The 2025-2026 Football Thread

[Alphazoid]

I'm not too disappointed. We were without 4 of our best players for the most part, and 'Pool needed a worldie despite being at full strenght.

I agree Arteta needs to stop being Moyes-like in his thinking. Came for a draw and gave us no chance at creating something. Sometimes just go for it. Eze/Nwaneri and Trossard should've started.

But its only GW 3 so i won't lose my head. Hopefully Saliba isn't out for long.

Positives, Eze showed glimpses of whats to come. Mosquera played really well despite coming into a cauldron. Madueke actually a bright spark.

But we need to find Gyok more quickly.

It might be we stumble in the early games and then come stronger in the latter stages of the season.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'm not to disappointed. We were without 4 of our best players for the most part, and 'Pool needed a worldie despite being at full strenght

I agree Arteta needs to stop being Moyes-like in his thinking. Came for a draw and gave us no chance at creating something. Sometimes just go for it. Eze/Nwaneri and Trossard should've started.

But its only GW 3 so i won't lose my head. Hopefully Saliba isn't out for long.

Positives, Eze showed glimpses of whats to come. Mosquera played really well despite coming into a cauldron. Madueke actually a bright spark.

But we need to find Gyok more quickly.

It might be we stumble in the early games and then come stronger in the latter stages of the season.

And it is also true (though this is by no means offering the sequence of games as an excuse, but rather, merely making a point that is a statement of fact) that Arsenal had the toughest (by quite some margin) start to the season of the "top teams".

 

[Silencio]

I don't think Utd needed to buy Sesko. Mbuemo and Cunha were needed for Zirkzee and Hojlund. But should've then focused on the midfield.

Nah, they definitely needed another focal point for the attack. Sesko has all the physical attributes and is a technically skilled player, guess we'll see if he can make it in the PL. Maybe they should've only bought one of Cunha and Mbeumo, but they've both looked pretty good so far aside from actually scoring goals, though Mbeumo did open his account yesterday.

Casemiro shouldn't be anywhere near that 11. Should've moved for Palhinha or gone for Baleba. Bruno is a luxury player who needs 2 engines besides him.

I always had concerns about Bruno's fit in the 3-4-3. Not quite a 10, definitely not an 8. Maybe he'd work as an 8 next to an all-action, all-engine Baleba-type, but they didn't buy him this summer.

I also wouldn't be surprised if this is Bruno's last season at United.

Casemiro is on sky high wages, so very tough to move him. Ugarte is not good enough on the ball.

Arguably need another defender because Martinez is always injured. Ironically Maguire is the only that seems to stay fit. Yoro is another kid who they shouldn't be relying on yet.

The back 3 are the only part of the squad that doesn't have any question marks IMO. Yoro has been fantastic so far and is a world class player in the making, de Ligt solid in the center, and Shaw has been fine on the left side. None of them have made mistakes that led to conceding goals yet. Heaven and Maguire are good cover, and Licha could be back pretty soon.

Its now Amorim and Potter who are making their cases for first dismissals of the season.

They both got big wins this weekend to bolster their respective causes.

Rumors flying again about Emi Martinez to United. I am not a big fan, but almost anyone would be an improvement. If United rate their young keeper Radek Vitek, maybe Emi makes sense as a short term solution instead of buying a younger keeper like Semmi Lammens.

 

[martint235]

Not a classic by any means but LFC will be happy with that, the crowd + a moment of magic decided the game. Arsenal will have to ruminate on what might have been. Arteta came for a draw and perhaps should've been more adventurous with his selection.

Very happy. Any victory over the immediate competition this early in the season is good.
To be fair to Arteta, Anfield isn’t the place to be adventurous: yes it does work sometimes but it can also wreck your goal difference.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Not a classic by any means but LFC will be happy with that, the crowd + a moment of magic decided the game. Arsenal will have to ruminate on what might have been. Arteta came for a draw and perhaps should've been more adventurous with his selection.

This match won't decide the title, so while it's all smiles at Liverpool today I don't think Arsenal should be overly concerned about the result. It went about as I expected - very tight match, Arsenal were always going to be incredibly hard to break down. Liverpool's most likely path to a win would be to avoid conceding early and look for late game opportunities.

It took a special strike to get the goal, and while I think Arsenal faded somewhat late they were always in it. I was actually expecting a 0-0 as the most likely outcome barring any incidents. The Gunners' attack was a little lacking, so the clean sheet perhaps looks better than it is from a Liverpool perspective. Still, not leaking two goals again is encouraging.

The return fixture is likely to be a very different match, at least in terms of personnel on both sides, though it's hard to say more than that.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Very happy. Any victory over the immediate competition this early in the season is good.
To be fair to Arteta, Anfield isn’t the place to be adventurous: yes it does work sometimes but it can also wreck your goal difference.

To be candid, - notwithstanding our outlay this summer, which does give us a bit of strength in depth once the new signings are a bit more bedded in and integrated into the squad - I'm more worried about the injuries that we are picking up, some of them quite serious.

Today, Saliba (a key player in our defence) was down and out and off the pitch after five (four?) minutes, and - this season so far - Saka and Havertz are also hors de combat, while Odegaard wasn't yet fully back to himself; besides Jesus has been out since early in the year.

While it is clear that the new signings still need more time before we can have a sense of how they will work out, nevertheless, for now at least, Zubimendi seems to me to have been an excellent addition to the squad.

 

[martint235]

To be candid, - notwithstanding our outlay this summer, which does give us a bit of strength in depth once the new signings are a bit more bedded in and integrated into the squad - I'm more worried about the injuries that we are picking up, some of them quite serious.

Today, Saliba (a key player in our defence) was down and out and off the pitch after five (four?) minutes, and - this season so far - Saka and Havertz are also hors de combat, while Odegaard wasn't yet fully back to himself; besides Jesus has been out since early in the year.

While it is clear that the new signings still need more time before we can have a sense of how they will work out, nevertheless, for now at least, Zubimendi seems to me to have been an excellent addition to the squad.

In years past when Liverpool have experienced similar levels of injury the finger has been pointed at the intensity of training. Souness was blamed for training them too hard and there has been a fairly recently one but I’m not sure it was early Klopp.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Nah, they definitely needed another focal point for the attack. Sesko has all the physical attributes and is a technically skilled player, guess we'll see if he can make it in the PL. Maybe they should've only bought one of Cunha and Mbeumo, but they've both looked pretty good so far aside from actually scoring goals, though Mbeumo did open his account yesterday.

It will be interesting to see whether Cunha and Mbeumo - both of whom are excellent players - manage to maintain their excellence in the black hole that United have been over the past few years.

Re Sesko, as with Arsenal's purchase of Gyokeres, I think it too soon to adjudicate on their performances.

I always had concerns about Bruno's fit in the 3-4-3. Not quite a 10, definitely not an 8. Maybe he'd work as an 8 next to an all-action, all-engine Baleba-type, but they didn't buy him this summer.

I also wouldn't be surprised if this is Bruno's last season at United.

Casemiro is on sky high wages, so very tough to move him. Ugarte is not good enough on the ball.

Indeed.

The back 3 are the only part of the squad that doesn't have any question marks IMO. Yoro has been fantastic so far and is a world class player in the making, de Ligt solid in the center, and Shaw has been fine on the left side. None of them have made mistakes that led to conceding goals yet. Heaven and Maguire are good cover, and Licha could be back pretty soon.

Agree.

Many commentators grumble about Maguire, but I have to say that he consistently plays with heart and passion and it is clear that he cares about the outcome of any given game.

They both got big wins this weekend to bolster their respective causes.

True.

Rumors flying again about Emi Martinez to United. I am not a big fan, but almost anyone would be an improvement. If United rate their young keeper Radek Vitek, maybe Emi makes sense as a short term solution instead of buying a younger keeper like Semmi Lammens.

What do you not like about Emi Martinez?

Personally, I think him an excellent - sometimes outstanding - goalkeeper, but a rather unlikeable and unpleasant human being.

Why would Villa wish to sell him, other than it being the preferred and stated wish of the player himself?

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Personally, I think him an excellent -sometimes outstanding - goalkeeper, but a rather unlikeable and unpleasant human being.

Argentine internationals have a well-deserved reputation for being good footballers and often less good human beings…

 

[Silencio]

Argentine internationals have a well-deserved reputation for being good footballers and often less good human beings…

Emi Martinez had an excellent World Cup, but displayed a serious lack of class afterwards. I don't think of him as being one of the best keepers in the world, but he is certainly PL proven. Looking at some of his numbers from last season, he was not significantly better than Onana, but anyone with eyes can see he's stronger and more commanding in the box.

Argentinians are a different breed, for sure. I have to say I really appreciate the passion and commitment that Licha Martinez plays the game with, but can see how he'd be offputting to the opposition.

 

[brucemr]

It looks like the Isak saga is over. Liverpool. Mainstream media (BBC/sky news etc) now reporting it tonight.

£125M transfer fee. £250-300k/ wk salary. Which is more than double what he’s on at Newcastle. Salary increase, imo, has been Isak’s motivation all along.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The Isak deal is crazy money. The only way to make sense of it is to ignore the numbers and just judge him on whether he contributes. It’s not like he’s ever going to approach Salah’s value for money no matter what he does. The only question that matters is, if he scores against Newcastle, will he do a non-celebration or go full Adebayor and run the length of the pitch taunt his former fans? 😂

It could go well or badly, I honestly have no idea.

Argentinians are a different breed, for sure. I have to say I really appreciate the passion and commitment that Licha Martinez plays the game with, but can see how he'd be offputting to the opposition.

He seems like a more complete player than Onana, even if maybe not a big upgrade as a shot stopper?

As a person he seems like an embarrassment. But, speaking as a fan who once had Luis Suarez in his side, I’m not going to assume an air of moral superiority! (Though Suarez’s deliberate handball against Ghana in the World Cup was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen at a World Cup. What an absolute jerk, but boy did he lean into it…and it paid off…)

Anyway, if he comes to Man Utd he’s not going to have much time for silly antics.

 

[Sal09]

Isak finally got his move to Liverpool.
Geuhi deal still happening as well.

That will be some transfer window for Liverpool.

 

[laptech]

I wonder why no one has looked at the goalkeeping coach at Untied as to why both their goalkeepers are performing so badly because both goalkeepers are making identical errors. Goalkeepers have their own different strengths and weakness thus you would expect them to perform differently under certain situations but yet both of United's goalkeepers are making identical errors under the same identical situations. That implies to me that this is not a player issue but a goalkeeping coach issue.

 

[laptech]

This has got to be one of United's worst transfer deals ever. In 2022 United bought Antony from Ajax for £81.5 million and now 3 years later he is on his way to Real Betis for £19.06 million. That is a huge huge loss. If such a loss took place in a private business someone would be getting sacked but I doubt anything would happen at United.

Man Utd revive €25m deal to offload 'bomb squad' flop on deadline day

He's finally gone.

metro.co.uk

 

[Madonepro]

Man City finished last season strongly, so this return to mediocre form is interesting. They seem to have lost the momentum they regained last spring.

Haaland continues to be Haaland….physical specimen, goal machine, a player of superior qualities, but does his inclusion make Man City worse as a team? I think that debate is still very much open.

Perhaps more worrying for Man City is to have Brighton successfully pin them back when trailing and go on to win the game. Pep’s men had much more possession but as the match wound down they lost control.

Makes me wonder, with Pep being manager being manager for around 8 years, have the other teams just simply worked out all of his coaching moves, and can negate the plays.

 

[timber]

Haaland is a great player but Manchester City is a worse team playing around and for him.
It's a sort of Mbappé situation (excluding the ego).

 

[martint235]

Isak finally got his move to Liverpool.
Geuhi deal still happening as well.

That will be some transfer window for Liverpool.

It means we have to win a major trophy: PL or CL or both. 2nd in the PL isn’t going to cut it with this level of investment

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Isak finally got his move to Liverpool.
Geuhi deal still happening as well.

That will be some transfer window for Liverpool.

Notwithstanding the fact that Liverpool won the Premier League in Slot's first season in charge, it was also pretty clear that Slot needed to think about - and then set about - rebuilding and renewing the ageing squad (and putting his own stamp and vision on this squad) that he had inherited from Klopp.

This summer seems to me to have been all about that project.

 

[laptech]

Makes me wonder, with Pep being manager being manager for around 8 years, have the other teams just simply worked out all of his coaching moves, and can negate the plays.

That should not make any difference because look at Wenger and Ferguson, both at their respective clubs for over 20 years. You would have thought opposition managers would have worked out their coaching moves to negate their play and yet both managers were still able to win trophies in their latter years.

 

[Madonepro]

It means we have to win a major trophy: PL or CL or both. 2nd in the PL isn’t going to cut it with this level of investment

Who is it, that isn't going to be happy if you don't win the PL? Liverpool FC, like most successful sides, realise that success isn't guaranteed.

 

[Madonepro]

That should not make any difference because look at Wenger and Ferguson, both at their respective clubs for over 20 years. You would have thought opposition managers would have worked out their coaching moves to negate their play and yet both managers were still able to win trophies in their latter years.

Guardiola's style relies heavily on high possession and creating numerical superiority. Teams that press successfully, prevent this happening.

 

[martint235]

Who is it, that isn't going to be happy if you don't win the PL? Liverpool FC, like most successful sides, realise that success isn't guaranteed.

As a fan I’d be upset. This to me hasn’t been a normal transfer window for Liverpool. Success isn’t guaranteed but it is expected for this outlay

 

[pachyderm]

It's refreshing to see ManCity with so few points and so far down the table.

 

[laptech]

As a fan I’d be upset. This to me hasn’t been a normal transfer window for Liverpool. Success isn’t guaranteed but it is expected for this outlay

It can happen with the right setup, Chelsea spent ridiculous amounts of money on transfers and they won numerous trophies over the years. United did the same when Ferguson was manager, persistently being the highest spender on transfers and winning numerous trophies.

Granted it does not always work in many cases but Chelsea and United have both shown spending millions upon millions in a transfer window can help you win the league and other trophies.