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

So it’s exactly like the world class debate with added tribalism then?

Are some unhappy utd are no longer considered in that tier or what's the issue?

Jaysus I wish the internationals were done and dusted so this nonsense would stop!

City/Pool/Arsenal.

I can’t see Arsenal maintaining enough wins, on paper they have the toughest run-in with a small enough squad, especially if they stay in the CL.

Pool have players coming back and will be able to rotate more, but they’re pretty profligate in front of goal so can see them dropping unexpected points.

After the Arsenal game, I can see City winning the rest.

It's interesting that you say Liverpool are profligate in front of goal, as it's something I wouldn't have attributed to the squad myself. Yes, there are some games where they seem to fluff their chances but they generally create a lot of chances to be fair. I think it's only 1 game they have failed to score in, in all comps, all season. I know that they scored their 100th goal of the season, all comps, in early March which is a bit mad.

Arsenal are top scorers in the league alright, but they had a few months where they couldn't score at all which is finely balanced with their scoring form before the break. I wonder did the break come at the wrong time for them or will they use the break like they did in January to re-charge?

Man City just know how to control games after taking an early lead. There's been so many examples where they play a game on the run in, take a lead after 5 mins or 8 mins etc and just see the game out. They don't really need to go chasing big goal hauls to win games, but they can if needed.

Wikipedia have total goals scored from the 3 teams as Arsenal 90, Man City 110, Liverpool 120. One of the reasons why Arsenal have a lower total is because they have completely thrown the cups this season. This has helped them in January -> March as they didn't have the fixture build up that the other clubs have had and have more rest time between games. The Gabriel / Saka / Haaland 'injuries' are nicely timed ones ahead of that big clash on the return. It'll be interesting to see if Arteta goes for control or try hit City on the break with their pace and explosiveness. It's a big test for him. Because of the way the table lies, I think Pep will try win it.

Technically Big/Top 6 is actually a thing for TV purposes - calculated over cumulative finishing positions in the previous 5 seasons. Only one Big 6 fixture can take place on a game week, and there must be one such fixture in each of the midweek rounds that are exclusive to TNT or Amazon. City, Pool, MUFC, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea are the current 6, with Chelsea at risk of dropping out in the calculations at the end of the season.

Sorry but wtf has West Ham got to do with spurs?

Spurs are a top six side side for 13 out of the last 15 league seasons.

West ham are a skid mark from last year.

No comparison.

Absolute nonsense going on in this thread- West Ham lol 😂

What’s it to you? How many times have spurs qualified for the champions league or got to the CL final?

You’re a pool fan right?

lol! Ah go on! Tell us who ya support!

Bit silly calling spurs a mid tier side and comparing them to WH when spurs have been one of the top six sides in the top league in the world 13 times out of 15 years!

Lol you’re making a show of yourself and I’m not sure why lad?

What deep ingrained resentment have you got against spurs?

Jesus lad you seem unhinged if you're getting this upset. I never mentioned that Spurs were a mid tier side. I asked how many trophies had Spurs won over the last 15 years when you referred to West Ham as a skid mark.

I'll say it again just so we're clear here.

West Ham have won more trophies in the last 15 years than Spurs. That's simple fact and the aim of the game is to win trophies.

I'm not trying to wind anyone up, wasn't my intention at all. Apologies if I've upset you though, like I said it wasn't my intention 👍

The Europa Conference is the most Mickey Mouse of trophies. It was invented a few years ago as a sop to keep the East European teams busy, so they wouldn't have time to worry about the profitable real business of the Champions League.

All competitions are there to be won, but for one of the richest clubs in World Football easily top 20, {who were basically handed a free 60k stadium) to be celebrating it like it's something big is frankly fvckin embarrassing, as is anyone using it to claim West Ham are bigger club than Spurs.(BTW,i have a certain fondness for West Ham, I lived in Newham for a while, so I'm not really down on them)

Not sure where ya get the Eastern European thing from - they may have a slightly larger presence there by dint of their standing, but it is what it is, a 3rd tier European competition. Which is a good thing to have, cause everyone loves being able to play club matches internationally. And just like the other 2 tiers above it, it's dominated by the main Western European leagues - the winners coming from just England and Italy so far, with another Italian runner up, and a Dutch runner up (and the favourites for this year right now are another English side, and another Italian side).

No harm celebrating it, it's still certainly an achievement in its own right, and imo it's a good addition to the football landscape to see some different teams facing off in European competition.

Spurs haven't won the tier 3 competition because they haven't played in it,they have been on the Europa /Uefa and more usually in the Champions League.

West Ham have a lot of money and a lot of talent but little ambition, and while it's nice to finally win something, for a club of their resources it's no big deal, and their ambition shouldn't be sated by it.

Absolutely. My biggest moment of pure joyous footballing emotion and catharsis this season so far was Van Dijk's last minute winner in the League Cup. Yeah it's not the biggest competition in the world, but man was that a hell of a moment, and a hell of a day!

The FA Cup was everything when I was a kid

just a good run at it when there was never a hope of winning anything else

top six finish or actual silverware?

I used to love FA cup final day as a kid I was glued to the TV all day. Champs leage money took over and now it's the consolation prize cup. When mid table prem league teams and championship teams started fielding weak teams it was game over. I'd be filthy if i was a fan of one of those teams and see them not taking it seriously. A decent run keeps the season interesting FFS.