General Premier League Thread 2019-20

ERG89

Am I harsh thinking Kepa was slow there, granted Bellerin should have been closed down better but it wasn't exactly a rasper of a shot.

Quazzie

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Don't really see how that Chelsea goal stands, Abraham is in an offside position and literally has to dodge the ball to not touch it, he's 100% interfering with play.

Directly in the keepers line of sight. I really can't understand how it wasn't given.

LuckyGent88

De Gea gets a massive amount of stick for his mistakes lately but I feel Kepa has been brutal for Chelsea and cost them plenty of points. All for 70 odd million too

Agent Coulson

Leicester & Chelsea surviving off there great starts to the season nearly to far ahead of everyone else to be caught for the CL places and now getting left adrift of Liverpool and City.

~Rebel~

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

De Gea gets a massive amount of stick for his mistakes lately but I feel Kepa has been brutal for Chelsea and cost them plenty of points. All for 70 odd million too

Both deserve plenty of stick for their performances to be honest. Kepa has been fairly atrocious for a while in comparison to the expectation. At least De Gea pulls off wonder saves every so often still, while even at his best Kepa seems fairly average.

I'd say he was a perfectly fine average goalkeeping option and think no more about him, except for the fact that he's the most expensive keeper in the world. For the money, he's a huge disappointment.

ERG89

David Luiz looking like a wrestler selling himself watching a match. Clenched fists & clearly showing that he's on camera

citytillidie

BT taking cues from the WWE showing someone watching on the TV in the back lol

ERG89

citytillidie wrote: »

BT taking cues from the WWE showing someone watching on the TV in the back lol

He's not standing up & watching the TV at an odd angle but he gave it gusto.
Deserved result for Arsenal, Chelsea blew that game tho.

~Rebel~

citytillidie wrote: »

BT taking cues from the WWE showing someone watching on the TV in the back lol

Was just waiting for Jody Morris to charge in and smash him from behind with a steel chair!

Fromvert

ERG89 wrote: »

Am I harsh thinking Kepa was slow there, granted Bellerin should have been closed down better but it wasn't exactly a rasper of a shot.

If he moves his feet he gets it no problem. Throws his body instead. He's pretty average.

If these stats are correct Chelsea need to be looking for someone else. The worst save percentage in the PL and he's 127th out of 132 for keepers in the top leagues in Europe

https://www.givemesport.com/1539468-kepa-arrizabalaga-has-the-worst-save-percentage-of-any-goalkeeper-in-the-premier-league

theoneeyedman

Is a poor enough keeper for a supposedly big team. Very average, as indeed I believe is Tammy Abraham. Good enough for a midtable side IMHO, but not for a side looking to win league titles.

What's the story with sending off? Is the double jeopardy rule not any more (ie penalty + red card)?

Mushy

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Is a poor enough keeper for a supposedly big team. Very average, as indeed I believe is Tammy Abraham. Good enough for a midtable side IMHO, but not for a side looking to win league titles.

What's the story with sending off? Is the double jeopardy rule not any more (ie penalty + red card)?

It would be a yellow if there was an attempt at the ball, always been this way.

Osmosis Jones

Haven't seen much mention of this but we could've had the most dramatic ending possible here, last seconds of the match this looks like a hand ball from Lacazette inside the box, ref blows for full time about a second after but there could and maybe should have been a penalty to end the game. Probably fair that it's not called after the uncalled Abraham offside for Chelsea's second though.

~Rebel~

Spotted that at the time too, though it does look more on the side of accidental. Looks like it's definitely gonna hit his arm regardless, and he kinda tries to pull his shoulder back, but there's just no avoiding it. Could see some refs (Atkinson) giving it though!

The_Kew_Tour

Just over month ago Southampton were in bottom three, now they are 3 points off fifth.

eagle eye

All blaming Ole again when it's the higher ups that are the problem at United.
Ferguson had the club set up the way he wanted it before they came in. As soon as he went they were never giving that power to another manager.
So it really doesn't matter whose the head coach until the poison at the top is sorted out.
Only then can you decide if the head coach is up to the job.

~Rebel~

eagle eye wrote: »

All blaming Ole again when it's the higher ups that are the problem at United.

Plenty of blame to go around. Ultimately - are the collection of players he has playing as well as they could be? Aside from the few games where they get to be plucky underdogs, the answer to that has to be a fairly resounding 'no'.

Everything above him needs to be better too, and that absolutely has to happen for Utd to really progress - but let's say that all gets sorted, has Ole showed anything at all, ever, to make the case that he's the man you want in charge of a proper long term rebuild of the team and ethos at a club aspiring to be at the very top level? Again, that'd have to be a fairly hard 'no'. As is always put forward, if he were to be fired at some point, would any even half decent team be looking to bring him in? I really doubt it.

I mean even just under his command this season, he's constantly putting his players at serious risk for ill-judged short term gain. Pogba was just coming back, gets stupidly overplayed in games he reallyyy didn't need to be, and is then ruled out for months as a result. Mctominay is recovering from an injury, gets played too soon, misses months. Rashford is dealing with a serious back issue, had felt severe discomfort during the previous game, and gets needlessly risked, unsurprisingly makes it waaay worse, and will now miss the best part of the season. Seems every aspect of Ole's judgement is poor. All he has to cling to for positivity in his work this season is a few instances where they managed to counterpunch a couple of bigger teams. But against the smaller teams they are undeniably better equipped than, they look like they haven't a clue what the plan is.

eagle eye

~Rebel~ wrote:

Plenty of blame to go around. Ultimately - are the collection of players he has playing as well as they could be? Aside from the few games where they get to be plucky underdogs, the answer to that has to be a fairly resounding 'no'.

No use quoting all your post because there's not much in it only about players being brought back from injury too soon. How are you putting that on him? Surely the medical staff and fitness staff have an input into whether a player is ready to return?
You've seen a massive improvement in a couple of players since he took over. Rashford has become a good finisher, Martial too. Fred is looking good in midfield. Pogba has played his best football since he came to United under Solksjaer. Victor Lindelof is another who has improved.
I'm not saying that Solksjaer is the answer btw, just saying that where United fans should be looking is above him. If that gets sorted and things don't work out then it's time to get rid of Ole.

~Rebel~

eagle eye wrote: »

No use quoting all your post because there's not much in it

Wow, burn.

prettyboy81

Huge chance for Ole tonight to close the gap to 3 points on Chelsea tonight in 4th Spot battle.

These are the opportunities he needs to seize with United to keep the pressure on Frankie.

TitianGerm

Good results for Villa and Bournemouth last night. Getting a little tighter down there now. Brighton being pulled back into the mix and if West Ham don't win their games in hand they will have a bit of a fight.

gimli2112

TitianGerm wrote: »

Good results for Villa and Bournemouth last night. Getting a little tighter down there now. Brighton being pulled back into the mix and if West Ham don't win their games in hand they will have a bit of a fight.

All the teams I thought we were going to pick up easy points from are playing amazing.

Meanwhile, Mourinho is recreating the magic he had at Utd. It's a little early to be kicking off, I can't be this lucky.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1231644/Tottenham-news-Jose-Mourinho-tactics-training-sessions-Tanguy-Ndombele

Iused2likebusts

eagle eye wrote: »

No use quoting all your post because there's not much in it only about players being brought back from injury too soon. How are you putting that on him? Surely the medical staff and fitness staff have an input into whether a player is ready to return?
You've seen a massive improvement in a couple of players since he took over. Rashford has become a good finisher, Martial too. Fred is looking good in midfield. Pogba has played his best football since he came to United under Solksjaer. Victor Lindelof is another who has improved.
I'm not saying that Solksjaer is the answer btw, just saying that where United fans should be looking is above him. If that gets sorted and things don't work out then it's time to get rid of Ole.

Lindelof is not improving. He constantly gets bullied in games. They definetly need an upgrade on him.

retalivity

gimli2112 wrote: »

All the teams I thought we were going to pick up easy points from are playing amazing.

Meanwhile, Mourinho is recreating the magic he had at Utd. It's a little early to be kicking off, I can't be this lucky.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1231644/Tottenham-news-Jose-Mourinho-tactics-training-sessions-Tanguy-Ndombele

Still a baffling decision to replace poch with him.

gimli2112

He's still trading on his reputation but I agree it was strange. It may have been to get a short term win but it's looking like this is now beyond him too.

LineOfBeauty

Weird game last night between Chelsea and Arsenal. Both sides have glaring weaknesses but, for the first time in a very long time, I think Arsenal look better placed to come out of it stronger and are probably better placed to challenge the top 2. In Arteta I think they may have found the real deal and he's starting to look like a better bet than any of the other coaches of the top sides (Klopp and Guardiola aside).

I think Chelsea have a great group of youngsters coming through, but I do wonder if their squad is a bit short on real star quality at the moment. Defensively they look so suspect too, conceding that late goal to Bellerin wasn't even that surprising given what's gone before this season. Perhaps Kepa should do better, but it's tough to criticise a man that ridiculously handsome so I wont. All in all though, was very impressed with Arteta last night, his team kept playing, kept finding chances and didn't crumble where in the past you think they would have.

MD1990

Wolves could make 4th spot this season if they win Thursday.

Will probably have a few players in after January too.

gimli2112

MD1990 wrote: »

Wolves could make 4th spot this season if they win Thursday.

Will probably have a few players in after January too.

They could probably make top 4 even if they lose on Thursday and I'm totally fine with that.

pjohnson

Nuno has been begging for signings. Their squad was tiny already, only 19 senior players or something and Cutrone and Vallejo have left with no one coming in yet.

Cork Boy 53

MD1990 wrote: »

Wolves could make 4th spot this season if they win Thursday.

Will probably have a few players in after January too.

The further Wolves go in the Europa League the less their chances will be of finishing in the top 4 unless Chelsea or Leicester have a total collapse. The squad is not big enough to challenge for both.

Dr. Bre

Win the Europa and they won’t need top 4

8-10

MD1990 wrote: »

Wolves could make 4th spot this season if they win Thursday.

Let's not entertain the possibility of them winning on Thursday

Utopia Parkway

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

De Gea gets a massive amount of stick for his mistakes lately but I feel Kepa has been brutal for Chelsea and cost them plenty of points. All for 70 odd million too

He doesn't seem to make too many big errors but he doesn't seem to make many good saves when he has to either.

Harry Palmr

Wolves were supposed to be heavily into Hwang from Salzburg so dunno what's happened there. They could be a top 4 side but probably need to exit EL quickly to have a plausible chance.

Soton was mentioned, I think this is a case of them never being actually as bad as most of the results, then making certain changes which the opposition maybe not have fully cottoned onto combined with Ings going on that run of match winning goals. As such they may now start to revert to the mean.

tayto lover

LineOfBeauty wrote: »

Weird game last night between Chelsea and Arsenal. Both sides have glaring weaknesses but, for the first time in a very long time, I think Arsenal look better placed to come out of it stronger and are probably better placed to challenge the top 2. In Arteta I think they may have found the real deal and he's starting to look like a better bet than any of the other coaches of the top sides (Klopp and Guardiola aside).

I think Chelsea have a great group of youngsters coming through, but I do wonder if their squad is a bit short on real star quality at the moment. Defensively they look so suspect too, conceding that late goal to Bellerin wasn't even that surprising given what's gone before this season. Perhaps Kepa should do better, but it's tough to criticise a man that ridiculously handsome so I wont. All in all though, was very impressed with Arteta last night, his team kept playing, kept finding chances and didn't crumble where in the past you think they would have.

I’m pleased with the fight and determination Arteta has put into the team but a good carpenter needs proper tools and we need investment especially into the center of the defence and in midfield.

LineOfBeauty

tayto lover wrote: »

I’m pleased with the fight and determination Arteta has put into the team but a good carpenter needs proper tools and we need investment especially into the center of the defence and in midfield.

Oh ye that's for sure. I don't think the squad is at the same level as Chelsea or Spurs but I do think Arteta is a better bet than either Lampard or modern day Mou. You'd think at least 2 starting centre backs to go along with Sokratis is a must, at least 1 controller in the midfield and possibly one or two other squad positions to fill too. At the moment though I think Arteta is doing a very good job with what he has been given.

Fitz*

Just to add to the earlier goalkeeper discussions, Alisson has saved 33 of the last 34 shots he has faced since the end of November. 7 clean sheets now in a row too. No question, he is the best goalkeeper in the league.

Overall:
https://twitter.com/PremLeaguePanel/status/1219755409466183682?s=19

RugbyLover123

That looked offside to me on first viewing and not even checked by VAR?

ongarite

Same, looked offside from the TV angle available

Mushy

RugbyLover123 wrote: »

That looked offside to me on first viewing and not even checked by VAR?

Think it was checked but hes behind the ball

Mushy

Vardy injured now. Be a second sub this half for them too

Harry Palmr

Vardy hamstring could be Leicester's season over.

and he's back on! How long do they let him stay on.

Guy:Incognito

Mad to come back on, how many times have players pulled up trying to run off hamstring injuries. Better off just going off.

EDIT. Down again. Physio should have told him to get off in the first place.

ERG89

Zabaleta in that race was like a man racing a racehorse, got absolutely burned out of it.

Harry Palmr

Who needs Vardy?

eigrod

2-0. West Ham are worse under Moyes than they were before

Loafing Oaf

Great footballing intelligence displayed in the buildup to that Leicester goal

gimli2112

eigrod wrote: »

West Ham

are worse under Moyes than they were before

the spoiler is interchangeable

eigrod

gimli2112 wrote: »

the spoiler is interchangeable

He’s a WINNER though

BullBlackNova

2-1 now. Noble from the spot.

Peno might be soft but Ndidi making an absolutely dim and unnecessary challenge on Haller when he's running away from the goal.

Schmeichel lost his head too and got a booking for dissent. He seemed to be shouting at the assistants after too. Leicester need to calm down here or they could lose control of a game they were comfortable in.