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

y0ssar1an22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058353#Comment_121058353

McT rejected the move apparently. too comfy with utd sitting on the bench with his fat wage.

ETA: there was the perfect triangle there. mcT, gravenberch and palinha.

just utd couldnt afford gravenberch and mcT wouldn't go to fulham.

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058277#Comment_121058277

There's been particular interest in a lot of Liverpool players from Saudi Arabia this summer. Alisson, Gomez, Konate, Hendo, Fabinho, Thiago, Diaz and now Salah have all been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia this summer. It's been very frustrating to see a new one pop every week. Of course not all link is real and some were swatted away instantly and that's all part of the summer transfer games.

I can't really remember much links to other clubs key players this summer.

And yes, I do get the appeal of signing Salah over nearly all other players currently in world football. One of the best players in the world, especially as a Muslim. He would be the biggest possible signing that PIF could make. So why wait until the last minute to do it? That timing is designed on purpose. Maybe it's a coincidence that the same guys own the club that want to buy him and the rivals of the club that are (proposed to) selling him. At best, they get the player they want, at worst it might unsettle the player and annoy the rival club.

There is a reason that the first signings that Newcastle made after the PIF takeover was Chris Wood. It were designed to destabilize their rivals for PL survival at the same time while bettering themselves. Dan Burn could somewhat fall under this umbrella too and arrived in the same window. So it's not exactly something new.

DAngelo Bailey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058366#Comment_121058366

You need a lie down mate the Saudi league bought 2 turkeys off ye for vastly inflated sums which allowed ye to spend far more in transfer market.

Newcastle signed wood because they were desperate for a striker and his agent told them about the release clause and as for the signing of Dan Burn to destabilise Brighton???!!! I really think you need to take off the tinfoil hat not everything is a conspiracy.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058366#Comment_121058366

I mean none of that answers the question I asked why Liverpool?

Newcastle have made a lot of transfers one was the Chris wood one, you are just finding patterns that don't exist tbh.

The Saudi sides have been linked to everyone it's the easiest clicks journos could ever have.

Also it's funny that when they buy Chelsea players or are linked with them they are helping them out, but Liverpool ones are to trying distabilize.

Same kinda transfers but people are coming to two entirely different conclusions.

As I said if you can't even come up with any half answer for why they would target Liverpool over other top 5 rivals you aren't just barking up the wrong tree you are barking up an imaginary one

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058408#Comment_121058408

The Brighton of today was not the Brighton of back then. Before Burn moved to Newcastle, there was an 11 point gap between the clubs and Newcastle were in the relegation zone.

After Burn went to Newcastle, Brighton went on a run of 1 win, 1 draw & 6 losses in 8 games. In the same run of games, Newcastle hit a good run of form and after 32 games played, both Newcastle and Brighton sat level in 12th and 13th on 37 points.

When Chris Wood joined Newcastle, Burnley were 5 points clear of Newcastle. The ended up being relegated, after being beaten by Newcastle on the last day of the season.

He was signed for a vastly inflated fee and he was approaching the last year of his contract.

And personally I think that Liverpool would rather have Fabinho playing for them this season rather than the unproven Endo, who nobody had heard of before 2 weeks ago. I'd also rather have Henderson than have €14m in this current transfer climate (partly caused by Newcastle) as that will barely sign you a 15 year old at this rate when guys with 10 PL sub appearances are are going for close to €50m. Those departures were unexpected and threw a spanner in the works for Liverpool's summer recruitment. Gone was the need to sign a CB and possibly a CM and instead the need to sign a DM first and the one more after that. It took 5 weeks to rectify.

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058438#Comment_121058438

Why Liverpool? Maybe they (PIF) see Liverpool as the low hanging fruit and easiest one of the top 4 aiming clubs to pick off? An older squad who have won everything there is to win at Liverpool so maybe there are hunger questions, not state backed and Klopp is nearing the end of his contract.

Man City and Liverpool have been the stable 2 in the top 4 the last 5 or 6 years. The other clubs have been in and out and generally competing and sharing the remaining 2 top 4 spaces between themselves . Liverpool just dropped out, so go kick them while their down and keep them out.

Take Liverpool's place and let the others compete for the rotating 4th spot. With Salah gone, it's no CL 2 years in a row and then the rebuild is a far bigger job and then Klopp is gone. Game over.

Similar to what Man City did. Took a spot (from Arsenal basically) and made it their own for the long term. Around the same time, Man City signed a lot of players from Arsenal. Wenger left, and Arsenal were stuck in the EL cycle while paying off stadium debt. Man City used Arsenal's situation to their advantage.

From the other current top 4 seeking clubs, there are reasons why they would not be targetted in the same way. Chelsea are on their own madness, and PIF did buy up some of their players. Man City are state backed, PIF own Newcastle so can't touch them. Arsenal have a squad of players who came close to winning trophies last year so perhaps want to stay and try to win it this year. A block on sales. Man Utd don't really have the big players to target - Bruno & Rashford maybe? Not really a big list considering it's the club captain and the club's poster boy from the academy. I think I saw Varane linked, but that's it. If a big bid came in for Casemiro in June, I think it would have been good for the club to take advantage of but it never did come in.

theoneeyedman

The EPL sold their souls many years ago, even in modern times the floating of Manchester United in the NYSE years ago opened up money to them not previously available, and continued through good old Roman's time at Chelsea, the City sportswashing project and now to PIF. Nothing new, but it is getting more brash and brazen. It's not ruining the game now though, it has indirectly ruined many of the European Leagues over the last 25 years, with even the big leagues like Serie A, LA Liga and the Bundesliga trailing financially in the wake of EPLs smallest clubs like Bournemouth, Burnley and Forest. Probably only Real, PSG, and maybe Bayern can compete with the EPL teams for any given player.

I don't like what the Saudis are doing, but it's not much different to what the EPL teams have been doing with the rest of Europe for years, only the motivation is somewhat different.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058535#Comment_121058535

So giving Liverpool extra money for highly payed players who were well past there beat is trying to bring ye down?

With the money ye got ye have essentially bought McAllister and gravenbach, too early to say how they will work out for sure but most fans would be happy with those upgrade.

You need to remember all ye have actually sold is two players past thee best and you got a lot of money for them, all the links in the world mean nothing.

Tbh ye were absolutely gifted to get so much for the players you did and you are trying to turn it into a conspiracy.

I mean Liverpool didn't have to sell anyone ye could easily have still been playing Henderson and fabinho this season and would be much worse for it, I'd say.

If you are trying to bring down someone you don't really feed into there strengths, Liverpools record in the transfer market has been very good extra money will help them out and taking aging players is the dream scenario.

When the time for varnae and casamerio to be moved on I hope they try distabilize us too

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058612#Comment_121058612

MacAllister and Szoboszlai were signed 4 weeks before Fabinho & Henderson were sold. Keita, Ox, Milner had already left and that's who they replaced. So those 2 purchases are in no way related to Saudi transfers.

Endo & Gravenberch replaced the 2 guys who were sold. I'd take a guess that Endo will be moved on again next summer again, it's purely a stopgap. Gravenberch I have reservations about but he is young and can be coached into a higher level hopefully.

I reckon that the plan (on July 1st) was to have Lavia come in and rotate with Fabinho as the DM. Learn from the master while not having too much pressure on the kid's shoulders with having to play every game. Have MacAllister & Jones as the LCM and then Szoboszlai & Hendo as the RCM with Thiago as a floater across all positions to deal with injuries etc. I think Fabinho could have had a decent season with legs in front of him. He had a decent finish to last season with the system change. Henderson on reduced minutes in a Milner type role is better too. They are not required to start every game on tired legs and so become better assets. Liverpool could then look to bring in a LCB as a succession planning player for VVD. Rotate this year with a view to take it on long term. 4 major signings, and the rebuild is complete for this year. Maybe an other if it suited.

Until then Fabinho was sold and so was Hendo after a few weeks of dragged out transfers and various different blockages. They have completed their transfers on July 31st. There was now a desperation for Liverpool to buy a DM as the 2 already at the club had left. Lavia didn't / couldn't come in as the only DM so Endo, the stopgap, was signed. It took 5 weeks to sort it out and resulted in no CB being signed. 5 weeks of dithering really. It was very poorly handled by Liverpool, who have no permanent DOF and there are rumours that the CEO Billy Hogan stepped in because if how poorly the recruitment had been handled this summer (the MacAllister transfer had been pre-arranged before Julian Ward left the club and Schmake joined).

And in hindsight, the money wasn't great, considering how the fees have gone this summer. Realistically, what is €14m gonna get you in the market for a midfielder? Nothing viable for a title challenge. I'd also rather still have Fabinho than have Endo. The club could have refused to sell alright but Klopp is a people's person, he is loyal to his players and respects how they feel. If a player asks to go because they have been tempted by whatever reason, he lets them leave. Sometimes to the detriment of the squad but it's a contributing factor to why so many players work tirelessly for him.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058691#Comment_121058691

I meant money wise in from Saudi covered the players I mentioned not that they were direct replacements.

I don't know how often I read from Liverpool fans that fabinho was done and if it was the case it was fantastic money tbh.

I doubt klopp would have given his blessing for Alison and Salah to leave tbh easy give blessings to lads that are past the sell by date.

The only player ye really ever didn't want to sell that left was couthino and it worked out great.

In the grand scheme of things ye lost 2 old players to the saudi league, similar to Chelsea and one less than city who was probably the biggest loss of all to anyone.

A Salah rumour doesnt change that and certainly doesn't point towards deliberate distribution from the Saudis against liverpool

doc_17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058438#Comment_121058438

Because Salah plays for Liverpool. It’s entirely destabilising for any club. If they wanted him bid for him in July. Now it’ll run all the way to their window shutting. And then all the way to January. Smart by Newcastle’s owners. Yes, they want the player, but they can also feck around with a rival.

El Gato De Negocios

The bloated self importance on display is outrageous, holy jaysus.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058942#Comment_121058942

Its all connected man, every deal is always connected to trying to weaken Liverpool.

DAngelo Bailey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058499#Comment_121058499

I don't know where to start with this surely deep down you don't actually believe this? You are saying that the Saudi PIF came up with a grand plan to destabilise Brighton and Burnley by signing Chris Wood and Dan Burn?? And that Brightons drop off in form in 2021-2022 season was because they lost Dan Burn???

The idea that the Saudi PIF are involved in a grand conspiracy to undermine Liverpool is insane.

StringerBell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058896#Comment_121058896

Why were Liverpool destabilising Southampton back in the day out of curiousity?

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121059220#Comment_121059220

Not every transfer is to destabilize another club.

But when 2 club are in direct competition with each other, buying their rival's players is a definite advantage. It's why Man City bought so many Arsenal players just after their takeover, to take their top 4 spot permanently. It's why Bayern Munich buy the best players from Dortmund and other German clubs on the rise.

doc_17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121059522#Comment_121059522

And deliberately only making the offer on the last day is to deny proper opportunity to plan for his replacement, which benefits Newcastle who are owned by the same team bidding for him. No serious transfer business is done like that.

doc_17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121059220#Comment_121059220

Liverpool weren’t throwing in bids on the last day of the window, denying them the opportunity to strengthen. There is a difference, people are choosing not to see it. But that’s ok.

Has tucker Carlson starter doing Liverpool podcasts or wtf is happening.

Also if it only takes one bid for one player to destabilize a club I'd have to say that club wasn't very stable in the first place.

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121059642#Comment_121059642

If it's the club's main player, it makes a difference.

Why did Bayern Munich announce the singing of Mario Gotze from BVB a few days before they played each other in the CL final? Don't try and pretend that that wasn't a deliberate tactic to throw BVB off.

It's happened for years, it's not a new thing and it's not just happened to Liverpool only. Just that they are on the receiving end of it this time. So that's why there is frustration.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121059642#Comment_121059642

I think its being hyped up to cover up how they really signed Gravenberch to ruin United's season.

DAngelo Bailey

Archer looks a real player for Sheffield United here him and Hamer linking up really well.

mobydopy

2-2 , great game this

marklazarcovic

Sheffield utd player took out danjuma going through on goal,just outside the box, yellow card 😁😂😁😂😁, I mean,there is no consistency whatsoever in these officials.. vvd red card... same scenario...inept.

DAngelo Bailey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121059909#Comment_121059909

Apart from the covering defender of course.

DAngelo Bailey

How have Sheffield not scored there?? A cracker of a game

doc_17

I thought that game would be quite boring, but by the sounds of things it was a cracker. I did see Pickford’s save at the end, it was as good as you’ll get.

Mr.Crinklewood

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121060050#Comment_121060050

Was waiting for TNT to show it, I'm assuming this is us why they haven't seen the need.

Pipmae

Cracking game of football.

About to watch City V Fulham now. Grealish out injured - so far they haven't said why.

Mr.Crinklewood

Spurs dark jerseys are a bigger clash than their white jerseys.

Pipmae

Super finish from Son

Liam O

City goal so clearly offside there.

DAngelo Bailey

He's clearly in the goalkeepers eyeline there.

Xander10

VAR in the City game ....not fit for purpose

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121060389#Comment_121060389

Haven't seen it by soccer Saturday lads losing their ****.

SlickRic

That is a blatant offside on Akanji for the goal.

These people don't help themselves when they get blatant decisions wrong that deeply affect games.

City fans and journos online even surprised it was given.

mobydopy

Joke of a decision. Akanji clearly impedes the gk in an offside position.

anplaya27

VAR clearly not fit for purpose. Player literally impeding GK line of view in offside position and goal was given. And ref didnt even go to pitch side monitor so whoever was making that decision needs to be left go as clearly not capable.

Absolutely baffling.

DAngelo Bailey

How many more times does this have to happen before it is accepted that the system favours the big teams?

McBain11

Absolutely scandalous goal for Ake. It's just pure make believe at this stage, the referees can literally do what they want each week to decide who wins games. As if this lot actually need any more help to win games ffs.

I don't blame Silva going mental. I'd like to see him go further, and threaten to take the players off the pitch after a decision like that. I'm guessing there will be plenty of apologies from PGMOL post match though so that should square it all away.

DAngelo Bailey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121060436#Comment_121060436

It's time teams make a stand and walk off this is blatant

Fitz*

What a terrible decision.

https://twitter.com/ViktorFagerLFC/status/1697988258959855646?t=LBT0jvVgl_bwvAZhpyB4hw&s=19

The thing is, Marco Silva is going to go mad about the decision and give out about the referee. And deservedly so. And then he will get a big fine or a ban.

Utopia Parkway

Marco Silva is going to go absolutely postal one of these weeks.

slumdogemillionaire

Wow, just saw it. Even worse than the Rashford one at United last season. How can the PGMOL have such difficulty with such easy decisions. Seems to be worse than ever this year so far, joke

Mars Bar

There will be an Untold Netflix documentary in years time regarding match fixing referees and VAR

slumdogemillionaire

I would highly doubt they are match-fixing, I think they are just so inept from top to bottom

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121060477#Comment_121060477

Shame theres no Mitro anymore to try and fight the ref.

DAngelo Bailey

Ange has spurs playing gorgeous stuff.

Pipmae

Hat trick for Son. They're on fire.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121060487#Comment_121060487

but the rashford one was technically correct according to the laws of the game. This was not.