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Football Discussion

Football, what is football? I believe it doesn't restart until Wednesday 22nd February in Seville....!

;)
 
100% Their badge is Iconic (not only because they made me manager on FM15). This one just looks poorly made and rushed
 
Just gonna say South Yorkshire Police are terrible, locked gates at the station causing a crush wouldn't surprise me if there was a few bad injuries. The mismanagement was absolutely dreadful
 
So we're over halfway into the season now and it's been an exciting one, although I personally think the title race is over. 8 points is not out of sight, but I can't see Chelsea slipping up enough to fail to win the title.

Here's my thoughts on each team's season so far.

1. Chelsea - not surprised they are first. I said at the start of the season they are more than capable of challenging and had them finishing 2nd. Their incredible run of wins has put them as very strong favourites.
2. Arsenal - typically boring and predictable season. It's no surprise to me their only world-class player Sanchez wants to leave as he's the only one with a winning mentality. For example, Rooney after equalising against Stoke (and breaking the all-time goalscoring record) was screaming at the players to get the ball to try and win the match. Giroud after equalising against Bournemouth wanted to waste time by doing a stupid scorpion flick celebration.
3. Spurs - solid but I expect them to drop off a bit. They struggle with Premier League and Europe so when the Europa League starts up again I expect them to drop points.
4. Liverpool - have built on last season to a degree but their defence is their biggest problem. Klopp needs to get a grip of the situation or their long wait will only continue. He's got an easy ride from the media and fans so far.
5. Man City - As I predicted, Pep has struggled to adapt but part of the issue is the Man City squad. Many are 30+ so getting them to buy into Pep's philosophy isn't easy at that age. Once he signs some younger, hungrier players he'll find it easier to mould them and implement his style of play.
6. Man Utd - Underwhelming at the start of the season. It's clear that from the performances earlier on in the season no one had any confidence thanks to LVG's legacy. Mourinho and Zlatan have gradually helped restore that with players like Herrera, Valencia and Jones really improving. Playing much better now but our poor run throughout October and November has given us too much to do for a title challenge but I'm confident of top four.
7. Everton - Koeman has done exactly as I thought he would, rebuild the squad and their confidence and make them look like a serious club again.
8. West Brom - how on earth are they 8th?! Surprised everyone I think. Expect them to tail off a bit
9. Stoke - mid-table no thrills as expected. Must be so boring supporting Stoke.
10. West Ham - really struggled to adapt to the new stadium (which is a joke). Issues with Payet as well. Payet has acted disgracefully but the club also sold him down the river. Promised a world class striker (among other things) and he gets Zaza.
11. Southampton - struggling a bit without Koeman but sitting fine in mid-table as predicted.
12. Bournemouth - thought they were higher than this, have been impressive. Better than I expected. Wilshere's return to form proves Arsenal's poor management of players and their injuries. Still Eddie Howe's decision to throw themselves out of the FA Cup and then lose to Hull in the manner they did was disgraceful. Next England manager? Please. Respect the competition.
13. Burnley - Done a lot better than I thought, I had them at the bottom so credit to them. Even if their form dips they should still do enough to be safe.
14. Watford - had them going down but it's hard to see that now. They've been awful, luckily for them other clubs have been worse.
15. Leicester - an absolutely disgraceful and gutless defence of the title from the Champions. Done well in the Champions League and I don't blame them for prioritising that, but throughout December and January their form should have improved and it hasn't. Really poor.
16. Middlesbrough - Just about doing enough, but christ they are dull. Still at risk of going down so need to improve and start winning some matches. 4 wins in 22 is awful.
17. Swansea - employing Bob Bradley was pretty much suicide. No experience of English football or of managing any 'big' club. Joke. Have looked better since he left and I think they'll do enough to survive.
18. Crystal Palace - I don't think they'd be any worse off if they'd kept Pardew. They're just painfully awful and can't keep a clean sheet. Big Sam might save them but at the moment it's hard to see how.
19. Hull City - in the relegation places as I expected but now they've basically started planning for next season by selling their best players. Doomed and already down in my books.
20. Sunderland - somehow could actually stay up but my god just how bad are they!? Without Defoe they'd be dead and buried. They might bring in a few old timers but at this stage they're so bad and showing no signs of improvement they must be down.
 
Danza91 said:
So we're over halfway into the season now and it's been an exciting one, although I personally think the title race is over. 8 points is not out of sight, but I can't see Chelsea slipping up enough to fail to win the title.

Here's my thoughts on each team's season so far.

1. Chelsea - not surprised they are first. I said at the start of the season they are more than capable of challenging and had them finishing 2nd. Their incredible run of wins has put them as very strong favourites.
2. Arsenal - typically boring and predictable season. It's no surprise to me their only world-class player Sanchez wants to leave as he's the only one with a winning mentality. For example, Rooney after equalising against Stoke (and breaking the all-time goalscoring record) was screaming at the players to get the ball to try and win the match. Giroud after equalising against Bournemouth wanted to waste time by doing a stupid scorpion flick celebration.
3. Spurs - solid but I expect them to drop off a bit. They struggle with Premier League and Europe so when the Europa League starts up again I expect them to drop points.
4. Liverpool - have built on last season to a degree but their defence is their biggest problem. Klopp needs to get a grip of the situation or their long wait will only continue. He's got an easy ride from the media and fans so far.
5. Man City - As I predicted, Pep has struggled to adapt but part of the issue is the Man City squad. Many are 30+ so getting them to buy into Pep's philosophy isn't easy at that age. Once he signs some younger, hungrier players he'll find it easier to mould them and implement his style of play.
6. Man Utd - Underwhelming at the start of the season. It's clear that from the performances earlier on in the season no one had any confidence thanks to LVG's legacy. Mourinho and Zlatan have gradually helped restore that with players like Herrera, Valencia and Jones really improving. Playing much better now but our poor run throughout October and November has given us too much to do for a title challenge but I'm confident of top four.
7. Everton - Koeman has done exactly as I thought he would, rebuild the squad and their confidence and make them look like a serious club again.
8. West Brom - how on earth are they 8th?! Surprised everyone I think. Expect them to tail off a bit
9. Stoke - mid-table no thrills as expected. Must be so boring supporting Stoke.
10. West Ham - really struggled to adapt to the new stadium (which is a joke). Issues with Payet as well. Payet has acted disgracefully but the club also sold him down the river. Promised a world class striker (among other things) and he gets Zaza.
11. Southampton - struggling a bit without Koeman but sitting fine in mid-table as predicted.
12. Bournemouth - thought they were higher than this, have been impressive. Better than I expected. Wilshere's return to form proves Arsenal's poor management of players and their injuries. Still Eddie Howe's decision to throw themselves out of the FA Cup and then lose to Hull in the manner they did was disgraceful. Next England manager? Please. Respect the competition.
13. Burnley - Done a lot better than I thought, I had them at the bottom so credit to them. Even if their form dips they should still do enough to be safe.
14. Watford - had them going down but it's hard to see that now. They've been awful, luckily for them other clubs have been worse.
15. Leicester - an absolutely disgraceful and gutless defence of the title from the Champions. Done well in the Champions League and I don't blame them for prioritising that, but throughout December and January their form should have improved and it hasn't. Really poor.
16. Middlesbrough - Just about doing enough, but christ they are dull. Still at risk of going down so need to improve and start winning some matches. 4 wins in 22 is awful.
17. Swansea - employing Bob Bradley was pretty much suicide. No experience of English football or of managing any 'big' club. Joke. Have looked better since he left and I think they'll do enough to survive.
18. Crystal Palace - I don't think they'd be any worse off if they'd kept Pardew. They're just painfully awful and can't keep a clean sheet. Big Sam might save them but at the moment it's hard to see how.
19. Hull City - in the relegation places as I expected but now they've basically started planning for next season by selling their best players. Doomed and already down in my books.
20. Sunderland - somehow could actually stay up but my god just how bad are they!? Without Defoe they'd be dead and buried. They might bring in a few old timers but at this stage they're so bad and showing no signs of improvement they must be down.
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Agree with most of this, especially regarding Palace. They're the only side I feel confident will get relegated.
 
Danza91 said:
18. Crystal Palace - I don't think they'd be any worse off if they'd kept Pardew. They're just painfully awful and can't keep a clean sheet. Big Sam might save them but at the moment it's hard to see how.

andeyhart said:
Agree with most of this, especially regarding Palace. They're the only side I feel confident will get relegated.
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I'm not disagreeing that the possibility of Palace being relegated is likely and I feel it could happen. However I don't agree we wouldn't have been worse off if we had kept Pardew. The man was a joke and shot down the confidence of our players and should have gone far sooner. Allardyce has got a massive job to do now considering how late we left it to sack Pardew.

I also don't see how anyone can think about us being the only side to get relegated in a confident manner. Sunderland are awful and I know they get lucky every year but I can't see them doing it this time.

Will we get relegated? Probably, but we played quite well against Everton and we were unlucky not to get a draw (a nil-nil no less) so who knows.
 
Well, maybe not the only side. It's just, FA Cup run aside, Palace's form over the entirety of 2016 was woeful, more so than Sunderland. Yet Sunderland are clearly also in a dreadful situation right now. I would personally love it if Sunderland went down, but you can never discount their annoying habit of turning things around in the last few weeks of the season. And yes, Allardyce is leagues better than Pardew, who always has a few good months with a club before plunging it off a cliff.

But hey, the last time I felt 'certain' a club were going down was with Leicester when they were bottom of the table in early 2015, so what do I know? ;)
 
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Ted and I have been saying for ages regarding Sunderland that they need to go down. They're just so mediocre, and yet they still somehow keep on surviving. It was like that for ages with Aston Villa in the Premier League as well!
 
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andeyhart said:
Well, maybe not the only side. It's just, FA Cup run aside, Palace's form over the entirety of 2016 was woeful, more so than Sunderland. Yet Sunderland are clearly also in a dreadful situation right now. I would personally love it if Sunderland went down, but you can never discount their annoying habit of turning things around in the last few weeks of the season. And yes, Allardyce is leagues better than Pardew, who always has a few good months with a club before plunging it off a cliff.

But hey, the last time I felt 'certain' a club were going down was with Leicester when they were bottom of the table in early 2015, so what do I know? ;)
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Hard to disagree with the first paragraph. I think Sunderland do have a slightly better overall record in the 2016 calender year, but I also think the 2nd half of it they've beat a worse side than Palace (we even beat them!).

2nd paragraph is that I would personally give my first born son for us to do what Leicester did between 2015 and 2016 :p
 
Can't expect Allardyce to turn things around so quickly, Pardew absolutely killed the team's confidence whilst making some stupid decisions regarding transfers (ONE LEFT BACK)...

A couple of signings could cause some hope, but the current bottom 4 all deserve to be relegated...
 
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Disgraceful from Leicester sacking Ranieri. And the day after they got a potential lifeline in the Champions League :mad:
 
It's a joke. Without him they would never have won the league last year. That team owes him everything and they didn't provide it. Kante is good but I don't think he was the solo reason they won last year. Too many players got too big for their boots I think
 
It is sad, very very sad. I love Claudio for what he did and reading his statement brings a small tear to my eye - a true gentleman and a legend.

However for me it was the timing and not the decision itself that came as a shock. The decision is unfortunately the correct one and it frustrates me to see the media and fans of other clubs come out with what they are doing. We should be happy with relegation just because we won the league!? Yes we'd all have taken that last season but there is no way we should accept it. Yet that is the way we are heading now. Summer recruitment was poor and team selection combined with substitutions have been utterly baffling for weeks. There were no vocal calls for Claudio to go from the fans because we all love and respect him, yet many that follow the club home and away feel that a change was needed. We were in total free fall.

Of course the players must take much of the blame also however you can't change your squad midway through a season.

It must be remembered that we are Leicester City Football Club and not Claudio Ranieri Football Club as some seem to think.

P.S. Kante really is that good and France would have won the Euros if they played him over Sissoko.

:)
 
Last season was such an anomaly though. Three years ago Leicester were in the championship. Two years ago they almost got relegated (at one stage it looked a certainty). Of course they shouldn't just accept relegation, but realistically, they were never going to come close to retaining the title. Plus I still felt they could turn it round before Ranieri was sacked. They are less likely to do so now with a managerial sacking this far into the season.

So many of their players haven't turned up this year. Everyone's quick to point the finger at the manager in these situations, yet the players often get a bye, which does my head in. It really feels nowadays that players can put less effort in, safe in the knowledge their jobs are safe and that it is the manager who'll pay the price. And then once the manager's gone, they suddenly turn up again. It happened with Hazard at Chelsea last season. The manager has to take responsibility yes, but the players get off way too lightly.

Ranieri has been criticised for not having a plan B, but I don't think that's the full story either. Yes, Leicesrer did have the very difficult task of going from the hunters to the hunted and it was obvious that teams had worked out ways of overcoming them, but as a United fan, judging Leicester's two losses to us, I didn't see any of their players executing any kind of plan A from the start. The effort levels were very minimal and certain players just didn't show up. Ranieri can't be held accountable for not having a back up plan when his players weren't prepared to give 100% with the original plan. On the rare occasion these players did turn up, they got the results. Beating City 4-2, the CL group stages, etc. I certainly don't believe in the "player revolt" angle the media are running with, but these players have undoubtedly let Ranieri down with their lack of effort, and they should feel bad about that in my opinion. It seems as soon as things started to go south, they capitulated, which is bizarre when you consider a lot of these players were part of the team that so fantisically survived relegation two seasons ago. You'd think they'd be made of stronger stuff.

And of course no manager is bigger than the club. Having said that, Leicester are unlikely to ever have a manager come close to achieving what Ranieri did. It's just sad, and leaves a very bitter taste to see such a wonderful story come to an end like this.
 
I agree that the players have to take a lot of responsibility and that generally speaking players do get off far too lightly these days. For whatever reasons many of the players have not performed to their maximum level and some seemingly were not putting in all of their effort.

We really have been utterly woeful of late. It's been a challenge to get a shot on target, never mind score a goal or win a game. We are performing far worse than when we were bottom of the table in the 2014/15 season. Claudio had unfortunately lost the plot and subsequently the dressing room (although we'll never know to what extent). I really wish it didn't have to end this way but something has not been right at our football club for a while.

:)
 
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