Football 2025-26

[charlierc]

12 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Im unsure a Europa League should get the spot over a 3rd place team. When you think Spurs finished 17th last season and Forest could win it and be in the championship. 

 

 

I remember in 2011/12, UEFA only allowed us 4 so Chelsea got the place in the Champions League after they won the competition while Spurs, who finished 4th, dropped into the Europa League, but I'm aware its a different requirement with UEFA now having the rule to win it. It seems to have gone back and forth tbf, given England was allowed 5 Champs places in 2005 when Liverpool won despite being outside the top 4, though they had to enter in the first qualifying round, while Real Madrid in 2000 I think got in at the 4th place team's expense after only coming 5th in La Liga (a league finish that, if they did now, might see Florentino Perez go mental).

 

I actually don't mind the idea that winning the Europa League gets you a CL place. It has been a consideration before though and I get why some might see it as over-achievement for the competition - Liverpool reached the 2016 EL final despite only coming 8th in the Prem, though they lost the final, while Man Utd won the 2017 final and got a 5th CL place for England.

 

It could well be that perception is heavily skewed by the unusual situation from last season with the extreme scenario of the final being between two teams whose form in England was catastrophic but who had such big budgets over everyone else. Even if Man Utd in particular came close to failing to make the final (that tie with Lyon sounded brilliant). 

 

Tbf we won't get an all-English final this year, if only because the 2 English teams in the Europa would meet in the semi-final if both got that far.

[charlierc]

I've only seen highlights but even from those, wow - all of Everton's goals were preventable. The second was a massive howler from Pope and the third was just bizarre, although ironically it was a good thing Barry scored with his arse given it was a red card for Hall and a penalty if not.

 

I think we have to conclude we're basically burned out.

[kaosmark2]

4 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I've only seen highlights but even from those, wow - all of Everton's goals were preventable. The second was a massive howler from Pope and the third was just bizarre, although ironically it was a good thing Barry scored with his arse given it was a red card for Hall and a penalty if not.

 

I think we have to conclude we're basically burned out.

It was a strange game tbh. We lined up initially with Wolte in midfield, Joelinton LW, and Gordon up top. We were losing control of the game completely for the first 20 minutes, but switched those 3 positions around 15 minutes in and started to get a bit better until their 1st goal. 1st half remained very open throughout, and probably 1-1 would have been fair, but with the clanger for the 2nd can't have any complaints. 2nd half we completely controlled possession but once again struggled to break down a low-block, with 2 half-decent counter attacks from Everton leading to better chances than they should have. And then the moment we finally score we just concede a weird goal quickly from the kick-off, again.

 

Hard to draw any conclusions other than the same ones tbh. I don't think we were THAT bad, but the same problems as before were there. 

[charlierc]

33 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

It was a strange game tbh. We lined up initially with Wolte in midfield, Joelinton LW, and Gordon up top. We were losing control of the game completely for the first 20 minutes, but switched those 3 positions around 15 minutes in and started to get a bit better until their 1st goal. 1st half remained very open throughout, and probably 1-1 would have been fair, but with the clanger for the 2nd can't have any complaints. 2nd half we completely controlled possession but once again struggled to break down a low-block, with 2 half-decent counter attacks from Everton leading to better chances than they should have. And then the moment we finally score we just concede a weird goal quickly from the kick-off, again.

 

Hard to draw any conclusions other than the same ones tbh. I don't think we were THAT bad, but the same problems as before were there. 

I saw Pickford made a 10/10 save to deny Tonali a stoppage time equaliser as well. But both that and that bizarre third goal where it went in off Barry's arse were just two of those things that can happen to compound things going wrong yaknow. And that goal going in actually was useful in its own way as if Barry missed, Hall gets a red card and likely misses the next 3. Though could also throw in yet another Pope failure and Ramsey having to go off at half-time after vomiting on the pitch just as the game was about to restart (I'm told).

 

I guess the nature of the beast is that this is our worst form since the first few weeks after the takeover when we'd yet to fork the money out for new players. Maybe its easy to feel burned out when we're playing a stupid amount of games in quick succession and a lot of them aren't going in our way, even if the base fundamentals and data hint we have the general play to be doing better.

 

I heard about playing Woltemade, Gordon and Joelinton in unusual positions and assume this is an experiment that will not be repeated. Or at least the Woltemade CM Joelinton LW parts of it. Thought we might have sacked it off sooner tbf. Being a southern-based Mag means I don't see us in person a lot but I saw Joelinton LW at West Ham after Gordon had to go off at half time with an injury and that really did not work.

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

I saw Pickford made a 10/10 save to deny Tonali a stoppage time equaliser as well. But both that and that bizarre third goal where it went in off Barry's arse were just two of those things that can happen to compound things going wrong yaknow. And that goal going in actually was useful in its own way as if Barry missed, Hall gets a red card and likely misses the next 3. Though could also throw in yet another Pope failure and Ramsey having to go off at half-time after vomiting on the pitch just as the game was about to restart (I'm told).

 

I guess the nature of the beast is that this is our worst form since the first few weeks after the takeover when we'd yet to fork the money out for new players. Maybe its easy to feel burned out when we're playing a stupid amount of games in quick succession and a lot of them aren't going in our way, even if the base fundamentals and data hint we have the general play to be doing better.

 

I heard about playing Woltemade, Gordon and Joelinton in unusual positions and assume this is an experiment that will not be repeated. Or at least the Woltemade CM Joelinton LW parts of it. Thought we might have sacked it off sooner tbf. Being a southern-based Mag means I don't see us in person a lot but I saw Joelinton LW at West Ham after Gordon had to go off at half time with an injury and that really did not work.

Is our form even that bad though? Our league form is very sketchy but I do think we've played a bit better than our results, and we're still comfortably mid-table. 

 

I'm Southern based now as well and with that and the toxic ownership (both previously and now), I've no desire to pay a subscription for a miniscule chance at tickets, so I've only done a bit of quiet home end watching.

 

Joelinton had a good game I thought, other than the one wild shot. Some good balls in, strong in possession, transitioned control into attack well. For all the rep as an enforcer he does make forward plays. But yeah, I think that funky positioning isn't going to be kept with. 

[thetime]

55 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Is our form even that bad though? 

 

5 league defeats in 6 games, with the only win coming from a dreadful spurs team. 1 league win since Jan 7th, nearly 2 months. Champions league and FA Cup results papering over the cracks. 

 

You could argue Newcastle have played a lot of the top sides, but still no good stats. 

 

I think that can be classed as bad. 

Edited February 28 by thetime

[kaosmark2]

13 hours ago, thetime said:

 

5 league defeats in 6 games, with the only win coming from a dreadful spurs team. 1 league win since Jan 7th, nearly 2 months. Champions league and FA Cup results papering over the cracks. 

 

You could argue Newcastle have played a lot of the top sides, but still no good stats. 

 

I think that can be classed as bad. 

Huh, yeah. Honestly though, as someone watching most of these, it just hasn't felt that bad for the past 3 weeks. The losses haven't felt humiliating in a while, and there's been positives to take. It's one of those where you could put asterisks on our wins or our losses to caveat things in either direction.

[lost]

If Spurs lose to Palace mid-week I'm starting to think they may not be up for a relegation fight as much as the other teams down there and that could be their downfall.

[thetime]

Nice day for all things Utd, 6 points clear from 6th. 

[charlierc]

20 hours ago, thetime said:

 

5 league defeats in 6 games, with the only win coming from a dreadful spurs team. 1 league win since Jan 7th, nearly 2 months. Champions league and FA Cup results papering over the cracks. 

 

You could argue Newcastle have played a lot of the top sides, but still no good stats. 

 

I think that can be classed as bad. 

 

7 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Huh, yeah. Honestly though, as someone watching most of these, it just hasn't felt that bad for the past 3 weeks. The losses haven't felt humiliating in a while, and there's been positives to take. It's one of those where you could put asterisks on our wins or our losses to caveat things in either direction.

I mean, I think its bad. Honestly think we should just throw everything at the Man City FA Cup game next week as part of a Hail Mary attempt to win the FA Cup as the PL is clearly going wrong. We're on the wrong end of a ton of little things in games, sure, and our record at throwing away points from winning positions hints that there are a lot more problems to our way of doing things than just Isak's tantrum.

 

I think really, we need time off as much as anything else. We've played every midweek more or less since the last international break in November and have had yet another nightmare with injuries, not least the one to Bruno Guimaraes. But obviously we're not going to get that any such break until the next internationals so... guess we have to suck it up.

 

Would love beating Man United on Wednesday but I'm not pretending I'm optimistic about that one.

[charlierc]

3 hours ago, lost said:

If Spurs lose to Palace mid-week I'm starting to think they may not be up for a relegation fight as much as the other teams down there and that could be their downfall.

Still yet to win a Premier League match in 2026, which is kind of remarkable. Wolves are even looking better right now and that was a team many thought was on to break the Derby points record.

 

I saw the highlights of their game at Fulham and even though it was only 3 minutes so obviously condensed, Fulham should really have given them a drubbing. Hell Burnley showed more fight, given they were 3-0 down and had 2 goals VAR'd (one of which I think should've stood).

 

If I was picking, I still think Forest to go down as the churn and chaos there feels counterintuitive to any success and Marinakis getting consequences for his alienation of Nuno almost feels like the inevitable end point of that unnecessary farce. But I don't think I can make that prediction with conviction. Spurs actually play Forest in mid-March before the next international break and that already feels massive.

Edited March 1 by charlierc

[kaosmark2]

46 minutes ago, charlierc said:

 

I mean, I think its bad. Honestly think we should just throw everything at the Man City FA Cup game next week as part of a Hail Mary attempt to win the FA Cup as the PL is clearly going wrong. We're on the wrong end of a ton of little things in games, sure, and our record at throwing away points from winning positions hints that there are a lot more problems to our way of doing things than just Isak's tantrum.

 

I think really, we need time off as much as anything else. We've played every midweek more or less since the last international break in November and have had yet another nightmare with injuries, not least the one to Bruno Guimaraes. But obviously we're not going to get that any such break until the next internationals so... guess we have to suck it up.

 

Would love beating Man United on Wednesday but I'm not pretending I'm optimistic about that one.

Oh I think it's clear there's plenty more problems than that. I just haven't felt miserable watching the last few weeks like I did in early/mid January.

[thetime]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

 

Would love beating Man United on Wednesday but I'm not pretending I'm optimistic about that one.

 

A defeat is coming for utd, so may be on Wednesday. Our performances are not great but getting the points which is the main thing. 

 

Got lucky v West Ham with a point, Everton game could of gone either way and today until the red card. 

 

So wouldn't be surprised.

 

 

[charlierc]

37 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

A defeat is coming for utd, so may be on Wednesday. Our performances are not great but getting the points which is the main thing. 

 

Got lucky v West Ham with a point, Everton game could of gone either way and today until the red card. 

 

So wouldn't be surprised.

 

 

Tbf I thought it was a red card for Lacroix in the game today, if also that the foul was outside the box. But aye I did watch and until then Palace were in the game. 

 

Chelsea weren't far away from swiping a point with ten men earlier as well, thinking about it. 

[Punksnotdead]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

A defeat is coming for utd, so may be on Wednesday. Our performances are not great but getting the points which is the main thing. 

 

Got lucky v West Ham with a point, Everton game could of gone either way and today until the red card. 

 

So wouldn't be surprised.

 

 

Yeah, it feels like the wheels are about to come off the Carrick wagon! If it happens in the next 2 games (Newcastle & Villa), then I think we'll be looking at 6th instead of 3rd. Then again, I am a pessimistic United fan!

[thetime]

49 minutes ago, Punksnotdead said:

Yeah, it feels like the wheels are about to come off the Carrick wagon! If it happens in the next 2 games (Newcastle & Villa), then I think we'll be looking at 6th instead of 3rd. Then again, I am a pessimistic United fan!

 

I wouldn't say wheels coming off, but probably a few more draws than wins.

 

Only Arsenal have lost less than us this season, results will even out. United have only lost 2 league games in over 5 months, so don't expect us to lose many on the run. I would say 5 wins and a couple of draws will get utd top 5, probably 3rd. Especially as Chelsea, Villa and Liverpool are pretty inconsistent. 

 

Beat Newcastle and we could be 9 points clear of Chelsea or 6 points ahead of Villa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[charlierc]

On 24/02/2026 at 14:24, thetime said:

They have to do something about corners, its just isn't football. Lump it in there and turn it into a wrestling match.

 

Everton would of scored 5 last night, if Onana was in goal. 

I know you wrote this about last Monday's game but Arsenal and Chelsea yesterday really did seem to be about trying to force corners. Maybe the bias to think that is stronger given all 3 goals came from one. Indeed it seems like a lot of teams are seeing it as a big solution to open play stagnation at the moment. Liverpool scored from 3 corners on Saturday as well in a first half where West Ham actually looked to have the better open play chances. 

[charlierc]

9 hours ago, Punksnotdead said:

Yeah, it feels like the wheels are about to come off the Carrick wagon! If it happens in the next 2 games (Newcastle & Villa), then I think we'll be looking at 6th instead of 3rd. Then again, I am a pessimistic United fan!

Very pessimistic indeed. But I've always thought being a football fan requires at least some pessimism. 

 

Certainly it would be a surprise for Carrick to go unbeaten to the end of the season. However I think the general trend is that they look alright. I think the current top 5 will be it at the end of the season unless either Chelsea buck up their ideas or Villa's injury crisis spirals and takes their form down a further peg. 

[charlierc]

So in 4 months or so, Iran are meant to be at the World Cup in America, which feels like a difficult scenario to pull off right now, no? I know its not the biggest thing with everything that's been happening since Saturday morning, but it's certainly an awkward scenario.

 

At the very least, if I worked for FIFA, I'd want Infantino to resign given that Peace Prize stunt and the various actions made by the current occupant of the White House so far this year has served to make FIFA a global joke. Recent cartel riots in Mexico aren't helping the perception of this World Cup going smoothly either.

Edited March 2 by charlierc

[thetime]

3 hours ago, charlierc said:

I think the current top 5 will be it at the end of the season unless either Chelsea buck up their ideas or Villa's injury crisis spirals and takes their form down a further peg. 

 

Certainly a massive game for Villa and Chelsea Wednesday. If Villa win that would be a 9 point gap, with chelsea playing city and utd coming up few weeks after. Although if chelsea win its down to 3, with utd the game after for Villa.

 

I wouldn't rule Liverpool dropping out, they are in the middle of some kind fixtures. If its still tight mid April Liverpool have Everton, utd and Villa away and Chelsea and Brentford at home. 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

Certainly a massive game for Villa and Chelsea Wednesday. If Villa win that would be a 9 point gap, with chelsea playing city and utd coming up few weeks after. Although if chelsea win its down to 3, with utd the game after for Villa.

 

I wouldn't rule Liverpool dropping out, they are in the middle of some kind fixtures. If its still tight mid April Liverpool have Everton, utd and Villa away and Chelsea and Brentford at home. 

Well we all know football is a non-linear thing after all - there'll be ups and downs in the tussle for 3rd-6th before the season is out. But if I was a guesser, I think Man Utd and Liverpool are the two likelier to make it imo and then one of Chelsea or Villa to join them. I have my doubts over Chelsea due to having an unreliable keeper, a really bad red card habit and a lack of consistent scorers. But I'm aware that Villa's midfield injury crisis is causing a real collapse in their performances (1 win in their last 6, I think?) so it's no longer a guarantee they'll make it. Plus yeah, Liverpool will have to demonstrate in that run of games in April that they can rise to the occasion.

[thetime]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

Well we all know football is a non-linear thing after all - there'll be ups and downs in the tussle for 3rd-6th before the season is out. But if I was a guesser, I think Man Utd and Liverpool are the two likelier to make it imo and then one of Chelsea or Villa to join them. I have my doubts over Chelsea due to having an unreliable keeper, a really bad red card habit and a lack of consistent scorers. But I'm aware that Villa's midfield injury crisis is causing a real collapse in their performances (1 win in their last 6, I think?) so it's no longer a guarantee they'll make it. Plus yeah, Liverpool will have to demonstrate in that run of games in April that they can rise to the occasion.

 

Brentford could be knocking on the door soon, especially with villa and Chelsea being inconsistent. 2 points behind Chelsea, Brentford have very winnable games in March. If they win games against Bournemouth, Wolves and Leeds they will be in the mix with 7 to go. 

 

 

Edited March 2 by thetime

[Ben7amin_]

18 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Brentford could be knocking on the door soon, especially 

 

 

....sice they got rid of that clueless manager whos tactics are overated..

 

(bitter Spurs fan) 

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, Ben7amin_ said:

....sice they got rid of that clueless manager whos tactics are overated..

 

(bitter Spurs fan) 

Do you think Frank would've had better luck without having Kulusevski and Maddison being out all season or do you think those two alone probably wouldn't have saved the project?

 

Tbf I thought Brentford would go down. An opinion I rescinded long before they beat us home and away to truly shut me up.

[Ben7amin_]

18 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Do you think Frank would've had better luck without having Kulusevski and Maddison being out all season or do you think those two alone probably wouldn't have saved the project?

 

Tbf I thought Brentford would go down. An opinion I rescinded long before they beat us home and away to truly shut me up.

 

We would be better with Kulu for sure -  his injury was meant to be 3 or 4 months most but is a mystery  We probably stated the season at least one winger short even with signing Kudus -  you can give this one to Frank for a little Credit

 

With Maddison -  im not sure he makes our first choice fully fit  11 Bergvall, Kulu  and Simmons get in and im not sure you can pick him ahead of any of those (though you could argue we wouldn't have bought Simmons. without that injury)   Though Maddison had some great games he is so inconsistent .

 

The point being Frank started games like he was still at a small club at home to a giant -  very little threat -  putting shackles on players like Bergvall - was unforgivable.  Often would not take the shackles of until the game was gone.   He just seemingly could not adapt to the different situation -  with no disrespect to Brentford a smaller club who continues to punch above its weight needs a different aproach to a big club that well does Spurs stuff.

 

The way he set up the team in some of our home games that we dropped points Sunderland, Fulham, West Ham.......  we still had an on paper far better team -  just set up incredibly poorly. 

 

I think perhaps the fact that Brentford have done so well this season - after losing a few big players -  probably a sign that Frank got overhyped a bit for the job he did. 

 

He will go down as the worst manager in spurs premier league history -   and i think thats fair -