The English Football Thread

[Pizy 17,860]

The worst Arse side in living memory are within spitting distance of us now. 😑

Feels like just yesterday that we were flying high and dreaming about a genuine title challenge and deep CL run. Now if things continue as they have been we could conceivably finish midtable despite having arguably the best squad in the league.

What a shit season.

[Vesper 27,349]

2 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

Rookie coach and weak minded players.

we lack

闘志

Tōshi

fighting spirit

[Laylabelle 9,302]

4 minutes ago, Pizy said:

The worst Arse side in living memory are within spitting distance of us now. 😑

Feels like just yesterday that we were flying high and dreaming about a genuine title challenge and deep CL run. Now if things continue as they have been we could conceivably finish midtable despite having arguably the best squad in the league.

What a shit season.

Literally few weeks back was hahaha look at Arsenal..and media talk of regulation which was dumb. Now suddenly here there areeee.

We are so piss poor. Even if win tommrow it'll pave over some cracks until the next game..its shite. CL will be super fun I'm sure...

[Vesper 27,349]

Man Utd pursuit still on as report reveals what scuppered Grealish deal

https://www.teamtalk.com/news/man-utd-still-want-jack-grealish-aston-villa-transfer?utm_source=Bibblio-TT-RHC

snip

 

The report confirms that Grealish did not move to United in the summer because they refused to meet his asking price. Villa wanted £65m to let their star player go.

Because they had already spent £40m on Donny van de Beek, United were not prepared to pay that fee.

They may come to see that as a missed opportunity, because Villa now rate Grealish in the £100m bracket. Nevertheless, United have not let their interest fade completely.

It is suggested that they could launch a pursuit of Villa’s number 10 in the summer. How far they will be ready to go this time remains to be seen.

 

snip

 

perfect example of why Ed Woodward is a fucking moron

[Vesper 27,349]

fucking vermin Leeds

now Karen Carney is getting horrific abuse, and they said on telly even a few death threats

and the director and owner are doubling down!

they need to be fined 

not acceptable!

 

 

[communicate 2,703]

9 hours ago, Vesper said:

Ole has been a manager since 2008, topflight since 2011

yes, not huge teams until Manure, but still, its a shedload more experience than Lampard has

I was being sarcastic vesper. 

If football become who get more penalty contest, I will stop watching 

[Vesper 27,349]

11 minutes ago, communicate said:

I was being sarcastic vesper. 

If football become who get more penalty contest, I will stop watching 

the Manure situ has me in a rage

they LITERALLY should have less points than West Ham

that is how many they have been gifted (or stole from other teams to put it another way)

check this shit out!

WHY IS POGBA NOT SUSPENDED for unsporting behaviour! he is literally caught on tape trying to cheat

Watch: Paul Pogba appears to tell Luke Shaw to dive for a Man Utd penalty

https://www.planetfootball.com/videos/watch-paul-pogba-appears-to-tell-luke-shaw-to-dive-for-a-man-utd-penalty

 

then of course he himself DID dive and got another bogus pen a few minutes later

[Vesper 27,349]

2020-21 English Premier League

Newcastle United              
Leicester City                    

http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2021/premier-league-newcastle-united-vs-leicester-city-s1/

https://www.totalsportek.com/leicester-citys/

[MoroccanBlue 5,200]

When are Leicester scheduled to collapse ?

[NikkiCFC 7,595]

Two midfielders scored for LC. I wish we have players capable of that.

[Vesper 27,349]

The long and wide shadow cast by Toni Polster’s luxuriant mane

Ralph Hassenhüttl takes a look in the mirror. Photograph: David Blunsden/Action Plus/Shutterstock

Barry Glendenning  @bglendenning

KLOPPELGÄNGER Fiver readers of a certain age will have fond recollections of the legend that is Toni Polster. With his keen eye for goal and smouldering 1980s American high-school yearbook good looks, in his mid-90s pomp the Austrian striker was the proud owner of one of world football’s finest bubble-perm-mullet hairstyles. The poster boy of an Austrian team who helped make up the numbers at the 1990 and 1998 World Cups, he scored 44 goals in 95 appearances for “Das Team” and it was largely his existence which meant his compatriot and fellow forward, Ralph Hasenhüttl, made just eight appearances for his country. Having spent so long in the long and wide shadow cast by Polster’s luxuriant mane, Hasenhüttl set about establishing himself on the global stage, earning his managerial stripes at assorted low-level German clubs: SpVgg Unterhaching, VfR Aalen and FC Ingolstadt 04. A two-year stint at newly promoted Bundesliga side RB Leipzig followed, but it was only after his departure that Hasenhüttl truly made his name. Unveiled as a left-field managerial appointment by Southampton, the man who had spent much of his career in football playing second fiddle to a far bigger name had finally arrived ... only to find himself labelled “the Alpine Jürgen Klopp”.

'It will go to the wire' – Jürgen Klopp predicts fierce Premier League title fight Read more

On Monday night in the biting early January cold of Saint Mary’s Stadium, the “Alpine Klopp” will get the opportunity to put one over on his less mountainous counterpart, as Southampton entertain Liverpool in the final game of what has seemed a particularly gruelling festive Premier League schedule. While Liverpool may travel down south as Premier League leaders, they go into this game in what by their own lofty standards is a dreadful run of form, having failed to beat teams as bad as Newcastle and West Brom in their past two matches. Coming up against hosts whose form has been similarly indifferent since their manager was flagged up as a potential successor to Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, Klopp’s side will relish the opportunity to put a stop to the yammering of people who keep erroneously insisting Manchester United are “joint top” of the league by opening up a three-point gap. Having missed his side’s most recent game after being forced to self-isolate, Hasenhüttl is free to return to his technical area. There, he will stand alongside the man to whom he has been long been compared, attempting to show how different he is as he gesticulates furiously, barks orders and occasionally swears in German from underneath his official club baseball cap. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE Join Simon Burnton for red-hot MBM coverage of Southampton 0-1 Liverpool from 8pm (GMT). QUOTE OF THE DAY “I spent time with families and it was clear they were as reliant on the food vouchers [for school meals] as the food banks. It wasn’t one or the other. They needed both to survive. I knew what that fear felt like. I knew what fear in my mum looked like. I didn’t want that for any child or any parent” – Marcus Rashford, the Guardian’s Footballer of the Year, on the conversations that inspired his extraordinary campaign.

Marcus Rashford, the Guardian footballer of the year. Photograph: Manchester United

REALITY CHECK OF THE DAY 14 May 2016: “We have this massive problem of producing our own players in this country … it’s probably why we should vote out of the EU! If we can vote out then we won’t have to take Uefa law because that is crap” – Sam Allardyce, then Sunderland manager. 4 January 2021: ”I have found three players already who were capable of coming here and they’re not allowed. It’s a shame. It’s not so much the pandemic, it’s the change of rules because of Brexit” – Allardyce struggles to find foreign imports for West Brom. RECOMMENDED LISTENING The latest edition of Football Weekly has just dropped like it’s hot, with Max and Barry joined by your Ronays, your Murrays, your Brewins.

FIVER LETTERS “Happy New Year! Under more normal circumstances I would wish for a Special One, or a Big One. But with all that’s been going on, all I ask for is a more Normal One” – Peter Oh. “In spite of everything that has happened to the world in the past year, the most staggering thing I have read is ‘I am an Arsenal fan. I’ve lived in New York for 25 years and still have my season ticket’. The poor guy. There surely must be some sort of help available for such people” – Noble Francis. “No team can succeed playing like we do. I’m ashamed of supporting Spurs right now. Even if Mourinho’s tactics lead to whatever trophy, certainly the pain that comes along for the fans is not worth it” – Marcio Aquino, moments after Wolves’ equaliser. 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 prize is … Peter Oh. NEWS, BITS AND BOBS Joey Barton has bowled through the door marked Do One at Fleetwood Town. “We would like to thank Joey for his work during his time [here] and wish him success in the future,” a club statement breezed. Jamie Carragher has stepped in to sponsor non-league Marine for their FA Cup third-round tie against Tottenham. The Sky pundit’s JC23 Foundation will sponsor the warm-up kits and dugouts at the Marine Travel Arena. Dele Alli might have an eye on a rendezvous with Mauricio Pochettino at PSG, but José Mourinho has other ideas, with the player unlikely to be leaving in January. Former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher has joined the club’s first-team coaching staff. “Darren has the United DNA running through his veins,” droned Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Rio Ferdinand revealed he played for West Ham at Arsenal in 1996 having just refreshed himself in the players’ lounge after an unexpected last-minute call. “I was on the bench thinking, ‘Please don’t let me come on, three brandy and Cokes, I can’t come on this pitch,’” he yelped. Spoiler: he came on. Nice are going to borrow £27m William Saliba off Arsenal for the rest of the season to see if they can jump-start the sputtering defender’s career again. And Hibs may have to start with goalkeeping coach Craig Samson, 87, in goal at Celtic after QPR recalled Dillon Barnes and Ofir Marciano suffered hamstring-twang. STILL WANT MORE? Start the new year with an old favourite. Ten talking points from the weekend’s action in the Premier League. Look out Lamps, warns floating football brain in a jar Jonathan Wilson, because no Chelsea manager has ever survived with a win percentage as low as FLCMFL’s.

Oh Frank! Photograph: Andy Rain/AFP/Getty Images

José Mourinho can smell silverware at Tottenham Hotspur, writes David Hytner. Bundesliga upstarts Union Berlin have a clear philosophy – and it’s taken them to giddy new heights, whoops Andy Brassell. Here’s Sid Lowe on Gaizka Garitano, the Athletic Bilbao manager who pulled off so many job-saving wins, they sacked him anyway. Mattia Zaccagni: the scissor-kicking midfielder who will probably be moving on to a bigger club than Verona soon. Nicky Bandini gives us her scouting report. Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO! RIP GERRY

[Special Juan 27,104]

They should re-name Monday Night Football.....Man United Football

[NikkiCFC 7,595]

Henderson - Fabinho CB pairing? This is revolutionary. 

[Laylabelle 9,302]

Can't say wanted Liverpool to win again..but if comes down to them or Man U..them.

Though they're also a bit dodgy..

[Vesper 27,349]

2020-21 English Premier League

Southampton            
Liverpool                   

http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2021/premier-league-southampton-vs-liverpool-s1rt/

https://www.totalsportek.com/highlights/arsenal-vs-everton-2016-match/

[Vesper 27,349]

worldie goal by Ings

1 nil saints

[NikkiCFC 7,595]

If he outplay Kloop today we should sign him. 

[11Drogba 2,000]

Possession so far 

Southampton 55%

Liverpool 45%