General Premier League Thread 2020-21 - Mod Notes in 1st post. [Updated 17/12/20]

Esse85

That OGS interview was embarrassing.

rob316

~Rebel~ wrote: »

From a Liverpool perspective, I’d have preferred a Utd win - I just can’t see Utd winning the league this season, whereas city are always capable of reeling off 15 or 20 wins on the bounce if they get their **** together. While they’re playing poorly I want them dropping as many points as possible.

City haven't managed to string together 4 or 5 wins on the bounce since they last won the league. There is nothing to suggest they can add consistency like that. Bar the standard 5-0 drubbings of the usual suspects, pep looks fresh out of ideas.

~Rebel~

rob316 wrote: »

City haven't managed to string together 4 or 5 wins on the bounce since they last won the league. There is nothing to suggest they can add consistency like that. Bar the standard 5-0 drubbings of the usual suspects, pep looks fresh out of ideas.

This season, 4 or 5 wins on the bounce regularly is all it will take for a serious challenge.

They’ve been waaaay below their best, awful by their standards, and they’re still only 5 points behind.

They’re still one of the major challengers, so the more points they drop, the happier I’ll be.

Shanotheslayer

Siggy scores a Pen

1-0 Everton

rob316

The pogba situation sums up United right now. He is thrashing them in public through his agent regularly and they still start him while he offers nothing. Mourinho knew he was trouble pitted himself against him and he lost. Ferguson would of stuck him in the reserves and sold him first opportunity. Sakho at Liverpool was there best defender at the time, Klopp didn't like his attitude and got rid of him. Ya need to be ruthless

tinpib

Lovely flying forearm from Mendy there.

JPA

First dodgy bit of keeping from Mendy I have seen.

Agent Coulson

Good day of football that was not.

Nice result Everton!

8-10

Everton good value for that win. Werner was completely anonymous when he went right hand side.

Still think Werner will click, Havertz too, and they'll be hard to take points off but it's just not happening yet for Chelsea

TitianGerm

https://twitter.com/ManUnitedZone_/status/1337844412303470593?s=19

The man's delusional. They beat City three times last season didn't they.

Agent Coulson

Roy vs Jose tomorrow might give the Man U/City a run for its money on most boring game of the weekend.

Both managers sitting back hoping to catch the other on the break.

DVDM93

Chelsea are yet to beat a top 10 team this season, it's December.

Chelsea’s 6 wins this season;
18th Burnley
14th Leeds
20th Sheff Utd
11th Newcastle
13th Crystal Palace
16th Brighton

Chelsea vs top 10 teams: 0 wins, 3 draws & 2 losses.

theoneeyedman

DVDM93 wrote: »

Chelsea are yet to beat a top 10 team this season, it's December.

Chelsea’s 6 wins this season;
18th Burnley
14th Leeds
20th Sheff Utd
11th Newcastle
13th Crystal Palace
16th Brighton

Chelsea vs top 10 teams: 0 wins, 3 draws & 2 losses.

But but but..... Frank Lampard....... and and and.... Mason Mount..... Young players..... Oh my God...... What will the Media say??

Tongue in cheek alright, but Frank is certainly a media darling, and has got a very easy ride so far. Roman has been very good to him, but I'd wonder how much leeway he will actually get in the long run unless he does something of substance. He's been given huge money to spend on top of what was a more than decent squad anyway, with a stream of talent coming from a well resourced and well run academy.
I suppose the question is 'has the Emporer got any clothes'?

Shanotheslayer

There's a solution to avoiding the English Bias lads, I recommend doing it as it seems to frustrate people every week.

Why do people care so much what the English media say? Of course they're going to bias to their own.

tanko

Esse85 wrote: »

That OGS interview was embarrassing.

All his interviews are embarrassing. He hasn't a clue what's going on. If Man Utd had no manager telling them what to do they couldn't be any worse.
It's like as if they picked a random person from the crowd and gave them the managers job.

Fromvert

~Rebel~ wrote: »

This season, 4 or 5 wins on the bounce regularly is all it will take for a serious challenge.

They’ve been waaaay below their best, awful by their standards, and they’re still only 5 points behind.

They’re still one of the major challengers, so the more points they drop, the happier I’ll be.

This is their level and it has been for 18 months. City are an 80pt team now at best, they're worse than last year in every attacking metric there is. How long will it take for people to realise City are a shell of the 100pt team.

Sterling for example looks shot, no speed, touch is awful (worse than usual). Aguero can't get fit. Laporte riding the pine.

Look at their run of fixtures between West Brom this week and West Brom in the new year. Southampton, Newcastle, Everton, Chelsea, Brighton, Palace.

By the time they get to West Brom again they'll be further behind.

It's going to be an 82-86pt winner. They're five points back already! They're not reeling off wins this year, no one likely is. This will be a win by attrition.

gimli2112

rob316 wrote: »

The pogba situation sums up United right now. He is thrashing them in public through his agent regularly and they still start him while he offers nothing. Mourinho knew he was trouble pitted himself against him and he lost. Ferguson would of stuck him in the reserves and sold him first opportunity. Sakho at Liverpool was there best defender at the time, Klopp didn't like his attitude and got rid of him. Ya need to be ruthless

I didn't agree with that at the time, he was probably our best defender. Not playing Andy Robertson for months but Moreno instead. Applauding the Kop after drawing 1-1 with West Brom. The over exuberance on the touchline. Running on the pitch after Origi scored against the Toffees.
Dreadful manager.

Nalz

tanko wrote: »

It's like as if they picked a random person from the crowd and gave them the managers job.

Wow

Tipsy McSwagger

gimli2112 wrote: »

I didn't agree with that at the time, he was probably our best defender. Not playing Andy Robertson for months but Moreno instead. Applauding the Kop after drawing 1-1 with West Brom. The over exuberance on the touchline. Running on the pitch after Origi scored against the Toffees.
Dreadful manager.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha

tanko

tanko wrote: »

All his interviews are embarrassing. He hasn't a clue what's going on. If Man Utd had no manager telling them what to do they couldn't be any worse.
It's like as if they picked a random person from the crowd and gave them the managers job.

You'd think a random person from the crowd might have improved by now though, it's been 2 years...

marklazarcovic

gimli2112 wrote: »

Dreadful manager.

Dreadful fans, dreadful club, dreadful city..I wouldn't change a single thing right now

8-10

Fromvert wrote: »

How long will it take for people to realise City are a shell of the 100pt team.

Max points they can get from here out is 100 with a 27 game winning run.

PsychoPete

I'd say poor Sheffield will be in trouble again today, they seem destined to go back to the championship

Grayditch

Hearing of Jota's injury doesn't fill me with hope for Liverpool keeping up with Spurs for the next couple of months to be honest. Who knows how it'll go, but I see a lot of point-dropping draws for Liverpool. Jota has been vital at nullifying the effects of Liverpools injury disaster and now he's... injured.

doc_17

Man Utd and City, to a lesser extent, were cowardly last night. You have to try and win these wins for at some part of the match.

8-10

Yeah I think even before Jota injury the squad just looked too bare.

The injury list this season has just been outrageous and the upcoming fixture period is where we'll see points slip away for sure.

DM_7

doc_17 wrote: »

Man Utd and City, to a lesser extent, were cowardly last night. You have to try and win these wins for at some part of the match.

Lots of fearful play.

United were same v Chelsea and Arsenal. Have scored one goal (a peno) at OT in 4 games v Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and now City.

Man City v Arsenal, v Liverpool and v Spurs were not much better than the zero yesterday.

Chelsea v Spurs was another 0-0.

eagle eye

All these giving out about OGS. What is an acceptable season for you with the current United squad?

TitianGerm

eagle eye wrote: »

All these giving out about OGS. What is an acceptable season for you with the current United squad?

They shouldn't be finishing below 4th with the money they've spent on players and the wages they pay.

is_that_so

The bottom 3 looks it already has two of the teams likely to be relegated. Sheffield United have no luck at all.

DVDM93

I'd say he's jealous of teams that can win games too.

Sheffield on their way to another loss here, 3-0 down V Southampton.

If they stay going as they are they'll be on course to break Derby's record of lowest points in a Premier Leagie season (11)

All is not well at Sheffield, what's going on Chris?

https://twitter.com/Blades1889_com/status/1337430243653652482?s=20

Agent Coulson

Southampton go 3 up and move into 3rd place.

Sheff Utd are going down and with a record low points total the way they are going.

Father Hernandez

eagle eye wrote: »

All these giving out about OGS. What is an acceptable season for you with the current United squad?

This season.

Minimum top 4 comfortably.

Minimum Round of 16 Champions League.

Minimum FA Cup SF.

With a view to actually be title contenders in the next 12/24 months.

Although the owners have no interest in actually being title contenders, for the money that has been spent and the players in the squad, it should be expected.

Unfortunately I just don't see it happening.

JPA

Has there ever been as team as doomed as Sheffield United? They are gone.

Shanotheslayer

JPA wrote: »

Has there ever been as team as doomed as Sheffield United? They are gone.

Derby

jacool

Big games for Spurs and Liverpool today.
After Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs not turning up yesterday, its the ideal chance to open up a 5, 6, 7, 8 point gap to perceived main challengers. No offence meant to Southampton, who play great football, but I can't see them doing a Leicester in 2021.
Scrappy 1-0s the order of the afternoon.

PsychoPete

They spent 23 million on Brewster, I guessing they hoped he'd be the one to get goals for them. Can't see them staying up

Father Hernandez

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Derby

Had a look there, even Derby that season had 6 points in their first 12 games.

Sheffield United will be 1 point in 12 after today.

8 of their games they've only lost by 1 goal.

Hard to believe people were actually talking about them qualifying for Europe 6 months ago.

DVDM93

Father Hernandez wrote: »

Minimum Round of 16 Champions League.

Even after the draw was made?

To be fair, ye were landed with the 'Group of Death'.

I'd consider PSG & RB Leipzig (even after Werner leaving) to be better teams than Manchester United tbh.

It's easy to say where United SHOULD be given the amount of money they have spent & the wages that they pay. However, the simple fact is that they are not.

I'd be happy with 3rd place there tbh & a decent run in the Europa.

Father Hernandez

DVDM93 wrote: »

Even after the draw was made?

To be fair, ye were landed with the 'Group of Death'.

I'd consider PSG & RB Leipzig (even after Werner leaving) to be better teams than Manchester United tbh.

It's easy to say where United SHOULD be given the amount of money they have spent & the wages that they pay. However, the simple fact is that they are not.

I'd be happy with 3rd place there tbh & a decent run in the Europa.

Absolutely, otherwise you're settling for mediocrity. Need to have ambition and it's where the ownership has sucked the life out of.

6 points from 2 games v PSG and Leipzig showed the difference between the clubs on its day is not a million miles away from a squad perspective.

Coaching and management were the difference.

is_that_so

PsychoPete wrote: »

They spent 23 million on Brewster, I guessing they hoped he'd be the one to get goals for them. Can't see them staying up

3 shots for them today, none of them on target - Southampton had 16 and 6.

Here's a Sky Sports piece on them from a few weeks back. If anything things have got worse.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11096/12136363/sheffield-uniteds-struggles-analysed-whats-going-wrong-for-blades-in-premier-league

DVDM93

PsychoPete wrote: »

They spent 23 million on Brewster , I guessing they hoped he'd be the one to get goals for them. Can't see them staying up

I hope it works out for him but it's starting to look more & more like another stroke of genius by Michael Edwards.

DVDM93

DVDM93 wrote: »

I hope it works out for him but it's starting to look more & more like another stroke of genius by Michael Edwards.

Are Liverpool fans rubbing their hands at foisting a player who is struggling for goals on a team doing badly? It seems like a very tiny, and kinda ugly, boast.

First, I'd imagine much depends on the buying club, it's not like they offered 50k and he cleverly talked them up.

Plus, in fairness to Brewster, Messi might walk into the Sheffield United side and struggle.

eagle eye

Father Hernandez wrote:

This season.

Father Hernandez wrote:

Minimum top 4 comfortably.

Father Hernandez wrote:

Minimum Round of 16 Champions League.

Minimum FA Cup SF.

With a view to actually be title contenders in the next 12/24 months.

Although the owners have no interest in actually being title contenders, for the money that has been spent and the players in the squad, it should be expected.

Unfortunately I just don't see it happening.

I don't see anything outlandish there although being in a group with last year's finalists and semi-finalists meant getting out of that group was very difficult in the Champion's league and I wouldn't be putting it down as a major black mark not getting out of the group. Fact you got to the last day with an opportunity to qualify was a decent achievement.

I agree that the owners are the big issue. What happened to the protests wearing the old scarves and hats?

I presume making it to the top 4 was a satisfactory achievement last season?

I understand that OGS hasn't the previous success that a United manager normally has coming in. I think he is growing into the job though. I'm still not sure how he'll do but I think he needs more support from above.

A lot of players seemed to have improved under him. Lindelof, Shaw and Fred all seemed to be struggling before he arrived if my memory serves me, Pogba seems to have improved a bit too.

ERG89

DVDM93 wrote: »

I hope it works out for him but it's starting to look more & more like another stroke of genius by Michael Edwards.

I don't think Salah would score much in that team the way they play. They just get it wide and cross it in. Teams figured them out after playing them in the first half of last season and they struggled to adapt to that all year.

DVDM93

ERG89 wrote: »

I don't think Salah would score much in that team the way they play. They just get it wide and cross it in. Teams figured them out after playing them in the first half of last season and they struggled to adapt to that all year.

Yeah that's very true actually, good point.

As I said I hope it works out for him, if not at Sheffield then elsewhere hopefully.

Father Hernandez

eagle eye wrote: »

I don't see anything outlandish there although being in a group with last year's finalists and semi-finalists meant getting out of that group was very difficult in the Champion's league and I wouldn't be putting it down as a major black mark not getting out of the group. Fact you got to the last day with an opportunity to qualify was a decent achievement.

Difficult but not impossible. They had 6 points from 6 after 2 games and had to get just 4 points in their last 4 games to qualify. They bottled it, had it in their hands and failed miserably so I'd put it down as a major black mark. If they can't do that, it doesn't give fans any confidence to push on as a club.

I agree that the owners are the big issue. What happened to the protests wearing the old scarves and hats?

Pre covid, there was lots of anger aimed at the ownership, Glazers and Woodward in particular. This would've continued in a parallel universe.

I presume making it to the top 4 was a satisfactory achievement last season?

Satisfactory but again, minimum requirement. The addition of Bruno Fernandes led the team to a top 4 finish. Without him, I'd be confident they finish outside the top 4.

I understand that OGS hasn't the previous success that a United manager normally has coming in. I think he is growing into the job though. I'm still not sure how he'll do but I think he needs more support from above.

I don't think there is any question OGS wasn't backed in the Summer to push on. Cavani came in as a panic transfer on the final day and has a good start. VDB came in for £40mil and can't get a game over Pogba even after everything in the last week. There are still glaring holes in the starting 11. Neither was Jose but that's another matter. United can't be waiting on a manager to grow into the job, he's been there 2 years and historically, has done nothing to prove he can be the man to push United on.

A lot of players seemed to have improved under him. Lindelof, Shaw and Fred all seemed to be struggling before he arrived if my memory serves me, Pogba seems to have improved a bit too.

I'd agree and disagree here. They've improved at times and had great games. But on other occasions, they've regressed to the mean and had poor games. Martial had a good season by his standards last season but his form has completely dropped off a cliff this season. A better manager will get more out of this squad IMO.

DVDM93

This is already a better game than the Manchester derby yesterday, even before the goal.

Not what a lot of people expected with Jose & Roy but I say fair play to them both.

You need to have a pair of balls & go for these things if you have any aspirations of winning the league.

Spurs 1-0 via Harry Kane, terrible goalkeeping by Guaita although Kane put a wicked swerve on it.

Unearthly

I remember looking a few weeks ago thinking Spurs have a horrible fixture list coming. Win today and get a draw at Anfield and they are in a great position.

Pochettino did wonderful things at Spurs but was poor in big games. This season Mourinho seems to have them picking up a lot of points in them. Interesting times for Spurs

Palace will comeback in 2nd half and win won't they?