General Premier League Thread 2019-20

Ardent

£130M on Maguire and Wan Bissaka. Farking hell.

Nijmegen

Watching the stadium empty out feels like it should be a turning point for Utd.

Peatys

After 24 matches last season, 6th
After 24 matches this season, 5th, 6pts off 4th

Progress.

ShamoBuc

Between Everton last night and Utd tonight, the Premier league is giving us some proper comedy gold.
Long may Ole continue.

j8wk2feszrnpao

Commentators need to stop with "this young team" stuff, as if Ole is dealing with a bunch of teenage kids. It's like Neville still referring to Lingard as a young player.

de Gea 29
Wan-Bissaka 22
Jones 27
Maguire 26
Williams 19
Fred 26
Matić 31
Pereira 24
Mata 31
James 22
Martial 24

Avg 25.5

tanko

Has Ole given his interview yet?

Agent Coulson

Man U share price up by 1/3 (over $450m) the last 3 months that's all that matters still the richest club in the world.

Nijmegen

Interesting to see Rio has (effectively) turned the screw on Ole, fed up at this stage.

Nijmegen

Nijmegen wrote: »

Interesting to see Rio has (effectively) turned the screw on Ole, fed up at this stage.

Hasn't gone there just yet.

Iused2likebusts

2 great wins on the bounce for Burnley.

Grueller

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

McManaman agrees with me that this is not a competitive Premier League. Gained respect for him for saying that.

Of course it's not when one team is walking away with it. Competitive means it would be close, this ain't.

Agent Coulson

Listening to one of the pods over the last few days Ole invited Keane to come in and speak with the squad and had him over for dinner to discuss what Roy though.

I wonder is he doing the same with the other Man U players in the Media.


If he is it's no surprise they won't say anything negative about him.

Nijmegen

The interview was painful. You can see the commentary team and journalists almost reluctant in the pile on because it looks like he’s being crushed by the job. Didn’t have much in the way of answers there.

yourdeadwright

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Listening to one of the pods over the last few days Ole invited Keane to come in and speak with the squad and had him over for dinner to discuss what Roy though.

I wonder is he doing the same with the other Man U players in the Media.


If he is it's no surprise they won't say anything negative about him.

He was a team mate of every ex United player currently on the media circuit so of course they'll say nothing
Also very telling is only Gary Nev say anything and about the board and it S because he's the only one not interested in working for United the rest all want jobs so won't go there

Salary Negotiator

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

McManaman agrees with me that this is not a competitive Premier League. Gained respect for him for saying that.

Lack of competitiveness doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of quality.

Fitz*

Since becoming permanent manager, Burnley have won more games in the league than Man United have. They've also played less games.

Agent Coulson

As a Liverpool fan seeing Ole age and visibly whither crumble and stumble while not knowing where to look or what to say in each interview is a thing of beauty for the things he said about Liverpool while manager there over the last 13 months.

Mr.Nice Guy

Salary Negotiator wrote: »

Lack of competitiveness doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of quality.

The lack of quality was precisely his point. It was put to him by the co-commentator that United were still only a few points off fourth, and he made the point that this showed how the standards have dropped compared to previous seasons. And he's right.

ShamoBuc

Agent Coulson wrote: »

As a Liverpool fan seeing Ole age and visibly whither crumble and stumble while not knowing where to look or what to say in each interview is a thing of beauty for the things he said about Liverpool while manager there over the last 13 months.

I actually feel sorry for him.

Looks like a broken man.

Hope he stays on though.

Fitz*

Feel sorry for Ole?

"Couldn't care less"

Salary Negotiator

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

The lack of quality was precisely his point. It was put to him by the co-commentator that United were still only a few points off fourth, and he made the point that this showed how the standards have dropped compared to previous seasons. And he's right.

Didn’t see it but lack of quality is a different argument, your post said it was not competitive.

Shifting goalposts.

.G.

Na, feck him. He's not a very nice man, compare and contrast how he spoke about LFC and how Chris Wilder did for example. No humility, no grace, no respect.

Widdensushi

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

McManaman agrees with me that this is not a competitive Premier League. Gained respect for him for saying that.

that he agrees with you ? Fair play to him for giving you credit, was it a direct conversation or is he just lurking on boards ?

j8wk2feszrnpao

ShamoBuc wrote: »

I actually feel sorry for him.

Looks like a broken man.

Hope he stays on though.

I don’t feel sorry for him.
Imagine what he’s been paid a week, and a large lump sum on the way if fired.

TitianGerm

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

The lack of quality was precisely his point. It was put to him by the co-commentator that United were still only a few points off fourth, and he made the point that this showed how the standards have dropped compared to previous seasons. And he's right.

Or the league is more competitive because it seems all teams can take points off the each other?

tanko

Such waffle from Lineker and Phil Neville. Football's cyclical says Lineker. It is says Neville. Brilliant analysis.

theoneeyedman

FitzShane wrote: »

Feel sorry for Ole?

"Couldn't care less"

Hard to feel sorry for him.
Won the LOTTO landing a top EPL job given his track record, plucked from obscurity in the Norwegian league, along with Phelan who was in some backwater down under. He'll be OK, will get a big payoff eventually unless he's a complete idiot. Crazy appointment though, notwithstanding the other issues at the club.

8-10

Since March 10th, United have dropped 57 points

Liverpool in the same period have dropped 2 points

Mr.Nice Guy

Salary Negotiator wrote: »

Didn’t see it but lack of quality is a different argument, your post said it was not competitive.

Shifting goalposts.

It's not a different argument. The lack of quality evidently results in the lack of competitiveness.

Titian Germ wrote:

Or the league is more competitive because it seems all teams can take points off the each other?

They can't take many points off the team in first.

Father Hernandez

ShamoBuc wrote: »

I actually feel sorry for him.

Looks like a broken man.

Hope he stays on though.

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Hard to feel sorry for him.
Won the LOTTO landing a top EPL job given his track record, plucked from obscurity in the Norwegian league, along with Phelan who was in some backwater down under. He'll be OK, will get a big payoff eventually unless he's a complete idiot. Crazy appointment though, notwithstanding the other issues at the club.

As a United fan, I do as it's plain as day he's not close to being qualified or good enough.

He's got his dream job and currently living a nightmare wanting to replicate Ferguson. It's not going to happen in his wildest dreams.

Guy:Incognito

Didnt realise Molde had won the league last year, after Ole left in pre season. Their first title since the year before he took over.........

Agent Coulson

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Didnt realise Molde had won the league last year, after Ole left in pre season. Their first title since the year before he took over.........

Could of the journo's on podcasts a few weeks back were saying he was close to being sacked there and Molde couldn't believe there luck when Man U came in for him and paid £9m for him.

j8wk2feszrnpao

TitianGerm wrote: »

Or the league is more competitive because it seems all teams can take points off the each other?

Looking at Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and PL, teams in 2nd/3rd/4th, ppg all seem to be close enough.
It’s just the 1st placed team in the PL are setting a different standard.

TitianGerm

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

They can't take many points off the team in first.

So because the current European and club world champions are having an excellent season the PL isn't completive, even though the other 19 teams have all taken points off each other?

magma69

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

It's not a different argument. The lack of quality evidently results in the lack of competitiveness.



They can't take many points off the team in first.

I know you're hurting right now but this carry on embarrassing.

.G.

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Could of the journo's on podcasts a few weeks back were saying he was close to being sacked there and Molde couldn't believe there luck when Man U came in for him and paid £9m for him.

Haha, tremendous.

Mr.Nice Guy

munstermagic11 wrote: »

Looking at Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and PL, teams in 2nd/3rd/4th, ppg all seem to be close enough.
It’s just the 1st placed team in the PL are setting a different standard.

Barca - level on points with Madrid - lost 3 games.

Juve - 4 points clear of Inter - lost 1 game.

Leipzig - 4 points ahead of Bayern - lost 2 games.

PSG - 8 points clear of Marseille - lost 3 games.

Liverpool - 13 points clear of Man City (2 games in hand) - lost 0 games.

Tells the story.

magma69 wrote:

I know you're hurting right now but this carry on embarrassing.

:rolleyes:

TitianGerm

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Barca - level on points with Madrid - lost 3 games.

Juve - 4 points clear of Inter - lost 1 game.

Leipzig - 4 points ahead of Bayern - lost 2 games.

PSG - 8 points clear of Marseille - lost 3 games.

Liverpool - 13 points clear of Man City (2 games in hand) - lost 0 games.

Tells the story.



:rolleyes:

Sure does. Clearly shows that Liverpool are the best team in Europe.

Fitz*

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Could of the journo's on podcasts a few weeks back were saying he was close to being sacked there and Molde couldn't believe there luck when Man U came in for him and paid £9m for him.

Can you remember which podcast this was? Episode even?

Harry Palmr

The league is actually damned competitive once you remove Liverpool from the discussion. Everyone else is having to fight for points which is why teams that are well managed and run are doing well among the supposed makeweights - rather than decrying the state of Arsenal, Spurs and Man Utd we should be applauding Leicester City, Wolves, Sheffield Utd, and even the likes of Brighton and Palace for not withering when they play Billy Big Budget. I now expect the Blades to get a point at the least with practically every game, Wolves likewise. Its great.

The cramped spread of points at this stage of the season may or may not be unprecedented in the modern era (esp with three points to play for) but it's sure more interesting than just having the usual suspects in all their presumed sub-strata.

BTW Man City are not having a terrible season either - they are heading for a "standard" 2nd place points tally as things stand.

ERG89

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Barca - level on points with Madrid - lost 3 games.

Juve - 4 points clear of Inter - lost 1 game.

Leipzig - 4 points ahead of Bayern - lost 2 games.

PSG - 8 points clear of Marseille - lost 3 games.

Liverpool - 13 points clear of Man City (2 games in hand) - lost 0 games.

Tells the story.



:rolleyes:

I give Man United better odds of winning their league than Marseille.
I hope I'm wrong but history says Leipzig & Inter will likely fade away too, recent history says Bayern can win their league without having or respecting their manager & Inter signing Ashley Young & Victor Moses in 2020 is so sad to see a Serie A title challenger do.
Didn't Barca struggle to beat f**king Ibiza tonight too :pac:

Salary Negotiator

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

It's not a different argument. The lack of quality evidently results in the lack of competitiveness.

Of course it’s a different argument, the Championship is more competitive but it’s obviously a lower quality.

Liverpool are an outlier in terms of quality, the rest are much the same as every other year.

Enjoying the non competitive league myself

Long may it continue

8-10

TitianGerm wrote: »

So because the current European and club world champions are having an excellent season the PL isn't completive, even though the other 19 teams have all taken points off each other?

If it's Liverpool, yes.

j8wk2feszrnpao

Harry Palmr wrote: »

The league is actually damned competitive once you remove Liverpool from the discussion. Everyone else is having to fight for points which is why teams that are well managed and run are doing well among the supposed makeweights - rather than decrying the state of Arsenal, Spurs and Man Utd we should be applauding Leicester City, Wolves, Sheffield Utd, and even the likes of Brighton and Palace for not withering when they play Billy Big Budget. I now expect the Blades to get a point at the least with practically every game, Wolves likewise. Its great.

The cramped spread of points at this stage of the season may or may not be unprecedented in the modern era (esp with three points to play for) but it's sure more interesting than just having the usual suspects in all their presumed sub-strata.

BTW Man City are not having a terrible season either - they are heading for a "standard" 2nd place points tally as things stand.

And all 4 PL teams are in the last 16 of the CL.
With all 3 PL teams into the last 32 of the EL.

Talksport were talking earlier about Spurs players not happy with Mourinho already.

munstermagic11

munstermagic11 wrote: »

And all 4 PL teams are in the last 16 of the CL.
With all 3 PL teams into the last 32 of the EL.

It's a poor league and non competitive depending on who you support :cool:

j8wk2feszrnpao

6 wrote: »

It's a poor league and non competitive depending on who you support :cool:

So true.
Apart from 1 team, it’s ultra competitive.
And all 7 of their European qualified teams are still in their European competitions, so must have quality.

Mr.Nice Guy

TitianGerm wrote: »

Sure does. Clearly shows that Liverpool are the best team in Europe.

Brave comment to make in January. We'll see how well it ages.

Harry Palmr wrote:

The league is actually damned competitive once you remove Liverpool from the discussion. Everyone else is having to fight for points which is why teams that are well managed and run are doing well among the supposed makeweights - rather than decrying the state of Arsenal, Spurs and Man Utd we should be applauding Leicester City, Wolves, Sheffield Utd, and even the likes of Brighton and Palace for not withering when they play Billy Big Budget. I now expect the Blades to get a point at the least with practically every game, Wolves likewise. Its great.

The cramped spread of points at this stage of the season may or may not be unprecedented in the modern era (esp with three points to play for) but it's sure more interesting than just having the usual suspects in all their presumed sub-strata.

BTW Man City are not having a terrible season either - they are heading for a "standard" 2nd place points tally as things stand.

Why remove Liverpool from the discussion? This argument could be made about Ligue 1 - remove PSG and you have an interesting league where everyone can take points off each other - but the dismissive retort to that would be that it's a 'farmer's league'. Trouble is, even the French farmers have inflicted more losses in the past year than their English counterparts.

Recall too last year's FA Cup final: Man City 6-0 Watford. Was that competitive?

Salary Negotiator wrote:

Of course it’s a different argument, the Championship is more competitive but it’s obviously a lower quality.

Liverpool are an outlier in terms of quality, the rest are much the same as every other year.

You missed the point, which is that the quality of the Premier League's other top 6 sides have regressed, leading to a lack of competitiveness.

Laughable to suggest the rest are the same as every other year. What Chelsea, Tottenham, Man United, Arsenal, or even Man City fan would agree with that?

munstermagic11 wrote: »

So true.
Apart from 1 team, it’s ultra competitive.
And all 7 of their European qualified teams are still in their European competitions, so must have quality.

Man City played Watford twice in May and September in the FA Cup Final and league respectively. It ended up 14-0 on aggregate.

This is "ultra competitive" apparently.

8-10

After 12 games Southampton were in 19th place with 8 defeats having lost one game 9-0 at home to Leicester. They're now 9th in great form and beat Leicester in the away game.

Watford had zero wins in their first 10 games and were rock bottom. Now had a super month and might survive.

Everybody seems capable of beating everyone else this season outside of Liverpool.