Football 17/18

[TheGayTent]

7 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

They're doing at WHU exactly what they did at Birmingham:

• Promise big name signings and chase massively unrealistic targets.
• Only sign players they've heard of.
• Pull out of deals and try to blame the other club.
• Blame the manager and players when it all goes wrong.
• Try to get a bigger stadium at no cost to themselves (at one point Birmingham was talking about an Olympic bid, guess who wanted the stadium afterwards...)
• Display a high level of contempt for supporters at all times. 

Not sure where that's cut and paste from but it's not all strictly true. They often sign players they've never heard of, particularly if said player is represented by a particular agent....

Also the planned stadium in Birmingham wasn't about an Olympic bid, it was mooted when the future of Wembley was being discussed, they wanted to get others to pay for a new national stadium in Birmingham, and then move in for peanuts. 

[Hugh Jass]

12 minutes ago, jyoung said:

His recent interviews are a bit uninspiring though. 

Probably not allowed to say how he really feels.

[TheGayTent]

8 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Probably not allowed to say how he really feels.

He can say what he likes, one of the reasons Sullivan & Gold are doing what they are, is because of the way Bilic put the Payet stuff out in the open. 

He's trying to tread a fine line between telling the truth and saying things that could get him sacked without his pay off...and probably more importantly harm his chances of his next job.  

Very similar to Benitez when i think about it. 

Edited September 6, 2017 by TheGayTent

[Hugh Jass]

Just now, TheGayTent said:

Not sure where that's cut and paste from but it's not all strictly true. They often sign players they've never heard of, particularly if said player is represented by a particular agent....

Also the planned stadium in Birmingham wasn't about an Olympic bid, it was mooted when the future of Wembley was being discussed, they wanted to get others to pay for a new national stadium in Birmingham, and then move in for peanuts. 

Not a cut and paste, just what I see from the outside at WHU and years and years of following what was going on at Birmingham City. They completely screwed that club over.

There were actually two stadium proposals, the first was to move the national stadium to the NEC which was never going to happen when Wembley needed redeveloping. Plus there was no way to God the FA were going to move permanently out of London.

The second happened a few years later around the time the government were granting licenses for super casinos. The plan was to redevelop a huge area near St Andrews as a sports and entertainment complex - casino, shops, restaurants and a 55k stadium which would one day form part of an athletics bid (this was planned for way off into the future). Of course a team would need to play in the ground and guess who wanted it... The project was scrapped after the casino license went elsewhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Birmingham_Stadium

[TheGayTent]

Re the stadium, they tried doing virtually the same at Cardiff too. 

[Hugh Jass]

http://www.football365.com/news/west-ham-owners-called-dildo-brothers-by-sporting-chief

[jyoung]

City vs Liverpool this weekend in a game which will undoubtedly see all form of defense completely abandoned.  

[Dan R]

34 minutes ago, jyoung said:

City vs Liverpool this weekend in a game which will undoubtedly see all form of defense completely abandoned.  

I know Liverpool's defendce needs improving, but they've kept 6 clean sheets in their last 8 league games. Think the whole bad defence story is massively overhyped.

Edited September 6, 2017 by Dan R

[jyoung]

2 minutes ago, Dan R said:

I know Liverpool's defendce needs improving, but they've kept 6 clean sheets in their last 8 league games. Think the whole bad defence story is massively overhyped.

Not digging out the reds or anything. I simply see these two sides as the most frequent to make mistakes at the back and the most devastating going forward.

[jyoung]

Ie. Zonal marking. Lovren. Etc.

Edited September 6, 2017 by jyoung

[Dan R]

3 hours ago, jyoung said:

Not digging out the reds or anything. I simply see these two sides as the most frequent to make mistakes at the back and the most devastating going forward.

That's fair, and tbf I still can't workout how the last game between the two only ended at 1-1. Just irks me that everyone makes the defender of both teams out to be terrible, they both leave lots of space at the back which makes it difficult for CBs to look good.

[DareToDibble]

If we play anything like we did away to the big teams last season then we should do quite well. We tend to struggle defensively more against teams who knock the ball long or score from set pieces. Luckily Man City try to pass the ball a lot which suits our style off defending.

Head: 2-1 City

Heart: 2-0 LFC

I find it hard to imagine us not scoring.

[jyoung]

14 hours ago, Dan R said:

Just irks me that everyone makes the defender of both teams out to be terrible, they both leave lots of space at the back which makes it difficult for CBs to look good.

I actually think Liverpool are one class CB away from being A LOT better defensively. All you need is one strong, smart lad who can organise and lead. Bobs your uncle fannys your aunt.

There's two things that haven't worked for me with regards to the defences of City and Lpool. For the reds its zonal marking. I don't mean to sound like a broken record but some of those lads don't have the tactical awareness to perform it to it's potential. Just mark your man. Keep it simple. As for City, my criticism comes from watching their insistence on playing out from the back last year. They couldn't get away with it at all.

[eFestivals]

just read an article at the graun, which doesn't have Arsenal as a potential title challenger.

To be fair I don't really see them as that either, and yet I wouldn't exclude them from being alongside the other 5 teams as there's none who can be guaranteed to smash it.

Who knows, Arsenal's supposed problems might even end up being their salvation. Stranger things have happened, and quite recently too.

[thetime]

Just now, eFestivals said:

just read an article at the graun, which doesn't have Arsenal as a potential title challenger.

To be fair I don't really see them as that either, and yet I wouldn't exclude them from being alongside the other 5 teams as there's none who can be guaranteed to smash it.

Who knows, Arsenal's supposed problems might even end up being their salvation. Stranger things have happened, and quite recently too.

It's only a 3 horse race isn't it? City, United and Chelsea.

[eFestivals]

Just now, thetime said:

It's only a 3 horse race isn't it? City, United and Chelsea.

Is it?

Didn't you say similar last year, before your team finished behind that same arsenal that's always in crisis - and other unnamed teams - and after your club had made a world record spend?

Much like the time it was a one horse race before your man nearly got the champions relegated.

As i say, i don't really expect Arsenal to be challenging, but there's plenty of surprises available from any of those 6 teams.

[CRW5252]

20 hours ago, jyoung said:

Ie. Zonal marking. Lovren. Etc.

Zonal marking gets so much unwarranted hate. It can work brilliantly done right.

When a teams concedes due to poor zonal marking people always blame the system. Whereas when a team concedes due to poor man marking it is the players fault. 

Some of the best defences in history have used zonal marking.

[Dan R]

Chelsea were in crisis last year after losing back to back games a few weeks into the season, and Conte was bookies favourite to be the first manger to get the sack. Went on to cruise to the title. It did take a monumental turnaround and a shift in style, not sure if that's something Wenger is capable of.

[thetime]

Just now, eFestivals said:

Is it?

Didn't you say similar last year, before your team finished behind that same arsenal that's always in crisis - and other unnamed teams - and after your club had made a world record spend?

Much like the time it was a one horse race before your man nearly got the champions relegated.

As i say, i don't really expect Arsenal to be challenging, but there's plenty of surprises available from any of those 6 teams.

Nope not me, this is the first time I'm pretty confident of a challenge since moyes. 

Spurs wont challenge, Arsenal won't challenge, Liverpool won't challenge. 

The 3 I've mentioned will be the challengers.

[jyoung]

47 minutes ago, CRW5252 said:

Zonal marking gets so much unwarranted hate. It can work brilliantly done right.

I agree, 100%. I'm not against it all at. Both zonal and man marking have pros and cons.

My comments however are specific to Liverpool, who do not to it right thus it not working brilliantly. As I mentioned, you need players who are tactically aware if you are going to succeed with zonal marking.

[eFestivals]

32 minutes ago, thetime said:

Nope not me, this is the first time I'm pretty confident of a challenge since moyes. 

Spurs wont challenge, Arsenal won't challenge, Liverpool won't challenge. 

The 3 I've mentioned will be the challengers.

Before getting into this, what exactly are you defining as a 'challenge' for the title?

I guess as you're apparently saying there was no challenge from Utd last season, your version might stand up.

My version is with the top 6 finishing with around the same points gaps, but where each of them had their better spells during the season and (for the weakest) gave the suggestion (if only for a while) that they were on the up, and so couldn't be dismissed as a possible during that time.

[Hugh Jass]

Premier League clubs have voted for the transfer window to close on the Thursday before the opening weekend from next season.

[jyoung]

3 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Premier League clubs have voted for the transfer window to close on the Thursday before the opening weekend from next season.

Great news. The people pulling the strings will still leave it til the last minute to make purchases but at least once the season starts we can all concentrate on the football. Incidentally, teams can still sell players to overseas teams whilst their window is open.

[zahidf]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

Nope not me, this is the first time I'm pretty confident of a challenge since moyes. 

Spurs wont challenge, Arsenal won't challenge, Liverpool won't challenge. 

The 3 I've mentioned will be the challengers.

way, way too early to say 

I think chelsea, utd and city are most likely, but Spurs and Liverpool are def not out of running, and Arsenal could turn things around( though i think their aim is top 4 and/or europa)

Hell, given current form, huddersfield, watford or west brom could be the next lecister...

[zahidf]

1 minute ago, jyoung said:

Great news. The people pulling the strings will still leave it til the last minute to make purchases but at least once the season starts we can all concentrate on the football. Incidentally, teams can still sell players to overseas teams whilst their window is open.

Well unless European clubs dont change as well, then clubs could have their best players want to go without a replacement sort outable