General Premier League Thread 2023-24 Mod Note in op 27/6/23 And 21/05/24

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121695057#Comment_121695057

They’re in trouble for the previous year, since they’d have been alright if they sold Johnson a few months earlier, so probably ok for this period.

doc_17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121692396#Comment_121692396

Greatest club of all time? Madrid win have 2 periods where they can claim more CLs than him. The team was fantastic then, CL winners in 2006 not long before Pep took them over.

POKERKING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121695788#Comment_121695788

You missed the important word “team” but anyway ok arguably the greatest club team of all time. CL wins doesnt equate to greatest team btw. The team pep took over was a mess but lets not get into it as its off topic. The point was, he wont go back because there is nothing left to achieve and he has said this in countless interviews since he left.

doc_17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121695828#Comment_121695828

I did miss that word indeed. That Barca team were very good indeed, most in place before Pep got there. Pep won’t go to Barcelona because there’s no money there. He should go to Everton next for the craic!

retalivity

Really poor from the Forest keeper

klose

Massive night for Luton this

TitianGerm

https://www.goal.com/en/lists/var-premier-league-referees-explain-decisions-fans-during-matches-next-season/bltcb9ab385225a9d92

Apparently we're going to hear the discussion of var decisions in game from next season.

slegs

Hard to Arsenal coming close to City or Liverpool. Weak and unable to put teams away. Will lose 4-5 games before end of season

POKERKING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121697173#Comment_121697173

if most were in place before he got there and they hadnt won the league in two years he must have done some job coaching them into arguably the best club side of all time. Coincidentally a good article on the time popped up on bbc today:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68082238

but lets face it you wont give him credit for anything ever and this is a premier league thread so lets leave it there.

retalivity

Luton are staying up, no doubt about it.

Newcastle/Villa aggregate score for the 2 matches this season is 8:1

bucketybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121697538#Comment_121697538

Two whole years? Wow.

K-9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121697576#Comment_121697576

I'd love to see Luton do it, would be one of the stories of the season and probably one of the most remarkable against the odds PL survivals.

Suvarnabhumi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121697538#Comment_121697538

On the flip side, you're not going to say anything negative about him either :)

POKERKING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699848#Comment_121699848

I will! I think he has many faults, I think he cost us several champions league games including the final against chelsea. He nearly did it last year too by playing akanje over walker, Akanje had a mare and nearly gifted inter the lead but he got away with it.

Mancini is my favorite ever City Manager over pep. Pep isnt a god for me but I am also aware of his achievements and I think what he did with Barcelona was brilliant and cant knock him for that. Some posters will never give him any credit though…this thread a fine example of it Pep wont go back to Barcelona because he wont have money there but in the same breath the only reason he had the greatest(arguably) club team of all time was due to the existing players at the club…so was did he need money to buy those trophies or was it existing players who hadnt won a pot in two years that decided to turn themselves into the greatest club team ever on a whim? You see my point? Anyway the point I made initially is that he wont go back to Barcelona because he has been there, worn the t shirt and achieved everything possible. If they had 10 billion to spend he still wouldnt go back…but No its because he wont have any money to spend is the real reason according to some here….

Suvarnabhumi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700104#Comment_121700104

You think he has many faults. What are they? A manager losing games isn't really a fault.

bucketybuck

For myself, I just dislike this repeated myth that Barcelona were a basket case when Pep took over, with the implication it carries that Pep is the reason they became successful.

They were recent league winners, they were recent CL winners, pick a name from their greatest team and almost to a man that player was already there when Pep arrived.

He certainly did his job there and did it well, but don't try and tell me that that squad of players Pep inherited would not have achieved anything without him.

If that is a basket case then we will need a new term for all the real basket cases out there.

POKERKING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700209#Comment_121700209

This probably isn't the right thread for it. Its not a cop out but its being derailed enough. If i get a chance I will PM you if you fancy a chat about it.

POKERKING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700253#Comment_121700253

Did you read the link I posted above? Theres a great documentary on Pep on the BBC at the moment that I highly recommend which details alot of it. Two years without a trophy is huge for a club like Barcelona, their best player Ronaldinho was a nightmare they got theashed by Real Madrid to go from that to what the team produced afterwards(not just the records and the trophies but the style of play and influence on world football) was amazing.

Suvarnabhumi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700374#Comment_121700374

Nah you're alright.

bucketybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700508#Comment_121700508

You are just repeating that a team that didn't win a title for 2 years but had some of the greatest players of all time in their squad were a basket case.

I don't care what some documentary says, any manager taking over that side would have had Messi, Puyol, Xavi, Busquets, Iniestia, Alves, Valdes, Henry, Eto and a whole lot more, almost all of them in their absolute prime. A new manager could only dream of that, whoever took over would have done ok.

I don't much mind what your own opinion is, like I said, just don't try and tell me that Pep didn't land on his feet there. If that was a basket case then the term has no meaning.

McFly85

Pep clearly made Barcelona a better team - one of the best football has ever seen.

But had he not managed them, it’s really difficult to say they wouldn’t have had success. They had the best player in the world alongside some unbelievable talent from La Maisa.

This sort of thing is common throughout Peps career - the teams he manage are typically hugely successful anyway. Barca and Bayern both won the league and champions league shortly before he was there and shortly after too. They never go too long without a major trophy.

Hes a brilliant coach and tactican but unsuitable for 99% of clubs.

POKERKING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700819#Comment_121700819

2006 champions league final versus Peps 2009 CL final had 3 players that started both and one was the keeper.

2008 May 7th 4-1 loss to Real Madrid had 5(including keeper) that started the 2009 Champions league final.

It wasnt the same team, it had some of the same players.

They were a relative basket case for Barcelona, going two years without a trophy isn’t acceptable there hence the expression.

Surely you recognise that team of 2009 as one of if not the best? Im sure any manager could have won a trophy or two but we are talking about team thats recognized as the best ever in alot of quarters.

Anyway as I said to the other guy this is off topic for this thread. Lets just leave it there as we wont agree.

~Rebel~

A team not having the absolute complete and total domination their insane fans demand does not equate to a basket case. They’d finished 2nd and 3rd the previous 2 years, and had just been in the champions league semi final - losing narrowly to the CL winners. That team had Valdez, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Eto’o and Messi amongst others (a few of which also won the European Championships as key players just before Pep came in). That’s a hell of a spine of established players.

It was undeniably a team with all the pieces in place for further success. It did not require a total rebuild, or anything like it. They were coming out of a short term slump rather than some yawning chasm. Pep did a brilliant job managing that swift return to success, but let’s not pretend it was something it wasn’t.

pjohnson

Messi went from kid to adult and promising to worlds best, Busquets, Alba and Pique on a very similar maturation and improvment timeline to Messi, plus Iniesta, Puyol and Valdes all hitting their absolute peaks.

That team was winning all no matter who was in charge. Anyone denying that is deluding themselves. It was an easy job.

hawaii501

Yeah sure didn't Ronaldinho already say Messi was the best player at the club aged 18 or so. He then exploded as best in the world.

A team with him Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Alba and Valdez is hardly a basket case. What a ridiculous thing to say.

They were 100% winning everything but may not have been the best club ever(which they have been in my lifetime). Pep deserves full credit for the football produced.

They also may not have won a treble but they were definitely winning all titles within a few seasons With any decent manager.

doc_17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121697538#Comment_121697538

I give him credit for being a great coach, maybe the best ever. But he came to a team that were European champions shortly before he arrived. Yes, they were brilliant. Then he went to Bayern and won the league. Every Bayern manager wins the league. He couldn’t elevate them. Then he goes to a State backed club that was found guilty by UEFA of multiple breaches and thrown out of the Champions League. The Premier League are also investigating that club for an alleged 115 breaches which, if proven, Will undoubtably cast serious shadow over the achievements in England whilst elevating Klopp’s. Oh, and wasn’t Pep found guilty himself as well one time for actual doping?

But you’re right, it’s a Premier League thread so let’s leave it there.

SlickRic

The Pep discussion is quite simple.

He's completely elite, and one of the best ever, but there is no doubt he was helped by a brilliant set of circumstances there. But he still did the job, did it brilliantly, and nothing can be taken away from him.

also, he is suited to a certain type of job. he's not an elite rebuilder - that is not his forté, nor does it need to be. if you're a team with the best talent in the world, who should you hire to foster and brilliant culture and style of football? You get Pep, and he'll do it. Ask him to take a struggling team and turn them into an elite team, without a massive budget? I don't think he'd be elite at that.

In the same way, I don't think Klopp could thrive in the circumstances he has at City. the club and the man don't fit.

Certain managers fit certain jobs. That's all.

fyfe79

Man City vs Burnley... what is the point of that fixture? Have City ever not beaten them by at least 4 goals?

tinpib

Elite-level time wasting by Brentford here, Spurs fans going absolutely ape with 35 mins gone.

klose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121702114#Comment_121702114

Maddison really wound up by Maupay doing his darts celebration, top level sh!thousery

DellyBelly

That looked a penalty....clumsy from Virgil

Bluebb993

Penalty for me

earthwormjack

Thought that was a certain penalty for Chelsea.

slumdogemillionaire

Absolutely a penalty

y0ssar1an22

showing the replay there of the peno shout, just looks a peno to me

SlickRic

Rodrigo (Foden)

y0ssar1an22

and liverpool make it 1-0, jota is some player

SlickRic

Jota goal.

y0ssar1an22

i'd say there's a handball here

LuckyLloyd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121702297#Comment_121702297

He is recently! He hasn’t been for stretches before…

DellyBelly

Jota just came back at the right time for Liverpool...if they had to rely on Nunez they would be in big trouble

Kiith

Spurs using my tactics when i'm losing in football manager...all out attack, 5 up front 🤣

citytillidie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121702357#Comment_121702357

lol

Fitz*

Can't believe I'm saying this but well spotted Paul Tierney there with the Chilwell dive looking for a penalty. Rightly booked

It's clearly a tactic from Chelsea with Gallagher looking for one earlier, whether he was touched enough to go down or not he was always going down. Cole Palmer is on a big run of scoring penalties lately. Chelsea not afraid to play for them.

klose

Bradleyyyyy

mightyreds

good goal for the youngster

DellyBelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121702399#Comment_121702399

Why the lol? Jota coming back is a great bit of timing...especially with Salah out

citytillidie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121702440#Comment_121702440

Nunez is not as bad as the media and pundits are trying to say

Utopia Parkway

Bradley is like a right back Robbo.

Ottoman_1000

Did i hear that stat right? This is the first time Chelsea have been behind at half time in the Premier League this year?