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The 2022-2023 Football Thread

So...to deflect from the fact that a few of our favourite teams suffered defeat this weekend...

How about that Fifa Fair Play? They've fined 10 clubs for breaches - and Barcelona is NOT one of them!!!!!

Sadly, I think it's time for Fifa to be put out if its corrupt misery and replaced with a cadre of chaste nuns.
 
The first Arsenal goal was correctly chalked off — that was a foul against Eriksen all day long.

I guess... we're back? Don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, and Arsenal shouldn't be too crestfallen about the result, either. It's a long season ahead, but both teams trending in the right direction. United have personality and resilience again. Keep Maguire firmly rooted to the bench. Happy for Rashford's brace (and assist) — gain some confidence back and keep building on it.

It's hard to argue against Erling Haaland as the best signing in the PL so far, but Christian Eriksen has added so much class to United's midfield.

Brighton can really play. They look so light up front yet they can pour in the goals. Can they keep it up all season long? I do think United will regret letting Moises Caicedo slip through their grasp — he's come along very nicely for the Seagulls.
 
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Alphazoid said:
The most interesting thing for me yesterday was how happy Roy Keane was. Probably the first time i've actually seen him smile.

Unfortunately it also made him even more opinionated...thanks Arsenal.
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If there is one ex-player/pundit that I truly cannot stand it's Keane.
He has out-dated, chauvinistic and (at times) utterly ridiculous opinions and ideas. The game has well and truly moved on and he has not.
Even as a player, he was no better than a thug - if he hadn't played football, he would've likely ended up in jail.
 
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HandsomeDanNZ said:
How about that Fifa Fair Play? They've fined 10 clubs for breaches - and Barcelona is NOT one of them!!!!!
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The idea that financial doping can be dealt with through fines is completely laughable and exposes FFP as a sham.

Points deductions and European bans are the ONLY ways to make clubs sit up and deal with things like financial doping, racism, and crowd violence. But FIFA/UEFA/FAs are too cowardly to implement punishments that actually hurt, and too corrupt to actually find clubs in breach of the ‘rules’ in the first place (see Man City’s magical avoidance of punishment thus far).
 
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Funny I wondered if he might get a bit longer under the new owners, but I guess things haven’t changed all that much!
 
Tuchel leaves with a pretty impressive win percentage, which is a commentary on the modern game and an indication that Chelsea's new master might turn out to be just as short-termist as the old one. Not that I think Tuchel would necessarily have worked out in the long run. As we've already commented, he seemed to be on course for a major falling out at the club anyway.

HandsomeDanNZ said:
If there is one ex-player/pundit that I truly cannot stand it's Keane.
He has out-dated, chauvinistic and (at times) utterly ridiculous opinions and ideas. The game has well and truly moved on and he has not.
Even as a player, he was no better than a thug - if he hadn't played football, he would've likely ended up in jail.
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Keane has become a self-parody as a pundit. It's probably not all faked, but you get the sense that he's been told (or has himself concluded) that the only way he will keep getting paid as a pundit will be as a perennial grouch labeling every player he watches some hopeless combination of inept/cowardly/lazy/weak. All of his 'analysis' is some variation on that same tired old act. He could easily be replaced by one of those dolls that utters a catchphrase when you pull a string.
 
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Tuchel does have a tendency to burn his bridges after a couple of years, but I don't know that he's primarily to blame for his sacking in this case. Chelsea is a real meat-grinder for managers, and the transition over to Todd Boehly's ownership and removal of their previous DoF have made a normally tumultuous club even more unstable. Still, Chelsea have not gotten particularly great results since the second half of last season through the present, and their summer transfer window was... not great. I get some Ed Woodward vibes from Boehly, so best of luck to whoever takes that job.

I read that Graham Potter was granted permission to speak to Chelsea about their new opening. I pray he doesn't take it. Chelsea is a manager's graveyard, and he's got such a good thing going at Brighton right now — it would be a shame if he didn't stay and see it through at least this season.

I loved Keane as a player (he was an SOB, but he was our SOB!), but have little time for him as a pundit. I assume most ex-players are instructed to be caricatures of themselves on camera to garner attention, so I tend to get my football analysis elsewhere.
 
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Silencio said:
Tuchel does have a tendency to burn his bridges after a couple of years, but I don't know that he's primarily to blame for his sacking in this case. Chelsea is a real meat-grinder for managers, and the transition over to Todd Boehly's ownership and removal of their previous DoF have made a normally tumultuous club even more unstable.
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Completely agree. Tuchel hasn't done anything specific that is sack-worthy, but on the other hand he's not a fool and would have known what he was getting into when he signed on at Chelsea. The club is a poster child for the 'modern' model of financial doping and short-term results focus. Under Abramovich they seemed to actually thrive on chaos. But as you say their most recent transfer business is questionable and it remains to be seen where their trajectory is headed.

Silencio said:
I read that Graham Potter was granted permission to speak to Chelsea about their new opening. I pray he doesn't take it. Chelsea is a manager's graveyard, and he's got such a good thing going at Brighton right now — it would be a shame if he didn't stay and see it through at least this season.
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Yes, I don't think that would be a good move for either party. I'm rooting for another round of Mourinho. 😀😱

Silencio said:
I loved Keane as a player (he was an SOB, but he was our SOB!), but have little time for him as a pundit. I assume most ex-players are instructed to be caricatures of themselves on camera to garner attention, so I tend to get my football analysis elsewhere.
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That's the thing - ex-players especially, but most pundits generally, are 'characters' first and game-analyzers a distant second. People wring their hands about people such as Souness being casually offensive, but he is being encouraged to do that by the producers and by the millions of viewers who keep watching him. I don't tune in, and probably more people should be tuning out that nonsense. The fact that we have newspaper headlines bout Twitter wars about what some clownish pundit said on TV rather than talking about the actual football matches is so 2020s...

EDIT: If you actually want 'analysis,' then read/listen to Johnathan Wilson or Michael Cox (for example, other genuine football history / tactical experts are available) in newspapers/podcasts. They actually analyze matches. If you want football-related studio buffoonery, watch TV. And yes, not all TV punditry is bad...but the TV is where the worst stuff can be found IMO.
 
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Apparently the big wedge between Boehly and Tuchel was one Cristiano Ronaldo: the former wanted to sign him this summer, the latter refused. Tuchel was forced to be his own Director of Football this summer, which he was not happy about, either: at Chelsea his title was "Head Coach", implying he didn't sign on to have responsibility for all those other jobs, which were dumped on his lap after Boehly cleaned house upstairs. Prospective new managers head coaches, caveat emptor.

Mourinho seems pretty settled at Roma, amazingly enough.
 
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Liverpool really looking off the pace this early part of the season.

EDIT: I don't think Potter should go to Chelsea, but it may be his big chance to manage a 'big club'
 
daneoni said:
Liverpool really looking off the pace this early part of the season.

EDIT: I don't think Potter should go to Chelsea, but it may be his big chance to manage a 'big club'
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Off the pace is put mildly. Terrible result tonight. Thank God Liverpool is not Chelsea, otherwise Klopp could plan a holiday with Tuchel now.
 
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So it appears that Brighton have given Potter permission to meet with Chelsea.
Personally, I'd avoid that club like the plague - you'd think what he has at Brighton would be a blessing.
The money on offer would be excruciating and hard to turn down, but I think the performance metrics and the combative nature of the club would make it a hard gig to say yes to.

Re: Liverpool - wow. Just wow. What the heck just happened?
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Klopp can manage ‘Pool forever as far as I’m concerned, he’s earned it.

But having said that my general feeling is pretty grim at the moment.
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Agree with you there.

We need to get our good players back into the starting XI, maybe that will help. What did you think of Arthur Melo? To me he looked slow somehow, then again he hasn’t trained much with the team.

Now that there is such a tight schedule because of the glorious World Championship, I doubt there’s much time to reinvent ourselves, as Klopp put it. I guess the schedule is going to push us forward and until we get up and get ahead of it, also mentally, we will struggle.
 
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Some rumours indicate that Potter will take over Chelsea.

I'm not sure this is a good move for Potter. I fear he'll be gone in 15 months.

Feels like a lose-lose situation for Brighton and Potter and anything short of a Premiership or another Champions League title will be considered "too little" by Broady (sp?) et. al.
 
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