. They created zilch until Zouma tried to give them an early Christmas present. 

Despite our attacking problems, we still had chances to score against Brighton and especially Leeds but Havertz, for example, squandered them when presented with those opportunities.

[Laylabelle 9,351]

On 22/04/2021 at 23:03, Pizy said:

We shouldn’t even be focusing on Leicester, tbh. We need to be more mindful of what’s just behind us. 

Yeahh it's definitely worrying! And so sodding close. Liverpool 2 behind..Spurs 2 behind but played more. Level with West Ham as it stands..hopefully after today be clear of them not behind. Dont like it.