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The 2021-2022 Football Thread
- Thread starter Scepticalscribe
- Start date
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Europa League final tonight. Kind of still getting over the fact we’re not in it!
Good luck Rangers.
Good luck Rangers.
Yes, Spurs are somewhat "Spursy", aren't they?
Surely not against Norwich lol. Even a pub team can win 5-0 against them lol.
Everton came back from a 2-0 deficit against Palace to win 3-2, ensuring they avoid the drop.
It's all down to Burnley and Leeds on the final matchday.
It's all down to Burnley and Leeds on the final matchday.
Watching Everton fans celebrating wildly was amusing.
So, which team is more likely to shoot itself in the foot? Arsenal or Spurs? I usually don't have super strong opinions but I thoroughly dislike Conte-Era Spurs.
Yes, they always do.
As much as we have a spicy rivalry with Leeds, I'd rather see Burnley go down and Leeds stay up. They're more entertaining overall — it boggles the mind how Burnley has survived for so long, other than the fact that there are always three teams worse than them.
As annoying as Thursday nights in Europe are, since United is pretty much locked into Europa or Conference and can't drop down to 8th and out of the European places entirely, they'd better win and secure Europa, at least. It may be too much to ask for such a dispirited squad to summon some pride, but one can always hope.
Rooting for Arsenal to get 4th place. Even though Conte has done pretty well at Spurs — certainly better than Rangnick at United — I'm still glad/relieved we didn't go for him, and Conte will presumably flame out and move on from Spurs sooner or later.
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That is the real competition in that corner of (relatively) affluent London, isn't it?
Which team will be better at locating the self-destruct button today?
Which of the pair will crumple under pressure and proceed to bottle it, yet again?
Well, yes.
I'm not all that crazy about them, either.
Actually, Burnley were a well managed team under Sean Dyche, and, financially, used to be a very well run club (until the appalling buy-out in 2021 by ALK Capital, chaired by a Wall St financier, Alan Pace, and using the same dismal and disgraceful model of leveraged buy-out that left Manchester United saddled with a debt that its own funds had been used to create - i.e. using the club's own resources to finance the loan to purchase the club, and obliging the club to repay this loan to the buyers - with interest - this has left Burnley - previously a very tidily run club - with an appalling debt of £170million - the actual purchase left the club well over £70million worse off).
Personally, I'd like to see Burnley survive.
Unless you are a club for whom such European adventures are a new experience (in which case, I would argue that the club pour as much by way of resources into the competition and enjoy the experience of European competition), if you are an established club, with plenty of European experience, my take on both the Europa and Conference copetitions is to either contrive to be eliminated early (so that they don't soak up resources, of time, and costs, in terms of player fatigue and possible injuries), or go all out to try to actually win the competition.
Agreed.
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I understand what you are saying, but it’s very hard for clubs like ours to compete in Europe and qualify for it.
Hopefully we can beat Utd to 6th. I really don’t want to be in the Europa conference league.
Very good (and quite sympathetic) article on West Ham (by Jacob Steinberg) in today's Guardian, found on the football page in the sports section; well worth a read.
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Lots of drama today, definitely didn't disappoint on that score.
City come back from a 2-0 second half deficit against Villa (and Steven Gerrard) to win 3-2 and secure the league title.
Spurs claim 4th; United lose another listless match at Palace, but Brighton do them a solid by beating West Ham and handing them 6th place and a Europa spot alongside Arsenal. Leeds stay up, Burnley goes down.
City come back from a 2-0 second half deficit against Villa (and Steven Gerrard) to win 3-2 and secure the league title.
Spurs claim 4th; United lose another listless match at Palace, but Brighton do them a solid by beating West Ham and handing them 6th place and a Europa spot alongside Arsenal. Leeds stay up, Burnley goes down.
Typical of Arsenal to turn in an excellent performance today, having bottled the match that really mattered last week; their fate was in their own hands, and they blew it, whereas Spurs did what was necessary to claim fourth place.
City showed their mettle - (but Palace under Viera are impressive) - and I write that as someone who would have preferred to see Liverpool take the title.
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Gutted we couldn’t find a win today. Especially as Palace managed to beat Man Utd.
As for finish 4th @Scepticalscribe, it’s close but no cigar. So is that 7 years without CL football now?
Regarding the title I have no love for Liverpool or City, so didn’t really care which way it went. But at least it went to the last day.
As for finish 4th @Scepticalscribe, it’s close but no cigar. So is that 7 years without CL football now?
Regarding the title I have no love for Liverpool or City, so didn’t really care which way it went. But at least it went to the last day.
No, @Apple fanboy, not close at all; we bottled it and blew it last week, - by not turning up against Spurs, and surrendering supinely instead - at a time when qualification for the CL was still in our hands, and securing it remained a serious possibility.
Last week was when we failed to qualify for the CL; today merely confirmed that outcome.
However, it would have taken an extraordinary sequence of results today - in essence, a defeat for Spurs (which was not going to happen, not against already relegated Norwich, and not when they were motivated by the tantalising thought of fourth place in the PL if they won handsomely - which they did); what we fought for today was pride.
Now, granted, over the course of the entire season, there has been a clear improvement in the team, and Arteta is slowly, but surely, clearing out much of the expensive deadwood.
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And yes, I would have liked to have seen West Ham win today, and claim that Europa League place (you would have appreciated and enjoyed it, too). Well, at least you have managed a Conference place.
Over the course of the season, West Ham have been better, more positive, far more focussed as a team, than Manchester United.
Bad news for all the regulars here today I'm afraid:
- Liverpool finish with 92 points but Man City still win the league.
- Man Utd do manage to get a Europa League spot but that in itself is indicative of just how dire their season has been.
- Arsenal are pipped to fourth by arch-rival and arch spoilers Spurs.
- West Ham fail to qualify for the Europa League.
- Sheffield Wednesday are still in League One.
Oh, and Columbus stink right now.
You forgot the worst part.
- No World Cup to look forward to this summer because it’s going to be played in the winter.
I didn't want to pile it on.
Awesome season for Liverpool, impossible for me to feel disappointed to be honest. We kept the pressure on all season and barely faltered. Two trophies and hopefully a third 
On the bright side of there being no World Cup this summer, Erik Ten Hag can have a normal transfer window and preseason to get established at United. I am really looking forward to many, many players hitting the road and seeing a coherent long term plan begin to be implemented.
Still, the fall-winter World Cup is going to be very bizarre / disruptive.
Still, the fall-winter World Cup is going to be very bizarre / disruptive.
Put like that, this is actually very funny, in a bleak, mordant sort of way.