The English Football Thread

[NikkiCFC 8,089]

I dont understand this obsession with Klopp over the years and their success. It is not like many are trying to say that he build something for the future and for years to come.

They suffered 3 years under him to get success in 4th and 5th season but now they are back to natural habitat. Most likely no CL next season. All their best players are getting old.

Ofc for Liverpool fans after 25 years without title, if you come to them with 5 years project that will give them title they will say: Hell yeah! But in Chelsea we would never accept that.

Conte came here and won title in first season just like Carlo. Better success for me and they dont get credit, not even close like Klopp does.

[Tomo 21,739]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

I dont understand this obsession with Klopp over the years and their success. It is not like many are trying to say that he build something for the future and for years to come.

They suffered 3 years under him to get success in 4th and 5th season but now they are back to natural habitat. Most likely no CL next season. All their best players are getting old.

Ofc for Liverpool fans after 25 years without title, if you come to them with 5 years project that will give them title they will say: Hell yeah! But in Chelsea we would never accept that.

Conte came here and won title in first season just like Carlo. Better success for me and they dont get credit, not even close like Klopp does.

Because Klopp inherited a genuine mid table team and never got backed by the owners unless the money was raised in a sale.

Not saying he nesseserily deserves more credit than managers that do it quicker but all of them had better resources to select from.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Tomo

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

I dont understand this obsession with Klopp over the years and their success. It is not like many are trying to say that he build something for the future and for years to come.

They suffered 3 years under him to get success in 4th and 5th season but now they are back to natural habitat. Most likely no CL next season. All their best players are getting old.

Ofc for Liverpool fans after 25 years without title, if you come to them with 5 years project that will give them title they will say: Hell yeah! But in Chelsea we would never accept that.

Conte came here and won title in first season just like Carlo. Better success for me and they dont get credit, not even close like Klopp does.

You say that and yet, our league finishes aren't too different from Liverpool under Klopp in the same period at all:

Liverpool - 8th, 4th, 4th, 2nd, 1st
Chelsea - 10th, 1st, 5th, 3rd, 4th

Each won the league only once and Liverpool would have won 2 had it not been for the crazy City side in 2018/19. Liverpool of course also reached 2 Champions League finals and won one of them under Klopp.

Don't think the squad building Klopp started years ago was bad. Had the right idea and built the right squad. His problem is not refreshing the squad in the last year or so. Then again, I suppose not everyone is Fergie.

[Jase 43,479]

No Grealish. No party. I think Villa are out of the Top 4 reckoning...

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Vesper 29,247]

Bamboozling managers with new-fangled tactics and shouts of 'BASHY!'    Oh Chris! Photograph: Mike Egerton/Reuters Barry Glendenning  @bglendenning A WALK ON THE WILDER SIDE Fan. Ball boy. Player. Captain. Manager. As Sheffield United as Bramall Lane, Sean Bean and refusing to get out of bed on a particular day of the week because it’s called Wednesday. At the time of writing your Friday Fiver, it remains unclear whether Chris Wilder chose to leave, or has been sacked as Sheffield United boss. Either way, it doesn’t matter. He’s gone and we can only imagine that leaving the club in which he has invested almost a lifetime of blood, sweat and tears across a little over half a century is bound to be a wrench. Chris Wilder latest, Premier League team news and more – live! Read more In five years in the job, he defied expectations by taking the club from League One to the dizzy heights of a ninth place finish in last season’s Premier League, a feat that surprised many informed pundits who had confidently predicted that a campaign spent getting Simon Tracey to lump the ball long to Brian Deane or Alan Cork would almost certainly end in relegation. As well-researched as they were, these footballing experts and opinion-formers could scarcely have been more wrong and Wilder raised eyebrows and expectations with his habit of repeatedly bamboozling opposing managers with his new-fangled tactics of employing overlapping centre-backs while shouting “BASHY! BASHY! BASHY! BASHY! BASHY! BASHY! BASHY! BASHY! BASHY!” a lot. The results were devastatingly effective. The results this season have been devastatingly ineffective. With his team anchored to the foot of the table and heading back to the Championship, Wilder retained the unequivocal support of most Blades fans but had made no secret of unrest “behind the scenes”. Having shelled out more than £30m on two strikers, one of whom has got two goals with the other yet to score, club owner Sheikh Abdullah remains in favour of putting somebody other than Wilder in charge of a club war-chest currently padlocked and emblazoned with a cautionary photo of an apologetic looking Rhian Brewster. While the Sheikh has “give it t’Heckingbottom” for the timebeing, Eddie Howe is already being touted as Wilder’s potential replacement, while we are also contractually obliged to mention Frank Lampard. Meanwhile, various luminaries of the English game and Peter Shilton have been voicing their disquiet at the turn of events. “Surely it won’t be long before Chris Wilder is back in football after being sacked at Sheffield United,” said Peter Shilton, taking time out from tweeting about how great Brexit is and warning of an imminent reckoning for Harry and Meghan over their shoddy treatment of the queen. Gary Lineker, Martin Keown and no end of Sheffield United fans have also paid homage to Wilder. “If he would be [at Man City], he would fight to be champion,” said Pep Guardiola earlier today. “If I was in Sheffield maybe I’d fight not to be relegated.” With their much-loved leader gone, that’s a potential job swap most Sheffield United fans could probably get on board with. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE Join Barry Glendenning for red-hot updates on Newcastle 0-0 Aston Villa at 8pm GMT. QUOTE OF THE DAY “I look up, I don’t look down” – José Mourinho gets his b@ntz on ahead of the north London derby by suggesting he doesn’t worry too much about games against teams below Spurs. Arf.  Zing! Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters FIVER LETTERS “I’m currently listening to old Danny Baker BBC Radio London shows from 15 years ago that a bloke appears to have recorded, edited and recently uploaded to iTunes for some unknown reason (but a doff of the cap for doing so). I’m up to May 2006 and all the trailers are very excited about Arsenal in the upcoming Big Cup final against Barcelona ‘as Lehmann is in great form after saving a last-minute penalty in the semi-final’. As the great man used to say: ‘Nothing can go wrong now’...” – Noble Francis. “Unlike David Pugh (yesterday’s Fiver letters), I don’t have a problem with live football being on TV every night of the week. But I agree with him totally about the abysmal level of punditry. When my team, Manchester City, were on every couple of weeks I’d tune in for the pre-match waffle. But now that every single match is televised, the ‘experts’ have literally run out of things to say (it happens to the best of us – Fiver Ed). They have 30 minutes to fill and you can run a sweep on when they will discuss (a) the pricetag of City’s subs bench, (b) how Pep could have sent Foden out on loan or played him more often (while never mentioning that he has actually made over 100 appearances) and (c) whether Agüero’s City career is over. STOP PUNDITRY!” – John Caley. 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 Caley. No more prizes this week, but readers can still get 15% off From The Jaws of Victory (and free UK shipping) with the promo code FIVER. NEWS, BITS AND BOBS Chelsea will play Wolfsburg and Manchester City will face Barcelona – the holders of the German and Spanish titles, respectively – in the quarter-finals of Women’s Big Cup. Gulp! David de Gea’s availability for Manchester United’s game against West Ham on Sunday is “touch and go” because the keeper has had to quarantine after returning from paternity leave in Spain. Despite Manchester City cruising to another league title, Pep Guardiola has found something to micro-manage and moan about. “The [Etihad] grass is not good,” he honked. “We were in London against Arsenal, at Anfield, at Old Trafford and the grass was better. We were in Budapest in the [Big Cup] and the grass was incredible – and our grass still is not good.”  Erm, it’s hardly Maine Road in the 70s is it? Photograph: Gareth Copley/AFP/Getty Images Abdoulaye Doucouré is set for 10 weeks’ worth of red-hot chat with Everton physios after suffering foot-knack. Manchester United co-chief suit Avram Glazer has put shares worth more than £70m up for sale. Buy! Buy! Buy! Or don’t. The FA has apologised for telling several players they were not on the 35-player Team GB shortlist for Big Sports Day in Tokyo just 90 minutes before Birmingham v Everton on Thursday. And rock hard ref Darren Drysdale has been given four matches in the stop-and-think chair after being found guilty of improper conduct when he “snarled” into the face of Ipswich’s Alan Judge. STILL WANT MORE? “I was so lucky that I was good at sport because it’s the only way I knew how to interact with people.” Manchester City and England’s Lucy Bronze get her chat on exclusively with Suzanne Wrack about how she’s never more comfortable than when she’s playing football.  Lucy Bronze poses with her WSL player of the month gong for February. Photograph: Tom Flathers/The FA Liverpool’s mega-slump is a story of burnt-out brilliance and the need to go again. By Barney Ronay. Ten things to look out for in the Premier League this weekend, right here. Bayern Munich and USA! USA!! USA!!! defender Chris Richards, who is on loan at Hoffenheim, chats to David Hytner about on falling football in Argentina, training at Bayern and his hopes for the future. Diego’s last dance: the night Maradona played in Toronto. Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO! NICE

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Friday March 12 2021 Football Nerd

How Thomas Tuchel made Chelsea the Premier League's tightest defence By Daniel Zeqiri Some fan bases carry around a carefully curated self-image based on their club's reputation for attacking football and playing the 'right way' but Chelsea are not one of them. Only fans of a certain vintage will recall their swashbuckling team of King's Road hellraisers in the Sixties, with most having Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Carlo Ancelotti as their reference points for winning league titles. It will therefore hearten Chelsea's supporters that new head coach Thomas Tuchel's biggest achievement so far is their miserly defensive record. Since Tuchel's first game in charge, a goalless draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea have conceded just two in nine Premier League games. Four fewer goals than any other team in the division. In this week's Football Nerd, I analyse the data and look at how Tuchel has managed to keep Chelsea's back door firmly shut.

[Vesper 29,247]

2020-21 English Premier League

Crystal Palace                        
West Bromwich Albion         

http://www.sportnews.to/mysports/2021/premier-league-crystal-palace-vs-west-bromwich-albion-s1/

https://www.totalsportek.com/page-4/

[Fulham Broadway 16,987]

Everton v Burnley

All hail the worm eating ginger Mourinho

[Fulham Broadway 16,987]

Burnley 1 up  -doing us a favour so far

[Fulham Broadway 16,987]

Definitely helping us out 2 up  -stunning goal top corner

[Blue Armour 4,336]

20 hours ago, Jason said:

His problem is not refreshing the squad in the last year or so. Then again, I suppose not everyone is Fergie.

Indeed, and that has been our problem too, in the few seasons we won the title.

I have no idea why we didn't bother to strengthen significantly in Mourinho's 3rd season following the title win. Same happened with Ancelloti's second season. No signings of note. Just an ageing Benayoun of all players. (I'm not mentioning Conte's title win here, because his second season transfers were mucked up by him).

It's as if management thinks that the same group of players are a bunch of machines that can reproduce the exact same results year after year. Just illogical.

Liverpool are suffering from the fact that there is no challenge or respite being offered to either of Salah/Firminho/Mane from their bench, besides Jota. Minamino and Origi are below par.

[Strike 7,305]

31 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Burnley 1 up  -doing us a favour so far

Not overly worried even if Everton win

[Fulham Broadway 16,987]

57 minutes ago, Strike said:

Not overly worried even if Everton win

Cancelling out one of their games in hand before the Int break is good for us

[Fulham Broadway 16,987]

Good result for us

[Jase 43,479]

This is exactly why Ancelotti has won only 4 league titles in 20+ years as a manager. Can galvanize his teams for one off games or big games but can't do the same against smaller teams. Everton have beaten Spurs (twice), Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea this season but contrived to lose to Newcastle (twice!), Fulham, Burnley etc.

[Jase 43,479]

One week before the FA Cup tie...

[Laylabelle 9,411]

Thought he had already gone..

Hopefully City can get something from this! Be nice of them to keep a gap between them and Man U...