WE BACK
A few Carabao Cup matches taking place this week and then EPL starts back up on Boxing Day (Dec 26).
Ligue 1 and La Liga start back up later next week, Serie A resumes after the New Year, and the Bundesliga won't be back until Jan 20 (they always take a winter break so that is normal).
The winter transfer window opens Jan 2 (there will be a separate thread).
Discuss any and all soccer related things here!
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
I am personally excited to return to higher quality club football. I already don't care too much about International football, and fucking with the club season in order to have it in Qatar put me in a particularly sour mood heading into this World Cup. It's a shame it could end up having a huge impact on the outcomes. Gabriel Jesus' injury stands out as a potential negative from the timing of this World Cup. Which is a huge shame given Arsenal's incredible start to the EPL season. The winter window coming right after the World Cup could be interesting as well given its usual impact in regards to transfers of the breakout stars in the summer window.
While Jesus' injury is particularly unfortunate (and no one hates it more than me), I don't know of too many other major injuries that happened at the World Cup? Now there will almost certainly be knock-on effects in the second half of the season from the sheer amount of minutes being played, but as far as acute injuries suffered during the tournament I don't think there are many.
And, even if the WC had occurred as normally scheduled, Jesus would still have missed at least the first month of the season (ignoring the fact that he might never have been transferred to Arsenal at all).
Sure, but I'm not assuming he has the exact same injury if it's played in the Summer in a different location. My primary grief with the midseason WC is the fixture congestion element, not necessarily acute injuries, but that Jesus one does stand out as a possibly impactful one.
Yeah I think there will be a lot of pulled hammys in March and April.
Everyone ready to NOT see CR7 in a Man U kit?
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66560320/1174940874.jpg.0.jpg)
Sorta like:
PS, and shout out to 78 there!!!!
Man, I almost forgot how much I hate spurs. If only they would play the same way for all 90. What a crazy way to play week in and week out.
Good first day back at the office ✅
Nketiah scoring, Mudryk bid placed, Arsenal win
Huge for Eddie to get one and buoy his confidence. Michael Oliver can shove it...that was an absolute atrocity of a penalty decision.
What was bad about it? Think it's a foul called anywhere else on the pitch, the angle from behind showed the contact on Bowen's trailing leg that put him off.
Think it's pretty soft given that Bowens reaction was far greater than the contact. Yes he did touch him but he didn't fall until he tried to shoot 2-3 steps later.
Edit: Just watched it again and yes definitely a pen. Poor challenge and moment from Saliba. The point below still stands though.
It's not indefensible but it's just so frustrating to see that given when there are so many much worse fouls that aren't given as penalties week in and week out. Jesus v Southampton and Mings body slamming Saka against Villa come to mind.
Yea I have several major issues with the call, including what you mentioned about consistency of the call on the field.
Secondly, not even a look from VAR?! With that little contact with such a match altering decision, it's maddening that didn't buzz MO to go take a look. I'd still disagree with the call if he went over and looked, and decided it was still a pen, but at least give it a look!
Also also, it's just not a foul for me. It's so, so soft. Admittedly my red and white north London glasses may not be helping see clearly here, but I don't feel like there was a look where a foul was definitively made. Saliba even pulled back on his legs a bit through the danger zone and (as Jglad said) Bowen doesn't go down until 2-3 steps later when he sees his shot is not going to work. Felt like a lowest common denominator kind of call.
Definitely soft but definitely a pen imo.
Saliba hits his trailing leg as it comes off the ground, when that left leg next touches ground, he falls.
Players (and refs) are damned either way -- either youre flopping to sell it when you get clipped, or you dont flop and fall and get accused of flopping bc you didnt immediately get taken out.
Either way 3 pts is 3 pts coyg coyg coyg
Hell yea, great response in the second half no matter the call. Go 1-0 each week 🤣 (too soon?)
1-0 to the Arsenal is about a 30 year old joke
Think it was in reference to Fuente's 1-0 trope and our collective PTSD as Hokies
Once this particular call is made there is no way VAR is overturning it. Oliver clearly saw it, so if he decided it was enough for a penalty, the VAR isn't going to intervene unless he sees that there was no contact at all. If Oliver didn't get a good look at the incident, I doubt he would have called it on the field.
I feel like Saka could get suplexed and not get a call sometimes.
I mean that basically exactly happened earlier in the season...
I wonder if Ivan Toney will be able to parlay his 4 goals in the last 3 games into a move to a bigger club. Could be worth gambling on.
Honestly think his gambling investigation will hold of anyone until the summer. I could see him fitting in at a Chelsea or man united who desperately need that kind of player.
Yeah lol I just wanted to make a pun
I completely missed it in my first read through kudos
Some super interesting (and Arsenal friendly 🤞🏻) results so far in EPL. Feels like Lampard should've been fired about three times over by now, but they just keep cranking out results. Same with Fulham, what a story!
City and Newcastle dropping points and Arsenal 2-0 up?
I ❤️ Martin Ødegaard
(Stephen A voice) I mean my God...
What a talent.
Wonder what the German word is for being terrible at defending crosses from wide areas 😬
Tough campaign thus far. Four years without addressing the midfield (other than Thiago) is really starting to show. It's applying a ton of responsibility on the front line and back line. I'm not sure what Jurgie can do to fix this in-season, but he has a hell of job right now to fix this before the season is lost. I'm hopeful, and that's just the Red tinted frames I'm wearing.
Yeah, midfield looks quite poor. Never replaced Wijnaldum, Keita hasn't really lived up to it, Elliot isn't a midfielder. Defense looked dreadful as well though. It's jarring to see after the level they've been at the past few years. I've always enjoyed watching Klopp's Liverpool, but it's hardly recognizable at this point.
I think Gakpo is a great player but I don't understand why it's necessary? Like I know some are injured, but you have Firmino, Nunez, Diaz, Jota, Salah, and now Gakpo. That's great, but you need a midfielder! I know it's hard to sign players in January, but I don't get it.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the Elliott comment. Elliott was brought in to be a winger, and to learn underneath Salah (Carvalho was brought in to be a winger as well). The lack of investment in our midfield after Gini's departure/Keita's inability to stay on the pitch 2-3 games at a time forced Harvey into a role he was never called to be in. Same goes for Carvalho. We've placed technically gifted forwards into midfield positions, when Klopp's system was always premised on the idea of winning the ball back in the midfield to spurn the counter attack. Don't get me wrong Harvey has a motor to run all over the place; however, he's a technical player, not a high energy, hold the ball up, and get it moving forward kind of player.
I think our defense is built on the idea that high energy, gritty, press-monsters are present in the midfield, and without those players there, our backline has been exposed since the beginning of the season. You can press your wing-backs forward when you have gritty midfielders falling back into those positions.
I think Gakpo was a need with the injuries to Jota and Diaz (Firmino is out too). They're slated to return March/April time frame, that's too long to go with Ox at the left winger position. It was a position of need at a reasonable price. Midfielders are insanely priced right now (Caicedo, Jude, Enzo, et.al.). We only have
ourselvesFSG to blame for the lack of investments in the midfield. Now there's this idea that it's Jude or bust come summer. You think Jude will play for a team that isn't competing in the CL next season? I want Jude as much as the next guy, but I'd say spend the money that you've put aside for Jude, and get 2-3 midfielders right now. But I'm just a fanboy on the sideline. I'm sure every team knows our need for a midfielder, and they're pricing their transfers accordingly when we come in with an offer. It's a bad situation. All we can do is weather the storm and hope somehow we make top four.Right, I knew I was forgetting someone with Carvalho.
Liverpool have done a fantastic job buying before it becomes a need in attack (Jota, Diaz, Nunez) but that's a lot of attackers when the injured players come back. Someone won't be happy with playing time eventually. Good problem to have I guess but it's puzzling when there is another position crying out for a new player (or 3).
Agreed, I think Bobby will be the odd man out; not to say he won't sign a short-term extension. I think they want Gakpo to be a 9 or a 10.
I'm bias, but the only signing that I can remember during the Klopp era that hasn't panned out is Keita. He's so injury prone and thus he lacks the motor necessary to "keep going" from match to match. I know a lot of people are down on Nunez, but he's 23, and I think he's still trying to figure out when to shoot, and when to pass. I believe he'll get there. 9 goals and 3 assists thus far isn't the best return, but it isn't the worst.
Seasons like this separate the real supporters from the fake ones. Especially here in the states. I'm sure as a Gunner you can relate, the beauty of one successful season, outweighs the ugliness of several rough ones. I'm rooting for anyone to win the EPL but City, I hope you guys can get across the finish line. Cheers.
Being able to use 5 subs means they will all get a decent chunk of playing time when healthy. Klopp also showed he is willing to switch to a 4-2-3-1, which may be the way forward once Diaz gets back with the lack of penetration from midfield. I still don't understand why Carvalho didn't get any minutes these last two games over AOC. AOC was dreadful against LC and wasn't much better last night, the goal notwithstanding. I've wanted him to be the player he was before injury, but his legs are just gone. He is a cup rotation player at best right now.
I just don't see Klopp dropping Hendo for extended periods, so I'm sure the thinking is Fab/Hendo and Thiago/Keita can cover two spots while Jones/Elliot/Carvalho rotate in the band of 3 when needed.
Also, seemed like VVD picked up a knock, but that might be for the best. Matip/Konate are probably the best pairing until VVD can get right. JoGo just gets too lost at times and Nat Phillips is just an imaginary name at this point.
Like you, I'm not very concerned about playing time; I totally agree that the 5 subs should provide us with the opportunity to rotate, so long as we start to build leads rather than playing from behind.
I'm with you, I was suprised that Carvalho didn't get a look, especially after his goal against City. Ox is a shell of his former
selfknees, and I'm not sure why Klopp continues to put him in the XI for league ties. I think 4-2-3-1 is the long term goal for the squad; however, until Gakpo is ready and Bobby returns, we don't have 4 that can go up top. Granted, we don't have a legit 3 that can play consistently in the middle either. I was reading somewhere that Harvey already has roughly 1,000 minutes played. I highly doubt that was the plan going into the year. We struck out on Tchoumeni and I fear we may strike out on Jude if we don't get top 4. I really hope that we have a Plan B, else it'll be two straight summers we lose our primary midfield rebuild target.Lastly I think we could use to buy another CB as well, someone similar to the Konate mold. Granted, that'll probably be a summer signing. Up Team #SummerFC, smh.
#UTFRalways
Edit: I may throw up after typing this, but I think this is why Fergie constantly tacked on a new signing or two even after winning trophies the year before. There has to be a footprint in every squad that is hungry to win more. Our core has won the whole lot over the last 4-5 years. I know competitive people remain competitive, but we often forget that these people are human, and sometimes life occurrences outweigh achieving more. I fear the mental weariness is the biggest life occurrence this team is battling with at the moment. I've said it time and time again, going for a quadruple will take a lot out of any team.
Very impressed by Newcastle's defense. So tough to break down, especially without Ødegaard's best game.
Not quite sure why Burn pulling down Gabriel or the last minute handball weren't given as penalties but that's referee variance for you. The lack of stoppage time was annoying though considering Newcastle spent the entire second half wasting time. I really wish they would implement the World Cup stoppage time because for me that is one of the most annoying things that consistently happens in soccer and the referees *never* add enough time. And yes I would say the same thing if Arsenal were the ones wasting time.
I agree that the shirt pull should have given, but that foul by Joelinton shouldn't have been given so it evened out for me. Newcastle have been expert time wasters/shithousers this season.
Meh, it's iffy. He got the ball yes. That doesn't necessarily mean it's not a foul. I don't think it was worthy of a yellow but Joelinton was mugging players all game without being booked. I think it was a foul. The referee was shocking - complete lack of control of the match.
I have no doubt Newcastle are expert time wasters. I do find it funny that they were just moaning about Leeds time wasting just a few days ago and now all their fans are saying "it's part of the game, deal with it." Which is it?
Like I said, I can't stand it no matter who is doing it. I realize that it disproportionally affects Arsenal more than other clubs who aren't facing parked buses as often, but I don't like it when Arsenal do it either. Adding the correct amount of time to the end of a match is just not that hard and I don't understand why fans are just fine with being robbed of 30% of the game that they're paying for.
The average ball-in-play time for PL games this season is 61 minutes. Depending on who was tracking it, last nights game was somewhere between 43-51 minutes. So there were 10-17(!!!) minutes wasted, most of which I assume were in the second half and most of which were by Newcastle. And there's 5 minutes added. Egregious
REYNAS REVENGE, WTF.
Everyone see the news on the reynas trying to take down Berhalter by bringing up an incident in 1991?
https://theathletic.com/4057428/2023/01/04/gregg-berhalter-danielle-claudio-reyna-us-soccer/
Ridiculous. They've known each other since they were in middle school. Childish on Claudio's part. And one of THE biggest issues with youth soccer in the US. Claudio pouting because his boy isn't getting playing time.
Oh and by the way, Claudio is the Sporting Director for an MLS club! For now anyway.
The ESPN story has been changed to say it was Gio's mom who made the threats, I wonder if she's trying to take the fall so Claudio won't be fired.
Everyone knows its Claudio. And the lifelong friendship between all of them is now lost.
What a terrible example to the world of what is wrong with youth soccer in the US.
It's insane lol. Very sad though honestly. And the statement from the mom...like if the "incident" was so much worse as she says, then why are you digging it up now? Making one of your oldest friends relive what you describe as a traumatic incident because your son's coach was mean to him is seriously messed up.
I feel the worst for Rosalind (Berhalter's wife) and Gio. Because I'm quite sure Gio didn't have anything to do with this and now his future with the national team is in doubt. What a mess. All because some intern at Charter wrongly released Gregg's comments at that conference.
FYI, Berhalter's contract expired Dec. 31. In the midst of the investigation into this incident, US Soccer has named assistant coach Anthony Hudson the interim manager for the January camp. It's not really a big deal at all since it will be comprised entirely of MLS and youth players, but just in case anyone wanted to know.
This whole thing reeks of the pay to play and entitlement of the US soccer setup. I can't express how much I despise how the Reyna's have behaved in this entire ordeal. They unfortunately will most likely get exactly what the want with berhalter no longer the coach because of the issues surrounding us soccer and this incident with Gregg and his now wife coming to light.
Gio has in my eyes looked really poor in this as well. Youre a professional player speak up and tell your parents to drop it or look very meek and wimpy.
I feel the worst for Gregg and the worst for his wife who now has this come to light and will be judged and viewed by everyone in a different light after this. Such a spineless typical new jersey housewife pile of utter bullshit from the Reyna's. Nobody wins here and if you're the next head coach how do you handle Reyna going forward? Bench him and you'll have Claudio going behind your back?
Love this spicy take as I agree with it! Pretty pathetic how this whole thing went down, especially from Reynas side
New Jersey out here catching strays for no reason smh
If Berhalter is still manager, apologize on your hands and knees to Gio. It (presumably) wasn't his fault his parents threw a hissy fit, but Berhalter never should have made the comments he did, even if it was supposed to be private.
If it's a new manager, there's no problem. Gio is a top US player and the new manager can tell the Reynas to pound sand.
Gio isn't even in the country.
He's staying out of it, as he should. I don't find any fault in his response (or lack thereof) to what has come to light now. If he does, it opens the door for the tantrum he allegedly threw in Qatar, so it's not going to help him in any way. He's 20. He's playing soccer overseas. He's doing what he's supposed to be doing. The adults were not.
US offered the job to Zidane 👀
He doesn't speak English...and no way he wants to walk into a daycare center of a program now.
Yeah it was never likely to happen. But at least they tried!
But, like many things around the organization, it's fluff. Be busy to look busy. They knew Gregg's contract was up and that there was a good chance he wasn't going to be back. So, cute, they asked Zindane. Let's get to the real business of finding the next manager for the next 4 years to get us successful in the 2026 World Cup.
Gotta shoot your shot. We have a decent young team and host the next world cup we should be able to do well if we have to replace GB
So much fin to watch Newcastle's first team play and be successful, for a change.
Onto the semi's of the Cup.
Ciao Felix with a nice debut. Pun intended
Came here to post something about this earlier but got distracted. Chelsea are the car wreck you can't look away from right now.
Felix actually was looking quite good until the sending off. Thought he was by far their best player. But LOL he's going to miss 3 matches, which is 15% of their remaining PL matches and represents about $2m in loan fee and wages. Amazing
Tale of two halves in the Manchester Derby. Boring drab first half mostly, pulsating rollicking second half.
VERY contentious equalizer for united -- i have no clue how the goal was given. Even though rashford never touched the ball, he absolutely influenced the play and it should have been called offside
As a united fan that goal is tricky he doesn't touch it but does shield it but still I'm not gonna complain my hate for pep and city has me biased. Ten Haag has this team playing as a team for the first time in ages, I'm forever grateful we avoided conte and hired Ten Haag.
Defenders and gk are in a no win situation. You have to treat him as if he's onside, especially because he's running with the ball at his feet. Akanji was closing from behind but can't foul him bc it could be a red, but if rashford isnt over the ball he could run directly to it. Absolutely shambolic call imo
I won't disagree that the rule is a mess it is but you still play to the whistle. City were dropping like flies begging for cards all day and the ref let a bit go at times but didn't do horribly. If akanji actually plays the ball even if he fouled an offside rashford VAR would have overturned it if it happened anyway as he was offside. Instead city assume the flag will go and quit playing it's a lazy excuse to me city had enough of the ball they hardly created enough quality chances for a team with that much talent.
If rashford isn't offside and the goal stands, why would offside overrule a red card? You have to play him as if he's live. Nobody "gave up" on that play, they all reacted as if Rashford was through on goal and could score. Not least being Ederson.
VAR can overturn red cards and they could have deemed him offside there for not a foul but the distance akanji plays off rashford was piss poor defending.
Id disagree on the giving up part the way the defence was so slow to react to rashford to me looked like they thought the flag would come up and the way ederson held his ground I think was due to him thinking the whistle would blow. I'd agree the rule is shit and needs fixing but the rules there now and the refs on the field talked it through to their decision which I think is better than having VAR dissect every frame for an eternity.
Understand this is from a City account and I don't agree with the bellyaching... Just difficult for me to believe rashford didnt influence the play at all. Clearly akanji could have gotten there before bruno, or perhaps even ederson. And bruno wouldn't have taken the angle he did if rashford wasnt running with the ball at his feet.
I don't understand how anyone can have an opinion about this other than they absolutely blew the call. It's crystal clear. I thought United played well enough for a result, but this is very clearly the wrong decision. Another sterling performance from Premier League officials
I have 14 years of refereeing youth, high school, and college spring games. This was 100% offside no matter which way you slice it. Absolutely gained an advantage by being in that position. The fact people are saying "he didn't touch it" don't know what they're talking about, as he was over top of the ball, effectively "playing" it for the better part of 20+ yards. Old Trafford call.
So Klopp might really be done huh
As poor as it's going for Liverpool I did not see this result coming after the whole trossard fallout
Brighton have ascended beyond the need for Trossard. Rest of the team is very good
Just to add on to this - their new manager De Zerbi is fantastic. What a job Brighton have done with both player and staff recruitment. Mitoma, McAllister, Caicedo, Evan Ferguson, all phenomenal. Really hope they can hold on to all of those players and push into Europe (except McAllister because I want him at Arsenal 😬)
Crazy to go from "we could win four trophies" 7 months ago to...this
To be fair liverpool are very very injury hit, that's a tough ask for any manager.
But oof that performance was bad
Looking forward to forgetting about transfers for a few hours to watch the NLD. Hoping it goes much differently than last time at WHL. But, having not won there since 2013, expecting a frustrating draw. Big opportunity to stretch the gap back to 8 points.
Key for me will be Kulusevski's fitness. Very good player - probably the only Spurs player I wish we could have at Arsenal.
Man Spurs really need to replace Lloris
He's also trying to blame Sess and putting his hands up and shaking his head. That's 100% on him. Embarrassing behavior for a skipper.
Fire Lloris into the sun.
CØYG
Ramsdale having himself a game
He's been immense
Good game - obviously much more fun when you win. Thought Spurs picked it up and threatened a bit in the second half as has been their M.O. Bring that energy to City next match, will you?
Ramsdale was fantastic, Zinchenko is transformative for the possession/attack, and Ødegaard continues his player of the season pace (ok, I guess Haaland will probably win...)
Pains me to say...good performance from Arsenal 🤮
Garbage from the team in Lilywhite. Lloris is a nightmare, Dier Llenglet and Sess were always on the back foot. Son has been off his game this season. Midfield is getting overwhelmed every game. Flashes in the second half but we need 90 minutes of quality football. Currently in shambles right now, and I'm not sure Conte can fix it.
Son's regression from superstar to inconspicuous is obviously a huge deal. Has he been hurt? Does Conte's system not fit his strengths?
Age curve - players like him who rely on explosion and quickness fall off the cliff quickly. Same thing that happened to Aubameyang.
Possible injury and World Cup fatigue don't help though.
players whose international teams go far in their association tournaments and play ~90 min every match do lose their legs very quickly. not just aubameyang --- look what happened to alexis sanchez 😵💫
That's because Sanchez insisted on trying to be a one-man press in every match even if there was no one backing him up 😂 then he always got mad
I friggin' loved him but he insisted on playing every match even if it was a meaningless league cup draw. He gave every ounce of himself and ManU got a discarded wrapper.
Frustrating draw at palace today for united, even worse casemiro gets his 5th yellow of the season to miss the arsenal game. Bit of a crash to earth after a nice run but still feel good about this season.
As big a story as Rashford has been, I think Casemiro's play for you guys had been the key to the most recent renaissance. Disappointed you all won't be at full strength for Sunday, should still be a good one. Feels like Arsenal ManU hasn't had stakes like this in a while!
I told everyone Casemiro was gonna make a huge difference. He's consistently great, but shines brightest in the biggest moments. I can't count the number of times he made a risky, but clean, tackle to take the ball right off the foot of the greatest players in the world. He brings solidity to the midfield defensively, but he is an eraser as well. He is excellent at covering the mistakes of others.
Was a terrible and unnecessary challenge tbf. What was he thinking? If I was ten Hag I would be pissed at him for that. Forcing him to start Fred and/or McTominay in an important match is not cool.
Anyway, was feeling fairly confident regardless, but now it should be one way traffic for the most part. Without Casemiro, Partey Ødegaard and Zinchenko should absolutely boss the midfield. Really only worried about Rashford at this point.
No Lokonga (bless his heart) to keep passing to the other team. Oy...
Meh, it sucks for sure but United will probably play same system as the city game pack in and look for chances on the break. Casemiro in particular is very good at breaking up play and immediately getting the ball forward to start attacks quicker but I would imagine we see a fred mctominay duo with likely front 4 of rashford, weghorst, bruno and eriksen instead of anthony whos struggled as of late. Should still be a good game hopefully but will be a test for united as a unit without casemiro.
COYS!!! (🤮)
ACTIVATE AGENTS KULUSEVSKI AND EMERSON
doing the gunners a solid so far
I'm just glad that someone else gets to experience the frustration associated with Man City's constant tendency to crush hopes that they'll slip up. I got the Gunners winning the title though, granted there's still half the season to go.
The frustrating thing is I feel they're actually playing pretty poorly (by their standards). I wish we were playing them this weekend, but I'm afraid they'll figure it out in a few weeks by the time they come to the Emirates.
But they've still got a few tricky games between now and then. Wolves looking better since the restart, Spurs again, and Unai Emery's tricky Villains. Time for him to do us a favor.
If this is what it's like to be a Spurs fan, this is terrible.
GDI
Welcome to our painful existence
Juventus are set to be handed a 15 point deduction in Serie A for the way they managed their finances as found by the investigation that was reopened over their capital gains. They can still appeal it looks but this is MASSIVE. Affects Tottenhams Paratici as well he has received a 2.5 year suspension from football activites.
Re: Paratici, that's what some are saying but I've seen others refute that. I think it's still unclear.
But Juventus are probably going to have another fire sale after the season.
I'd feel this could get ugly and to me would you want someone who let this kind of financial stuff happen under him running your club? This could cause them to miss out on champions league football and have an even bigger impact possibly as well. Vlahovic will be on everyones radar now.
I'm sure Chelsea will buy him.
Also, it's not like it was a secret when they hired him. Maybe he told them he wasnt involved? But it looks like their making him out to be the mastermind so guess that was a lie
Juve have already announced they will appeal curious to see how this goes now.
After having to settle for watching lesser leagues since Boxing Day, I cannot possibly express how happy I am to have the Bündesliga back. Y'all can keep your €100 million divas, it's time for hockey on grass.
Don't know why, but I just can't ever seem to get into the Bundesliga. I've watched some matches here and there and they're usually entertaining but there's just something missing for me, idk what it is.
Off the top of my head, possible reasons:
1: Unfamiliarity with clubs. The league is waaaay behind on brand exposure in the US, with the exception of Bayern.
2. Lack of tactical diversity. Almost every club plays some variation of high pressing, attack minded football. This leads to more possession changes and more exciting games, but if you're used to Premier League, it probably just looks sloppy.
3. Limited star power. Because of 50+1, German clubs are not on the same financial footing as clubs from other leagues. There's a lot of young players, and there's a lot of moneyball players, but there's a reason that even on a free, Ronaldo isn't playing in Germany right now.
Could be! I probably know more than most American about the clubs as I do follow the USMNT players who are in Germany. But I thought about it and I think it's 1) I don't have ESPN+ and all the games are on there 2) it's not promoted in the US, like you said 3) it's hard for me to get too invested in anything that isn't Arsenal
Hate to say it, but Mudryk looks class. I'm not surprised as Arteta seems to be very good with talent ID, and he's still clearly got some rough patches to iron out. But he will be very good. It hurts to think about the timeline in which Elneny doesn't get hurt, we don't spend the last few days of the summer window trying and failing to sign Douglas Luiz, and sign Mudryk at the beginning of the season for 40m. I guess the only hope now is that he's so good that even Chelsea can't hang on to him and he twerks his way into a move to Madrid.
Yes, definitely looked the most threatening Chelsea player out there today. Has got to prove he can finish though, which is the obvious weak spot in his game and the number 1 thing fans will turn on a player for
EDWARD MFin NKETIAH
Lets GOOOOOOOOOO. ED-DIE ED-DIE ED-DIE
Man that's a gut punch for united almost a solid result undone by a flick. Had to mute the game couldn't stand the knob slobbing from Lee Dixon all game fucking abnoxious to have him as color commentary on an arsenal game.
I understand that is probably pretty annoying and frustrating but it's pretty funny coming from a United fan considering half the pundits in England are former United players who are always extremely biased.
Gary Neville 🙄
Man I am levitating. What a match. Sloppy in the first half but the second half was excellent. Zinchenko is so so good.
I come away thinking that United side is very good though. What a turnaround from the start of this season. They'll be in there thick of it next season for sure. Rashford is in ridiculous form right now.
i said in the part one thread it would come down to how arsenal could perform against the top six, esp away... Wins vs United and Liverpool at home, Chelsea away, and the North London Double. Big games to come vs City
I'm so nervous. City double, Liverpool away (not looking too intimidating right now but things can change), and Newcastle away are all going to be tough, tough. Plus the schedule is about to get very congested.
It's all window dressing compared to the City matches. If we split points or can somehow win one of those, we are firmly in the drivers seat. At this point - assuming we stay healthy! - I'm completely fine playing 2nd team in FA Cup and Europa league.
Zinchenko is my spirit animal. Love that guys passion.
Rashford 🥵. He looks world class right now. Embodies the turn around there.
He finally got a couple on frame haha. Happy for him. Annoyed with the Bruno red, hopefully doesn't hurt us too much in the next few games.
There's a Pope in goal, so I feel like we can survive.
Win the Cup and qualify for the CL next year...that's 3 years ahead of expectations.
Weird day...come on you basketball chickens, at least give us a draw!
COYS!!! (For literally only the past three hours)
Arsenal fans if yall bottle the title then I don't know what to tell yall cause this should be the title clincher helper game
It's still a pretty tight race so I wouldn't say it's a bottling. Like if we have big injuries, I don't expect us to pull it off. If we just start playing badly then sure.
Plus there's still two games v. City
Not like this🥺
Lol u mad
Nah, happy Spurs won! Just a little joke. Congrats to Kane on the record
Very well and well played lol, appreciate it. 👍
SOMEONE GET A MIC IN FRONT OF MOURINHO SO HE CAN GO OFF FOR THE 17/18 SEASON ASAP
Jesse Marsch out at Leeds - lost to Forest yesterday but just finished the transfer window. They haven't been great this season but I think it's a bit harsh to sack him now.
Previously I would have been very excited to have him for the USMNT, but I think I've changed my mind. Consistently poor defenses and a commitment to a style that I'm not sure can work in international soccer. For those of you who hated Berhalter's insistence on sticking to his "system", Marsch is even worse in that regard.
You answered your own question on why this is happening now. The English prefer to play the hits with a proven, defensive manager for a relegation scrap. It's been this way the entire time I've been watching the sport. There's a rotation of guys that are routinely hired for exactly this situation almost every year.
I guess, but they hired him themselves for the relegation scrap last year and he kept them up! And the squad last year was terrible.
Obviously, he has a lot to improve but he's a young manager and it's not like they were playing terribly, just getting a bit unlucky. Even yesterday, they just got CONCACAFd by Navas.
Marsch reportedly hired at Southampton. They're pretty terrible, but it will be interesting to see if he can keep them up. If he does, he's going to start earning a reputation as a relegation savior ala Big Sam
I'll trade yall arsenal fans👀
Trade us what? Fine, you can have Pepe and I guess we'll take, I dunno, Kulusevski? Seems fair
Pls
The good news for City fans about the investigation is that UEFA has said they won't strip and CL titles from them.
bruh
It's hilarious how not funny this is. I don't think it's much of a stretch to say VAR has cost us 6 points this season. Soccer is such a luck driven game anyways...when the much-maligned human element cacks it up this badly, makes it hard to win a title.
All the more nerve wracking that we have City next weekend, who we had dead to rights last year at the Emirates before some of the worst officiating I've ever seen in any sport.
Almost surely cost us 2 here so late in the game. The others (assuming you're talking about United and Southampton) are a bit trickier as they were earlier, but probably right.
Tbf yesterday we did not deserve to win. Still should've, given how it played out, but for some reason I'm not as mad about it.
I've honestly just given up on the refs. They're pretty much all terrible and it's not going to change until the PL recognizes that and diversifies their hiring and actually makes the refs accountable for their repeated egregious mistakes. It's honestly shocking to me that they league with by far the most money in the world and the largest viewership continues to tolerate the continued gross incompetence of so many of the officials.
Goal was definitely offside but Arteta has to be really really careful not to use the refs as an excuse for his players. The minute you start believing everything is against you it only gets harder.
I don't think he has done that. He said he watched the goal and it was offside, which the PGMOL has just confirmed. He got a bit heated after Newcastle, but for the most part he has been pretty measured when discussing the officiating.
Also, the idea that everything is against you is a pretty common motivational tactic, no?
1. Takes Brian's "Damn It" article about bball.
2. Replace VT with Spurs - after beating Man City then getting thrashed by Leicester.
3. Cries
It's always the hope that kills you lol
And now Bentancur is likely out months with severe ligament damage. Why do my sports teams cause me such pain.
He's been one of your best players, right? That's a tough break.
betancur out for the season and probably a doubt to start next season. bissouma out for 8 weeks. time to dust off harry winks
I read Skipp and Sarr starting in midfield against Milan. Yikes
Yeah Hojberg has a 1 game suspension due to yellow card accumulation. Sarr should be solid, Skippy needs to show me something. Winks is on loan and needs to be bought out tbh.
Poor for 70 minutes but in the end ETH changes the game with subs and moves weghorst into the 10 roll and flips the game on its head. Rashford is on fire and sublime finishing from garnacho. Really not fun watching Fred operate in midfield but just one more game before casemiro returns. Sabitzer a mixed game beautiful switch of play to shaw for first goal he has some good stuff in his locker.
Divock Origi chant was the cherry on top. Man I love derbies 😂
If just for a moment, my Reds felt like my Reds this season 🤤
Did a manager ever fit a culture as much as Dyche does at Ev? Just a team of twatwaffles.
Gakpo finally scores, Jota and Bobby back with Virg not far behind. Would rather the Chelsea match been the one rescheduled rather than wolves.
My f&cking gaffer, win or lose, GET IN:
Champions League is back today with AC Milan hosting Spurs and a tasty PSG-Bayern fixture as well. Tomorrow we have Dortmund hosting Chelsea and surprise group winners Benfica traveling to Belgium to face Club Brugge. The rest of the fixtures will start next week.
For these four, I think Spurs, PSG, Dortmund, and Brugge will advance. Milan are a bit of a mess right now, PSG-Bayern is a tossup, Chelsea are not good, and honestly idk about Benfica-Brugge but it's always fun to see an underdog.
Bayern are the only Bundesliga side I can see getting through this round, and that's not a given with Pavard being sent off yesterday. Reverse fixture should be fun. Bayern 2-1 aggregate.
Dortmund are a rollercoaster this year, and even though Chelsea has been off too, I think all the newly bought talent should be way too much for Dortmund to overcome. I'm thinking Chelsea 3-1 on aggregate.
Frankfurt hasn't been great since the season resumed (0-3 against my Geißböcke on Sunday!!), and were already in a tough spot drawing Napoli. 4-2 Napoli on aggregate.
Red Bull against City should be fun to watch, but Leipzig haven't been the same without Nkunku. He's back in training, but I doubt he'll be full go for either fixture. City 5-3 on aggregate.
PSG looked woeful yesterday until Mbappe came on. I think Bayern will regret not taking more advantage of their dominance. I think they should be able to hold on at home though.
I can say I've watched Dortmund more than a couple times, but I mean Chelsea are really bad. At least they have been in the league. Maybe they turn it on for CL but I don't see it.
Napoli just might win the whole thing, agree I don't see them getting knocked out this early.
City Leipzig should be a track meet, I think that one will be fun. City too much for them though.
It's fine, everything's fine
Yet again, my gaffer!!!!
(When I see stats like this, I chuckle at the thought that some LFC supporters think Klopp should be out, no manager is guaranteed a spot on the touchline; however, this man has done wonders and has built up enough equity to ride this tough run out)
Lol Kane does what Martinelli just did multiple times every game and never gets called for it. Lovely
That foul for the penalty never gets called but it should. I'll take it!
This is not enjoyable to watch at all. I feel sick. I am straight up not having a good time
Played well in the first half. Bit too loose at the back. Hopefully it's still a race in April when we have Jesus back
Self-inflicted goals. Iron out that backline and go again.
It's not easy when City is chasing you down. I'm glad someone else can understand how nerve-wracking it can be. You have a game in hand though, so that should help ease the pain for today...a little at least.
Yeah it was never going to be easy and we've hit our worst patch of form at the wrong time along with injuries. We'll see if City can kick on and play better than they have so far this season. If they do, it's probably over.
Still so many things to happen between now and the end of the season but this is a gut punch no question. Nketiah's been brilliant but we really miss Jesus. He was on another level pre-WC.
It's tough to top City in a league race. You gunners have a great shot, because like Liverpool they're in a transition period, where they're adapting to a new system/approach (granted they're doing it way more gracefully than we are). I think you'll still make a title race of it all. Just gotta get back on the horse and keep fighting. City'$ money will forever be a big hurdle to clear. We had to be near perfect to pip them for the league during the Covid year. Those years we fell a point short still hurt. Hopefully you guys fair better.
LMAOOOO Emi Martinez get bent
What an absolute cracker of a match. A thrilla at the Villa, indeed! Get bent Unai too 😜.
Of anyone out there gotta admit karma is biting him in the ass big time. Emery even came out after the came and basically said I had a talk with him after the game about the time wasting. Normally would feel bad but his crap at the WC was sad. That's 12 goals in three games he's conceded now
Yeah I mean I get that time wasting it's part of the game. I wish it wasn't, but fine. The man was taking 45 seconds for goal kicks 5 minutes into the match. Not even Jordan Pickford is that bad.
He was doing everything too. Slow restarts, faking an injury after intentionally running into his own player, holding the ball for 30 seconds before punting (I counted). For the winning goal to bounce in off his head and then give up an empty netter that was only possible because of all the time he wasted...glorious.
Nick Dope amirite
They better play Karius in the final just the lolz.
Edit: Was looking at the wrong cup fixtures, looks like Dubravka is cup tied for the Carabao, so Karius is pretty much all that's left. Hope he shuts out the Mancs.
I had no idea he was still around lol.
Unfortunately someone has to win so hopefully we can at least get penalties.
Although he was shite in the game, Karius is one of two keepers in the final who's played in a CL Final. So....he's got that going for him 🤣😜
Huge! Needed that, away matches have been our bug-a-boo all season.
Onto Real....
Stellini in! Looked like a different team with him on the touch line, and happy for Sonny to score off the bench.
We've looked listless under Conte for the vast majority of this season. Stellini seems to have the team playing at a higher clip than when Antonio is on the touch line.
Big 3 points against a bottom three team that I was not at all confident we would get. Skippy has done well in Bentancur's spot.
Come On You SPURS! STELLINI IN!
Skipp and Kane, what a day. Some tough, crunching tackles and unified defense for a clean sheet. Lovely result that 🐦⚽️
GGMU, hell of a good week putting xavi and Barca out of Europe kiss the levers good bye, and winning some silverware to end the week was icing on the cake. Ten Haag is looking better by the week and I cannot be happier we didn't go the conte route and waited for Erik.
This sport is crazy, man. Absolute scenes
ABSOLUTE SCENES
Lifetime contract for Reiss Nelson
It's getting harder and harder to be a Spurs fan. Pathetic performances and the club seem more interested in making $$ via American football, F1 and go-kart tracks.
On the other hand, spurs twitter is officially past their "Stellini in" phase
Stellini, Conte, doesn't matter
Until the board backs the manager, it won't make a difference. I just want a club that actually wants to win and not spend its money in other investments.
Eh they've backed Conte by spurs standards. But he won't sign a longterm contract so its a hostage situation now. As much as I hate to say it, arsenal's two plus years of patience with Arteta developing youth and having a vision is paying dividends. And until our Spurs committ to a manager or development style, we'll continue to bring in revenue but no trophies
The board has definitely backed conte -- just the system is pretty boring and some of the players arent justifying the price paid to bring them in
Arguably the only player worth it was Cuti. Richarlison hasn't been in good form for club but was for country: difference in systems. Bissouma was a fantastic signing for the price IMO but he hasn't gotten any run...not sure why. Porro it's too soon to say.
I would love to see deadweight cut and fresh players with a new mentality brought in. Namely sell Sanchez, Dier, Moura and maybe Lloris just because his form has been shocking this season.
Kulusevski and Bentancur too? Richarlison has been injured and hard to play when they sub in Lucas 🤮 Bissouma had ankle surgery the week Lloris did his knee.
Hard to sell players when no one wants to buy too. Especially since non PL teams are tight on cash. You're not wrong calling out our deadwood, but Levy needs to accept some sales for a loss sometimes.
Oh I forgot Deki and Bentancur were this window. They have been fantastic!
Agreed that not many teams want to buy our deadweight. Agree Levy needs to just cut fat and accept the loss. ENIC has enough $$ that it isn't going to matter...
I wouldn't be opposed to bringing Poch back in but honestly at this point we've wasted Kane and Son's prime years away. Sadness and despair.
If anyone needs me, I'll be watching this thread for the rest of the day
👀
Can we save some for Madrid?
Ain't enough alcohol on the east coast to drown these sorrows what a shit performance from a really bad team today. Still trust in the process from ten Haag but damn some players got exposed big time today and look either exhausted or overwhelmed.
He is not here (the trainers room), for he has risen, as he said. Come, see that he has taken his place on the substitutes bench.
Refereeing in this league is a mess. Casemiro got a red that's understandable but yesterday not even a yellow for the tackle on Felix in the Chelsea game. Then the no handball call some days you just have no idea what a handball is and isn't. Maybe all clubs should just pull a Barcelona and buy out officials.
I think if there's one thing fans agree on right now is that refereeing and VAR are both a hot mess. No consistency, lack of explanation, week to week variance. It's getting worse, not better it seems
In my opinion it's the whole "clear and obvious" phrase. I get the intention was good but it's such a grey rule it makes it much worse. Yesterday's penalty to Liverpool was a correct ruling on a yes it's a natural position jumping up but his hand influenced the ball this a handball. Howard webb has a huge mess to try and clean up this off-season or we might as well scrap it and go no var if they are going to be so bad and using it.
"Refereeing is bad"
Yes, welcome! But let's be honest, you don't really care about the Felix foul. Casemiro was rightly sent off as you said. The consistency is very inconsistent, but as I've seen pointed out, it will be very difficult to make that ever go away with different officials for every game and so many rules that require interpretation.
From what I've seen of the handball, the player was using his arms to support his weight on the ground, and they've been fairly (relatively) consistent in saying that won't be given as handball.
Consistently inconsistent..ipso facto, consistent
tbh any refereeing decision that favors arsenal is right and any refereeing decision that goes against arsenal is wrong. reverse those for united, chelsea, city, liverpool, and especially spurs.
@HowardWebb pls update the laws accordingly
Who do you think ends up in the PL Top 4?
I'm still picking Liverpool to finish top 4 in spite of the bad result against Bournemouth on Saturday. My original stance has been that Tottenham will be the one to drop out of the top 4, but United have dipped in form, will be without Casemiro for awhile and are overly reliant on Rashford to finish chances. They are now entering the danger zone of participating in this race for the 3/4 spots.
I'd be highly surprised if the Jekyll and Hyde Reds make top 4. I see top 6 a best case scenario with the schedule we have on the horizon.
Highly doubt Spurs get top 4. Too shaky and disinterested at times. However it's the only thing we have to play for, and we scrapped for a spot last year.
Arsenal, Manchesters City and United, Newcastle
Unfortunately, I agree with this, maybe Totty sneaks in, but that's about the only change I see, unless Luis Diaz's return changes things significantly with his ability to press, and thus alleviates the strain on the midfield and backline to win the ball back.
Spuds currently 4 points ahead of NUFC but also have played two more games. I think as the season goes on, NUFC's defensive solidity is going to be a key differentiator vs Liverpool and Tottnum.
I'd much rather Liverpool make it than newcastle. Maybe Brighton can pip them both -- 9 points back with three games in hand
I'm going with Yanited and Liverpool (along with obviously Arsenal and City).
Newcastle seem to have fallen off a bit. Don't think they can hang in the top 4 race by settling for draws every week. They still have United, Spurs, Brentford, Chelsea, and Arsenal to play. Plus a couple teams fighting to stay up.
Spurs are kind of a mess right now with all the Conte drama. He seems very disinterested. Big, big stretch for them end of April with Newcastle, United, and Liverpool back to back.
Brighton have a couple games in hand, but their form has dropped off a bit. They're still in the FA Cup so that could distract them a bit.
United I think will hang on, but they are still fighting on 3 fronts so they need to be careful. If Rashford picks up an injury, they're toast. They have a cakewalk of a May slate.
I think Liverpool will make it. I'm choosing to write off Bournemouth as a trap game after 7-0 and looking ahead to Madrid. They're probably going out of the CL and they're already out of the FA Cup. They have a game in hand on Spurs and play them at home. They do have 7 games in April though, mostly very tough ones. I think they make it though.
As per usual, the home stretch of the PL season should be very interesting in terms of these teams jockeying for position and the relegation battle is basically the whole bottom half of the table. 12th-20th are all reasonably in position to end up in a relegation scrap.
Yeah I think the relegation battle will be really interesting this season. A lot of fairly big clubs in danger and the sheer number of teams in trouble will make for some intense games.
Conte is out (finally). Stellini as caretaker with Ryan Mason as assistant head coach for the remainder of the year
Not surprised after Conte's last presser.
Except without the trophy part
Mou is always the go-to for managers who tend to create lots of friction within the club/board, but Conte should probably be in the same tier, perhaps even moreso than Mou. Conte's last year at Chelsea was clear as day that things were over and falling apart before their CL Ro16 tie was played. He was already complaining about Inter's future as they headed towards the Scudetto, and his Tottenham comments have obviously been fresh on everyone's minds.
It's interesting to me because it seems like Conte's falling outs happen between him and the club (at least more publicly) but Mou's always seemed to happen between him and a few really important players in the squad
As we come to the run-in for this season, I've been thinking about how much the expectations of fans can change throughout the course of a season. Arsenal might win the title. It's no sure thing, but it's pretty close to 50-50. If we don't, they'll likely come in a close 2nd. In August, that would've been considered a phenomenal season, but now people will say they bottled it and it will be a massive failure. And to be fair, I will be gutted if they don't win now, because of the position we're in, how well they've played, and the way they've dealt with difficult injuries and dips in form.
But I'm trying to resolve to focus on the fact that this has been the most fun I've had watching Arsenal since I've been a supporter. There have been so many great moments and the quality of play has been amazing. I want to remember how I felt in those moments even if they don't get it over the line.
I'm sure this is the case for other fanbases too - Liverpool and Chelsea come to mind. The end of this season will be compelling for many reasons and whatever happens, I hope there are a few more special moments to enjoy.
absolutely -- some of those Ozil/Alexis teams were fun on their way to FA Cup etc, but I never felt like they were a threat to win the whole thing.
This season has been an unqualified success as proof-of-concept for Arteta and Edu, even if Arsenal wind up second. I just hope that there's no Gerrard Slip moment if that happens.
For sure, so many individuals that were fun to watch over the years. Ozil, Alexis, Cazorla, Ramsey, Fabregas, Nasri, Rosicky... But those teams never controlled games the way this team does.
Whatever the end result, there will be a moment. Can only hope it's our moment. I'm personally hoping for a Xhaka thunderbastard to clinch a victory at the Etihad, but I won't be picky.
Rodri really is a huge wanker
Woke up this morning, opened Twitter, saw a reliable account tweet that Levy was out. Shouted hallelujah. Looked at the calendar.
Potter and Rodgers both sacked after insipid losses on saturday. Leicester in the relegation zone as of now, Chelsea languishing in eleventh.
Firm believer that giving players megacontracts for big transfer fees only serves to undermine the manager because he winds up being way more expendable
Weird timing for both. Why give Rodgers the whole international break and then sack him after one match? I mean they were terrible but if you're going to sack him do it before so the interim has 2 weeks to work.
With Chelsea...I mean where to begin? Honestly the only reason to sack him now is to make sure you get your first choice to replace him (Nagelsmann?) but it seems like he was going to wait until the summer for Chelsea anyway. Otherwise, why now? They're not making Europe, and they're not winning CL. Buying all these players that Potter clearly never asked for. It's an impossible environment for nearly any manager to succeed. Long may it continue!
I'm not staying Chelsea are going to get relegated. But, their remaining PL fixtures are as follows (they have 39 points, Everton/Forest have 27 in 18 place). They also have a CL QF with Madrid.
Brighton
United
Brentford
Arsenal
Bournemouth
Forest
City
Newcastle
Frank Lampard is objectively a terrible manager. The point totals for the 18th place team the last three years: 35, 28, 34. It would probably be one of the highest ever relegation point totals, but it's possible. Fingers crossed
The absolute schadenfreude that would result from them being relegated would be blissful.
They'd have to be passed by 7 teams to get relegated, so it's probably not gonna happen
Add a "pls" to the end of this and the jinx is complete. So *ahem*
pls
Had no idea Paul Tierney was such a big Liverpool fan!
Honestly don't think he really did anything wrong today except the ridiculous penalty (ball don't lie).
Refreshing for a big game and because he's usually terrible.
Couldn't disagree more. Admittedly, I am an Arsenal fan, but I thought he let way too much go in the first half. When it was obvious Pool couldn't hang with us straight up, the ref gave them the license to muck things up with physicality. I thought he did a terrible job protecting our players as they got bullied and bumped into up and down the pitch. I will concede that Gunners didn't match the physicality of Pool and were looking for fouls far too cheaply in the second half.
Maybe instead of blaming the ref for a very flat performance in the second half arsenal should look at their own short comings in the game. Ref was fine int eh second half arsenal players were throwing themselves to the floor trying to get fouls to slow the game down and the ref was consistent all game. Soft pen but the contact was there so no issue with that. Overall ramsdale was very good and bailed out the team who simply werent at the races the way they have been all season. It's a contact sport and Liverpool always play with a physical edge and it's how they are so good at what they do.
Ramsdale for sure saved the point, but I think it's a little disingenuous to say we were bad. We completely controlled most of the first half, switched off for a minute, and conceded a goal that gave them life. In the second half, they controlled things but still didn't really create danger until the last 20 minutes. And it's one of the hardest away fixtures in Europe.
Yeah I saw that this was the feeling amongst most fans. I wasn't watching a closely as I normally do, and knowing the result ahead of time changes the perspective. I noticed challenges that I thought were probably fouls that weren't given but honestly I didn't think it was nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be.
He decided to allow a physical game. That favors Liverpool because Arsenal don't set out to be overly physical, not our game. If he called a tight game with a lot of fouls, that favors Arsenal as the team getting to be more technical and possession-oriented. So either way he decides to call it he will be "favoring" one team.
I think he could have done a little better calming things down when it started to get chippy, but I really don't think it was that bad. I guess my bar is low for a successful referee if he doesn't make any catastrophic decisions (the penalty was terrible but wasn't scored and no card was given so it's fine this time)
MIKEL SUBS PLS
But sweet Jesus not Kiwior!
Holy crap...that was insane.
Fun game. Unfortunately I had to watch on replay and made a stupid mistake so I saw the score beforehand. Since I was personally quite content with a draw I probably didn't experience the full emotional spectrum as watching it live.
Simultaneously feel fortunate to get a draw and annoyed we didn't win. I think if we don't switch for that first goal and go into the half 2-0 we win easily. Also had a couple good situations that didn't quite turn into chances in the second half. Think Arteta misread the flow of the game when he made the Kiwior-Trossard sun. It felt like they were dominating but hadn't had a shot in 20 minutes. After that we couldn't really keep hold of the ball.
Frustrating because I feel like we could've easily gotten the three, but in a vacuum it's a great result - Liverpool at Anfield are almost unbeatable, even this season. Still in control, but gotta keep winning.
Definitley agree with you on the Trossard/Kiwior switches. It was 80' I think, but it felt like forever to deal with putting the match to bed. Easy hindsight critique, I suppose.
I thought Xhaka looked slow and off the pace early in the second half. I was hoping to see ESR or Viera replace him, but I know MA trusts Xhaka a lot more that those two in a big game.
Yeah I wouldn't have been comfortable putting either of those two on in midfield in that game
Where jorginho? Kiwior is really better option to come on? Game was absolutely crying out for jorginho on for Ø (if you were going to take him off), Trossard on for Jesus, and Tierney on for Zinchenko (who left it all out there but man did he get rinsed by TAA for the equalizer -- and it was obviously coming for a few minutes too). Jorginho is obviously limited athletically but in terms of drawing fouls and retaining possession, he's still really really good at prem level.
Imo most of the blame falls with Arteta -- you simple cannot shift the game plan to be "come and get us" when you're 2-1 up. Thought the pen for Jota on Holding was soft but the right call, even happier that Salah missed the goal entirely.
Gonna be thinking a lot about Martinelli having the opportunity late on to play Saka in with nothing but grass ahead of him and somehow finding only Alisson :(
Yeah I'm not gonna pretend like the subs worked well. He made a call and it didn't work. Not going to undo all the good decisions he's made this season.
It's so tough to watch that play over and over but I'm not going to rag on the guy who created both our goals yesterday. He missed a pass with adrenaline running through him after running himself ragged for 95 minutes. It sucks, but without him we're not winning that game anyway. Plus 1v1 with Alisson is no sure thing anyway
That Wrexham/Notts match was......bonkers!
There is no better sport...I love footy
I really hope Arsenal makes it through this final stretch at the top of the table. City winning another title would be an exceptionally boring and deflating end to an otherwise entertaining season.
Man we needed that, especially after the news about Jude earlier this week. Trent looks amazing playing further up the pitch in a more creative midfield position (3-2-5). Top 4 is highly unlikely, but man, as long as we can see some beautiful football like that the rest of the way I'll take it. #UTFR #JFT97
Arsenal after the international break:
I miss saliba 🤮
I miss Partey not being terrible at soccer
He has had some bad, bad mistakes for several games running. Off the field issues coming to a head maybe? I said from the beginning he was our most important player.
Think he picked up an injury on international duty (shocker)
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!!! How does that always happen with Ghana? I'm laughing and crying
Ref tried to give arsenal the chance with 17 added minutes but big points dropped for arsenal, playing out the back for England internationals has not been good the last 24 hours
Lol man the Southampton players were faking injuries for 5 out of 8 of the added minutes. Probably should've been more but referees are afraid to go over 100 minutes
I'd have no issue if they all did it consistently but most games added time is still wacky and usually too short. With the season being so compact I get not wanting to have world cup added time but to me it's the only solution once we get out of this wacky season. Needs to be consistent across all games though not just a ref here or a ref there.
Ok but that's the proper way to do it. If there are stoppages when you're already in stoppage time you're supposed to add that on. Not to mention the number raised by the board is the minimum amount.
I agree all refs should be better at it but why fault one for actually doing it correctly?
I fault him solely because he's the only one doing it. Most games still are the normal 3 minutes or whatever garbage added on is all I'm saying. Not fair to have some teams getting more time than others is all I'm saying.
I agree it would be better if all referees were adding time correctly. If all other refs are calling the ball out of play when it touches the line instead of when it goes all the way over the line, we wouldn't say "Hey Simon Hooper needs to be consistent with all the other referees who are doing it wrong"
Also, I'm not even sure what we're faulting him for when he literally only added like less than 2 minutes onto the end of stoppage time, the minimum amount of which is mandated by the 4th official, not him.
There was probably 3 minutes alone from the ref and assistant needing their comms repaired.
I've decided I'm simply not going to let Arsenal ruin my day. The league is probably gone the way they're playing. The team is still very good
Here here. This team is so talented and the future is beyond bright! I wish we'd figure out to close out games in the second half of the season, but this has been a great ride. Still not over yet, hoping for a miracle on Weds 🙌🏻
Just win on Wednesday and it's back in your hands. I'd gladly trade places the way this season has gone for Liverpool. Rooting for you guys to get the job done. Got to figure city drop points somewhere in there focusing on Madrid.
Definitely a bittersweet St Totteringham's Day
New post soccer kit shop in Glen Allen is nice, no retro kits yet but if you need newer stuff they got it, finally picked up an away rashford kit after drooling at them all year. Wish we had a retro kit shop somewhere local.
I smell treble
Holy shit, 5 goals in 20 minutes. St James is back boys
Spurs celebrating St Totteringham's in style 😳
Life as a Spurs fan
Listless from Spurs. No heart, no desire, no passion. Have some damn pride for the badge. Absolute shambles right now. It's hard to cheer for a club that doesn't want to be there....I can take losing, I cannot take gutless bullshit.
Seriously considering switching my alliance. Liverpool? Chels? Or the ultimate betrayal and become a Gunner? 🤷🏽♂️ /s but not really
How about Newcastle?
Feels almost scripted to have Arsenal blow back to back 2-0 leads, then draw the bottom table team in three consecutive fixtures to blow a solid title race lead heading into City this Wednesday, making it an absolute must-win.
Would be very Arsenal to beat City and then lose to Forest and Wolves to lose the title
Man where to start with Spurs, not enough words could cover it...
The last four years have now led us back to start. Mismanagement of roster and coaches has led to effectively nothing, now a suspended director of football, and no real strategy for the team's identity. Mourinho might have been right man wrong time, nuno was definitively the wrong man and a cut rate option that blew up in Levys face, Conte was stubborn, and Stellini is Nuno part 2. This is the definition of insanity.
I feel like the players have been whiplashed through 5 coaches, and now shipping 5 goals in 20 minutes was a message (formation change or not). They're privileged professionals but I can't blame them for mailing it in if I'm being honest. Another season ending with no success, and interim coach, and toxic vibes.
It's time to blow it up and reset.
Kane should be rewarded with his service to the club with a sale this summer. Lloris' time should end too, he's been great until this year but it's time to go. Dier and Sanchez can depart. Moura is out at the end of season, rightfully so. Get rid of Perisic, and llenglet and danjuma are on loans - no need to renew. Ndombele, lo celso, rodon, and winks need to leave too but likely no buyers. Woof.
The roster is still shit besides some quality starters (Kane, Son, Hojberg, Bentancur, Romero) but has no depth and glaring weaknesses. We've honestly overperformed in the past 5 years while stadium building occurred, and have coasted on top 4 results.
I remember spurs battling Everton for 5/6/7 a decade ago, and look where they are now (sorry toffee fans). Spurs will be lucky to be top 10 next year. Man City, United, Liverpool, arsenal, Newcastle, Brighton, Chelsea, and villa are all easily better than us. Shit sucks man.
Sorry for the length of this rant all.
Getting played off the pitch so the scoreline is more than deserved, but someone help me understand how that wasn't given offside?? He was miles off
It's no fun when City's chasing you down at the business end of the season. I hope you guys pull it off still, despite today's match.
On a S/N: I'll take those 3 points to move into 6th
Yep, it's been awful. Not enjoyable at all. Sad thing is we could still be in it if we hadn't dropped bad points the last two games but it is what it is. Losing key players to injury and poor form at this point in the season will kill a team without the squad depth ($$$) of City.
Hope you guys make it!
Yeah City's depth truly makes it close to impossible to knock them off their perch when they're at full strength.
I'm hoping we make it too, I'm keeping my expectations low though. You guys are still up in points, but they have 2 games in hand. Anything can happen. I hope Real Madrid gets the best of them in the CL, City wins a CL and things are only gonna get worse for EU football.
The defenders foot kept him onside.
Yeah I mean obviously I get how the law works but I didn't see any evidence to show that White's foot was even with Stones' shoulder. Plus White was only in that position because he was pushed.
Again, makes no difference because we were abjectly awful tonight, but calling that decision suspect would be putting it kindly.
He's been incredible this season. All you can do is tip the cap and move on...
Kid is gonna bang in 50+ this season...
That wasn't very much fun. City are firing on all cylinders right now and nearly every player for Arsenal was very very bad. It is very funny that Rob Holding scored though.
Hopefully now with the pressure off we can stop playing so scared and you never know, maybe City will lose some games.
More and more smoke to the Nagelsmann to Spurs each day. I don't really watch Bundesliga, what is Nagelsmann's style, approach etc?
If they can hold off on getting him through the door, let's say until next Monday, I'll be grateful. My reds need all the help they can get lol
Even if he's in the door before then I doubt much will change immediately. Maybe energy levels but tactically wouldn't have time to install much of his system.
Won't matter in the long run if they don't actually back him and trim the fat off this squad.
Well that was a shit second half from man united. ETH makes some great subs sometimes but why he took eriksen off and threw the ding dong brigade in weghorst and Fred on no wonder we threw the lead away. Been a better season but this squad is still well off it.
"Ding dong brigade" made me giggle, take your leg! 2-0 leads in soccer, amirite?
I mean you can use beevis and butthead any old acronym to describe them. Weghorst may run a bout but atleast when we had to suffer felliaini he scored us a few goals to make it less depressing.
Worst part is the absolute filth Bruno pulled off after the first spurs goal and it didn't go in that was pure filth and deserved a better finish. 2-0 leads are becoming a theme this season
lol get it
Watch wout weghorst wun awout and make all united fans pout.
Liverpool steal that one there should have put it away but credit to spurs they deserved something there. Jota somehow stays on the pitch after clearing skipp in the head if you ask me don't care if it's accidental he had good sight of it and got him in the head high.
This sport...
Is...
Glorious!
We go again!
#UTFR
🕊️✌🏽
The joke is always on Tottenham
FTFY
Lol Klopp pulled a hamstring going over to celebrate in front of the 4th official 🤣 what a ridiculous match
I laughed so hard. That's a GIF in the making for sure
This ref in Arsenal-Newcastle is just letting players do whatever they want because he doesn't want to get yelled at by the crowd. How have there been no yellows yet? Insane
De Gea doing his best to make sure united throw this away. Piss poor selection from ten Haag as wl why on earth he went with weghorst and Anthony escapes me
It's the hope that kills you....
I was referring to my Reds top 4 chances; however, I'm hoping the Gunners can pull it out somehow...
I know! I'm pulling for Liverpool as well. As far as the title, I'm afraid it's done and dusted at this point. We go again next season!
Hate to say it but Leicester look championship bound unfortunately. Can't say they can have many complaints they have been bang flat
Yeah, they're feet are up on the beach for sure...
Yeah, I suggested how crazy that possibility was back around the end of last year, but still can't believe it.
Brendan Rogers....
Was REALLY REALLY REALLY hoping Arsenal would win the title this year (since LFC are shyte) but they've had a fantastic season nonetheless and hats off to them-they're still the youngest team in the league (I think)-they're a force once again.
2nd youngest behind Southampton. Need a fairly major summer spend but if we can get a bit better injury luck I think we can give it another shot.
Forte Napoli
Balogun to USMNT
Not sure to post this but huge news for USMNT for 2026 hopes.
A huge development in the USMNT never ending search for a quality striker.
Love it. Adds a top level threat to a position of need, and it'll take pressure off the other strikers. I think the expectations put on Pepi were too much too fast and it affected his form.
Pepi is good! Has scored 12 goals in the Eredivisie for a (can't be overstated) truly awful Groningen team. His problem was that his big transfer was to another really bad team in Augsburg that never really gave him a chance. Important to see where he moves this summer.
Balogun is a better player right now and a better prospect, but Pepi just turned 20. He's good
Oh, I know he's good, and has room to grow a ton.
I just think that the weight of being looked to as THE guy for goals for the USMNT in qualifying AND the big signing at a club who consider shithousing for 90 minutes their go to strategy, was probably a bit much all at once for a 19 year old. Probably more the Augsburg move than anything. How they avoid relegation every year is beyond me. They're the Honduras of Germany.
I too would like to relegate Honduras
I'll never understand why he chose to go there. It made very little sense. I hope he stays in Holland and moves to one of the bigger teams
How we pulled this without actually having a manager in place is beyond me. I feared we may have missed out on balogun due to lack of manager/plan at the moment but I'm happy to be proved wrong. US soccer needs to pull its head out of its ass and find a coach sooner and stops twiddling it's thumbs.
Anthony Hudson may not be very good at coaching actual soccer, but his vibes are immaculate. US Soccer Hall of Fame for this alone.
They just hired their "GM" who can't actually start until this summer. Hudson will probably keep coaching through the summer and maybe they'll get someone in before the Gold Cup. International coaching is all vibes-based anyway, so I think it's fine
The thing I keep hearing is that the vibes within the team (with probably the Gio thing aside) are pretty immaculate. Just a bunch of cool young dudes having fun. It's part of how we got Musah. The new guys come in, and immediately feel comfortable. Seems like it's more player based than tied to the coach.
Yes, very true. So the most important thing for a coach is to just not ruin the vibes.
We're all just living in a vibes-based economy, and the USMNT stock is through the roof.
Looks like Marsch is the pick after the GC
Why wait? Wouldn't it make more sense to get him in before that to get the players used to his system as soon as possible?
Yeah it doesn't make any sense really. Some people are speculating that it's because he'll get more money in his buyout from Leeds if he waits. I can't imagine that's the actual reason, but I don't get it. Hopefully we'll here from someone about it soon, because these are our only real games before Copa America so they're really valuable.
The Championship Playoff Final is set (also known as the richest game in football):
Coventry City v Luton Town
Neither club has played in the Premier League since 2001 (and Luton has never played in it after getting relegated from the old First Division in 1992) so this is a nostalgics wet dream.
Incidentally, both were quite good clubs in the early 80s (routinely in the top half of the table) when I lived in England so it's good to see at least one of them back in the big time again.
The winner will join Burnley and Sheffield United in the top flight next season.
Can't say I know much of anything about either team, but whoever wins screams straight back down next year.
This could be the first season in a long while that none of the promoted teams from last season got relegated
Forest the only one not safe at this point but I think they will stay up.
Would be the first time since 2016-2017 to 2017-2018. Newcastle, Brighton, and Huddersfield came up and the next season Swansea, Stoke (good riddance), and West Brom went down.
Luton has a great story considering their recent rise. I'm hoping they pull it off.
Their ground (Kenilworth Road) would be one of the smallest to ever host Premier League football. It's definitely quirky-one of the few I haven't been to in the greater London area.
Oh blue moon
Howay the lads!
Forest officially staying up and City clinch the title from the couch. Tough way for the race to "end" even though it was already basically over.
Arsenal definitely collapsed a bit down the stretch (injuries certainly didn't help) but you have to take your hat off to City. Haven't lost since Spurs at the beginning of Feb. What can you do?
Top 4 race seems all but done as well. United and Newcastle need just a point from two matches to clinch. Last day may be a bit boring. Anyone down for the PL to have playoffs? Maybe for the last relegation spot or for the last Champions league spot?
absolutely not
Did we already talk about this on here? Idk, I personally love the Championship playoffs and I think it would be fun (as long as Arsenal aren't in it). And it would make the PL a ton of money, so I'm surprised they haven't already done it.
I know plenty of other leagues do promotion playoffs and relegation playoffs. You could maybe talk me into 17th and 18th play a one game neutral site playoff to stay up. Other than that, to me the whole point of having the season is that the random matches all add up over the season and your position is what it is without any chance to "punch up" when it counts
Yeah to a certain extent I agree, I just dislike the number of teams who are "on the beach" with several weeks to play because there's no way they can reach Europe and are comfortably safe from relegation. Give a couple more teams a chance. Also would help give smaller teams a chance at making Europe. Is it totally fair? Not really. But it's already unfair, this is just unfair in a different way.
Not sure if there's enough interest to start a new thread, but the US under 20s just won their opening match of the U20 World Cup in Argentina with a stoppage time winner against Ecuador (who are pretty good). A banger of a goal from Jonathan Gomez of Real Sociedad B. IS was comfortably the better team throughout the match.
USA tops the group with 3 shutout victories. Won't know their first knockout opponent until all groups have finished. Also, two key players will be joining for the knockouts after finishing their club seasons. Kevin Paredes from Wolfsburg should start on the right wing and will be really dangerous and Rokas Pukstas from Hajduk Split should slot right into the midfield. A lot will depend on the draw but this team is looking really good and could make a nice run.
USA face New Zealand in the first knockout match on Tuesday. If they advance, they will face the winner of Uruguay-Gambia. After that, Brazil could await in the Semifinals.
Definitely not counting chickens, especially because youth soccer can be even weirder than usual, but it's a much easier path than the other side of the bracket, which includes Colombia, England, Italy, Argentina...
USA comfortable winners 4-0. Looking really strong again, although NZ not a big test. Next up is the winner of Gambia/Uruguay which will take place on Thursday. The QF match will be Saturday, so we will have two extra rest days.
Wow, big upset as Israel knock out Brazil 3-2 after extra time. Brazil went ahead twice but both times Israel equalized and eventually scored the winner.
The winner of the USA/Uruguay match tomorrow will play Israel for a spot in the final. Definitely an upset but Israel looked pretty good to my eye.
Uruguay has a talented team but I think we definitely have a decent chance.
US falls to Uruguay 2-0. Had some spurts of good play against a good Uruguay team, but a big defensive error in transition and an unlucky own goal put us behind the 8 ball. Add in a potential goal accidentally cleared off the line by one of our own players, and it just wasn't their day.
Spurs apparently have the declined the £35m option to buy Kulusevski. Can some Spurs fans explain to me why they are declining? I know this wasn't his best season but he missed a fair bit due to injury iirc? Shown he can do it in there Prem and 35m is a steal in this market for a left footed winger. What am I missing?
Edit: Apparently it's not been reported by a reliable source yet, so I may have jumped the gun. Even so, I don't understand why there is any discussion/speculation at all
Leicester and Leeds go down. Really crazy for Leicester to be promoted, win the league, and be relegated all within 10 years.
As for Leeds, turns out Marsch wasn't the problem! They had a bit of a spike in performance after he was sacked, but then their form went in the toilet. Almost like being promoted from the Championship and then not buying any Premier League level defenders was not a winning formula for success!
Hopefully Tyler Adams can get out of there but don't think there's any way they offload Aaronson. The Champo might do him some good anyway.
THE MIGHTY VILLA ARE IN EUROPE!!! Ok, so they're just in the Mickey Mouse competition, but before Emery, it'd been over a decade since there was a reasonable expectation of a win most times they played, so this has been a very fun season. Very excited to take on possibly the champion of the Liechtenstein Cup or the third placed team from the Faroe Islands.
Looking forward to Pry getting the Hokies back to expecting wins next.
If West Ham can make the final and possibly win it, surely European knockout master Unai Emery can as well.
Roma is one match away from making the Champions League solely off of tournament wins alone. Won the Conference League last year and will qualify in Pot 1 of the UCL if they win the Europa League final despite finishing in 6th last year and this year.
Just a warning though, Emery is not a good coach for league play once everyone figures out his thing. He can absolutely win the cups, but the league performance will be maddening
I think emery is actually underrated as a coach and has a stigma from his arsenal days that I personally think is unfair. He took that job in a bad window of time for the club and has been slated endlessly from the English press for it. Meanwhile he turned villa who under England's pretty boy Gerrard couldn't beat a Catholic schools u17 team from 17th to 7th in only a few months without any major signings. He's a solid manager who with a proper squad can probably do good things for villa and maybe get another shot at a top job one day.
No arguments that the timing was poor and he was judged a little harshly. But, he has almost never performed well in league play at any of the teams he's managed, it's not just the time at Arsenal.
He had a really strong period at the beginning of the Arsenal tenure in which the team massively over performed their underlying numbers. Once the luck dried up, they started to struggle. Again, he is excellent in knockout competitions but his teams ordinarily don't control games enough to consistently succeed in league play.
Villa have been great since he took over, but the underlying numbers don't support their level. Maybe it will be better next season but don't be surprised to see them drop off in the league next year, even if they do go far in the Conf League.
Fantastic ending to a poor season. Excited that we get to continue playing in Europe for a 3rd straight season.
Always nice to raise a European trophy-do they go up to the Europa League next season?
That's right, we go to the Europa league.
COYI!!!!
Congrats on the win! Nice to see some different clubs winning things for a change
Absolutely love this for Moyes, got the ringer treatment unfairly at United and couldnt be happier to see him redeem himself and get a european trophy for the hammers. The bit with him giving his medal to his dad post game was beautiful
And in an ironic move the team who would have been suspended from the CL this season had they not gotten off on a time bar technicality hoist the CL on a night where they could say they got a bit lucky if Lukaku had not reverted to chelsea lukaku this could have been very different. Much different from the last time pep won the CL they did it the scrappy way but survive 1-0 and they wont care in the least. At least until we ever hear about what will happen with the 115 allegations from the PL levied against them earlier this season.
#salt
considering debruyne has been playing on a torn hammy for 2 months and had to be subbed off 30 minutes in I wouldnt call us lucky.
You're right its a real miracle run that the most talented team with the best coach in world football went on this amazing run to hoist the only thing they had yet to win.
Major congrats to Pep and the players they deserved it but the ownership is shady and has been charged for a reason. Unless Lord Sugar comes to the rescue again this will be interesting to see it unfold.
Lol I never once said it was a miracle run but goddamn there's a lot of salt in here. The irony here of course being that united have sniped like 3 deals city were after in the last decade and all of them have been absolute busts. Maybe they're the best players in the world because they have a manager that knows how to use them? Case in point you guys pipped us to Fred Sanchez and maguire (and Ronaldo if you believe the rumors but I dont) players that city had targeted and really wanted, yet they were garbage for you. Do you really think they'd be as bad as they were for United with city? Just admit that city have made some good moves in the last 10 years
As far as ownership goes yes fuck it I'm not thrilled about it, I encourage you to point out a billionaire with good intentions and treats the fans well while caring about the sport though. Maybe Harris at Liverpool? I wouldn't be shocked if he's still a tremendous asshole though, kinda have to be to aggregate that kinda money.
What I really hope happens is that any kind of punishment is a reworking of how global soccer works in that the playing field is leveled and salary caps or transfer caps become a thing. That'll never happen because the elite clubs control the marketing arm and sure as shit don't want that to happen but until that's the case there will never be a level playing field. Like it or not man United have spent stupid money, and don't have some divine right to do so
Many of your critiques are why I follow the Bundesliga, and why most Bundesliga fans hate Leipzig, and to a lesser extent Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, and Hoffenheim. 50+1 keeps the game pure.
I would argue Bayern have a monopoly on that league as well and aren't exactly a well run club
HE LIVES!
This was the most recent thread I could find. What are people thinking about Klopp stepping down? Who should liverpool go after to replace him?
Can we do a 1 for 1 swap with Gregg?
Lol hell no. Besides, Klopp said he doesn't want to be a manager for at least a year and the US team will need someone sooner than that
I'm a little confused about it all. Do we know why he's stepping down after this year?
He said he was just tired of the grind. I believe him. Maybe we'll learn later that there's something more to it but idk
Closed this one because there's this one: https://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2023/august/13/ot-2023-24-premier-league
No matter how i try to access that thread (this link, from search), i get 404 error and Thumbs Down Frank dot gif
It's here: https://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2023/august/13/ot-2023-24-premier-lea.... I added EPL to the title so it would be easier to find in tracker and that changed the URL.