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The 2021-2022 Football Thread

As of today, Liverpool are the only club in the Premier League who have yet to lose a game (and - approaching half time - it is a goal apiece between Liverpool and West Ham).

Arsenal ground out another victory (1-0 against Watford), and ended the game with another clean sheet. Very happy with Ramsdale, our new goalie, - I would consider him the key player in the improvement in Arsenal's current fortunes - and am still annoyed that we sold Martínez (who is excellent) to Villa.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
As of taoday, Liverpool are the only club in the Premier League who have yet to lose a game (and - approaching half time - it is a goal apiece between Liverpool and West Ham).

Arsenal ground out another victory (1-0 against Watford), and ended the game with another clean sheet. Very happy with Ramsdale, our new goalie, - I would consider him the key player in the improvement in Arsenal's current fortunes - and am still annoyed that we sold Martínez (who is excellent) to Villa.
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I see Villa sacked their manager as well. Hope we can improve in the second half and get a goal.
 
Apple fanboy said:
I see Villa sacked their manager as well. Hope we can improve in the second half and get a goal.
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This is the fifth manager (Newcastle, Norwich, Spurs, Villa, and, I think the fifth was Everton?) to have been sacked so far, this season.

West Ham seem to have become extraordinarily good at scoring from set pieces.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Indeed. I wasn’t thinking Moyes was the manager we wanted for his second stint, but I was so wrong. He’s really doing the business. Hope we can stop Salah today. But he always does well against us.
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He - Moyes - certainly has done the business with West Ham.
Apple fanboy said:
Indeed. 3-1 now! Yay.
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West Ham were sensational today; a superb result - and thoroughly deserved, too.

I daresay that you are a very Happy Hammer this evening.
 
Very nervous at the end there. But extremely happy to beat one of the greedy six.
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Apple fanboy said:
Indeed. I wasn’t thinking Moyes was the manager we wanted for his second stint, but I was so wrong. He’s really doing the business. Hope we can stop Salah today. But he always does well against us.
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So happy Moyes has turned himself around was funny watching Man U and Sunderland implode but never had anything against him.
 
Apple fanboy said:
MOTD was very enjoyable this evening. Has anyone see @Lord Blackadder? Unlike him to be MIA! I was hoping to discuss our excellent win over his team! :)

Yes I know, pride comes before a fall.
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Unseasonably warm weather today, so I was out in the the woods all day, many miles away from being able to watch both my teams crash and burn.

Columbus beat Chicago 2-0 but finish 9th in the East, and so the defending league champs miss out on the playoffs. Not really excited by the playoff picture either so yawn, wake me for the league final. Unless Seattle are involved, in which case I'll give the whole thing a miss.

I have to say I didn't expect Liverpool to lose today, so that's an unpleasant surprise. But West Ham are one of the form teams in the league so if it was going to happen this would be a likely moment. The occasionally shaky defending finally caught up with Liverpool - you can never expect any points if you leak three goals - and West Ham were the winners on all the tight calls - some days you get the luck, some days you don't. With that being said, I hadn't expected Liverpool to still be unbeaten in November either, so I've been spoiled thus far.

I look forward to a chance at revenge when the Hammers come to Anfield in March.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Unseasonably warm weather today, so I was out in the the woods all day, many miles away from being able to watch both my teams crash and burn.

Columbus beat Chicago 2-0 but finish 9th in the East, and so the defending league champs miss out on the playoffs. Not really excited by the playoff picture either so yawn, wake me for the league final. Unless Seattle are involved, in which case I'll give the whole thing a miss.

I have to say I didn't expect Liverpool to lose today, so that's an unpleasant surprise. But West Ham are one of the form teams in the league so if it was going to happen this would be a likely moment. The occasionally shaky defending finally caught up with Liverpool - you can never expect any points if you leak three goals - and West Ham were the winners on all the tight calls - some days you get the luck, some days you don't. With that being said, I hadn't expected Liverpool to still be unbeaten in November either, so I've been spoiled thus far.

I look forward to a chance at revenge when the Hammers come to Anfield in March.
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We are the set piece kings. As the worlds most expensive keeper, yours was the second best keeper on the pitch. I think he should have done more.
But it was a good result for us. I don’t think we will maintain a CL place all season but it’s nice to be in the mix right now. Ultimately I think we have too many competitions to do well in them all this season with our squad. But I’m hopeful whilst it lasts!
Come on you Irons!
 
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Apple fanboy said:
We are the set piece kings. As the worlds most expensive keeper, yours was the second best keeper on the pitch. I think he should have done more.
But it was a good result for us. I don’t think we will maintain a CL place all season but it’s nice to be in the mix right now. Ultimately I think we have too many competitions to do well in them all this season with our squad. But I’m hopeful whilst it lasts!
Come on you Irons!
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You are indeed the set piece kings, and this is something I am surprised that more teams don't seem to take sufficiently seriously.

A goal from a set piece is every bit as valuable as a goal from open play, though the latter seems to be regarded as somehow more artistic, or creatively thrilling.

The second thing to note about West Ham at the moment - as is also the case with teams such as Crystal Palace, Leicester, and Burnley - and in marked, and telling, and striking, contrast with Manchester United's unbalanced and uneven collection of gifted individuals - is that the team plays exceptionally well together as a team; they play for each other and have gelled well together as a formidable unit.
 
Apple fanboy said:
But it was a good result for us. I don’t think we will maintain a CL place all season but it’s nice to be in the mix right now. Ultimately I think we have too many competitions to do well in them all this season with our squad. But I’m hopeful whilst it lasts!
Come on you Irons!
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You don't have the depth, but if you get super lucky with avoiding injuries and a couple of the top teams stumble, a 4th place finish and a good cup run is unlikely but not out of the question.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
You don't have the depth, but if you get super lucky with avoiding injuries and a couple of the top teams stumble, a 4th place finish and a good cup run is unlikely but not out of the question.
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We’ve already beaten City and Utd in the cup, so that’s our best hope I think. Europa league is going very well, but not played any good teams yet.
PL is wide open this year. Chelsea were my pre season favourites and I still think that.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
You are indeed the set piece kings, and this is something I am surprised that more teams don't seem to take sufficiently seriously.

A goal from a set piece is every bit as valuable as a goal from open play, though the latter seems to be regarded as somehow more artistic, or creatively thrilling.

The second thing to note about West Ham at the moment - as is also the case with teams such as Crystal Palace, Leicester, and Burnley - and in marked, and telling, and striking, contrast with Manchester United's unbalanced and uneven collection of gifted individuals - is that the team plays exceptionally well together as a team; they play for each other and have gelled well together as a formidable unit.
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Absolutely. We are a great team with good players. Which is better than great players in a good team or great players in a disfunctional team. That said. We do have some players in the form of their life’s. Keeping Rice and Antonio fit will determine how our season finishes up.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
Absolutely. We are a great team with good players. Which is better than great players in a good team or great players in a disfunctional team. That said. We do have some players in the form of their life’s. Keeping Rice and Antonio fit will determine how our season finishes up.
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Absolutely.

And very well said, and a key point that needs to be made again and again.

Re Manchester United, I think the fault for their recent - especially erratic - performances lies with the purchase of Ronaldo, (and the effect and impact of this on the team, for the team is now quite unbalanced) rather than with Solskjaer as a manager.

I'd be curious to read what @JamesMike thinks about this.

Earlier today, Ken Early wrote an excellent piece in The Irish Times on the topic of Manchester United; well worth reading.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
Absolutely.

And very well said, and a key point that needs to be made again and again.

Re Manchester United, I think the fault for their recent - especially erratic - performances lies with the purchase of Ronaldo, (and the effect and impact of this on the team, for the team is now quite unbalanced) rather than with Solskjaer as a manager.

I'd be curious to read what @JamesMike thinks about this.

Earlier today, Ken Early wrote an excellent piece in The Irish Times on the topic of Manchester United; well worth reading.
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I don’t think Paul Pogba is great in the dressing room either.
When David Moyes lays out the plan of how they will play a certain way, I can’t imagine the West Ham team questioning it. I get the feeling at Utd, there maybe a number of players who believe they know better than the manager. Wouldn’t have happened in Alex Ferguson’s day.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
I don’t think Paul Pogba is great in the dressing room either.
When David Moyes lays out the plan of how they will play a certain way, I can’t imagine the West Ham team questioning it. I get the feeling at Utd, there maybe a number of players who believe they know better than the manager. Wouldn’t have happened in Alex Ferguson’s day.
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Agreed re Paul Pogba.

And agreed re differences in approaches between managers (and how players respond).

However, while OGS probaby has never "ruled" the dressing room, I think that the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, complete with outsized ego, outrageous talent, massive wages, and the necessity that his needs on the field by accomodated by the drastic transformation in the shape and focus of the team, has unsettled matters still further.

I would argue that Ronaldo could best be used as an influential - and possibly game changing - substitute, rather than insisting that he start, and thereby require that the team be built around him.

It goes back - firstly - to your point about how a great team of good players is better than a good (or mediocre, or dysfunctional) team of great players.

And it also feeds into the fact that - these days, under the Glazers - Manchester United are in the business of entertaiment, thye are - or have become - a vehicle for the creation of entertainment (and profit), rather than a football team.
 
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Nothing I've read indicates that Pogba is a problem in the dressing room at all. By all accounts he is well-liked and respected throughout the squad. The problem is the way he plays is not very well suited to the rest of the team, or to the way OGS wanted his teams to play. He's a cherry on top player, but it's pretty clear that United have not built out the rest of the ice cream sundae properly yet. As much as I enjoy seeing him play when he's fully engaged and on form, I won't be sad to see him leave on a free after this season is over.

Yes, Ronaldo did unbalance the squad. Things would have worked better with Cavani getting more playing time, but at his age and with his injury history, he couldn't be counted on to start up top week in, week out. A stronger coaching staff would have worked out how to better integrate Ronaldo, and a stronger personality as manager would have maintained his authority, even with Ronaldo around. However, you could also say Ronaldo is a cherry on top player. (Well, maybe he's the crushed peanuts or something.) United definitely do not have the strength in the rest of the squad to carry two such players at once.

OGS is still in the job as of right now. Hopefully this doesn't drag on much longer, but I don't have a whole lot of faith in the Glazers here. The club made good progress over the past few years, but they need to make a chance now, or all that progress is in peril.
 
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I just can't get over how tight it is in the middle of the table this season!

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With just 7 points between 5th and 17th, it's a few wins/losses away from a complete shakeup!

With that said, it's often at this time of year when the big guns show where their cash has been spent, as thin squads get thinner, big squads rely on their second and third string teams, which leaves them in a far better position to pick up points and distance themselves through the middle of the season.
 
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Breaking news:

Steven Gerrard is now confirmed as the new manager of Aston Villa, moving from Rangers after 3 years. Deal is for 3 and a half years.
 
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squawk7000 said:
Breaking news:

Steven Gerrard is now confirmed as the new manager of Aston Villa, moving from Rangers after 3 years. Deal is for 3 and a half years.
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That is crazy! I mean who can blame him for wanting to be in the Prem but still ...

The "Gers" were in first.

Villa stood 16th in the table but it is the Prem after all...
 
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