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The 2019-2020 Football Thread

United came into the season with a thin squad, and yeah — it's biting them hard right now with Pogba, Martial, Greenwood, and Shaw out. Now Rashford looks like he'll be missing some time with a hamstring injury.

It would be one thing if Ole was plugging the gaps with the kids to try to aid in their development, but they keep fielding players like Matic, Young, and Mata, who are all very clearly past their sell-by dates.

Throw out the matchweek 1 result: United is going nowhere this season. Play the kids and build for the future. Matic is too slow, can't keep the ball or play a decent pass? Start playing Garner. Not getting any creativity out of your number 10? Play Angel Gomes. Play Pereira in a position he's good at and stick with it, or just sell him. Don't sign Jesse Lingard to a big new contract, and don't plan for him to be anything more than a squad player. Mata, I hope you stick around as a coach because you're a great personality and were a fantastic player in your day, but the game moves way too fast for you now.
 
Spurs knocked out of the league cup by Colchester on penalties. They knocked out Palace in their previous round so are obviously not afraid of a Premier League side.
The rest of the games were pretty much as you’d expect. We play Oxford tonight.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Spurs knocked out of the league cup by Colchester on penalties. They knocked out Palace in their previous round so are obviously not afraid of a Premier League side.
The rest of the games were pretty much as you’d expect. We play Oxford tonight.
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Paradoxically, probably a blessing in disguise for Spurs (although wounding to pride) given that their squad is somewhat stretched thin at the moment.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Paradoxically, probably a blessing in disguise for Spurs (although wounding to pride) given that their squad is somewhat stretched thin at the moment.
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Agreed. Their manager was saying he would be in the market for players in January, but the quality players tend to move more in the summer.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Agreed. Their manager was saying he would be in the market for players in January, but the quality players tend to move more in the summer.
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Well, you can start tempting them in January.

And, sometimes, managers get fired during the season, or early enough in the season, which may mean that an individual quality player's protection has been removed and that they become eager to depart in January, especially if they don't hit it off with a successor.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Agreed. Their manager was saying he would be in the market for players in January, but the quality players tend to move more in the summer.
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Spurs have a thin squad, so they are less well-equipped to play larger numbers of matches. While getting dumped out so early is certainly not something fans will be happy about, it's probably for the best if they want to make sure they stay in the Champions League spots.
 
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I despair. Cracking result at the weekend then we put out a b team and go down 3-0 at Oxford.
Come on West Ham. This isn’t going to help with confidence.
 
Not much in the way if interesting results this weekend apart from Norwich losing. Spurs scrape by. I hate to say this but I expect Arsenal to lose at Old Trafford tomorrow. They have a dreadful record there and despite being the better team they just haven’t shown the backbone they need to win this type of match since....
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Not much in the way if interesting results this weekend apart from Norwich losing. Spurs scrape by. I hate to say this but I expect Arsenal to lose at Old Trafford tomorrow. They have a dreadful record there and despite being the better team they just haven’t shown the backbone they need to win this type of match since....
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Yes, since forever, unfortunately.

However, they do have a good attack, and - (fingers crossed, wood touched, salt casually thrown over shoulder) - if that stupidly brittle, endlessly porous, supremely spineless (and embarrassingly switched off) defence can actually manage some simulacrum of what a defence is supposed to do - we might salvage a point.

For, in all honesty, United aren't actually all that good this season - they fail to play as a team and neither their attack nor defence are anything special; in fact, they should be eminently beatable by a team with a plan, and a bit of focus and backbone.
 
At Old Trafford, Arsenal equalise to claim a point (with the score at one all) in their match against Manchester United this evening.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
At Old Trafford, Arsenal equalise to claim a point (with the score at one all) in their match against Manchester United this evening.
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And pushed us into the Europa league spot!
As I said to my Dad this evening, it’s nice looking at the top of the table rather than the bottom.
 
Liverpool continue to wait on Alisson's return. It's likely that by the now the injury has healed, but Klopp seems to be taking a cautious approach - as well he should. Adrian has filled in more than adequately this far, and no risk needs to be taken with Alisson's comeback. I still think Liverpool will need him for the biggest matches to give themselves the best chance for silverware, especially later in the season, but the club can afford to wait until he is absolutely ready.

This should be an interesting fall for clubs 3rd-10th in the table, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, West Ham, and Leicester all look competitive. The "Top Six" is a bit of a nonsense right now.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Liverpool continue to wait on Alisson's return. It's likely that by the now the injury has healed, but Klopp seems to be taking a cautious approach - as well he should. Adrian has filled in more than adequately this far, and no risk needs to be taken with Alisson's comeback. I still think Liverpool will need him for the biggest matches to give themselves the best chance for silverware, especially later in the season, but the club can afford to wait until he is absolutely ready.

This should be an interesting fall for clubs 3rd-10th in the table, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, West Ham, and Leicester all look competitive. The "Top Six" is a bit of a nonsense right now.
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Agreed: It is a case of the "top two" and the "next, or subsequent, eight", especially at this stage, where the points bands are still quite narrow, and a win can transform the position of a team, causing the team in question to leap a few places for a team can still climb the table quite rapidly.
 
Its seems the most likely event that will shake things up will be a managerial change. OGS doesn't seem to be in immediate danger but his job is by no means safe. Many think he is unlikely to last the season. Lampard, on the other hand, has a free pass this season and unless we see an actual danger of relegation I assume he'll be around for next season. But Poch is not happy where he is. I'd be shocked to see Emery go but many see Arsenal's progress this season as unsatisfactory.

By contrast Leicester, West Ham, and Bournemouth seem to have stable managerial appointments. This could turn out to be a factor in the final league table.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Its seems the most likely event that will shake things up will be a managerial change. OGS doesn't seem to be in immediate danger but his job is by no means safe. Many think he is unlikely to last the season. Lampard, on the other hand, has a free pass this season and unless we see an actual danger of relegation I assume he'll be around for next season. But Poch is not happy where he is. I'd be shocked to see Emery go but many see Arsenal's progress this season as unsatisfactory.

By contrast Leicester, West Ham, and Bournemouth seem to have stable managerial appointments. This could turn out to be a factor in the final league table.
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Agree that Lampard is safe, and that Pocchettino is unhappy (probably because - on the resources at his disposal, he has taken Spurs as far as they can ago; a place in the final of the CL last season strikes me as about as good as it is going to get for Spurs).

Both OGS and Emery have inherited teams from illustrious predecessors who probably hung on too long; in Emery's case, I have always thought that he would take at least two years - four transfer windows - at the minimum to get Arsenal where he would like to have the club. Given that Arsenal tend to prefer stability, I don't see Emery in danger this season, and - furthermore - some of Arsenal's better defensively minded players are still out injured from last season.

Re OGS, it will also take him at least two years to achieve something with Manchester United; as with Arsenal, the team is in a state of transition, but, unlike Arsenal - where, once the egregious elements of the defence have been attended to, you actually have the bones of a decent team, - Manchester United are still a group of disparate players - some gifted - who haven't found a way to play as a team with a common vision, and sense of purpose and common identity.
 
Watching Real Madrid vs Club Bruges, Bruges lead RM 2-0 in the first half! I did not expect that. Will also watch the Spurs vs Bayern Munich.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Liverpool continue to wait on Alisson's return. It's likely that by the now the injury has healed, but Klopp seems to be taking a cautious approach - as well he should. Adrian has filled in more than adequately this far, and no risk needs to be taken with Alisson's comeback. I still think Liverpool will need him for the biggest matches to give themselves the best chance for silverware, especially later in the season, but the club can afford to wait until he is absolutely ready.

This should be an interesting fall for clubs 3rd-10th in the table, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, West Ham, and Leicester all look competitive. The "Top Six" is a bit of a nonsense right now.
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I think Leicester are the ones to watch there.

Meanwhile Spurs are having a shocker. 3-5. Wished I’d watched it!
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Scepticalscribe said:
Agree that Lampard is safe, and that Pocchettino is unhappy (probably because - on the resources at his disposal, he has taken Spurs as far as they can ago; a place in the final of the CL last season strikes me as about as good as it is going to get for Spurs).

Both OGS and Emery have inherited teams from illustrious predecessors who probably hung on too long; in Emery's case, I have always thought that he would take at least two years - four transfer windows - at the minimum to get Arsenal where he would like to have the club. Given that Arsenal tend to prefer stability, I don't see Emery in danger this season, and - furthermore - some of Arsenal's better defensively minded players are still out injured from last season.

Re OGS, it will also take him at least two years to achieve something with Manchester United; as with Arsenal, the team is in a state of transition, but, unlike Arsenal - where, once the egregious elements of the defence have been attended to, you actually have the bones of a decent team, - Manchester United are still a group of disparate players - some gifted - who haven't found a way to play as a team with a common vision, and sense of purpose and common identity.
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Pocchettino is probably even more unhappy right now.
 
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