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The 2022-2023 Football Thread

Scepticalscribe said:
A good start and very good result for the Hammers; I would imagine that you are pretty safe from the threat of the drop now.


Spurs at their Spursiest, agreed.

No, we're not spursy - that is a specific condition that afflicts one club.

Rather, we are brittle, (asleep - and not only in defence at times), exhausted, and prone to collapse at times.
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Win on Wednesday and that won’t matter. But I think that’s a tall order. One of those much hyped games that will probably be quite nervy for you and be a 1-0 or something like that dull game for the neutral.

Shame Utd beat Brighton. An FA cup win would have meant far much more for them.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Win on Wednesday and that won’t matter. But I think that’s a tall order. One of those much hyped games that will probably be quite nervy for you and be a 1-0 or something like that dull game for the neutral.

Shame Utd beat Brighton. An FA cup win would have meant far much more for them.
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Shame that Manchester United defeated Brighton in such a manner; I would have loved to have seen them go through and then, for them to actually win the trophy.

Re the Gunners, we really miss Saliba, to an even greater extent than we missed Gabriel Jesus.

Our attack is actually pretty good, and that ghastly tendency to wilt into a sort of brittle uselessness that appeared all too frequently in some of the late Wenger days is well behind us - we fight fiercely (if not always effectively) to the end of games these days, - but, our defence is not as good as it should be, we are tired (having led the table all season) and, most telling of all, we lack strength in depth.

Our first team - when available and fit - is as good as - if not better than - anything in the league, but once you move beyond that first team, we do lack strength in depth.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Shame that Manchester United defeated Brighton in such a manner; I would have loved to have seen them go through and then, for them to actually win the trophy.

Re the Gunners, we really miss Saliba, to an even greater extent than we missed Gabriel Jesus.

Our attack is actually pretty good, and that ghastly tendency to wilt into a sort of brittle uselessness that appeared all too frequently in some of the late Wenger days is well behind us - we fight fiercely (if not always effectively) to the end of games these days, - but, our defence is not as good as it should be, we are tired (having led the table all season) and, most telling of all, we lack strength in depth.

Our first team - when available and fit - is as good as - if not better than - anything in the league, but once you move beyond that first team, we do lack strength in depth.
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You think you have problems? Our second and third choice players are not in the same league as yours!

No surprise when Antonio is fit and scoring, we start picking up wins. Not that I'm hopeful for our midweek game!
 
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Late to the party, but I went to the pub early in the morning on Saturday with a bunch of NZ-based Saints fans to watch the game against Arsenal.
We all went in with a jocular expectation of our team's priority being to keep them below 9 goals.
Imagine our collective surprise to see us go up after mere seconds!

The NZ Gooners were also there, as their pub venue had fallen through - NZ is one of those places you can have rival fans without incident...and they were pretty vocal pre-match (admittedly they were also quite pleasant, with it).
Was so good to hear their silence deafen us when we scored first, then doubled our lead, through THEEEEOOOO.

And then the inevitable happened at the death and if I am honest, all of us left quite deflated. The Gooners were obviously disappointed for their own reasons, but we Saints fans all felt like we'd somehow just thrown away a great opportunity to gain some momentum. Even if it's too late, the three points were there for the taking.
One point might as well be none. 3 Points, while totally unexpected, would have been a far better result for us.

As they say, it's the hope that kills you.
 
Speaking of Saints, Southampton director of football operations Matt Crocker will apparently be hired as sporting director of the U.S. Soccer Federation. On the one hand, the first team has really struggled for the past couple of years; on the other, Crocker oversaw a very strong academy that produced numerous very good players.
 
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HandsomeDanNZ said:
Late to the party, but I went to the pub early in the morning on Saturday with a bunch of NZ-based Saints fans to watch the game against Arsenal.
We all went in with a jocular expectation of our team's priority being to keep them below 9 goals.
Imagine our collective surprise to see us go up after mere seconds!

The NZ Gooners were also there, as their pub venue had fallen through - NZ is one of those places you can have rival fans without incident...and they were pretty vocal pre-match (admittedly they were also quite pleasant, with it).
Was so good to hear their silence deafen us when we scored first, then doubled our lead, through THEEEEOOOO.

And then the inevitable happened at the death and if I am honest, all of us left quite deflated. The Gooners were obviously disappointed for their own reasons, but we Saints fans all felt like we'd somehow just thrown away a great opportunity to gain some momentum. Even if it's too late, the three points were there for the taking.
One point might as well be none. 3 Points, while totally unexpected, would have been a far better result for us.

As they say, it's the hope that kills you.
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You’d have taken the draw if it was offered before kick off. But I understand the frustration. A win would have been amazing for the self confidence.
 
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HandsomeDanNZ said:
Late to the party, but I went to the pub early in the morning on Saturday with a bunch of NZ-based Saints fans to watch the game against Arsenal.
We all went in with a jocular expectation of our team's priority being to keep them below 9 goals.
Imagine our collective surprise to see us go up after mere seconds!

The NZ Gooners were also there, as their pub venue had fallen through - NZ is one of those places you can have rival fans without incident...and they were pretty vocal pre-match (admittedly they were also quite pleasant, with it).
Was so good to hear their silence deafen us when we scored first, then doubled our lead, through THEEEEOOOO.

And then the inevitable happened at the death and if I am honest, all of us left quite deflated. The Gooners were obviously disappointed for their own reasons, but we Saints fans all felt like we'd somehow just thrown away a great opportunity to gain some momentum. Even if it's too late, the three points were there for the taking.
One point might as well be none. 3 Points, while totally unexpected, would have been a far better result for us.

As they say, it's the hope that kills you.
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Actually, no, I don't think that the three points were there for the taking; this Arsenal team is good at fighting to the death, and we do have an excellent forward line.

Now, had you played us pre the arrival of Mr Arteta, I think that, yes, we could well have wilted having gone 2-0 down, and then, found ourselves trailing by 3-1.

Having said that, if you rediscover this form in the remaining games, you could be in with a chance of escaping relegation.
 
Silencio said:
Why does everyone get a new manager before Man Utd rolls into town this season? So much New Manager Bounce.
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And how many of these managers (for, some teams are on their third manager of the season which would have been deemed surreal some years ago) have actually made a significant difference to the performance of these teams?

Not all that many.

Besides, I think that the notion of a New Manager Bounce is a lot less likely to apply if a team thinks (or knows) that the manager is a temporary appointment.
 
This season, United had to play against Villa and Leeds immediately after they changed managers. They lost to Villa and required a stirring comeback to salvage a draw against Leeds.

This Spurs team is a right mess, but you never know...

Sheriff's manager quit before a Europa League group stage match at Old Trafford, almost forgot about that.
 
Silencio said:
This season, United had to play against Villa and Leeds immediately after they changed managers. They lost to Villa and required a stirring comeback to salvage a draw against Leeds.

This Spurs team is a right mess, but you never know...

Sheriff's manager quit before a Europa League group stage match at Old Trafford, almost forgot about that.
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Seriously, @Silencio, Manchester United's (undeniable) problems are not really down to New Manager Bounce (when appointed by other clubs about to face United on the pitch).
 
The fact that United easily beat Sheriff in that last match should underscore that I'm not being exactly 100% serious here. It's very strange that it's happened so many times this season, though.

Bruno potentially being unavailable due to injury is a more pressing concern than Spurs' second interim manager.
 
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My givadamn about this season was circling the drain some time ago. Strangely, I don’t really even care that much about top 4. The main narrative is so wrapped up in who’s got the money the rest is hard to enjoy.

Columbus has had a hot start to the season under their new manager though. Shame I can’t watch it as I won’t shell out for Apple’s new ‘we fired all the team announcers and charge more’ MLS streaming service.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
My givadamn about this season was circling the drain some time ago. Strangely, I don’t really even care that much about top 4. The main narrative is so wrapped up in who’s got the money the rest is hard to enjoy.

Columbus had a hot start tit he season under their new manager though. Shame I can’t watch it as I won’t shell out for Apple’s new ‘we fired all the team announcers and charge more’ MLS streaming service.
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Unfortunately, I do care about the top four. There are times when I wish this was not so.

Last August, I could never have envisaged a situation where Arsenal would lead the table for almost the entire season, and be in a position where they would be making a serious challenge for the title.

Candidly, had someone offered me the guarantee of a top four place last August, I would have been more than happy, and would have rested quite content with such an outcome.
 
Wolves have defeated Crystal Palace by two goals to nil; I assume that this leaves both clubs in a fairly safe position - as both are on 37 points.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa - who are playing excedtionally well and are now fifth in the table, ahead of both Liverpool and Spurs - defeated Fulham (who are also safe) by a goal to nil.

Leicester and Leeds end with a goal apiece, one point apart, with both still hovering - and barely above - the relegation zone.
 
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