The English Football Thread

[Johnnyeye 7,593]

27 minutes ago, Laylabelle said:

Just shame we play them next because now they wont sit back..not that be a issue cause sure we'll make it easy and not need a last minute goal anyho

we will lose against the vermin for sure, this team has no character or desire, completely useless and gutless. It’s times like this that make me miss Roman and what he did for the club, he fucking cared, unlike the clowns we have in charge.

[Laylabelle 9,754]

53 minutes ago, Johnnyeye said:

we will lose against the vermin for sure, this team has no character or desire, completely useless and gutless. It’s times like this that make me miss Roman and what he did for the club, he fucking cared, unlike the clowns we have in charge.

And so did the players

[Special Juan 28,871]

Liverpool will do us over big time and hopefully it's the end of Maresca

[Stats 7,230]

20 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

It's crazy how Sunderland after finishing 24 points behind Burnley and Leeds last season now flying.

They strengthened the best out of all promoted teams. They spent the most ever for a promoted team. The fact they obtained likes of Xhaka, Mukiele is a statement of intent. They haven't just bought average players as well. They have bought really good players and have really good depth.  They spent what near £30m on Brobbey and he can't even get near the team right now. It would be a brilliant achievement if they stay up but out of all the promoted teams, they have the best chance imo. Xhaka signing was a major coup.

[Special Juan 28,871]

Sunderland and Newcastle are sides that need to stay in the PL as the fans/grounds are absolutely fucking brilliant...Passionate as fuck, loud as fuck and very proud of their club, I hope Sunderland stay up I really do

[Laylabelle 9,754]

Last minute goal for arsenal...

2-1...

Edited September 28, 2025 by Laylabelle

[Vesper 31,181]

[Laylabelle 9,754]

Awww there we are...top 2 still stay top 2 that aint changing most likely just cause of who finishes where

[Stats 7,230]

Arsenal will win the league this season. Hate to say it but they will.

[Special Juan 28,871]

This board will love it if we stay up

[Laylabelle 9,754]

36 minutes ago, Stats said:

Arsenal will win the league this season. Hate to say it but they will.

Yeahhhh most likely. Mean majority of predictions was between them and Liverpool and both teams have signed players to win!! Think Arsenal will edge it this time

[Vesper 31,181]

On 27/09/2025 at 20:41, NikkiCFC said:

It's crazy how Sunderland after finishing 24 points behind Burnley and Leeds last season now flying.

They bought a shedload new, decent players.

[Vesper 31,181]

[Strike 7,854]

On 28/09/2025 at 14:26, Stats said:

Arsenal will win the league this season. Hate to say it but they will.

Even before the weekend's results, I felt they had the best squad. Physically matching up to and beating Newcastle away is the stuff of dreams here at Chelsea. 

[Special Juan 28,871]

Summerville is an outstanding player, what a game he is having here

[Vesper 31,181]

Harsh criticism of the highly-prized Wirtz and Liverpool: "He's not up to par, he's a disaster."

The defeat against Galatasaray has once again put the spotlight on the German international.

https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/champions-league/20251001/1002542828/durisima-critica-carisimo-wirtz-liverpool-esta-altura-desastre.html

Florian Wirtz is back in the spotlight. The approximately €135 million Liverpool paid for the 22-year-old former Bayer Leverkusen player is weighing heavily on him, and he's receiving constant criticism.

The English side's 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday only fueled a firestorm that was already burning. In nine appearances for Liverpool , the German international has zero goals and just one assist.

One of the harshest analyses after the knockout against the Turks came from former footballer Jamie Carragher on CBS Sports. “He's just not up to the task. He's a young lad coming into a new league, he has a lot of time ahead of him as a Liverpool player , but right now I think he needs to leave the team, for Liverpool to get back to what it was last season, and from there, regain confidence and defensive solidity.” 

He added: "Right now it's a disaster. It's not about the defeats. This has been going on since day one. I don't think I'm watching a top team. Liverpool aren't playing football, they're playing basketball."

[Vesper 31,181]

without Håland ( who is just playing at another world level) Citeh would perhaps not make the top 5, maybe not any Euro footie

he is absolutely carrying them on his back

[Vesper 31,181]

Udo Onwere: ‘Being a lawyer is easier than being a footballer’

The former Fulham midfielder tells Catherine Baksi how his sports background has influenced his legal career — particularly his new venture with Jamie Redknapp

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/udo-onwere-interview-lawyer-footballer-m9cx7kz0g

Udo Onwere — a former Fulham FC midfielder — trained as a lawyer after hanging up his football boots at the end of a 12-year career on the pitch.

He is now a partner at Bray & Krais, a specialist music, sports and entertainment firm, where he leads the sports and private client teams — and the 53-year-old brings clients and skills from his time in the beautiful game.

He recently teamed up with his fellow former footballer and long-time friend Jamie Redknapp to launch M&C Saatchi Football, a sports management company that provides career planning, mentoring and legal advice to young footballers.

Aware of the impact of the competitive and pressured environment for young professional footballers, Onwere is keen to “give back” to the sport that he loves and ensure that they are properly equipped.

Since its launch a fortnight ago, seven players have signed up for the company’s services. “Jamie does the mentoring and I’m tasked with dealing with all the legal side of things,” Onwere says. The duo try to involve players’ parents in an effort to “give them a dose of realism”. While the players are all talented, Onwere and Redknapp are keen to ensure they understand the stresses and pressures of success and failure.

There are, he says, two things that the young players need to understand: “How to deal with disappointment and to realise that they will always have to prove themselves.”

Comparing his two careers, Onwere says: “I always maintain that being a lawyer is easier than being a footballer.” He adds that he respects both professions “intensely, but I think there is an element of being a footballer that people might overlook. It is obviously quite glamorous and enjoyable, but there is a lot of performance pressure that comes with that.”

In contrast to being a lawyer, where there can be “pockets of pressure and deadlines”, he says, “being a footballer is like going into an exam hall and having an examination every week. It’s brutally meritocratic.”

Onwere had a stint at Lincoln City during his 12-year football career

ALAMY

Onwere, who retired from professional football 25 years ago, misses the fun aspects of his former career — teammates, locker-room camaraderie and “the adrenaline of the big wins; but it’s not something that I would run back to”.

Born in Hammersmith, Onwere loved sport and football “from the moment I could walk”. Growing up in west London in the Seventies and Eighties, with his brother and two sisters, he recalls a “happy, loving childhood, with loads of fun”.

But in 1988, when he left school after his GCSEs to take a youth training place with Chelsea, his parents, who had come to England from Nigeria during the Biafran war, “were not particularly pleased”. His father had been a market trader in Nigeria and his mother was a nurse. In common with many West African parents, he says, they prized education.

It was three years after the Heysel Stadium disaster in Belgium, in which 39 people died after crowd trouble between rival fans led to a crush, and Onwere says that “football was in a different place than it is now”. There was, he recalls, a lot of hooliganism and racism associated with the game, adding: “It wasn’t an environment that was particularly welcoming to someone who was black.”

Looking back, he can understand his parents’ reticence, but at the time says “I was just thinking they should be super proud and pleased”. The step up from schoolboy to club football was “intense”. At the same time as coping with the training, Onwere says “you’re growing up — your body is changing and your brain is changing”.

After a two-year apprenticeship at Chelsea, Onwere signed his first professional contract with rival Fulham. Over 12 years he also played for Lincoln City, Dover Athletic, Blackpool, Barnet, Aylesbury United, Hayes and Maidenhead United, before retiring in 2000. “I wasn’t injured, I just made a conscious decision that I wanted to get into something else that was going to give me an element of stability and independence,” he says.

Having enjoyed negotiating his own contracts during his footballing career, Onwere turned to law, completing an access course at Middlesex University before doing a degree. “I was reasonably academic at school and knew I would be able to deal with the amount of reading that was required,” Onwere says.

The biggest change was getting used to modern methods of teaching. “When I left school in 1988, it was all blackboards and chalk” — but 12 years later, the world had moved on and Onwere had to learn how to type and use a computer.

After law school, he joined Thomas Eggar (now Irwin Mitchell) as a trainee in 2006. Enjoying the “emotional intelligence” and “collaboration” required for non-contentious work, he qualified into the firm’s private client practice two years later.

After a stint at Farrer & Co, he was head-hunted by Bray & Krais to launch its private client and sports teams. Building on his playing background, Onwere advises high-profile sportsmen and women, particularly professional footballers, managers and directors. His clients include the former player for England and Manchester United Rio Ferdinand and England and Chelsea siblings Reece and Lauren James.

He also does regulatory and disciplinary work as a judicial panel member of the Football Association.

Private client work includes handling the multimillion-pound estate of the One Direction singer Liam Payne. Cheryl Tweedy, a former partner of Payne, has been appointed administrator of the estate with the law firm founder, Richard Bray.

Onwere lives in Dorking in Surrey, with his wife, who works in marketing. He enjoys swimming, watching football and spending time with his family. While “Fulham will always be in my heart”, he does not follow a club, but his three grown-up children all support Arsenal.

[Vesper 31,181]

Antoine Semenyo is a beast

far better than any LWer we have

Bournemouth came from down nil 1 to win 3 1 with a brace from Semenyo

Bournemouth are 2nd in the table

[Laylabelle 9,754]

Man U winning..as it stands we're 2 behind them..let's hope can change that later!