Football 2020/2021

[pink_triangle]

You have to remember liverpool are missing the Anfield crowd. All the other teams are playing to full stadiums of course.

[Hugh Jass]

11 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

You have to remember liverpool are missing the Anfield crowd. All the other teams are playing to full stadiums of course.

I remain convinced there are a few teams (West Ham and Villa for instance) who have actually benefitted from not having home fans.

[TheGayTent]

10 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

I remain convinced there are a few teams (West Ham and Villa for instance) who have actually benefitted from not having home fans.

It’s certainly benefitted me not having to go to that shithole. 

[TheGayTent]

https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2021/march/09-march/open-letter-mark-noble
 

Notable if nothing else for the fact he’ll almost certainly be the last ever West Ham United player to spend his entire* career at the club. 
 

*bar a couple of loan spells at the beginning of his career.

[Hugh Jass]

21 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

You have to remember liverpool are missing the Anfield crowd. All the other teams are playing to full stadiums of course.

Oprah wants to interview Klopp, after all he’s being bullied at home and has lost his title.

[pink_triangle]

You have to envy a lot of these footballers playing the game they love for huge amounts of money, attracting beautiful woman and many amazingly seem to have ended up in the same bubble as a hairdresser!

[eFestivals]

Every kid growing up dreams of playing at an empty San Diego.

[thetime]

Its going to be tight for that 4th place. 👍

[TheGayTent]

Jeez that was right out of the Allardyce school of tactics 

[jyoung]

 

 

[DareToDibble]

Absolutely horrible. I’ve seen a picture of the injury and it’s the worst I’ve ever seen for a head injury 😕

[charlierc]

If nothing else the fact Patricio is well enough to write on Instagram that he's doing OK is good, seeing as I gather how horrendous the incident was in real time.

[jyoung]

Chelsea playing their best football since first year Conte. Some of the players who have been shite for a couple of years are now thriving.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, jyoung said:

Chelsea playing their best football since first year Conte. Some of the players who have been shite for a couple of years are now thriving.

You remind me of when Mancini came in at City.

We had a squad of very good players under Hughes. He deserves great credit for getting Zabaleta and Kompany for about 10 million combined. But Hughes could not organise the defence. We were constantly having 2-2 draws and loitering around mid table.. 

Mancini came in and immediately sollidified the defence. We were more pragmatic. Tuchel has come in and done exactly the same. I don't think Chelsea are playing any better in an attacking sense than under Lampard, in fact they are a lot less exciting. Yet, I think Tuchel is laying the foundations for next season. He has done well to just drop in mid season and get a grip of things.

I said at the start of the season that Chelsea had the 3rd best squad and should easily finish in the top 4. I like Frank and I am disappointed he could not make it work. It just shows what difference an experienced manager makes.  

Edited March 18, 2021 by Guest

[jyoung]

4 hours ago, eastynh said:

You remind me of when Mancini came in at City.

We had a squad of very good players under Hughes. He deserves great credit for getting Zabaleta and Kompany for about 10 million combined. But Hughes could not organise the defence. We were constantly having 2-2 draws and loitering around mid table.. 

Mancini came in and immediately sollidified the defence. We were more pragmatic. Tuchel has come in and done exactly the same. I don't think Chelsea are playing any better in an attacking sense than under Lampard, in fact they are a lot less exciting. Yet, I think Tuchel is laying the foundations for next season. He has done well to just drop in mid season and get a grip of things.

I said at the start of the season that Chelsea had the 3rd best squad and should easily finish in the top 4. I like Frank and I am disappointed he could not make it work. It just shows what difference an experienced manager makes.  

We haven't been exhilarating in attack but the way I see it is only one or two teams each season manage to consistently blow other teams away going forward. We aren't playing like City now or Liverpool two years ago but we are winning games and proving hard to score against, let alone beat. Those are the foundations. On paper, we are actually stronger offensively, so I'm sure we'll come good there because the talent is obvious. 

I'm loving the consistency in our play and you can tell that the players understand their roles and are buying into the ideas. They look to be enjoying the pressure. Kante last night was back to his best and Rudiger looked like a man possessed by the desire to win. Often under Sarri and Frank the team would concede a goal and completely throw in the towel. I'm disappointed it ended the way it did with Frank and maybe in time he would have turned things around but I don't know. I would never have been confident going into those Atletico games with Frank in charge. Completely different story under Tuchel. As you say, the gap in experience is huge. Tuchel has managed the squad miles better.

[jyoung]

Tottenham. Never change.

[The Nal]

14 hours ago, jyoung said:

Tottenham. Never change.

Good enough for them. Sacked Poch 5 months after he got them to their first ever CL final and finished top 4 for 4 seasons in a row. 

[jyoung]

19 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Good enough for them. Sacked Poch 5 months after he got them to their first ever CL final and finished top 4 for 4 seasons in a row. 

Stuck with Jose now unless they pay him off.

[thetime]

Cracking draw for Chelsea that. 

[lost]

Yeah can't ask anymore than avoiding City, Bayern and PSG before the final.

[jyoung]

1 minute ago, thetime said:

Cracking draw for Chelsea that. 

Decent draw for all of the English imo. Avoiding PSG and Bayern. Chelsea on paper with the best draw, definitely. I would love to see Liverpool vs Chelsea and Man City vs PSG in the semis.

[thetime]

10 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Decent draw for all of the English imo. Avoiding PSG and Bayern. Chelsea on paper with the best draw, definitely. I would love to see Liverpool vs Chelsea and Man City vs PSG in the semis.

My prediction would be city v bayern and Chelsea v Liverpool for the semi.

[jyoung]

2 minutes ago, thetime said:

My prediction would be city v bayern and Chelsea v Liverpool for the semi.

You'd think so but anything can happen to be fair.

[lost]

16 minutes ago, thetime said:

My prediction would be city v bayern and Chelsea v Liverpool for the semi.

Me too. Maybe Madrid vs Chelsea or an all oil semi but I can't see Porto or Dortmund throwing up a surprise. For all the Haaland hype Dortmund are currently 5th in Germany.

[Gnomicide]

Bayern v Liverpool final then.