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The 2021-2022 Football Thread

Apple fanboy said:
Exactly. 4-2 in the end to MU. With Wolves winning and the North London duo having all those games in hand, I think our best chance at Europe might be the Europa league. But we have hit a decidedly average vain of form.
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Wolves aren't winning any more, and games in hand are not points. The top four race is just crying out for any team who can be consistent. My assumption, in spite of all the failures of the post-Ferguson years, is that somehow Man Utd, with their greater pool of individual talent, will be less worse than Arsenal, Spurs, and West Ham and finish in the top four. But the spot is still very much up for grabs.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Wolves aren't winning any more, and games in hand are not points. The top four race is just crying out for any team who can be consistent. My assumption, in spite of all the failures of the post-Ferguson years, is that somehow Man Utd, with their greater pool of individual talent, will be less worse than Arsenal, Spurs, and West Ham and finish in the top four.
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Could go anyway. At least there is some interest.
 
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Aubameyang scores a hat trick on his debut for Barcelona. It's a shame that the situation became irretrievably bad at Arsenal, they've lost a good attacker.

It's still not clear where the Big Finger of Blame should be pointed on that affair, but sometimes personalities just don't mix. It could be that Arteta felt he could no longer trust Auba or that the latter reacted badly to being disciplined.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Aubameyang scores a hat trick on his debut for Barcelona. It's a shame that the situation became irretrievably bad at Arsenal, they've lost a good attacker.

It's still not clear where the Big Finger of Blame should be pointed on that affair, but sometimes personalities just don't mix. It could be that Arteta felt he could no longer trust Auba or that the latter reacted badly to being disciplined.
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@Lord Blackadder: He wasn't a kid, finding himself (physically, mentally, psychologically, professionally), which is something that - as someone who has taught at university for the best part of twenty years - I have a lot of sympathy for. Instead, he was (and is) what the Americans refer to as "a grown ass man".

Moreover, there has been a history of disciplinary problems and a reluctance to take responsibility for his actions and behaviour off the pitch and for leading the team on it.

Most damning, to my mind, is the stark, and steep, decline in performance once his fresh contract had been signed with Arsenal.

Exceptionally talented, yes, but, on this, I'm with Arteta: One cannot endlessly indulge a gifted - but erratic - (and immature) player, still less build a modern team around them. There comes a day when you have to grow up, and justify your promise, and potential by way of performance.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I guess Man Utd have decided to 'really duff it.'

EDIT: nope, they got their late-ish goal, as predicted. Fred this time. I feel like a broken record but how did that performance yield a win?

And another. Answering my own question here: classic Bielsa Leeds - up for a good fight but ultimately unable to get the result and just not resilient.
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It was actually a pretty good performance by Man Utd overall, aside from that disastrous couple of minutes where they conceded the two goals. They are typically getting my hopes up to most likely dash them in short order — the schedule will certainly get far tougher soon, and they will rue the recent dropped points. Good to see some progress regardless, and pleased to see Sancho finding good form.
 
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Silencio said:
It was actually a pretty good performance by Man Utd overall, aside from that disastrous couple of minutes where they conceded the two goals. They are typically getting my hopes up to most likely dash them in short order — the schedule will certainly get far tougher soon, and they will rue the recent dropped points. Good to see some progress regardless, and pleased to see Sancho finding good form.
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Also a very lucky time to be facing Atleti. No Griezmann, very patchy form of late. They are not the team they were just a year or so ago.
 
As I suspected. Taking a 1-1 back to OT is not a banker perhaps, but Man Utd will win this tie. At last Ronaldo didn't score. Something has gone stale at Atletico, they are not the ruthless opponent of recent years.
 
An extraordinary victory for Liverpool - actually, a demolition, they destroyed Leeds by six goals to nil - which leaves them three points behind Manchester City, and approaching rapidly in the rear view mirror.
 
I had a sneaking feeling that Man Utd would be good for what was ailing Atletico, and I was right — at least for the first half. Rangnick whiffed on that starting XI and formation and was very, very lucky to not concede more than just the one goal. The lack of ruthlessness came into play, and their defensive lapses also figured in the second half, allowing young Anthony Elanga in to score the equalizer.

Marcus Rashford's best footballing days look to be behind him. It's pretty sad to see how poorly he's been playing. He had to play so long through so many injuries, he looks like a spent force. Hopefully a long summer break clears his head, but maybe he's been through too much and has too many miles on the odometer already.
 
Apple fanboy said:
The race for 4th is certainly an interesting one isn't it.
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Well, yes, it is.

And I am happy with today's win: Arsenal kept scrapping, kept their shape, confidence and focus and claimed all three points at the (very) end. Wolves are no pushover; this was a good victory.

But, even the title race - which we would all have assumed was tidily wrapped up by Manchester City a few weeks ago - has suddenly (and unexpectedly) blossomed into fresh life.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
Well, yes, it is.

And I am happy with today's win: Arsenal kept scrapping, kept their shape, confidence and focus and claimed all three points at the (very) end. Wolves are no pushover; this was a good victory.

But, even the title race - which we would all have assumed was tidily wrapped up by Manchester City a few weeks ago - has suddenly (and unexpectedly) blossomed into fresh life.
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Thats football for you. Never over until the final whistle.
 
Wolves have such an excellent defense; if they knew where the goal was they might romp to fourth. But you need to score goals to win games.

My gut tells me that for all their flaws Man Utd just have too much money and talent not to finish fourth. But Arsenal do seem to be slowly getting their act together and Spurs were ‘Spursy’ again this week. The race for fourth is still open.

Liverpool were ruthless against Leeds. No need for late heroics, this was a comprehensive exploitation of Bielsa’s beautiful yet quixotically flawed side. They might not be a team that controls matches the way Man City do, and I still think the title race is over (gut feeling again), but I’ve never seen a better Liverpool side than this one and quite possibly never will. Sigh.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Wolves have such an excellent defense; if they knew where the goal was they might romp to fourth. But you need to score goals to win games.

My gut tells me that for all their flaws Man Utd just have too much money and talent not to finish fourth. But Arsenal do seem to be slowly getting their act together and Spurs were ‘Spursy’ again this week. The race for fourth is still open.

Liverpool were ruthless against Leeds. No need for late heroics, this was a comprehensive exploitation of Bielsa’s beautiful yet quixotically flawed side. They might not be a team that controls matches the way Man City do, and I still think the title race is over (gut feeling again), but I’ve never seen a better Liverpool side than this one and quite possibly never will. Sigh.
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I think Man Utd and Arsenal will be there or there about. Spurs as you say are not very consistent at the moment. Kane has not been the player he was. But defensively they have also been bad.
We have dropped silly points. I expect us to do so when we face Wolves this weekend as well.
 
Apple fanboy said:
I think Man Utd and Arsenal will be there or there about. Spurs as you say are not very consistent at the moment. Kane has not been the player he was. But defensively they have also been bad.
We have dropped silly points. I expect us to do so when we face Wolves this weekend as well.
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Actually, re Harry Kane, I beg to differ.

He may be slowing down a little, but strategically and tactically he is superb, and has become a master at husbanding his resources while reading a game.

The problem is that he is being asked to do far too much; nowadays, circumstances (and his own character) have meant that he is not just a goalscorer, but a midfield playmaker, someone who runs intelligent lines and angles, and can also intercede to defend intelligently when necessary.

The problem is that while he is exceptional at all of that, he cannot do it all, - not in an ageing team - and still score as much as he used to be able to do.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
Actually, re Harry Kane, I beg to differ.

He may be slowing down a little, but strategically and tactically he is superb, and has become a master at husbanding his resources while reading a game.

The problem is that he is being asked to do far too much; nowadays, circumstances (and his own character) have meant that he is not just a goalscorer, but a midfield playmaker, someone who runs intelligent lines and angles, and can also intercede to defend intelligently when necessary.

The problem is that while he is exceptional at all of that, he cannot do it all, - not in an ageing team - and still score as much as he used to be able to do.
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Maybe there is some truth to that. Or maybe he got unsettled by all that Man City transfer talk in the summer.
 
Poor Leeds United. While Man Utd fans hailed their 4-2 win over Leeds last Sunday as a positive step (and it may be), Leeds' following two performances (6-0 loss to 'Pool and now a 4-0 trouncing by a very inconsistent Spurs side) indicate that they really aren't much in the way of opposition right now.

Leeds have conceded 14 goals in the last three matches and scored just that brace against Man Utd in reply.

I watched the replay of Liverpool-Leeds last night and was astonished at how much space Leeds left open, especially in the middle of the park. Joel Matip, a central defender, was allowed to simply stroll 3/4 of the pitch unchallenged and, thanks to a nifty return pass from Mo Salah, fashion himself a scoring chance (which, to be fair, still required a clever finish for the goal). No matter how 'bad' of a team you are, that should not be happening in the Premier League. You can see what they are trying to do, and it looks good, even exciting, in moments, but they just don't have the squad to execute Bielsa's vision for 90 minutes against Premier League opponents.

With all that said, I still love Bielsa. With a squad of the quality of Liverpool or Man City he could possibly win trophies with his style of play. But not with Leeds, unfortunately.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Poor Leeds United. While Man Utd fans hailed their 4-2 win over Leeds last Sunday as a positive step (and it may be), Leeds' following two performances (6-0 loss to 'Pool and now a 4-0 trouncing by a very inconsistent Spurs side) indicate that they really aren't much in the way of opposition right now.

Leeds have conceded 14 goals in the last three matches and scored just that brace against Man Utd in reply.

I watched the replay of Liverpool-Leeds last night and was astonished at how much space Leeds left open, especially in the middle of the park. Joel Matip, a central defender, was allowed to simply stroll 3/4 of the pitch unchallenged and, thanks to a nifty return pass from Mo Salah, fashion himself a scoring chance (which, to be fair, still required a clever finish for the goal). No matter how 'bad' of a team you are, that should not be happening in the Premier League. You can see what they are trying to do, and it looks good, even exciting, in moments, but they just don't have the squad to execute Bielsa's vision for 90 minutes against Premier League opponents.

With all that said, I still love Bielsa. With a squad of the quality of Liverpool or Man City he could possibly win trophies with his style of play. But not with Leeds, unfortunately.
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I guess if you are a Leeds fan you are always entertained. I still think they will stay up. They have been unfortunate with injuries.
 
Arsenal looks good for 4th now, after Man Utd simply can't put a goal past Watford despite playing very well for much of the game. Arsenal has the games in hand and a much easier schedule — United have City, Spurs, and Pool coming up and will drop down to 6th or 7th. These two dropped points were a back-breaker.
 
Silencio said:
Arsenal looks good for 4th now, after Man Utd simply can't put a goal past Watford despite playing very well for much of the game. Arsenal has the games in hand and a much easier schedule — United have City, Spurs, and Pool coming up and will drop down to 6th or 7th. These two dropped points were a back-breaker.
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You are making me very very nervous, not to mention downright twitchy.

To be perfectly candid, I won't believe in the existence of the miraculous "fourth" spot until we have actually managed to secure the place.

Elsewhere, Mr Abramovich has taken moves to distance himself from the day to day running of Chelsea, although he still owns the club.
 
WEDNESDAY UP TO 6TH!

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